Many months later, Faye was sitting at the mouth of her den, mourning over the body of a pup. Lilac was the smallest of the litter, and sheer hunger had brought her over the edge. Faye hadn't enough to feed them all, and with the amount of food they were getting, she was honestly surprised more pups hadn't died. She finally stood, and left the small body in the middle of camp, positioned so she almost seemed to be sleeping. The pack would bury her later. Either bury her, or throw her onto the carrion-heap with her father. Faye looked into the den bitterly. Lukka and Juniper were tussling in the dust. "MWAHAHA! I am the EVIL god, NOLKA!" Juniper cackled playfully. "Prepare to die Soilse!" Soilse was the Wolf God of the stars, one of Nolkas enemies. Lukka was always Soilse In these games. Kaito was standing on a mount of dirt. "Never fear!" He yapped. "It is I, Orion, come to avenge the death of my children, and save my companion Soilse!" Kaito dove on top of Juniper, and they scuffled for a bit, before Juniper gasped dramatically "I'm deeeaaddd" she stuck her tongue out. Lukka suddenly frowned. "Mama? Why isn't Lilac playing with us?"

Faye blinked away tears "The pack are taking her to the Land Of Stars." She said softly. "She'll get to meet all the gods.."
Kaito sighed. "Lucky, I wanna meet the Gods."
"One day Kaito. One day." Faye licked him gently. "Tell us about Orion again!" Kaito suddenly yapped.

"You've heard that story many times."

"Yea, but we wanna hear it again."

"Sure.. so you all know about the evil God, Nolka?" She asked. The pups all nodded. "Well one day, Nolka saw a beautiful young wolf, named Alaska. She was already mates with a wolf, named Orion, and they had seven children, Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka, Saiph, Bellatrix, Betelgeuse and Rigel. However, Nolka wanted Alaska for himself, so he stole her away. The family grieved, and tried to retrieve Alaska, but to no avail. Orion was missing a paw, and was unfit to fight. One evening, Orion's eldest three, Two males named Alnilam, and Alnitak, and a daughter named Mintaka, asked for their father's blessing to storm Nolkas castle, and get their mother back. He reluctantly agreed, giving them a gift. He gave Mintaka his horn, so she could call for help and he would come to her. They set off for Nolkas castle, but it was not to be. They were killed at the gates of the castle. Nolka concocted a horrible plan, to kill the rest of Orion's children, so that Alaska would stop trying to escape the castle to find them."

"He blew the horn, and when Orion set off to save his children,had wolves kill the ones left behind in the cave. Orion was met with both the sight of the eldest three dead, and the other four back home. Filled with rage and sadness, he ran to the castle again. This time he managed to make it to Nolkas room, but was killed immediately. However, Alumin, the Gatekeeper of the Land Of Stars, took pity on Orion. He allowed all seven of his children to come back to the world as Stars, and Orion would become the constellations name. His eldest three form Orion's Belt. And they say even now, Orion and his children roam the skies, looking for Nolka and their mother."

Kaito was crying silently. "Th..that's really sad.. poor Orion.." He trembled. "Be quiet Kaito. You've heard this story loads of times." Juniper sighed.

"I..it's still r..really s..sad.." Kaito sobbed. Faye hugged him. "It's ok. Orion and his children came back together in the end, Remember?"

"B..but what about their mama?" Kaito whimpered.
Faye didn't answer. She didn't have to, as a Smol grey pup skittered up to the cave. "Hello! Mom said I was allowed to ask Kaito to play with me." He barked.
"Of course Feather. Kaito, go on." Faye smiled. Kaito yapped. "Yay!! Let's play something fun! But nothing too scary.. k?" Kaito looked serious. "I didn't like playing hide and scare."

"Oh alright then." Feather sighed, disappointed. "Let's go !" He ran back to his mother with Kaito. Sasha greeted Kaito politely, and gave Faye a small smile. Faye nodded back, before turning and watching Lukka and Juniper playing.

Feather and Kaito were playing a game of tag. Kaito was currently winning, his long legs giving him a huge advantage. He was running, running until.. "Oof! H..hey! That's not fair..." Kaito looked up at the pack Alpha, who had tripped him up. Feather tagged him, "gotcha!"

The alpha smiled.. "Feather is winning the game, because he is a full wolf, pup. He can't help being better."
"But.. you tripped me!" Kaito looked up with round eyes.
The alpha scowled. "Don't lie, pup. I know that you can't help it, since you're a wolfdog , but wolves don't lie. Now stop being a sore loser and play your game."

Kaito stood uncertainly. Maybe he HAD imagined it. After all, Alpha wouldn't lie like that. He began to chase Feather again, but all that original spark had died down. He felt..kinda bad now actually. It was easy to forget he wasn't as good as Feather..

Later, Faye watched the pups sleep sorrowfully. Kaito looked the scrawniest out of them all. It didn't help that he was naturally very slim anyways. She judged him awake. "Time for training Kaito." Kaito yawned. "Mkay mama." Faye used an old blanket to cover Kaitos eyes, before pushing a few items in front of him.
"Smell these things" she gave him a moment. "Right. What are they?"

Kaito didn't even hesitate. "Leaf. It has a kinda.. nutty smell as well, so I'm guessing it's a hazel leaf. The next one... it's a pigeon feather. And that's ..." he frowned really hard. "Tuft Of rabbit fur absolutely smeared in mud."
Faye beamed . Kaito was by far the best at identifying scents out of all the dogs and wolves she had ever met. She was nurturing that part of him, in order to help it flourish. Gods know nothing else will, when they're treated like dirt. Faye was happy. Everything was perfect.

But later that night, Juniper passed away. She was found in the middle of camp, half of her in a rabbit hole, stone cold. Tango had determined that the pup had grown hungry in the middle of the night, and tried to get some food, but had gotten herself stuck, and had frozen to death. Faye had managed to hide Lilacs body from Lukka and Kaito, but this time there was no way she could have hid it. They stared at their sisters body with horror. Kaito was the most hit by it.  Faye had the sinking feeling that it was all downhill from here.

She was very, very right.