~Chapter two~
Furnil wiped sweat off of his forehead and threw off his cloak. He quickly reached back for it though, as the cold win went right through his fur and chilled him. Furn, as his friends called him, wasn’t worried at all at how he looked right now. His dusty brown and black fur was already messy and a bit matted since he hadn’t had time to groom himself. He and many others had been working on building a wall around their new fortress. Their pack had had to move from their old home, after it had been invaded by a group of serpents and lizards.
They traveled for seasons until they came to this land. It was peaceful, and had all of the resources they needed to survive. Since it was so wonderful, they began rebuilding. The new fortress wouldn’t be as grand as their last one, no matter how hard they worked, but it was still grand. It was made of regular grayish colored stone, with large windows, a few stain glass, and large oaken doors. It was built to fit their huge pack with almost fifty separate dorm rooms, though many of them were empty.
Furnil had been one of the few that had kept working for two extra seasons, to build a wall to protect them. Their last fortress had not had any wall and that was what led to their downfall.
Dane, a dark chocolate brown wolf, and Rogue, a mean looking dark brown and black wolf, walked over to join him in inspecting their work.
Rogue nodded approvingly and patted Furnil on the back, “Your section there looks pretty straight.”
“Wow, thanks! This was my first time, too.” Furnil replied, his face glowing proudly.
“Yea, yea, you did good. You still don’t have experience like us older wolves. I remember when a part of the roof fell in. Now that was work. Those stones get heavy when you have to hold them over your head for a while.”
Furnil sighed and drew his cloak closer, “I know. You told me yesterday when Tonka and I dropped that one.”
Tonka was one of Furnil’s friends. He was a very handsome young wolf with a light, creamy colored pelt. His eyes were a pale green with a few hints of blue around the edges and because they were so pretty, all of the young females had a crush on him. They were in love with his looks, but his troublemaking habits eventually drive them off.
In every pack there were the few troublemakers that cause so much trouble they are almost kicked out. Furnil and Tonka were two of these troublemakers. There were others like Pungle and Tongle, of whom no one could outclass. Pungle and Tongle were Ethiopian twins, though they were more of a brown color than the traditional red. They were young, only about three seasons.
A voice called through the snow to the wolves standing near the wall. “Hey over there! Come on in before you miss dinner. We’re having soup tonight.”
They all hurried inside and threw off their snowy cloaks. Stomping the snow from their paws, they began walking off towards the dining room. The rooms in the fortress weren’t yet furnished very well, but there were enough tables and benches to fit almost all of them. Most of the younger wolves ended up sitting on the floor, allowing their elders to sit at the table.
The cook, Garron, was a hefty, old, dusty gray, wolf with a cheerful disposition. Everyone knew he was almost too old to continue being cook and were anxious to see who would be chosen to replace him.
There was one good choice, though, who everyone expected to be chosen. She was a beautiful, creamy white wolf, with silvery blue eyes. Her name was Dilandi, and she had been assisting Garron in the kitchens for many seasons. She had a brother, Rookandi, who tended to just work in the cellars and do most of the heavy lifting for his sister and Garron. Though they were twins, he looked different from his sister. He was a pale brown color, with a few light gray specks on his shoulders. His eyes matched hers; the same silvery blue.
Dilandi waved over at Furnil and the others as they came into the room. She had been setting a pot on the center of one of the tables. When it was settled on the table, and the plates handed out, she headed over to see them.
Her voice was high pitched but still a bit harsh as she spoke to Furnil specifically, “You stole some knives from the kitchen again didn’t you?” She went on without diving him a chance to answer, “How many times have I had to tell you that kitchen knives are not throwing knives. Honestly, you’re just as bad as Tonka.”
Tonka appeared out of no where with an accusing look on his face, “Come on. That isn’t fare. I haven’t stolen any knives yet.”
“Well not at this place.” Furnil said, half giggling. The two of them were always practicing throwing knives.
Dilandi eyes the both of them then smiled. “Why don’t you get someone else to lend you their daggers? Rogue might. He has a lot of them.”
They both looked at her as if she was stupid, “Are you kidding? Rogue is one of the meanest wolves in the pack.”
“Well, he’s always appeared nice to me…” The look on her face told them she was thinking hard.
Tonka regained his accusing look, “That’s only because you’re a big suck up and he likes you.”
Dilandi shook her head and started back towards the kitchen without saying anything.
Her brother met her and began talking, going on and on about something.
Pungle and Tongle came shooting past them with a golden brown wolf right on their tale. She was gaining on them now but still couldn’t manage to catch them. Dane twisted around on his bench and snatched them up into his arms.
The golden wolf skidded to a stop and sat down by him, panting heavily. “Phew. Thanks Dane. These two were trying to set up some kind of contraption in my room again.”
He set them down, keeping an eye on them in case they decided to make another run for it, “No problem, Lady Mathuna.”
The twins lowered their heads in shame, but not for being in trouble. They were upset because they had been caught. It was rare that anyone caught them right after one of their pranks, or before they forgot about it.
“So what’s this with a contraption?” Dane said, smiling at them. It was strange for most things they planned could be painful.
Tongle scuffed his paws on the floor shyly as he answered, “It was just a toy, sir.”
Mathuna gave her a disapproving look, “Don’t play nice with me. What was it for?”
Pungle replied this time, though she spoke confidently, almost proudly, “It was supposed to make you trip and miss your bed, ma’am. We had honey spread out on the other side that you didn’t notice ‘cause you was too busy chasing’ us.”
“It wasn’t supposed to hurt you though, ma’am. Just get you a little messy. I told Pungle to forget it ‘cause it wasn’t safe but she went with it anyways.” Tongle added in. He usually wasn’t the one that planned anything. His sister always sucked him into doing things he didn’t like. But he used the excuse that she was his sister and he needed to help her with anything she had her heart set on. Obviously the only thing she really had her heart set on was pulling pranks on adults.
Dane turned back around and got ready to eat his food. He grinned back at Tongle, “You’re smart right, Tongle?”
He nodded slowly, “That’s what every one tells me, sir.”
“Then why do you listen to your sister?” He said impatiently.
Pungle glared at him and the twins turned and ran off together. Mathuna watched them go, even smiling herself. She turned and slumped down next to Dane, “I honestly don’t know if it’s safer to live with them or those darned lizards. I mean, first of all we have them, then Furnil on top of it all.”
Furnil jumped up instinctively when he heard his name come from his leader’s voice. After what she said finally clicked into his head, he sat back down and began complaining to Rookandi.
