There were several days of celebration.

The first night, the night of Cayde's return, was a night of a pack-wide celebration. The next day was a bit uneventful, as most of the pack took the time to rest after such a great time.

Cayde was overwhelmed with joy over it all. From the festivities, to the cheering, even to the little things like getting to sleep in his own den once again. It felt like so long ago that he had slept in his own den, here in his pack. His home.

Finally, he was able to enjoy everything he thought he had lost. The gift of friendship, family, and community. It was all he had asked for, and he had received it, and he couldn't be happier.

The next few days consisted of celebrations as well, though nothing nearly as big as the first night. Of course, the pack was filled with a rejuvenated sense of hope and happiness, but such a level of celebration just couldn't be reached like it did on the first night.

Cayde spent the next few days with his friends, and with his mother. He told them all the story of what happened after his sacrifice, and how he came back. He told them of the great adventure he went on to reach the Kimlascan Pack again. He told them everything. Of course, their reactions were expected: shock, surprise, wonder, excitement. Some of them even cheered when Cayde got to the part where he returned to his true form.

Four days had gone by since he returned, and now, Cayde was settling in for another night to rest. He spent some time these past few nights to reflect on all that had happened.

But like each night, he soon drifted off into a peaceful slumber, a smile on his face as he fell asleep, thinking of all the good things that happened.

But his night was not uneventful.

...

A new dream began to emerge in his mind.

That golden bird from the previous dream he had, returned again. Which meant one thing...

Kimlasca was reaching out to him.

The bird soared high in the sky, overlooking the Kimlascan Pack below, but it wasn't long before the bird turned to look at a massive storm cloud as black as the midnight sky. Unable to turn around in time, the bird soared into the storm cloud, immediately pelted by rain, the blackness illuminated by bright flashes of lightning.

Swooping downwards, the bird just barely avoided a few trees as it turned around to escape the storm cloud. But towards ground level, trees were aflame, their flames too powerful to be snuffed out by the torrential rain. Hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of wolves with a dark, shadowy aura emitting from them, advanced forward, causing the bird to soar back up into the sky.

The bird got lucky, and as it soared up into the sky, reached a clearing in the merciless storm. This must have been the eye of the storm, but it was far from peaceful.

Directly in front of the bird was a storm cloud in the form of a wolf, but somehow, in the spot where the eyes were in the storm cloud, the eyes were red lights.

Merciless clouds, unspeakable tragedy, all signs pointed to one thing:

Chaos.

The bird quickly turned to escape the storm, and soon the vision in the dream faded to white, as a golden silhouette was the only thing that could be seen in the whiteness.

"Cayde..." The familiar echo of Kimlasca's voice was heard.

"Something is coming." He warned, fear in his voice as he spoke to Cayde, afraid for the safety of the Wolf of Harmony.

...

And with that, everything faded to white, and Cayde woke up from his dream, nearly gasping as he woke up.

"You alright, Cayde?" Pahanin's voice could be heard, making Cayde turn to face her.

"Yeah... just a... dream." Cayde told her in response, quickly getting up afterwards.

"You sure you're alright?"

"Yes. But... I have to go see Vande." He nuzzled her reassuringly before quickly rushing out of the den. It was late in the morning.

Cayde quickly made his way towards the den of the Master Alpha. It didn't take long for him to get there, and once he did, he walked in without hesitation.

"Cayde! Everything alright?" Vande asked, currently in the process of decorating his den.

"No, Vande. Something's wrong." Cayde said.

And he proceeded to explain to Vande of the vision he had in his sleep. He told him of the warning, the storm cloud. Chaos.

Vande's eyes were wide by the time Cayde was finished speaking, and Cayde couldn't blame him one bit.

"Cayde... if what you're saying truly is a warning, then I am afraid that something really is coming here, to the Kimlascan Pack." Vande said.

"What do we do, Vande? Do we evacuate from the mountain?"

Vande shook his head, "We can't. If everybody left together at once, if something truly is coming, we'd be attacked easily, with no shelter or place to call home. And if we evacuate one group at a time, they could get picked off easily..." Vande said worriedly.

"Oh no..." Cayde sighed, shaking his head.

"Cayde." Vande put a paw on his shoulder and looked him dead in the eyes.

"The Kimlascan Pack has never been faced with the threat of a war before, especially with the Wolf of Chaos and an army of darkness, but... our pack will pull through."

"How, Vande? Our pack has never trained for war. We're a pack of peace, we shouldn't put them in danger."

"It's alright, Cayde. I have a plan."

"Please tell me."

"The mountain is a great point to have control over. Perhaps we truly can evacuate the wolves here, once we are certain that whatever is coming truly is coming." Vande explained.

"And they might just want to take control of the mountain, giving us enough time to get far away from it." Vande explained.

Cayde nodded, "That could work..."

"But we don't know exactly what it is, and when it'll be here. We shouldn't take action until we're certain that it's coming. It could be a few days, or a few weeks, until that day comes. The pack doesn't deserve to live in fear." Vande told him.

Cayde nodded again, "Alright, Vande. You're right, the pack doesn't deserve to live in fear. When we are certain that whatever is coming truly is approaching, you should tell them."

Vande smiled, "Okay. And Cayde, just know that everything will be okay. I'm here for you, I'm here for the pack. I'm here for all of you. And I know you are too, and so is everybody else here." Vande told him reassuringly.

Cayde smiled, "Thank you."

Vande gave Cayde a fatherlike hug. Something that admittedly, Cayde needed, seeing how his father had perished when he was young.

"Always, Cayde. I am here. All of us are. We'll be okay." Vande assured.

Cayde pulled away eventually and smiled at him happily.

"Now, in the meantime, what do you think looks better over here?" Vande asked, trying to lighten the mood a little as he walked over to the left of his den, "Flowers, or mossy rocks?" He asked.

"Um... flowers? Heh, why are you decorating your den so much?"

"Someone said my den looked bland, we're gonna change that," He chuckled, "I'm decorating my den now!" He said cheerfully.

To ease his mind, Cayde spent the next few hours helping Vande decorate his den. Not exactly the first thing he expected to do after such a discussion, but some time between Cayde and Vande was much needed.

Eventually, as evening arrived, and his den was well decorated, or at least well planned out for future decorating, Cayde made his way out of the den. The decorating had taken the stress off of his mind, and once he exited the den, Pahanin, coincidentally, was waiting for Cayde at just the right time.

"Hey! Didn't know if I should go in or not." Pahanin told him.

"It's alright, we were actually just decorating his den," Cayde assured, "How long were you waiting for me out here?"

"Oh, just a few minutes. You've been gone for a few hours, I got worried." She admitted.

"I'm alright, Pahanin." He looked up at the sky, having missed most of the sunset. However, the faint colors of the sunset still remained. He looked towards Pahanin and smiled cheerfully.

But his cheerful gaze was cut short.

He turned to look directly ahead, overlooking the pack, but also looking out into the distance, above the treeline and into the horizon.

What he saw made his heart nearly stop, and a terrible feeling rushed through his body, the opposite of adrenaline.

Pahanin turned to face the horizon too, looking at the massive storm cloud as black as the midnight sky, that spread across the entire sky. It was unfathomable, a storm cloud of such darkness and size...

"Huh. Bad storm?" She asked.

"No..." Cayde's voice was soft, and cracked, out of terror.

He stared out at the darkness. Whatever was within that storm cloud... was coming.

Right now.

The embodiment of darkness, evil, and pure Chaos was approaching, only minutes away.

His eyes were wide, and he just barely choked out words he didn't ever want to say.

"Something's coming."