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Lovely musical accompaniment and my theme for this series!

Her name was Ilia.
Her friends -- of which she had none, mind you -- called her Illy for short, or so she told me. I remembered when our paths first crossed several seasons ago.
I was alone, my mother dead and gone just a couple of weeks before. I had no idea what to do with myself. My mother was everything in my life – my guardian, my teacher, and the one who guided me towards “my destiny.” She trained me to fight and to survive so one day, I could reclaim Riverfell and liberate the females of her birth pack and prevent what happened to her from ever happening to anyone again. It was my birthright to lead them all one day, she said. I heard the story so many times – of my father and how I came to be and all she had endured to protect me. She taught me everything she could of Riverfell’s culture so when we returned, I would have no problems integrating into a place I’d never seen with wolves I didn’t even know.
When we returned.
But she was gone now and with it, all her aspirations for me. I wandered alone for days after the flood that took her from me. I searched every bank and shore of that same river that no doubt swallowed her whole, never once finding so much as a hair of her. I always thought she would be with me forever; fighting by my side and guiding my path home to Riverfell. Yet there I was, barely four seasons old, with nothing but my strength and my wits to get me through the world alone.
And then Illy appeared with a fat squirrel in her mouth and a grin on her sweet face. She was long-legged and scrawny and reminded me of a fawn -- with her large head, dark brown fur, and big, green eyes the color of fresh summer grass. I assumed we were around the same age, though she was considerably smaller than me. She looked abused; neglected. Like she was never allowed to eat. I attributed that to the conditions of her previous pack not necessarily being ideal for the growth of their youth.

She seemed so carefree and happy when she approached me, totally fearless, while I hunted for frogs near a pond. Mother never taught me much about hunting, only fighting – so I caught and ate what I could, though it was never enough. She said she had been watching me for a while and wanted to offer some advice on improving my hunting skills. I was in no position to argue, and she was in no position to fight me, should I have chosen to attack her and steal her meal.
We practiced all afternoon on that chilly spring day until the sun set. We had a small haul of squirrels and rabbits for dinner to celebrate. We decided to stick together, at least for a while. I could teach her to fight and she could teach me to hunt. Looking back, we were so young and scared of the world, despite us acting like we owned it. After we teamed up, nothing and no one could stop us from believing we would make it after all we had survived.
Eventually, I told Illy about my mother, and Riverfell, and my so-called destiny. I admitted feeling as though, with my mother gone, I could abandon the dream and live my life however I chose to. Go anywhere, be anyone. I could be free of the burden to be something I wasn't sure I even wanted to be. And for the first time since we'd met, she looked at me with frustrated confusion -- like what I had said had hurt her. I didn't get a chance to ask her what was wrong before she told me I couldn't ignore my mother's teachings and dreams for me -- that if Riverfell was as bad as the pack Illy had escaped, then they would need a savior. It was then that she told me of her past and how she ended up alone.

Illy was born to two low-ranking hunters who hardly caught enough to feed both the pack and themselves. What little was left went to their pups, yet despite that, Illy's mother and one of her littermates died in late spring. It should have been a time of plenty, but her parents were not allowed to move up in the pack, so they continued to take only what they could get while working hard to provide for everyone who ranked above them. With only her father left to care for Illy and her younger brothers, he trained her to be a hunter and she learned all she could so she could help support her family. She was regularly attacked when trying to claim her portion of the meals she provided, which lead to her obvious malnutrition and multiple scars. To my surprise, Illy was actually almost two seasons older than me.

One afternoon, she returned from a hunting trip and found her father speaking with the alpha. Curious about their conversation, she approached. Her father refused to look her in the eye as he explained that Illy would become one of the alpha's females and her new task would be to provide pups for the pack. In exchange, she learned, her father would finally be allowed to move up in rank. She argued that she was too young to bear children, but then remembered females much younger than she being forced to breed for the alpha. Horrified at the decision, she tried to convince her father to change his mind, but she knew he had no choice if he was to provide for her two younger brothers. Because in her pack, just like in Riverfell, males held more value and status than females ever did. Their lives meant more than her own and always would.

So she ran away that night and never looked back. To abandon her pack was an act of treason, punishable by death. If she ever returned, she was sure the sentence would be carried out immediately, so she ran for days, weeks, months. Until she found me.

I understood then, why my mother's dream for me --and ultimately Riverfell -- meant so much to her. Illy searched my eyes for signs of strength and she hoped she had convinced me to return and liberate the females of my mother's pack. I swore then, to her, to me, and to my mother, wherever she was, that I would do what I was destined to do, no matter what. I didn't know how, but I'd find a way. And with Illy by my side, maybe we could do it together.
As the weeks passed, we grew closer. She was the first wolf I’d ever found myself attracted to, though I never told her. It was puppy love. I loved being close to her, especially at night when it got dark and cold. We kept each other warm and clean and mimicked the care for each other that our mothers had shown us. We became partners in crime and for a while, I’d found happiness – a feeling I never thought I’d experience again after losing my mother. The weight of her death seemed to lift slightly from my shoulders. Illy was a wonderful distraction from my pain and brought light back into my life.

Chapter 1 of 5! A glimpse into Shiloh's past I've been dying to do that will eventually lead up to her present. Loner life is not easy for any wolf, and she was no exception. A lot of what she experienced in her youth molded her into what she is now; a determined, heroic fighter. The next chapter should be up soon!

Shiloh, Illy, & Artwork © Quaylak
Fun fact, Illy's design was actually a gift from Tazihound several years ago (2012)!

Mature Content

Description

< < PREV | FIRST | NEXT >>

Lovely musical accompaniment and my theme for this series!

Her name was Ilia.
Her friends -- of which she had none, mind you -- called her Illy for short, or so she told me. I remembered when our paths first crossed several seasons ago.
I was alone, my mother dead and gone just a couple of weeks before. I had no idea what to do with myself. My mother was everything in my life – my guardian, my teacher, and the one who guided me towards “my destiny.” She trained me to fight and to survive so one day, I could reclaim Riverfell and liberate the females of her birth pack and prevent what happened to her from ever happening to anyone again. It was my birthright to lead them all one day, she said. I heard the story so many times – of my father and how I came to be and all she had endured to protect me. She taught me everything she could of Riverfell’s culture so when we returned, I would have no problems integrating into a place I’d never seen with wolves I didn’t even know.
When we returned.
But she was gone now and with it, all her aspirations for me. I wandered alone for days after the flood that took her from me. I searched every bank and shore of that same river that no doubt swallowed her whole, never once finding so much as a hair of her. I always thought she would be with me forever; fighting by my side and guiding my path home to Riverfell. Yet there I was, barely four seasons old, with nothing but my strength and my wits to get me through the world alone.
And then Illy appeared with a fat squirrel in her mouth and a grin on her sweet face. She was long-legged and scrawny and reminded me of a fawn -- with her large head, dark brown fur, and big, green eyes the color of fresh summer grass. I assumed we were around the same age, though she was considerably smaller than me. She looked abused; neglected. Like she was never allowed to eat. I attributed that to the conditions of her previous pack not necessarily being ideal for the growth of their youth.

She seemed so carefree and happy when she approached me, totally fearless, while I hunted for frogs near a pond. Mother never taught me much about hunting, only fighting – so I caught and ate what I could, though it was never enough. She said she had been watching me for a while and wanted to offer some advice on improving my hunting skills. I was in no position to argue, and she was in no position to fight me, should I have chosen to attack her and steal her meal.
We practiced all afternoon on that chilly spring day until the sun set. We had a small haul of squirrels and rabbits for dinner to celebrate. We decided to stick together, at least for a while. I could teach her to fight and she could teach me to hunt. Looking back, we were so young and scared of the world, despite us acting like we owned it. After we teamed up, nothing and no one could stop us from believing we would make it after all we had survived.
Eventually, I told Illy about my mother, and Riverfell, and my so-called destiny. I admitted feeling as though, with my mother gone, I could abandon the dream and live my life however I chose to. Go anywhere, be anyone. I could be free of the burden to be something I wasn't sure I even wanted to be. And for the first time since we'd met, she looked at me with frustrated confusion -- like what I had said had hurt her. I didn't get a chance to ask her what was wrong before she told me I couldn't ignore my mother's teachings and dreams for me -- that if Riverfell was as bad as the pack Illy had escaped, then they would need a savior. It was then that she told me of her past and how she ended up alone.

Illy was born to two low-ranking hunters who hardly caught enough to feed both the pack and themselves. What little was left went to their pups, yet despite that, Illy's mother and one of her littermates died in late spring. It should have been a time of plenty, but her parents were not allowed to move up in the pack, so they continued to take only what they could get while working hard to provide for everyone who ranked above them. With only her father left to care for Illy and her younger brothers, he trained her to be a hunter and she learned all she could so she could help support her family. She was regularly attacked when trying to claim her portion of the meals she provided, which lead to her obvious malnutrition and multiple scars. To my surprise, Illy was actually almost two seasons older than me.

One afternoon, she returned from a hunting trip and found her father speaking with the alpha. Curious about their conversation, she approached. Her father refused to look her in the eye as he explained that Illy would become one of the alpha's females and her new task would be to provide pups for the pack. In exchange, she learned, her father would finally be allowed to move up in rank. She argued that she was too young to bear children, but then remembered females much younger than she being forced to breed for the alpha. Horrified at the decision, she tried to convince her father to change his mind, but she knew he had no choice if he was to provide for her two younger brothers. Because in her pack, just like in Riverfell, males held more value and status than females ever did. Their lives meant more than her own and always would.

So she ran away that night and never looked back. To abandon her pack was an act of treason, punishable by death. If she ever returned, she was sure the sentence would be carried out immediately, so she ran for days, weeks, months. Until she found me.

I understood then, why my mother's dream for me --and ultimately Riverfell -- meant so much to her. Illy searched my eyes for signs of strength and she hoped she had convinced me to return and liberate the females of my mother's pack. I swore then, to her, to me, and to my mother, wherever she was, that I would do what I was destined to do, no matter what. I didn't know how, but I'd find a way. And with Illy by my side, maybe we could do it together.
As the weeks passed, we grew closer. She was the first wolf I’d ever found myself attracted to, though I never told her. It was puppy love. I loved being close to her, especially at night when it got dark and cold. We kept each other warm and clean and mimicked the care for each other that our mothers had shown us. We became partners in crime and for a while, I’d found happiness – a feeling I never thought I’d experience again after losing my mother. The weight of her death seemed to lift slightly from my shoulders. Illy was a wonderful distraction from my pain and brought light back into my life.

Chapter 1 of 5! A glimpse into Shiloh's past I've been dying to do that will eventually lead up to her present. Loner life is not easy for any wolf, and she was no exception. A lot of what she experienced in her youth molded her into what she is now; a determined, heroic fighter. The next chapter should be up soon!

Shiloh, Illy, & Artwork © Quaylak
Fun fact, Illy's design was actually a gift from Tazihound several years ago (2012)!

Mature Content