Pack Mentality: The Return

It was barely moonhigh when everyone went to their Den.  Taylor called Bramble, Stephan, and Daniel over to her Den.  They came for her call.  Daniel was confused at first because normally the leader gets the privilege to call meetings, but when it comes to issues with the Packs of Old, the medics call the party's that are involved specifically over to her Den, and in this case it was Bramble (Who recently got promoted), Stephan (Who also got promoted to trainee of the alpha) and Daniel (the alpha).  They trotted over to her Den, which was about 10 bearlengths from where they where talking about the new duties that each would be receiving.

They arrived at her den a couple of minutes after they were called over and Daniel asked, "What is this about?  This is the first time in a couple of weeks you have called me over."

Taylor replied, "I know.  This is about last night.  I am going to be going to Old faithful to be getting confirmation, but I think that there was a sign last night."  Daniel and Stephan were surprised at this while Bramble did not flinch.  "Predators don't usually work together like that.  I feel like there may or may not be something else at play here. Bramble, were you scared at all when you were running with the Bear, eagle, mountain lion, and the fox?"

Bramble answered honestly, "Not really.  It just kind of felt natural, at  least until the Cougar showed up.  But after he roared it was more of a relief."

Daniel spoke up next. "Hmm, that has never happened before.  There was always tension before when we ran into those animals, all except for the foxes.  We have worked with them before. "

Taylor continued, "That adds a little bit more confidence with what I am about to say, but I am still going to that geyser."

"I think that it means that we won't be able to stay in this area with the humans unless the wolves rule the forest with the top predators in this area.  Its shocking but it does make sense, and it seems that won't happen unless Bramble was an Alpha."

Bramble spoke up now.  " Me! But I am barely not a beta?"

Stephan spoke next, "Bramble, calm down.  Who knows what may happen long term.  We won't know anything more until Taylor visits with the Packs of Old."

"Very well said Stephan.  We will discuss this in further  detail after I meet with the Packs of Old tomorrow."  After these words the meeting split up and they all went to their dens.

The next morning, Raven, Quint, and George got up and headed over to Taylor's den, and she was already ready for the group of visitors with their traveling herbs, as they had been told to leave because there seemed to be a break in the weather.

Quite honestly though, the group of travelers seemed ready to leave, even though they had seemed to have fit in really well here.  They were fully adjusted, but they needed to go home to share what the tribes at Shoshone Lake had found out.

As their thoughts were racing through their heads, Taylor, had dropped the pack of traveling herbs in front of them and after they had eaten them, they stepped out to 2 lines of wolves spanning almost the entire way from the main entrance of the camp to Daniel's Den, that was towards the middle of the camp.

As they waked through the tunnel they heard cries of "good luck," and "safe travels."  And as soon as they walked through the entrance they heard howls from inside of the camp, as if they might not return.

***

Jackson and Rick who had also had a long night decided to do a survey of the damage.  Not only to the campground, but also on the other side of the road, trying to pinpoint the cause of the fire .  They also felt like they should try and find Jackson's mom who they had told to head to the Yellowstone welcome center.  Another, more selfish reason for them to stay out and continue surveying the damage was because it had seemed like the two of them wouldn't  get  a lot of sleep tonight  because of the adrenaline  pumping through their veins due to  helping the fire department combat the fire.  The memory of the tree falling into the campground causing the area to erupt into flames while they were inside sitting and talking was still fresh in their heads.  In a sense the guilt for not calling the fire in earlier so that the campground would not get set on fire was eating Rick up inside.

As they were driving through the campground, they saw that around 25% of the campground was burnt.  Most of the damage seemed to be on the Northeast side.  The first things that jumped into Rick and Jackson's minds were the recognition of where there seemed to be a gaping hole across the road from where the tree had landed when the campground started on fire, and the locations where most of the heroics from the animals and the fire department had had the most rescues.

While Jackson and Rick are reminiscing Jackson seemed to start to drift off, but as his head had started to relax, he jerked awake.  As Rick was studying  Jackson's actions he started to think to himself that Jackson had had a long week.  First his Dad being arrested, His mom going to the ER, now a large fire.  Then, after several moments of thinking, Rick remembered the he, being the first officer on the scene , needed to start collecting statements to get a fair sentence for Jackson's dad.  He looked over at Jackson, with a guardians love, and realized that this wasn't the best time for collecting statements because Rick didn't want to open old wounds

Rick had finished surveying the campground and drove his truck back to the cabin where Jackson and his mother had been staying for the time being.  He parked his vehicle outside of the cabin, woke Jackson up, and walked him inside to his bunk.  He told him good night and then hopped into his truck and headed toward the Ranger Cabin.  Once he got there he hopped out and then onto the ATV grabbing a notepad inside on the way.  He then left the campground, crossing the road to where a majority of the damage of the fire took place.

Jackson watched Rick as he left the area, then glanced back at his mother, then back outside, tilting his head to the side realizing that there  may be some type of chemistry between his mom and Rick.  He decided that he would wait a couple of days and attempt to set up a  "blind date" between his mom and Rick.

Meanwhile, being out of Jackson's sight lines, Rick crossed the road to investigate the cause of the fire.  As he was driving through the he saw multiple acres of charred woods, fallen trees, and a couple of burnt  corpses of animals.  He had to have gone around 2 or 3 miles when he had seen a clearing on a flat area of  mountain face where there was circle of rocks and a few charred logs, and what he could only assume was left of a couple of tents. After looking at the burn lines he concluded that it was  a controlled burn that had gone wrong after a couple of hours.  At this conclusion, he started to draw a circle with a dot in the center showing where the fire started and drove off North, south, and east to see the extent of the damage in either of the direction.  He was lucky because in the time between Moving to the ATV and the truck he decided to fill up a gas tank in case the ATV ran out of gas.  He had to fill up the ATV's Gas tank once because of the amount of time he was out in the preserve.   After making out the extent of the fires he turned around and headed back to the campground.

***

The next Morning as Raven, Quint and George were just outside of camp, hearing the howls of the tribe, they turned towards the campground , and to the territories outside of the Shoshone Lake Complex.  Just like the trip to Shoshone Lake, they made a camp at the base of the mountain the they skirted around last time.  As they were setting up camp it started to snow again, this time not as hard as the first snow that extended their stay.

The next morning they hunted and then resumed their journey back to heart lake, and after several hours passed,  the group of travelers voted and decided to hunt again.  This time, Raven was in charge and George was watching his movements closely because he was still a Beta, after all.  Raven stuck his nose in the air to see if he could pick up a scent and before long he spoke up, "I have picked up the scent of a deer not to far from here."  At this time the group crouched down and stalked towards a thicket of gorse.  They started to sketch out a plan to catch one, and after a minute Raven whispered," OK I have an idea I will hang back in this thicket while you two fan out.  When you are in your positions, flick your ears.  Then I will race out from the bushes.  This will result in the group of deer scattering.  I pounce on the slowest one from that boulder."  He picked his head out briefly and pointed his nose towards a boulder then ducked back behind the bushes.  He continued, "This will give me leverage because I am slightly smaller than Quint.  At this point you two come running out of the bushes over there.  Then you two join the hunt and we will have some deer for supper.  Any questions?  Very well."

At this the party separated into their given positions.  George and Quint both flicked their ears at almost the same time.  Then Raven exploded from the gorse running straight at a deer.  It let out a warning call and started to run.  The Deer had to have been around 20 paces away, and the boulder around 25 paces away.  Raven picked up his pace.  Then in the process the Deer dodged around the boulder that Raven had decided to use, as Raven approached it, the rock was beginning to look bigger than he had expected, but he pressed on.  He was closing in on the deer, and before he knew it his paws hit rock.  The deer was now 5 paces away from the rock.  After around 2 paces Raven leaped into the air.  As he did, Quint and joined the pursuit.

Time seemed to slow down when he was in the air, and after a time, Raven landed square on the Deer's back and bit down until he felt blood, paralyzing the deer.  Then, George and Quint got in on the kill.  Soon after initial contact the deer was dead.  They had a meal for the rest of the afternoon then after they ate they continued because they could smell their own camp.

After their hunt they found their own territory.  This resulted in a rush of adrenaline, They picked up their pace the further they got into their own territory.  They soon broke through the wall of gorse that surrounded their camp, and the sense of excitement turned into heartbreak in the blink of an eye because their was not a single tribe mate in the camp.  The heartbreak turned into hope as they wondered the camp because they picked up the scent of two wolves.  One younger, and one older.

Raven, Quint, and George followed the trail until they arrived at the boulder where the leader would call the meetings.  They were so engaged in the search that they didn't see a shadow creep out of the brush and the group heard a voice from behind them say, "Well its about time you all showed up."