Kiska's Quest
I pointed my snout to the stars and sniffed the frigid air while keeping a weary eye on my three pups, Iota, Cree, and Nutik. My mate had gone hunting three moons ago. He never came back. The first moon I had figured he had just lost his way. By the falling of the second moon, I gathered my pups and ventured out into the vast, sparkling ocean of snow. At the rising of the third moon, I knew something had gone wrong. I swished my tail to the north and we traveled across the endless, Alaskatundra.
In the morning, my one year olds and I went hunting. We ambled upon a rabid, lone wolf. I herded my pups into the underbrush as the rabid wolf slowly approached me. He bared his bloodstained teeth and my reflection danced in his crazed, amber eyes. He leapt at me, but swerved in midair. His eyes scanned the underbrush back and forth when they finally stopped at three little pairs of ears. White foam dripped from his muzzle as he bounded for the bushes. He was after my pups! A fit of rage swept through my body and threw me through the air. I came down on his hind leg. I slashed his tendons, but still, he limped forward leaving a crimson trail as he went. All at once, he fell into a heap on the ground and went into convulsions. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and his breathing slowed until it stopped all together. The rabies disease finally got the best of him.
That night as we feasted on caribou, a distant howl reached or ears. I pricked my ears forward and strained to hear the howl again. Again, a song crept over the mountains. I heard it, but couldn't recognize the voice.
"Come share our food. We have plenty." I howled back. The howling stopped. Iota, my girl pup, looked east as she waved her white tipped tail like a flag. I looked her direction and just as a black wolf with a white mask and silver paws came running towards us he through his head back and sang. He stopped and held his head high and stuck out his chest. He stood with his tail curved like a scythe and ears erect. The sun was setting behind him showing the true king he was.
"Nightstorm!" I yipped like a six-month-old pup and bounded across the snow, sending ice crystals flying from beneath my white paws. They settled on my silver coat just to be knocked off again. He raced at me just the same. We collided sending a huge cloud of snow up from underneath our paws. We danced around one another licking faces.
Oh, Kiska," he whimpered. "I thought I'd never see you again. The three nights you were gone, it felt like an eternity.
"Never say never, Nightstorm. What happened anyway?"
"I got caught by a rabid wolf back. Luckily, I escaped without a scratch." I squeaked to thepups to come greet their father.
"Cree," he barked. "You're getting to look so muck like your mother. Nutik, you will make a great alpha someday, and Iota! My how you've grown." They rubbed his body with theirs and slapped their fore paws on the ground.
"Nightstorm,"
"Yes, Kiska?"
"Let's go home." And as we walked off into the starry twilight, we touched noses, touched shoulders, touched bodies. We were one, my mate and I, inseparable and at the end of our days, we joined in the stars, together forever.
By: ©Shelby Floth