• ThunderPaw padded into camp with WhiteLightning, they had two rabbits in their mouths each. Kayla ran up to them and started to jump around, managing to never take her eyes off the rabbits. "Wow rabbits, I love rabbits! Am I allowed to have a whole one? Please ThunderPaw? I mean I'm almost a year old and I can hunt for the pack too. Please can I have a whole one??? PLEASEEE?" Kayla begged, ThunderPaw ignored it most of the time. She was used to it by now. After Ginz and Kayla joined the pack, she had a few, problems with Kayla. Kayla had always thought that ThunderPaw was a little different. But after a couple weeks with her, Kayla actually started looking up to ThunderPaw.
    WhiteLightning shook her head in an annoyed manner. "You'll get half of a rabbit until you do get off your butt and catch your own meals." She practically growled. WhiteLightning was five years old. A year older then ThunderPaw. Lightning was like a mother to ThunderPaw, especially after what happened to her family pack.
    ThunderPaw smiled, "WhiteLightnings right Kayla. When you’re ready to hunt, your allowed to have as many rabbits as you can kill. Just, leave a few for us." She joked, winking at Kayla. Kayla nodded happily, and run off to get the others.
    "Nala, Ginz! They came back and they brought rabbits! Come on hurry up I'm hungry!" she shouted into the den.
    "Ok we’re coming!" Nala and Ginz stand up and walk out of the den to where Kayla was standing, to meet up with ThunderPaw and WhiteLighting. Nala saw out of the corner of her eye that Ginz had a confused look on his face, then he asked, "your back early, did anything happened?"
    ThunderPaw shrugged. "Couldn't really find anything good, the deer all went somewhere out of our territory, I'm guessing." WhiteLightning nodded, "Yeah, we might need to follow them if they don't come back soon." Kayla wasn't paying attention to the conversation, just the rabbit. Her stomach growled and she whined. "Can we please stop gnawing on words and start on the rabbits? PLEASE?" she begged, ThunderPaw laughed and nodded. "Sure Kayla dig in.”
    Kayla's eyes gleamed, “Finally!" she said with a sigh of relief and takes the rabbit, Nala roles her eyes, "Well anyway, if the deer don't come back this could be a serious problem" she said. Ginz nodded; "yeah" Kayla interrupted at that point, "So? We can just follow them right?" Nala shook her head, "It's not that easy Kayla." Kayla was looking more and more confused. "How's it so hard?" She asked.
    ThunderPaw closed her eyes, not paying attention. WhiteLightning started to explain to Kayla that its hard to track and follow deer. And that's why wolves make territories with deer that are already in the area. "Right ThunderPaw?" WhiteLightning asked, looking at ThunderPaw with much confusion in her eyes.
    "Huh? Oh... yea. Right. Exactly Kayla." she said with an emotionless voice. Kayla's head tilted to one side and paused of a moment, and then nodded.
    "Oh, Ok ThunderPaw."
    Kayla went back to eating her half of the rabbit, more slowly this time. Nala guessed that she was still thinking about the conversation they just had. Nala stared at ThunderPaw, confusion bright in her eyes. WhiteLightning was also staring at her, when she finally broke the silence, "ThunderPaw, what’s wrong?"
    ThunderPaw's ears went up. "Nothing." She replied. "I'm just not very hungry, thats all. Kayla looks like you can have a whole rabbit after all." ThunderPaw smiled and gave a half of her rabbit to Kayla and the other half she shoved toward the middle. Kayla almost yelped with happiness and started to chew on her over half of rabbit. "I'm going to go portal our territory. You guys stay here and finish up." And with that ThunderPaw turned around and padded out of the camp.
    WhiteLightning's ears went back and she got up. "I'll go see what's wrong...” she said. And she padded off after ThunderPaw.
    Nala paused for a moment, thinking over what had just happened. She knew something was bothering ThunderPaw, and what ever it was, it was dangerous. Nala glanced at Kayla, who was not even half way done her rabbit, "Why don't you go eat that in the den, Kayla?" Kayla looked up, puzzled; "ok" she said, and got up, heading for the den. Nala looked over at Ginz, "I'm going to go after them, ok?" Ginz looked confused, "Why? WhiteLightning just went to go see what's up with ThunderPaw, that’s all" he said. "I know, I just want to know what’s happening, I'll be back soon,” Nala said, as she flicked her ears in goodbye, and then ran off after ThunderPaw and WhiteLightning.
    ThunderPaw and WhiteLightning were sitting around a small pond. WhiteLightning sighed, "Your not a loner anymore ThunderPaw, and besides you can tell me anything. If I didn't want to hear you, then I wouldn't have saved you, or I wouldn't have been here talking to you right now. I'd be munching on a rabbit instead." She said smirking.
    ThunderPaw gave a sad smile. She was looking into the water. "Yea, Lightning I know. It's not even that. I’m worried about the pack." ThunderPaw sighed as she saw WhiteLightning's eyes fill with confusion. "I saw some human footprints on the way back to camp. And, there wasn't just one, either."
    WhiteLightning's eyes went wide with shock. "How close?" she asked, in barely a whisper.
    "To close for comfort,” ThunderPaw replied uneasily. "I don't like it. They might come back... and if they’re hunters, then that might be why the deer are gone."
    Nala was padding through the forest sniffing at the ground, where are they? They couldn’t have gone very far, I’ve been following their scent for ages. She thought. Suddenly her ears went up and she felt her fur bristle with curiosity, she sniffed the ground again. There was a scent crossing the scent trail Nala had been following, Wait! What’s this scent! I should follow it… but I have to find ThunderPaw and WhiteLightning. She paused, sniffed the ground again, and then decided to follow it.
    WhiteLightning looked into the water of the small pool that lay in front of her and ThunderPaw. She opened her mouth to say something, when suddenly she heard a click that seemed to echo off the trees around them. “Did you hear that?” She asked. ThunderPaw was already standing, her ears flat against her head and her fur bristling. She was looking across the small clearing at a darkened figure. “Humans…” she growled, her tail swishing around.
    Nala followed the scent trail as is it grew stronger and stronger, but then, louder then anything else in the forest, she heard a bang, and knew instantly what it was. Humans! She thought. “ThunderPaw! WhiteLightning!” She cried, Please be safe! She ran so fast, that she almost lost her footing on the soft dirt of the forest floor. Before she had time to think of all that could have happened… she saw him! Then almost at the same time she saw ThunderPaw and WhiteLightning, they looked unharmed, but… The hunter is aiming right at them! She thought. She started to run faster, then she jumped, aiming for his throat and knocking the gun out of his hand, but before she could get her teeth anywhere near his neck, the hunter pulled out something shiny and sharp looking. Nala let out a cry of agony as it stabbed into her right side, and she fell to the ground.
    ThunderPaw snarled when she saw Nala on the ground, bleeding. “WhiteLightning! Go get Ginz and Kayla!” she growled through clenched teeth. WhiteLightning nodded, with a glance at her bleeding pack mate, she ran off towards the camp. ThunderPaw bared her teeth in a snarl at the hunter, who had already picked up his gun, which Nala had knocked away. Before she could do anything, the hunter had shot at her. In the same moment the ground burst next to her, and she jumped to one side, then lunged for the hunter, trying to knock him over or even knock him out.
    The gunshot had brought Nala back to her senses a little, and she remembered what was going on in the tiny clearing. She got slowly to her paws, wincing from the deep cut in her right side, and almost falling over again. She then heard a silent click over the blood pounding in her ears, and looked over her shoulder, to see another hunter aiming at ThunderPaw as she sprang at the other human. Nala reached for the hunter’s gun, and grabbed it between her teeth and tried to tug on it, making the hunter trip and fall onto the other hunter, and ThunderPaw went straight over the two humans, and landed on the other side. Just then Nala and ThunderPaw’s heads shot up at the sound of a howl coming from the direction of the camp, it’s was WhiteLightning and the others. As they burst into the clearing, Nala fell back to the ground, her sides heaving with exhaustion.
    WhiteLightning snarled and lunged at one of the hunters, who had already gotten up from the ground. Ginz did the same; while Kayla ran up to Nala, “Hold on Nala! You’re going to be ok.” She said, as she tried to help Nala up. ThunderPaw jumped onto a hunter’s throat, trying to rip it out.
    Nala looked up at Kayla, who had never looked so worried in her life, “I’m okay Kayla. I’m just tired, that’s all” she tried to reassure her. It seemed to work, but she didn’t look all that satisfied. Nala got to her paws once more, Kayla close beside her. Nala looked around to see WhiteLightning, Ginz, and ThunderPaw all fighting; She worried greatly about her pack mates, and hoped none of them would get hurt. Suddenly a cold breeze drifted in from the north, with the scent of frost and snow in the air. “ThunderPaw! I think it going to snow!” Nala yelled across the clearing.
    ThunderPaw jumped off of a now dead hunter, “Good, humans can’t see very well in a blizzard, so they wont be able to track use back to are camp, if there are anymore hunters out here, that is.” She muttered, glancing around at each of us. “Everyone, start heading back to camp. We’re almost done here!” she yelled has the other hunter tried to kit her over the head with his gun. ThunderPaw dodged it, and bit into his ankle, there was a loud cracking sound, and the hunter let out a pain filled cry, falling to the ground. ThunderPaw bent over and bit into his neck.
    Nala looked around at the small clearing as the first snowflakes fell, and a gust of cold wind blew through the trees. The clearing was blood stained, the two hunters lay dead. Nala looked around at her pack mates, they all looked fine... and tired, It had started snowing harder now and it was going to be tougher to walk back to the den in this blizzard, her cut stung and that was going to make it a little more difficult, but she’d be fine as long as everyone in her pack was okay. She glanced at ThunderPaw, who looked the way Nala felt, worried about everyone else. Nala was about to say something when Ginz interrupted her, "We should get back to the den before it gets any colder" he said. ThunderPaw nodded.
    ThunderPaw walked into the blizzard toward the camp without waiting for anyone. WhiteLightning's ears went back, wondering if ThunderPaw was all right, and then nudged Kayla and Ginz forward. She stopped and looked back at Nala "Hey... you coming?" she asked.
    "Yeah. I'm coming", Nala said as she started to half limp, half walk behind the rest of the pack. She didn't like the feel of the soundless forest, like something worst was about to happen, but She knew it was because she was a bit shaken from the fight, and there was the stench of blood in the air. It was a long walk back to the den, everyone was tired, even Kayla who seemed to never be. When they got back to the den, Nala noticed the rabbits were still there, and that no one had eaten yet, except Kayla, so she picked up the rabbits and brought them to the den, and dropped both in the middle of the floor, went to the spot where she normally slept and lied down. Making sure nothing touched the cut on her right side, and fell asleep.