Sabina didn't realize how much the vampire's presence had been a comfort until she was alone, with only the dull brown sand and the occasional lunar crab as company. She sighed as she stopped and looked over her shoulder in the direction of the village's small lights.
She should not have felt so hurt that the vampire had come to fear her once he realized who she was, after all she did deserve it. Yet even though she knew this to be the truth it still hurt.
It hurt because the reality of knowing no matter what good deed she did, she would never receive forgiveness for all the evils she had committed.
She turned and looked back towards the mountains to see the ravine's opening in the distance, that was where she belonged, among her people. However she could not return to them in the state she was in now, her blue eyes would give away her true identity. She needed the Lunar moss.
Lunar Moss was a moss that glowed green beneath the moon which could only be found within the cracks within the ravine. She had known her time was running short when she had departed with the vampire but she had been caught off guard when she lost track of time with the vampire.
If she had been able to find the moss in the ravine earlier she would have already eaten some, but just like the lunar crabs the moss only appeared under the moonlight. If one tried to find the moss during the day it would do them no good whether they ate it or not as the moss only held powers beneath the moonlight.
The moss had not always been used as a camouflage. It had originally been used as a trial young wolves of the Alba Clan would undertake in order to weaken themselves to fairly fight for a place within the Alba Clan.
Sabina knew of the moss's effects as she had eaten the moss at a young age in order to prove to her father she was worthy of being a part of the Alba Clan. It was an honor to take the Lunar moss but now it was a forgotten tradition that died off with the Alba Clan. Sabina sighed now she just used the moss to weaken herself in order to hide among the other wolves, and though her sheer size was rather large, she could still be confused with a Rivera wolf.
She needed that moss.
She quickened her pace as she reached the ravine where she began to notice the small creatures that roamed within the ravine for the first time. She felt a panic grip on her heart as she realized her eyesight was getting better. Soon her body would begin to strengthen and her aura would begin to radiate out to the wolves in a half mile radius. She couldn't let that happen.
Sabina suddenly stopped short when the breath of something sleeping reached her ears and she felt her gut drop as she looked at the silhouettes of two small wolves. It was the two siblings she had saved before. Why did they have to be in the ravine?
Suddenly the large silhouette of the two looked up slowly and Sabina quickly closed her eyes, as long as he didn't see the color of her eyes he wouldn't know.
"You're back!" Emy said it weakly but Sabina could hear the joy in her words.
"Yes." said Sabina.
"What happened to the vampire?" asked a skeptical Pippin.
Sabina tried to continue walking with her eyes closed "Back to his people."
"Oh! So that's where you were going." Said Emy and Sabina began to hear the little wolf try to stand.
"Why were you taking the vampire to its people? Isn't it the enemy?" Pippin's question wasn't rude, as Sabina knew it was rather a legit question but she felt she was being interrogated.
Sabina sighed "It was not my enemy."
"But it was a vampire." said Pippin in a confused voice.
Sabina shook her head "Being born different than me does not make that vampire my enemy."
There was a long silence when Sabina said "It had done nothing to the people I love or me. So therefore why should I kill it? Especially when I knew I could help?"
"So you helped it… because it needed help?" Asked Emy softly.
"Yes, just as I had done for you." Said Sabina with a smile.
She heard a quiet sniffle and she quickly remembered why she was in a hurry. She nervously smiled as she said "Now I must be going. Be safe little wolves."
Sabina quickly turned back to her path sniffing the air for the moist scent of the lunar moss, when she heard footsteps behind her. Are they following me?
She stopped as she turned her head in the direction of the two wolves "Why are you following me?"
"Well… we uh-" Pippin began but Emy finished his sentence confidently "We are going with you."
Sabina felt the sudden gut dropping feeling that this miserable day would never end. She sighed as she turned back to her path "You cannot follow me."
"Why not?! Are you not a rogue too?!" protested Emy who coughed as she tried to shout.
"No. I am not a rogue. I am a member of the Petra Clan." Said Sabina as she tried sniffing the air again but she found no smell of the moss in the air.
"Then we can join your clan right?!" Said Emy hopefully after she finished coughing.
Sabina sighed "I am not an Alpha, so I have no say."
Sabina tried hard not to hear the desperation in Emy's voice as she walked away but if she didn't get that moss, she would have no clan to even welcome them in. She kept sniffing the air when suddenly Pippin said "Why do you have your eyes closed?"
"Because my eyes become extremely sensitive if I do not eat the Lunar moss." Said Sabina as she began to feel her feet no longer hurt. She was beginning to not to feel the miles she walked carrying that vampire, and if this continued it was going to become dangerous to be around these pups. Dangerous in the sense she would have to kill them.
"Would you take us with you if I found your moss?" asked Pippin.
Sabina stopped short. That could work! Two eyes were far better than no eyes, he should be able to find it quickly compared to her. Yet as she stood there she suddenly felt guilty. Even if she took these two wolves to the clan there was a chance they would not be accepted in. She turned her head in Pippin's direction as she said "There is a chance you both would not be welcome."
There was a long silence when Pippin said "It's still a chance."
Sabina felt the air grow heavy as she knew these two wolves had remained in the ravine in the hopes they could follow her home. She had become their beacon of hope only for her to tell them their wishes of being safe were nothing more than a pipe dream.
She had to return to Sakara and his siblings, otherwise they might struggle against Alpha Fumus. Even with Beta Cinis beginning to look past his own insecurities, there was still a chance Alpha Fumus's anger would cause him to kick them out.
It was then that Sabina suddenly realized the three of pups were now adults, they didn't need her to protect them anymore. She had given Sakara and his siblings all the tools they needed to survive.
So even if these pups were to follow her to the Petra Clan and were not accepted, she could care for them on her own.
Sabina smiled as she said "There is only a chance of being accepted by the clan. However even if the clan does not accept the two of you, I will make sure you are taken care of."
Emy gasped and Pippin's voice was laced with sarcasm as he said "How can we trust you?"
"You've trusted me so far, so why question your blind faith now?" Asked Sabina and Pippin remained silent.
"So you will take us to your clan?!" Asked Emy.
Sabina sighed "Only if you find that moss."
Sabina could feel the happiness radiating from Emy but Pippin's distrust only grew. However Sabina didn't care either way so long as he found that moss.
"I'll go with you brother!" Said Emy as she raced off almost making Sabina smile at the young wolf's excitement.
"No wait! Emy!" Pippin quickly raced after Emy and Sabina was left alone once again.
Sabina sighed. Was she biting off more than she could chew by taking these pups? Sabina shook her head. No, she knew what she was doing when she said she would take care of them besides putting her death off for a few years wouldn't hurt.
The silence was deafening as she waited but it wasn't a long wait till they returned and Sabina smiled. She could feel her muscles relax as she smelt the musk permeating from the moss.
"We got it!" Said Emy happily but Sabina could hear her voice growing hoarse from use.
Sabina nodded as the moss was placed before her and she began to eat it greedily.
Once she finished the moss she smiled "It will take a while before my eyes return to normal, I will wake you when we are ready to return."
She knew it would take a few hours before her eyes changed back and from the sounds Emy was making, it would be good for the young wolf to rest before they left.
Sabina could hear Pippin sigh in relief when suddenly she felt something lean against her back.
"No! Emy-" started Pippin but Sabina smiled "It's fine Pippin. Rest I will keep watch while you both sleep."
Pippin scoffed "How are you going to keep watch with your eyes closed?"
Sabina sighed "I can hear far better than I can see, young wolf."
Pippin was silent for a long moment when he too laid down next to his sister and before long all that could be heard was the soft snores of the two wolves.
Much time had passed when Sabina felt her strong body begin to grow weary from exhaustion, she sighed and opened her eyes to see the world had lost it's finer details. She felt something stir next to her and she smiled. Laying against her was Emy and Pippin who stirred at her sudden movement.
Sabina couldn't help but remember when Sakara and his siblings had begun to grow up making her proud as she showed them to the clan. She had honestly worried they would feel the pressure of the clan's gazes but they had walked proudly beside her. Sabina hoped these two wolves would be strong enough as they had been.
The sun finally fell over the trio and Sabina stretched her sore muscles causing both Pippin and Emy to awaken.
"It is time we depart. If we wish to reach the clan by nightfall we must go now." Said Sabina and both wolves looked at her dumbly.
"We can make it to the Clan within a day?" Asked Pippin.
"Don't be suspicious of her! I bet they're just close by!" Said Emy as she whacked Pippin's shoulder.
"If you consider the fifth mountain of the mountain range close then yes, they're close by." Said Sabina as she turned towards the mountain peaks she could barely see above the ledges.
Both wolves stopped short of following her as they asked in unison "What?"
Sabina turned back and looked at the young wolves "What?"
"You said the fifth peak?!" shouted Pippin as his eyes went wide.
Sabina sighed "Yes."
"It is impossible to reach the fifth peak in one day! It takes over two just to leave the ravine!" growled Pippin.
Sabina shrugged "For some yes, for others no. You just have to know the right trails to take."
Pippins eyes went wide as he went to say something when Sabina turned away and began walking as she said "I must reach my destination by nightfall. So if you wish to come with me quit arguing and just follow."
Pippin's mouth dropped as he turned to look at his sister only to find the place his sister stood was empty. He looked up to see she was following the white wolf.
He sighed and quickly followed the white wolf who seemed the be acting like she was taking a stroll. They walked in silence for a long time until Emy's curiosity got the better of her.
"What's your name?" Asked Emy as she slipped beside the white wolf.
Pippin hadn't noticed before but after his younger sister had slept beside the large wolf she had gotten much healthier. He sighed, maybe this is what their mother meant by hope can defeat the impossible.
"Sabina." Said the white wolf.
"Ah…it's a beautiful name." Said Emy
"Thank you." Said Sabina as she walked.
"Why do you have to get back to your pack so soon?" Asked Pippin after a long silence had settled on them.
Sabina's nose went to the air and she began to walk beside the ravine wall as though if to introspect it's texture. With her eyes still trained upon the black dirt she said "I have to get back to some pups I left behind."
Pippin's eyes went wide "You abandoned your own children to deliver a vampire to its people?!"
Sabina stopped short and looked back at Pippin irritated "They're not my children."
Pippin's ears grew hot as he realized she only looked a few years older than him "Then why do you have to get back to them?"
Sabina sighed and went back to walking beside the ravine wall "They just turned seventeen and I was not able to congratulate them before I left."
"Oh…. Are you their aunt?" Asked Emy.
"No. I have no blood relatives left." Sabina's indifferent reply made Pippin begin to wish his sister didn't ask.
Yet Sabina explained further "They're pups from a rogue."
"Then… are you saving us because we remind you of them?" Asked Emy sadly.
Sabina smiled suddenly as she turned a sharp right in the ravine wall, both wolves were shocked as they quickly said "That's a solid wall-"
They both stopped short as they saw Sabina walking along a path that inclined up to the ravine's ledge, the path had blended with the ravine wall so well that they would have walked by it. Sabina stopped at the top of the ravine and looked down at the two wolves.
"Before I answer your question I have one statement to give before we go further."
Her tone made both young wolves gulp as they looked into her cold green eyes. She waited a moment when she said "The vampire is a secret and one I intend to take to my grave. As such I found you in the Petra Clan territory."
Both wolves nodded rather confused when the air suddenly began to become hard to breathe. Sabina's eyes glowed as she said "If it were to be found out that there was evidence that I had carried a vampire upon my back, I will eradicate any proof of such a thing taking place."
A chill settled over the wolves when Sabina growled "Do I make myself clear?"
Both wolves nodded quickly and Sabina's eyes grew soft again as she said "Now back to your question."
Both wolves side glanced at one another at the sudden change of atmosphere when Sabina said "Yes and no."
She paused briefly as she said "Yes, because you are brave and innocent as they had been when I brought them back to their clan. But that is not truly why I saved you. I saved you because if I were to turn face to what was about to happen I would be no different than the wolves who would defile you in more ways than one."
Both young wolves looked up at her with blank expressions when Pippin asked "You were never going to take us with you, were you?"
Sabina's green eyes held Pippin's brown eyes as she said "No. I was never going to take you to the clan. I did not even believe I would meet you again. However because I have seen you I will do everything in my power to keep my word in protecting and caring for you."
"Why?" asked Pippin.
Sabina turned away as she said "I know it's hard to trust a kindness from a stranger but you will come to find I am far kinder than I seem."
The two wolves once again side glanced at one another as the recollection of Sabina's warning came to mind. But after seeing she had continued on without them they quickly raced after her. They expected to see the black dirt of the No wolf zone but much to their surprise they were close to the first mountain and it was barely past the early morning.
They walked for a long time and the young wolves never noticed that time had passed, till the snow was so deep they had to trail behind Sabina whose pace never wavered past a constant walk.
The birch trees that once lined the mountain side thinned out slowly till only pine trees remained, whose low hanging branches held large amounts of snow upon them. The breeze blew across the snow spraying it upon the two thin coated wolves who shivered as the cold water of melted snow hit their skin.
Pippin felt the cold bite his skin as he walked but after a while he began to notice that Sabina's pace had slowed down slightly and he sighed with relief.
When suddenly he began to hear panting from the large wolf. She was exhausted. Sabina looked at the two young wolves as she said "Let's rest for a minute."
Sabina slowly looked about the trees when she noticed a deep trail made a day ago and smiled. It was her trail she made transporting the vampire, if she were to follow it back she would find the den.
Sabina turned back to the pair of wolves behind her who she saw were shivering slightly from the cold. She sighed and pushed towards the trail where when the old trail met new they began to make distance far better. However Sabina began to notice she was getting weaker as the hours passed.
They traveled for a few more hours when Sabina finally made it to the clearing with the rock formations. She slowly made her way to the den's entrance and sniffed the air above. It was empty.
Sabina looked at Pippin who looked at her surprised to see her ears were drooping and her nose was dry. She was sick?
Sabina caught her breath as she said "This den is a place for us to sleep."
"Are we close to the Petra Clan?" Asked Pippin as he looked around the white world around him.
Sabina looked at the trees for a moment when she saw the half eaten corpse of the Vanir. Sabina pointed at the carcass with her nose as she said "If you head to the right of that carcass you will find a large hill where the deer graze on a field below it. If you head from there in the general direction of the sixth mountain peak you'll find them."
Sabina took a breath as she said "You'll smell them before you find it. Or at least I always do."
Pippin nodded as he watched Sabina take a hold of Emy's scruff who had collapsed next to him, and dragged her through the snow to the den's entrance. Sabina placed the young wolf down as she panted when suddenly a chill ran down her back. There behind Emy's ear were white boils.
Sabina stood up and looked at Pippin "How long has she been sick?"
Pippin suddenly felt he was being interrogated as he said "Why what-"
"How long?!" Growled Sabina and the young wolf jumped back as he quickly said "A day or two!"
Sabina gave an exasperated sigh and Pippin quickly asked "Why?!"
Sabina looked at Emy only to close her eyes for a second before looking at him "It's Moss Fever."
"What?! What's Moss Fever?" gasped Pippin as he looked at his sister with concern.
Sabina quickly picked up Emy and began dragging her to the bottom of the den, where once at the bottom Sabina scrunched herself up around Emy who mumbled feverish words.
Sabina laid there gasping for breath for a moment when she said "It's a sickness one will get if they eat the Lunar Moss during the day."
"Then why are you sick?" Asked Pippin as Sabina began to slow her breathing.
It took a moment but once Sabina caught her breath she said "Any person who eats the Lunar Moss are susceptible to Moss Fever but the severity of the fever varies greatly."
"But you seem sicker than Emy and she's had Moss Fever longer." Said Pippin as he went to move into the den but Sabina shook her head.
"You can't stay." Said Sabina between breaths.
"What?! But you said it only affects wolves who ate the moss!" Protested Pippin and Sabina sighed "I did, but that's not why I am telling you that you can't stay."
"Wait but-" Sabina weakly growled and Pippin fell silent.
"You must go to the clan and ask for Quinn." Said Sabina drowsily and Pippin's gut dropped.
"Are you trying to get me killed?!" Demanded Pippin and Sabina's eyes began to droop.
"Sabina!" Cried Pippin and Sabina's eyes opened a bit wider.
"Hmm?" Asked Sabina and Pippin's eyes went wide.
"I'll go to the clan! Just stay awake or my sister might die!" Cried Pippin as he noticed the den was getting hotter by the minute.
Sabina chuckled "If you continue to stay here…you won't have to worry about me staying awake."
Seconds after she finished her sentence her eyes rolled into her skull and her head made a dull thud as it impacted the ground.
"Sabina? Sabina?!" Pippin tried nudging the large white wolf awake but all Sabina did was breathe softly.
"I'll be right back! Please just don't die!" Pippin crawled out of the tunnel and raced off in the direction Sabina had said the Clan was.
Please be okay Emy! Please be okay! Was all Pippin could think as he raced through the tree forest when he broke through the trees to see he was on a large hill.
He looked below to see a large herd of deer who seemed to be eating the snow and grass leisurely. This was that hill Sabina mentioned and he quickly looked for the sixth mountain peak. He quickly found it and raced in that direction jumping over trunks and frozen creeks as he went until eventually he found the scent of wolf.
He smiled as he raced through the forest as the smell seemed to fill all his senses. He had found them! He quickly found a large ravine that made a clear path to the heavy smell of wolves.
He almost raced into the ravine when suddenly he was air born before impacting into the snow. He laid there dazed looking up at the gray sky above when suddenly his view was blocked with the image of a brown wolf's face.
The wolf bared it's teeth at him and he felt his gut drop as the wolf looked at him coldly with its baby blue eyes.
"What is a rogue doing near the Petra Clan?" Growled the wolf.
The voice was deep and menacing but as the image of Emy filled Pippin's mind he quickly said "Are you part of the Petra Clan?!"
"Maybe." Growled another voice and Pippin looked past the brown wolf to see a pure gray wolf who had deep blue eyes not far away"
"What business do you have with the Petra Clan?" growled the brown wolf again.
Pippin fell silent what did Maybe mean?
"Let's just kill it." Growled another voice and Pippin looked over to see a rather large gray wolf with white paws looking at him with bored blue eyes. The wolf wasn't as tall as Sabina but he towered over his companions by a few inches.
"Wait!" Gasped Pippin.
"Get off him Omaris." said the pure gray wolf and the brown wolf begrudgingly got off Pippin.
"So what business do you have with the Petra clan-" the gray wolf left the sentence hanging.
"Pippin." Said Pippin as he looked at the three wolves.
They all had blue eyes. He took a deep breath as he said "I am looking for a wolf called Quinn."
"Quinn?" Asked the gray wolf as the other two glanced at each other.
"Why do you need Quinn?" Asked the larger gray wolf.
"I don't know but she said I needed to find Quinn from the Petra Clan." said Pippin who slowly got to his feet trying to avoid being tackled again.
"She?" Asked Omaris as he looked at Pippin.
"What would a rogue have to do with Quinn? Let's just kill him." growled the large gray wolf.
"What? Are you hungry for rogue meat?" asked the pure gray wolf.
"Well I didn't get breakfast, Alpha Fenar." chuckled the large wolf.
Alpha? That must mean this young gray wolf was the Alpha of the Petra Clan! Pippin felt his heart jump into his throat as he took a step towards the pure gray wolf.
"So you're the Alpha?" asked Pippin.
There was a brief silence when Alpha Fenar said "I am an Alpha."
"Then you can help my sister?!" pleaded Pippin.
Alpha Fenar cocked his head as he asked "Help your sister?"
"Why would you need help with your sister?" asked Omaris.
"She said my sister has Moss Fever! That's why she told me to find Quinn!" Cried Pippin.
Omaris looked Pippin dead in the eye "Who's SHE?"
"She said her name was Sabina!" Shouted Pippin.
Suddenly the air became quiet as all three wolves stared at him with wide eyes. Pippin stared at them dumbfounded did that white wolf mean so much to these wolves?
And if she knew that why did she leave them to take a vampire back to it's people?