Bramble (A Wolf Story)

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Bramble gasped and surfaced, dragging the waterlogged she-wolf onto the shore. The white wolf’s eyes were closed, and she looked dead, lying unmoving on the ground. Bramble brushed his muzzle against the white she-wolfs, an affectionate gesture.

“Please, wake up.” Bramble lowered his face down, brushing his nose against the wolf’s fur. He could barely hear the wolf’s heart beat, and she wasn’t breathing. “Please, she-wolf,” Bramble pleaded, patting her on the back, hoping to clear her water-filled lungs. The white wolf twitched, and then lashed out, spasming on the ground. Bramble jumped back, giving the wolf space. The wolf stood up slowly, and vomited water onto the dry sand. “Are you alright?” Bramble approached the wolf cautiously, not to scare the wolf. The wolf saw him and jumped back, stumbling over her own tied paws.

“Oof!” The white wolf fell to the ground.

“Are you ok?” Bramble leaped over to the wolf’s side.

“Help! Help, he’s going to eat me!”

Bramble stopped short. “What?” he asked in confusion. This wolf thought he would, strangely enough. “Why would I eat you?”

The white wolf gave up and laid limp at his paws. “You’re a wolf from Dark Clan. Look at you,” she croaked.

Bramble looked at her, confusion filling his face. “What’s Dark Clan? I’m from Wild Clan,” he stopped himself. “Or, was, that is.”

The white wolf pointed at a scar on Bramble’s right foot. “That’s the Dark Clan marking. The Alpha slashes each pup’s right leg when they turn five moons old.” The white wolf looks down. “I was a part of that clan, but I ran away. If they catch me, they will eat me,” she explained.

Bramble’s mouth hung open in shock. “What? That’s rediculous!”

“I know. That’s why I left. I was tired of wolves running away having to feast on them afterward.” The white wolf sighed.

Bramble noticed that her feet were still tied together. “Hey, how’d that get on you?” he gestured to the rope. The she-wolf looked down at her paws. That was due to what I did today.”

“So you were also ordered to leave?”

“No, I chose to, but as a punishment for not eating part of the wolf, my paws were tied together.”

“Didn’t you try to bite through the rope?” Bramble eyed the rope, it wasn’t very thick. Only a mouse-brained wolf would want to do that to her, he thought.

“No. The saying of our clan is to take pain we deserve. It would mean breaking the rules of Dark Clan,” she said, hanging her head.

“Well, you’re lucky then. I’m here to help,” Bramble smiled. He just found something flawed with Dark Clan’s rules. The she-wolf would break the rules if she bit through the rope, but Bramble wouldn’t if he bit through it.

"Oh no, no you can’t.” she argued. The she-wolf started hopping away from him, seeing the sly grin lift from Bramble’s face.

“Yes I can. It never says I can’t bite the rope,” Bramble said as he lunged forward, ripping the sturdy rope from the she-wolf’s paws.

The she-wolf stood up in disbelief. “Why’d you do that? I can never go back to Dark Clan now!” the white wolf glared at him, then she collapsed on the ground, sobbing. “I have to live a life running from them and humans and bears and fend for myself...” she croaked. “I broke the rules.”

“No, I did. I’m not even in Dark Clan, so you’re fine. You can still go back to your cannibalistic clan, if you want,” Bramble smirked.

The wolf paused, considering the thought. “You’re right,” she paused. “I really don’t want to go back. I just want to be in a clan, I want to belong somewhere,” she sighed, looking sadder than ever.

“Hey, hey. It’s ok,” Bramble felt sorry for her. She was torn between her family, clan, and horrible ways of living. Bramble padded up to the white wolf and circled her, curling his tail over her shoulder. “I bet Dark Clan wasn’t that nice, anyway,” he joked, trying to lighten the mood.

The white wolf smiled up at Bramble. “I would like to stay with you and your loner lifestyle. It’s better that eating wolves that try to run away,” she smiled up at Bramble, blinking her light gray eyes up at his orange ones.

“Sure, that’s fine with me. We should get out of here though, so Dark Clan won’t find you,” Bramble said, smiling back at her.

“Thanks. It’s good to have a real friend. I’m Whitepaws, by the way.”

“Whitepaws.” He let the words roll off his tongue. “I’m Bramble,” he answered.

“Hey, Bramble. I can tell why you’re named that. Your pelt is a mess,” she joked, becoming a talkative wolf as she got used to Bramble’s presence.

“Hey! Is it really that bad?” he asked, looking at a tuft of hair between his ears that was sticking straight up.

“No, I just wanted to tease you,” Whitepaws answered, sticking her tongue out between her sharp canines.

Bramble laughed and shoved her playfully. He had never felt happier in his life.