Lupus Life
As long as I remember I lived in the wildness, and I had nothing else, as my pack in the Red Talons tribe.
I am a Redback, A young member of a smaller Lupus pack. Our special trait is the dark red fur from the top of our head, across our spine to the end of our tail. This mark is only on the Garou's fur in our pack, and the Lupus doesn't.
I was born under the Crescent Moon, and this time, just some other cubs were born. Some of them, like my brother and me, were different lupus, kinfolk as they call us. I had time to understand what it means and what it will mean in my life. Others are simple lupus cubs, but for us, just brothers and sisters as everybody else, in our pack, and tribe.
Some nights when we were just pups I just lay beside my brother, my head lay on his back and watched the stars and the moon silently. Mom's body kept us warm under the cold nights. Her closeness made us calm and felt safe. My brother slept silently, but I just listened to the noises, the howling and the other voices of the Wildness. When I closed my eyes I had the warm feeling of safety in the pack, the closeness of my family as we curl up and sleep on each other.
As the time passed my first summer, I learned more and more to understand what I am, and what I can be. It was hard to understand, and believe my own father lived for more generations. He was here when most of the lupus grandfathers lived their young ages, and he will be here much more time. He lived so many summers, and lost so many from our family. A simple Lupus or Kinfolk may live ten summers, before leaving us and the spirit goes back to Gaia. This is the law of the Gaia, and this is over us. But some of us, like my Father and more elders in the pack and the tribe, get the gift of a longer life from Gaia after the First Change, and with this, they get the power to follow her and her laws and tasks more.
I grew and became stronger and stronger, so as every other young one I learned the laws, hierarchy, and hunting. We began to learn our places in the pack, and our tribe. We learn better and better how to hunt in a good way, and this means more than just efficiency or choosing better prey. We hunt as many as we need, and nothing more. Choose wisely so we have food next time too.
Of course our young blood made us reckless, look for our limits, and sometimes we found ourselves in some trouble too. Like when I chase my brother who earlier bit my tail, and in a tight turn between the trees I slip and land in the mud. Or another time when my brother showed how fearless and strong he is, and climbed to a branch of an old fallen treetrunk, and after a cracking noise he found himself lying on the ground before my paws.
But most of the time we know when we can play, and when we need to be serious. Walking to the hunting ground is the time when we need to focus more on the smells, noises, and prepare ourselves for what will await us.
Between the hunts, patrols and other tasks I enjoy my simple life, clean others, and help with the younger pups. I am stepping in the age too, but I know this summer is not the time when I will have my own pups. I need to wait, maybe one or two more summers. But give a good feeling as I am with the others, with my family.
As another elder, Silent-River, I got the gift of the Crescent Moon, so I can listen to the spirits, if my mind is quiet enough and I am still. But I am too young to fully accept the blessing of this gift and understand the whispers of the spirits. Silent-River told me, it will be easier later, but it will be heavier too, because I need to carry the secrets of the Spirits. Besides this, other things will be harder too. I just sat on a higher ground, watched my pack, under the light of the Crescent Moon, I raised my eyes, and watched the distance, sniffed long into the air, and enjoyed the cold night wind as it caressed me.
After my second summer I walked in the forest, to check our Hunting ground. I smelled something else that I wanted, Homids, near our territory. I watched them from a distance. They couldn't see me, but I could see them. Just a small herd of homids, hunters, more like murderers, killers. They know nothing about hunting, and never understand the link between the predator and the prey. They followed the tracks of their victim, but they were close to losing it. Suddenly my nose felt another smell too, some young Lupus, maybe from a smaller pack. To youngs for hunting. This time they were lucky to have the homid's smelling so bad, but this will not be the case every time. Nights later I had a bad feeling, like somebody whispered into my ear that something bad happened. With worrying eyes and leaning down ears I went to Silent-River and told her. After her reaction I turned around and ran as my legs could, but it was too late. I just found the blood, some remains, with a lot of homid tracks. My mixed feelings find the way out from me with a long Howling, mixed with sorrow, sadness, rage, anger, hatred. This was the first time I saw with my own eyes what happened when the homids found a Lupus pack and not just heard them from the tales. And this will not be the last one too. They were just a little older Lupus as me. I followed the tracks and watched the settlement from a distance. How they hold in cages the young kidnapped pups. My ears go down, and I start snarling, and growling, as I watch them with narrowed eyes.
I wanted revenge, my young blood boiled on the fire of my rage, but the homid herd was too big here. I could just watch them and wait for the night, until the darkness hid me, and not just me. More Ragabash brothers and sisters arrived, and under the moonless night they brought out the pups. After we disappeared in the darkness.
I am a Red Talon, my Rage grows.
As I said that time was my first time, but not the last one. Under the next seasons our life became just harder. Homids attacked our prey, or smaller Lupus packs. Our alpha gathered together the smaller packs and we went to the mountains and deeper into the forest. Our small pack became a bigger and stronger pack, but more Lupus means more hungry maws too. I wanted to go hunting or go patrol, but leaned my head down before the elders' and the alpha's order, and I helped more around our "camp". Watch the pups and the injured ones. With this I had more time to learn about the spirits, listen to more tales about our Tribe, and the path of the Theurge.
I tried to understand why they ended the Impergium, why we can't follow Gaia and the nature laws, control the number of the overpopulated homid herd and restore the balance again. This is the only way to save other animals too, before they are lost forever and be forgotten, because of the homids wild bloodshed, what they called hunting.
I am in my third summer and my Rage just grows more.
