The next morning he felt a small jabbing on his snout, when Ryan opened his eyes he saw the grey figure of Fang Pup. He raised his head and yawned "What's going on? Did I oversleep?"
The small pup shook his head and used his snout to point towards the entrance with his tail and ears drooping downwards. Ryan looked at where the small pup was pointing and found Star Light looking at him.
She seemed not to be able to get close to him since there were a bunch of sleeping pups in her way so she woke up Fang Pup to wake him up. Ryan sighed and began shaking his body to wake himself completely, when he was ready he turned around to look at the grey pup, "Tell the others that today is a day off but that they can play tag as long as someone is watching them.".
The pup nodded and sat down as he watched the departing back of Viper Pup.
When he reached Star Light he gave her the biggest smile he could "Hello mother, sure is nice this morning isn't it?"
She sighed and nodded "Just follow me and know that flattery won't stop you from getting punished severely you understand?"
He nodded and looked around, all the wolves from the pack were looking at him differently. Some seemed to be happy others looked at him with anger and annoyance. He sighed and ignored them and looked straight in front of him.
His mother took him to the edge of where the forest began and turned around to look at him "Stay here and don't move."
Ryan looked at her confused but nodded and laid down as he looked at her leaving. Time seemed to pass and nothing happened, he started to get restless and decided that a little working out wouldn't hurt so he began to run around in the area.
After about an hour he heard a familiar voice coming from above, "You really can't stand still, can you. I believe that your mother's words were 'Stay here and don't move'.
Ryan looked up and found a white pelted winged wolf, "Oh morning father, how long have you been here?"
Moon Heat smiled and shook his head "The whole time, I just wanted to know how long you would actually follow directions from your mother."
The white wolf jumped down from the high tree branch and stood next to Ryan with anger that radiated from his eyes.
Ryan sat down and looked directly into the fiery eyes, unwilling to look away even if it gave him chills since he knew that it would show weakness. Even if he was younger he knew that he hadn't really done anything that was too bad.
After a few seconds, Moon Heart sighed and the anger disappeared from his eyes "You really are one of a kind Viper Pup. When my father tested my will I immediately looked away, it might simply be because I'm less vicious then he was but still, you maintained direct contact with the gaze of a warrior."
Ryan released a relieved breath and listened carefully to what his alpha/father had to say.
"What you did last night was indeed impressive and I know that you simply wanted to quench your curiosity. I myself once tried the same thing however the point is that since you managed to tail us without us being able to tell, it gave the rest of the clans the idea that we are weak. This can be devastating among the clans since the others might attack us as soon as they detect weakness or too much strength. Tell me did you listen to the red wolf, the alpha of Blood Clan when he gave his announcement?"
He nodded "Yes he was the one that pointed out that I was in better shape than the usual pups. If I remember correctly he reported that one of his patrols attacked a human shipment whatever that is." Ryan knew that he had to pretend not to know about them since he was still a pup and never saw any of them.
Moon Heart gave a short nod and continued "That's right, you see humans are soft-skinned creatures that walk on two legs. They are pretty weak however they have things that they use to attack us, some also possess the ability to use Magic like the water that Ash Fur makes or the fire that Sun Blaze can produce. If we attack them then usually many of them will begin to look for us and kill anyone of us that they find. Now tell me do you remember where they attacked the humans?"
"Yeah, they said that it was close to their shared border with the Swamp Clan. Based on the reaction of the rest of the wolves I could tell that they might have done it on purpose but why, had there been some sort of issues between them?"
The white wolf looked at the pup surprised "Good that's an important observation, to answer your question there actually weren't any problems between them but according to some of the meetings between our patrols, their wolves seemed to be well-fed and stronger than usual. This was probably caught by Blood Clan as well and they made the decision to try to stop them from getting too strong. Them being well-fed might sound insignificant however Swamp clan has one of the strongest land advantages that can be regulated since Blood Clan can overpower them. But if suddenly Swamp Clan began to get physically strong then that would greatly affect the chances of Blood Clan from winning if they ever invaded."
Ryan nodded and began to think carefully "Then do you think that they might attack because of what I did last night?"
Moon Heat smiled and shook his head "No that's highly unlikely but the other clans will for sure make fun of us. That's the reason that some of the wolves of our clan were looking at you with those glares, but don't worry they will let it go after a while. Point being many clans didn't think much of what you did since you were a pup but if you were to do the same thing as an apprentice or warrior then that would show me as a weak leader since you didn't listen to me. For us Alphas everything we say has to be done to the word otherwise it gives others the idea that the reason our orders are being challenged is because we are weak. This is why I ask you to listen to me more carefully in the future is that understood?"
He nodded and together they were beginning to walk towards the den but suddenly one of the wolves that Ryan had seen around appeared from the edge of the forest running. Moon Heart turned around and ran up to the wolf with a worried look "What's wrong Raven Tail, where's the rest of the patrol?"
The black wolf took some deep breaths and was finally able to speak "Moon Heart when we were patrolling the Swamp Clan area, we came upon a group of about 16 wolves. There were pups, elders, and about 5 warriors. They claimed that their patrol was attacked by humans and they were sent here to find shelter in case their camp gets found out."
Moon Heart looked shocked "Fox dung how where they attacked a day after they found out about the danger its ridiculous. He took a deep breath and sighed "Okay where are they at the moment?"
Raven Tail pointed at the direction that they had come from "They are at the Fallen Cliffs near our shared border. They were told to stay and wait while I come to find you for further instructions."
The winged wolf nodded and pointed in another direction with his snout "Good then show them the way to the Snake Cave and have them rest there. Meanwhile, I'll fly from a distance and verify that it's true. Make sure that while you are leaving to have Wave Whip cover the tracks and scent. The last thing we need is for the human's summoned creatures to track them to our territory."
Raven Tail nodded and ran back from where he came from. Moon Heart then turned to Ryan "Viper Pup I need you to go to camp and tell them what's going on and to keep their guard up in case there is an attack. After that I need you to go directly to the den and hide with the rest of the pups is that clear?"
He nodded and ran back to camp as fast as he could, meanwhile Moon Heart smiled as he saw his small pup running but then his face turned serious and with a big flap from his wings he became airborne.