Ending: Chapter Sixteen

A suspicious scent is discovered; Sparrow suggests traveling away from their home and further into the woods; Sunset finally tells Sparrow who her mate is when something unfortunate happens.

FTOYWGAS: I actually liked this chapter.  xD That doesn't happen a lot with meeeee...
CW: Uh.
RF: I want a drink, but I'm too much of a lazy a*s to get one.

It had been hours since Sparrow first woke up that day, much later than before.  He knew that the sun wouldn't set for hours, considering that it was summer and the sun never set early in the summer.  He opened one eye lazily and stood up, looking over his shoulder cautiously to make sure that the bear wasn't right behind him.  For some reason, he felt as if he was being watched.

Sparrow quickly left his den, running up to the meeting cliff, which he hadn't been to in what felt like months for some reason.  He ran up it nervously, and peered over the edge with his eyes narrowed.  He looked over the trees, and over the mountain.  He looked to the left, and then looked to the right, and looked cautiously over his shoulder again.

When he was finally convinced that he was alone, for as far as he knew, Sparrow sighed in relief and sat down on top of the cliff, his front legs dangling over the edge.  Once he was in a comfortable position, he rested his head on the ground and closed his eyes.  He wasn't tired, but the sun was so bright that it was blinding, and Sparrow was higher up off the ground then he preferred.

He stood when he realized that dozing off wouldn't be a good idea when he was about ten feet off the ground or so, because he would eventually fall asleep and possibly fall off, which would only break a few bones or so.  Sure, he could deal with that now, he thought to himself flatly, shaking his head and turning around to move off of the cliff.

Suddenly, Sparrow smelled something odd.  He raised his head up and sniffed the air, his eyes widening as he realized what he was smelling.

It wasn't wolf.

And if it wasn't wolf, Sparrow assumed it was something he had to worry about.

Sparrow hurried into Sapphire's den, where Sapphire was finally staying.  She had somehow convinced Moon to let her leave the healer den, after... what?  Three months?  Sparrow sighed to himself and looked up to see Sapphire looking at him with a confused expression.

"Yes?" she asked, cocking her head to the side.

Sparrow sighed in annoyance.  "Don't you dare start accusing me of not being able to recognize scents well, because you do that about every week."

Sapphire rolled her eyes.  "Just tell me," she said flatly.

"Well, um, I was up on the meeting cliff, making sure that the bear was no where in sight, and..."

"It wasn't," Sapphire said.  "...Was it?"

"Well, no," Sparrow said, "but I smelled something odd when I started to walk off.  And it wasn't wolf..."

Sapphire frowned.  "Was it bear?"

Sparrow shook his head.  "I know the scent of a bear, and it wasn't that," he said firmly.

Sapphire frowned even more.  "...Are you sure?" she asked, clearly puzzled.  "Because..."

"I know I'm horrible at recognizing scents, okay?!" Sparrow growled.

"I know you are," Sapphire said matter-of-factly.  "But I was wondering... Are you sure?  Because it could be a bear with a stranger scent."

"It wasn't a bear," Sparrow said.  "I'm sure of it."

Sapphire sighed, standing up.  "Fine," she muttered.  "I'll come and check it out, since you're 'sure' that it's not a bear."

Once they had walked over to the cliff, Sapphire took a sniff at the air and got a confused look on her face.  She narrowed her eyes and took another sniff, looking displeased now.

"...For once, you're right," Sapphire said.  "It's not a bear.  But..."  She paused.  "I'm not sure what it is."

"Wow, you don't know what it is either?!" Sparrow teased.  "It must be a new species..."

"Shut up," Sapphire muttered, shaking her head in dismay.

The two looked to the left after hearing approaching paw-steps.  It was Moon, and she was limping towards them.  "What are you talking about?" she asked.

"There's a strange scent outside," Sparrow answered, motioning towards the cliff.  "It's not bear.  Even Sapphire doesn't know what it is, and that's saying something."

Moon frowned in apparent worry, sniffing the cliff as well after she approached it.  "Hmm," she said.  "I believe you are wrong."

Sparrow's stomach lurched.  "What?  It's a bear...?  But why is it so clo-?"

"I wasn't finished," Moon said simply.  "It's bear, but..."  She frowned.  "It's mixed together with several other scents, which is what confuses me."

"What other scents?" Sapphire asked.

Moon sniffed again.  "Rabbit," she said.  "...A crow... A deer... And the bear."

"Those four animals do NOT mix well together," Sparrow said simply.  "Could the bear have killed them, or something?"

"Wait," Moon said, pausing.  "...There's a cougar scent in here too.  It's cougar, bear, rabbit, crow, and deer."

"That makes no sense whatsoever," Sparrow said flatly.

"I'm not saying that it does," Moon explained, turning to face Sparrow.  "I think that there's a possibility that the cougar and bear interacted with each other, possibly fighting.  The other scents could have just been animals that came by here."

"But we would have noticed."

"You've been asleep for hours!  You wouldn't have noticed," Moon said.

"Oh well," Sparrow said simply.  "But... it's still weird."

"I have a better idea," Moon said.  "Stop thinking about it..."

"NO!" Sparrow suddenly yelped.  "I have a better idea... We should keep traveling for a few days, away from here, where the bear wouldn't be, and..."

"Sparrow?" Sapphire asked.

"...Yes?"

"You're insane!" Sapphire snarled.  "We are not traveling anymore!  I'm tired of moving around all the time and staying up all night and not being allowed to leave my den and everything.  Do I even have any freedom anymore?  I've been told what to do for my entire life, and I'm tired of dealing with it."

"Well, if it leads us away from the bear, that's a good thing," Sparrow muttered, halfway ignoring what Sapphire had just said.  Inside his mind, however, thoughts about what she had just said were swimming.

Moon sighed.  "If you think it will benefit the pack, it is your decision," she said quietly.  "You are the leader, after all."

Sparrow scoffed and rolled his eyes.  "I know that," he said.  "Sapphire, go and get them for me."

To his surprise, Sapphire actually left her den with no more complaints than an annoyed sigh and a roll of her eyes.  She returned back moments later, interrupting the awkward silence between Sparrow and Moon.  She returned with a shake of her head.  "They're coming," she said.

The rest of the wolves in the pack exited their dens with annoyed growls and sighs, considering that they had been sleeping, even though Sparrow was wide awake and had been asleep less than they had.

By the time they had all gathered around the meeting cliff, which Sparrow was standing on, Sparrow cleared his throat and looked down at them.

"We're staying here for a few more minutes, and then we're going to travel for a few days," he said.

No one spoke.

"The bear... It came here, and that's not good," Sparrow said.  "We have no choice."

"What about Opaque's pups?" Hurricane asked.

"She can take them.  Just carry them with you," Sparrow said, directing it more towards Opaque than the grey wolf who asked the question.

(Author's Note: F**k.  I have a paper cut on my left ring finger, and it hurts to type.  God d****t.  xD)

"I'm only concerned about where we're going to stay," Moon said, shrugging. 

Sparrow bit his lower lip.  "Um... The forest?" he said weakly.

"No, I'd rather stay in the desert," Opaque interrupted sarcastically.

Sparrow narrowed his eyes at her, and then turned back to the pack.  "...Anyway.  We're going, and I don't care what anyone says."

"What if I said something?" Hurricane said flatly.

"I wouldn't care," Sparrow said quickly, glancing at his sister for help.  She ignored him.

"Let's go, since no one is making any objections," Sparrow said quickly.  "Now, before I change my mind and make us leave forever and never return here, we need to figure out how to stay away from the bear while we're traveling.  Because if we run into it... We'll probably die."

Opaque's mind went blank and she stopped listening to Sparrow entirely after that last sentence.  ...Death?  Really?  He was thinking of death already, when they hadn't even left yet?!

She returned to reality with a sigh.  "Sparrow, don't think of things like that."
 
"Hmm?" Sparrow, who was now off of the meeting cliff and watching the rest of the wolves move around and get ready to leave with caution, glanced momentarily at his sister before turning back to the others.

"I said," Opaque repeated, "you shouldn't think of things like that when we haven't even left.  You might give us bad luck."

Sparrow scoffed.  "Right," he mumbled.  "We're going to have bad luck, just because I said that we'd probably die."

"Yes," Opaque said flatly.

~ ~ ~

It was maybe an hour later, and the pack had made much more progress than Sparrow thought that they would.  They had traveled at least five miles in an hour, which wasn't very bad considering that they could only travel as fast as the slowest wolf.

(Author's Note: I just laughed insanely for no reason.  o.o  I'm insane.)

"When can we stop?" Sunset whined.  She yawned, even though the sun wasn't even close to setting.

"When we get somewhere which I think will... be... safe," Sparrow said, continuing to walk farther ahead than everyone else.

Suddenly, Sunset ran up to him.  "Let's stop," she said, growling.

Sparrow shook his head, continuing to walk forwards.  "No," he said, and Sunset jumped in front of him yet again, her expression both annoyed and angry. 

"Stop," she demanded, glaring.

Sparrow took one more step forward, and both he and Sunset literally fell through the ground.

Looking up from a pile of dust and a hard landing, Sparrow coughed and shook his head, looking up out of the huge hole they had just fallen in.  "...Oh wow," he said.  "We fell into a hunting trap."

It was true.  A more old-fashioned hunter had apparently dug a large hole and covered it with sticks, grass, and rocks to disguise it, waiting for some type of prey animal to fall in so they could get it.  However, he had never intended to catch two wolves in the trap.

Opaque peered into the hole, looking worried.  "Sparrow, Sunset - you have to get out of there NOW!" she said.

Sparrow looked up and rolled his eyes.  "Sounds easy," he said sarcastically.  "All we have to do is fly out."  The hole was definitely too steep to climb, and no matter which way you looked at it, they were stuck.

Sparrow sighed.  "Why don't you all just... leave, and then come back?  That's it; go find us a place to settle in for the night, and then come back.  But don't forget where we are... I don't wanna be stuck down here with her all night."  Sunset cuffed him.

Opaque still looked concerned, but Sparrow glared at her and she sighed.  "Okay," she replied, glancing at the path lying ahead.  "We'll find a place, and come back."  The rest of the pack began to walk off without any further words, and Sparrow smiled smugly.

"I think you know why I wanted us to be alone," he said.

Sunset gagged.

"NO!  Not that!" Sparrow snarled at her.  "...No.  No, no, no.  I was talking about you finally telling me who your mate is."

"...You won't believe me," Sunset said firmly.

"Yes, I will," Sparrow said flatly.  He was surprised that Sunset had even thought of telling him.  "Just tell me!"

"...Are you sure?" Sunset asked coldly, her eyes noticeably dark.

"As sure as I've ever been," Sparrow replied.

"...Leader.  Leader was my first mate."

Sparrow's mouth dropped open.

"...Told you."  Sunset paused, took a deep breath, and continued.  "Leader is related to Hurricane, which you already knew. Leader was banished from Hurricane's pack when he was about one and a half years old because he was accused of murdering the healer wolf in the pack.  So, he started the North Pack.  ...I met him when I was alone, and I saw him.  He was sitting alone in the clearing where we used to live, and... Dawn showed up one day."

"Dawn?" Sparrow asked shakily.

"I never really liked her," Sunset said darkly.  "She stole Leader from me..."

"What?!"

"Yes," Sunset replied.  "Leader and I mated at some point, in which I had the pups from my first litter - Blaze, Fire... and the others."

"Wait," Sparrow interrupted.  "Who knows this?"

"My pups, and Dawn's first litter," Sunset said.   She continued.  "Dawn, her mother, and her father were all loners at the time, and Dawn was two years old now, as well as Leader and I.  Leader and I met Dawn, because her parents abandoned, thinking they would be attacked, but Dawn stayed, curious.  ...I thought Leader appeared attracted to Dawn after the first few days, and I got ...frustrated, thinking he would later betray me.  I left the area the next morning without warning, and Leader and Dawn... some point later, they fell in love, and..." She sighed shakily. "I made some decisions that I shouldn't have."

Sparrow swallowed.  "...What?"

"...Talon."

"Who is...?  ...Hurricane's pack?" Sparrow asked.

"Yes."

"I thought they died long ago," Sparrow frowned.

"So did I," Sunset muttered darkly.  "No.  They're alive."

"Hurricane lied to me," Sparrow hissed.  "Continue..."

"Okay," Sunset said.  "Dawn became pregnant with Rain, Ridge, Oak, and whoever else.  Leader returned to the East Pack with Dawn, and the others got used to them easily.  Rain, Ridge, Oak, and the others were born in the East Pack territory early in March.  I wandered into the pack area unknowingly with Talon and my pups following, and Leader attacked me for 'betraying him' in which the two of us were both injured."

"Technically, it's Leader who betrayed you," Sparrow said.

"Exactly.  Dawn and Leader fought over me staying in the pack with them, which Dawn eventually won.  I'm not sure why she wanted me into the pack.  Leader, Dawn, our pups, and I left to go back to the North territory.  Dawn and Leader mated again when they were a bit older, and had Daisy, Sapphire, and Snowflake.  ...We know what happens after that, with finding you and everything."  Sparrow shivered.

"This is the strange part," Sunset growled, her voice low.  "One night, Leader went to the East Pack to speak with his family about me, who he was still angry with after a year..."

"Wait," Sparrow said.  "How did you find this out?"

"I saw him leaving," Sunset spat.  "I followed him.  ...He told them to do something to me, something horrible, and they killed Dream and... did things to my other pups to make them sick or whatever." Her voice cracked.  "After Hurricane’s family died, or that's what Hurricane said, the attacks on my pups stopped.  I was still with Leader's brother, but then he died, and that was my last mate."  She swallowed, blinking.  "I'm never having pups again.  I can't."

"Why did they stop killing your pups?" Sparrow asked.  "No offense, but they could have still done it, considering that they didn't know you found out."

"The pups got older, stronger, and smarter," Sunset said, her voice icy with anger.  "...That's why.  Otherwise, they would still do it to this day."

Sparrow looked up at the sky.  It had just begun to get dark.  "...They'd better get back soon," he said shakily, still shocked because of what Sunset had just told him.  "I don't want to stay here all night."

"Neither do I," Sunset agreed.  She sighed.  "Well, it looks like we might have to."

"...Fine," Sparrow muttered, lying down.  "Just... don't wake me up next morning, okay?  The last time that happened, I almost killed someone."

"I'm so nervous," Sunset said sarcastically, lying down as well, but as far away from Sparrow as she could.  "Let's not talk anymore," she said.

"Agreed," Sparrow fumed, and he gritted his teeth in annoyance.

"Night."

"Night..."

Author's Note

LMAO. I just realized how much the bear is like Slender Man...! And I started writing this BEFORE I knew who the hell Slender Man was. xD Ya know, the whole "I feel like I'm being watched" thing? o.o xD

Reviews

[r]

LMFAO. Slender Man, really? The bear reminds you have SLENDY!?! WHAT. THE. FU-- Actually, the bear is like Slendy. xD I see it.

OHMYGOD THIS WAS EPIC. I LOVE IT SO MUCH!!!! Okay, I am going to write a long review like always but instead of ranting on about the fact that HURRICANES FAMILY IS F*****G ALIVE, im gunna start at the beginning.

Lmfao. Sparrow is such a f*****g retard. and i think its funny how moon can smell better than BOTH of them. and how hes so pessimistic about leaving but he thinks they have to cause of the bear "watching" them (like slendy xDDD) and yeah. i love how opaque tells him that hes jnxing them basically. funny. and haha you hazh paper cut. :D and laughed insanely. o.o hehe. ur nuts. xD anyway, i love how they fell into the f*****g hole, and how sparrow is perverrted. "no. not THAT." lmao. her mate is leader? haha, that didnt shock me. that was actually one of the wolves i thought it would be actually. and seriously?!?!?! THEY F*****G BASICALLY KILLED HER F*****G CUBS. T^T now i definitely dont liek hurricane cause the evil ones are his family. i know just cause his family is evil doesnt mean HE IS, but still. i dont f*****g care.

um... there was probably more to say... but...yeah. I LOVE THIS. and i wanna know how the hell they are going to get outta da hole. o.O oh, and i love the "yeah all we gotta do is FLY" or whatever it was part. This chappie made me laugh my f*****g a*s off, as usual, and i lufles sparrow and sunset and sapphyy and moon and ALL OF THEM. :D NOW HURRY UP AND WRITE SO I CAN READ THE NEXT CHAPPIE!!

[halflives]

OH. MY. GAWD.

ME THINKS ME GONNA DIE.

YOU SEE WHAT YOU DID TO ME?! I'M GOING TO DIE, AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!!! Err... I'll review before I die.

"I think you know why I wanted us to be alone." (or something like that) I was like GET IT ON, SPARROW! And then Sunset HAD to go and gag, and I practically spit out my drink (which is funny, because I wasn't drinking anything) and I actually ROTFL. Or LMFAO. Whichever you prefer.

BWHAHAHA. I'mma start a Sparrow/Sunset pairing now. xD

[נнα&p..]

Sparrow scoffed. "Right," he mumbled. "We're going to have bad luck, just because I said that we'd probably die."

"Yes," Opaque said flatly.

--....I luffed dat. xD made me laugh. like, for about, 5 minutes straight. xD

LOLOLOL. SPARROW'S A RETARD, LIKE CHEEZIT SAID. xD and lmfao, THE DITCH. xD the talk with Sparrow & sunset was amusing and perverted and asgjhakgj. Your mind is rubbing off on your charries. o.e xD WRITE!! mORE!!!

[Rayne~Drop.]

...The first thought I had about that was,"Holy f**k...Its the animal version of Slender Man." o.O lmfao. XD

I KNEW IT. I KNEW HE KILLED THEM...Or at least had a part in it. o.O XD And oh my God...I laughed so much when Sparrow was talking to Sunset in the ditch...ONLY YOU WOULD DO THAT. LOL XD ...God...Chur turning SUnset into a perv! lol XD

...And I APROVE of chu using my sarcasm, because the way you have Sparrow use it is just f*****g hilarious. XD ...And...CHeezit...Review stealer. -.- ...Thats all I got. o.O XD