The lake

Rinka walked along the bank of the river, thinking of how long it had been since the flood. 'Two years and ten moons, almost three years since I lost my family. How was I the only one to survive?!' he clawed at the ground, ripping pieces of grass from the earth. He flung them into the lake and immediately regretted it. "I'm sorry," he whispered as the blades floated atop the water, fourteen pieces, all but two sank.

Rinka continued on his way, his stomach growled and he stopped, waiting for prey to jump out from a bush. Nothing. He walked farther and a school of fish swam by very slowly, he could have just put his paw in and gotten one, but he had lost that hope years ago in the flood. Flashes of memories went through his mind, water surrounding him, pulling him from his sister. He could hear the waves, feel the icy chill that went through his veins, he remembered calling out to his sister. "I will always find you!" he had howled as the waters swept them apart.

Rinka got up and shook himself off. "I don't even know where the den site is yet. I've only been here since this morning." he admitted. The brute raised his tail higher than Renkai's. "But I'm Alpha, so don't even think about disobeying me. Now come here and tell me how much you've missed me!" he ordered with a smile.

"We're going to find one first, what special talents have you picked up along the way?" he asked, flicking her chin with his tail to get her to raise her head again.

Rinka snarled, this wolf looked different. "Who are you?" he growled, pushing in front of his sister with his tail up in dominance. "This is our valley. The Valley of Golden Mist. If you're here to take it from us. Run. If not," his voice lightened, "welcome, we are starting a new pack. I'm Rinka and this is my sister, Renkai." he smiled.

Rinka nodded and looked at the male approvingly, "Then a healer you shall be!" he smiled and gave his tail a wag, still holding it high in dominance though. "So how old are you, Haiku? And how did you get strange fur like that?" he looked the white wolf up and down.

Rinka nodded, "I understand. Thank you for your honesty. We were just about to hunt. There is a herd of deer over there, I can smell them. Follow me." he said lightly. trotting into the bushes. The male walked almost straight into the herd. Pulling back before they noticed him he flicked his tail, telling his pack mates to stop.

Ren nodded a hello to the new wolf and followed Rinka.

"The one laying down near the center, it will take longer to get up. On my signal." he ordered. After a few moments that seemed to stretch into forever, the buck moved and the doe in the center had a clear path straight to the wolves. "Go!" he barked, leaping towards the doe and latching on to the large animal. He nipped at it's heels and herded it towards the other two wolves. This would be hard.

"We can share it if you help!" Rinka barked, snapping at the heels again, the deer stumbled but did not fall. He growled in frustration, leaping up and biting it's tail. The animal kicked out now, sending a small splash of crimson across Rink's face, he yelped as he bled and then got angry.

"Well?!" he looked at the new wolf for a moment and went back to chasing the deer.

"Rinka, starting a new pack. Welsome to the Golden Valley." he said, kiling the dear with a swift blow to it's skull. He growled at the other wolves, warning them to back off until he was done. He indulged himself in the meat, eating his fill from the flank, down to the bone, and then moved away. "Enjoy!" he barked with a hearty smile.