Little Wolf

Chapter Five

Fire-Flower's eyes flickered open, sensing that something was different. The air was colder. It felt as if a thousand icy thorns were pricking her skin. She felt her entire body shake from the cold, so she buried her face into the warm next to her. She heard the faint growl of the creature next to her. She moved her face to see the thick golden fur of Lionheart. She dragged her self forward, seeing that he was awake.

"Good morning Little Flame." He murmured, his voice seemed to be unaffected by the cold, then again, he did have a thick fur pelt to keep himself warm. Not replying to him, she turned her head, her eyes searching for something. She spotted the mountain cat cloak a few feet away and quickly grabbed it, bringing it towards her. She wrapped herself in the cloak, pulling the hood over her head. It looked as if she had mountain cat ears atop her head with it on. She snuggled into Lionheart's side, enjoying the warmth of his pelt.

"Are you cold, Little Flame?"

"A little, has it snowed?" Fire-Flower looked up at Lionheart.

"Indeed it has snowed Little Flame. Best you keep the mountain cat fur with you today, and stay moving. Keep yourself warm, I will not give you special treatment for the fact you have no natural fur." Lionheart lifted himself to his paws and shook himself.

"Come along Fire-Flower. Best get moving to stay warm." He padded forward, towards the entrance of the cave. Fire-Flower quickly followed, holding the cloak close to her. The sun shown down on all the wolves, who were preparing for patrols, hunting trips, or training. Snow blanketed the land, hiding the grass and rocks and turning the leaves of the trees white. Pups were running about, some perfectly hidden in the white powder and others sticking out like a black sheep among white sheep.

A grin formed on Fire-Flower's face. "Do we have training today Lionheart?" She asked, looking up at the Alpha wolf.

"The snow should remain for a few days, I plan for some snow training, but I'll allow all the pups to get used to the snow for today. Go play, but do not get into any trouble Little Flame."

"I won't get into any trouble Lionheart!" Lionheart chuckled, looking down at the young girl.

"Go have fun." Lionheart then padded away, heading towards Starlight, who was talking with another she-wolf. Fire-Flower happily bounded towards the other pups.

"Hi Mountain-Tooth." She said once she reached the other pups.

"Hi Fire-Flower." He turned to look at her, his yellow eyes widening when he saw her.

"You look like a mountain cat!" Fire-Flower let out a laugh at this.

"Of course I do! I am wearing my mountain cat cloak. I do not have natural fur like you guys."

"You have the long red fur on your head." A she-wolf pup pointed out, her name was Blue-Hawk.

"Well yeah... but that does not keep me very warm, just my head. So I still need the mountain cat pelt." The pups nodded in understanding.

"So, anyone wanna go explore the forest with me?" The pups looked at one another, none of them entirely wanting to explore the forest in the snow, as they could feel the cold through their thin fur.

"Well, I'm gonna go explore. Join me if you want." Fire-Flower turned and bounded off into the forest. She would not tell anyone nor let it show, but truly she was glad that no one had wanted to go with her.

Silently she sat up in a tree, watching the ground below her. In the distance she could see the tall walls of the castle in the human kingdom. Sometimes she wondered how humans worked. Did they live like the wolf pack? Did some gather food while others trained and cared for the young?

Perhaps if she learned enough French, she could ask Jack. She looked up at the sky, which was cloudy, put the sun still shone through some parts of it. She took in the scents around her. The sweet smells of the trees and the grass and the flowers filled her nose. She always loved the scents of the forest, they were just so wonderful.

"Little Wolf! Little Wolf!" She was knocked from her thoughts when she heard Jack calling for her. She liked the nick name Little Wolf. She felt it suited her. She jumped down from branch to branch, her eyes flickering around in search of Jack until she found him. He wore a cloak of fur, the animal it was made from was unknown to her, as there was no head or tail or any indication to what animal it had once been.

"Is that your mountain cat fur cloak you told me about?" Jack asked, his eyes widening slightly in disbelief. Truly he had not entirely believed her, but now he knew he should believe what she said. Fire-Flower nodded in response.

"It's really cool looking! It make you look just like a mountain cat. So you really do have the mountain cat fang daggers as well?"

"Yes, I can-not usse them till I am ol--der tho-ugh." Jack nodded and looked around at the snowy forest. He reached his hands out to a small pile of snow and cupped his hands, lifting up two handfuls of snow. He Pressed his hands together, pressing the snow together and forming a ball.

Fire-Flower watched him, a bit confused on what he was doing. Some human thing probably, she thought. Curiosity filled her eyes as she studied the ball of snow in his hands. It could form shapes? She had thought it was merely cold power that fell from the sky. No one had ever said anything about it being able to form shapes. Maybe the wolves did not know it could form shapes.

She was about to open her mouth to ask a question when she felt something cold and wet hit her shoulder. She let out a yelp of surprise and jumped back, her eyes flickering around to see what had caused it. Fire-Flower's gaze landed on Jack, who was laughing hysterically. Had it been funny? What had even happened? She noticed that the icy ball of snow had disappeared from his hands. She turned to look at her shoulder, seeing small bits of snow melting off of her skin and fur cloak.

Her eyes narrowed and she looked at Jack, a plan forming in her head.

"Why you do tha-t?" She asked, trying to act as if she was angry at him. Jack stopped laughing, realizing that Little Wolf was not laughing with him.

"I-it's a snowball, y-you t-throw-" Jack stuttered, trying to explain. He had not meant to anger her. It was just a game.

Fire-Flower stalked towards him, struggling not to break out laughing. She was only a few feet away from him now. Jack closed his eyes, bracing himself for any impact. He jumped slightly when he felt a snowball hit his head. He opened his eyes, hearing laughter. Fire-Flower was staring at him. laughing, all signs that had shown she was angry were now gone.

"W-what...?" Jack look confused. She was not angry? He could not help but to start laughing too. She had never been angry. She had played a joke on him.

"Tho-ugh-t I angry! Tho-ugh-t I angry!" She laughed.

"Okay, you got me. Well played Little Wolf, well played." Jack laughed. Making sure she was not looking, he gathered up some snow and quickly formed a pile of snowballs. He looked at her, making sure she had not noticed. She had not. He took a snowball in each hand and quickly through them at her.

Fire-Flower yelped in shock, having not expected to of been hit with snowballs again. She glared at Jack playfully, and quickly ran off into the forest. She could hear him laughing and running after her, likely planning to hit her with more snowballs. Her eyes darted around and she quickly climbed up a tree. She clung to the branch, which happened to be covered in snow. She could hear Jack runner, coming closer and closer.

Jack snowed his running, trying to catch his breath. He looked around, but found that her footprint seemed to of disappeared.

"Little Wolf, Little Wolf! Where are you?" He called, looking around for her. He did not see her though. Suddenly he felt a large amount of snow fall onto him. He gasped at the cold power touched his skin and made its way under his clothes. Her heard laughing as well. He looked up to see her in a tree, laughing as she watched him. The branch she sat on was quivering slightly, she had shook it to dump snow on him. Jack glared playfully at her, which she merely laughed at. She leapt from the branch and ran off once again into the forest. Jack quickly took off after her, forming a plan in his mind to get back at her.