WOODLAND

PROLOGUE

Gunshots rang out loud across the valley as Fang fled for cover. Velvet, his mother, ran by his side, guiding him and his sibling, Snap, to safety. The hunters were not supposed to be in this neck of woods, they had never come here before. Fang tried to rationalize this, and yet, he struggled to focus because the thought of his family being gunned was much more prominent in his mind.
While it was true that the hunters came out around this time of year, it still rattled the packs that resided in the valley. Anyone could be killed. Anyone can lose a loved one. Fang had lost his father last year, and he had taken it very hard. His father was the kindest, sweetest coyote in the valley. He taught Fang how to hunt and how to be a great leader, but Fang had long lost those skills. Now their lives were on the line again, and it did not look too hopeful for the pack.
Fang's stealth had gotten him nowhere, the leafs and foliage around him loudly rustled with each hurried step. Velvet cursed quietly under her breath, before jumping over a large log. Fang and Snap had not learned how to jump that high yet, so Velvet grabbed the two siblings by the scruff with her mouth. Dragging them over the log before tossing them onto the ground.
Coyotes only start learning how to jump over large obstacles at the age on 1 and a half. Fang had tried to learn how to do it on his own, but being so small did not help in his attempts. The last time he tried to jump so high, he had fallen and hit his head so hard he had gotten a bruise. Fang was clumsy for his age, but he still tried his best to keep up with the other coyotes his age.
If only he could be as good as the others.
Velvet nudged Snap in the rump as he slowed from exhaustion, but he tripped over himself and fell on his face. Fang grabbed his ear in his mouth and pulled Snap up again.
"We have to keep going!" Fang yelped quietly, "The hunters are catching up!"
"But I can't, my paw feels like it's broken." Snap got himself back onto his paws, but he hardly touched the ground with his front right paw.
"We have to hide him!" Velvet yipped as she started to grab leaf litter off the ground to cover Snap with.
Just as Velvet went to put the leafs onto Snap, a shot rang out. Before anyone could react, Velvet fell on top of Snap, covering both him and herself in blood.
"Velvet!" Fang yowled. Fang went to grab Velvet by the scruff, but the risk was too great, and with a great sadness, he ran off into the woods.

As Fang ran, he heard another gunshot, and a loud yip. Fang knew then that he had also lost his only remaining pack members. Tears welled up in his eyes, but his paws forced him through the thickets and thorns. Right now, it would be too risky to return to the valley, especially with the hunters scavenging for any last coyotes. It was true that the coyote packs around the valley had become a nuisance, but it still felt extreme to Fang for the hunters to go on such a killing spree.

As Fang's legs carried him onto new pastors, he realized that he was the only one to control his paws now. His future was now in his paws, and Fang could start to see the possibilities of his new tomorrow branching off into strange paths. The new smells and the unfamiliar landscapes made him curious. With the sound of gunfire getting quieter and quieter, and the adrenaline slowly wearing off, Fang's brain started to get foggy. He found a hollowed out log and hid in it to rest. Sleep quickly drove in on his consciousness, but a last thought lingered on his mind.

Where should I go to now?