Terra was a few trees away when she heard the sound of something colliding with something else. She figured maybe something was in trouble, and she ran to the site.
"Hello? Are you okay?" There, in front of a tree was a black wolf lying on his face. She put two and two together and realized he smacked into a tree. He was the first male wolf she had seen in a while. She used her paw and flipped him over, so she could see his face, then she tapped on his head. "Hello. Who are you?" she asked. He started to open his eyes.
"Huh? What's going on?" Stormfast said in a drowsy manner. When his senses returned, he immediately got on all fours and backed away from the she-wolf. "Whoa. How long have you been here?" Terra was a white wolf with light brown patches on the toes of all four of her paws.
"Well, you crashed into that tree, and I just wanted to see if you were okay."
"Wait, are there more?"
"More wolves? Uh, no. There used to be my sister, Rhys."
"I mean pack wolves!"
"No pack wolves here. Just me, a lone wolf," she replied dismally.
"*sigh* Did you at least see the lake?"
"There's a lake? I've only known the thick forest."
"I should never have followed that caribou!" he yelled to himself, slamming his paw on the grass. "I see why Bronx wanted to eat eggs."
"Umm, who are you?" Terra asked.
"Oh, my name's Stormfast." He lifted one of his front paws up for a pawshake. She shook paws with him.
"My name's Terra."
"Terra, Terra... I know that name. It's Old Wolfish for 'water.'"
"How did you know that? My dad told me that was what I was named after."
"It's part of my Alpha School training. They teach ya history."
"You're an Alpha?" said Terra. "I was ranked an Omega, but I've left my pack."
"Wait, where did you come from?" Terra started panicking.
"Please! Stormfast! I don't want to talk about that!" she screamed.
"Okay, geez! I won't!"
"Oh, great!" she yelled in frustration. "My father killed my best friend, so my sister and I ran away from our pack! There, I said it!" she blurted out.
"What? What the heck?! Is that information I needed to know?" Stormfast didn't know what to think.
"Sorry! I can't tell a lie... or at least if I do, I can't keep it a secret for long!" He wanted to calm her down. She was clearly having a panic attack.
"Listen to me. It's fine. Umm... is there any den or cave around here?" He looked straight into her eyes.
"Yes, a bit far from here."
Later. . .
It was a large den in the ground. Bears could fit in it. In front of the den was a river that flowed towards the west.
"How did you find this?" asked the black wolf.
"I just came across it." The river reminded Stormfast of the other river, the one that took him away from the Eastern Pack and dumped him at the lakeshore. If he wasn't distracted by the caribou, he would've found that river and followed it back home. The thought of food made his stomach rumble again.
"Anything to eat?"
"The river's right there. Maybe you could catch some fish," said Terra. Stormfast wasn't sure if he wanted to do that. He had had his fill of rivers lately.
Meanwhile. . .
"So how do the onions work?" asked Stone. The vegetable's amazing healing properties astounded him.
"How am I supposed to know?" Simon replied. "Works wonders."
They were both sitting in front of Simon's garden, which he kept behind his den. Stone had never seen such a thing. "You know, you're the first wolf I've seen who reminds me of me."
"Really?" said Stone.
"Yeah. Most wolves that pass through here are lone wolves like you, sometimes Eastern scouts." Simon looked at the sky. "Hmm... Looks like storm clouds. Rain may not be easy on my fur, but it is easy on my garden."
"How did you plow the ground?"
"I used my claws." Stone nearly threw up knowing that Simon's dirty claws had touched the onions he had been eating.
Suddenly, the sky rumbled. "Stone, I need you to go back into the den."
"Why?"
"None of your business!" he growled. Stone returned to the den, but he could still hear the old wolf. "Alright now. Make sure you get as much water as you need. Your dad will be in the den if you need him!"
"Man," said Stone. "Talking to plants?"