by whitewolf17 » February 4th, 2009, 2:32 am
Sorry about the delay but I've been really busy the last few days.
Here's chapter six(remember, it's in italics so ya should know what that means).
Chapter six: Two days to die
Two days before the capture
"We've never encountered anything like this before in the entirety of our pack's history. Just yesterday we lost another five-wolf group when they failed to return from their hunting mission, bringing the total number of disappearances to twenty three. Sure, we lose people every now and then but this is like nothing we've ever seen before. We've already lost almost half of our pack in just these past few months and it's only been getting worse. At this rate of loss our entire pack will be gone in approximately four months if we don't do something now." said Alpine.
Alpine was one of the most powerful and respected members of his pack and if he was going to say such drastic things then it would be wise to heed his warnings which had never been wrong before. Since the age of six he had spent most of his time trying to build up a vast web of contacts and intelligence throughout not only his pack but most of the enemy packs as well. Because of his connections he was a keystone member of the Snowy River pack and his main duties were to warn the rest of his pack about any possible dangers so they could be prepared.
After this dire warning from Alpine the entire den was echoing with the voices of wolves in a heated debate. Because his pack was located primarily on the ice; caves were a rarity so dens were made out of the crevices in the ice but they could also be made out of large holes dug with the combined effort of most of the wolves in the pack.
This den was even more special than all the other's in Alpine's territory. It was the hollowed-out remains of a small fissure in the ice and in comparison to the other dens it was quite large and spacious. Because of its size it served not only as the head of the pack's den but as a type of meeting place and town hall where discussions were often held.
The arguing in the den lasted for a full two minutes before the head wolf Pyrix silenced all of the wolves with nothing more than a sharp glare from his eyes.
When he saw all the wolves finally calm down Pyrix opened his mouth and while all the other wolves could hear, he aimed his words at Alpine.
"I know how bad this is but there's not much I can do at the moment. Like you said, we don't have as many people as we had and we're losing more all the time. We only have a few good fighters left and I can't just let them go on a suicide mission and have us be defenseless. " said Pyrix.
Although Alpine knew what Pyrix was going to say, he still felt let-down when the answer came.
"Is there nobody we can send?" asked Alpine. "I'd be willing to go and I heard that Janx is back from his hunting trip. With the two of us and maybe a few other wolves we could try to find out who or what's doing this and maybe even stop it for good. I can get us ready within two days." said Alpine in an unusually hopeful tone.
"Why should I even let you go? Not only do I need somebody who knows what's happening and who can get information but do you even have any reason for going then?" said Pyrix. He wasn't about to let some of his most important pack members go without a good reason.
"Ever since the first disappearances started, I've been recording when they happen and I've found a pattern. It seems that the disappearances happen about twice a week and if we go by the pattern the next ones will be two days from now. That means we have time to prepare for this but we can make sure we find out what's really been going on" said Alpine.
"Okay then. I'll allow this mission but I won't be able to provide any reinforcements if something bad happens. You'll be on your own this time" said Pyrix. He was truly concerned about this mission because he simply could not afford to let anything bad happen to his few remaining pack mates.
"That won't be a problem." said Alpine as he walked out of the den. He soon got all the wolves that were going briefed on the mission before having them and himself go back to their mates and retire for the evening.
The next few days were not going to be very easy for them.
The winner for last week's question is...NalaLionQueen. Congratulations!!
This weeks question:What is the only other known place in the universe with a stable body of surface liquid?
Winner and next question will be announced next Sunday.