"May Siglitun's strength and courage be bestowed upon you that you may defend your pack from any dangers it faces, and may his blessings be on your training."

Remiel touched his nose to Ranger's and the pack set up a chorus of cheers, Coriander passionately adding her own voice to the fray. It had been a month since Night Pack had redeclared war, and even though it hung over the pack like a storm cloud, today was like a bright ray of sunshine. She felt an immense swell of pride as she looked at Ranger, who looked like he was about to burst with elation.

It was funny; she had never really considered finding a mate or having pups--the thought had just never occurred to her. And yet here she was, raising a dog who she hadn't even given birth to. The whole pack are basically my pups, anyway, she thought. And they're enough to keep me busy for three lifetimes!

Aside from the continuing fight with Night Pack, things were finally looking up for Wind Pack, now that the icy jaws of winter were finally starting to loosen their grip. The snow was melting, and even though the hollow was unpleasantly muddy from the excess water, everyone was too happy about the returning prey to care much. Even with the stolen territory, they were eating much better than they were before.

With the ceremony now over, Ranger bounded over to Coriander, his eyes glowing with excitement. "I'm a trainee now!" he yipped, his tail wagging so fast that it was a blur. "Finally!"

Coriander laughed. "Yes, finally you can stop driving everyone crazy and actually do something productive!" She was serious, even though she knew there was a part of her that would miss the mischievous, overly-curious puppy following her around--but only a part.

Ranger shook out his mane of long white neck fur that was steadily becoming thicker as he grew older. "I'm going to be the best fighter the packs have ever seen," he declared. "You just wait and see."

"If that's true, you're going to have to start training," barked Eleazar, who had just walked up. "And it's not going to be easy."

Ranger's eyes gleamed with determination. "I'm ready."

Eleazar simply shook the long hair out of his eyes and jerked his head towards the hollow entrance. "Well, come on then. Gabriel put Feather and I in charge of your first session."

Ranger eagerly followed the Briard, tossing a "bye, Coriander!" over his shoulder as he left. Desmond and Kye followed as well, congratulating Ranger on his new status. Coriander smiled and turned back towards her den.

Eleazar's two pups were sitting close to the entrance with their mother, Minette. "When do we become trainees, Mama?" asked Katrina, while Russell simply watched the dogs leave, his eyes wide. While Katrina looked to be a bubbly, enthusiastic pup, Russell was shy and a little slow at times.

"When you're eight months old, like Ranger," Minette replied. "But that won't be for a good while yet."

"Aww." Katrina looked crestfallen for a moment, but then perked up again. "I wanna be a hunter! What do you want to be, Russ?"

Russell blinked and shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know," he mumbled.

"Do you want to be a defender, like me?" Minette asked.

Ranger shook his head. "I don't want to fight anybody."

"So you want to be a hunter?" Katrina put in eagerly. "Cool! We can train together!"

Russell pawed at the ground. "I don't really want to do that either..."

Coriander looked at the pup thoughtfully. Either he would end up an omega like Xander, or maybe he actually would like to be a healer. She was guessing more of the latter, because so far Russell hadn't shown himself to have anything like Xander's disinterested, apathetic attitude. That would be wonderful, she thought. I'm really going to need an extra paw, especially if this cursed war continues.

She decided not to cut in on their conversation, however. Minette gently assured Russell that he would have plenty of time to figure out what he wanted to do while Coriander went inside the den. Torn was sitting up in his nest and nodded a greeting to her as she came in. "I heard the ceremony, but couldn't be bothered to get up," he chuckled. "I'm excited for Ranger, though. He has a lot of potential."

Coriander smiled. "I know he does. Are you feeling better?"

He nodded. "Yes, but I just can't get rid of this cough. And I feel short of breath a lot. Levi's already better, shouldn't I be too?"

"Yes, but I'm concerned," Coriander sighed. "You might not have influenza like the rest."

Torn's eyes widened. "Then what do I have?"

"Asthma." Coriander frowned. "Grace told me about it, and you have the symptoms. I might have to corroborate with another healer, though. Just to be certain."

"Well, can I recover from it?" Torn asked, looking concerned.

"She said most dogs have it all their lives," Coriander answered. "But it's not very serious. You should still be able to be a good defender, especially if I find herbs to treat you with regularly."

"Well, okay," Torn said. "Does that mean I can go back to my duties soon?"

"Yes, as soon as I talk to another healer," Coriander barked. "I'm going to ask Gabriel for permission to go to Earth Pack and speak with Louis. We're on good terms with them and I wouldn't have to cross any hostile territory."

Torn nodded. "All right, good luck. Better do it quickly though, I'm about to forget how to use my legs!"

Coriander laughed and headed outside. Most of the dogs were already gone, hunting or patrolling. She greatly hoped there wouldn't be another skirmish with Night Pack today. She wanted this to stay a good day. Gabriel hadn't left yet, still speaking with Speedwell about something, and so she approached and stood nearby to wait until they had finished.

They did so and Speedwell departed with a nod, taking Harbor, Focus, and Splash with him. Gabriel turned to Coriander curiously. "Good morning. Do you need something?"

"Yes, Gabriel," she began. "I'd like your permission to visit Earth Pack and consult Louis on a healing matter."

Gabriel blinked. "What healing matter?"

"Torn. I want to be sure that he has asthma. Louis is a skilled healer and I think he'll know. Grace always spoke highly of him."

"Go ahead," Gabriel said with a nod. "It's a tragedy Grace wasn't able to finish your training. Not that I doubt your skill," he added quickly.

"It's fine," Coriander said. "I know she still had so much more to teach me. I might ask him for some other advice too. Thank you!" she called as she exited the hollow.

She wasn't sure exactly what Earth Pack considered their border, but she knew there were some tunnels at the edge of the meadow which probably led down into their territory. She wasn't exactly thrilled about going into a bunch of dark, musky tunnels but she supposed that was the sacrifice you made for your pack.

She could feel her pelt shrinking as she went underground and she flinched as dirt fell from the ceiling. What is wrong with these dogs? Who in their right mind lives underground?

She froze as she heard voices echoing through the tunnels. Creepy. "Hello!" she called out, figuring it would be better if she announced her presence.

It wasn't long before three terriers came around the corner: a Norfolk, a Cairn, and a Jack Russell. She recognized the Cairn as Hunter, Aster's mate, and the Norfolk as Verity, a dog she'd seen at Hunter's Moons before, but she didn't recall the Jack Russell's name. They didn't look hostile so much as surprised.

"What do you want?" Hunter demanded.

"I came to see your healer," Coriander answered. "...Is he available?"

Hunter looked back at his packmates who shrugged. "Sure," he said. "Follow me. You two go on."

They nodded and trotted off down one of the tunnels. Hunter led Coriander down a different one, his pace quick. She marveled at how they seemed to know the way around so well. Everything looked the exact same to her.

Eventually they came out of a tunnel into a wide cave which appeared to be the pack's main area. A few other dogs were sitting around within, and they regarded Coriander with surprise, whispering comments to each other.

"Wait here," Hunter said, crossing the cave to another tunnel. Coriander did as he said, trying to repress feelings of claustrophobia. She had thought Night Pack was strange for living under the trees, but this was simply a whole different level.

It wasn't long before Hunter reemerged from the tunnel, followed by Louis, the Miniature Schnauzer who was Earth Pack's healer. He dipped his head in greeting as they drew closer. "Hello, Coriander," he barked. "What is it you need?"

"One of my packmates," she replied. "I think he may have asthma, and I wanted to ask your opinion."

"Oh, certainly. What are his symptoms?"

"Well, he was coughing and wheezing a lot, and I first I thought he just had influenza," Coriander began. "But I had other patients who recovered from that, while he hasn't. He's also been low energy and hasn't had much of an appetite."

Louis nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, that sounds like asthma to me."

"I remember Grace saying that there wasn't a known cure for it," Coriander said. "Will it affect his skill as a defender at all?"

"It may, but not significantly," Louis responded. "Chamomile and valerian are both good for clearing it up. Just give him a small amount every few weeks and it should work to prevent any bad episodes."

Coriander nodded. "All right, we have that on the moor. Thank you."

"Of course," Louis said with another dip of his head. "Do you have any other questions?"

Coriander smiled. "Do you have all day?"

He laughed. "I see. Well, if a serious matter comes up, you could also ask Sundae in Night Pack, she--" He stopped and chuckled nervously. "Uh, right, I'm happy to help if you need anything."

"Thank you again," was all Coriander said in reply, but his words just made her more upset about the whole stupid war. She knew Sundae was a talented and experienced healer, but there was no way she would be able to speak with her without getting killed on the way. And it would have to be a life or death situation before she went down into these tunnels again.

This war will be the death of us all.

Wow so I'm back and stuff, 'sup everyone. Yeah I know the story's been like super boring lately, but I promise you I am committed to this book and I'm going to really focus on making it better. I'm finishing up school this week so I'm going to try and work hard on it. With any luck the conflict will really start up in these next chapters, so stay tuned. If anyone is still reading this, that is, ha. Oh well. If you are here, thanks a lot. It means a lot to me that anyone would bother to read my books, and I hope you have a most delightful and pleasant day.