Disclaimer: I do not own Alpha and Omega, or any character's pertaining to the actual movie, HOWEVER, all of the original character's are M-I-N-E. *Fixes tie * Thank you and enjoy.

Silver Snow

Chapter 1: I Promise

Snow panted slightly from excitement as she darted across the underbrush like a snow-white blur. Her powerful wolf feet continuously pounded the ground in rhythmic drumming, snapping twigs and stirring bits of debris and dust. The air was clear and crisp and the sun shone down vibrantly through cracks in the leaves, spilling over in a bright splendor across the entire earthy vegetation of Jasper Park. A hint of breeze tickled Snow's fur and was just barely enough to heave the heavy clouds underneath the sun.

Snow blew her tuft of overhanging head fur from the left side of her face checking to see if she was still ahead. The wolf pup's ears perked up slightly. She could hear the sounds of them running, but grinned triumphantly at the thought of her being way out in front of the other wolves following. This race, like most of her prior races, was all hers. Snow shook her head fur from her face, arched her head back, and let out a loud howl—a howl that was abruptly cut short once she felt the thud of her tripping over her own paws and tumbling onto her belly. Her nose stung from where she hit and she rubbed on it tenderly.

"Not Cool…" She grumbled.

"I think I can see her!"

"Hurry up, before she pulls away again!"

"Yikes!" Snow scrambled to her feet, but by the sound of paw steps coming closer and closer from around the bend, she knew she wasn't going to make it off again in time. Instead, with a sly grin, she rolled onto her back, legs curled, tongue lulled out to the side, and head plopped onto the ground. The first wolf pup to come through the bushes barely had time to slide to a screeching stop, reaching Snow with only a few inches to spare. His black and gray fur was a little dirty, possibly from all the dirt that had been kicked up in his run after his friend. He gave his small mane of fur a quick shake and began to pace around Snow slowly and carefully. He gave her a prod. She didn't move. He growled and snapped at her muzzle. Snow remained perfectly motionless, almost as though she were—

"Is she dead, Mick?"

"Ah!" The first thud of a pup crashing into the other's back made him lurch forward to the balls of his toes, and two more thuds of two more pups creating a train of crashes that sent him reeling down onto his stomach. "Get off of me!" Mick rolled the three pups off of him and rose back up to his feet. His attention turned back to Snow.

"I doubt it." The bushes gave another rustle. A female wolf pup stepped out over to them, almost nonchalantly. Her dirty gray fur reflected the sunlight, with the exception of the black streaks on her paws. She walked over to the huddle of pups and sat down, constantly prodding Snow with her paw.

"Sis! Sis! Sis!" The three smaller pups chimed and crowded around her. Two of them, boys, had streaking red and white fur. Their sister, who constantly piped in the middle, ruffled her mountain red fur, tilting her head down at her older sibling. Snow stayed motionless. Mick grinned.

"Shower time, boys—"

"Grrr!"

"And girl!" Mick added hastily and made a circling motion with his finger. This wasn't good. The three smallest pups wagged their tails, turning to stand erect at Snow's sides. "Alright, pups—Leg's up. Aim, and—"

"NO!"

With a mighty spring, Snow's body soared overhead down onto her feet across the way from them. With her tongue hanging out in mock-victory, she sprinted off with yet another howl. The rapid pounding of paws followed by jars of how unfair she was shot out like bullets to her ears, but she only continued to run faster and faster. Leaping overgrown tree roots, diving underbrush, and darting across zigzagging trails, Snow made her way up a long incline in the land, until the canopy of trees had been shed away and her fur kissed by the sunlight. The cliff she stood upon overlooked Jasper Park in its entirety, spanning a view of rugged mountainous forest, snaking rivers and crashing falls, and lush, grassy clearings. But it wasn't the beauty of the park itself that had captivated Snow. On the contrary, every time she found herself sitting on that particular hill, her gaze moved well behind the box of mountain range over into the world beyond. A look of appreciation spread across her face and she sat down to enjoy the view.

"Hey, why'd you stop running?" Mick's voice came in soft pants. He slid to a stop and then walked beside her, looking to Snow, and then out to the line of her gaze. He already knew what she was thinking. "Oh, this again, huh?"

Snow rolled her eyes and her ears gave a flicker at hearing her siblings and friend make their way up to her.

"We're stopping the race? What gives?" The elder female walked up to Snow's other side.

"One day, maybe soon." Snow seemed to voice to no one in particular.

"Seriously, Snow?"

"It's not that silly, is it, Luna?" Snow turned to the female, looking for agreement. "You don't ever get the urge to see what else is out there? Ever? Not even when you look at it from a view like this?" She let out another sigh, one of longing. "Why do we always have to be stuck on the territory?"

"You're the only one who complains about it." Mick held out his paw, "We have everything we need and want right here. There's no need for us to leave."

"No leave! No leave!" The three youngest chimed in an annoying unison. But Snow wasn't hearing it from either of them. Ever since she had gotten her first glance, she knew what she wanted to do. She wanted to see the world; see what lay beyond the ignorant walls of mountains and trees that their territory confined her family to.

"One day…"

"…" Mick let out a sigh, seemingly rethinking his words, then dared to inch close to Snow's side. "Maybe you could think of something to get your mind of it. Like…" His eyes surveyed the surrounding area for something—anything—that he could change the subject to. He had found his chance when he spotted a group of wolves lead by a golden-furred wolf down in the valley below, chasing a stampeding group of caribou at the heels. "There—see? No one's gonna go hungry tonight."

Snow rolled her eyes and got up, turning away from her view, and making her way back down the hill. The others looked at each other, then followed behind her.

By the time the early evening had come along, the entire den area was buzzing with the sounds of happy, eating wolves. Everyone, from the smallest pup to the oldest elder had their maws stuffed with warm caribou meat, which meant that for the next few nights, any kind of hostility would be stifled. Snow made her way through the area and gazed at the size of her large pack. Wolves practically littered every hill, every cliff, and every den in the wide clearing. She had heard once that the pack hadn't always been that big; that they had once been divided in half. But with the help of her parents, uncle, and aunt, that gap had been bridged, not only in terms of pride, but in terms of class as well. But every so often, that old rivalry would show, breaking into squabbles that made omegas like her come in handy. Snow made her way up a hill towards the den that had overlooked the others, but was almost immediately passed up by her brothers and sisters. She watched them scramble into the den and nearly side-swipe their father in order to crowd around their meal.

Garth simply chucked and shook his head. The rather masculine red wolf made his way over to his mate and sat down next to her, grooming her fur as they watched their children ate. There was no mistaking Snow for Lilly's daughter. With the same snow-white fur down to the head fur that annoyingly swayed in front of their faces, it looked as though Lilly had literally spit her out. As a matter of fact, the only real physical characteristic Snow had received from Garth was his emerald green eyes, as opposed to the vibrant orchid opticals her mother possessed. The three pups snarled and tackled over each other, each one trying to fight over the other in order to get the most food as fast as they could. Snow never really understood why they always acted like no one ever fed them.

"Get out of my way, Petunia!"

"Ladies first!"

"I don't see any ladies anywhere!"

Their squabbling could've gone on forever. They hadn't really stopped until an older female wolf had placed her paw down in the middle of them. Snow's grandmother, Eve. She gave a look that was overly maternal and separated them, smiling kindly.

"Now pups, what have your mother and I told you?"

They looked at each other.

"Always announce yourself before kicking someone's butt."

"I'm gonna kick your butt!" They all shouted and were suddenly rolling over each other, crashing into the walls. Lilly put her paw on her face and sighed.

"You actually told them that, not me."

Ignoring her siblings, Snow walked over to her parents. She could tell they hadn't eaten. They never did until their pups were finished.

"Uhm," Snow started, but Lilly already knew what she was going to say before she had said it.

"Go ahead, It's okay." She waved her paw.

Snow nodded and practically slid down the hill and over to a group of pups that had gathered near the caribou meat in the middle along with her grandfather, Mick and Luna included. The elderly Winston waited for a few moments before he was sure no new-coming pups would make their way over to him before giving a stretch that made his retired form click in places Snow was sure couldn't have been too comfortable. On nights like this, where everyone was too full to do anything but relax, he always made it a habit to spin some kind of story for the pups. Just a little ways away, she could spot her uncle Humphrey, and laughed slightly. He was such a pup at heart, and though he was trying to sneak his way close enough to hear the story, he was doing a bad job hiding it. Even worse, he pulled his alpha leader mate Kate over with him by the tail, who seemed to be opposed to it, but Snow knew that deep down, for the same reason in which she loved Humphrey, she wanted to hear the tale as well. The old gray wolf cleared his throat and began to speak.

"Long, long, long ago, when the world was new, all wolves lived together in harmony, coexisting much like our pack today. They defended one another, and aided one another; though they had differences, they were family. One wolf in particular had stood above them all, and his name Freyr. This mighty, majestic wolf spirit was very powerful and had dominion over both the realm of light, and the realm of shadows." Winston took a pause to gaze around and the increasing number of the pack who had become attentive to his story before continuing. "Freyr had lead his family to piece and prosperity for several lifetimes. But as time rolled on, Freyr began to forget the values of love for one's family. He began to treat his pack more like servants; members that were expendable in order to attain more power not only his own dominion, but every spirit world that kept the delicate balance of life together. Love turned into hate; peace turned into war; and members of the pack had begun to dwindle because of their ruler's selfish acts. Freyr had to be stopped, but how could they do so? The pack felt weak, lost, and scared. It wasn't until a group of brave wolves united under the leadership of one of their pack members decided to challenge the tyrant, regardless of how weak they seemed. They used the power of love for each other and managed to trick Freyr, and split the wolf lord into two separate entities, forever trapped within the twilight so that he could never regain his power."

"And they lived happily ever after?" One of the smaller pups asked, his tail wagging. Winston reached over to rub his head with his paw.

"Well, not quite at first. Though Freyr's power had been split in two, they had been reborn into pups much like you. Whenever the pups were fated to meet, they instinctively fought each other, over and over, endlessly without stopping or care for whoever managed to get caught up in their way. Their sense of love for life; for their brethren and future is abandoned, for if one ever managed to conquer the other, than he would be able to regain his power as Freyr and rule once again."

"Has one of them ever actually done it…?" Another pup sat up, scrap meat hanging from the edge of his mouth.

Winston smiled and laid down on the tops of his paws. "If they had, do you believe that our pack would be as big as it is now?"

Snow had really long-since stopped listening. She had heard the story before and turned her gaze up towards the sky through the canopy of trees. Her emerald eyes were glazed into canvas of approaching night, and her thoughts soared way beyond, over the mountains and into the world outside. Being able to eat as a whole with her pack—her family—was something to be appreciative about. But it was also a reminder of the prison surrounding her.

"Isn't it kinda hard to hear the story from up there?"

"Ah!" Snow didn't realize when Humphrey had snuck up on her, but when he did, she jumped and nearly fell over. He laughed and caught her by the forehead, tipping her back up to her sitting position.

"Uncle Humphry, You've been to the world outside. Is it really that much worse than it is here?" She turned his way. Humphrey scratched his cheek, as if pretending to think, then brandished his paw.

"Nah. Actually, it was pretty fun; meeting new friends, near-death experiences—oh, and let's not forget how many times I got to save your mom from certain death—" Humphrey gave a glance to the side just in time to catch Kate rolling her eyes and mutter something, of which he responded with a "Details, details" statement before proceeding to snow. "But the best part of it all would have had to be the train ride back—"

"Humphrey," Kate's elbow-jab to the hip shut Humphrey almost instantly. But Snow was sold; the confirmation that she had been wanting had come straight from the horse's mouth.

"I just don't understand…Why can't I see what's outside?"

"It's not that we're trying to keep you trapped here…don't look at it that way, Snow."

Snow's ears perked up at the familiar nuzzle of her mom's nose behind her ears. Garth placed his paw on her head, rolling back the fur from her face.

"It's just not as easy as you think. I mean, it takes training—lots and lots of training—before you can even think about having a full run at—"

"Garth,"

"I mean, it's really, really dangerous and no amount of training should be any excuse to wander off from the pack, right Lilly?" Garth flashed a nervous, rehearsed smile to Lilly's sweet-as-candy smile, and relaxed once she gave him an approving nod.

"Uncle Humphrey did it." Snow interjected.

"That was a mistake." Kate said, "It wasn't our fault."

"Well I wouldn't say mistake. Actually more like the best thing in my life to ever hap—"

Jab!

"It was a mistake!" Humphrey rubbed his side where Kate's elbow had landed true, receiving a "You're not helping" kind of look from his mate.

Snow felt her ears roll forward only slightly and stood up to her feet. She had begun to say something, or more like yell it, but instead, she turned around and stormed off, dragging her tail along the ground. Reluctant to leave the food, Mick rolled up to his paws and followed after her. He tried to hide it, but his tail had begun to wag—that is, until Luna also made her way after them. He scoffed under his breath; so much for spending some time alone to comfort the dreamer.

"Snow…" Lilly started to go after her, but Garth put his paw on her shoulder.

"She'll be okay when she cools off, Lilly, don't worry." Kate comforted her sister.

"I wish…she didn't have to always feel like we're boxing her in." Lilly gazed at her paws.

"They're always boxing me in!"

Snow abandoned her first thought to go over to her usual cliff-side view of the territory beyond. It would only make her even madder. So instead, she chose to go to the edge of the river, plopping down on the slightly wet grass and folding her paws under her head. Her reflection rippled in the moving water, and she shook her head so that her fur fell back over the left side of her face from when her dad moved it back. They just didn't understand; they were all too wrapped up in their content lives within the safety confines of the territory. Too much to be entranced by an even greater wonder that may lay just beyond the reach of their paw tips. She let out a sigh and began to close her eyes. Maybe she'd just sleep there for the night.

Plop!

Scratch that. She lazily looked up, to see Mick and Luna bordering either sides of her. While Luna kept almost a couple of paws' length of space away, Mick was pressing his side up against hers, generating a slight unwanted warmth between them. She had to push him away a little, but he didn't seem to be discouraged by it.

"You gonna be okay, Snow?" Mick asked first, leaning over so that his head was level with hers. Snow nodded, but didn't really want to talk about it. Mick pressed on. "I know you feel like everyone's against you, but that's really not the case. We're just trying to help. Besides…it's just a dream, right?"

Snow looked at him, frowned, and then looked away.

"Nice choice of words, genius." Luna slapped her paw up the back of Mick's head, then placed it onto Snow's shoulder. "What he's trying to say is that you shouldn't let it get to you. They're only saying those things to you because they care, not to hurt you."

"I don't think they're hurting me." Snow shrugged her shoulder off and looked up slightly. "They just don't understand. No one does." She had to leave. She knew they were trying to help, but they really weren't. She raised to her feet and was about to go, when something in the distance caught the edge of her eye. Snow wheeled to the side, past Mick, and gazed upstream. It took a moment for Luna and Mick to follow, but soon, they saw what she was looking at too. Something was slowly drifting down river. At first, it was too far away to tell what it was, but upon a closer glance as it drifted towards them, the shape of a pup became apparent.

"Come on!" Snow exclaimed and darted off before anyone could tell her otherwise. She could hear the others running up behind her as she made her way up the riverside. The pup's body lay motionless, drifting faster into the current atop a stray bit of driftwood. With every tip and bump, the passenger threatened to be thrown into the water.

"Hold my tail." Snow slapped her tail into Mick's muzzle, leaving little time for him to clamp on with his fangs as she dove into the water. He staggered, almost falling over had not Luna anchored his own tail into her mouth. Snow paddled hard through the blue. Water splashed up from her paws, making her head fur fall limp over her face almost to the point of her not being able to see. With many futile attempts to shake it from her vision, her nose smacked into the edge of the driftwood. The pup must've been unconscious. Even though the rapids were turning his transport wildly, he remained motionless. But now wasn't the time for speculation. Snow clasped the pup's tail into her mouth and dragged him off into the water. Her arms locked securely around his chest, fighting to keep his head above water.

"Pull me in! Come on!" She shouted back to her friends. Mick and Luna grit their fangs, backpedalling and pulling the white wolf through the splashing rapids. Snow's tail ached from the tugging, but she focused on her tight grip around the pup too much to care. With a mighty heave, Snow felt herself being hurtled back onto dry land, right on top of Mick. She spat a little water, but quickly lead into a triumphant howl. "We did it!"

"That's great. Not that I'm whining that you fell on me, but two is a little much. Get off." Mick shoved snow off to the side and rubbed his chest where she had landed.

"Couldn't you warn us a little earlier? Sheesh," Luna walked over, turning sharply to Mick. "And you! Lose some weight!"

"Nevermind the fact that you were hauling three of us." Mick rolled his eyes and she slapped his ear.

Snow rolled to her feet and looked the pup over. His fur was sleek and black like midnight, with the exception of the white that branded his muzzle, paws and tail tip. Parts of his fur were branded with burn marks, and his left paw adorned some sort of bracelet made out of black beads strung together. Snow tilted her head slightly. He was cute, there was no doubt about that. But there was something else; an edge of feeling that she couldn't quite put on the tip of her tongue.

"Don't tell me we just rescued a dead pup." Mick's voice snapped Snow to reality, making her realize that he had been shaking and prodding him the entire time. "My poor tail took pain for nothing."

"Shut up, he's not dead." Luna put her ear against his chest. "His heart's beating. It's a little slow…but it's still beating. He probably knocked out."

"Half dead, that's a hell of a lot better." Mick said.

Snow's resolve came quickly, and the next thing she knew, she was wriggling underneath the unconscious pup, rolling him onto her back. She heard Mick scoff, but chose to ignore it, until he protested openly.

"We can't take him back, Snow. What if he was sent down the river for a reason?"

"We can't just leave him here, Mick." Snow turned sharply, her wet fur slapping her face. Mick opened his mouth to say something, but closed it and proceeded to follow after her.

Snow knew the moment they had returned to the den area, they would receive stares from almost everyone in the entire pack. But she wasn't concerned about that in the least, nor the under-breath murmurs that were shot her way. Instead, she, Mick, and Luna took their save up to Lily and Kate's den, dropping him off at the far end wall. They had been asked to leave for a time, in which Snow sat at the mouth of the den on edge while the older and elder speculated the pup.

"Mom, I'm fine, really." Snow protested against Lilly's constant grooming and checking of her pup. Her mom wasn't hearing it. She gave Snow a most worried expression, keeping her close to her as if she was going to be blown away or something if she let go. Garth nudged a bone with a few scraps his daughter's way, half out of worry and half out of apology for earlier. Snow smiled slightly, but shook her head. She was more curious about the fate of the pup, or in the fate of the decision her aunt Kate and the pack would make.

When Kate finally did walk out, her expression was branded with the normal Alpha-seriousness she almost always wore. Lilly's ears perked up, already expecting her sister to tell her the news.

"Well, He's not dead. But it's like he's…not alive, either."

"Huh?" Lilly tilted her head. Kate sat down in front of her. But before Kate could give an answer, Winston poked his head out of the den, motioning to not just Kate, but all of them. Snow was the first to make her way into the den, pushing through Humphrey, her siblings, and grandparents. The pup was sitting upright. But something about him was still wrong. His eyes, lined with a vibrant ring of moonlight silver, stared off past the onlookers, seemingly into the nothingness. Despite their radiance, they were dead; like two stones set in the sockets that couldn't see and showed no signs of the flicker of life. No part of his body moved, save the occasional twitch of his ears whenever someone new had entered the den. The scraps set before the pup were untouched, and Snow could see her brothers and sister getting antsy over them. They were so greedy.

"He's unresponsive…" Winston sat down. "I've asked him questions; asked about his pack, his name—everything. The pup can't talk, let alone eat. I'm guessing by the burns on his fur that he may have been traumatized."

"What's 'traumatized'?" Snow looked his way. Winston seemed to mull around his brain for a simple way to answer his granddaughter.

"It means something happened that made him forget everything. He may not ever remember who he is, where he came from, or his pack."

Snow's ears fell just slightly. What a horrible feeling that must be; to have literally lost everything. She could feel her pity being played in strings for the pup who seemed to be both there and yet so far away at the same time. She saw Kate whispering to Humphrey and another gray wolf with white branded on his face. She recognized him quickly, a wolf that always flanked Kate's right side on every hunt. The two males nodded and turned to leave the den. It didn't take a genius to figure out that she had asked them to see if they could find any traces of the pup's past. This was a good thing because it meant that she had already decided to let the pup stay for the time being. Snow turned her gaze back to the pup; purposely tried to move her eyes in the line of his. He didn't blink. He didn't move. He started straight through her, as though she wasn't there. She moved forward and gave his ear a slap of her paw, only to have her mother put her paw on her head.

"Don't do that." Lilly said.

Snow didn't fully comprehend the result. His ear had flickered, but there was no yelp; no retort; not even a disapproving or playful look in the slightest. Just blank emptiness reflected in his lifeless eyes. So why was it that this feeling of edged emotion—the comprehension of knowing that there was something more, or maybe something hiding—seem to bother Snow? The slight crowd around the pup began to dissipate, and the pups took the opportunity to tackle each other over for the bit of food that had been left. Garth nuzzled Lilly's muzzle before they made their way to their spot in the den, pressing close side by side and watching their youngest pups just in case the fight became too rowdy. That just left Snow to lay where she stood, gauging the newcomer in some hopes of a response. It never came, and when she began to find the staring a bit creepy, she turned her head and settled down to sleep for the night.

He wasn't sure for how long he had been sleeping. As a matter of fact, he couldn't even tell where he was or how he hadn't gotten to wherever the 'where' had come to be. He knew nothing, albeit basic functions. If he tried to think back, he saw blank nothingness. If a memory existed, it had been something wet splashing up against him, and a pair of emerald green eyes piercing into his own. He stretched and raised his head up, opening his eyes. Light of the sun was warm and welcoming, flitting into the stone enclosing of the den he seemed to have been placed in. But the rays had been dyed a subtle orange as opposed to the vibrant yellow of the morning. How long had he been sleeping?

"I thought you had actually died on me."

"…" The pup slowly craned his head to the side. The piercing green eyes were actually radiant. Why he had thought they were any kind of threat baffled him only slightly. They came accompanied with a snow-white wolf that stood before him, holding a bone full of scrap meat in her mouth. He hadn't realized how hungry he had been until he had seen the food, and his eyes stuck to the bone like glue. If his stomach was growling, Snow had obviously heard it, and rolled the bone his way.

"When you sleep, it's a little scary. You don't move or even snore." Snow said. The pup didn't respond, his fangs tearing at the bone and picking it clean in slow, but hungry bites. Snow frowned and but was persistent. "Uhm…so where are you from?"

He couldn't answer that. His only response was to look up to her.

"…Well, what about your pack? Do you miss them?"

Would he? That was a good question that was insufficiently answered by the blank space in his thoughts. Again, the silence answered Snow's question. She didn't seem frustrated. Maybe the look in her eyes had been pity. She moved closer to him, so that she was only inches from his personal space. Not that he made an effort to move back from her.

"Do you at least remember your name?" Snow asked. He could remember that. Slowly, the syllables rang true to his thoughts in some delayed reaction, as if remember his own name had been some kind of taboo. But it must've taken longer than he thought, for Snow finally let out a sigh and turned to make her way out of the den. "Maybe they were right…" The pup watched her tail drag the ground as she left, unenthusiastically urging his voice to comply.

"…Silver."

Snow stopped midway out of the den and turned to gaze at him. He started at her, eyes still blank, and repeated himself when he wasn't sure that she had heard him the first time. She made her way back to him, and was once again invading his personal space.

"Silver…I like it. Is it because of your eyes?" Snow pointed to them. Silver responded with a lost, slow shrug. "What about the other stuff? Your pack? How you got here? What…happened to your fur?" She dared to ask.

Silver looked himself over carelessly. He hadn't noticed the burn marks himself, not that he could give any explanation to how they got there in the first place. He looked back to her, then slowly shook his head. Snow sighed, glancing down at her paws. He wasn't sure why she seemed so interested; why it even seemed to matter. But just as quickly as it had left, her eager smile had returned. Silver found his paws placed in between hers and looked at them. Her touch was soft, but firm, and warm.

"Silver, I'm Snow. And you don't have to worry, okay? Even if you can't remember anything, I'll help you. I'll help you make new memories to replace the old ones, okay?"

Silver could only answer with a nod.

"Come on," Snow pulled him up to his paws, and then ran off ahead of him. Not that he was all that enthusiastic to follow, he made an effort to keep up with her. The pack seemed quite large within the den area. And Silver had easily taken notice to the many pairs of eyes that gazed his way, as though he were the walking dead to them. Snow lead him down a dirt trail leading away from the home, deeper within the forest. Once they had gone a slight ways down, just beyond the banks of the river, Silver could make out the forms of two other wolves in the nearby distance. Snow waved her paw overhead to get their attention.

"I'm here. Sorry I'm late."

"Hey, Snow-Ughn, you ditched us this morning for that? Are you kidding me?" Mick sucked his fangs once they had approached him and Luna. The chagrin in his expression was clear, but Snow ignored it. She held her paw out towards Silver with another enthusiastic smile.

"He told me his name is Silver. I think that's about all he can remember, though. Right?"

It took Silver longer than he had realized, but he managed a slow nod towards them. His sight when from the rather angry male wolf to the female who had seemed to be eyeballing him as though he were a piece of meat. Mick huffed and quickly imposed his body between Silver and Snow, circling the new-comer pup several times over, sizing him up. Silver's eyes had barely the interest to follow him.

"If you ask me, he still looks like the dead pup we found in the river."

"That's mean," Snow rolled Mick back and guarded Silver. But Mick moved back to the blank wolf and jabbed his finger to his nose.

"I'm sure he can talk for himself if he's not. Alright then, Sliver—"

"Silver—"

"Whatever. Say something, pup."

The only movement that came from Silver was his change of visionary target to Mick. He stared, not mouthing a single word. Luna giggled.

"Aww, he only opened up to Snow. Looks like Mick's Snow-club membership is getting bumped."

"Must you say the first thing that comes out of your head every time?" Mick exclaimed.

"We're supposed to help him make new memories, okay? So he's gonna be hanging out with us from now on." Snow said.

"Wait, who said you could just dec—"

"I think it's a great idea." Luna shoved Mick off to the side and sized Silver up, though without the predatory circling. "I have to say, we have a knack for rescuing some cute pups. We should make a habit out of this." Silver didn't quite understand the expression that had branded her face; the way her eyes batted and the corners of her mouth turned up as if to impose some kind of hidden secondary thought.

Snow rolled her eyes and nudged Silver closer her way, lest she be more than likely to never see hide nor hair of him again if Luna had anything to do with it. Mick rolled up to his feet and scratched the back of his head. Between protective big sister and madam flirt, he didn't stand a chance of overturning the idea. So as usual, he grumbled under his breath and shut his mouth. Silver's body lazily scanned the area around him. Nothing seemed familiar. He couldn't relate to the pups who were crowding around him; not the feel of the terra firma beneath his paws, and thinking back only invited another empty page in his mind. Perhaps the only reason his curiosity was even the slightest bit rooted may have been due to the three talking about him as if he had been someone once upon a time.

Silver's reverie was quickly broken by a rumble overhead, a rush of wind, and a cannon of laughter that made his fur and ears stand up slightly. His head was the last to jerk to the hill overhead, but he could catch the sight of what looked like a quartet of wolves—adult wolves—sliding down the hills atop a broken tree. The wooden sled spiraled and coasted up the banks of hills, soaring across the grass and heading downwards towards the steep decline a little further away in the distance. Laughter echoed loudly, and when he had heard a loud thudding noise, he could only surmise that they sledding wolves had hit the bottom.

"That's uncle Humphrey." Snow shook her head, "I never did really get into that, but if they think slamming face-first into trees is fun…"

"Snow." Mick might have been trying to hide the grin on his face, but he was doing a horrible job at it. "Let's show Silver how we have fun."

Snow tapped her cheek with her claw for a moment to think. It didn't take long for her ears to perk up and she nodded, looking around for a moment. "This way, we'll show you something that's a lot more fun than sliding down on an old tree." She nudged Silver to beckon him after. He did, but Mick had quickly paced himself between them, leaving Luna to flank his side. Silver followed Snow and Mick beyond the shrubs and bushes and over to the edge of a towering cliff. Upon looking down, he could see a small group of caribou grazing soundlessly at the lush field of grass below. Snow, Mick, and Luna all inched towards the edge with wily grins on their faces, tails wagging from side to side.

"Are we really about to scare away dinner in the name of fun?" Mick looked to the girls. They all grinned and answered with an excited "Yep" at the same time, and began sliding down the rocky cliff. Snow was the first land off, plopping soundlessly in the grass. Though she was an omega, she knew how to command the alpha blood that ran through her veins, silently crouching through the tall grass and making her way closer towards the oblivious antler-ed victims. Mick had taken the far left while Luna had made her way to the right, triangulating from behind the ground.

There was a moment where Snow glanced back at Silver, and she nearly jumped. He figured she must not have realized him following so closely behind her. She stopped, looking at her two cohorts, then nodded. With a sudden leap, the three wolf pups rang out a trio of howls, nipping at the feet of the caribou and darting off ahead. The unsettled caribou let out a most horrid noise, arching up on their hind legs, before the ground began to shake under a myriad of heavy running. Snow led ahead, laughing as they stayed only inches ahead of the runaway caribou. The entire valley had become a race track with her and the others keeping ahead of the potentially dangerous animals behind them. She glanced to the side at Silver. He had noticed her smiling and laughing, though he wasn't quite sure what for. When he started at her blankly, she rolled her eyes.

"Do as we do, and try not to fall behind, okay?"

"Okay…" His voice was barely audible.

Snow responded with another sweet smile, then howled up in Mick's direction. Mick nodded and the two suddenly fell back so that they were almost swallowed up into the ground of stampeding hooves. Silver turned his head back to see both of them weaving in and out between caribou legs, just barely missing a heavy stomp to the head or the foot. The moment they crossed each other, one of the caribou lost its footing and suddenly went tumbling over, sending a cannon of falls from a few more behind it, the thudding on the earth getting heavier. She laughed and made her way back up to Silver, winking at him. Dangerous. Stupid. But fun.

"Our turn?"

"Yeah…" Silver nodded. He couldn't explain it, but as he and Snow suddenly slowed back, almost overtaken by the canopy of wild-running animals, his body seemed to react instinctively. The two weren't just weaving, but literally soaring in between the legs of any caribou that had come their way, until they almost found themselves deep in the middle, much further than she and Mick had gone. He couldn't really hear the deafening thud of hooves hitting the ground; he could feel Snow. He could read which way she was going to jump; which leg she was going to dodge, and mirrored her in almost every way. When they finally crossed each other, he felt their tails brush as they spiraled out to the sides. There was a loud groan and an entire group of caribou suddenly sailed down to the ground like a row of dominoes.

"Wow, you're pretty good. You've done this before?" Snow pulled back out ahead with Silver shaking his head and flanking her right. It didn't last long; Mick had bumped Silver off to the side to get to Snow. His paws trembled only slightly, but that was all it took for him to go sailing down towards the ground with a thud. His cheek hit hard—he had felt that—but he didn't seem to react to the pain. Snow gasped and, without thinking, leapt backwards.

"Snow!" Mick exclaimed, but knew better than to come to a dead stop, choosing to go off to the side instead. Luna went to the other side, her ears falling and whining loudly.

"Stupid, hurry up! Get out of there!"

But by the time Snow had reached Silver, the impending doom of raging hooves was already close upon them. Silver's ears perked up as he watched her hover over him. His blank eyes had caught the fear that was clear in her own, yet she hadn't moved. They were going to get stepped on. Not that he felt particularly scared. Maybe inquisitive would have been the right way to peg it. He couldn't understand what she was doing. Silver felt a hoof crash down beside him, and suddenly went blank.

Everything in the world around Silver seemed to vanish, as if he had been both dreaming and awake. He couldn't move in this nothingness. Was this what it felt like to be dead, maybe? Had he been trampled to death so fast that he hadn't even felt it coming? And what about…

"Snow…" Her name rolled off of the tip of his tongue, like a warmth kissing the ice. He said it again. And then another time, mulling the name around not only in voice, but in memory; matching it up with those glowing emerald eyes; the sheen of snow-white fur and over-eager friendliness. He thought about her having been fated to being trampled, and it made him…upset? Yes, upset seemed to be right. If anything, it seemed like something he didn't want. …

"Silver….?"

"Uh…?" Silver's vision had suddenly been slapped back into his eyes. A thick cloud of debris had surrounded the area, almost enough to make him cough from taking in so much. But the once thundering valley was now still and quiet. Silver hadn't realized he was standing up, until he felt Snow's paw against his leg. She was cringing beneath him, her eyes darting around in disbelief. The debris finally cleared, and it took her a while to calm down, and realize that they were okay. But the bigger question was how were they okay?

"Snow! Snow, I'm coming!" Mick slid his way down into the valley along with Luna. He bumped Silver aside and took to pressing and nuzzling his head all over Snow's cheek, whining. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"Are you alright, Silver?" Silver's ears perked up, and he almost felt the need to back up. As worried as the expression on Luna's face was, she was only inches away from his face. He nodded, but turned back towards Snow.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Snow pushed Mick's face back and rolled up to her paws. She was still in dismay, though she seemed to be in control. Her gaze turned to Silver and checked him over. Maybe she was thrilled to see that he was okay because her tail started wagging.

"How?" Was all Luna managed to spit out at Snow. Snow's face screwed up in concentration and she rubbed her head for a moment.

"I dunno…they just kinda moved."

"How does a stampeding herd just move?" Mick asked.

"I don't know, I don't know. They just," Snow paused and glanced to Silver. "They just moved, right?"

Silver shrugged silently. Far be it from him to explain yet another blank in his less-than-satisfactory memory. Snow saw that her friends were still expressing worried looks, but she was just happy to be alive and wanted to move past it. She waved her paw almost nonchalantly, then looked up towards the late-evening sky. The adults would start worrying if they didn't check in soon into nightfall.

"It's getting late. Go ahead without me, okay?" Snow said to Luna and Mick, motioning for Silver to follow her. Mick Interjected almost immediately.

"Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa, hey, wait a minute!" He leapt and dropped down right in front of Snow, stopping her. "You're going off alone, with him?"

"He's not gonna try anything. Right, Silver?" Snow looked back to Silver, but he more or less responded with a trivial stare. That seemed to be enough for Snow and she smiled, proceeding. "See?"

"He didn't say anything!"

"He didn't say he'd try anything either." Snow put her paw on Mick's shoulder. "Don't worry, Mick, everything'll be okay." And with that, she and Silver made their way up the trail that lead out of the valley. Mick scoffed and sat down, folding his arms.

"You're not going to make her like you by being so pushy." Luna grinned and mockingly pat his shoulder. Mick jumped and felt the warmth creep to his face.

"W-who said I was in love with her, huh? Huh?"

Luna shook her head and started off in the other direction. Mick frowned and followed after her.

"Well what's your excuse? You think Silver's so cute—you say that for every one in three boy you meet."

Fwap!

Mick's yelp echoed into the air loudly as Luna's paw struck the side of his ear sharply.

Silver loped very close behind Snow, keeping her tail within the reach of his muzzle. They scaled inclining trails and hills, sometimes even cliff sides, going higher and higher into the territory. The ground was becoming more and more rocky the higher they got, until they had emerged out atop a vast cliff overlooking the entire Jasper Park. Silver's ears perked up slightly as he carefully walked over to the edge, gazing down into the dips and valleys below. The sinking sun cast a sea of shadows and light into every crack and crevice like a wavy sea of orange, reds, and blacks. Snow laid down next to him, and motioned for him to sit. He did so almost automatically.

"This is my spot—the place where I come to think or get away from it all." She said, then added, "Well, Luna and Mick come here with me too sometimes, but for the most part, I come up here all by myself."

"What do you do..?" Silver's voice was soft and quiet. Snow looked his way, almost surprised that he even asked. But she smiled and turned back out to the splendorous view before her.

"We talk. Well, I'm the one who does most of the talking."

"About what..?"

"Stuff we've done. The future and our dreams. Like, Mick and Luna dream of being the top omegas in the whole pack." Snow giggled, "But I don't think anyone is going to dethrone my uncle anytime soon, so they have their work cut out for them."

"What about your dream…?" Silver looked down to her. Snow's eyes snapped back to him and she grinned.

"Look who's showing a little bit of interest."

Silver shrugged.

"Well…" Snow's cheeks flushed a soft shade of pink and she scratched her cheek. Out of all the times she had looked him directly in the eyes, she suddenly couldn't help but avert her gaze from him. "Promise you won't laugh?" Silver looked at her. Was she serious? Snow then brandished her paw out over the edge. "There."

Silver blinked, and then gazed down into the land below. He guessed it was something pretty to look at, just wasn't sure what it had to do with anything.

"No, no, not there, there." Snow lifted his chin up, aiming his gaze out beyond the mountainous wall in the distance, to the land in which the sun was slowly sinking behind. "My dream is beyond there. One day…" She placed her paw to her chest, "One day, I want to be able to travel; to see the world and all the different things in it. Like my aunt and uncle did before they became mates…It's a silly dream though. Everyone else thinks so."

"I don't…"

Snow's head snapped up faster than before, and she almost hurt her neck. Silver stared directly down into her eyes; his silver burning into her green, unmoving and unwavering. But it was different. As blank as they were, she could see a glimmer of light, like a faint, almost dying star. It took her a while to comprehend what he had said. The smile had slowly returned to her face, sweet and innocent. She gently placed her paw on top of his.

"That's the first time anyone's ever said that…thanks."

Silver would have responded, but his mind had suddenly blanked again. But it wasn't the same as it had been before. Instead of being visited by a blank nothingness, he found himself sitting on the edge of a bank overlooking a vast, sparkling lake. The sunlight reflected in spades into the green tree leaves above and the jumping fish occasionally flecked his face with cool, clear water. He wasn't really sure where he was, or why he had been there. But him sitting in that spot felt…right. He almost hadn't noticed the larger adult wolf sitting right next to him. It was almost as if he had appeared out of nowhere. Silver let his eyes gaze out to the side towards him. The old wolf hunched over slightly in his seat. His fur was long, rough in some spots, and became a small mane around his neck and cheeks. His eyes, an amber color who's vibrancy had been stricken with age, stayed transfixed on the tranquil scene of water before him. He was talking, but Silver couldn't hear him. He didn't much care to try and decipher his lip movements either. It seemed to go on for a while, until Silver felt something being placed into his paw. The old wolf had strung together rocks that looked like beads of midnight black into a bracelet, enclosing Silver's fingers around them.

"Silver? Are you alright?"

Silver blinked only once, and reality had again come back into focus in only a matter of milliseconds. Snow gave him a rather worried expression.

"Are you okay, Silver?" She repeated, "You're crying…"

Strange. He didn't feel particularly sad. But when he reached his paw up, his claws stopped the trail of a single tear that had run down the side of his cheek. He shook his head slightly; if he couldn't remember, then it couldn't have been something all that important. Snow seemed to think so, her bothered expression still hanging on him. When she was sure he wasn't going to answer him, she sighed and rose to her feet, nudging him up.

"Let's get home. They'll get worried if we're gone too long."

Silver gave a nod of his head and followed the snowy wolf down from the cliff side.

Snow hadn't said much the entire walk so far. Silver didn't make much of an effort to start a conversation either. He had nothing to say, and barely questioned whether or not he should have said something. By now, the sun had already sunken completely behind the horizon, and the dark of night wrapped the sky like a blanket. Snow occasionally glanced back every now and then to check and see if he was following. He was so quiet that if he had gotten lost, she would have barely noticed it. It was a little awkward to be around someone who didn't seem particularly interested in anything. But admittedly, his lack of personality was probably what made him that much easier to talk to. They were still a slight ways off from the den area. Snow knew she was about to hear it from her parents, not to mention overprotective Mick.

Crunch

Snow almost automatically wheeled around at the sound of a snapping twig. She could've groaned; it was probably her Aunt Kate coming to retrieve her already. The crunches became louder, closer, and more rapid. Snow's nose wiggled, and she almost felt a growl leap from her throat. The entity moving closer was heavier, and took wider steps. Upon seeing a silhouetted shadow within the distant trees, she could quickly tell that whatever it was had been way too big to be a wolf of any kind. A low, rumbling growl came with a sickening echo from the creature, a thick lump of foreboding forming in Snow's throat. She slowly started to back away, nudging Silver to follow suit. But Silver had tilted his head in curiosity. The form of a large, black-furred bear slowly emerged from the shadows. A trail of drool hung from its razor sharp ivory fangs, and its heavy footsteps surrendered more broken twigs beneath it. It's eyes transfixed hungrily onto the two pups.

"Run…" Snow hissed under her breath. Silver looked at her. She frowned and rammed her head into his side, pushing him onto his toe-tips. "Run!"

"Rooawwwwwwrr!" The ground and the trees shook as the two wolf pups suddenly sprinted off, the bear following close behind their heels. They tore through the grassy trails and barreled through bushes, snagging leaves and sharp twigs into their fur. But that was nothing compared to the massive mound of muscle and fur that was chasing after them. Silver didn't share the same look of panic on his face. His vision continuously moved from Snow, to the bear pounding it's way behind them. Every now and then, Snow could hear the snap of sharp, powerful bear fangs; feel the hot breathing of the bear's breath on their tails, and forced her paws to power her forward even more. She had to find a way—any way—to pull away from their attacker.

Snow's eyes scanned the forest area around her, and her options fell upon a tree in which the branches may have been just low enough for her to make. She barked to Silver and nodded her muzzle out towards the branch, but didn't really have time to see if he understood or not. She leaned her muscles into her run; commanded the alpha blood in her body to obey. With a deep breath, Snow made her leap, high up towards the tree as far as she could. Her paws outreached—and barely managed to scrape her claws against the bark. She yelped, feeling gravity snatch her down from the sky.

"Urk!" Snow hit something soft, and was suddenly being propelled upwards by Silver's muzzle. Her whole body slouched over the tree branch, sinking from her weight. Silver landed onto the branch only seconds later, nudging her up so that she wouldn't fall.

"How?" Snow blinked, but Silver's attention was aimed down at the bear. It let out a ferocious roar and walked to the base of the tree, clawing and clambering it's way up. So much for climbing being a safe haven. Snow was half-tempted to drop back down right on the spot, but her reaction was cut short when she felt herself suddenly being yanked up onto Silver's back. Silver didn't think; he just let his body move. He propelled the both of them from branch to branch, as though he were following some kind of step-ladder pattern. And though the bear had been climbing right behind them, snapping and breaking the boughs, he barely managed to stay out of reach of its razor sharp claws. Snow clung her arms around his neck. Omegas didn't move this way. His coordination, as sloppy as it was taking into account that he was holding her up, had to have been trained somehow.

The bear's frustration grew in intensity, and in one well-placed swing, the branches were hurtled to the ground along with the two wolf pups. Silver tucked Snow against him as they rolled onto the ground, stray branches raining down all over them. Snow had just hobbled up to her feet, when something heavy had knocked both her and Silver down. The bear loomed over them, it's massive body blocking off their escape. Deep, hungry growls rolled from its diaphragm, blowing hot air right into their faces. For a brief second, Snow froze in her place out of fear. But that moment was quickly broken when Silver dug his fangs into the bear's arm, hard enough to cause it to yelp and smack them both away in pain.

Her ears rung, but Snow had forced her body up, and the two were on the move once again. Her head fur swayed wildly in front of her face, and she had to constantly blow it out of the way while making sure that silver was right behind her constantly. She slid around the corner of a cluster of trees, then brandished her paw to her friend, the both of them crawling over to a small hole beneath the overgrown roots. With just a little bit of digging, the two managed to squeeze into it, and burrowed their way until they both fit in. Snow flinched against Silver when the bear dropped down in front of the entrance. Silver moved his body over her, instinctively—he hadn't noticed he had done so until he felt Snow's claws gripping into his sides. The two waited in silence, almost holding their breaths. The snapping and clawing seemed to go on forever. But soon, it had slowed and edged off. The bear gave a grunt, and it's heavy footsteps slowly plodded off. Silver held his paw across Snow to keep her from moving as he waited. She stayed perfectly still.

"…." Silver turned away and began digging through the other side. If there was a chance for the bear coming back, then leaving through the way they came in was not the answer. He pushed his nose out first, then his paws, followed by his body. Snow was close behind him.

"…Is it gone—"

"Rawwwwrrrr!" It was a rather messed up answer to her question, one that sent both her and Silver recoiling across the ground in a last-minute attempt to avoid getting clawed into. The bear's body was curled around the base of the tree, it's claws outstretched and its fangs bared at them. It slowly let off back onto its paws and stalked towards them. Snow scrambled up to her feet, hiding Silver against her as the two of them backed up just as slowly. No growls escaped Silver's throat, but he could feel a ferocity building somewhere inside of him. The bear pressed forward in menacing steps. Further and further the two backed up, until Snow gave a slight yelp when her rump pressed against the side of a cliff. Silver looked up. The cliff curved around the area in a steep, sharp slope. There was no way up, no way around, and definitely no way through. Snow was trembling. But there was a pride in her, a pride passed down from her father, that made her slowly move herself in front of her friend. Silver's expression stayed stone as he looked to her.

"Just…stay behind me, okay..?" Maybe she wasn't aware of how shaky her voice actually was. The bear moved close enough to where it's shadow loomed over them. Its massive, muscular body blocked them on all sides, and they could once again feel the heat and stench of bear breath in their faces. Snow fought the urge to close her eyes. There was nothing she could do. And so she stood, unmoving, as the bear finally lunged with its fangs open towards her neck.

"Ah..!" Silver suddenly clasped his paws over his head. Everything burned. His fur burned right down to his skin, as though he were on fire. His eyes slammed shut and he trembled, almost to the point of whimpering. When he dared to open them, the world around him had washed away into nothing but a sea of flames. The fire encircled the young pup from all sides, closing in on him, licking his arms and tail in the most threatening of ways. He dared to look up—almost as if he were forced to look up—and he could see something or someone slowly making their way from the flames.

The world had washed back, but in slow motion. And the fury of red flames still seemed to lick at the edges of Silver's vision. The look in his silver eyes had been etched with something fierce; a strong force of rage that seemed to overpower the impulses in his body. Or rather, it was like seeing and feeling his body move arbitrarily against his will. Right before the ends of the bears fangs could graze the edge of Snow's throat, Silver leapt out and crashed into it with such and unbelievable overwhelming force, that the bear staggered backwards. Deep, dark growls ripped from his throat and he lowered down in a crouch. His fur was being reflected off of something just slightly—was it the moonlight? He hadn't really noticed that there had been a quarter moon out that night. But with minor details aside, his eyes trained onto every movement the bear made as it tried to recoil to his feet. It wouldn't get that chance. Silver sprang down on top of it and felt his claws sinking down into the skin beyond. His fangs seized the bear's neck, impossibly pinning it down, and his claws started to tear, and twist, and rip. Between the burning and the involuntary movements of his body, Silver hadn't realized he had stopped until he noticed that there had been no more movement beneath him. His fangs, his claws, his fur had been flecked with blood that shown like an unforgiving scar in the moonlight. He slowly released his victim and looked upwards directly into the quarter moon. The flames fanned through his memories every other second, and for some reason, they made him feel angrier and angrier. So much so that he hadn't realized his claws had sunk back into the fallen bear, of which he stood upon like a champion.

"Silver…?" Snow wasn't sure what all had happened. Her eyes had shut the moment she had felt the bear close to her neck. But now, she was amazed to see Silver towering over it, flecked in blood. Perhaps even frightened. She wanted to go closer towards him, but something in her gut bade her to stay back. Instead, she called out his name, just as softly as before.

"…"Silver's gaze fell on her from the side, and she jumped. His eyes—the eyes that were once blank—weren't so much anymore. A coldness had settled around the dying star inside, edged with anger, and maybe even a hint of malice. They were scary to look at, and had she had the wiggle room, she would have backed up even more. Silver's entire head turned her way, followed by his body. In one great leap, he had her pinned on her back, her head pressing up against the side of the cliff.

"Silver, what're you—" Snow suddenly let out a whimper and froze. Sharp claws from the pup above had dug into her shoulders, flecking blood onto her fur. She looked up to him, trembling in fear and so wishing she had avoided looking into his eyes directly. But once she had, there was no turning away. This was worse than the bear. She would have rather been done in by the bear, but not him…

"Silver…"

Silver's fangs slowly opened, leaning down towards her neck. She yelped, feeling them push the nape of her neck. She was going to die. "Silver, Please…"

Seconds had turned into minutes, and minutes had become what seemed like hours. There hadn't been any movement. In fact, there hadn't been any kind of pain. First one eye opened, and then slowly the second one followed. The light of the moon, or rather, the entire moon itself had disappeared, and the sting of claws that were once in her shoulders had somewhat left. Snow looked up. Silver sat in front of her, looking at his paws. His ears were pressed to the sides of his head and his eyes were trembling. What had happened? He didn't understand how he had lost control like that. And if the thought of Snow being trampled to death had upset him earlier, than the thought of him actually hurting her made him feel scared and disgusted. It was as though a wave of emotions that had been hidden from him had finally come crashing down all at one time. He looked up from his paws to Snow, and she flinched.

"…I'm…"

But Snow didn't stick around. She scrambled off and vanished into the bushes. Silver sighed and looked down, his tail curling around his feet. Truth be told, he would have run from himself as well. Maybe there was a reason he had no memories. Maybe he wasn't supposed to remember, because remembering would show what kind of terrible wolf he was, or had been. Though now, they seemed to be taunting him, shooting spasms of emotional pain every time he saw his claws digging into Snow's shoulders, or his fangs close enough to close down onto her throat. With a very heavy sigh, he slowly raised to his paws and loped off, staring at the ground. There might be somewhere secluded off the territory where he could stay so he wouldn't hurt anyone else.

"Silver…"

He almost didn't stop; possibly his thoughts playing a crude joke on him. But when he felt a paw softly rest on his shoulder, his ears and tail perked up and he gazed back. Snow stood next to him, the fear from earlier now absent from her eyes. She shook her head to him. Did she not want him to leave? Just a minute ago, she had run off all too quickly. But it was comforting. He was sure he wanted this. Silver reached up and put his paw on top of hers as gently as he could, looking down. He had to avert the forgiving expression on her face, not feeling like he deserved it. Snow's grip on his shoulder tightened slightly.

"Thanks for saving me. That'd bear would've been picking its teeth if you hadn't."

"I almost…"

"But you didn't." Snow said. But it didn't seem to be that much reassuring to her friend.

"I didn't mean to…" Silver muttered. Snow didn't have to explain it to herself. Somehow, she could tell that he hadn't. And that was enough for her. She nudged him.

"Silver, let's get back—"

"I promise."

Snow tilted her head. Silver's voice was different. It was firm, a little stronger than before, with an inflection of personality. His grip on her paw became warm and when he looked up to her, she almost gasped. His eyes showed life, no longer edged in anger or rage. It was as though something had woken him up, and she was now truly seeing him for the first time. He turned to face her and let his paw slowly move down to her shoulder where he had hurt her. She winced, and he was half tempted to draw back, gingerly pressing his fingertips against the wound. He sighed and his ears sank down lower.

"It's okay." Snow smiled softly and pushed one of his ears up. Silver ignored it.

"I'm not sure what kind of wolf I was before…I can't say I was a really good one. But you made me a promise, so I want to make you one too…Snow. I promise…I won't ever endanger you again…I promise."

Snow was taken aback slightly, and it took her a few moments to respond. But when she did, she smiled sweetly and nodded to him, her tail swishing behind her. The smile had to be infectious, because Silver felt his maw turning up in the corners to something that felt almost unnatural. Snow giggled and turned off from him.

"You should do that more, Silver. I like it."

Silver shook his fur out of embarrassment until the smile had worn off . His eyes followed the slight bouncing movement of Snow's walking from behind until he decided to make off after her. Everything felt different than it had a few moments ago. He still felt bad, but something about him following after Snow; being around her and knowing that she didn't completely hate his guts made things okay. The question of who he had been was suddenly unimportant, and he decided to put it away out of his mind. Because now he had a promise to keep; he had something to be for the wolf pup who was playfully walking up ahead of him. And that thought made him feel warm towards the wolf who had openly welcomed him.

"If anyone asks, it was the bear, alright?" Snow nudged her head to her shoulder. Silver nodded with agreement and quickly went up to walk at her side, gingerly licking the area he had hurt. Snow didn't seem to mind, and the two of them made their way towards the den area.

"A bear?" Kate seemed to be keeping her cool, but it was easy to tell that she was very angry. She and Humphrey sat across from Lilly and Garth, who were worriedly tending to their wounded pup. Lilly had almost completely hidden her between them, and Garth, who also seemed to be trying his best to mirror his alpha partner, eyed her protectively as if something else was bound to barge into the den and attack her. Silver wasn't sure how he actually felt about the situation as he sat in the corner of the den. Sure, there had really been a bear attack, but blaming the claw marks on the bear itself only seemed to slap the truth of the matter in his face. One of the black-and-white furred wolves leapt up into the den, bowing his head in respect as he approached Kate and Garth. He had barely waited for their nod of permission before he began to speak, not caring to keep the conversation down from within earshot.

"There were bears that passed by through the territory, but they had no intention of staying."

Kate slapped her paw down. "That doesn't make sense. They shouldn't be this close down, something's gotta be wrong. We haven't had any kind of trouble like this in the past."

The wolf nodded and frowned seriously. "They're bears that have come from the north. News of fires spreading along had reached them, and so they decided to move until the threat was manageable."

"Fires…"

Silver's ears shot up and he found himself backing into the corner just a little bit more than he had intended. Kate's, Garth's, and just about everyone else in the den had in some way or another chanced a glance his way, and now that he was more comprehensive of himself, it made him feel very uncomfortable. He tilted his head.

"…?"