Blossom's Story

Blossom shook her wing out and yawned, "Ti-be-ri-us!" She nudged her friend with a bit of a forceful kick, "Mh, wake up..." She had just come back from a different shift in the work schedule, if you could call this work since they were slaves now... but she did have some hope now since she had made a friend here, other then Tiberius. And that friend, was just a bit weird like her. But she hadn't told Tiberius yet since she knew he'd assault her with questions that were too much for her and besides.... She was happy being Tiberius's only friend but sometimes...

Uhhh, these thoughts are terrible... but tonight, he'll be happy I made another friend... he'll see.... Blossom nudged him again, and wondered, How long have we here now? Days? Probably a fortnight? She shook her head and mumbled to Tiberius that he'd better wake up or the guard would beat him.... while... slowly.... falling asleep.

*****


Blossom trudged forward, her sleepy eyes not helping in the dreary darkness of the tunnel. She had been upset days earlier when Tiberius and her had their time together cut in half due to her being put on a different schedule. She was now mining while Tiberius slept, and vice versa. To make it worse, she was put nearly at the end of this line of workers, at the far end of the tunnel where the lights weren't very good. It made working difficult.

This had all been stressful, but it did have a perk to it. And it was in the form of her new friend. Who had cracked Blossom's shell of shyness that had so far kept her from talking to anyone beside Tiberius above and even below ground.

"Hiya Blossom!" The cheery voice was loud, and it made Blossom trip, giving the guard in front of her to growl warningly at the one-winged wolf. Blossom flinched before quickly getting back up and moving to the pile where she was supposed to working. The Guard soon went back to move up and the line of slaves.

"That guard, why didn't you bite him for that?" The owner of the voice stepped forward into the light showing a small black and red cub. The girlish cub was adorable and for some reason, appeared to be a free wolf here. Yet it was strange since all the guards here acted as if they couldn't see the cub at all. "You should trip him next time he walks by."

Blossom shrugged, "I'm not a fighter. And if I do that he's going to kill me." The cub, blinked and her red eyes began to water, "I would never let him do that! I'd scream if you'd die. I don't like bullies either."

A small laugh escape from Blossom, she had never been around cubs before and it truly was strange to be talking to one. "Well, I don't think you have a choice. Remember, I'm a slave?"

The little cub's face scrunched up, "Stelmaria told me what that means... and she says it means you are someone that obeys someone all the time! Is that true?" The cub moved forward to sit on a pile of rocks.

"I guess that's what it can mean." Blossom sniffed, and pulled the cub out of the way of the flying rocks. "Do you have any more water for my plant?"

"Oh, yes! But Stelmaria only let me take a little." The cub handed a small vial of water to Blossom in a secretive manner.

"That's okay, just a little is fine.... it'll keep my plant alive at least." Blossom dug out a plant from her under her wing gently lying it on the ground. It was the ivy plant from before, but now it was bigger, with some small vines growing from its epicenter. She dropped the water on it before putting back under her feathers inside her wing. "Thank you."

The cub smiled, "I don't get to see a lot of those down here."

Blossom nodded, and sadly went back to digging and sifting through the piles of rock and dirt. She had to wonder who this cub really was and why she was down here, but... there was a certain aura emanating from this cub that kept her from asking questions. "That is sad."

The cub's ears perked up, "What do you mean by that?"

Blossom stopped digging and tried not to cry, "There aren't plants down here, but back where Tiberius and I lived, there are plants everywhere! As well these big tall ones that are called trees! And, a-an-and I miss it!" She started crying.

Oh, I shouldn't have started talking about home! Blossom wiped her tears on her wing and miserably went back to work. "Y-You miss your... home?" The cub asked innocently, and went to stand behind Blossom.... "What if I could get out of here? Would you go back?"

The question made Blossom freeze completely. "Oh.... can you?!" She turned to look at the cub with wide eyes that were full of hope.

"Yeah. Mmmmm, but I'll have to make Stelmaria do it since I'm not allowed to go up there." The cub smiled, "I just miss my friend. Her name's Blue, can you find her and tell her I miss her?"

Blossom began to smile like a fool, "Yes, I'll do it but my friend Tiberius, can you let me bring him with me?" The cub nodded.

"I'll tell Stelmaria to get you tonight, don't forget." And with that, the strange cub walked into the dark shadows and disappeared.

It took a few moments for Tiberius to respond to Blossom's kicks. He wished that she would shoved off and let him be. Even if the guards had to come in and drag him out, at least he would still have that much longer to lay still. He had hardly slept a wink all night. Keela made sure of that. Today was going to be that much more terrible being bone tired. As his friend's kicks began to grow weaker, and her voiced softer and more resigned, the young water wolf finally decided to pull himself up. Perhaps work would be able to distract him from his dreary thoughts.

It wasn't long before they were out on the line, and he was shackled between two wolves he didn't know. He didn't want to get to know them. He wanted the other two back. But one was moved to the other shift and the other was dying in the medical bay, if not already dead. Keela...that stupid pup. Didn't he know he was half blind?! Why did he think that he could guess the trajectory of a ballistic rock! The chains that cuffed his paws to the running line was awfully small target for that boulder to hit, especially when it was attached to a much larger one. What did Keela think he was going to do once he broke free? There was no where to run. The only two parts of the cave they were every shown was where they slept and where they worked, there was no way that silly pup could have walked his way out. Well he was out now. Perhaps being creamed by a boulder really was the only way out of here.

Two more boulders smashed in front of Tiberius, one close enough that he could hear the shrapnel whiz by his drooping ears. So sunken in the doldrums was he that he failed to spot the piece of crystal that clearly just from the broken geode. "Aren't you gunna say somethin'?" a young Jivanta next to him asked. Tiberius snapped out of his stupor long enough to follow her gaze, and saw the purple shard poking out of the rock. Sure he'd say something. Anything to break the routine.

Calling to the nearest brute of a taskmaster, the Arlyne reported his discovery. Surprisingly, the guards expression suddenly softened. Not out of compassion, but out of fear. Seeing the change, Tiberius felt a little nervous about his discovery. Had he found the wrong thing? As long as he had been here, the most interesting thing he found inside a rock was more rock. Now that he actually found something, he thought the guard was going to melt.

The guard pulled together his composure, and with a speed surprising for one his size he trotted over to one of his mates and muttered something. All work came to a close with a bark from the other wolf, and before Tiberius could get faced the right direction the lead chain was suddenly dragged along. They were being taken back to the cells. Quickly getting to his feat so that he wouldn't be dragged, the Arlyne tried to pop his head above the slaves behind him so that he could look back at the commotion of the guards and other wolves behind him, but he was too short. And then they rounded the corner, and the spectacle was gone.

Tiberius soon found himself back in the cage, crammed to double capacity with both shifts of workers stuffed inside. The guards said nothing about why they were brought back, or how long they were to wait there. Well, the last thing the Arlyne had expected of his discovery was a day off. He was immediately tempted to follow the example of the others on his shift and plop to the floor in exhaustion, eager to get the extra sleep. Before he did so, he stepped over the tired masses of young wolves until he found Blossom and gently prodded her. If she would wake up, he would report what had gone on. He would not press too hard, however, he knew how valuable sleep was here. Otherwise, he would follow the example of his fellows and try to get some actual sleep, all too uninterested in the gem he had just discovered.

Blossom slept, but it appeared that rest was not easily found, for her dreams were full of monstrous shadow wolves and flowers that changed colors before dying, and draining all the land of life. It scared her a lot, but not enough to rouse her from her nightmares that held her so tightly in its grip. It wasn't until Tiberius came back that she was roused just enough to awaken. How long had she slept? What did that friend of hers tell her again? Wasn't she supposed to escape with Tiberius today, er, tonight?

Blossom yawned, getting up to stretch out of her front claws as far as she could reach and... Pop! Crack! She let out sleepy moan at those sounds of her bones, the result of having only slept in one position the whole night. Finally, she looked up at Tiberius, not before peering around the whole cell to see if the other wolves were listening in. Then, what could only be described as a sneaky look on her face, Blossom limped forward to grab Tiberius and using her wing as a curtain enfolded both their heads within it.

"Tiberius!" She couldn't contain her excitement and let out the happy shout before remembering that this talk with him was supposed to be secret. As quickly as it appeared, the happy and excited look on her face was quickly replaced with one that was hilariously serious for the one-winged pup. "Oh. Uh, Tonight..." How do I tell him? He'll probably think I'm lying.

She narrowed her eyes and was quietly muttering things under her breath.

Suddenly she retreated without telling him a thing. "Uh, I just remembered. I found this better spot way ovvvveeeerrrrrr here." She moved clumsily to the far back of the cell, where it was darkest and motioned for him to join her. It's better if I just show him. Besides, I don't wanna answer all his questions.

It then while she was motioning for Tiberius, that out of the darkness behind her, a darkness that she had thought was a just wall, came a voice... "I assume your are Blossom?"

The voice was cool, female... and terrifying. A small squeak of fear erupted from Blossom, but she quickly smoothed out of her ruffled feathers before looking at now seemingly endless darkness, where the voice had come from. In it, she saw pale gray eyes looking back at her, practically glowing in the darkness. That was all she saw. The pair of eyes that towered above her, and yet, appeared to have no body attached it. The eyes revealed no emotion, but paired with the voice, it gave off the air of being uninterested. "Yes, I'm Blossom... Are you S-St-Stelmaria?"

Blossom couldn't help stuttering out the name as her fear was barely being held in check. There was a quick blink and the free-floating eyes lowered for brief second then resumed their normal height. Blossom took it to mean that the mystifying wolf had nodded. So, Blossom turned around and quickly beckoned for Tiberius to follow. Only letting out a barely audible whisper of: "Hurry!" before turning to bravely follow the gray eyes into the darkness.



Stelmaria watched the petite green she-wolf beckon for her friend to follow, and soundlessly backed away, waiting for the other wolf to join them in the shadow of her portal-like darkness.

Behind her, unknown to Blossom and Tiberius, a female wolf hidden under multiple layers of shadows was creating an opening with the use of geokinesis while Stelmaria was using her darkness to hide it from prying eyes.

It was all very drab in Stelmaria's eyes, indeed, she had known this was gonna happen sooner or later. What with the way Riko often snuck away while pretending to play hide-and-find with the triplets. And it didn't help that Riko was now a feared entity to the lax guards down here.

All in all? Stelmaria could care less about these young wolves she was supposed to be freeing, but Riko, the adorably demonic wolf cub had commanded her to do so. And like the rest of her fellow brethren and sistren that were below sane, she could not refuse.

Tiberius had listened intently to his friend's words, despite the fact that he had thought he would be the one with news to share. Well, hers had been all the more interesting, apparently. It came with a pair of ghoulish eyes!

"Whaa...!" Tiberius trailed off in a yelp.

Prudence forced Tiberius to bite off his shock. As it were, he merely stared with mouth agape at the apparition. His friend's stutter had done little to improve his confidence. What in the wide world of wolves was going on? Was this some kind of Kamarian? He didn't think that Kamarians could go invisible. Perhaps this wolf wasn't a wolf. And how did Feathers already know her name? Was this demon her guardian angel? Or, erm, devil? Gee whiz, the coolest thing his imaginary friend ever did was run an imaginary race with him, not give him a portal out of jail. Some wolves got all the breaks.

Seeing that his feathered friend was willing to take a hesitant walk into the darkness, Tiberius felt obligated to swallow his fears and follow into the shade. The water wolf took a moment to rip his gaze away from the scene and look back across the overfilled cell. Wolves of all temperaments were sprawled across the floor, some talking in low whispers, but most of them sleeping or pretending to. And yet, none of them seemed to be interested on what was going on over here in the corner of the cell. The meek Jivanta, the same shewolf who had pointed out his discovery earlier, looked directly at the spot he was standing, and yet there was hardly a stir across her features. It was like they were invisible.

His hopes of escape began to rise despite his fears. What if this really was a way out? Had Blossom convinced a wolf to steal them out of this place? There was only one way to answer those questions. Before his friend's tail completely disappeared into the shade, Tiberius gently nipped at it, holding onto the fluffy appendage with his teeth so that they would not be separated in this gloom. He wasn't about to be parted from her again.

Blossom almost let out a frighten yip of terror when Tiberius nipped her tail as the shadows encompassed them totally and what appeared to be the portal opening to the cell, closed silently and quickly. No longer was there an opening but a wall of solid rock, like that had really just stepped through a portal. Blossom couldn't help but wonder what it was that this Stelmaria had that could do such a thing. Maybe, she was like the her little cub friend who walked by unseen by the guards? Maybe only I can see them? But what about Tiberius?

Blossom stopped thinking about it once Stelmaria started walking forward into what Blossom saw as a terrifying darkness that could very be limitless. But it's not limitless: There's a floor, and I'll bet side walls, a ceiling and- "Ommphf!" She had just walked smack into a.... wall...?

"Careful, just follow my tail." The cold voice dropped a few degrees, as her pair of grey eyes narrowed. And right when Blossom was gonna ask 'What tail?' there behind the eyes, dark shadows pulled back to reveal a white and black tipped tail that oddly enough, made Blossom think of ink. There rest of the strange wolf's body stayed a mystery as the stranger continued forward, not waiting for Blossom to get up to follow.

Strangely enough, Blossom for some reason thought Stelmaria's tail was emitting light... But how could she do that? I thought she was a Shadow wolf... but... Blossom couldn't make sense of what strange powers this stranger had, and she really wanted to ask Tiberius what he thought of it all but it didn't feel right.



Blossom let a small whimper as she halted to lick her paws before jumping back up to rush after Stelmaria.

Hours had passed since they first passed through the portal, but there was no light other then their Guide's tail. And to add to this stress-inducing atmosphere, the temperature started to increase making Blossom's feathers itch with heat. Indeed! Every so often she'd rustle her wing as if uncomfortable, but to her credit, she spoke nothing of it, just continued onwards.

Throughout their trek, Blossom had begun to count rabbits in her head. 44 rabbits in the burrow. Where do they go? 44 rabbits! It didn't make much sense, but to Blossom it did. And finally, it became dull. So she would stretch her wing out to touch the wall that they seemed to be following when she realized... The wall was not dirt, but a shiny black rock that was smooth in some spots, but then rough and rippled in other spots. I wonder what it's called.

Sadly though, the shiny smooth black walls were soon replaced with dirt, and following it, they had begun to walk upwards. And after what seemed like an endless uphill walk, Blossom saw a light. "Tiberius! Look! Light!" She would have run upward to it if she wasn't exhausted from their day's fill of walking. But, with every step, they got closer to it, and with every step, she realized that the temperature wasn't dropping. No, it increased, though it wasn't blaring hot.

And finally, finally, after who knows how long of being imprisoned deep inside the earth, Blossom walked out of the tunnel and into the light. Oh! It's air, clean air! She inhaled long and deep, before turning to Tiberius and grinning like a fool. "Tiberius! We're free! Look Trees!" Although the environment which they had entered was dry and sparse with trees, Blossom started jumping up and down in her happiness before her joy was cut short. There, in the darkness of the hole they had come out from was the free-floating eyes, glaring annoyance at her. "Oh! Thank you!"

The stranger spoke, "Don't forget what you swore in promise of being set free. The wolf you seek is that way, closest to the base of the fire mountain. She travels with a fire wolf and an ice wolf, and she dons a lightning pendant." Blossom looked to where the she-wolf was pointing, at a mountain that was covered in dark shadow clouds. Red light appeared at the point where the top of the dark mountain met the dark clouds. "It is only half a day's walk. I suggest you hurry or you will miss her. Don't even think of reneging on your promise." With that, the gray eyes blinked and... disappeared!

"Uhhh, mmmm, 'kay." Blossom's voice trembled before she turned to Tiberius and smiled, "I guess we gotta go to the fire mountain then?"

It had been quite the ordeal traveling through the dark, but at the end of it all Tiberius found himself feeling more surprised than stressed. How could he be stressed, having left a prison behind! He forgot himself and dived down into the dried grass, rolling about in the dusty stalks as if he were in the middle of a flowery field. It felt so good to have something beneath his paws besides cold hard stone! And the sun! Oh the sun. It was hard to see with all the brightness of light, but he forced his eyes to stay open through the tears that bubbled through the strain. He shared the exclamations of his friend, but it sounded more like a happy bark than anything actually intelligible.

As their pathfinder spoke, Tiberius could feel him mood dampen a little. It was hard to be overly excited when not everyone in the group was sharing in the jubilation. As the voice and accompanying eyes disapeared, Tiberius turned to ask his friend what all that was about, when he found that she was speaking to her first. What? Why would he want to do anything with the fire mountains? All he wanted was to soak in the nearest stream for the next week and a half.

"Why? What's in the stupid Vulcans? Who're we supposed to go find?" Tiberius responded, a bit irritably. The last thing he wanted was to be ordered around, even if it was by the one who brought him salvation. He still wasn't entirely sure if this whole thing was not a trick or a dream, and he hardly wanted to spend this glimpse of freetime being lorded on like he was still a slave.

Blossom was glad the strange wolf has disappeared but something about how she left was off. It felt like the strange Stelmaria was still there, secretly waiting for Blossom to make a mistake. It made her uneasy, but as for her companion?

"Why? What's in the stupid Vulcans? Who're we supposed to go find?"

Blossom was surprised that Tiberius appeared to be.... angry? It didn't sit well with her as she was so used to the normal Tiberius that didn't get angry with anyone.... Well, except for Drais. She wagged the tip of her tail nervously for speaking, "Well, you see.... I made friends with another cub.... And.... she, uh, said she would help us escape.... if I promised to look for her friend... And give her a message for her...."

At the end of it, there was a huge grin on her face that hid the anxiety she was trying to keep from reaching the surface. She hadn't thought making such a promise would have actually been helpful nor would she have been held to it until now. But, she was glad they were free now. And as it so happened starving.

Her stomach grumbled so loudly she thought wolves at the south sea could hear it.

"Besides! I'm hungry and I'm sure this Blue will have food for us once I give her the message. And I don't see food here for us to catch." She had started talking as if she were trying to convince not just Tiberius, but herself as well, that it would be best to go along with her promise. It probably didn't help the situation, but she was right on account of there being no food to catch or eat here.

The barren landscape had little to no places for them to hide, much less prey for them to sneak up on. Blossom squinted her eyes and mumbled something about this Blue also having access to a bath cause her fur felt grimy and her wing was uncomfortable from having been in closer quarters for quite awhile. She wished she didn't look as bad as Tiberius did....

Tiberius listened to Blossom with a smidge of irritation. As she spoke, he sat down amidst the dry stalks of dead grass and lifted his hind leg for a scratch. Something behind his ear had been itching him for quite some time, though he could never tell if it was a sore or a flea. It always stung when he scratched at it, so he was leaning towards the latter. But to go without itching it had been maddening, as what happens when your paws are bound to a chain.

The young Arlyne could hear the uncertainty in his friends voice about her plan, which meant he might have a little bit of wiggle room with her. He cared very much for Blossom, and didn't want to make her do anything that she blatantly felt bad about, like breaking a promise. But did they have to rush out and do it right now? They just got freed from the worst torture of their lives! Sure that voice had told them to hurry, but the Vulcans weren't going anywhere. Tiberius could even see them on the horizon. And the promise at food didn't sway him either. All he ever heard from his parents was that nothing grew in the Vulcans, because life needs water to live. And there certainly was no water in those fire mountains. He decided he would give one more go at convincing his friend to enjoy life for once.

"Oh come on, Feathers," Tiberius began, his tone a bit more conciliatory this time. "The Vulcans ain't goin' anywhere. She never said you had to go talk to her right away. Let's just stay down here and find a lake or something first. I can go fishing and you can find some berries. Then after a few days when we start feeling like free wolves again, then we can go for a hike to those volcanoes and find your friend's friend. Besides, I dunno if I can walk half a day with you smellin' like that" he ended with a grin.

It had taken more than a little cajoling, but finally Tiberius had let his friend convince him to head up the Vulcans. And he was regretting every step of it. Having long left even the dry grasses behind, it was now just scorching sand and ash underpaw. He couldn't remember ever feeling so dried out, his lips cracked and his eyes blinked furiously. It was like he was standing in front of an oven. He had almost fallen into an old stone slab oven his mother had been frying fish in once, it had been well that his father grabbed his tail. Tiberius almost would rather take that one time scorch than this constant broil he was enduring.

"Pah...yeah...the sooner we gets up this stupid mount'n the soonrs we cans get down," Tiberius panted back, his speech surprisingly slurred for having such a dry mouth. The heat was draining his energy, not that he had had much when he left the prison. He wanted more than anything to relax at a cool stream, though collapsing on the ground was becoming more tempting every moment.

***

Somehow, they made it to the night, and with it, more level ground. They were on some sort of plateau, though it was probably just another false peak. A wolf-made outbuilding broke up the murky horizon in the distance, seemingly the first artificial thing they had seen yet.

Croaking out a voice that was barely above a whisper, the young Arlyne turned to his friend. "Is your target in there, I hope?"

When they caught sight of that wolf made structure, Blossom had determined that Tiberius had a heart of gold to follow her into such fiery temperatures. It was WAAAY worse than the heat of the tunnels. It felt as she was breathing in fire and not air. It made her think of how worse it was for her water inhabiting companion.

"Is your target in there?" Tiberius croaked, bringing Blossom to a stop to take notice of his condition. It made her ears droop at how miserable he must be. Stupid me. I should think before accepting freedom bargaining quests. Instant regret filled her for saying yes to that... Stelmaria wolf. Even if it meant being saved from that mine. But, there were already here, so they'd better just get it over with.

She coughed, "I'm sorry 'Berius for... promising to come here." She glared at her paws before stepping forward to continue her quest for this 'Blue' wolf. Then she wondered if she should tell Tiberius a secret about this Quest.

Continuing his steady plod onward, Tiberius mulled over his friend's comment. He never felt like he had really gotten a straight answer about who was supposed to be up here, and the young wolf had begun to feel like Blossom didn't know either. She was generally pretty straightforward with him, and he liked to think that there was no secrets between the two of them. That was a major reason why this little journey was so unsettling. He wasn't sure what was the worse option, his friend being completely clueless, or his friend keeping him in the dark.

"Yeah well...she did get us out of that place. I just wish...she coulda been a bit more patient..." Tiberius panted.

It seemed like their path was being drawn towards the structure in the distance, perhaps because there was nothing else to walk towards. His head drooping downwards, Tiberius didn't realize their trajectory until they were alarmingly nearby. His ears shooting upwards, he felt a twinge of unease. Having so soon esacped captivity, Tiberius was loath to think that the next wolves they ran into could also be unfriendly. His ear swivled. No voices it seemed. The building didn't really look like it was inhabited, more like a storage shed with no windows. Four gray slab walls built in a rough rectangle, with a door presumably on the opposite side. Curiously, the only thing he could think of in this moment was how hot the doorknob must be.

As she got closer to the building, her sense of urgency calmed just a bit, and had she been older, would have known this was a dumb move. To see a structure in enemy territory, and head straight for it without scouting it out? Ridiculously dumb. She ran straight up to it, and turned the corner to see the front of it....

It was dull and boring. It appeared to be some sort of storage...? Or lookout? What it was, Blossom couldn't figure it out, but she did take note of the round sitting in front of what semis thought was the door. So.... the door was a round stone, er, slate that could be rolled away from the door, but what was inside, Blossom would never know. For the round door was far too big for her and Tiberius to roll away from the door.

"Hmmmm, too bad you're not a Kamarian. Or a Tenneth. If you were, we'd be able to see what's inside." It was a pointless comment that Blossom had spoken without thinking. Why did she mention a Kamarian, she didn't know, but perhaps... it was a type of wolf she thought was enigmatic???

Anyways, Blossom shrugged her shoulders and her wing, and motioned for Tiberius to follow her again. They didn't have time to sniff every inch if this building...

Tiberius gave up his fruitless search of a couple of tin crates near the door, and with a bit of effort caught up to his friend. There hadn't been much to see save a few recklessly discarded bones. Whomever had been up this way had clearly taken their lunch. Perhaps had been some forgotten guard post, or supply shack. Who knew.

"I'd give anythin' to be a Tenneth right now, Feathas. Best way to beat the heat. You think your target is a Tenneth? I can't see why a wolf of any other pack would want to hang out up this way," he commented, more out of idle conversation than a genuine attempt to pry information out.

As they put some distance between them and the abandoned structure, Tiberius noticed with a somewhat eerie observation that the heavens above were dark. Being able to gaze at the stars once again had been one his fondest wishes while he had been in that infernal mine, and here he was under ash-choked skies unable to distinguish it from cave ceiling. The only bit of consolation was the moon eeking out through the dust clouds, turning a strange yellow color as it peered blearily through the haze.

"You think we are going to find her tonight, Feathas? We haven't slept a wink since we left the cells."

"I'd give anythin' to be a Tenneth right now, Feathas. Best way to beat the heat. You think your target is a Tenneth? I can't see why a wolf of any other pack would want to hang out up this way." Blossom wondered at that too, but then again they weren't Tenneths and here they were. Walking straight into their capital. 

"You think we are going to find her tonight, Feathas? We haven't slept a wink since we left the cells." Blossom really didn't need to be reminded of yet another reason this trek was a miserable choice to have gone along with. "I hope we do... It made me sick to see those burnt trees... I really do miss the trees." Her eyes were sad at the memory of tripping over the stump, but she didn't cry... she couldn't afford to lose any more valuable liquid in this dry landscape.

Tiberius let a few minutes pass before he made any attempt to reply. He was knew he was depressed, and he hated it. Why should he have any excuse to be down? This little hike was nothing. He had just escaped from a season of forced labor! No more sleeping in a dank cell with hopeless wolves, now the sky could be his ceiling once again! It was a shame that there were so many left behind in that cave, sure, but that didn't mean he couldn't take a moment to celebrate his own life.

"What'd you miss most 'bout being free when we were down there?" Tiberius asked. Then, answering his own question while she thought, he continued, "I missed hearin' the birds. It was so strange waking up to the bark of guards rather than the tweet of birds. I bet there will even be a phoenix or too cawing in the morning even up here!"

His little attempt to spin a positive conversation did help a little, and grin tugged at the corners of his mouth at the thought of seeing the fabled fire bird.

Unbeknownst to our two, young, intrepid explorers they were about to face the most harshest test of their spirit yet! It all would begin with a chance meeting, as Fire Wolf comes walking up to the old storage building. A faint voice could be heard in the distance. "Oh flames! Why is it always poor Chaz that gets the short end of the stick?!" He sounded whiny and wimpy. Soon the sound of pawsteps followed as the voice grew louder and louder, he was heading right for them! "I mean, is there even a storage space up here? I bet there isn't! This all some cruel joke! I haven't even seen a building for awhile!" He complained. Soon he could see the old building as it's roof began to pierce the horizon.

"Oh, I guess there is...but, who seriously comes out here? This has got to be the most lamest detail one could get!! Besides I shouldn't be the one coming out here, it was that jerk, Petro's fault! He's the one that called the commander's wife a cow, not me!!!" He shouted up into the nighttime sky. "Those jerks are always getting me into trouble!!! Oh, one of these days, one of these days ol' Chaz is gonna get his comeuppance!" He barked. "At least...I think." He said in a measly voice.

Soon, he would come into view of Tiberius and Blossom, and then, well, who knows what might happen?

Blossom had been listening to Tiberius Twitter on about birds when somewhere in between his words, she heard a noise that wasn't Tiberius. Her pricked up ears, and her wide eyes rotated quickly, scanning the horizon when she pinpointed the direction it was coming from. Panicked and too wired up to tell Tiberius she jumped to the side and only turned to grab Tiberius by the tail and dragged him back toward the building from earlier.

Despite being on the verge of overexhaustion, Blossom's adrenaline had kicked and helped to give her extra strength. It was just enough to get Tiberius to the front of the building when, Blossom yelped urgently, "Hurry! Hide!" She bolted behind the structure, glad they had something to hide behind in this barren landscape... well there had been boulders but they had all been too far to get to. Her heart was beating wildly at this that she was surprised no one heard it or that it jumped right of her chest. "W-what do w-w-we do, Tiberius?"

It was probably not a good idea to ask him, but Blossom didn't know what to do for sure.

His dreamy thoughts being yanked back into reality by a tug on the tail,Tiberius soon found himself amidst the rummage that lay outside the storage shed. Not having seen the wolf himself, the Arlyne wasn't quite as spooked as as friend, although his imagination was working overtime to make the unknown interloper seem as menacing as possible. What if this wolf was from the mines? Doubtful, but they never did find out where they actual entrance to that prison was. What if it was nearby?

Desperate to glean information, Tiberius was uncharacteristically unresponsive to Blossom's fretting. He strained his ears to pick up the stranger's voice on the night air. Faint mumbles. Faint mumbles that were getting clearer as the wolf got closer. It sounded like...he was saying names? Were there more of them?

"We's gotta knows what he knows...what if he's from the prison? We could get the others out if he knew where to get in!" the young wolf said after a bit. Funny, he seemed to get more impetuous when he was weary. "Besides, there's only like four sides to this shack, and he can probably see two of 'em just by walkin' up. No way we can stay hidden. Best we find him instead'a da other way round!"

His voice raising to rather audible levels, he wouldn't have to worry for long about his words giving away his position. He would do that himself. Jumping out from behind the shack and shouting in the night, Tiberius exclaimed "Oi you! Yous from da prison?"

Tonight, for this unassuming Wolf, which already was bad was about to get even worse. Talk about a bad night. Chaz kept speaking to himself believing he was alone. "I wonder if anyone is going to relive me? Bet not. They plan to leave me up here all night! I bet someone from my unit is gonna come and scare me. They'll probably say-," That was then he heard a voice, or rather a shout. As he came into view of the structure he saw the young Arlyne jump out and gave Chaz quite a fright. "OH FLAMES!!!" He squealed. The Fire Wolf fumbled over himself and fell to the ground.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" He screamed. "WHO ARE YOU!? WHO ARE YOU!?!" He shouted. "NO ONE SHOULD BE UP HERE!!! Except." It was then Chaz went cold as if he had seen a ghost. "REBELS!!!!" He screamed into the nighttime sky. "REBELS, OH FLAMES, WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE THE REBELS!?!?!?!?" He cried. Chaz then cowered as he placed his paws over his muzzle. "Please, oh please! Don't kill me!!!! Oh, cruel fate!!! Why must you treat poor Chaz like this!?!? Of course the Resistance would be up here hiding out in some old shed!!! I bet Petro planned this!! For me to be killed by the Rebels!!!" He cried and wailed.

It was then he mumbled some sort of prayer to Phoenix, it wasn't very clear but it did sound like he was praying for his life. And there he laid, cowering in the dirt, definitely not a very flattering display. At the moment, it didn't seem like the Fire Wolf was going to get up from that spot. It was clear that he was paralyzed by his own anxiety and paranoia. He continued to mumble to himself.

Was Mai'ana, the Goddess of Nature messing with her? Blossom couldn't understand why this was happening now. Wasn't it bad enough to have been imprisoned, used as slaves and not to mention abandoned at as a pup? Blossom wondered what the heck the Goddess was thinking bringing all these things toward her and Tiberius? Did the Goddess dislike her for her abnormal wing? Perhaps she wasn't Aven enough or as nature loving as she thought she was... Wasn't she? Blossom couldn't understand. But perhaps, now wasn't the time to be thinking it all over.

Especially since she was holding her muzzle with her front paws while her wing was tightly folded into her side. It was while she was doubting her Goddess that she didn't notice Tiberius moving. "Oi you! Yous from da prison?"

Blossom nearly died.

Why!? Why!? Why couldn't Tiberius keep his mouth shut!? Why couldn't he just be a little bit quiet!? Blossom waited for the Stranger to come barging around the corner and roast them alive....

5 seconds passed by, followed by 10 seconds.... Any second now I'll die! half a minute...

Blossom couldn't stand the unknowing fear that consumed and opened her eyes. Tiberius was still standing where he had been before. The building was still there. And so was her unburnt body, that she still possessed. She was still alive! But why!? She tententively stepped behind Tiberius to where the Stranger should have been... and he was curled up on the ground.... crying out prayers and whining about his life....

Needless to say, Blossom was vastly disappointed, but happy such a cowardly Tenneth existed. And that they should be the ones to encounter him. Maybe Mai'ana was looking out for them after all? But... it was sad! Here Tiberius was probably expecting giant wolf of fire that could bring down forests with a cough. She ducked her head and sent a small prayer to Pheonix, the Gods of the Tenneths. I'm sorry such a whiner pup should be one of yours. She wouldn't know if the Strange God would hear her prayer, since she was not a Tenneth, but she felt it wasn't too bad.

After a small hesitation, Blossom stepped out from behind the building and shot pass the whining Tenneth. She only stopped to motion Tiberius after her. She didn't want to waste any time... especially since this stranger appeared to be in a.... fear stricken state.