A Perilous Journey (Oden and Impala)

It was the second day of their journey as Impala padded beside Oden. The large white wolf at her side had proved to be a wonderful companion, and more and more she was grateful for his company. She had planned on making this journey alone, but Oden had proven such a fountain of strength and courage for her that she could not have imagined making such an emotionally traumatizing trip by herself. Impala looked up at the sky. They were getting very close to Blutwald territory, and would arrive on the morrow. But tonight they would probably want to find somewhere to rest so they would be well prepared for whatever Blutwald had to offer them.

She glanced at Oden, ”We should probably keep an eye out for a place to spend the night” Impala said as the clouds in the pale blue sky above began to turn peach and yellow in the early evening light.

As Oden padded along beside Impala he was feeling hypersensitive to their surroundings. As the sky changed colors to shades of orange and yellow, he knew night was soon to follow. In his days as a loner, the nights were always the most unsettling time to him. All was quiet, save for the bugs and the occasional owl or fox, and every so often he would hear another lone wolf's howl piercing the darkness. It just served to remind him of the group of lone wolves that came to his pack when he was just a juvenile who attempted to take out his whole pack and succeeded with most of them, including Oden's parents. Now, though, he had Impala at his side and he found it a bit more comforting than when he had been alone.

As she spoke, breaking his thoughts (which was actually pretty relieving at this point), he turned his head towards her and nodded in agreement. He scanned the area with his bright yellow eyes, ears cupped forward as he sought a spot that would be good for hunkering down for the night. He didn't spot anything initially, but as they kept going he saw a rather large fir tree. It had low sweeping branches and he was sure that if they pushed to the middle of the tree they could sleep in a safe bed of pine needles. "What do you think of that spot?" He said to her, gesturing with his muzzle to the tree. Before she could respond, a scent was carried to his nose on the early evening breeze. His hackles instantly bristled, but before he could veer himself and Impala off to safety, a loud rustling could be heard in the nearby brush. Instinctively, he placed himself between whoever it was and Impala, eyeing the brush warily.

Impala wagged her tail as he pointed out the tree. it was thick and sheltered, but most trees like that contained a hollow branch-filled chamber within. It was safe from prying eyes and the elements. ”Yes, it’s perfect.” Impala said, beginning to step forward. But she froze as she noticed that Oden’s posture had completely changed. His gray hackles were raised and his body was stiff. Impala stepped back quickly, breathing in the scents of the evening air and now noticing the strange scent. The bushes nearby quivered as large bodies moved through it. Oden stepped forward to shield her, and Impala lowered her head and looked anxiously toward the bush from behind him.

As the rustling went on and grew louder, a silent shadow streaked from their flank. Impala heard the soft, rapid drumming of their approaching paws far too late as she glanced over to see them only inches from her. ”Oden!” She shrieked in desperate terror as two large paws slammed her into the ground, jaws snarling as the loner’s weight squeezed the breath from her body. She struggled with her two paws to hold back the fearsome set of jaws that tried to snap at her pale silver fur. It was clear to Impala now that the wolf in the bush had positioned himself upwind on purpose and made noise as a distraction so this silent attacker could strike. Now the wolf from the bush charged forward at Oden, hoping that Oden’s fallen companion would distract him and leave him open for the attack.

A low growl was rumbling in Oden's throat as the rustling grew louder, but before he could react any further, everything was happening in a whir around him. Impala was slammed to the ground by one wolf and before he could run over and throw the wolf off of her, he saw out of the corner of his eye another coming for him. His lips instantly rose, showing off his large white teeth. Instinct set in and opening his mouth as the other wolf came at him, he grabbed at anything he could. His teeth ended up clamping down on the wolf's shoulder, and he felt the wolf's teeth graze past his neck. The collision and bite sent the wolf reeling back in surprised pain and Oden imagined the wolf assumed he would have been too preoccupied with Impala's attacker to retaliate. He took this opportunity to race towards Impala and the other wolf, ramming into the other wolf in an attempt to throw him off of her before the wolf Oden had bitten regained his composure.

Impala let out a little yelp as sharp teeth slowly sank into the base of her neck, and she struggled frantically. She heard the scrambling and snarling of Oden fighting beside her and her heart fluttered in panic and fear. She did not want Oden to get hurt! She struggled all the harder, her teeth baring, until a flash of white crashed into her attacker and Impala was free. The silver she-wolf rolled quickly over, shaking off, to see Oden’s previous opponent hurtling toward him in hopes to double team the clearly stronger wolf. Impala shot forward, paws outstretched. On the defensive Impala was in trouble because she had long legs not build for strength or handling blows. But on the offensive, she had a chance using her agility and endurance. She bit down on the running male’s tail with a sickening crunch. He let out a howl of pain and whirled to face her. Impala withdrew quickly, racing in a circle around where Oden wrestled his intruder as the male chased her in fury. Her amber eyes flashed to her white friend, desperate to see if he was doing okay and ready to leap in to help if he needed.

Hearing Impala's pained yelp only fueled his anger more. He had managed to knock the wolf off of her, and she moved to take on the wolf who had initially attacked him. She seemed to be doing well, as he heard the rogue howl in pain as she chomped down on his tail and he lingered on the outskirts of the tussle. The wolf he had knocked off of Impala regained his composure and turned with a vengeance toward Oden. To Oden, it almost looked as if this wolf was soaring through the air towards him. Their bodies collided, Oden sinking his teeth into the male's chest as he in return sunk his into Oden's shoulder. Oden winced his eyes in pain but held on tight, attempting to shake his head to deepen the damage until the other male finally let go. Oden jumped back, panting, and saw the other male now chasing Impala. His first thought was to help her, but when he noticed she seemed to be outrunning the injured male pretty well, he turned his attention back to the other attacker who had used this distraction to come flying at him again. Oden fell to the ground hard and the other wolf fought him from above.

Impala twisted and turned, fear now setting in as she avoided blow after blow, each getting more aggressive and angry than the last. Any moment she would misstep and then she would be in deep trouble. She darted around a tree, seeing a flash of gray as the other loner leaped at Oden and her white companion was on the ground. Impala saw her new mission, a goal that was not struggling to avoid the blows of her attacker, and she shot to the side with her foes on her tail. She ran full force into the wolf who tackled Oden, teeth and claws driving into his gray fur as he staggered to the side at the same time that Impala’s pursuer leaped on her. The three wolves fell to the ground in a whirl of teeth and fur. Impala felt the stabbing pain as teeth met her back and bit down ever harder on her own victim in response.

Oden was on the ground, twisting and turning on his back to bite and claw at the attacker who had him pinned, when suddenly the force holding him down was gone. He blinked, rolling onto his side to see Impala now struggling with the two lone wolves. She had knocked the wolf off of him. He was only momentarily surprised by her ability to do so with her small stature, but knew that in moments of crisis even the smallest wolf could have the strength of a bear.

He sprang forward again, eyes narrowed as he saw the two lone wolves trying to sink their teeth into Impala, and when one succeeded it only fueled his drive. While they were both busy trying to attack her, he managed to sink his teeth into the scruff of one. He bit down hard, thrashing his head to the side to throw the wolf. Having lived as a loner for some time, Oden knew that a lot of rogues would attack and kill just for sport, but perhaps these two had a reason. He jumped atop the wolf he had thrown, pinning him to the ground and snarling, lips curled up over his teeth. At this position he could certainly kill him if he so chose. "Why are you two doing this?" He demanded, loud enough for the other wolf to hear, hoping to snag his attention away from Impala.

Impala felt the teeth being ripped from her back as Oden came to her rescue once again and she tore at the gray fur of the wolf beneath her as he snarled. The loner landed a forceful slap to the side of Impala’s face and the silver-blue she-wolf staggered to the side, stunned. The loner scrambled away and faced her growling. But then Oden pinned down his companion, ready to kill if it came to that, and he demanded an answer from the two. The fighting stopped then.

”Let him go! We are working to establish a territory here. And you two are from an enemy pack” The loner snapped, his voice angry but he could not hide his fear as he watched his companion struggle.

Impala glared at him, ”Two wolves is not enough, especially not if you heedlessly attack any foreigner that comes through! Our pack numbers over a score, I being the Beta and he a Gamma. You think our deaths would go unavenged?” the Emissary huffed between panting breaths.

The loner bared his teeth in response, ”I will kill you both, and fight them all,” he hissed, ”if you don’t release my brother right away.” Impala glanced behind her at Oden, making sure her best friend was okay, and quickly assessing the situation Oden was in with the other loner. Impala knew that if they killed the loner beneath Oden they would need to kill the other too… and even if they could manage it, it could cost them dearly. They needed to compromise.

Oden's eyes met Impala's. Despite his ready-to-kill exterior, deep down Oden had no intention of killing either of these wolves unless it really came down to it, but he hoped it wouldn't. The wolf beneath his paws only struggled for a moment as he heard his brother's words, but when Oden applied more force to keep him down he stopped. "We are just passing through here." He announced, glancing from the wolf beneath his paws and the male beyond Impala. "We meant no harm to you and your territory." If one could even call it that. "Let us pass through and I'll let him go."

The wolf beneath his paws sent a desperate glance to his brother, greatly disliking the position he was currently in.

The loner let out a snarl, but fear flashed in his eyes as they met his brother’s desperate look. He let out a sigh, ”Fine. Just… just let him go and get out!” he snapped, taking a step forward. Impala withdrew, standing at Oden’s side and giving him a fearful look that told him that they definitely needed to leave now. But of course she knew that her peaceful white companion would agree. She waited for Oden to let the loner go.

Oden glanced quickly between the wolf at his paws and the wolf's brother, hesitating momentarily before backing off. He moved quickly to stand protectively by Impala, his fur still on end. He didn't fully trust these two, but he was going to have to if they wanted to leave "their" territory without further injury, or worse death.

"Let's go." He said quickly to Impala, turning to leave but not taking his eyes off of the two. The wolf he had had pinned to the ground had scrambled up and hobbled over to his brother, ears back and warily watching Impala and Oden with narrowed eyes.

The loner snarled at them as his brother came to his side, but he kept his word and he did not move, allowing the two to leave without further trouble. Only once they had disappeared did he turn to check on his brother.

Impala hurried after Oden, shooting a glance over her shoulder as the two disappeared into the undergrowth. Soon they were a good distance away and Impala turned to look at Oden, his amber eyes wide. ”Are you okay?” She asked anxiously, her eyes searching the blood spots that stained his white fur, trying to decipher which were his own blood and which were of his enemy.

Once the two wolves had disappeared into the brush and Oden and Impala had put some distance between them, he visibly calmed. At Impala's question, he glanced back to see the damage on his body. White fur always made any injury look worse; they would need to clean up before they rested for the night. "Some spots ache... We'll have to find a river to wash off in." Oden said as he looked back to her, now returning the frantic glances at any blood on her pelt, his brows furrowing with concern. "Are you okay?"

Impala nodded, ”Yes… we definitely will. Finding a river will be the first thing we do.” Impala lifted her nose, sniffing their air and tasting it for water. The seasoned Emissary knew how to find water for it was a very important resource when a wolf was on the move. She altered their direction a bit to head toward the scent of the water. ”Yeah… I’m okay. Same, I suppose… a bit sore.” The silver she-wolf. The wounds on the base of her throat and on her back stung terribly, but neither felt nearly as bad as… her other most recent experience as an Emissary.

She glanced at Oden, a bit shyly, and said, ”You were very brave… thank you for saving me… twice. I’ve never been such a great fighter.” the silver she-wolf said with a gentle, almost apologetic smile at her big white companion.

Oden was glad that Impala knew how to find water so easily, and shifted his course to follow after her. He sent a worried glance her way at her response, quickly looking over her wounds as if to verify her words. He didn't like Impala to be hurt, but he supposed he shouldn't worry too much until he could get a good look at them clean.

As she thanked him, he sheepishly turned his head away. "Are you kidding me?" He turned back to her with a playful smile. "You did great. You even saved me at one point there."

Impala wagged her tail at his praise, leaning to the side as they walked to nuzzle his cheek fondly. ”Thanks, Oden. It’s tough watching someone you love get hurt, and not have the strength to rip the offender limb from limb…” she did not notice her wording until she had already finished the thought, and her cheeks turned red as she backpedaled quickly. ”Uh, I mean, someone you… care about… who’s your… best friend.” She felt stupidly shy at the moment, half for admitting that she loved him so casually and half for drawing so much attention to that fact. ”Oh, it’s the river.” she was relieved as she trotted on ahead, saved from the awkward moment, and the first thing she did was take a few deep gulps from the clear water.

Oden raised his brows in surprise at her words. Love? Certainly she couldn't mean it... in that way, right? He felt his heartbeat grow more rapid, the feeling of hope clenching strongly at his chest, but soon she was backpedaling her words and everything inside him instantly slowed. His cheeks were certainly flushed red beneath his white pelt and his tail wagged gently behind him as he gave her a half-smile. "I-" he started, but she cut him off as the water came into view. The water seemed to distract them both, as Impala quickly raced up to it to begin drinking. Oden watched for a few brief seconds, one ear twisted back as he reined in his emotions from earlier. He followed after her, although he entered the river to a knees-length before he began drinking any. The cool water felt good on his dry throat and he didn't realize how thirsty he had been. It was a wide river and the deeper he went and the water began to reach his wounds, he could see the water begin to run red, revealing the wounds for what they really were. He looked back at them as best he could and was relieved to see they weren't too harsh and could probably be treated by some simple herbs if need be. He sent Impala a reassuring look after he had inspected the wounds and let the cold water wash away any further memories of the earlier fight.

Impala waded into the river after him to clear her own wounds, and soon the blood was washed away. It stung, but in a good way. The silvery blue she-wolf smiled at Oden’s reassuring look and returned it with a wag of her wet tail. She stepped through the water to stand beside him and sniff his wounds. They did not seem too bad, nor were her own, which was a great relief. She let out a sigh and leaned tiredly against his strong shoulder, closing her amber-orange eyes and letting the cold water wash over her exhausted muscles. It felt so good and so refreshing… it was just what she needed after their fight and after such a long day of traveling. After they were done cleaning off, Impala looked forward to finding a safe place and having a nice long sleep.