Unexpected Visitors

Ice held himself to a solid trot and he traveled away from his territory. Keeping himself from running or walking, he trekked from sunup to sundown, only stopping briefly to hunt, drink, and sleep, and sometimes to ask for directions when he ran into other dogs.

It felt good to have a purpose, a mission. He didn't have to think about his family or Tobin and Mirabella. All he had to focus on was moving, getting closer to his goal. The only reminder he had was the fresh scar on his leg, dispensed by Blood during their fight.

Ice had quickly figured out that he had no idea where the Wandering Forest was, but the dogs he ran into told him to just keep following the river into the lower part of the mountains and he would find himself in their territories.

This method worked for a long time--he might have been traveling for weeks, even. But as he crossed over a rise, Ice realized that the river split and went two directions. The land sloped down into mountainous lowlands that were sprinkled with snow and patches of pine forest. In the distance, he could just make out the dark canopy of a deciduous forest, but he couldn't see anything beyond that.

Ice frowned and sat down. The dogs had said the lower part of the mountains, but was this it? Nobody had mentioned the river splitting. He looked up again and froze when he saw the shape of a dog climbing up the mountain. Ice flattened his ears and tensed, prepared to fight or run if this dog was hostile.

The dog apparently had seen Ice, because he picked up speed and drew closer. As he did so, Ice saw that it was a fawn Chinook with pointed ears and a dark muzzle. Ice's eyes widened. He looked so much like--

"Who are you?" The dog's bark cut sharply through Ice's thoughts. He looked wary, and his voice held a tinge of aggression, but he didn't seem hostile. A foul, unhealthy scent was around him and Ice saw that fresh wounds were evident along his flank and muzzle.

"I said, who are you?" the Chinook demanded again, his voice holding more of a growl.

Ice quickly shook his head to clear his thoughts. "Oh, um, I--I'm Ice. I'm... ah... traveling."

The dog narrowed his dark brown eyes. "Traveling where?"

"Er... The Wandering Forest."

The dog stiffened and his eyes flew wide. "No! There is sickness--terrible sickness. The Sickness."

Ice blinked. He'd heard Mirabella talk about a terrible illness that caused a dog to bleed and have exhaustion and high fever. She'd said it had no name... and no known cure.

The dog had begun to tremble and Ice could smell his fear. "It came from Sky Pack. It killed so many... It's not safe."

"You mean you're... running away from the Sickness?" Ice asked slowly.

The Chinook nodded fearfully, and grief was now evident in his eyes. "There's nothing left to do. We have to run if we want to survive."

The dog's breed and appearance was still nagging at Ice. "Please... What is your name?"

"Drogo," the dog said, looking confused. "Why do you want to know?"

Ice realized that Mirabella had never told him her son's name. Still, it was similar to Tobin's name and there was a chance... "What were your parents' names?"

"Why would you want to know that?" the fawn dog asked, now even more confused.

"Were they named Tobin and Mirabella?" Ice pressed, excitement making his heart beat faster.

Drogo's jaw dropped. "H-how do you know my parents' names?" he gasped.

"I know them," Ice replied. "They saved my life."

"How are they? Are they doing all right? Is Midnight Pack still around?" Drogo's eyes were shining with hope, his tail furtively beginning to wag.

Ice winced. Drogo was thinking that he might have a home and a family to return to now that his pack was sick. How could he destroy that hope?

Ice swallowed. "Y-yes, Midnight Pack is still around."

Drogo bared his teeth. "Have they been bothering my parents?"

Sorrow for the dog stabbed Ice's heart. "They... They... I'm sorry. Your parents are dead."

Drogo flinched back as though he had been struck, but then his eyes hardened and he curled his lip in a snarl. "It was Midnight Pack, wasn't it? Wasn't it!"

Ice looked away. "They killed my family too. They almost killed me. If it hadn't been for Tobin and Mirabella healing my wounds, I would have died."

"And now you're alive, and they're dead!" Drogo's eyes had lost focus and he howled to sky in grief and fury. "Half of my packmates dead from this Khazan-accursed illness, the others slaughtered by Sky Pack! Branded a traitor for leaving a dying pack--what else could I do? And now my parents are dead! DEAD!" He sank to the ground and buried his head in his paws. Ice could just hear him muttering, "Why did I ever leave them... Why..."

Ice stood frozen where he was, his mind blank on what to say. He had no words to comfort Drogo with; after all, he felt grief at their passing just as much as their own son did.

Drogo slowly rose to his feet after what felt like an eternity. He licked tears from his scarred muzzle, his eyes clear and focused again. "Tell me where you buried them," he said, his voice steady, but then a snarl began to creep into it. "You did bury them, didn't you?"

"Of course I did!" Ice snapped. What kind of mutt did Drogo think he was? "They're buried at their cave."

"Thank you." Drogo began to walk past the silver husky, looking hard and determined.

"Wait!" Ice barked. "Midnight Pack will have taken that territory long ago. You could be killed."

Drogo swung his head around to look at Ice. "If you truly knew my parents, then you know that they were the best dogs Khazan ever willed to live. They were the best parents a dog could hope for. And I won't let them go without saying goodbye."

He started walking again, following the river. Ice stared after him before deciding to call one last thing.

"Don't seek revenge!" he barked. "Tobin and Mirabella wouldn't want it. And it won't heal the hurt anyway."

Nothing would ever heal the hurt.

~

Ice sat by the river until dusk, lost in thought. Drogo hadn't replied to his last message, so Ice could only hope that he had heard and would listen.

He was also trying to figure out what he should do. If the packs were dead from the Sickness, how could he make a new life there? Sure, he might could live in the territory, but there might still be traces of illness to poison the prey or the water.

"You were always such a thinker, Ice." A warm, playful voice came out of nowhere. "And always too cautious. You'll never know until you find out."

Ice nearly jumped straight up in the air. That sounded like... "Snow?!" he barked, spinning around wildly as he looked for a flash of white fur. "Snow, is that you? Where are you?"

The area around was suddenly masked in a thick gray cloud, except for a path that lay before him. He walked forward, not of his own accord, his eyes still darting around.

The faint shape of a dog appeared at the end of the path, surrounded by pine trees. Ice yelped in delight. "Snow!"

He ran forward, but the pale light strengthened and shone on silver fur, lighting up a glow of blue eyes. Ice stopped short, confused. Snow didn't have silver fur or blue eyes. This was a different dog...

Soft fur brushed his flank and his sister's voice whispered in his ear. Find the clouds...

The image flashed before his eyes for just a second, and then he was lying beside the river, moonlight shining on the frosty grass.

"It was just a dream," Ice sighed. "Oh, Snow..."

Frost had said that Khazan sometimes spoke to dogs through dreams. Thorn had called it superstitious nonsense. But even if his mother was right, that wasn't Khazan.

Was it really her? Or were my memories just getting jumbled with the moonlight?

Well, he didn't remember any dog like the one he had seen, and he could have sworn he felt her. His flank even almost felt... warm, like a dog had pressed against it.

You're imagining things, the rational side of his mind growled. You probably slept on that side.

"It couldn't have been real," Ice said firmly, trying to convince himself. He sighed. "...But what other choice do I have?"

You'll never know until you find out.

A smile tugged at the edges of his lips. Snow was right. Warmth filled his heart. It had to be her.

"All right," he murmured. "I'll leave in the morning. So don't bother me with any more dreams!"

He smiled and curled up to sleep again. Maybe he wasn't alone after all.

Another chapter done! Whoop whoop! You'll notice I put a picture at the top of this chapter. I've added pictures to a couple other chapters so you can see how I imagine the characters. Can you guess who they are?

:P Duh, of course you can. Not that hard. All right, ANYWAY, I hope you enjoyed and, as always, don't forget to vote and comment!