Alpine

Chapter Ten

After a week of healing, Flint was ready to move again. "Come on, this way!" Hollie yapped, jumping out of the log. Alpine stayed back by Flint as Hollie flew ahead, sniffing around, scouting out in front of them.

She noticed Flint's wound had healed a lot, it had closed and fur had begun to grow back along and around it. "Feeling better?" She asked. He nodded with a slight smile.

"Let's head to the lake." Alpine suggested. "I need to tell you both something." She padded forwards, her paws crunching the dead leaves.

As they approached the vast and glimmering lake, Alpine worried. How am I going to tell them? Will they believe me? Her thoughts were cut off by Hollie prodding her. "You were gonna tell us something?" Hollie asked.

"Yeah." She replied bluntly. "I'm just not sure you'll believe me." She said softly. Hollie twitched her tail.

Alpine took a deep breath. "Back when we sheltered in that log I went out one night." She began. "You'd know, Hollie." Hollie nodded, her gaze showing even more curiosity. "I encountered something I can barely explain. It was cold, I couldn't move. There was an echoing voice and a flicker in the darkness."

"What did it say?" Flint asked, his eyes slightly narrowed. "It said 'The mountain' and then it faded away." Alpine said, a chill creeping down her spine as she remembered the voice. "Do you know what it was?" Flint asked, tilting his head subtly. Alpine shook her head, just as perplexed as the other two.

"At first, I was very confused and had no clue what it meant. But then I realized the most likely answer. Lone Mountain." She continued. Hollie jumped up. "Lone Mountain? Nobody has ever made it to the top! They all disappear." She yelped. 

"They don't even die," Flint grimaced, "Well, if they do their bodies are never found. It's like they disappear into thin air." Flint added, baring his teeth at the thought. "Then that would make even more sense." Alpine barked. 

Flint lifted his head and swiveled his ears. "Maybe there's something up there. Nobody has ever made it to the top, so we don't know." Alpine said.

Flint swiftly got to his paws. He stood only the span of a rabbit from Alpine. "We are not going up that mountain." He growled.

"Why? What if we learn something important?" Alpine challenged. Flint snarled. "I said we aren't going up Lone Mountain!" He snapped. Alpine stepped back. "It's far too dangerous to climb that wretched mountain. I'm not going to have us risk our lives because you heard some creepy voice in Oak Forest." He growled.

Hollie's eyes fluttered between the two wolves. Alpine flicked her tail, unsure of what to do. Her ears flat to her skull and head down, she turned away.

"Alpine." Flint sighed. Alpine looked back at him for a moment, then trudged away. She didn't look back. "Alpine, wait!" She heard Hollie call after her, but she didn't turn back.

"Then I'll climb it by myself." She huffed under her breath.

After awhile on walking, she found herself at the edge of Oak Forest. She saw strange shapes in the distance. Across a small pathway shaped field lay a cluster of birch trees. And near that were strange structures she had never encountered.

She gasped and shimmied backwards. That's the Human Settlement! She looked to her left. "Lone Mountain." She breathed in awe, with a hint of fear. To her right was a swampy area.

She whirled back at the crack of a branch. "Hollie?" She yipped as the smaller wolf approached her. "Hi, Alpine." Hollie smiled. "Where's Fl-" She was cut off and Flint slunk out of the undergrowth.

She lowered her gaze and lifted her lip, slightly revealing her gleaming teeth. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so rude." He began, but Alpine stopped him. "Yeah, I got it." She jerked her tail and glared at him.