Oriens ears went back as Hondo spoke. Orien knew Hondo was beta but HE shouldve been beta. He was older and wiser and yet Hondo was the one in a higher rank. Orien let out a growl as Hondo bounded of towards camp. They were almost to camp but not quite there yet. After Hondo left Orien found himself feeling bad. Once he got to camp he put his rabbits in the prey pile and went over to Hondo. "Im sorry for being rude, its just that i dont like to talk about my past. Though i have advice for you if youd still want to here it."

Hondo l Male l Beta l M: Orien

.

He didnt like that Orien came up to him, he obviously didnt like him. "No its not your fault, I didnt mean to insult you on your past." He could tell Orien was mad at what he said about the rank thing. "But yes, I still want your advjce. If youd still give it to me."

"You didn't insult me or my past i just dont like to talk about it," Orien said, his voice softening. "Anyways, just always fulfill your promises and always stay loyal. If you prove you can youll be better off than i ever was. Im not the greatest at that kind of stuff but thats what i learned over the years. Oh and if you dont think you can do those two things that means your not ready and better wait until you can." Orien hoped deep down that Hondo would listen. He didnt want him to go through the same thing he had to.

|Aquila|F|3|Lead Hunter|Raven|M:River|

Aquila fell into a steady trot by the light-colored female.

“So, errr,” She said,”Um, what’s it like, having a mate?” She’d been thinking about it, and with River being a few years older, she might have some experience. It’s not like she was desperate- but she had start noticing the males in the pack, and the idea of pups was starting to appeal to her.

|Aquila|F|3|Lead Hunter|Raven|M:River, Night(ind)|

Aquila’s interest perked when she heard of the incident with Shawdow’s mate. She was pretty young to remember, but she knew that one day he came back without her, and retired to his den for weeks on end. It was a sad time.

“Oh, um” She said, she really wanted to ask about Shawdow, but she respected his privacy and didn’t want to put River in an awkward situation. They where emerging towards the river, and she could hear the water rushing with incredible force. She weaved between a few beech trees with an indescribable atmosphere of awkwardness, then bumped into River and yipped:

“Race you to the river!”

Hondo l Male l Beta l M: Orien

.

Hondo took a second to hear it all through. "Thank you Orien." He said giving him a nod. "I know no one likes me now, I was just waiting for the time to come." He turned to pad off towards his den, but turned around. "I really appreciate you Orien," he sighed knowing it was true. "You really should have been chosen Beta." With that, he padded off to his den.

Killjoy led the way through the slop. He was rather quite enjoying himself on the way back. He felt he was too old to act foolish, and splash in the puddles like a pup, but it didn't really stop him. Not like there was anyone around but Illusion, and Illusion wouldn't tell anyone. He knew that for a fact, and if he wanted to, Killjoy knew ways to shut him up, not like he cared what others really thought about him. All he cared about was his pack seeing him as a good alpha, and his friends as a good friend. He wasn't all too sure who he'd call a friend, but he shook off the thought. I'm sure I have friends....

He stopped to smell around on the ground. Hondo and Orien had been here, and they'd gotten rabbit.

"Illusion, we should hunt a bit."

"In this slop?" Illusion whined.

"Quit being a baby, and do what your alpha says, and your fine." Killjoy said, turning around to look at his companion. He was surprised to see that Illusion's white patches were all gone, and behind him stood a completely brown wolf.

He tried really hard to not laugh at his Lead Hunter, but he couldn't help it. Illusion looked like something you would pull out of a swamp.

"Do I look that bad?" Illusion asked.

"No. You look fine." Killjoy said, stopping the laughter, but smirking.

"I feel about a hundred pounds heavier with all this mud." Illusion said.

"You look about a hundred pounds heavier." Killjoy remarked, under his breath.

"What was that?" Illusion huffed.

"Hmm? What was what?" Killjoy said, looking away playfully.

"Quit messing with me." Illusion growled back.

"You look fine. Scary even." That seemed to satisfy Illusion. "Anyways, I want to bring home some food for the pack." Killjoy said, smelling the air.

"Do we have to?" Illusion whined again.

"Yeah, we do Illusion. It'll look bad if we don't."

"Fine, yeah. That's a fair point." Both of their heads turned to look to the left, Killjoy held his breath as they waited for what made the sound to come closer.

"It's a doe. She seems to be hurt." Illusion whispered in his ear. Killjoy nodded, and motioned that he was going to drive her towards Illusion. Illusion nodded back, and got into postion as Killjoy carefully crept through the thick bushes to the other side of the doe.

He met Illusion's eye over the hedge he was hiding behind, and jumped out at the doe. She hadn't heard him it seemed because as he landed a bite on her rump, she kicked him in the gut. He yelp, but didn't let go of her until she to limp towards Illusion, very quickly for a doe whose back leg was bleeding.

---

Illusion felt a rush as he lunged out of his bush at the hurt doe. He grabbed the young deer by her throat, and felt blood start to pour into his mouth. The doe tried to fight back, but she was powerless against the two of them.

Once the doe went limp, he dropped her. Killjoy stood on her neck, in case she was playing dead. After a bit, Killjoy spoke up.

"She's gone." Illusion nodded, and bowed his head. Thank you for your life doe. He though, before helping Killjoy drag her back to camp.

---

They entered camp, to find that it was mostly empty. What more did Killjoy expect? It would never be as lively as Night's pack, or even Shadow's. He saw Marbled and Brecken returning from their own hunt with a couple of rabbits and a crow?

Illusion and him dropped the doe off in the food pile, before he turned to Marbled.

"You got a crow?" He called to his littermate, in disbelief. "Crow's are nasty."

"Your one to talk." She shot back, "Plus I like crow."

"Really?" Illusion spoke up next to him. Killjoy looked over, and saw a face of disgust. "Were you always that weird Marbled?"

"Yep." Marbled wagged her tail. Brecken dropped the three rabbits off in the pile, before joining Marbled where she laid to eat the crow.

Killjoy shook his head, but turned to go and find his Beta, as well as Orien to thank them for hunting.

He found Hondo in his den.

"Hello? May I come in?" Killjoy asked, standing in the entrance of his den.

---

Sundown looked at his alpha. He was so majestic, so powerful, and yet so kind to him. He stood up from where he was laying down, and yawned. It was the perfect weather for herb hunting.

"I'm off to find herbs." Sundown said, in his quiet, gentle voice. He walked out, and happily smelled the cooler air. He liked the rain. It was much prefered to the heat.

He trotted down his own, little hidden path he'd been shown when he was a pup. It was filled with the herbs he needed.

He carefully stopped at the plants, and gently took what he needed, but not the whole plant. There'd be more.

I need three roots from this plant, twenty leaves from this..... The list continued. He was happily humming a song to himself as he worked. There was truly no better feeling to him than collecting herbs by himself. He liked it.

Sundown was so caught up with humming, and his list in his head that he didn't see the dip in the ground. His paw slid out on the mud, and he landed on his face/chest, and went sliding down. In a panic, he grabbed a root to a tree, and flipped himself to his back.

He wasn't too sure what to do from here.

"I'm sure that a warrior would know what to do, but I am no trained warrior." He mumbled to himself. He looked around, while trying to not move his head.

All Sundown could tell was that gravity was pulling him downwards. I can't go down, I have to go up. I left all of my herbs on the path for the way back. He thought to himself, trying to pull his body up.

He gently swung himself from side to side, before being able to flip himself around to his paws. The drop was so slick, that his paws gave out underneath him.

Given up on trying to pull himself up after seeing no way out, he decided it was best to just hang there, and wait, and if no one came to rescue him, he'd take the drop, and hope that there were no sharp rocks at the end of the drop.

Orien dearly hoped he would listen to his advice, though he was quite shocked at what Hondo said before padding off to his den. Orien wanted to say something but he thought it was best to leave his beta alone for a while. Hondo was clearly upset at their fight on the way back. Orien then dropped the rabbits off at the prey pile before making his way to his den. Once he got there he curled up in the back of the cave and let some tears flow. He hated what hed done in the past, and yet there was nothing he could do about it, except cry and when the time comes, to treat his new mate better, if there was even another time.... Orien let the darkness consume him as he cried but soon woke up to the smell of his alpha and packmates, as well as the sound of their voices. He yawned before getting up. He quickly wiped the tears off of his snout before walking out of his den. He was going to go greet his alpha but he could tell he was talking to Hondo so he went over to his packmates. "Hey, Brecken and Marbled. How was your hunt?" Orien said as he padded up to them.

Brecken smiled as he looked up at Orien.

"Ours went pretty well, how about you guys?" He asked, get into a sitting postion. Brecken looked down at Marbled, who looked up at Orien.

"Yeah, pretty good. The winters around here aren't going to be fun." She said, nodding. Brecken agreed with her, but he didn't say it out loud.

"What are you up to for the rest of the day?" He asked, standing up, and shaking off. His back barely reached the larger males midside. He felt so small, and puny next to him. Then again, he also felt small next to every other wolf.

He stretched his lean frame, and yawned. He disliked staying still for so long. He longed to run, to streach out, and just be free like the eagles that soared the skys.
He waited until Oriens response, before nodding.

"Well, have fun. I'm off to run." He said, wagging his tail as he trotted out of camp.
Once he was out, he picked up a simple, easy jog. He went down to the breeding ground, where he left himself loose to just run.

His long legs reached out in front of him as he stretched out like a thoroughbred that was eager to pass the pole first that was coming around the final turn. He felt so happy with the wind whistling in his ears, and blowing back his short coat.

His legs felt so powerful under him as he ran, pushing himself. He skidded to a stop, just before the cliffs, smiled, and sat down to watch the birds.