Quilo || 3 Years, 5 Months || Male || Strays United Guard || M: Shalah, Bardou (Ind), Alha (Ind), Harry (Ind), Loki

The husky-esk male perks up at the sound of an unfamiliar howl. His ears stand and begin to swivel, and the beating of his tail slows down greatly. He turns his head harshly towards the noise’s source (it’s a wonder he didn’t get whiplash), and spies yet another new face. One that looks strikingly similar to the alpha he had been sitting with. She stood at the entrance of camp and was looking directly at the alpha. But, she wasn’t alone.

With her was a much larger canine. One from a species that he had only heard of, but never seen. A wolf. Surprised and curious, Quilo pushes himself into a sitting position and stares after the stranger – leaving what was left of his fish on the ground. They had mostly white fur and appeared to have some rather severe injuries. He didn’t know exactly how severe these wounds were (since he was in no way a medic), but if her torn-up looking pelt was anything to go by, he assumed that it wasn’t good.

Though, maybe once she’s in better shape, we could become friends?

A small jolt of excitement went through his paw at the thought, but he dared not to get close. It probably was not a good idea to run up to an injured wolf who was in a strange area, after all. The new shepard began to lead the wolf into a den as he watched on in interest. His head tilts to the side as he watches them move, wanting to see where exactly they would be going. One of the makeshift dens towards the entrance, it would seem. Likely in an attempt to lessen the amount of movement the wolf had to go through. Alha appeared in his line of sight not a moment later, moving towards her near-copy and the now hidden wintery-wolf. She seemed to be speaking with the wolf now, but he couldn’t make out what they were saying. Not that he wanted to know! He was no eavesdropper. Not at all… Though, he had to admit that he was curious.

At the head shepherd’s call for… Harry (Good grief, Quilo. Get it together!) the icy-eyed mutt stands, full well expecting a task to be given to him as well. He watches as his fellow guard pads after the alpha who had made her way into the woods. Not long after, the other shepard’s bark grabs his attention. She was addressing Loki and… “the new guard.” In other words, him. They were to grab some water from the river using the moss nearby it. This order was sort of ignored by him. He would be conducting it, of course, but he had one thing he wished to do before getting started.

“Hi, miss alpha-mimic! My name is Quilo! What’s yours,” his tail begins to pick up his previous speed once more and his head straightens out as he speaks.

However, it was Loki who “introduced” the happy-go-lucky husky to the stranger – stating that her name was “Shalah” (Okay, there is no way that she is not impersonating the alpha. Not only do they look similar, but their names are similar… Or is the alpha impersonating her…?) and she was the medic of the pack.

“Oh, a medic! I’ve never met one of those before,” Quilo goes to speak once more – taking a small but audible breath of air in through his mouth – but his grin suddenly drops and a confused expression takes over, “What’s a medic?”

He receives no true answer from the scavenger. Instead, he received a playful challenge. A race down to the riverbank.

Loki takes off without another word – a blur of fur and hovering dust. Quilo could only stare after him for a moment or two, confused about the whole exchange. Though, no more than a few seconds later, the bulky male takes off after the collie-like canine. His initial movements are clunky and unsteady – not being used to sudden take offs – but he gains his barings a few strides in and thunders after the fox-like mutt.

“Hey, wait for me!”

The husky lagged behind the male the entire time, due to both his late start and his lack of agility. He was getting annoyed with himself and his paws tripping over almost every tree root in sight. (Just, paws. Please. Function. Don’t snag yourself on every root you see sticking out of the ground.)

Thankfully, he arrives at the river a few minutes after the collie mix… but he has to force himself to a quick stop in order to not splash in the river before him. He slams all his paws into the earth beneath him, ending up in a sitting-like position as he skids past the older male – leaving a trial of torn up grass and dirt in his wake. His ears pin back with uncertainty as he skids forth, and they remain that way upon halting. His body stops not even an inch before the water, his toes every once in a while being lapped by its cold touch.

The new guard sits there for a moment or two, just staring at the clearwater and his reflection with the same expression for a couple of seconds before hopping to his feet. He whirls around to face Loki, now carrying an excited expression – tongue hanging out and all. It was as though nothing had happened in the first place.

“So, where’s the moss?”

Brecken felt a sharp pain in his side as Marbled bit him.

"Owww, what?" He grumbled, opening one eye.

"Get up, and go help around camp." The brown female said. Brecken mumbled something under his breath before standing up, and stook the sleep away. Great. Another long day of doing nothing...

Brecken sighed as he stepped into the sunlight, blinking his brown eyes before licking his lips. He needed some water. As he strolled out of camp, he stopped to look behind him at his den. He could see the outline of a sleeping Marbled, her noce tucked under her tail, so peaceful.

I'll be back to cuddle her more soon. He thought before glancing at the Medic's den where her brother sat, a grumpy look in his narrowed blue eyes. He'd better hurry back..

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Brecken picked up one of his swift sprints, heading right for the river. He loved to run. He closed his eyes, and took in the sweet scent as he ran along, using his whiskers to guide himself. It'd been a journey from getting captured by humans, transported, and then meeting the love of his life- Marbled. They'd been through so much, and he loved her dearly.

He skidded to a stop by the water, and lapped at it. The cool liquid took him by suprise, but he happily drank it.

A weird smell went through his nose, and he lifted it to the air to get a better smell. Something was dead, maybe a deer?

Brecken jumped into the water, following the scent, and swam across the river, a good swimmer for his small size.

He hauled himself up to the other side, chills setting in. Maybe he should just go back...

He quietly walked along, following the scent. Brecken stopped in his tracks. What he saw made him tear up.

"No no-" He howled sadly before laying down next to the dead elder. He hadn't known Cuestine very well, but she was still part of his pack. He put his head on the ground, whispering a good bye to the sweet elder.

A growl made the fur on Breckens back stand up. He quickly rose to his feet, and turned around to see a cougar. Most likely the same one. His ears went back, and he barked at it.

"You can leave! Now!" He said, his ears back, and fear in his eyes.

It attacked him. He tried to fight back, biting it's legs, chewing on it's ears, and scratching it's eyes. He was no match. It threw him off, and bit his throat. He gasped for air, struggling to breath as it rushed back into the bushes. His gaze went blurry with pain. He... he couldn't breath. He flopped around with panic. He couldn't breath! He couldn't breath! He needed help! Oh my god, he needed help!

"I-" Was all he could muster.

I am so sorry Marbled. He thought, tears coming to his brown eyes. I failed my pack.. I failed everyone. The only thing left for Brecken was to accept his death, and wait for it to overcome him. He closed his eyes, slowly feeling his heart beat grow fainter and fainter. His lungs burned. His paw twitched, and the feeling of doom set over him. He couldn't escape his fate. This was it. This was the end. Breckens head went limp, his muscles relaxed and his left breath left his body with his sweet soul. This was it. This was his end.

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Glancing at the beta male she gave him a reasuring smile, "I'm fine, it's just a scratch nothing serious". Willow sighed looking around the area, she knew where you found one you were likely to find more. "We should make the alpha aware of this threat, no one gets caught in these traps. I've seen them before, there's never just one" her soft voice explained. A pained expression crossing her face for a moment, before she burried it again.

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Flicking her ear feeling slightly nervous when Brute licked her, leaning down she picked up the vole. "We should head back, best not to linger too long" Willow chuckled dryly, trotting off through the trees. Her tail brushing past the male's shoulder as she passed, swaying behind her as she made for the camp. Her mind wandering rapidly as they padded through the bushes, she didn't want more heart-ache like what had happened before. If she found a partner just to lose them again, Willow wasn't sure she'd recover. As they entered the camp, her gaze swept over the area trying to recall where the alpha was. She wasn't familiar enough with his scent to pick it out among the numerous other scents in the camp.

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Growing bored Aoife rose to her paws, deciding she'd try to do something useful instead of sitting around. Trotting swiftly through the undergrowth she listened to the forest life, nose low to the ground to catch any prey scent. A familiar scent hit her nose and she skipped to a halt, her hackles raising in alarm. She knew that pungent smell, blood, there was blood nearby. Her ears pricked to listen for any danger, keen eyes scanning the greenery around her. It didn't look like there was iminate danger, but something had happened nearby.

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Lowering her belly to the ground, so her fur gently brushed the fallen leaves there. Silently picking her way closer to the source of the scent, every movement practiced and careful. Pushing through a bush her heart sank by what was revealed to her, two wolves lay still. Their blood pooling onto the leaves, the wounds looked deep and jagged. Frowning Aoife kept still, silently observing the area for movement.

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There was nothing she could do for either of them, specially if she got herself into the same condition as them. She lifted her nose, scenting the air to find the identity of the attacker. Eyes widening as she realised what it was, "a cougar" she breathed in fear and shock. Growling she shook her hean and sprinted back to the camp, skidding to a stop at the entrance. "Alpha! There's been a cougar attack! Two were killed" Aoife yowled, her voice ringing around the camp. She only hoped the Alpha had a plan to retireve the fallen wolves, and to deal with the threat.

Brute l Male l Beta l Raven l M: Willow

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Brute nodded, "I an going to go back fir the rabbit I left at the Oak Tree." He said, "Food is food, and someone else can eat it." He said, and turned and bounded back to the tree, it took a little while, as he was afraid there were more traps. He quickly found it, picked it up, and bounded back to Willow.

Once they made it back to camp he took his prey and put it in the prey pile and walked back over to Willow. "He should be in his den, we should look there." He said, flicking an ear towards the Alpha's den. "I'll come with you if you'd like. I have to discuss things with him anyways." He said smiling.

Bardou // Beta // Raven // Mentions: Shalah *direct* Group *indi* Shadows approach.

Astro trotted after River, his bushy tail wagged lightly with his gait. His blue eyes were light and alive as he nipped River playfully in the side. He turned to watch another female join them. His ear flicked. He didn't know her too well, but he accepted it.

He jogged behind the two females, not paying too much attention until a splash made him stop. That didn't sound good... He was next to River, his nose crinkled at the foul smell... He saw a very heavy wolf, most likely a Queen of Eastern. He glanced at River before watching the rest of the scene in horror. It only really set in when River yelled for the other female to get the Alpha. He could feel the world getting smaller as he caught on that the female could die. No dead wolf was that important! Even a mate!

Astronomy jumped into the cold river at his friend, keeping his head above the water as his powerful legs paddled underneath him.

He was unsure about going onto Eastern territory, but he followed River. He didn't want her to get hurt... The large male stopped, and watched River attack the lion of the forests. He dodged it, and went to the female.

"You need to leave!" He barked, his dark blue eyes icy. "You are in no state to fight." He growled, before turning to his friend get thrown into a tree, and the cougar running off.

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Astro saw red. Without thinking, he ran after the hurting beast. Being that he didn't have an injury yet, he caught up to it as it was trying to swim back across. Once again, he didn't think. He jumped into the river, and landed on it's back. It was much thinner then he'd thought. It yelled, and strached him as Astro bit it's scruff. It turned over in the shallow part, and he had no choice but to let go if he wanted to live.

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He struggled to find which way was up in the murky water. He was running out of air, and starting to panic when his head broke through the surface. He gasped, the cold setting in. He'd been reckless.

He pulled himself out of the river, laying on the side to process what he'd just done.

"Never again." He mumbled as he stood up on shaky legs to go make sure River was alright. When he reached her, he laid down by her, still out of breath.

"Are you okay?" He asked, feeling like a soaked rat.