HorseLover(Beech)'s Writing Thread

Beech's Journey. This is Beech's backstory, beginning in her pup hood and ending when she first discovers the Moon Pool

Our story begins in a small den on Amethyst Mountain. Here, a silvery white wolf by the name of Birch has just given birth to her fourth litter of pups. She hears the movement of her pack outside as she gently cleans her newborns. Her newest litter is made of a male named Bush who is even lighter colored than herself, a female named Aspen who is the same silvery white as her mother, a male named Pine who is a shade lighter grey than his father, and a small female named Beech that matches her father in coat color, a smoky almost-grey that made her almost invisible in the dim light of the den. It is Beech that we focus in on as she squirms to her mother's side to drink her life-giving milk. Beech grows with her siblings, her eyes and ears opening as they all grow. With sight comes a yearning for the light that is the entrance to the den until one day they spill out to see the land that they have been born in. It is a vast land, but more intriguing to the young pups are the wolves watching them as their mother emerges. "Pups, meet your family, your pack," Birch says, nodding to them. Beech looks upon her father, by the name of Ash, and her half -siblings, a light tan female by the name of Sage, a white female by the name of Snowbell, and a tan male by the name of Rabbit. Here, outside the den, she grows even more, playing with her half-siblings and full siblings alike. She eats from the meat the older wolves bring back in their bellies and thrives. Eventually it comes time for them to make their way beyond the safe den to the rendezvous site, carried mostly by their family. The journey was full of unseen joys and dangers. Dangers that were too much for little Bush. She mourns the loss of her brother with her family, and she slowly grows more and more, first becoming a terror to the insects around the rendezvous, then the frogs and mice, then any of the rabbits that dared venture close enough for her to dash after. Then is finally became time for her to learn how to hunt larger prey. She learned quickly, becoming the first pup to kill a fawn, then a doe, then a buck, with the help of her pack, of course. She was content and well fed, ranging happily along their territory from herd to herd. Then, winter came. It came on slowly, Beech barely noticed the cold as it eased into the falling leaves. The small mammals were growing large she loved to catch them as snacks when her pack was between herds. Slowly, the animals became scarcer and the snows came. At first Beech was delighted with the light powder, frisking happily with her littermates. Then the snow deepened and many nights she went hungry. She whined from the new pains in her stomach that had always been filled with something before. Pine and Aspen also suffered from the pains, Aspen became a shadow of her former self, and one night the frost claimed her. The pack roamed farther and farther in search of food. One day, they had finally come to an elk herd, but they were on the fringe of a human settlement. Hunger overpowered their deep seated fear of the loud humans. They went after the weakest, trying to drag her down. The elk was almost down when a loud noise was heard from the human settlement. Then Beech felt a sharp pain in her jaw, the blow knocking her below the elk's flashing hooves. Darkness overwhelmed her vision. When she awoke, she felt a collar around her neck. She tried to get it off, but it stayed put. Her eyes took in her surroundings. She was in a small wooden enclosure, a hunk of frozen meat laying to one side, a small water fall crashing into a half-frozen pond. She grabbed the meat and dragged it a small distance away, twisting her head until she figured out how to eat with her new twisted jaw and gnawing on the meat until it thawed and she gobbled it down. She lapped up water from the small frozen pond and scented the air. She couldn't smell any wolves. She tilted her head to the sky and opened her jaw, which was now twisted, and she tried to howl, but only a thin, screechy sound came out. She tried again, but she couldn't make the full, haunting note that she used to. She tried again and again, panicking until exhaustion forced her to sleep. She woke up in the same enclosure, hunger beginning to wrap it's sharp tendrils around her stomach. A new slab of meat had appeared while she slept, and she dejectedly gnawed on it. Many days passed like that, and she restlessly paced the enclosure. She had food and water, but she longed for the thrill of the hunt and the companionship of other wolves. She reached her full size, a half inch shorter height wise and a full inch shorter length wise than most other wolves. Suddenly, a rabbit dashed across her enclosure. She leapt after it, killing it and gulping it down within a couple seconds, then rolling in the scraps of rabbit fur and the bloody dirt, relishing the scent and the rush of the kill. She leapt to her paws and shook out her fur, washing herself in the waterfall. Clean, she climbed out to dry on the shore, falling asleep in the warm summer sun. She woke when something sharp landed in her fur, but darkness quickly pressed her back to sleep. She awoke in a metal cage, slanting holes near the top letting in light and stale air. She turned in a tight circle, the cage not allowing for any more movement. She didn't know how much time had passed when the light strengthened and fresher air came to her nostrils, although it was filled with the stench of humans and smoke. She cowered in the back of the cage as humans put her cage in a new enclosure and stepped outside of it, using sticks to open the cage. She raced out into a new corner of the enclosure, a small, clear walled one with absolutely nothing in it besides the metal cage and herself. She looked curiously at one of the clear walls. It showed a forest, then a wolf trotted past. Wolves! Beech scrabbled at the wall, and, to her surprise, it gave way. She raced through toward the wolf, caution and instinct finally catching up to her as she approached. "Who are you? Where do you come from?" the wolf asked, a pale yellow female, seeming friendly enough. Beech opened her mouth and tried to tell the wolf, but only a thin screeching sound came out. "Oh, another mute? Come on, follow me," the wolf said. "I'm Fern. I'm the kappa of the Winter Forest Pack. Have you ever seen a bear? Mom tells me they exist, but I've never seen one. All we have here are elk and rabbits. Well, we have squirrels and frogs and ants and flies and fish and birds, too!" the wolf said cheerily. Fern led her to a small clearing in the woods filled with wolves, "Mist Alpha?" Fern called. "Fern Kappa, what have I told you about leading new wolves to camp?" A light grey wolf asked Fern sternly. "Not to do it. But look, she's a mute like Juniper Omega!" Fern replied. "And what have we told you about calling Omega Juniper a mute?" A black male wolf asked. "Sorry Coal Beta," Fern said, tucking her tail respectfully. "We apologize for our Kappa, but I suppose you would like to join the pack, wouldn't you?" the light grey wolf, Mist Alpha. Beech nodded slowly, wagging her lowered tail. "I suppose we can use another wolf. Come, Juniper Omega can teach you our signs. Then you can tell us your name and we can give you a starting rank," Coal Beta said, approaching an old wolf with clouded eyes. His tail and ears twitched, "It's Coal Beta and a new member of the pack. She can't talk," Coal Beta said, seeming to reply. Juniper Omega's other ear twitched. "Can you teach her the signs?" he asked. Juniper Omega stood, twitching an ear then making a series of movements with his tail and paws. "Yes, I can get Silver Chi to help you. I'm going hunting as soon as the new wolf is settled," Coal Beta said. Juniper Omega nodded. "Stay here," he said and left, soon returning with a light colored wolf. "Hello there," she said softly, limping to Juniper Omega's side. Coal Beta left, "I'm Silver. Silver Chi," she continued. "I'm going to say a word, and Juniper Omega is going to write it, understand?" she said. Beech nodded. "Hunt. Pack. Den. Pups. Silver. Juniper. Mist. Coal. Alpha. Beta. Omega. Psi. Chi," Silver Chi began slowly, letting Juniper Omega write out each word. "Try writing Coal Beta is hunting," Silver Chi instructed Beech. Beech wrote out the symbols for Coal and Beta, her writing large and sloppy. She paused to figure out how to say 'is hunting' and settled on writing the symbol for hunt. "Good," Silver Chi said. She continued listing words, every now and then quizzing Beech by having her write the words. Beech learned fairly quickly, piecing together sentences for almost everything. This went on for several days, during which Beech ate from the pack kills between Silver Chi and Juniper Omega. On the fifth day, Silver looked at her, "Ok, now can you write your name?" she asked. They had gone over the symbol for tree, but not for Beech, so Beech shook her head. "Ok, what category of items is your name in?" Silver Chi asked. Beech wrote 'type tree'. "Ok, Juniper Omega?" Silver said, answered by an ear twitch from the Omega. "Birch. Yew. Pine. Aspen. Spruce. Possum. Beech," Silver Chi began. Beech wrote out 'name Beech' in the dirt as soon as she said that. "Beech. Your name is Beech?" Silver Chi asked. Beech nodded eagerly. Silver wrote 'Beech Psi'. "Beech Psi, stay with Juniper Omega while I find Mist Alpha and Coal Beta," she replied. She walked off, and Beech wrote out, 'do body sign mean' beside Juniper Omega. He wrote, 'Yes. Juniper Omega show after Mist Alpha Coal Beta accept Beech Psi.' Beech nodded as Silver reappeared with the Alpha and Beta. "Beech, that is your name, correct?" Mist Alpha asked. Beech nodded. "I will announce to the pack that you are now one of us, Beech Psi. Silver, I know you'll be happy as Silver Phi, and Nettle will be happy as Nettle Chi," Mist Alpha said. "Thank you, Mist Alpha," Silver Phi said excitedly. "Just don't let Fern Gamma know you got a promotion because of Beech Psi," Coal Beta said warmly. Silver Phi let out a bark of laughter as the Alpha and Beta left. "Well, I suppose you don't need me anymore. Welcome to Winter Forest Pack, Beech Psi," Silver Phi said and left. Beech spent the next year in the Winter Forest Pack, learning more writing and the signals they used. Some time later, their gamma tried to fix her jaw, but it only sent pain through the numbing water and seeds he had had her drink and knocked her unconscious. She never talked to the gamma after that and took to wandering along the edges of the territory, which to one side was a cliff, another a human fence, another a human building, and the final a river. Occasionally she saw other wolves moving beyond the river, but she stayed within the Winter Forest Pack territory until one day she found a weak spot in the fence near the cliff. A couple strong pushes and Beech was on the other side of the fence. Delighted, she roamed over the land, relishing her freedom, but as night fell and she couldn't make her way back, she felt the enormity of what she had done, escaping from a place no wolf had ever left before. And, like when she was shot, she was completely alone. In the distance she heard howling, and with a longing heart she headed towards the sound. She smelled elk a couple times during the long walk, but she ignored them. The familiar feeling of hunger began to clench her stomach, but she pressed on. For three full days she continued until she crossed into a pack territory. She followed scent towards a cavern where wolves stood around a small pool of water. With a deep breath, she revealed herself to the wolves, perhaps enemies, perhaps a pack she could join. Whatever it was, Beech knew she was no longer Beech Psi of the Winter Forest Pack, and she had no family beside her. She was ready.

Holy mother of fuck

Droplet (Herzogin) Poker

Like I said, I am I writer. I've squeezed a word count of 50,000 out in one month around school and extracurricular. This is my idea of fun

*shivers with poker* the definition of living under a rock <joke>

Shadow. A story of rage and silence.

Hello. I am a wolf of silence and terror. I am known only as Shadow, my coat and eyes black. I was born in a normal litter. 3 pups, a sister named Leaf that was a light tan color and another sister that was as black as I was. Except she had normal blue eyes while I had black eyes from the moment they were opened. The second we stepped outside the den my sisters were taken by a hawk leaving only me untouched. For some reason I felt no grief has my mother, father, and older siblings cried. I cried too, only due to some instinct telling me to fit into the pack dynamic. I grew fast and strong, the image of the talons around my sisters remained imprinted on my mind, although I felt no guilt or sadness for them. As soon as I was weaned and could hunt on my own I left the pack. I wandered everywhere, never approaching another wolf, staying in the shadows. My mother had never named us, so I named myself. I named myself for the place I felt most comfortable: Shadow. I grew lean that winter and never really brought back the weight I had had as a pup, but I was happy. Well, not truly happy. I didn't truly feel anything. I felt hunger, the pain of brambles and sharp hooves, and thirst, but emotionally there was just a hole. That's when a female approached me. I was hunting pretty close to a pack, but it surprised me to see her. Her hackles and tail were up, clear signs that she didn't take kindly to my presence. "Get out!" she commanded, nipping at my flank. Hot, white rage filled my veins and a red film came over my eye. All I saw was 'enemy'. Not wolf. Not living thing. Just enemy. The sensation of rage was new and it almost stopped me. Almost. I leapt at her, laying open her flank with skill that was something more than instinct. I bowled her over and laid open her stomach, I broke her legs, and I was lost in my rage. It quickly faded and I stepped off of the wolf, trotting back to my hunt. She was still alive, and perhaps another wolf would have ended her life so that she didn't have to feel the crows picking at her wounds and the agony of her broken bones, but I wasn't that wolf. So I left her. I went back to my life in the shadows, but something called me closer to a pack. The sensation of rage. That hot white fiery thing that had coursed through my veins. And I knew I wanted to feel it again. Another wolf found me and attacked me. The rage filled me, I was drunk on it, ripping open the wolf's sides. And I approached the dens. And I laid open the necks of every single wolf. I was untouchable. Not a scratch littered my thick black coat. I was a god. Something beyond this world. Not touchable by tooth or guilt. All I knew was rage. And so I wandered. And the only scars on my coat became self-inflicted wounds to tally the packs I had ended until a creature hovered in front of me. It was light blue and wavered, "You leave my creatures, your kind no less, for the crows, and yet you feel no remorse. You feel rage. Only rage. And you kill others to feel that rage. Your reign of shadows will end. I challenge you," the creature said. "What are you?" I asked, the intoxicating feeling of rage flooding my bones, "Masoki. I am Masoki," the creature replied. "I am Shadow," I said as I leapt for their flank. They stepped aside and slashed me back, easily bowling me onto my back. "You do not know what it is to have a goddess challenge you," she whispered, then her teeth sunk into my throat, and I was suffocating until it was only black. And it stayed that way. I had heard tales of a flowery afterlife, but here I was in only darkness, starvation carving my stomach. And I twisted and my back hunched. "The leader sent you to my domain. Welcome to your new homer, bringer of death. Yes, I do believe we need a new god, one for rage. Yes, yes, that sounds good. Well, I think Makaki will suit you just fine," a loud voice boomed around me. "Yes, Makaki, bringer of rage. Well, have all the rage you want, my little Makaki," and the rage boiled inside me. I was home in the darkness and the rage. Shadow, Makaki, what difference does it make what I'm called? I flit here, I flit there, I am here and everywhere. And know that I am there. I'm always in the shadows, and they're strongest in the places where the light never shines. In the mind and body, I am there.

StarStrike (Thanks!)

Jingle Bells. This story follows a young wolf(half wolf, half dog really), in her journey from her birth to her realization of where her heart truly lies.

My name is Bell. I was born on a snowy day, sometime in the month the humans call February. I remember the warmth of my birth, my mother's tongue licking me clean and tucking me beside my two sisters and two brothers. And I remember one scent beside those of my siblings and my mother. Human. When my eyes opened on the world, I beheld my family for the first time. My mother, a mix between a husky and a malamute named Luna, my sisters, a grey one named Star and a black one named Celeste, and my brothers, a dark grey one named Nova and a lighter grey one named Sleet. I also beheld my first human. He was of average height and build for a human, but of course in my puppy eyes he was enormous. He had tanned skin and knot of curly black hair on the top of his head. Although I didn't understand why yet, a part of me screamed to get away, while the other part yearned to get closer. In the end I snuggled closer to Luna, my eyes never leaving the human. My siblings and I grew, and soon the human began to touch and pet us. At first when he came near I scooted away on my short legs, my fear getting the best of me. He would catch up to me and start to run his hand through my fur, prompting a bite from me. His hand would gently move out of the way, never leaving my fur until I just sat there and let him pet me. As I grew, I moved past the biting more quickly, until I didn't bite at all, just standing there like a statue and letting the human touch me. I never grew out of moving away, although there wasn't much space to flee in the house we were born in. The human started to teach my siblings and I basic commands. Sit, come, down, nothing extravagant. Luna and Sleet took right to the human and the training, and Nova soon found that he could get food bits for doing it and became just as enthusiastic as Luna and Sleet. Star and I learned what we needed to do from him, and although Star seemed to take pleasure in the affection and treats, I remained aloof. Then we were let into a small pen outside. Had we been born in the wild, or even with a different human, we would have been let out sooner, but as it was, it wasn't until we were fully weaned that we discovered there was a world outside the warm house. It was mid summer, in the month humans call July, and small birds fluttered overhead as we stepped outside. My ears swiveled, taking in all the sounds, my paws feeling the tufty grass, my fur the gentle breeze. I smelled the tracks of various animals, all of which I would encounter later, and every bit of my body felt alive with this summer. I was the first of my siblings to poke at the electric fence that held us in. I yelped in pain as my nose touched it, reeling with the pain from an invisible wound. The others seemed content to romp around in the small yard, and I joined in their antics for a time, but as they were lying down near the house, I was sitting near the fence, watching the forest outside. Star joined me for a time, then became bored and tried to entice me into playing tug-of-war. We grew more still in this pen, and I became taller than all my siblings, my eyes yellow like my father and wild cousins I had never met. One morning, a little over a year since I was born, the human began to take us outside for walks. I always tried to go after the wildlife, but the chain around me neck always pulled me back. One day in late May, I saw my first wolf. I was on my walk and a deer crashed through the underbrush in front of us. A wolf was close on its tail and didn't notice us, sprinting across the path in a split second. I leapt after it and the chain slipped through the human's fingers. I tore after them, by some miracle the chain didn't get caught on anything, and I began to tear at the hocks of the deer, copying the wolf until the deer turned to face us. We leapt back and forth, attacking and dodging until she came down. Then the wolf finally noticed me, and my nose took in his distinctively wild and masculine smell. "My! You back human!" he growled in a choppy, heavily accented voice. "I helped kill it!" I yelped, my hackles rising. "You chain like dog. Dog no kill. Dog go human," he growled in return, stepping closer. "I don't belong to with the humans!" I growled, surprised at how right the statement felt. The wolf leapt at me, and I rose up to meet him. The fight was short, the other wolf an experienced fighter while I was just a yearling who had only play tussles with my siblings for fighting experience. The only good thing that happened was that the chain loosened and slipped off my neck in the fight. My fur was weighed down by blood, the cuts deep and purposeful. When I managed to wiggle away, the other wolf had only one shallow cut to show for the fight. I fled, leaving a trail of crimson behind me. I managed to stumble into a clearing that was drenched in wolf scent before I collapsed from exhaustion and blood loss. When I awoke, there was a wolf standing in front of me. Their scent was feminine, laced with the scent of mushrooms and moss. "What's your name?" she demanded as soon as she realized I was awake. "B-Bell," I croaked. "What pack are you a part of?" she asked. "I'm not a part of any pack," I replied. She looked at me for a moment, then stepped towards an exit and yelled, "Alpha! Beta! She's awake!" Soon, a tan colored male and a light grey female stood in front of me, "We have been informed your name is Bell. You are packless, correct?" the male said, his voice heavy with the same accent as the wolf who attacked me, although his voice was smoother. "Yes," I replied. "I am Fir, Alpha of the Pine Hill Pack. This is Lark, Beta of the Pine Hill Pack. The wolf who saved you is Fern, Delta of the Pine Hill Pack," he said. "You smell of humans, but also of wolf, why?" the female, Lark, asked. After I explained how I was raised, the others seemed alarmed, "It's been 3 days, we haven't seen any humans in the territory, I think we're safe," Fern said. The three dissolved into quiet mutterings. "Alright. Bell, do you wish to become the Upsilon of the Pine Hill Pack?" Fir finally said. "Yes," I said, only knowing that the same urge that led me to escape was telling me I needed to be a part of the pack. "Go on then and get out of my den," Fern said briskly. Fir and Lark laughed and led me out of the den. Time passed swiftly. I learned how to hunt and watched as Lark bore pups into the world. The pack was always busy, and I was almost always on my feet, sweeping pups out of danger, hunting, marking the territory, everything. I quickly made my way up the ranks to a Theta. One night, about two years after coming to the Pine Hill Pack, I was making my way down to hunt when I was confronted by another wolf. It was a male, his fur a light tan color. He approached slowly, tail wagging. "What are you doing here? This territory belongs to the Pine Hill Pack," I warned him. "Sorry. I just smelled you and wanted to say hello. As anyone ever told you your scent is as comforting as the first rain in the spring? And I'm Sand, by the way," he replied. We talked for a little while. He was friendly and his scent beckoned for me to follow him, but at the same time my heart said I had a pack to take care of. "Do you want to come hunt with me?" he finally asked. I glanced up the hill. "Well, that is what I came here to do," I allowed and led the way to the river where elk usually roamed. We took down a cow elk, "Bell, do you want to start a new pack with me?" he asked. "I-I don't know. I'd have to ask my Alpha," I said nervously. "Of course. How about I meet you here at sunrise tomorrow and you can let me know?" he said. "Ok," I replied and tore off a large piece of the elk, trotting back up to my pack. I didn't end up asking Fir or Lark if I could leave. My thoughts were always on Sand, and before the sun rose I was trotting back down the hill, ready to meet Sand and leave the pack. He emerged right as the sun peeked over the horizon, and I nodded. We silently slipped off into the forest. For a time, all was well. We hunted, and I eventually bore my first litter into the world, two boys and a girl, named Hail, Frost, and Storm. That winter we were roaming around our territory and a man stepped out into the clearing, a dog at his heel. My nose twitched and fear conflicted with my old lessons and human. Although when I lived with the human I had always been aloof and fled from his hand, something in me wanted to step out onto that trail and feel a human's hands again. Then a squirrel darted across a branch above me and broke me moment of indecision. I had made the decision when I had leapt after the deer, and now I knew what my heart had always known. My blood was half dog, but my heart was all wild.

Really nice stories Beech