A Loveless Legacy

[CosmicChaos21]

(AKA The deadly hills beating me up and taking my lunch money the story-)

(Yes I’m starting another playthrough, I have no self control lol)

Rose all but collapsed onto the island after hopping across ANOTHER set of stones. He sat there for some time before sighing and forcing himself up as his stomach growled, a painful reminder of how bad it is to travel without food.

“This place looks much more pleasant than my old home” Rose said to himself as he looked around and sniffed the air, hoping that food wasn’t far off.

And so he headed into the grass on the search for food in his new home.

Some time had passed and Rose had grown into an adult nicheling and was living mostly off of the clams that sat in the shallow shore waters. At first it was hard to make himself eat them because of their slimy texture but he’d gotten used to and even got a bit of a taste for them.

‘It’s nice to have food but I really hope I find a nicheling soon, I left my home island for a reason’ Rose thought as he knew what he wanted to do.

His old home had a system, there was always a leader who told the clan where to move and what to do and he wanted that but sadly he was the youngest sibling so he had no chance of ruling. So he left to start his own pack, where he was the leader and would let whatever child he had rule after he passed.

‘I hope I won’t have to wait much longer’ He thought to himself with a sigh as he opened another clam.

He soon decided to head inland as berries, nests, and other useful things were usually farther from shore.

He turned out to right as he found a rabill burrow and odd plant.

“Oh right, healing fruit” He said to himself as he remembered what his parents had called them. “So if someone gets hurt we can heal it better” He said to himself as he started clearing grass around the area.

Of course it was too good to be true, as Rose found out. Because only a day after he started settling there a bearyena had shown up causing him to get ready for a fight before realizing he didn’t have his packmates to back him up anymore.

So he settle for batting at it once before running away, which made the bearyena stunned long enough for him to vanish into the grasses.

‘Great the one place I found to settle got found by a bearyena immediately, now I have to find another place’ Rose thought to himself with a slight growl.

He did find a non-poisonous berry bush though, so at least something good came of it.

He enjoyed eating from the berry bush but it seems he can’t stay anywhere nice longer then a day as a bearyena appeared again, but this time it was almost double the size with terrifying red eyes.

With defeat Rose ran away again, getting really angry that he not only couldn’t find a mate but couldn’t stay anywhere either.

Rose eventually came across a stump making him sit and think.

‘These bearyena are chasing me either way so…’ He thought to himself before jumping on the stump, the wood beneath his paws felt familiar, calming.

“Hello! Is any other nichelings alive on this messed up island?!” He yelled and at first there was nothing, then the grass rustled putting him on edge and making him ready to run again. Before a nicheling popped out of the grasses making him blink in shock.

“I was wondering the same myself, these bearyena are ruthless” The nicheling said, wondering who this nicheling was seeing as most quickly died on this island.

“Oh I didn’t actually except anyone to answer…I’m Rose, who are you?” Rose asked as he looked at this nicheling curiously.

“I’m Swirl, nice to finally meet another nicheling for once” The nicheling said as she smiled at Rose.

“Agreed, would you like to travel with me?” Rose asked, exhausted after being alone so long.

“I’d even be fine being your mate” Swirl said making Rose tilt his head, shocked.

‘This is way to good to be true, exactly what I’ve always wanted’ Rose thought to himself before speaking. “Really?” He asked and Swirl couldn’t help but snort at his enthusiasium.

“Yeah, finding other nichelings is very hard and the chance of a mate is even less so if you’re fine with it I’d be fine with being mates and even having a pup or two” Swirl said causing Rose to beam.

“Thank you so much! It’s like you knew exactly what I came here for” Rose said making Swirl tilt her head.

“And what’s that?” She asked making Rose realize she may ahve no idea what a pack like his, or a pack in general, is like.

“Well in my old pack there was always a leader and their pup would end up being the next leader and since I was the youngest I didn’t have a chance at being leader so I left to make my own” Rose explained.

“Interesting, sure” Swirl said with a stretch which made him notice her scar for the first time. She had huge clawmarks going across her right shoulder.

‘Bearyena for sure with the size of those clawmarks’ He thought before looking away so he wasn’t being rude.

“We should probably try to sleep for now” Swirl said with a yawn which he couldn’t disagree with so they settled down for some sleep.

The two had decided to have a pup soon considering how this island was so now Swirl was pregnant, and as per usual on this island another bearyena appeared.

And it was a huge one too making Rose groan before the two nichelings ran off to get away from yet another bearyena.

“Do you ever get any peace on this cursed island?” Rose grumbled as the two continued running.

“Not really no” Swirl answered, just as tired of it as him.

“Maybe the shore would be better?” Rose said as they walked aimlessly through the grasses.

“We could try that, more space to run if nothing else” Swirl agreed as she was exhausted.

Swirl gave birth to a beautiful pup who they decided to name Vanilla.

“She’ll be a great leader someday, I know it” Rose said as he nuzzled his newborn pup.

“Of course” Swirl smiled and nuzzled the pup as well.

They got to enjoy the new life for about a day when another bearyena showed up.

At first Rose was ready to run before realizing the pup wouldn’t be able to walk much yet so he snarled and used as much force as he could to try and bring it down. He rammed at it causing it to roar in pain as blood started seeping out of it’s new wound.

The bearyena snarled and instead of swinging at him it slashed it’s claws across Swirl’s stomach creating a wound to deep for even healing fruit to fix. At first he hoped but once he saw no sign of life he realized that now his pup was in danger so he snarled again and rammed it again, this time his horns sliced across it’s throat making it choke on it’s own blood before collapsing.

He panted in exhaustion before gentle moving Swirl’s body to reveal a terrified and blood soaked Vanilla who was shaking with fear making him sigh. He barely had the strength to carry his pup by the scruff to take her somewhere else, somewhere slightly safer.

Of course after they found somewhere new another bearyena showed up. Internally Rose was cursing every star in the sky as he turned around to fight it again, because Vanilla was still to young to move that much.

He snarled as he rammed the bearyena to wound it with his horns, again and again and again. He backed up a little so take a quick breather but these bearyena truly are ruthless as the bearyena took this chance to push past Rose and set it’s sights on Vanilla.

He tried to stop it but before he could do much the ebaryena raised it’s paw and slammed it into the tiny Vanilla’s body with a sickening crunch making Rose scream in agony before grabbing his pup and running away but when he checked it was to late.

Vanilla was dead. Rose growled.

‘I can’t keep anyone safe, not my mate, not even my own pup’ He thought as he looked at the limp body of Vanilla.

As he wandered away from his dead mate and pup he found another nicheling.

“Hello” Rose said making the other nicheling jump before looking at him.

“Another nicheling? Hi, I’m Brownie” The nicheling said as she was a bit shocked at seeing another nicheling. Rose noticed she had a cut above her left eye, seemed too small to be a bearyena injury though.

“I’m Rose” He said then made a probably dumb descison. “Do you want to be mates” He asked making to nicheling look at him like he had just asked her to fight a huge bearyena herself.

“We just met, so no I won’t be your mate” Brownie said making Rose regret hi choice very quickly. “But I do want pups so we could have pups and not be mates” Rose perked back up at that.

“Sounds good to me” Rose said with a slight smile.

A day after Brownie had gotten pregnant a bearyena appeared much to their dismay and irritation, so they ran.

“I’m so tired of running from these bearyena” Rose groaned as they continued running.

“Agreed” Brownie simply said with a sigh.

They decided to have 2 pups, Brownie because she wanted lots of pups anyways, and Rose because he was hoping at least one survived to pass on his legacy.

“I think Mocha fits her” Rose said as he looked at the one with green eyes with a smile.

“I’ll name this one Latte than” Brownie said as she nuzzled the blue eyed pup.

Rose was fighting with some conflicting feelings. On one paw he was happy to have pups again but on the other, what if they met the same fate. What if he could protect Brownie, or Latte, or Mocha? He decided to shove those thought down for now, it would just make his hesitate and make things worse.

“I hope they have a long and bright future” Rose said with a sad smile which Brownie noticed, making her wonder what happened before she met him.

“I’m sure they will” She just agreed, saving that question for later.

Rose could almost cry with relief as these two had made it to be teens, and there hasn’t been a single bearyena since they were born! He decided it was time to start teaching Mocha, as she was the oldest, how to be a good leader.

“But it’s only you, mom, and Latte” Mocha said with a tilt of her head making him wince before speaking.

“I know but someday you may have a thriving pack with many members to lead and care for” Rose said making Mocha squint at him but nod.

“A leader needs to be kind to their pack, being cruel just leads to unrest and misery for everyone else” Rose explained first making Mocha just nod to show she was listening. “A leader also needs to be able to make even the most tough and agonizing decisions for the good of the pack over their own feelings and qualms” He said making Mocha slightly nervous but shake off that feeling with another nod. “A leader must also make sure that everyone is helping and no one is leaving the responsibility to only other pack members” He continued which Mocha nodded again.

“That’s all for today, I’ll teach you more and more as you grow” Rose said.

“Okay, being a leader sounds hard though” Mocha said as she looked at her dad.

“It is, but your sacrifices aren’t in vain. Your pack members will be thankful for your effort and kindness” Rose said, reciting what he overheard his mom tell his oldest brother when she was training him.

“Okay” Mocha said before Rose let her go to eat and play with her sister, she deserved to play while she could anyways.

“Hello!” Latte chirped making the strange teen nicheling almost jump out of his fur before turning around to see the two nichelings.

“Hi” The nicheling simply said as he held the roots he was holding closer to his chest.

“I’m Latte who are you?” Latte asked as she tilted her head at finding a new nicheling she hadn’t seen before.

“I’m Bandit” The nicheling said, curious about this nicheling and what they wanted.

“I’m Mocha, maybe you could join our pack?” Bandit looked over to see another nicheling that was extremely similar to Latte.

“Sure?” He said confused but hey more bearyena protection is not something he’s gonna turn down.

“Follow me than” Mocha said before turning around and walking to their little territory.

“So you found a nicheling who wants to join us?” Rose said with some shock as not only was this a new nicheling but his two pups wandered off on their own which scared the life out of him at what could’ve happened.

“If you’re fine with it” Bandit said as he looked around at this little territory, it was better to have a small territory than to constantly run anyways.

“If you want to join than you can, welcome to the pack” Rose sad with a smile as he realized that the pack may be growing after all and his efforts weren’t going to be a waste. “You may go” Rose said making the teens go to play.

‘I guess everything DOES happen for a reason. I still miss Swirl and…Vannila, she was so young’ Rose’s heart clenched in agony of his mate and firstborn pup, who would’ve been the leader and with the energetic personality she had he feels she would’ve been an amazing choice. ‘But you wouldn’t have got Mocha or Latte, and you never would’ve met Brownie’ He tried to reassure himself before laying down with a sigh.

Rose snarled as he found a bearyena at the edge of their territory, he had his pups already and didn’t have much longer he felt so he attacked the bearyena viciously and without any hesitation.

The whole pack heard and Mocha, wanting to prove that she truly deserved leadership, attacked and did a good amount of damage making Rose extremely proud of his daughter before the bearyena snarled and ended up clawing right across Rose’s throat making him gasp and wheeze then cough as blood filled his throat.

‘No wait…I need more time to train!’ Mocha thought desperately before launching herself at the bearyena, enraged it had taken her dad’s life in front of her very eyes.

As if things couldn’t get worse right before she could deal a finishing blow another, much larger, bearyena showed up makign her snarl before realizing that this would be a losing battle so she and the rest of the pack ran.

They ran as fast as they could to escape those bloodthirsty creatures which took the lives of so many nichelings.

Brownie realized it was closing in so she turned around before yelling. “KEEP RUNNING!” She said to the young nichelings and while Latte and Mocha hesitated Mocha forced Latte along as they had to survive, for dad, for mom, for the pack.

“I’m sorry” Was all Mocha said as her sister looked completely distraught.

Bandit stayed silent not knowing what to say, what to do, he had no idea how to comfort someone with this type of pain.

As they ran they came across a teen nicheling.

“Hello-” The nicheling spoke but Mocha interuppted him.

“Sorry we have a bearyena running after us so we don’t exactly have time” She said apologetically making the nicheling speak again.

“I can help you” The nicheling said making Mocha quickly think before remembering her dad’s words.

“Alright please be quick” She said hearing the bearyena’s pawsteps behind them, the nicheling quickly led them away.

The four were panting after they reached the spot.

“I’ve lived here safe for a long time, it even has a rabill burrow” Mosssaid as he gestured to the mound of dirt.

“Thank you” Mocha said respectfully towards this nicheling who may have just saved their hides.

“Of course, the bearyena never seem to stop” Moss said seeming exhausted of the bearyena, which Mocha could agree with.

“Wow this place is neat” Latte said as she poked around and sniffed almost everything curiously.

“Yes, it’s nice” Bandit simply said as he sat down, tired from all the running they just did.

“Stay as long as you want” Moss said as he laid down too.

[Stranger]

4 hours ago, CosmicChaos21 said:

AKA The deadly hills beating me up and taking my lunch money the story-

(Hey I have a playthrough in the Deadly hills as well we can get beat up together-) 

[CosmicChaos21]

1 hour ago, YourLocalStranger said:

(Hey I have a playthrough in the Deadly hills as well we can get beat up together-) 

Funny enough I was thinking of saying something on yours but i didn't know if it'd be rude to talk about my playthrough in yours. But yeah yours is both where I got the idea for deadly hills and this had given me a new appreciation for your playthrough(more than I already had anyways)

[Stranger]

30 minutes ago, CosmicChaos21 said:

But yeah yours is both where I got the idea for deadly hills and this had given me a new appreciation for your playthrough(more than I already had anyways)

Thank you, glad you got an idea from me. 

[Stranger]

29 minutes ago, CosmicChaos21 said:

Funny enough I was thinking of saying something on yours but i didn't know if it'd be rude to talk about my playthrough in yours

You can talk about your playthroughs on mine, I don't mind it. 

[CosmicChaos21]

13 minutes ago, YourLocalStranger said:

Thank you, glad you got an idea from me. 

:3

12 minutes ago, YourLocalStranger said:

You can talk about your playthroughs on mine, I don't mind it. 

Alright, good to know!

[CosmicChaos21]

It seems like Moss wasn’t lying, Mocha was suspicious when he said that he hadn’t been attacked for a long time, as the 4 had been able to grow into adult nichelings without a single bearyena attack!

“I wanted to ask, would you like to join our pack?” Mocha asked making Moss turn towards her.

“I live with you guys anyway so why not” He said with a shrug before turning back to keeping a lookout for anything odd. Mocha just nodded and turned around to talk to her sister, who was talking to Bandit and even making him laugh, which made her fur slightly prickle with jealousy before she pushed it down and made her way over to the two.

“Moss decided to join the pack now” Mocha said making the two look over at her.

“That’s great! Now you’re the leader of a bigger pack” Latte said and her sister being honestly happy with her made her jealousy feel even stupider.

“It’s nice to have more paws for getting food and in case…” Bandit didn’t need to finish that sentence as Latte flinched and any trace of emotion left Mocha’s face.

“We may have been lucky but it is always good to be ready on this cursed island” Mocha agreed as it was something she worried about to the point of being too worried to sleep some nights.

“Well don’t worry, we haven’t been attacked in a long time! I wonder why bearyena don’t seem to come by here” Latte said as she swiveled her ears slightly as if a bearyena would pop out of the grasses.

“I’m not sure, but I hope it stays that way” Mocha said as she scanned the area.

“Me too, but even if it doesn’t we’ll survive!” Latte tried to lighten the mood a bit, she didn’t want to think about the bearyena if she didn’t have to.

“Do you want to eat some berries with us?” Bandit asked making Mocha’s heart clench a little before she took a, hopefully, subtle breath.

“Of course” Mocha said as she sat down next to them before they all started eating.

Mocha had to fight the urge to bristle her fur as Latte made Bandit laugh easier than she ever could, no matter how hard she tried he always seemed a little nervous around her and she didn’t know why. She never even showed a hint of her feelings so why?

Meanwhile Bandit thought Latte was really funny and sweet, even if she was lazy sometimes. Though he was unnerved by the cold looking stare Mocha was currently giving him, did he really irritate her that much?

Latte noticed how tense the air was but her choices would both be kinda rude to one nicheling or another so she swallowed the urge to do something as she continued joking with Bandit to try and lighten the mood.

Moss was just watching from the distance, he originally wanted to go over to talk with Mocha but he wasn’t exactly going to walk into that whole mess so he just ate some berries by himself, stealing occasional glances to the small group.

“BEARYENA!” Latte yelled in terror as one of the huge bearyena had sppeared in front of her and Moss while they were trying to expand the territory.

‘I knew it was too good to be true, and right when I got a chance to be alone with Bandit’ Mocha thought as she and Bandit got up and sprinted towards Latte’s yell.

“We don’t have the strength to fight this one, we need to leave!” Mocha said as she dodged a swipe from the bearyena’s claws.

“But this is my home” Moss said with some sadness which made Mocha fell bad but she remembered what her dad said, she needed to choose the pack and it’s safety first.

“You need to leave if you want to actually live” Mocha said and Moss sighed but caved meaning that the pack was running away from another bearyena.

One spot looked perfect, it had a lot of already cleared grass, meaning it must have been a nicheling’s territory before, but then they smelled bearyena scent way to close for comfort causing them to yelp and run away again.

“Finally a place that doesn’t completely reek of bearyena” Latte said with a grumble as she settled into the nest to take a nap.

“Yeah, this place is overrun with them, don’t they run out of food?” Bandit asked more to himself as he went and laid down next to Latte.

Moss just looked at Mocha who, while good at hiding her expressions usually, stared in bitter jealousy at Latte and Bandit.

‘It seems she only has eyes for him huh? But I need to confess before my feelings completely eat away at my heart’ Moss thought sadly as he knew he would treat her like royalty, though he guesses considering she’s the leader she already is. ‘Later, I’ll tell her in a few days when I’ve gathered more courage’ He decided with finality before going to try and crack open a clam.

Mocha’s ear twitched as she heard voices so she went to investigate, It was Latte and Bandit, while she was jealous she knew that they were friends so she mentally shrugged it off until she heard Latte’s next words.

“So um Bandit, do you wanna be mates?” Latte asked, nervous she would get rejected while Mocha felt like she had been frozen to the spot she was standing.

“You mean it? Of course, I’ve loved you since we were teens!” Bandit said as he nuzzled her, happy at the thought she chose him over any other nicheling. Latte beamed and nuzzled him back.

Mocha had to leave, before she acted out rashly. So she quietly stalked off with heartbreak festering in her chest.

‘Stupid to think I had a chance’ She thought to herself as she went to hunt, to clear her mind and give her something to do.

Just as Moss said he took a deep breath before approaching Mocha.

“Hey Mocha?” He asked making her turn towards him.

“Hm? Do you need something?” Mocha asked, wondering what he was talking to her for.

“Well I…I wanted to ask if you’d be my mate?” Moss felt regret as soon as he said it but it was out in the open now.

“…Sure” Moss felt like he had died and was dreaming, she said yes? She said yes??? This was the happiest day of his life!

“Thank you! I never thought you’d say yes but I’m so happy you did!” He chirped as he nuzzled her which caused Mocha to lean back, much to  Moss’s confusion. “What’s wrong?” He asked confused.

“Just didn’t expect it sorry” Mocha said as she nuzzled him back, feeling bad she was kinda using him but she didn’t love him but needed a pup so they could lead the pack to newer and better heights than she ever did.

“Oh alright” Moss said as he nuzzled her but that expression she had before she nuzzled him…something was wrong, but he wanted to enjoy this so he pushed that thought away and smiled at her.

After about 3 moons Latte and Bandit had a pup, which Mocha was going to ask about since they hadn’t said anything, but a bearyena decided that was a great time to appear making all the nichelings terrified.

“It’s not a huge one and there’s four of us, we’re strong enough to fight it!” Mocha said as she thought about it, and maybe killing it will send a message any other bearyena in the area.

Latte and Bandit attacked first as it was WAY too close to their newborn pup with the other two following quickly after. They overwhelmed it with numbers, clawing and biting whenever it turned towards another nicheling but it did claw Bandit across the snout, leaving a large scar across it but not enough to kill him. They quickly took it down after that.

The pack checked to make sure Bandit would be okay and Mocha used her position to order him to rest, which he grumbled about but listened to, and only after that did Mocha say anything about the pup.

“Is the pup okay?” She asked as she looked at the tiny bundle of fur.

“Thankfully” Latte said, relieved the pup wasn’t injured.

“What’s the name?” Mocha asked making Latte smile.

“Thief” Latte said as she looked at the pup fondly.

Their pup had reminded Mocha that she NEEDED a pup to continue her dad’s legacy and when she brought it up to Moss he seemed ecstatic so here she was with not one but two pups!

“What do you want to name her?” Mocha asked as she gestured to the red pup with an interesting snout, probably from her mom she realized.

“I think Velvet is a good name for her” Mocha agreed, and she felt it fit the pup.

“What about him?” Moss asked as he looked at the second pup, extremely excited that he had two pups with Mocha, he still can’t believe she accepted honestly.

“Pumpkin Spice, Pumpkin or Spice for short” Mocha said as she smiled down at the orange pup.

“A wonderful name for him” Moss smiled and nuzzled the squeaking pup.

Mocha smiled, even if she didn’t love Moss like that she did care for him and she would protect these pups with her life. Her smile suddenly dropped which Moss noticed.

“What’s wrong?” He asked, hoping she wasn’t hurt or something.

“I had two at once, who will be the leader when I pass?” Mocha asked nervously, her dad never told her what to do in a situation like this.

“You could wait and decide when they’re teens to see how they act” Moss suggested making Mocha almost deflate in relief.

“You’re right, you give good advice” Mocha threw a compliment in there since she was supposed to be his mate, but it was an honest one.

“I would do anything for you” Moss purred which just made Mocha internally wince, he really did love her didn’t he?

“Thank you” She forced her voice to be even and perhaps even sweet sounding which seemed to appease him if the smile on his face meant anything.

“Get some rest” Moss said which she agreed with and slowly closed her eyes to drift off and get some much needed rest.

[CosmicChaos21]

Thief, Velvet, and Pumpkin Spice had made it to being teens, which relieved everyone as this island was nothing if not cruel. That happiness and peace was ruined by a yell from Latte.

“BEARYENA! AND A BIG ONE” She screamed as she booked it back to the others.

“We can’t fight the big ones, so we have to leave” Mocha said before noticing that Latte was bleeding. “What happened?” Mocha asked as the group started leaving the area.

“It surprised me while I was plucking some berries off a bush but I can keep up” Latte said slightly afraid of being leaved behind, even if that’s never happened before.

“If you’re sure” Mocha sighed before Velvet spoke up.

“Why do we have to leave, we could fight it if all of us attack” Velvet huffed as she looked at her mom.

“Maybe if it was a normal bearyena but those ones are much larger and much stronger than most, it would be a death wish to fight them” Mocha said as she narrowed her eyes at her daughter which made her glare back but be quiet.

“Well at least we get to see somewhere new!” Pumpkin Spice chirped, not seeming bothered in the slightest about this sudden move, which Mocha was thankful for.

Bandit went next to Latte and let her lean on him for support as they continued walking and gave a soft smile which she returned.

‘I got lucky to have such a strong mate’ Bandit thought as he looked at Latte fondly.

Mocha looked back and instantly regretted it as she saw how cute Latte and Bandit were being.

Moss noticed she was staring and then noticed what she was staring at, it hurt a little but maybe he’s misreading the situation? He decided he’d ask one they’re settled in their new home.

Pumpkin Spice wasn’t as oblivious as everyone seemed to think so he noticed the looks his parent’s had on their faces but decided to just keep his mouth shut and continue walking along.

Velvet didn’t noticed because she didn’t care, she wanted to stay at the place she was raised but of course something had to ruin it.

They had finally found somewhere decent and another bearyena showed up and everyone got ready to run before Mocha spoke up.

“It’s a normal bearyena if we all attack we can fight it!” She said making the entire pack surround it and start swiping, biting, clawing, ramming, whatever they could.

Velvet joined the fight even when her parents said not to so there was another set of paws to help. The bearyena was quickly being overwhelmed when it aimed a swipe at Velvet but before anyone else could do anything Latte launched herself in front of Velvet meaning that the swipe ended up slicing across her chest. Latte collapsed on the ground making Bandit furious as he charged at it with all his force and his horns sliced open the bearyena’s throat making it gurgle on it’s own blood for a bit before falling as well.

“C’mon Latte you’ll…you’ll be okay” Bandit said, more to himself as the rest of the pack did what they could to try and heal her but it was no use, Latte’s wounds were far too deep and without a healing fruit in sight they had no chance to save her.

The silence was deafening, Velvet not even breathing as the weight of what happened settled in her and the rest of the pack’s minds.

“YOU GOT MY MOM KILLED!” Thief finally screeched as he launched himself at Velvet, feeling angry and betrayed.

Velvet yelped as Thief collided with her and slashed her across the face, creating a set of scratches across her left cheek. Bandit quickly grabbed his enraged pup and dragged him off of Velvet.

“Thief! Your mother would be ashamed of your actions!” Bandit growled, he may not be happy either but Velvet was still a teen, still learning.

“IT DOESN’T MATTER BECAUSE SHE’S DEAD NOW!” Thief snarled back making Mocha step in front of the two.

“Thief, violence won’t solve anything. It will make it worse” Mocha scolded making Thief growl at her too.

“You’re biased because you’re Velvet’s mom!” Thief said as he stared into his leader’s eyes with defiance.

“Clear grass or so something else to calm down before you make any more rash decisions” Mocha narrowed her eyes at the teen making him bristle before walking off.

“As for you” Mocha turned towards her daughter making her shrink slightly. “I hope you’ve learned that not listening has consequences” Mocha said before going to clear some grass for their new territory.

Was is a horrifically bad choice to fight a bearyena yourself when you have nichelings who care about you and even a whole pack that relies on you? Yes. Did this stop Mocha? Absolutly not.

Rationally this was a rash choice but she felt she needed to. For her sister, for her dad, and for everything she’s lost because of these beasts so here she was fighting one alone without calling her pack for help.

She continued to bite the creature any chance she got causing it to snarl and swipe at her, which connected and left a large gash across her right shoulder. Instead of being rational and retreating she continued fighting. It slashed across her leg making her growl but get a chance to bite it’s throat making it fall.

Panting, she finally returned to the rest of the pack making them all panic as she was bleeding badly.

“What happened?!” Moss said with terror as he rushed to his mates side with their pups following quickly after.

“I fought a bearyena” Mocha forced out as she laid down while the rest of the pack rushed to try and heal her.

“By yourself?!” Velvet shrieked, feeling terrified at the potential of losing her mom.

Mocha just nodded which alarmed the pack a lot.

The rest of the pack eventually fell asleep after making sure she was at least somewhat stable but Moss was awake right next to her.

“I have to confess something, in case I do die” Mocha decided she had to get this out before she lost the chance.

“You won’t die!” Moss said stubbornly, not wanting to lose his mate.

“I never truly loved you” Mocha ignored what he said and her words caused him to still.

“…If that’s true why did you accept?” Moss refused to believe she would do all this if she didn’t love him.

“I’m the leader of the pack,  I needed a pup so they could lead when I passed” Mocha explained, feeling guilty upon seeing Moss’s hurt expression.

“Why didn’t you just say that? I thought you loved me too” Moss said, feeling betrayed and heartbroken.

“I wasn’t sure I’d get a pup that way” Mocha sighed with pain.

“…What you’ve done is cruel” Moss said as he looked at the grass under his paws.

“I know” Mocha agreed, she wasn’t thinking straight when she said that, she just wanted to keep her dad’s dream going.

“It wont be the same anymore, but I’ll keep it up for our pups” Moss said which made Mocha simply nod.

“I do love you, just not the way you need” Mocha said making Moss look at her sadly.

“I know” Moss forced out, even with his voice wavering in pain.

The two didn’t speak anymore that night, even if the silence hurt worse than talking.

That was a choice Moss regretted in the morning as he woke up to Mocha being nothing more than a memory as she died in her sleep from her injuries.

Pumpkin Spice yelped after realizing what he ran into. “BIG BEARYENA” He squawked as he ran back to the pack which threw them into alarm as they realized they couldn’t fight that.

As they were running they were shocked to see another huge bearyena appear right in their path.

“THERE’S TWO?!” Velvet screeched.

“I’ve got a idea! Bandit you help me distract them! You three” Moss looked at the younger nichelings. “Run and don’t look back” He finished making them protest.

“We can’t just run away!” Velvet said.

“The pack should protect everyone!” Pumpkin Spice huffed.

“We’re not cowards!” Thief growled.

“I SAID GO! And since we never settled it before, Pumpkin you’ll be the leader” Moss said making the nichelings stare in shock, everyone though Velvet wound be.

She was bitter but Velvet saved that for later as they all ran, leaving Moss and Bandit behind with only being able to hope they survive.

The trio off nichelings traveled for a while before they found somewhere far enough away and decent.

“Is that a healing fruit?!” Pumpkin Spice said getting the attention of the other two nichelings.

“It is, this could be great if someone gets hurt” Velvet said as she looked at the yellow and red plant.

“Or if someone gets hurt because of someone else’s stupid decisions” Thief said as he side eyed Velvet making her glare back at him.

“Well um, we should probably start clearing grass if we’re gonna stay here” Pumpkin Spice tried to break up the tension that always seemed to be between those two.

“Probably” Thief simply scoffed, he wasn’t going to be rude to Pumpkin Spice because of what Velvet did. Velvet just nodded and started clearing grasses.

‘I really hope this isn’t going to be a permanent thing’ Pumpkin Spice thought as he cleared grasses as well, still processing that he was the leader now.

Pumpkin Spice almost jumped out of his fur after bumping into an unknown nicheling.

“Ow- Sorry who are you?” He asked making the nicheling look at him.

“I’m Chip” The nicheling spoke as she wondered how a nicheling who could bump into a nicheling because they weren’t watching where they were going survived on this island.

“I’m Pumpkin Spice, Pumpkin or Spice for short” Pumpkin Spice introduced himself.

“There’s more than one nicheling scent around here, you know any?” Chip asked as she scanned the area curiously.

“I’m actually the leader of a small pack” Pumpkin Spice said making Chip tilt her head.

“Leader huh? Well than can I join?” Chip asked, free protection and this nicheling seemed oddly nice for how life is on this place.

“If you want I don’t mind at all!” Pumpkin Spice said, excited to potentially grow the tiny pack.

“Alright lead the way” Chip said making Pumpkin Spice grin before leading her to the rest of the pack.

“So you invited a nicheling with unknown intentions into the pack?” Velvet said making Pumpkin Spice give an awkward shrug.

“Well our pack is really small” He said.

“C’mon Velvet, we have to give em a chance. Hello, I’m Thief” Thief said as he approached Chip.

“I’m Chip” Chip said with a slight smile as she thought these nichelings were quite interesting.

“Velvet” Velvet just said as she narrowed her eyes at this new nicheling.

“I could show you around” Thief said before Pumpkin Spice could say anything.

“Sure” Chip said as she followed Thief on a tour of the territory.

‘I wanted to show her around. Eh guess I’ll just clear more grasses’ Pumpkin Spice thought to himself.

[CosmicChaos21]

Chip and Thief had become fast friends as they both enjoyed telling, perhaps slightly exaggerated, stories of what they’ve done.

“So my brother was injured and I was facing down this huge bearyena, the pack had been shrunk by quite a few members so I was alone but it was badly injured, so I lunged at it. But before I could hurt it the beast sliced it’s claws across my back leg but in the end I ended up defeating it. That’s how I got this scar” Chip explained as she gestured to her back right leg, which had deep looking claw marks across it.

“Wow you’re super brave!” Thief’s words made Chip puff up with pride.

“Of course! And have you severely injured or killed something interesting?” Chip asked curiously and it took all of Thief’s energy to not wince.

“Well I did but it was a rash decision” Thief explained nervously, he knows he doesn’t regret it but it may have been a bit much.

“Well I wanna hear it!” Chip said excitedly, wondering what awesome story he had to tell. The shining expression she had made Thief cave.

“Well a bearyena ended up killing my mom because she jumped in front of Velvet to save her after she joined a fight as a teen when they told her not to. So I may have given her that scar across her cheek” Thief said.

“Sounds like she kinda deserved it than” Chip shrugged making Thief blink in shock, she didn’t think it was too much?

“You think so?” Thief asked to confirm.

“If my mom ended up dead because of someone else’s easily prevented decision I would be mad too” Chip replied, it seemed sad to lose someone close to you for that.

“Everyone else said it was an overreaction” Thief said as that’s what he’d heard almost constantly after that.

“Maybe, but you just lost your mom. Rationally probably wasn’t the first thing on your mind” Chip said.

“Hm I guess you’re right” Thief hummed in thought.

“Well we should probably get some berries to eat” Chip said as she stretched.

“You’re right let’s go” Thief said as he led her to the berry bushes.

“What’re you doing?” Pumpkin Spice asked almost scaring the fur off of Velvet.

“I-I’m looking for worms” Velvet stuttered a bit after being so startled.

“Cool” Pumpkin Spice said before they were silent for a bit while Velvet got a few worms.

“Can I try?” Pumpkin Spice asked making Velvet look at him confused but curious.

“Sure?” Velvet said mostly wanting to see how this goes.

Pumpkin Spice slowly waded into the water before scanning the sand below for movement. When he saw it he tried to do what Velvet did but ended up inhaling some water causing him to bring his head back up with some spluttering and coughing.

“Are you okay?” Velvet asked, hoping he wasn’t going to die from trying to do what she could.

“Yeah I’m-” Pumpkin Spice’s sentence was interrupted by his own coughing. “I’m fine, should probably leave that to you though” He gave a slight laugh.

“Don’t get yourself killed or something” Velvet sighed as she watched him return to the shore and lay down.

The rest of the day was spent with Pumpkin Spice watching Velvet get more worms.

Chip growled getting Thief’s attention and making him realize there was a bearyena. “BEARYENA!” He called out getting the rest of the pack’s attention and bringing the other two members over.

“It’s not a huge one maybe we could fight it off?” Pumpkin Spice said making the whole pack start attacking at once to confuse the bearyena.

The pack was shocked when not only did they defeat it, but did so without a single injury to any of the pack.

“We did it super easily!” Chip chirped excitedly, happy that this whole pack thing was a good choice for her.

“Not a single injury” Velvet simply said in shock.

“Well if it’ll be that easy maybe we won’t have to worry about the smaller bearyena anymore” Thief smiled at the thought of not having to run every single time a bearyena appeared.

“We get to stay here and keep this large territory we’ve made!” Pumpkin Spice grinned at the thought.

The pack ate some extra food as celebration for such a successful victory.

The other two members of the pack weren’t shocked when Thief and Chip had announced they were mates and they were excited when the two had a pup!

“What’s his name?” Pumpkin Spice asked as he looked at the brown pup.

“Lock” Thief simply said as he nuzzled the tiny pup affectionately.

“He’s going to be so strong and smart” Chip said as she smiled at her new pup.

“I’m sure he will be, the bearyena won’t stand a chance” Pumpkin Spice grinned at the two new parents. “I’m going to patrol to make sure he’ll be safe” He continued making the two nod as he walked off.

On one paw he was thrilled but…It’s been moons since Chip joined and there were no signs of any other nichelings, he needed a pup to pass on leadership to and he was worried he wouldn’t have one. He wasn’t old exactly but he’d rather not rush anything if he didn’t have to.

“Guess we’ll have to wait and see” He said to himself as he sniffed around the territory edges.

Velvet snarled as she clawed at the bearyena that startled her before calling out. “BEARYENA!” Her words cut through the air like a set of claws.

“One of you should stay to keep an eye on the pup” Pumpkin Spice advised and Chip rushed towards Velvet’s call before anyone said something else. “Well guess it’s been chosen” Pumpkin Spice said and although Thief was worried he knew Chip was strong.

The three nicheings rushed at the bearyena, taking turns attacking and dodging to try and stun it. They did a lot of damage before it turned and slashed it’s claws across Chip’s neck shocking the other nichelings.

It almost caused severe damage to Velvet but she dodged so it was only a potential scar. The other two quickly took it down after that but the damage was done.

The fact it had started to rain during their fight felt fitting.

“Where’s Chip?” Thief asked making Pumpkin Spice swallow down his hesitation and speak.

“The bearyena got her on the neck so she died, even the healing plant wouldn’t save her with that attack” He said making Thief freeze before looking down at his shivering pup.

“I’ll have to raise Lock alone?” Thief asked as he looked at Pumpkin, hoping this was some sort of sick joke, to have something that made him happy taken away right after he had a pup.

“Yes” Pumpkin Spice confirmed as he hung his head while Velvet stared at her paws. She didn’t really care for Thief but he didn’t exactly deserve this, nor did Chip, or Lock.

The rain weighed down their fur and their hearts as they mourned Chip, though she would be remembered for her sacrifice.

There’s usually something good from the bad as they say and that came a few days after the death of Chip as Pumpkin Spice found a nicheling plucking from the pack’s berry bush.

“What are you doing?” Pumpkin Spice’s words caused the nicheling to look up at him curiously.

“Picking berries” The nicheling said, wondering if this was a pack’s territory but not really caring if it was.

“I’m the leader of the pack of the territory you’re in” Pumpkin Spice said as he noticed this nicheling didn’t seem scared or afraid at all.

“Well everyone needs to eat and I can’t eat from the poison bushes” The nicheling shrugged as she continued to pick berries from the bush.

“…You could join our pack if you’d like” Pumpkin Spice offered.

“If you’re offering than sure” The nicheling said, bearyena are easier to deal with in groups anyways.

“What’s your name? I’m Pumpkin Spice” He introduced himself.

“Long name huh? I’m Sun” The nicheling said as she slowly got up from siting with a stretch.

“Follow me to meet the others” Pumpkin Spice said making her shrug before following him curiously.

Lock became a teen and like clockwork a bearyena that the pack couldn’t fight came through.

“WE CAN’T FIGHT IT EVERYONE RUN, FOLLOW ME!” Pumpkin Spice yelled making the pack quickly listen and start dashing through the grasses to lose the huge bearyena.

The pack was running but as they did Sun yelped as another bearyena, though thankfully a smaller one, appeared of the grasses and scratched across her left shoulder, sure to be a scar but not fatal.

“C’mon Sun” Pumpkin Spice said as he distracted it to let her run away.

Velvet urged the others to continue and that she would catch up before following after her brother’s example and helping him swipe at the bearyena. The two swiped for a while before a third bearyena jumped out of the grasses. And because this island didn’t want to be kind it was a huge one.

“I’ve got a plan” Velvet said as the two continued dodging.

“What?” Pumpkin Spice said, desperate.

“I fight them and you follow the pack” Pumpkin Spice immediately protested.

“I can’t leave you to…to die!” Pumpkin Spice growled making Velvet sigh.

“You have to, the pack needs a leader, they need you to lead them to a brighter future” Velvet said.

“B-but you’re my sister, I need you” Pumpkin Spice whimpered making Velvet wince before steeling herself.

“Lock could die without you, please brother. Don’t make the same mistake I did as a teen. I love you” Velvet said.

“…I love you too, I’ll always keep you in my heart” Pumpkin Spice felt like a coward but knew his sister was right, the pack NEEDED him. So he ran after the pack, to lead them, to protect them, to keep them alive.

“What happened?” “Where’s Velvet?” The two questions almost blurred together because Sun and Thief spoke at the same time.

“…Hopefully we’ll see her soon” Pumpkin Spice said, though he knew what would happen.

“Alright” Sun, and Thief honestly, said though she knew what that meant without needing to see it. ‘Sacrificing yourself for others? An odd thing to me but these pack nichelings are odd’ She thought to herself as she followed her leader to wherever they were going.

They traveled for a while with most of the time being spent with Sun trying to lighten the mood with Pumpkin Spice because, she won’t say she knew him that well but, he was oddly silent and melancholy.

They finally arrived somewhere decent, and already cleared of a lot of grass, must have been another nicheling’s at some point.

“There’s a healing plant and stumps to keep a watch out, it’s good” Pumpkin Spice said before jumping on one of the stumps to scan the area.

“Our leader will be happy again soon right?” Lock asked his dad making him frown for a second.

“Yeah, of course” Thief said as he looked away making Lock huff, he was sure he was lying to him but didn’t push it.

“You wanna be mates?” Sun’s sudden question caused Pumpkin Spice’s head to whip around and stare at her. “If you don’t want to just say so” She grumbled but Pumpkin Spice spoke up.

“N-no it’s not that! Just surprised, but if you want to than I’d be happy to” Pumpkin Spice said.

“Great, see you later” Pumpkin Spice stared in shock as Sun walked off.

‘That solves that problem I guess??’ He thought confused but happy.

‘Being the leader’s mate will offer some good protection’ Sun thought with a hum as she walked off.

It didn’t take long for the two new mates to have a pup.

“What should we name her?” Pumpkin Spice asked making Sun look at the pup.

“Orange” She said making Pumpkin Spice look at her.

“Orange?” He simply repeated.

“You asked” Sun shrugged.

“I did” He said as he looked at the pup with fondness.

Pumpkin Spice and Sun had their moment of having their second pup, named Comet, ruined because a huge bearyena appeared and the whole pack realized the newest members couldn’t move much yet so the adults all lined up and started attacking to give them a chance, though Sun just wanted to leave and abandon the pack to save her own hide.

They barely did anything and things were made worse when another, smaller but still, bearyena appeared.

“RUN AND TAKE THE PUPS WITH YOU LOCK!” Thief yelled making Lock whimper but agree as he took the two tiny pups by their scruffs and ran, not chancing looking back.

(AND I FORGOT A SCREENSHOT WHOOPS-)

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Lock ran, and ran, and ran. He never settled even as he grew into a mature nicheling and the younger ones had turned to teens. He spent lots of time trying his best to teach Orange to be a leader, even though he had no experience whatsoever.

A growl alarmed Lock as he dodged a charging bearyena. He told the younger ones to run as he slashed at it to distract it before running too. He grit his teeth as the bearyena’s claws slashes across his muzzle, sure to leave a bad scar, before he ran off into the grasses after Orange and Comet.

“Your snout!” Comet said making Orange take a glance too.

“It’ll heal, we have to run” Lock brushed it off even though it stung badly.

“We always run” Orange huffed, tired of this type of life.

“I know, we’ll fine somewhere someday I promise” Lock sighed as they continued doing what they did best, run.

Ironically enough when they finally stopped they ended up back. Back where Lock was born and raised into a teen. But after some investigating he found out there was no scent of bearyena at all anymore.

“We’ll settle here while we can” Lock said making the younger two almost collapse in relief.

“Finally” Comet sighed as he flopped onto the ground tiredly.

“I’m gonna sleep” Orange said before curling up and almost instantly passing out.

Of course only after a few days Lock was alarmed as Orange ran over to him with a bleeding front leg.

“Bearyena! And a big one with red eyes!” Orange said as she held her hurt leg to her chest.

“Run” Lock said making Orange and Comet sigh but nod and run while Lock turned to the quickly approaching bearyena to give it a large scratch which made it growl and turn it’s attention towards him, giving the younger ones a chance to escape.

Lock was shocked as after a few minutes of fighting it turned and left. He took the chance to run but winced as he heard the sound of a nicheling screech in pain.

‘Sorry, but we have to survive’ He thought as he could only hope that poor nicheling would escape.

“Why can’t we relax!” Comet snarled as they ran making Lock feel extremely guilty.

“I’m sorry, they’re so ruthless. More ruthless than when I was younger” Lock said wondering what got into them.

“…” Orange didn’t speak, she just ran alongside them, wondering when this exhausting game would end.

Comet and Orange had grown into adults by the time they found somewhere that didn’t reek of bearyena scent.

“I hope this place lasts” Comet grumbled as the pack started clearing grasses.

“I’m the leader now right?” Orange asked making Lock look over at her and nod.

“Yes, I hope I’ve taught you decently even with our situation” Lock said with a slight smile.

“Me too” Orange said, she couldn’t exactly blame him for what those bearyena were doing but it was so tiring to run run run all the time.

“You’ll be a good leader, I’m sure of it” Lock said as he ripped out more grass.

“Eh, I don’t know” Comet said making Orange just roll her eyes, he was just jealous she got the role and not him.

“Maybe we should sleep first” Orange said which the other two agreed with and they all drifted off for the night.

Orange and Comet were shocked as they found out Lock was ambushed by two bearyena and killed.

“LET ME KILL THEM!” Orange snarled, angrier than Comet had ever seen her.

“You’ll just get yourself killed stupid! We need to leave” Comet sighed.

“But didn’t YOU always complain about running?!” Orange growled.

“Yes but if we get ourselves killed that would make Lock’s hard work of keeping us alive useless” Comet said and although she growled Orange didn’t disagree.

“Fine, let’s go” She scoffed and forced her way through the grasses making Comet follow.

“What are you doing?!” Orange hissed after Comet started yelling after getting on a tree stump.

“We need more nichelings” Comet shrugged before continuing.

Orange was quickly proven right to question as a huge bearyena appeared.

“I TOLD YOU!” Orange growled as they were on the run…again.

“Whatever, I tried to increase our numbers” Comet scoffed as they ran through the grass, which they were quite skilled at now.

The bearyena followed them but Comet kicked a pebble up, which hit it’s eye causing it to growl and stumble, giving them a chance to escape again.

(Forgot 2 screenshots today, nice-)

-----------------------------

 

They found somewhere to at least relax for a bit and it had some coconuts, which were hard to open but hey it’s food.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU!-” Comet stopped growling as he heard a whimper and instead of an adult nicheling or even a bearyena he saw a tiny nicheling that only had a single gem and was cowering in fear. “Um, sorry pup. I didn’t mean to scare you” Comet said as he lowered himself to the pup’s level which seemed to made the pup relax. “You can eat more if you come with me” Comet said as he picked up the pup causing him to struggle before realizing he wasn’t being hurt.

“Where did you find a pup??” Orange said extremely confused at what her brother brought back.

“There were no other nicheling scents, abandoned. And besides could be good in case you don’t have your own pup” Comet shrugged as he set the pup down and gave him some coconut.

“I guess you’re right” Orange agreed. “Do you have a name?” She asked making the pup look at her.

“C-Cocoa” The pup squeaked out.

“A good name” Comet said and Orange just nodded.

[CosmicChaos21]

Cocoa had become a teen meaning Orange and Comet were telling him of his potential future role.

“But what if you DO have your own pup?” Cocoa asked making Orange think for a little bit before speaking.

“Than we’d have a co-leadership” Orange said making Cocoa, and Comet, confused.

“What does that mean?” Comet asked first as he looked at Orange.

“Basically there will be two leaders who can agree or debate on decisions so they both have some power” Orange said, not exactly wanting to just kick Cocoa’s chance away if she does have her own pup.

“Oh ok! That’ll make it fair” Cocoa smiled, being happy with that arrangement.

“Remember though, you should choose the choice that would benefit the pack over a choice that would only benefit one or two nichelings” Orange explained making Cocoa nod.

“Okay” Cocoa said, that didn’t sound so hard right?

“Leaders make the choices like when to move, where to move, and if food is low, who gets priority over food” Comet said as he overheard some of the stuff mom told Orange.

“Doesn’t that mean I’d be in charge of who lives and dies sometimes?” Cocoa said a little bit anxious about that idea.

“…If you have to, yes”  Orange confirmed which made Cocoa look at his paws. “I hope you never have to but on this island you MUST be prepared for it” Orange tried to reassure but it didn’t sound much like a reassurance.

“I’ll do my best” Cocoa said though he was afraid of ending up causing someone’s death.

“Good, but if I have a pup and you don’t want to be leader I can make them the only leader instead” Orange said, even though she did care for Cocoa she really wanted to have an heir to keep the legacy going.

Cocoa just nodded.

Comet snarled catching Cocoa and Orange’s attention and when they turned they saw a bearyena.

“I think we can fight this one” Orange said as she got ready to ram the bearyena.

“But there’s only three of us” Cocoa said, wondering if this would be his end.

“Yes but us two have ram horns and you have those claws” Orange said making Cocoa open his mouth to protest before closing it and starting to attack with the other two.

They kept ramming and clawing it until it fell without a single injury to any of the nichelings!

“Lets get rid of this one before it becomes a problem” Comet said as he looked at the bearyena’s cub.

“WAIT!” Cocoa’s yell startled both nichelings. “Maybe if we give it some food it won’t hurt us?” Cocoa said making the two older nichelings look at him like he’d grown another head.

“The bloodthirsty beasts that hunt us down relentlessly?” Orange scoffed.

“Yeah, it’ll grow bigger and then turn on us” Comet agreed.

“Let’s give it a chance” Cocoa said making the two sigh.

“If it comes after us it’s your fault” Comet sighed.

Cocoa gave it some rabill meat and the cub happily chowed down on it and yawned. It then walked off happily.

“Welp it took our food and left” Orange said before getting the tiny pack to go gather more food.

Time felt like a blur as Cocoa had grown into an adult and spent most of his time destroying poisonous berry bushes.

On one paw Orange was happy he survived but on the other…

‘I’ll never get an heir at this rate! I won’t be able to pass on the legacy and keep it alive because I couldn’t find another nicheling, except that one who survive a single night after meeting them’ She thought as she ripped out more grass.

Meanwhile Cocoa was just enjoying continuing to destroy berry bushes, it was simple and something to keep himself busy.

“WHEN DID YOU EVEN GET PREGNANT???” Comet asked very confused after his sister had a pup.

“Remember when I disappeared for a little bit? I found a nicheling who didn’t want to join the pack but when I asked about having a pup he agreed” Orange explained with a shrug, an heir’s an heir.

“Oh, well what’s her name?” Comet asked making Orange hum in thought.

“Apple, that will be her name” She said as she looked at the tiny pup.

“She’s tiny” Cocoa said curiously as he looked at Apple.

“No, you were just a very large pup” Orange said.

“Well I hope she’ll be healthy” Cocoa said making Orange sigh.

“Me too”  She simply said as she looked at the tiny pup.

About a moon later Orange approached Cocoa with Apple.

“Cocoa?” Orange asked making Cocoa look at her.

“Yeah?” He simply asked.

“Could you watch Apple while I patrol the territory?” Orange asked, feeling like it’s been an odd amount of time since they’ve been attacked.

“Sure” Cocoa easily agreed.

“Alright, I’ll be back” Orange said before she walked off.

Apple just wandered around while Cocoa watched her play with grass and leaves. Hearing a rustle in the grasses he sat up and sniffed the air, smelling nothing he relaxed again. When the rustling kept coming back he became worried and decided to get up and check it out.

When he went over he just shook his head after seeing a few rabills run away from him.

‘Just some rabills, I should get back to Apple’ He thought as he walked back only to realize a second too late what was happening. He bolted towards Apple but she had alrady been grabbed and being brought into the skies with a blue bird.

“APPLE!” He yelled as he jumped but missed by a hair and slammed back into the ground, only able to watch as the crying pup got carried away above the clouds.

Cocoa sat there in shock before slowly realizing how bad this was.

‘Orange trusted me with Apple and now she’s gone, what am I gonna say? What am I gonna do? Orange will be livid with me, oh no oh no’ In his thoughts he didn’t see Orange approach him, having gotten back from her patrol.

“What’s wrong? And where’s Apple?” Orange asked as she looked around.

Cocoa froze up in terror before registering her question.

Feeling like his throat was tightening he simply pointed a single claw towards the sky and the dot of a blue bird.

Orange was confused until she could barely make out the shape of the bird.

“That’s…unfortunate” Cocoa was completely shocked as she did sound disappointed but not a single bit mad, nor that down about it.

“You’re not mad at me?” Cocoa asked confused.

“I’m not thrilled but on this island you have to be prepared to see nichelings die, and Apple wasn’t exactly that old so she was very vulnerable. Though I am curious what caused you to get distracted” Orange said making Cocoa shocked.

‘Does that mean she wouldn’t have cared much if I got taken as a pup?’ He had to all but shove that thought away as he answered her.

“I heard rustling in the bushes and fearing it was a bearyena I went to investigate” Cocoa said making Orange nod.

“Well I can’t blame you than, a bearyena would’ve been impossible to fight alone, especially if it had been a red eyed one” Orange said, not being too attached to Apple due to how little time she was around, I mean she was irritated she’d need to find another male to have an heir but it is what it is.

“Oh”  Was all Cocoa could say as Orange walked off to pick berries.

‘Does she truly care about me or even her own brother?’ Cocoa thought to himself as he went back to destroying berry bushes.

Orange was irritated but being faced with those blood red eyes she knew this battle would be a deathwish.

“WE HAVE TO RUN!” She yelled out making Comet groan, hoping that him and his sister’s days of running were over but this island has a way of doing that huh?

So the nichelings started to run into the grasses, hoping to outspeed or outsmart the bloodthirsty beast behind them.

They eventually took a breather and while Comet was on patrol he almost jumped out of his fur at seeing red eyes before registering that this was a nicheling.

“Wow am I that scary?” The nicheling snickered as he saw how much he scared Comet.

“No just…the huge bearyena have red eyes too” Comet sagged in relief.

“Ah right, well who are you? This is my territory y’know” The pure white nicheling asked as he looked at Comet curiously.

“Just relaxing for a bit because we were being chased by a huge bearyena” Comet explained as he looked at the nicheling curiously.

“Ah I see, if so stay for a bit” The nicheling shrugged, more nichelings around could be good for those smaller bearyena’s anyway.

“Um actually maybe you could join our pack?” Comet asked making the nicheling tilt his head.

“If you’re fine with it than why not” The nicheling said.

“Alright, I’ll introduce you, what’s your name anyways?” Comet asked as he led this nicheling to the pack.

“Oh right, I’m Chime” The nicheling said as he followed Comet.

Chime was introduced and got along with everyone, though Cocoa was a bit suspicious of him.

“I know we just met earlier but I have a favor to ask of you” Orange decided to take a chance.

“Depends on what it is” Chime said, curious and a bit concerned.

“I need and heir for this pack, so they can lead when I pass. So would you be willing to help with that?” Orange asked making Chime grin.

“Well I’ve wanted to start my own pack but this would be alright too” Chime chirped, what a perfect chance!

“Alright, thank you” Orange sighed in relief, after Apple died since Orange was getting older she worried she wouldn’t have a single heir.

Orange and Chime quickly had 3 pups, just in case.

The firstborn and heir, named Bumble, is bright yellow with black stripes and dark pink horns. He is a very social and happy pup.

The second born, named Bell, is bright yellow with lighter colored horns and no pattern. He is almost the opposite of Bumble, he’s very reserved and doesn’t like to play much.

The last born, named Tangerine, is orange with black spots and no horns. He is a very loud and very picky, he only ate rabill meat for a moon once, to his parent’s slight annoyance.

Both Orange and Chime hoped they would survive into adulthood.

Comet was tempted to groan in irritation after seeing another bearyena. “THERE’S A BEARYENA BUT IT’S SMALLER AND DOESN’T HAVE RED EYES” He yelled catching the pack’s attention.

They all quickly started swarming it to try and overwhelm it before it caused a single scratch. The bearyena tried to retaliate but every swing it tried to take was dodged and the nichelings were moving too fast for it to get a hit on one.

The bearyena soon took its final breath as orange rammed right at its throat causing it to splutter and collapse onto the ground.

“Not a single injury, much better than I thought it’d go” Orange admitted with a deep breath as she looked at her packmates.

“Yeah, we get to stay here!” Come said excitedly at not having to run yet again.

“You’re all very strong nichelings” Chime hummed as he saw how quickly the pack had been able to take it down.

The babies had become teens which made their parents relieved that they weren’t killed at a young age, Orange was relieved that she didn’t have another taken as she wasn’t sure if she was going to get a chance to have more.

The entire pack was shocked when Comet brought in a very pregnant looking nicheling.

“You got another member for the pack?” Orange asked as she looked at her brother.

“Yep! And she’ll be giving us another member of the pack soon”  Comet grinned as he realized this made the pack bigger.

“Good, a bigger pack is better for fending off those bearyena” Orange said as she felt it was also nice to have an actual normal sized pack to lead.

Then the moment was ruined by a snarl that got the entire pack’s attention.

A bearyena stood there but it wasn’t huge so Orange told the pack to attack. They did the same stratagy as usual, overwhelm and confuse, so the bearyena was brought down quickly.

“That’s quite an introduction to this pack” The nicheling said breaking the silence after the battle.

“What’s your name?” Orange asked as she realized she hadn’t asked yet.

“Blank” The new nicheling said as she swiveled her ears slightly.

“Welcome to the pack Blank” Orange said before leaving, with the rest of the pack dispersing to do their own things too.

(FORGOT A SCREENSHOT OOPS-)

-------------------------------------------------

 

Blank soon had her pup.

“I think the name Asteroid is good” Comet said as he looked at the pup.

“Why are you helping name the pup?” Tangerine asked making Comet look at him.

“She’s my pup too” Comet said shocking the other nichelings.

“Your pup?” Orange simply asked.

“Yes, I decided to have my own” Comet shrugged as he looked at his newborn pup.

“Well that will grow the pack” Orange noted before going to patrol again.

(NOT SUPER DETAILED STORY WISE BUT COMET AND ORANGE ARE VERY OLD-)

Bumble, Bell, and Tangerine were in charge of watching Asteroid while the older nichlings hunted or patrolled.

“Look she’s just like you” Tangerine said to Bell as Asteroid never wanted to play and was a quiet pup.

“Very funny” Bell said with a deadpan expression at his brother for that comment.

“This is kinda boring though” Bumble said while laying down, wanting to explore or hunt or even pick berries instead.

“Yeah well unless you wanna explain that we went off cause we were bored instead of watching her we’re staying here” Bell said as he looked at the swaying grasses.

“Why couldn’t have one of them stayed here and did this, they’re ‘more experienced’ or whatever mom said” Bumble said as he waved his paws in the air with boredom while laying on his back.

“You’re very immature for a future leader” Bell scoffed as he looked at his brother.

“Maybe it’s good because we’ll have some actual fun around here” Bumble replied as he looked at the clouds.

“Or you’ll destroy all of mom’s hard work and get us all killed” Bell said.

Tangerine was just being quiet as he was confident but that didn’t mean he was willing to try and break apart that inevitable arguing.

“Hey wait where are you going?” Tangerine said as he watched Asteroid going towards the tall grasses.

“Absolutely not” Bell said as he grabbed her by the scruff and brought her back to where they were before.

“I’ll bite you!” Asteroid said as she tried to bite at Bell after he sat her down but he easily dodged her attempt.

“Don’t warn someone when you’re trying to bite them” Bell said with an eye roll at the way this pup acted sometimes.

Asteroid just glared at him before sitting down and zoning out again.

“She’s such a rude pup too” Bumble groaned as he rolled onto his side.

“Well if she dies under our watch we’ll get in lots of trouble” Bell said with a yawn as he sat down.

“Yeah” Tangerine agreed, in trouble is one way to describe it.

“Whatever” Bumble sighed as he stared at the grasses again.

The older nichelings soon came back much to their relief, they could go do what they wanted now.

(FORGOT TWO SCREENSHOTS TODAY I GUESS-)

Cocoa had noticed that Tangerine was acting strange, he seemed more on edge and when asked he would just brush it off or ignore Cocoa entirely. Odd behavior for the usually loud teen.

“If something is wrong you can tell me, or your mom” Cocoa left out Chime as he was still not sure about him.

“Nothing is wrong” Tangerine growled, wising Cocoa would stop asking as he was trying to keep it secret.

“I promise I won’t tell any other nicheling, I just want to know what’s wrong” Cocoa said, honestly he just wanted to know if Tangerine was okay.

“I’m not feeling bad, I’m…planning a surprise!” Tangerine technically wasn’t lying…it will be a surprise.

“Oh, if that’s all it was you don’t need to be so on edge all the time. Are you planning it yourself?” Cocoa said, wanting desperately to believe him but still being worried.

“Well Chime is helping me make sure it goes well” Tangerine said trying to keep Cocoa from knowing.

“I see, I’ll see you later” Cocoa said and Tangerine knew that if he was doing what he think he was going to it wouldn’t go well. So he just walked to where he needed to go for now.

/

“Are you planning something and involving Tangerine?” Cocoa growled as he approached Chime as he noticed he was alone.

“Oh? Did he say something about planning something?” Chime asked as he turned to Cocoa, hoping Tangerine didn’t spill the plan.

“He said you were helping him plan a surprise” Cocoa said as he narrowed his eyes at Chime.

“Well it is a surprise, so yes I am. Why are you so hostile about our surprise?” Chime asked with a tone of innocence, thought both he and Cocoa knew it was fake.

“What are you planning? You better not hurt anyone here” Cocoa snarled making Chime sigh.

“I was hoping I wouldn’t have to start the event yet but well…here we go. Tangerine why don’t you give me a paw?” Chime asked confusing Cocoa until he felt a smaller, but still strong, body slam into him causing him to start trying to shake it off out of instinct.

No matter how hard he tried Tangerine hung on and eventually clamped down on his neck until he started to bleed out.

“How…could…you” Cocoa forced out as he took his late breath.

Tangerine felt some guilt rise up but he crushed it down, like Chime said to, and ignored it.

“Good job, you’re the youngest but the most promising of my pups” Chime praised as he smiled at his pup making pride swell up in Tangerine, mom always complimented Bumble and Bell but never really him.

“But how will I be leader as the youngest?” Tangerine asked with a tilt of his head.

“Don’t worry I’ll tell you soon my prodigy” Chime gave a grin before saying a different topic. “Why don’t we tell the pack that a bearyena ambushed us and he died from it?” Chime said making Tangerine nod.

“Yeah” Tangerine agreed before the two walked off to the pack.

/

“Oh no Cocoa…” Orange said looking more sad than she usually did about death but Comet knew why, Cocoa was basically her first child even if not by blood.

“I’m sure he went down with a fight” Comet tried to reassure while Orange just looked ahead blankly.

“Yes, he was quite the fighter.  He did most of the fighting, though we did our best to help” Chime agreed, he did go down with a fight after all…

“I should go patrol to make sure it didn’t find its way here” Orange said, she needed to do something to get her mind off it.

“I’ll come with you” Comet said as he followed his sister towards the edge of the territory.

------------------------------------------

 

It was the time, the one Tangerine and Chime has been planning for a long time.

Tangerine slowly approached his sleeping mother, feeling a pang of remorse hit him. Was he really willing to go this far? But that part of him was tiny at this point so he didn’t even acknowledge it anyway and just slowly stalked closer until he was close enough for the plan.

He pounced on his mom and quickly sliced open her throat meaning she couldn’t scream or speak much so she just spluttered, confused and alarmed before registering who had done this.

‘My own son?’ Was her last thought before everything went dark.

…It is done, now to enact the last part of the plan to ensure his spot.

“Guys, guys” Tangerine woke up his brothers. “A huge bearyena came and slaughtered the entire pack, it even got mom” He lied through his teeth easily at this point.

“What?!” Bumble said as the two shot up in surprise.

“Mom told us to run but I’ll distract it so you two can get away” Tangerine said making them protest.

“You’ll die if you do that” Bell said making Tangerine sigh.

“I’ll be careful but if I’m not there by sundown please just leave and save yourselves” Tangerine said making Bumble protest but Bell stopped him.

“We have to leave, mom needs us to continue her legacy”Bell said making Bumble deflate. “Goodbye Tangerine” Bell said to his brother with a sad smile.

“Be careful” Bumble said sadly while Tangerine just nodded as the two ran off.

‘Huh, easier than I thought it’d be’ Tangerine thought as he sat there before going to tell Chime.

/

“It’s done” Tangerine said making a grin split onto Chime’s face.

“Great now we must inform the pack that a pack of wanderers attacked her and your siblings and that you couldn’t stop them in time” Chime said making Tangerine nod before walking out to tell the pack the news.

[Stranger]

WOAH OKAY PLOT TWIST I WASN'T EXPECTING THAT. 

(rip Cocoa I really liked you) 

[CosmicChaos21]

34 minutes ago, YourLocalStranger said:

WOAH OKAY PLOT TWIST I WASN'T EXPECTING THAT. 

(rip Cocoa I really liked you) 

>:3  I'm guessing you're talking about Tangerine betraying his own family? Or Chime being evil?

(Yeah, I did too but due to Cocoa's personality that he got he noticed something was off quickly and Chime couldn't have him ruin this plan)

[Stranger]

31 minutes ago, CosmicChaos21 said:

>:3  I'm guessing you're talking about Tangerine betraying his own family? Or Chime being evil?

(Yeah, I did too but due to Cocoa's personality that he got he noticed something was off quickly and Chime couldn't have him ruin this plan)

Tangerine betraying his family AND chime being evil. By the way, this playthrough is really cool. I love your writing style! 

[CosmicChaos21]

1 minute ago, YourLocalStranger said:

Tangerine betraying his family AND chime being evil. By the way, this playthrough is really cool. I love your writing style! 

Ah yeah, I'm happy you didn't suspect a thing when I first introduced him, was a bit worried it was too obvious. I'm happy you like it! And thanks a lot! Happy you like my style with my excessive use of commas and long sentences :3

[CosmicChaos21]

“I just saw something horrible!” Tangerine said getting everyone’s attention. “A bunch of wandering nichelings broke into where me and my family sleeps and they killed my mom and siblings!” He said as he lowered his ears, to add to the effect.

“Orange is…dead?” Comet was the first to speak and he looked like his entire world has been shattered, but Orange has been by his side forever.

“Yes, my mom and siblings are dead” Tangerine faked sadness, and it seemed to work if everyone’s reactions meant anything.

Asteroid was still a pup, though she was almost a teen, but she just glared at Tangerine, which made him slightly nervous.

‘She’s just a pup, there’s no way she’d know what I’ve done’ He reassured himself as the pack gave him their ‘sorry for your loss’ talks while Comet was just hurt but knew what he had to do.

“Until Tangerine is fully grown I’ll run the pack and teach him anything Orange couldn’t” Comet said, though the fact his sister was dead weighed on his heart more than a red eyed bearyena would.

Chime felt irritation but realized that it would be suspicious if he got Comet killed too so he just decided to stay patient, good comes to those who wait as they say.

“This is quite a cruel way to get your own pack brother” Was all Blank said as she passed him, though thankfully she said it too quiet for others to hear.

Chime glared at Blank’s retreating figure before calming himself and looking back towards his best chance at leadership.

Comet stared in shock while Blank was livid.

“You said it was tall grass when you hid her earlier but now you said it’s short right?” Blank asked, hoping this wasn’t what she thought it was but the options were thin.

“Yes” Comet just said as he had just watched as his own pup was taken by a bird, the two only noticed because of her cries, they put her in the grass to prevent this. Even though Asteroid didn’t listen sometimes she was smart enough to stay in the grass when a bird was overhead.

“That means a nicheling must have cleared the grass even tough there was a pup in there” Blank was definitely mad because she had a decent idea of who did this.

‘My brother wouldn’t stoop this low just because my pup was smart enough to realize, right?’ She thought to herself as if that would make the reality disappear.

“But who would do this? And why her?” Comet was heartbroken, first his sister, now his pup.

“I’m not sure” Blank was lying, not for her brother, because she wanted to confirm her suspicions first.

“Everything’s being taken from me now” Comet growled as he looked at the short grasses.

“I know, I hope life will give you a break soon” Blank agreed, Comet must be hurting, his sister his sister’s pups and his own pup were all gone now. “I’ll be back soon” Blank said before she walked off, she had a few questions for her brother.

“You got our pup killed didn’t you?” Blank asked as she approached her brother’s scent.

“Apologies, I didn’t mean to involve you but that Asteroid knew far too much” Chime admitted it without a single true drop of remorse making Blank even angrier.

“You will be found out, and getting killed may be a mercy for what you’ve done” Blank warned. “You should leave while you can” She growled.

“And give up my one chance at being a leader? HA no” Chime chuckled as he thought that was the dumbest idea his sister had come up with. “And besides, yes I did get Asteroid killed but think about it. I could make sure this pack is so much better, after these first few deaths we’ll never have to worry about our own safety again, you know how most nichelings would abandon you for being blind but I’ll make sure you’re safe here” Chime said, in his mind it sounded perfectly rational, I mean a few deaths for he and his sister’s safety seemed like a good deal.

“You say you care for me yet you get my pup killed” Blank scoffed, knowing that her brother didn’t care about other nichelings much when he was younger but she never expected him to turn out like this.

“You can have more” Chime casually replied making Blank snarl.

“But they’ll never be Asteroid, they’ll all be different nichelings unlike her, and what will you do if they’re just as smart as Asteroid was?” Blank growled.

“Well those particular pups will have always known Tangerine to be the rightful leader and have no idea what has happened, so why don’t you just relax and enjoy the safety?” Chime said in a calm tone of voice as he walked off leaving Blank to listen to her brother’s retreating pawsteps.

‘I have to stop him, but how?’ She thought to herself before returning to her mate.

(Would it really be me if I didn't forget a screenshot?-)

--------------------------------------------------

 

Blank had another pup, not to replace Asteroid like her brother implied, because going from having a pup to not having one felt wrong.

“What should we name the pup?” Blank asked her mate.

“Mars” Comet simply said as he looked at the pup, terrified of leaving him by himself.

“Sounds like a good name, I hope he survives” Blank said which made Comet wince.

“Yeah” He just said as he looked at the pup.

They quickly found he almost the complete opposite of his late sister. The only thing they shared was being more quiet pups. He was obedient and didn’t protest at all, and seemed very trusting. He even admired Tangerine much to Blank’s fear.

Mars had survived to teenagehood, much to his parent’s relief, but Ttangerine had also grown into an adult meaning he was now truly the leader.

Instead of being able to focus on that Blank had other things to focus on, like the huge bearyena that had suddenly charged into camp.

It immediately went for Mars but even if she couldn’t see Blank could hear so she pulled Mars away from the sound of the bearyena and shoved him away to make sure he could run.

“I don’t think we can fight this” Tangerine said, he wasn’t that dumb.

So they all ran, hoping they could lose this thing.

The pack had decided to settle somewhere that had a decent amount of cleared grass and didn’t have bearyena scent everywhere.

The pack was shocked as an unknown nicheling ran into the camp with a smaller bearyena hot on his tail.

“Attack!” Tangerine ordered making the pack leap into action and start swarming it. All the nichlings clawed, rammed, or bit it until it fell without laying a single claw on anyone.

“I owe y’all for that one, anything I can do?” The nicheling asked as she looked at the pack of nichelings.

“You could join our pack, the more members the better” Tangerine said as he wanted an even bigger pack if he could.

“That sounds like a great deal to me!” The nicheling chirped, I mean she just gets free protection? Sign her up!

“Well than what’s your name?” Tangerine asked making the new nicheling perk up.

“Oh right, I’m Ruby!” The nicheling said with a smile.

“Nice to meet you” Tangerine said before going off to patrol.

Bumble and Bell ran towards the sound of a nicheling’s voice and was shocked to see a lone nicheling trying to fight a bearyena by themselves.

They decided to help and launched themselves at the bearyena startling both the bearyena and the nicheling. But the nicheling quickly snapped out of their shock and started fighting too. They were able to take it down without any injuries thankfully.

“Who are you two?” The nicheling as she wondered why any nicheling would help a complete stranger.

“I’m Bumble and that’s Bell” Bumble said as he gestured to himself and his brother.

“Mustard” The nicheling said. “Now why did you help a nicheling you don’t even know?” The nicheling asked as she narrowed her eyes at them.

“Because you were fighting a bearyena alone, that’s how you get killed” Bell scoffed as he looked at this new nicheling.

“Not if you’re smart about it” Mustard rolled her eyes, if you attack than run away for a bit before running back you can hurt them pretty bad by yourself, it’s how she survived.

“Um, would you like to travel with us? We’re trying to rebuild our pack because everyone else was killed by a huge red eyed bearyena” Bumble said, trying to break the tension that was growing by the second.

“Hm, why not? More paws to help anyways” Mustard shrugged.

“Well we should clear this area of grass, so the bearyena can’t ambush us” Bumble said which the other two agreed with so they spent the day doing that.

Blank felt empty as she realized that Comet died in his sleep.

It felt like only she and Mars truly mourned him. Chime’s grief was completely fake, Tangerine may have had a drop of remorse but not much it seemed. And Ruby didn’t know him well enough, even if she was respectful about his death.

‘Bumble and Bell would have cared…’ Was the only thing she could think as she listened to the normal pack hustle and bustle.

[Lozloxfeafcakerat]

I really like this I just feel like every play through needs more description no offence

[CosmicChaos21]

5 hours ago, Fox leaf said:

I really like this I just feel like every play through needs more description no offence

I'm happy you enjoy my story! :3

[Lozloxfeafcakerat]

Just now, CosmicChaos21 said:

I'm happy you enjoy my story! :3

I've been planning a story myself but I'm either not on the computer or can't be bothered

[CosmicChaos21]

1 minute ago, Fox leaf said:

I've been planning a story myself but I'm either not on the computer or can't be bothered

I have days like that too, if ya do though I'd love to see it!

[Lozloxfeafcakerat]

1 minute ago, CosmicChaos21 said:

I have days like that too, if ya do though I'd love to see it!

I will try tomorrow and I'll draw my own pictures for it

[Lozloxfeafcakerat]

1 minute ago, Fox leaf said:

I will try tomorrow and I'll draw my own pictures for it

I'll try start now and do sketches 

[Lozloxfeafcakerat]

Actually is my bed time

[CosmicChaos21]

10 minutes ago, Fox leaf said:

I will try tomorrow and I'll draw my own pictures for it

Alright can't wait!

8 minutes ago, Fox leaf said:

I'll try start now and do sketches 

 

4 minutes ago, Fox leaf said:

Actually is my bed time

Oh okay, good night :3

[Lozloxfeafcakerat]

3 minutes ago, CosmicChaos21 said:

Alright can't wait!

 

Oh okay, good night :3

I put something up to remind me of it

[CosmicChaos21]

Not a super long update but hey it's an update)

Ruby smelled something off at the edges of the territory so she went further in the grasses to investigate. At first it seemed like nothing was different and she considered turning back and going home but then the scent got stronger. After following it for a bit she saw an orange nicheling with brown spots.

“Who are you?” Ruby asked as she carefully approached the nicheling, who didn’t seem startled or tense in the slightest.

“Wren” The nicheling said as he continued plucking some berries without an ounce of fear, if this nicheling was going to hurt him they would have attacked already.

“…I’m in a pack you could join” Ruby offered making the nicheling’s ear flick towards her.

“If they’ll have a blind nicheling I’ll join” Wren shrugged, it was a nice offer but most nichelings around here seemed to drop him as bearyena bait because he was blind so he didn’t have the most hope this would go in any other way, but it would offer him more food so it would be good for something anyways.

“We already have a blind nicheling I’m sure the pack wouldn’t mind another” Ruby reassured which made Wren hum curiously. They would be willing to not have 1, but 2 blind nichelings? What an odd pack.

“Sure, then take me to your leader” Wren said as he shoved some extra berries in his mouth in case he was chased off anyways.

“Of course! This way” Ruby said as she used her tail to help guide Wren to the pack, though she wondered about the scars that ran across Wren’s eyes.

/

“You are blind, but the more paws the better. Sure you can join, I don’t mind” Tangerine said though a small part of him was irritated at having someone who couldn’t help hunt but more help with bearyenas was always good.

“Thank you” Wren said though the way Tangerine said that made him a bit on edge.

“Of course” Tangerine gave a smile out of habit before jumping down from the stump and watching the nichelings disperse.

“Are you sure your leader doesn’t mind me being blind?” Wren asked making Ruby open her mouth to automatically protest but he DID sound a little irritated…

“I’m sure he doesn’t! And even if he does right now I’m sure you’ll grow on him” She tried to reassure.

“If you say so” Wren said though he didn’t exactly believe her.

Wren was thinking. It’s only been a few days but Tangerine seemed to be acting colder and slightly cruel since Chime had died, he was snappier, wanted things to be done perfectly, and had been ordering the pack members to hunt or gather berries or patrol much more and was angry if they said they were tired or didn’t want to. On top of that a few days ago Mars had gotten his third gem, which he was ecstatic about.

Wren’s other senses are good but they don’t do much good when he’s as deep in thought as he was at the time as he didn’t notice the bearyena that emerged from the grasses until he heard Ruby yell “GET AWAY FROM HIM!” and slash her claws across the bearyena’s chest.

Snapping out of his thoughts he quickly scrambled away from the sound of claws and snarling before realizing he should do something at least. “BEARYENA!” He yelled seeing as he couldn’t exactly fight without putting himself or others in unneeded danger.

The pack had thankfully poured in quickly and overwhelmed the bearyena with a flurry of claws and bites so not a single nicheling was injured.

“Are you alright? It didn’t hurt you did it?” Ruby asked as she checked Wren for injuries making his scales heat in embarrassment.

“I’m fine!” He snapped before realizing that was pretty rude. “I mean I just- You attacked quick enough for me to come out unscathed” Wren reassured with a sigh.

“Oh good, do you wanna come pluck some berries with me?” Ruby asked as she knew he was good at that.

“Sounds good to me” Wren gave Ruby a smile as they went to find a berry bush.

(I say that water body nichelings have scales on their bodies so yeah-)

“You never look that down, lost your berries or something?” Mustard asked as she saw Bumble staring at his paws like they murdered his family.

“I’m the oldest so I need an heir to be leader after me but I don’t want to just have a mate I don’t love but I don’t want to ruin my mom’s hard work” Bumble admitted making Mustard blink in shock, the brothers had mentioned it briefly before but she never got many details beyond that so she was a bit shocked at the pressure that rested on the cheerier nicheling’s shoulders.

“That is…quite a burden” Mustard admitted. “But maybe the right nicheling will come along someday, you’re not that old, there’s still time. Just maybe be patient” She said making Bumble look over at her confused was she…trying to comfort him??

“I…guess you’re right, thank you Mustard” Bumble said with a small smile making Mustard’s fur heat up in embarrassment.

“Yeah yeah, I’m gonna go hunt” Mustard said as she walked off but Bumble still smiled at her attempt to comfort him.

‘She’s right, I just have to be patient, wait a little longer’ He reassured himself.

The pack was shocked when Tangerine walked into camp with a pup in his jaws. “Me and a nicheling reached an agreement” Was all Tangerine said which made Blank more on edge than she already was.

“He looks a lot like Chime and mom” Mars said curiously as he approached his leader and the pup.

“I was shocked too, that’s why I named him Whistle in honor of my dad” Tangerine agreed, the fact he looked like Chime made him much fonder of the newborn pup, even if he did squeak a lot.

“So he’ll be the leader someday?” Mars asked with a grin at the tiny pup.

“Yes, and he’ll be a great one I’m sure” Tangerine agreed, happy that Mars was still unmovingly loyal to him after he snapped at him one time out of irritation, he enjoyed that at least his cousin appreciated him unlike his aunt.

“With you teaching him he’ll be the best!” Mars agreed, he admired his cousin a lot, he was brave and tough, which Mars knew he was not.

“Thank you Mars” Tangerine said with a smile as he took the newborn pup to a nest so he could sleep well.

Meanwhile Blank was suspicious of what agreement was made, what could he have offered for an heir, did she even want to know? She was also crushed by her son’s blind loyalty to Tangerine, she tried dropping hints of his danger but even when she tried to bluntly warn him Mars protested and even distanced himself from her meaning she was the only one in the pack to be suspicious of Tangerine, it was lonely and painful.

‘Bumble, Bell, if you’re still alive…I’d you’re still out there, please come back. We can’t have another leader like Tangerine’ Blank begged the world. ‘I wish Orange had lived at least a little longer, she was cold but she genuinely cared’ She thought sadly before going to lay down, hoping that this was a long, messed up dream.