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No lie, I listened to this song the ENTIRE TIME I worked on the art for this!

One Year Later.
She'd been having nightmares .
I could hear Alice in the night; crying out, frightened. When I would wake her, she would never speak to me or tell me what horrid terrors were robbing her of sleep. She seemed angry, lost, and scared. I knew it was taking its toll on her. She seemed more tired by the day, until finally, she came to me to talk.
We were all headed back to our makeshift den, tired after a day of hunting and scouting. Alice pulled me aside to speak privately and admitted that she was planning to leave us that night and would not be returning with the rest of the group. Before I could protest, she explained that her nightmares were generated by fear -- fear that she was not safe out here and that she should have remained in Vale. I asked her what, exactly, she needed safety from, but she refused to say; just as she refused to tell me of her dreams.
Of all of the females in our group, I knew Alice had grown closest to me since that day I found her outside Vale's borders; which was really saying something considering she didn't seem too keen on speaking to me about much at all a majority of the time. But she proved she cared enough to at least warn me before she disappeared, as she knew we had all grown close to one another the last several months and would have worried about her if she suddenly vanished without a word.
I appreciated her honesty, but assured her she owed me nothing -- no allegiance or loyalty, as I was no leader or ruler over her. If she wanted to leave, she had my blessing. All I asked of her was to wait until morning rather than travel alone through the night. Whatever haunted her dreams and threatened her feelings of safety when she was not asleep could very well be out there. I just wish I knew what she was facing so I could help her.
To my surprise, she agreed to stay until morning. I told her I wasn't ready for sleep yet and would instead, spend part of the evening hunting for something she could eat before her journey back to Vale, or wherever it was she would feel safer. We parted ways just as night began to settle in; her heading back to the den and me into the woods.
As I carried on through the forest, I thought about each of the wolves who traveled with me. They had become my makeshift family over the last year since I lost Illy to what I later learned was an assassin. I had to speak to a crow, who heard it from a fox, that the wolf who killed her was hired by her old pack in an effort to deliver her punishment for her betrayal in person. As if I hadn't believed her before, I was certain then that Illy's pack truly was awful. She had been a nothing, a nobody. A sickly, weak little female with a big head and stick legs that I just happened to adore. She wasn't worth killing, yet they took the time and spent the resources to make sure she would NEVER live a happy life outside of the pack. Despite escaping them, she still managed to find a horrible fate. They made sure of that.
I remember feeling sick for days after I'd found out the truth.

My mind flashed backed to that day. I saw her eyes again, clear as day. I remembered the blood, the sound of her little whimpers as he choked the life out of her. The pain of his teeth in my body as we fought. The stench of him as we wrestled. The icy chill of the river water. My blurred vision as I tried to swim back to shore.

I could feel my jaw tighten and teeth clamp together as my entire body tensed. It had been so long since I'd thought of that day. It took the passing of a cool, late-winter breeze to soothe the heat that began to take over my muscles in my anger. Carried on that wind, however, was a scent I thought had jumped right out of my memories. To call it a scent was actually too kind. No, this was a stench. It was a smell I'd experienced only once, and what were the odds that it would find my nose again that night?

There was no question, it was the assassin. Somewhere in that forest, he was with me -- no doubt coming back to tie up loose ends and kill me. I stopped immediately and tasted the wind again with my nose. It didn't make sense at first. How was it possible that he had been so careless as to travel downwind of me? Even a horrible hunter like myself knew better than to make such a mistake when hunting their prey. Unless of course, I was not his target.

Alice!

It all made sense now. All her fear and anxiety had to be linked to him. Why else would he be here? Her wanting to leave so suddenly out of concern for her safety had to be connected. There was no way I was going to let her suffer the same fate as Illy. Not tonight. Not ever.

My heart beat hard and fast in my chest as I ran, fueling my body full of fiery blood laced with adrenaline. I could practically taste the sweet tang of revenge on my tongue. I wasn't the same weak, untrained yearling with nothing but a scrawny little female to keep me going in life. I had a purpose now, as well as a family of friends to protect. I had strength on my side and the spirit of Illy to guide me to him. By the time my eyes fell upon his familiar backside, he had already attacked Alice before she had made it back to the den. I didn't know the extent of the damage he had caused to her and wasted no time reintroducing myself. In fact, I had only one question for him when I felt my paws and claws collide with his back and forcing him off of her.

"Remember me?"

Nothing more was said after that. We were nothing but a mess of teeth and flying fur, snarls and snaps of teeth, yowels of pain as jaws found flesh, and splattering blood when skin ripped open. I couldn't feel anything, admittedly. All I could think was that he was so much smaller than I remembered. Heavy, yes, but no longer some invincible mountain. My mother's voice was overshadowed this time by Magnus's coaching in my mind. Stay light on your feet. Don't lock your legs. Keep your throat out of reach. Always protect yourself. For a moment, I had seen Alice out of the corner of my eye. She looked so small and scared, and for the briefest of moments, I could see my Illy in her eyes. Only this time, there was still life behind them that begged to be protected. It gave me strength to keep going, keep fighting, to know that if I stopped, he would win again. If he defeated me, two would die tonight. I was not having it.

At one point, I got the upper paw. He was tiring, I could feel it. Maybe he had experienced injuries over the last year that impaired him? Whatever the reason, I took advantage of it. When he finally fell, my teeth found his throat.

But something happened. I lost my grip almost as soon as I'd found it and felt myself being pulled away from him. Something had tackled me hard from the side, blindsiding me and knocking me over onto the ground. I thought the assassin had reinforcements, but to my shock and horror, the wolf who had me pinned down was Magnus.

"Damn you, get off me!" He didn't budge and continued to restrain me despite my snapping jaws and kicking legs. I'll admit I was having a tantrum -- complete with screaming. "He killed her! He killed Illy and now he wants Alice!"

I wasn't a child anymore or some novice. While I had a momentary meltdown at being pulled away from executing what was probably a mass murderer, I managed to get control of my thoughts again and remember my training. I twisted my body and used my hind legs to force him off of me. I was on my feet staring him down within seconds. He was in my way.

"Illy wouldn't have wanted you to do this, Shiloh."

"You don't know her Magnus. Don't you try and pretend like you know a damn thing about her. I loved her and she's DEAD. Now get out of my way!"

"You're better than this. You're stronger than this. Killing him won't bring her back. If you do this, you're no better than he is."

Gritting my teeth so hard I worried they may shatter, I could feel my blood boiling. I hated Magnus almost more than the assassin lying half dead behind him for stopping me, but I knew deep down, he was right. Sure, he wouldn't have been the first I had killed, but making this a habit would not be a good road to travel down, I hated to admit. The angry, raging wolf in my mind wanted to kill him more than any other beast I'd ever encountered. I knew if I let him go, there was the possibility that he would kill someone else's Illy, or possibly come back for Alice. How could I let him go knowing he was still a risk?

I decided to leave it to fate to decide.

"Stay out of my way, Magnus. This bastard is coming with me." Before Magnus could react, my teeth found the assassin's thick neck again. My rage made the daunting task of dragging the large male feel almost effortless. Almost. I made it a point not to be gentle about it and didn't bother to make sure he didn't hit every tree and sharp boulder on my way through the forest. Magnus followed me, but didn't interfere. And for once, he didn't say a word to me. I think he knew better than to interrupt me twice. I only stopped when I reached the edge of a river we'd visited only hours before. While the ice had melted in the last few days, the temperature of the water was anything but tepid. I dropped my enemy and stared at him with disgust.

"Wake up!" I yelled before sending a paw across his face. It didn't matter if he had already been awake, as the impact felt good and I wanted his full attention. "I want you to hear me."

As soon as his eyes met mine, I continued. "I'm letting you live today, which is more than I can say for all those you've killed, including my Illy. Your life now belongs to me. And I swear to you, on everything in the heavens above and hell below, that if I ever see you, smell you, or hear word of you, I will find you and claim what is mine. And should that day ever come, you'll wish I'd have killed you today."

I didn't wait for him to nod, speak, or even blink his agreement to my promise. Instead, I grabbed hold of his scruff and in one swift motion, tossed his battered body into the river below. The current, while not nearly as swift as the one I'd had to fight against when the tables were turned a year ago, still worked to carry him away from me. My chest heaved as my eyes never left him. I could feel my wounds bleed and drip down my legs as I watched him grow smaller and smaller, all the while quietly hoping his head would disappear beneath the current and the river would end him for me. But it didn't. Instead, the river had chosen to let him live.

I waited until he was out of sight before I could feel my eyes fill with tears; tears of anger, tears of joy, tears of relief.

It was over.

Chapter 3 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.

I HOPE YOU GUYS HAVE ENJOYED THIS. I AM VERY PROUD OF IT ALL. ;A;

Man oh man, what a fun ride this has been! I'm so grateful I finally had the time to dedicate to this mini project, as it's been a story I've wanted to tell since last summer. I loved being able to tell it from Shiloh's perspective, too, as it was cool to be able to get in her head and let you guys see how she thinks and feels and explore her personality at the same time that we're seeing her past.

I was also thrilled to be able to truly utilize my "expedited RP " concept with this project, too! The original plan was to RP all of this and maybe do some art, but considering how much I LOVE writing, I thought it would be much faster and easier if I wrote the entire story (and having every draft approved by Hirv and Vera so I made sure to properly represent their characters), then collabed the art. That way everyone gets credit AND character development in a much faster amount of time.

A big special thanks and TONS of love to my pals YazukyYuu and Hirvlased for lending me their beautiful characters to help tell Shiloh's story! You guys are the best and I seriously appreciate your helping me with this project. I'm so glad we were able to explore each other's characters with this! Just like the chapter before this, the artwork was a collaboration between all three of us! I did the initial sketch, shading, and BG while Hirv and Vera inked and flat-colored everything. c:

It was completely unintentional that both Shiloh and Alice's stories almost merged together the way they did. D: If you haven't seen YazukyYuu 's beautifully amazing comic (that is practically a prequel to this story!), I'd recommend you check it out here:

Shiloh , Magnus , & Artwork © Quaylak
Alice & Artwork ©
Hidde & Artwork ©

Description

< < PREV | FIRST | NEXT >>

No lie, I listened to this song the ENTIRE TIME I worked on the art for this!

One Year Later.
She'd been having nightmares .
I could hear Alice in the night; crying out, frightened. When I would wake her, she would never speak to me or tell me what horrid terrors were robbing her of sleep. She seemed angry, lost, and scared. I knew it was taking its toll on her. She seemed more tired by the day, until finally, she came to me to talk.
We were all headed back to our makeshift den, tired after a day of hunting and scouting. Alice pulled me aside to speak privately and admitted that she was planning to leave us that night and would not be returning with the rest of the group. Before I could protest, she explained that her nightmares were generated by fear -- fear that she was not safe out here and that she should have remained in Vale. I asked her what, exactly, she needed safety from, but she refused to say; just as she refused to tell me of her dreams.
Of all of the females in our group, I knew Alice had grown closest to me since that day I found her outside Vale's borders; which was really saying something considering she didn't seem too keen on speaking to me about much at all a majority of the time. But she proved she cared enough to at least warn me before she disappeared, as she knew we had all grown close to one another the last several months and would have worried about her if she suddenly vanished without a word.
I appreciated her honesty, but assured her she owed me nothing -- no allegiance or loyalty, as I was no leader or ruler over her. If she wanted to leave, she had my blessing. All I asked of her was to wait until morning rather than travel alone through the night. Whatever haunted her dreams and threatened her feelings of safety when she was not asleep could very well be out there. I just wish I knew what she was facing so I could help her.
To my surprise, she agreed to stay until morning. I told her I wasn't ready for sleep yet and would instead, spend part of the evening hunting for something she could eat before her journey back to Vale, or wherever it was she would feel safer. We parted ways just as night began to settle in; her heading back to the den and me into the woods.
As I carried on through the forest, I thought about each of the wolves who traveled with me. They had become my makeshift family over the last year since I lost Illy to what I later learned was an assassin. I had to speak to a crow, who heard it from a fox, that the wolf who killed her was hired by her old pack in an effort to deliver her punishment for her betrayal in person. As if I hadn't believed her before, I was certain then that Illy's pack truly was awful. She had been a nothing, a nobody. A sickly, weak little female with a big head and stick legs that I just happened to adore. She wasn't worth killing, yet they took the time and spent the resources to make sure she would NEVER live a happy life outside of the pack. Despite escaping them, she still managed to find a horrible fate. They made sure of that.
I remember feeling sick for days after I'd found out the truth.

My mind flashed backed to that day. I saw her eyes again, clear as day. I remembered the blood, the sound of her little whimpers as he choked the life out of her. The pain of his teeth in my body as we fought. The stench of him as we wrestled. The icy chill of the river water. My blurred vision as I tried to swim back to shore.

I could feel my jaw tighten and teeth clamp together as my entire body tensed. It had been so long since I'd thought of that day. It took the passing of a cool, late-winter breeze to soothe the heat that began to take over my muscles in my anger. Carried on that wind, however, was a scent I thought had jumped right out of my memories. To call it a scent was actually too kind. No, this was a stench. It was a smell I'd experienced only once, and what were the odds that it would find my nose again that night?

There was no question, it was the assassin. Somewhere in that forest, he was with me -- no doubt coming back to tie up loose ends and kill me. I stopped immediately and tasted the wind again with my nose. It didn't make sense at first. How was it possible that he had been so careless as to travel downwind of me? Even a horrible hunter like myself knew better than to make such a mistake when hunting their prey. Unless of course, I was not his target.

Alice!

It all made sense now. All her fear and anxiety had to be linked to him. Why else would he be here? Her wanting to leave so suddenly out of concern for her safety had to be connected. There was no way I was going to let her suffer the same fate as Illy. Not tonight. Not ever.

My heart beat hard and fast in my chest as I ran, fueling my body full of fiery blood laced with adrenaline. I could practically taste the sweet tang of revenge on my tongue. I wasn't the same weak, untrained yearling with nothing but a scrawny little female to keep me going in life. I had a purpose now, as well as a family of friends to protect. I had strength on my side and the spirit of Illy to guide me to him. By the time my eyes fell upon his familiar backside, he had already attacked Alice before she had made it back to the den. I didn't know the extent of the damage he had caused to her and wasted no time reintroducing myself. In fact, I had only one question for him when I felt my paws and claws collide with his back and forcing him off of her.

"Remember me?"

Nothing more was said after that. We were nothing but a mess of teeth and flying fur, snarls and snaps of teeth, yowels of pain as jaws found flesh, and splattering blood when skin ripped open. I couldn't feel anything, admittedly. All I could think was that he was so much smaller than I remembered. Heavy, yes, but no longer some invincible mountain. My mother's voice was overshadowed this time by Magnus's coaching in my mind. Stay light on your feet. Don't lock your legs. Keep your throat out of reach. Always protect yourself. For a moment, I had seen Alice out of the corner of my eye. She looked so small and scared, and for the briefest of moments, I could see my Illy in her eyes. Only this time, there was still life behind them that begged to be protected. It gave me strength to keep going, keep fighting, to know that if I stopped, he would win again. If he defeated me, two would die tonight. I was not having it.

At one point, I got the upper paw. He was tiring, I could feel it. Maybe he had experienced injuries over the last year that impaired him? Whatever the reason, I took advantage of it. When he finally fell, my teeth found his throat.

But something happened. I lost my grip almost as soon as I'd found it and felt myself being pulled away from him. Something had tackled me hard from the side, blindsiding me and knocking me over onto the ground. I thought the assassin had reinforcements, but to my shock and horror, the wolf who had me pinned down was Magnus.

"Damn you, get off me!" He didn't budge and continued to restrain me despite my snapping jaws and kicking legs. I'll admit I was having a tantrum -- complete with screaming. "He killed her! He killed Illy and now he wants Alice!"

I wasn't a child anymore or some novice. While I had a momentary meltdown at being pulled away from executing what was probably a mass murderer, I managed to get control of my thoughts again and remember my training. I twisted my body and used my hind legs to force him off of me. I was on my feet staring him down within seconds. He was in my way.

"Illy wouldn't have wanted you to do this, Shiloh."

"You don't know her Magnus. Don't you try and pretend like you know a damn thing about her. I loved her and she's DEAD. Now get out of my way!"

"You're better than this. You're stronger than this. Killing him won't bring her back. If you do this, you're no better than he is."

Gritting my teeth so hard I worried they may shatter, I could feel my blood boiling. I hated Magnus almost more than the assassin lying half dead behind him for stopping me, but I knew deep down, he was right. Sure, he wouldn't have been the first I had killed, but making this a habit would not be a good road to travel down, I hated to admit. The angry, raging wolf in my mind wanted to kill him more than any other beast I'd ever encountered. I knew if I let him go, there was the possibility that he would kill someone else's Illy, or possibly come back for Alice. How could I let him go knowing he was still a risk?

I decided to leave it to fate to decide.

"Stay out of my way, Magnus. This bastard is coming with me." Before Magnus could react, my teeth found the assassin's thick neck again. My rage made the daunting task of dragging the large male feel almost effortless. Almost. I made it a point not to be gentle about it and didn't bother to make sure he didn't hit every tree and sharp boulder on my way through the forest. Magnus followed me, but didn't interfere. And for once, he didn't say a word to me. I think he knew better than to interrupt me twice. I only stopped when I reached the edge of a river we'd visited only hours before. While the ice had melted in the last few days, the temperature of the water was anything but tepid. I dropped my enemy and stared at him with disgust.

"Wake up!" I yelled before sending a paw across his face. It didn't matter if he had already been awake, as the impact felt good and I wanted his full attention. "I want you to hear me."

As soon as his eyes met mine, I continued. "I'm letting you live today, which is more than I can say for all those you've killed, including my Illy. Your life now belongs to me. And I swear to you, on everything in the heavens above and hell below, that if I ever see you, smell you, or hear word of you, I will find you and claim what is mine. And should that day ever come, you'll wish I'd have killed you today."

I didn't wait for him to nod, speak, or even blink his agreement to my promise. Instead, I grabbed hold of his scruff and in one swift motion, tossed his battered body into the river below. The current, while not nearly as swift as the one I'd had to fight against when the tables were turned a year ago, still worked to carry him away from me. My chest heaved as my eyes never left him. I could feel my wounds bleed and drip down my legs as I watched him grow smaller and smaller, all the while quietly hoping his head would disappear beneath the current and the river would end him for me. But it didn't. Instead, the river had chosen to let him live.

I waited until he was out of sight before I could feel my eyes fill with tears; tears of anger, tears of joy, tears of relief.

It was over.

Chapter 3 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.

I HOPE YOU GUYS HAVE ENJOYED THIS. I AM VERY PROUD OF IT ALL. ;A;

Man oh man, what a fun ride this has been! I'm so grateful I finally had the time to dedicate to this mini project, as it's been a story I've wanted to tell since last summer. I loved being able to tell it from Shiloh's perspective, too, as it was cool to be able to get in her head and let you guys see how she thinks and feels and explore her personality at the same time that we're seeing her past.

I was also thrilled to be able to truly utilize my "expedited RP " concept with this project, too! The original plan was to RP all of this and maybe do some art, but considering how much I LOVE writing, I thought it would be much faster and easier if I wrote the entire story (and having every draft approved by Hirv and Vera so I made sure to properly represent their characters), then collabed the art. That way everyone gets credit AND character development in a much faster amount of time.

A big special thanks and TONS of love to my pals YazukyYuu and Hirvlased for lending me their beautiful characters to help tell Shiloh's story! You guys are the best and I seriously appreciate your helping me with this project. I'm so glad we were able to explore each other's characters with this! Just like the chapter before this, the artwork was a collaboration between all three of us! I did the initial sketch, shading, and BG while Hirv and Vera inked and flat-colored everything. c:

It was completely unintentional that both Shiloh and Alice's stories almost merged together the way they did. D: If you haven't seen YazukyYuu 's beautifully amazing comic (that is practically a prequel to this story!), I'd recommend you check it out here:

Shiloh , Magnus , & Artwork © Quaylak
Alice & Artwork ©
Hidde & Artwork ©