Return of the Fire Leaf : Pack Journal, Log 1

[Wind_Shadow]

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It's been exactly a year to the date since Autumn was first introduced to the WolfQuest community. There, she embarked on a long journey- traversing through the seasons, finding her mate, establishing a territory- and finally, raising her first litter of pups. Before now, I was very indecisive about what to do with her, but I've finally made up my mind.

To honor the first year anniversary of Legacy of the Fire Leaf, I am proud to present: Return of the Fire Leaf : Pack Journal. This will be a continuation of Autumn and Ember's story, and a sequel that takes them through their next year of pup raising. It will include new writing styles and formatting, and display many of the new updates. Without any further ado, here it is!

Mission log: Introduction. It has been a year since the log detailing the journey of wolf 1054F, nicknamed Autumn, as a team of scientists tracked her movements in the abandoned Lost River to analyze the state of the town and surrounding areas. The team has recently received a grant, allowing us to continue our work for at least another year. It has also funded for new, updated, state-of-the-art technology to monitor the life of Autumn and her family more closely.

Autumn and her mate, 978M "Ember", fortunately remain in Lost River, and maintained a hold on a relatively large territory. However, their six pups born earlier in the spring have not been seen, and their fate remains unknown. It is possible they have all perished due to natural causes, or perhaps they remain within the Fire Leaf Pack's territory. Either way, Autumn and Ember are both healthy and strong in their prime, and Autumn is once again expecting pups.

I have been given the task of closely monitoring the life of this pack as they continue forward into the next year. Enclosed below is a log of events I have found noteworthy to record.



Late February
Autumn and Ember have maintained their territory into the late Winter, and though they have lost some of their northern corners, the remainder is relatively strong. The two wolves have once again begun their search for a suitable densite, as Autumn is pregnant.

Throughout their searches, they uncover a variety of dens, from fallen trees to rock piles by rivers. It is noteworthy that they appear to be focused around the heart of their territory once again, in a similar range of last year's tree den.



Late March
With several densites uncovered, and the birth of the pups fast approaching, it is time for Autumn and Ember to select a suitable location for the pups to be born. Autumn and Ember venture into the outskirts of the abandoned town, which is surprising considering they generally avoided the area last year. Autumn then proceeded to search around the edges of the old amusement park, and eventually settled on digging underneath the gated-off entry bridge. There she vanished for weeks, her mate supplying food for her.

Several weeks later, there seemed to be a change of energy in Ember. The male wolf seemed more energetic and impatient,
and would spend more time around the densite than patrolling the territory. It is conceivable that the birthing process has been successful, and that Autumn and Ember are proud parents once again.

Pup Log
It is now three weeks after the birth of Autumn's pups, and their coats are beginning to change from brown to something closer to their adult colors. I have taken the time to explain each of the seven pups in detail, for future logging. They have also been given their ID numbers, although proper nicknames will soon be in order.

The firstborn is 1807F. She is a pale gray pup with a darker gray rump and hind legs, a very dark gray tail tip, and a paler gray head. She is the second-largest pup in the litter. From early observations, she appears to be quite curious, and has been noted to play and explore more frequently than the other pups. She is also observed to enjoy spending some time away from the other pups when tired.

Next is 1808M. He is a very dark brown wolf with paler paws. He howls frequently, both in response to the pack's howling rallies, and on his own without prompting. He has proven to be a highly social pup, and is very affectionate with his parents and siblings alike.

Next is 1809F. Her fur has a silky quality in appearance, and is a soft gray color with subtle fading and streaks on her back. She has paler gray legs and flanks. So far, she appears to be more lonerish in personality, and enjoys amusing herself with sticks and toys away from the excitement.

The middle pup is 1810F. She has a rich brown coloration with lighter colored sides, facial markings, and paws. Her tail has a thick paler brown band at the end of it, although the very tip is a dark brown. She appears to be obedient to her parents, and will follow their lead without delay or complaint. This is a smart and useful trait for a wolf pup to have, considering the dangers of the world. However, when her parents are relaxing and there is no immediate danger, she has been caught exploring and playing excessively with her littermates. She is also quite an energetic wolf, and tires slowly.

The next pup is 1811M. He is a splotchy gray-brown pup with very sharply divided streaks in his fur, and he has paler shoulders, paws, and forehead. From the limited observations made, he seems to be determined and somewhat sociable, in the middle of his throng of littermates. He is not apparently extreme in any aspect of his personality so far.

The runt of the litter is 1812M. He is a dark gray pup with paler side streaks and facial markings. His most interesting feature is the two white lines above his eyes, taking on the appearance of eyebrows. Fittingly, he seems to be a submissive and passive wolf. Even if he is the hungriest of the pups, he will make way for his littermates to eat prior to attempting to reach the food. He is social enough, and seems to gravitate more towards his parents, although it is still very early to tell the inner workings and relations of the pack members. Despite his submissive nature, he seems to have some energy and strength within.

The final, and yet largest, pup of the litter is 1813M. He has possibly the most interesting coat, which takes on a bright brown-gray hue that often appears orange. His fur is rich and colorful, and his main body is very dappled and streaked. His ears are a creamy pale orange, his paws are a pale off-white, and his tailtip is a verk dark coloration. Befitting of his large size, he appears to believe himself the dominant pup, and will often display this perceived dominance over his siblings with a display of a high tail and various vocalizations.



April
With her litter of seven pups, Autumn and Ember have their paws full, although their last litter of six surely helped them to gain experience. Autumn seems especially affectionate over her new litter, and calls Ember back when he tries to leave. After the pups are fed and worn out from their first day outside, Autumn sends them back into the den.

At this point, Ember has again left, travelling south through the town. Autumn tracks his prints to where he is passing by Floppy the moose's enclosure. The two mates greet enthusiastically, and then backtrack past the ditch. They seem to pick up a scent trail, and Autumn leads them back across the ditch and into the woods on the other side.

There, the pair finds an elk herd. It doesn't take long to convince the herd to flee, and they target a weak cow relatively quickly. The two narrow in on her, and manage to take the elk down with little injury aside from a slight bit of bruising and scrapes. They quickly feast, and then Autumn tears out a meat chunk to carry home.

Even after the kill is made, the unusually large elk herd remains in chaos, though they give the wolves no trouble on their way home. Back at the den, Autumn and Ember feed their pups, and then Autumn enters the den to sleep with her pups.

When they wake up, Autumn and Ember spend much time socializing with and feeding their litter. Then they make a surprising decision to leave the den. Although the pups have adjusted to roaming outside, it is unusual for wolves to move so quickly. It is possible Autumn and Ember scented traces of fresh human scent left behind from camera installation, or maybe something else spooked them into leaving.

They pair does not get far before Ember stops by a house at the very edge of the road to feed and entertain the pups. Autumn does return for a short time, but then impatiently pushes on, not realizing how quickly her young litter has tired. She tries to continue, and makes it a short distance down the road with 1810F following before she stops again. At this point, Ember has done his best to care for the pups, and eventually sent them into a clump of grass to rest. Realizing how tired the young pups are, Autumn returns to them, and the nomadic pack sleeps.

When they awake, the parents feed their pups, although they are still tired from the first part of the journey. So the pack settles down to sleep again.

The second time they stir from their slumber, Autumn pushes forward to continue the journey. Autumn leads the pack, while Ember remains in the back to watch for stragglers. 1808M and 1809F lag behind for most of the journey, both of them stumbling and falling frequently and then rushing to catch up. 1811M starts at the back, but gradually works his way to the front of the procession. Alternatively, 1807F begins right behind her mother, but eventually stumbles and joins the general mass of the pack. Towards the end of their journey, 1810F gains much headway, and begins to explore while her mother pauses to let the stragglers catch up.

At this point, the pack is stopped at the building that used to be shared by the Thrift Store and the Vogel Sisters' shop. Once the majority of the pack has caught up, Autumn turns north, heading up the short grassy hill between the backyards of houses and Baer Bluff Cliffs.

At the base of the cliffs, Autumn manages to find a narrow crack in the rocks. It is just large enough to be a wolf den. The area in front of it is made up of a short pebbly stretch of bare dirt, and beyond that, the grassy hill has a gentle slope downward. Between the impenetrable cliff behind and above the den, and the rows of houses and the hill in front of it, the den makes it difficult for any potential predators to sneak up on the pups. This becomes the new home of the Fire Leaf Pack.

When the last pup catches up, Autumn settles down in front of their new den to sleep. Ember, needing a break, allows himself to wander a short distance away, while all seven pups cluster nearby Autumn and sleep on the pebbles.

When the pack again rises, Autumn and Ember entertain their pups for a short time. Ember whines repeatedly at Autumn, begging for affection, and the two exchange a short but sweet loving interaction of two mates while the pups entertain each other. After the pups are in the den, the two mates circle around the cliff, and begin heading north and slightly west.

At some point, they appear to pick up another trail, and sharply turn west. They run along the top of the cliff, and keep tracking until they reach the steam. There they find a buck mule deer, who they pursue across the stream. After a long tracking period, a lengthy chase, and the final blow, they manage to take down the deer, and happily feast.

On their way back, Autumn spots a hare, and quickly kills it. The pair then return to the den, running back along the top of the cliffs and circling around the bottom the same way they came. Autumn spots another hare obliviously hopping right in front of the den, and dropping the previous catch, quickly pursues and kills it. She takes her second catch back to the den, and then spends time with her pups.

Autumn and Ember take a long moment of peace. Hours slide soothingly by as they watch the pups play and run around. The sense of peace lulls them into a calm, and for just a moment, they let down their guard.

Out of seemingly nowhere, a boar grizzly approaches the den. Autumn and Ember snap back into attention, and frantically order the pups inside the den. They are caught completely unprepared, and fly about in a chaos, attempting to locate the bear. At that point, Autumn notices one of her pups at the very bottom of the slope, exposed. She quickly rushes to the pup, scooping him up in her jaws and racing to the den where her other pups are still filing in. She stands guard by them until all of them are safely inside, and then returns to Ember to locate the bear.

The scrawny boar grizzly is coming from the west and slightly south. From some way or another, it is greatly injured, and a wolf pup is the perfect defenseless, easy snack it needs. However, it wasn't planning on having Ember ready to bar its path, fearlessly rushing up to it and sinking his fangs into its chest. Autumn is quick to follow, snapping at its sides and growling. After a short encounter of intimidation, growling, and biting, the two mates manage to chase off the bear.

With the bear gone, and a new den for their pups, everything is once again peaceful... for the moment. Although, as Autumn and Ember nearly learned the hard way, it's dangerous for one to ever let their guard down.

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Thank you for taking the time to read this! I hope you are enjoying the log so far, and that this new writing style is more suited to the direction I intend to take these logs.

As for pup names, I don't have any yet, and I'm in need of some! Any suggestions are welcome and greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your continued support by reading this, and I hope you have a great day/night!

[Skrillning]

Welcome back Autumn! So excited to see the new installment. The adventure was fun to read as always