Just by the northern gate of Mist-Veil village there stood a large building full of fortifications that lined the walls just by the entrance, this was the northern guard barracks where the guards on active shift slept between rounds and also where a lot of backup equipment and large pieces of equipment are stored.
"Rawwwwr" Within a large, fenced area even larger than the barracks itself was a bunch of large animals with pure white fur, the largest was laying on its side whilst letting off a large yawn and watching the smaller ones running around.
This was an enclosure for the Ghost Wolves that the guard uses as partners to assist their round and navigate Mist-Sea Forest, they're a particularly intelligent species of wolves which seem to be able to understand simple communication from humans to a degree, more than your average house dog, they've developed a symbiotic relationship with the village, they help with guiding people around the forest and assisting with the patrols while the village provides them a safe home and carers for the mothers and cubs, one such person was currently standing in front of a pack of cubs which were staring it him with great interest.
"Okay, Sit!" He spoke in a loud clear voice that easily echoed in the cubs' ears, they each responded by placing their bottoms on the ground and paying their instructor attention with clear eyes.
"Crawl!" They each laid on the floor as close as they could, almost looking like they had their paws covering their ears which were seemingly too large for their small heads.
"Stand!" They all stood to attention "Howl!" """AWOOOOOOOO""" A resonant howl travelled through the area entering everyone's ears.
The boy nodded with a smile and spoke: "Good, you guys learn quickly!" His shabby black hair that seemed to have a life of its own shook as he nodded, with some freckles adorning his face his appearance looked incredibly young.
He clapped his hands sending the cubs away while saying "Well done little ones, we're done for this morning so go eat!" All of the cubs' ears eagerly perked up as they ran towards another area which someone else was putting out a large bowl and filling it with food for them.
He smiled watching them run over in a uniform pack before stuffing their faces.
'It's about time for the next shift to start I think?' he wondered while looking at the increasingly bright sky that was peeking through the veil of mist.
The larger wolf walked over before placing itself next to the boy and seemingly grumbling to him.
"Ah Alpha, what's wrong?" He asked the large white ball of fluff while stroking its snowy fur before realising "Oh, is she not listening to you again?" He asked with a wry smirk.
Alpha, the large ghost wolf was the current pack leader, for ghost wolves their leader was always female, their ratio of male to female was very low for every 19 or so males a female would be birthed, and females had a larger stature but almost always stay back in the main nest or hideout that the pack lives in and raises the newer generations, as for the males they took almost all the other positions in the pack, they were smaller and slimmer but were more ferocious when they need to be.
Hearing the boy hit the nail on the head, her head almost dropped as she gazed over to the entrance to the enclosure, there sat a cub slightly bigger than the rest but that wasn't all, instead of having silver eyes like normal ghost wolves it had clear blue eyes like ice crystals and some tufts of fur had a blue tinge on her, it was the first time such a pup was birthed in this pack but mutations weren't entirely unknown in the world.
The white-blue cub was staring out the enclosure fence, not at anything in particular just in the direction of the large main gate or rather what lay behind it, a hint of listlessness passing over its tiny face.
It should be noted that the wolves weren't confined to the enclosure, if they wanted to leave, they can it's just safer inside, while there isn't too much in the way of danger out in the forest one can never be too safe, at most there are other beasts the size and threat of the ghost wolves.
Just then the gate to the enclosure opened and a girl with bright red hair walked in fully geared and glanced in the direction of the little white-blue wolf.
"What's up with the blue one? She looks like she wants something" The girl, Vanessa who just finished her morning walk and free bread asked casually.
"I'm not sure really, she doesn't seem to want to play with the other cubs or have much interest in anything else, she's still too young to leave this place as well…" The boy was someone Vanessa knew, Reece, the smaller boy who was in the bar last night.
He wasn't part of the official guard since he was still slightly too young at the age of 15, but his exceptional skills at caring for and raising the ghost wolves netted him a job in the enclosure to look after and help them.
Vanessa's interest was piqued and she strode on over to the little cub and crouched down next to it.
"Hey" No response
"Heeeeeey" Still no response, she poked its little cheeks but that still left its gaze undisturbed.
Deciding to push even further the little wolf ended up falling on its side in a rather unimpressive manner yet its stare never left the gate.
Vanessa saw its unresponsiveness and just shrugged, rubbed its head and walked off.
"Do you think it senses something?" She asked Reece who had taken out a brush and was grooming Alpha's fur.
"Maybe…" He said, brushing the fur in long strokes as Alpha rolled on its side to bask in the pleasure before he continued: "She's definitely a special one, but I'm not sure just what is 'special' about her, apart from the colouring of course"
'Maybe it has something to do with what happened the other day?' Vanessa thought while watching the cub stare infinitely at the gate before shrugging in her mind 'Whatever, we will see eventually'
"Is Guts prepped?" She asked Reece who was busy removing large tufts of fur that quickly clogged up the brush.
"Yeah, he's long since ready to go, I think he should be waiting by the front gate already?" Reece said pointing towards the entrance.
"Nice, thanks, I'll probably see you later then." Vanessa said waving goodbye half-heartedly while turning towards the exit.
"Miss Vanessa!" Reece called out in a slightly panicked voice.
"What is it?" She didn't think she'd forgotten something.
"Oh... I wanted to say be careful, I know you're strong, but I don't like what I've heard recently…" He had a worried look on his face, he didn't know what it was but along with the wolves he had a sixth sense that was sending alarms within the past week or so.
"Ah, I'll be fine Reece don't worry, I'm quite durable you know" She smirked before walking off again.
'That self-confidence is what makes me worried…' Reece though as he felt a headache coming on.
… … …
By the north gate to the village a group of people geared up with armour and weapons were gathering together, along with them there was a bunch of Ghost Wolves, one per person.
Once a ghost wolf meets maturity they are given a name, either by their carer or their partner, when they come of age they see if they work well with any active guard that doesn't have a wolf partner and if they do, the partner grants it a name and they work together as a pair during duties, however if they can't find a match they are given a name by the carer, in this case Reece, and are assigned to assist the patrols as free units not assigned to a particular partner.
As Vanessa exited the gate and stepped outside, she quickly heard a bark and turned to see where it was coming from.
There stood a wolf that reached just past her waist with the signature white fur, except a couple of nicks and cuts out of both its ears and its scar crossing over its right eye, it was also wearing some basic armour that wasn't too heavy and was pretty light, mostly for minor protection and some bags for carrying small items.
This ghost wolf was Guts, the partner that Vanessa picked, he was one of the older wolves in the pack currently just over 8 years and was one of the most experienced, before Vanessa his last partner was her father before he passed away.
Guts quickly ran up to Vanessa and stood proud in front of her, of course she gave him a pat on the head, as scary as he looked, he was a big softie in front of her.
"You ready then?" She asked with a smile, the wolf seemed to have a glimmer in its eye as it nodded slightly.