#crevasse

III.

He is no longer in the territory of the Meadows. His home, the place where he grew up, now left behind. 

He knows where he is. Glacier territory. His brothers will never look for him there, but he does not feel safe.

The Glacier family is not known for its hospitality. 

For the first time in days, he makes eye contact with prey. A little hare. It is skinny. It, too, must be suffering at the hands of this winter. The wolf sympathizes with his future meal. 

He leaps, but his teeth do not connect with the flesh of a rabbit. Instead, a wolf appears in front of him, like a ghost. As if he materialized out of thin air.

White fur, speckled with dark spots. He did not see him, camouflaged perfectly in the snow.

“What are you doing here?” the Glacier wolf growls, not hiding his disdain and anger.

“That is our prey you are stalking, Meadow rat! Return to your territory at once, or I will kill you right where you stand!” 

Pebble backs off. Scared. He does not notice the other wolf that entered the scene.

“I…I am sorry!” He kneels. He is begging for mercy. “I will stop hunting it, I promise!”

“My brothers… they…Lichen… they are going to kill me! I had to run away! 

He is rambling. 

“They`re cannibals !”

The white wolf is unfazed. He laughs at the pitiful rival in front of him.

 “Bummer.”

Before he gets to attack, a dark shadow jumps between the two figures. 

“Crevasse, wait!” she yells.

“Just look at him, I bet he can`t even hunt down a fly! He is clearly too weak to fight back, leave him alone, please? I will escort him back to his territory. No need for bloodshed. We are all suffering.” The black wolf speaks, defending Pebble.

“Tch…” Crevasse scoffs. He was looking forward to a scuffle today, but a tiny, tiny part of him felt bad for the brown wolf in front of him. He wonders if it is true that the Meadows are doing so badly that they've succumbed to something as shameful as cannibalism. “Fine. But if I catch him on our land again, I will not be as forgiving!” He walks away, leaving the two wolves all by themselves.

Nothing but silence and Pebble`s heavy breathing are heard for a while. Until, out of nowhere, the black wolf opens her mouth, and speaks. “Sorry about my brother, being hungry all the time makes him grumpy!” Pebble does not even look at her. 

“My name is Avalanche.” Avalanche. He will remember this name.

“I am Pebble, thank you… for saving my life.”

He looks at her. She stares back.

“So… wanna try catch that hare again?” 

What?

“Are you… sure…?” Pebble whispers, worried. He did not expect those words.

“You`ve heard me! Let`s catch that hare!”