Messenger, what do you think you're doing
in the alpha's den, hmm? The alpha wishes to speak with you, ma'am. I'm unsure exactly what it'll be about, but he sent me to get you. Very well. Have the Shadow Hunters returned with our son? They've returned... but have... failed to
bring him back, ma'am... Figures... Those half-brained idiots have never been able to carry out their jobs... My poor little baby out there all alone... If something happens to my sweet little Sparrow... I will rip their tails off and shove them down their throats... They will regret the day they ever came into this world... (Dante trying not to pee himself) Don't look so scared now, my dear. I have
no reason to rip your head off. Now... You may go return to whatever it is you were doing. Y-Yes ma'am..! (Loud ass thunder crack for your face) (Look at us we so cool) Sooo, have you remembered your name yet? I-I haven't... I keep trying to remember anything I can, but it's all foggy... Oh... Well, what do you think I should call you then? Cause I need to call you something, right..? I... I dunno... Fine, then I'll just have to think of a name all by myself... Eeeummmuu... Let's seeee... Ooooohh! Uh-! Cinder..? Cinder..! (Lol bye Sparrow) ...C-Cinder..? (Twig snaps) Cinder?! (Deep inhale and exhale) What am I doing? Is following her around
really going to get me anywhere? Can this Storm guy even help? How am I supposed to figure out who I am..? (Rustling in bushes) Cinder? (Aggressive bark) (Whimper) *O shi, you better run, he comin* (Yelp) (Whimpering) Your kind doesn't belong here,
you have some nerve crossing the border, kid... (Distant) Hey, Luke! What's the big idea?! Why did you just run off like-?! (Sniffing) Who's that?! Ugh, he reeks of that stupid Seeker pack! (Distant) Luke, let him go! He's innocent! Cinder..?! What are you doing out here?! Go back to camp! No, you don't understand! I brought him here! He's lost and doesn't remember who he is! Let him up! (Totally terrifying little Cinder growl) Seriously?! Are you so dumb that you can't see this vile waste of space is from Ghost's pack?! So?! It's not like that makes him a monster or something! I found him unconscious in the middle of the woods! That crazy pack probably tried to kill him! Luke please let him up! Just give him a chance! We can take him straight to Storm and see what he thinks! (Sigh) Fine... We'll take him to Storm and let him decide what to do with him. What?! Are you serious?! He's our enemy! Just kill him before he gives our camp location to those dirty mutts! I'm not gonna make the decision to do
something like that until Storm gets a view of the situation, Kalvin! Get up. Cinder, Kalvin... Lead the way. Okay! Kalvin, you coming? Yeah, sure... Whatever... Go on then. Walk. (Wren approved) Stupid Ghost! Why doesn't he get off his lazy butt and go find
the little brat himself?! It's not my fault he let his son run off! It's not my responsibility! (Chuckling) My my, that's quite a gash you've got on your muzzle, dear... It's too bad, really... You do have such a lovely face... Crazy wench! Don't you have anything better to do than bug me all the time?! I've had it with you! Awww, someone's a tad bit grumpy. Must be all the butthurt from getting your face chewed on by the alpha, hmm? (Frustrated groan) How long are you two going to sit there and chat? S-Sir..! I-I was just heading
off to go search more..! I-I swear, I won't return until I have him this time! Very well, both of you get up and go... Ronda, listen to my order and hear it well...
Sparrow is not to be injured. If you lay a single claw or tooth on him, you're done for... The same goes for you Ashton. Now get out of here! Heh, this should be fun! Anything for you, sir... Do I really have to go with her?! I can
cover more ground on my own! I gave an order to take the other Shadow Hunters out, and go find the boy! That means you are going to take Ronda, Raven, and Russel with you! If you choose to split up and look, so be it. Just make sure you find him! Shall we go then, darling? Stay out of my way... Ghost? You wanted to talk to me? Veronica, there you are... I just sent Ashton and the rest of the
Shadow Hunters back out to search. If they value their lives, they'll bring Sparrow back with them when they return... I wouldn't count on it. We both know they're completely useless most of the time. Don't lose faith, dearest... Even if they do fail us again, I have
other ways of finding him... More efficient ways... I do hope this... efficient way of yours won't lead to my baby getting hurt... Would you relax? Everything is going to be fine. We're going to get him back and that element shard will be ours. Do you even have any idea how you're going to extract that shard from him, Ghost? I don't know yet. I'll have to figure it out once I get him back. You're not touching my baby until you know exactly how to get that shard out without killing him. We lost one already... I'm not about to lose
another, Ghost! Very well. I'll wait until I'm certain I know how to extract the shards before I try to extract Sparrow's. We'll just have to find one of the other Chosen ones first. I'm sure Storm is hiding them somewhere... We'll find out where soon enough... I'm headed off now... I have something I need to do... Keep an eye on things around here while I'm gone, I should be back later. Of course. See you then, dearest. Aspen, did you get me the wad of cotton? Yeah, it's next to Zane. Thank you. So, how exactly did this happen? Well... Zane here decided it would be a good idea to dig up a porcupine den. You told me it was a badger's den! How was I meant to know there was a porcupine in it? Try using your nose, moron. Badgers and porcupines have completely different scents. Alright you two, that's enough. How would I know that? It isn't like I get a chance to smell everything, then memorize what they'll smell like! You're the one who said you saw a badger go down there! It's not like I told you to go dig it up, you took that on your own. I just wanted to kill something for us to eat! Flare brings back plenty of food for all of us, and you know that. well yeah, but I-! You're just trying to make up for the fact that you're blind as a bat and completely useless! Aspen! That's enough! (Sigh) Please leave now, I'll take things from here. Everyone knows it. Even you, Dust. I'm sorry, Zane. That was totally uncalled for... Hmmnn... I'm gonna pull the quills out now, okay? It's not gonna feel very good... (Sigh) You can say it's gonna hurt. There's no need to sugarcoat it. (Hiss of pain, groans) (More pain) (Long pain, is he enjoying this..?) (Kinda sounds like it..) (Grunts) (Hiss of pain) (Yeah, he's enjoying this.) There, that's all of them. The wounds are small and should heal quickly on their own, but, let me know if they start to smell like they're getting infected. Keep them clean by soaking your paw in the stream, okay? Yeah, okay... I will... Storm? Storm! Storm?! Stoooooorm?! STOoooOooOrrrRm?! Ugh... Seriously..? Storm..? Nope, not in here... Oh! Hey, Aspen! Have you-? No, Cinder, I don't even want to hear it! Storm! Hey, Storm! Storm! Storm, what are you?! Storm! Hey, what's all the yelling about? Dust, have you seen Storm? I can't find him and I really need him right now because I found this wolf pup but Luke and Kalvin think he's from the Seeker pack and they don't think we should help him but he's lost and doesn't remember anything and-! Cinder! Slow down and take a breath! I can't understand what you're saying... (Dramatic sigh, inhale) Where's Storm? He's not here. He left to go patrol the borders and check up with the others at the hidden camp. He'll be back later. What?! But we need his views on what to do with an injured pup I found in the forest! Injured pup? How bad are they injured? Where are they? Not too bad, just some minor cuts and bruises. Luke and Kalvin are keeping him outside the camp because they don't trust him. They think he's from the Seeker pack... Well, take me to him. Even if he is from the Seekers pack, if he was left out in the woods like that, they probably tried to get rid of him. That's what I thought, too! Come on! (Sniffing) Ugh! This is hopeless! We've been searching for hours and can't even find a consistent scent trail! Not to mention the fact we've only covered about half the territory. He could be anywhere by now. Who's to say he didn't cross over into the Protector territory? He very well could have. I don't know what Ghost did to spook him, but he was pretty shaken up last I saw him... To be honest, I don't blame him for running... Oh, please! The little runt got the best treatment out of all of us! First pickings at mealtimes when were the ones who bring back the food and sleeping in the alpha's den while all of us have to sleep outside in the cold! He's Ghost's and Veronica's son. Ashton, of course he got special treatment compared to us, but, that doesn't mean it was easy for him... Ghost isn't exactly father material. You've seen the way he hits and yells at him for messing up during combat training. Oh, yeah... Cause none of us have ever been yelled at or struck by Ghost before. Compared to the abuse we have to put up with from Ghost, that's nothing. Have you forgotten that Veronica coddles him all the time? Ghost rarely ever gets to strike him because she's so overprotective of him. Ashton, he's a pup. He was scared. I'm not saying he was never coddled or cared for, I'm just saying I can understand his reasoning for running. And I'm saying that's completely stupid because he-! Would you two stop arguing?! We don't have time for this! Shut up, Raven... I don't want to hear another word from your mouth! We have a job to do, Ashton! Ghost is going to kill us if we don't find Sparrow! Raven's right, darling. Since when did you decide to join the party, psycho?! You wouldn't want to have to go back to Ghost empty-handed again, would you? (Sigh) Fine. You guys are right. We're going to get anywhere if we keep bickering like this. It's time to split up and search. Raven, you'll search the northern part of the
territory. Ronda, you searched the southern. And Russel, you'll search the western area. I'll search the eastern side of the territory as well as along the borderline between our territory and the Protector's. If you managed to find anything, let the rest of us know with a howl. Once you're certain you've checked every little nook and cranny in your area, head back to the edge of the camp and we'll all meet up next to the entrance. Let's move. Dust? Storm, there you are! I was starting to worry about you. What took so long? Jackson, Scarlet and I spent a lot of time catching each other up on what's happened since we last got the chance to talk. They found another pup who's been showing signs of being one of The Chosen. We were able to confirm that she was indeed carrying the wind element shard. Really? That's great, Storm! That makes how many now? That makes five. We just have one more out there somewhere. The one who's carrying the dark matter shard. Hopefully we can find them before Ghost does. We will. He won't be getting his paws on any of the shards. I want to agree with you on that, but we all know there's still a possibility. So... How were things here while I was gone? Well... You sure did miss a lot. Speaking of which, I have something important that I need to talk to you about. Oh? What's up, sis? Cinder came across a lost pup today and brought him back to camp. He's currently in the healer's den resting because he has a few gashes on his body as well as a good-sized bump on his head. He came to you with those injuries? Did he tell you how he got hurt, or why he was out there on his own? He says he can't remember anything, not even his own name... But... But what? Storm... I think he's related to Ghost somehow. The scent of the Seeker pack is all over
him, and he looks almost identical to Ghost, same blue eyes, same gray pelt, darker markings... You'll notice the resemblance the moment you see him. Do you know if Ghost ever had any pups? Not that I know of. He and Veronica have been the alpha pair of the Seeker pack for a few years now, so it's definitely a possibility. You said he doesn't remember anything? Do you think he's lying about that or telling the truth? I can't say for sure, but he does seem like he really has no idea who he is or where he came from. He's very timid and scared too... Either he's a very good actor, or he genuinely lost his memory, and that bump on his head could definitely be the reason why. Looks like he hit his head pretty hard on something. I see... I'll have to talk to him myself before I decide what should be done about this. Even if he really is telling the truth, keeping him here could cause problems if Ghost finds out we have his son. I'd like to avoid giving him any reason to attack us. At least wait until he can recall what happened to him before you hand him over to Ghost. There's got to be a reason for all of this... I know... I'll talk to him tomorrow morning. It's late, and I'm sure he's probably asleep by now. What about the others? Everyone's in the den and sleeping except for Cinder. I let her sleep in the healer den with the pup to keep him company. Alright... Well it sounds like everything is situated for the moment, and we can finally turn in for the night as well. I'm guessing you're only up because you were waiting for me, hmm? Heh, you and your slow self keeping me up so late and making me worry the whole time. Such a terrible brother. (Laughing) That's me I only live to make your life miserable, you know. Huh! Is that so? Well. in that case, next time you get your head stuck in a tree stump, I'll just leave you there. You just had to bring that up again, didn't you? One time! That happened one time, Dust! (Laughter) you
