Chapter One

"Come on! I've been waiting since dawn!" Tigerlily shouted, jumping up and down. "Wait Tigerlily, can't you see your sister is washing?" Palebird said scrubbing Nightpool with drenched moss. "There." Nightpool shook her body violently making sure she was dry. Then she followed Tigerlily out to camp. Nightpool breathed in the cool fresh air, looking around, she saw a big oak tree with many, many bramble and fern woven hammocks. "Isn't this exciting?! Our first day out of the Pup Zone! I can't wait for all the wildclaws and Beta, Alpha, Delta..." Tigerlily squeaked, shaking her. Nightpool nodded, excitement thumping in her heart. Her mother had told her a bit about how the pack is organized. She had seen the Alpha, her name was Puma. A strong brown wolf. Deciding to look around she looked up. She had always wanted to fly, so she would play, super flying wolf in the pup zone. When she looked up, she saw brambles, covering the sky, acting as a roof. It's long thin tendrils were tied around the branches from the smooth, carved trees. Unusually, Nightpool saw orange and red sparkling things woven around the brambles. It was casting an eerie light, a light so dim that Nightpool could barely see it. It made the grass, flat and even as if wolves have been stepping on it for centuries look as if it was lit on fire. Giving the floor an aurora texture and blocking out the rain from the outside. "Ooo, you see that Nightpool? It's so glittery! What is it?" Tigerlily yelped. "Those are called jewels my friend." A deep steady voice rang beside Nightpool. A black blue eyed male wolf met her gaze as Nightpool turned around. Black! As far as Nightpool could see, she and the male wolf were the only ones who had black fur. "Whoh, you have black fur too?" Nightpool said looking at the wolf up and down. "Yesss… I am in fact we might be the only wolves in ALL the packs that have black fur." the male said. Nightpool saw her sister's eyes stretch wide. "Really! Wow! Black fur must be rare!" The wolf nodded. "Indeed it is, wolves haven't seen much black fur in decades." Then he lowered himself and dipped his head. "My apologies, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Timber."

Timber. Nightpool echoed it in her head. She stepped forward and pointed her nose at the jewels. "What are those… jewels called?" Nightpool asked. Timber went up and stepped into a red shimmer, his black fur slightly scarlet. " These red ones are called rubies. We mine them in the cave of jewels." Then Timber stepped into the orange light. "These are called amber. They are hardened tree sap. We use these colors for our roof 'cause it is the colors of fire." Timber said. "Timber, can you show me around camp?" Nightpool asked her tail wagging. "Sure." Timber turned to Tigerlily who looked as if she was about to collapse. "Would you like to come?" He asked. Tigerlily bolted up and shook her head. "I- I think I'm going to fall asleep any moment now, so.." She broke off and padded away in the direction of the Pup Zone and disappeared through the lichen. "She must be tired. She had woken up TOO early." Timber said letting out a tsk, tsk, tsk sound. " Would you still like to come?" Timber said turning back towards Nightpool. "Uh...…..YA!" Nightpool barked.

"That is the Wildclaw's Tree. You get up there by a special lift." Timber said pointing a claw to the tree with hammocks. It looked like the second biggest tree in the camp, it's bark peeling off and it's branches reaching out to the sun. On almost every branch there was a tendril of thick green vine tied around the branch and splitting into a hammock. Which was bramble woven and there was some moss and wool on the brambles so wolves don't get scratched. Most of the hammocks were covered by giant leaves as big as her face, some green and some yellow. "Don't they fall?" Nightpool asked, staring at the branches. Because of the bark peeling off, it must be hard to hold on. "Nope, something that makes our dens special is that they are made out of magic. There is a transparent diamond wall that breaks anyone's fall. But if you want to, you can go through the wall." Timber answered. Nightpool was confused. "Why would anyone want to fall?" Timber looked at her in amusement. " To leap down on any intruders of course. We have eyes in the sky." He said puffing up his chest. "Pupils have the same kind of format, but a bit lower. We can't risk any injuries!" He barked in humor. Nightpool pricked her ears. " Why can't the Pup Zone be in a tree?" She said imagining all the fun it would be if she slept in a tree. Timber's eyes widened in horror when Nightpool said that. "Of course not! Pups will be falling from the sky every five seconds!" He said. Nightpool shivered at the thought of falling all the way down to the grass. "But what about the diamond barrier?" she said, realizing. Timber narrowed his eyes thinking. " Good point, but the Pup Zone is better hidden."

The sun was shining, shooting rays of light that scorched the trees and slithered through the brambles and gems. The outer canopy of leaves swayed in the soft breeze as Nightpool and Timber reached the prey center. "That is the prey center." Timber said pointing at the familiar looking den. The den looked so much like the Pup Zone that Nightpool actually thought she was going to bed. "No! Not yet! I don't want to go to sleep!" She had whined. She had been SO embarrassed when she later found out it wasn't. "We store prey here and up on the second floor… is where we keep our crafts such as bowls to get water, or barks to write letters, or… turtle shells for baskets…. anyways many more." he said. Nightpool nodded trying to get everything in.

"That is the Healer's Tree." Timber said pointing at a big tree with many branches that had clear diamond platforms sticking on to it. " The platforms are where the patients go in and the smaller platforms are where the herbs are in." As they walked toward the Alpha's Tree, Timber stopped at a pool in the middle of the camp that was full of water. " This is the water pool. One of the pupil's jobs is to fill it up." They started walking towards the Alpha's tree. It's strong bark but brittle branches made it look ancient. "The Alpha sleeps at the very top." Timber said. Nightpool tilted her head back to see the top until it hurt. "So tall…" Nightpool murmured. Compared to the trees and the mountains, she felt tiny. "Finally the Firestone," Timber said proudly looking at a gigantic ball of flame. Nightpool stared at the magnificent gleaming stone in front of her. It was impossible to take her eyes off of it. " It is where our Alpha calls pack howls, pack meetings is the correct meaning. The inside is hollow so Puma can have private meetings with the senior wolves." He said. Nightpool looked at Timber. " You're a senior wolf right?" She asked. Timber nodded. " I am also the Delta." he said proudly. Nightpool tilted her head. "Delta?" She echoed. Timber nodded. " A Delta is the highest of the wildclaws, third in command. The Delta takes care of the training if the Beta or the Alpha is busy. There's more. A Zeta is the war lord. The Zeta takes orders from the Alpha and leads war patrols and organizes them. If the Zeta wants to, the Zeta can announce and choose an Eta, next in line to being a Zeta. Now there is the omega, the lowest ranked wolf, all normal packs have an omega, but we don't, wolves that get exiled automatically become an omega." He finished. Nightpool nodded she didn't know the packs were so organized. "Anyways we are going off topic, the Firestone creates light for the camp. All the dens have miniature Firestones." Nightpool felt her jaw drop. "Jems glow!" Timber nodded. " It's dark magic, one of the ancient arts." He

said looking at his fur in disappointment. "What's that?" Nightpool said breaking off in a yawn. She felt her legs crumpling beneath her as her mouth opened wide in a yawn. Timber chuckled. "Next time, 'cause right now, you're a walking dead." Nightpool agreed. With all her energy sapped out, she couldn't argue.

When Nightpool went in the den and cuddled by the two, one big, one small puffballs snoring peacefully. Their flanks rise and fall in a matching rhythm. She closed her eyes and let her body wash itself to darkness.