Dark Stones #1: The Rising Darkness

Chapter 16 - Caught in the Act

The few wolves Libby had chosen to tell about their new identity and pronouns had accepted them. The Packmates in the know referred to Libby by the correct pronouns when there were no others around. Despite Red Spirit's encouragement, Libby still felt too nervous to tell the rest of the Pack, at least for now. Luckily the episodes of dysphoria seemed to have lessened a significant amount. Libby felt like they finally were at peace with themself.

A week had passed since their coming out to their close friends and family, and they were currently at the rendezvous site, together with Umium working on cleaning the outside of the youngster's cave. Due to the Pack of Dark Stones being one of the only ones known that slept in self-built caves from generations ago, it was also one of the only Packs that had to work on the upkeep. Sand, dust, needles and leaves would blow in and get stuck between the rock grooves. The structure also grew slightly unstable overtime due to erosion, with the rocks needing to be re-adjusted from time to time. It wasn't a fun job, but needed nonetheless, and a prime task for young trainees.

Umium grunted. "Ugh, I can't get this rock right." She tried to push on the large boulder that was located above the cave opening. "I'm afraid that if it stays like this much longer it may get loose and drop in front of the entrance. Wolves could be trapped inside!" She tried to give it another push, but the rock stayed still in its current position. "Libby, lend me a paw here, will you?"

Libby, who was working on removing debris between the grooves on the left side of the entrance, nodded and walked up to their friend. "Sure!"

Umium sat down with a frustrated expression on her face and pointed her large nose at the boulder. "It looks fine from here, but when you're up close you can feel that it's loose."

"No problem, let's do it together," Libby said.

The two trainees got up and got on their hind legs, each putting pressure on the right lower end of the large boulder. Libby could feel it give way just a little bit.

"Alright," said Umium. "When I say 'go', push!"

Libby carefully placed their paws right in order to be able to deliver the maximum amount of pressure. "Ready."

"Go!" barked Umium, before throwing her full weight onto the boulder. Libby did the same. Together, the two wolves strained upward until the rock finally gave way and was back into its old place.

"Whew! Took more force than I thought," Umium said after they sat down, panting.

Libby, tongue lolling as well, nodded. "When I joined Dark Stones, I had no idea there'd be actual upkeep of our caves."

Umium shook some dust out of her fur. "I keep forgetting that other Packs don't sleep in caves. It feels weird to me. I can't imagine what it's like having to sleep outside every day!"

Libby thought of their former Pack. "Back in Fading Shadows the Pack did have a single den, but that one was used by pregnant and nursing wolves around the time of whelping. Alex and I stayed inside it. It was a den hollowed out between a tree with thick roots, not a cave. I think it also didn't require any fixing the den, with the roots keeping everything stable."

"Interesting," Umium said. "No offense to any other Packs, of course, but I don't think that sleeping outside sounds very comfortable, especially not in the pouring rain or a snowstorm."

Libby chuckled. "To be honest, me neither.."

"It's how we got our Pack name, you know," Umium said as they indicated the large dark-colored boulders that made up each cave. "The stones our ancestors used to make these caves. I still don't know how they managed to do it, to be honest, especially the Leader's Cave and the tower of Leader's Rock! These things are so heavy, I feel like these wolves of the past must have been huge!"