Forest's Journey
Chapter 23

The next morning, it had stopped raining, and most wolves were already lying on the ground in exhaustion. It had rained nearly the whole night. The sun had risen above in the sky, but it did little to alleviate the cold. The cold air, along with a damp pelt, made Forest’s nose run. Forest cast his glance all around the small hill they were on and saw that the forest was completely inundated with water. For as far as he could see, the hill was the only place that wasn’t completely submerged. He wondered how the Lambdas were going to hunt, and if there would be any prey that didn’t die in the flood.

“We should see if the other packs are alright.” decided Rose.

“Sure. We could wait until our packmates are awake and howl at them as a pack and see if they hear.” suggested Forest.

One by one the wolves woke up, and each of them were horrified by the fact that they were completely surrounded by water. A state of panic enveloped the pack as they realised what they were waking up to.

“How are we going to hunt?” asked one wolf.

“How long do we have to stay up here for?” asked another.

“Everyone, please calm down!” yelled Forest.

The wolves fell into an uneasy silence.

“Forest and I are still figuring out a way we can replace prey, but we’ll definitely be able to hunt some birds once the flood is over. We don’t know how long we have to stay up here for, but we’ll have to stay as long as the forest is still flooded.” explained Rose.

“I’ve seen a flood like this in my time, and from experience I predict that we’ll probably have to stay for around a week.” called Dove, who was an older wolf.

“That should be fine. Wolves can last a week without food if necessary.” assured Forest.

“But the pups can’t!” cried Meadow.

By now the whole pack was awoken by the commotion.

“Calm down Meadow. We’ll replace a way soon. For now we’re going to howl together as a pack to let the other packs know we’re alright and to replace out if the other packs are fine.” said Rose.

The wolves raised their heads to the sky and howled as loudly as they could, forming a synchronised melody, like a bird’s song.

They waited, bodies hunched tensely and ears sticking up alertly as they waited for a reply. Suddenly, they heard a loud, collective one from the south.

“The Pack of the Leaf is alright.” declared Forest.

This was followed by another collective howl from the north.

“The Pack of the Bush is fine too.” announced Rose.

They didn’t hear anyone from across the Main River, but Forest had expected it, since they were too far away.

Later in the day, the pups began to complain that they were hungry, but there was no way the Lambdas could hunt.

“I see a squirrel floating in the water! Only if we could eat that.” Forestson remarked wistfully as he pointed to a squirrel floating on water below.

“I know there won’t be enough floating dead prey for all of us, but perhaps you can tell those who know how to swim to go out there, grab the prey and bring it back for the pups only.” suggested Meadow.

“I, for one, would be happy to go.” Juniper added.

Forest weighed the pros and cons. They would need five pieces of prey for the five pups who could eat prey, and each wolf who goes out can’t be expected to carry more than one piece of prey back. He didn’t want to risk the lives of five wolves, but at the same time the pups would suffer consequences if they weren’t given prey. He couldn’t risk the health and wellbeing of the pups. He gave a frustrated sigh. He would have to allow the mission.

“Alright everyone listen up.” Forest called out to his pack.

Everyone turned their attention to him.

“We need three wolves who are confident to go out and fetch some prey that are floating on the flood water. We won’t be able to get enough for every wolf, just the pups. I’m going to go, as well as Juniper. Who else wants to volunteer?” asked Forest.

After some awkward silence, three wolves hesitantly volunteered. Forest understood their reluctance. He didn’t want to plunge into the cold water either.

“Thank you for offering. Let’s go now, since the pups are really hungry.” decided the Forest.

Forest’s heart beat rapidly as he slid down the hill and plunged into the water. As soon as he landed, the cold water lapped at his chest, knocking the breath out of him. He and his packmates were shivering uncontrollably until they forced themselves to move in the water. He found that it wasn’t actually that deep, since it only went up to his neck. It was extremely hard to wade through the water though, so sometimes he let himself float so he could swim. He gradually got used to swimming, and soon he found the squirrel Forestson talked about earlier. Floodwater rushed into his mouth, but he resisted the urge to spit it out. Swimming back with prey in his mouth was hard, since he could only breathe through his nose. He looked around for his packmates, worried that they’d drowned, but to his relief they were all afloat, looking for prey. He swam his way back to the hill and clawed his way up without dropping the heavy, drenched prey in his mouth.

“Here’s a squirrel.” Forest said as he dumped his catch at Forestson’s paws.

“Hickory and his littermates can have it first.” Forestson replied.

Forest glanced at his adopted son with pleasant surprise.

“Why?” he asked.

“Because they’re my friends, and friends always look after each other.” answered Forestson.

Forest’s chest nearly burst with pride at his son’s words. He was such a kind pup, and he was an excellent packmate. He was so glad his adopted son had the opportunity to live in a proper pack. Soon the others who went with him brought back their prey as well, and Forestson got a vole, which was something he had never even seen before.

“What’s that?” he asked as he nudged the vole with his nose.

“It’s a vole. We don’t normally have them because they live near rivers and we don’t normally hunt near the river, but the flood must’ve washed it here.” Forest explained.

“Well, I really like it.” Forestson commented as he took a bite out of the vole.