The four pups went back to the Main Base, which was now all white due to the snow. Diggs and Maud walked in front, Arall next, and a few metres away was One-eye, who had learned to keep quiet. Not that it was cutting him any slack, but it felt better. He'd always been a bit of a shy wolf, and the traumatic experiences in the Clan had only made that worse now.

He pressed on slowly, head low, shoulders high, as he listened to his peers talk.

"I can't wait to train with Naar. Hopefully he'll teach me some rough moves I can use. This nimble and light stuff is nothing for a heavy guy like me!" Diggs pointed out, a bit annoyed.

Maud blew another raspberry, like she did so often. "Hah, indeed. I had you down within a second!" She held her head high with pride.

Arall didn't seem so happy. She spoke, softly, but loud enough for them all to hear. "Guys...should we really be happy about this? I mean...it's great that we're making progress and all...but do you even realize in what? With each move we master, we're closer to being assassins! That's nothing to be proud of! Just the mere thought constantly keeps me awake at night!"

The pups stopped in their tracks, and One-eye lifted his head. He'd been thinking about the exact same thing lately.

It was silent for a moment. Then, with a deep breath, One-eye broke the quiet. "I...uh, kinda agree with Arall. It is horrible! I don't want to kill anyone!"

Maud approached him, teeth bared. "Hey, I have an idea. If you don't want to, then just drop out of the training program. We'll be allowed to kill you then. It would be an honor to rid the world of a Frick like you!"

One-eye whimpered and took a few steps backwards. Why did you talk, stupid idiot that you are?! Keep those jaws shut!

Maud continued. "And, Arall, I'm sure you'll be a great killer. Remember that you and your family will get killed if you don't do it. That...that must be our motivation, I guess."

It is the only thing that keeps me going, I guess. I am doing this for Mom. And Laika. And Dad. But Maud is right...I might as well die...

One-eye sighed and turned his crooked back on them. It's no use. I have to be alone for a moment...

Maud barked loudly. "Hey, we weren't done yet!"

One-eye heard Arall respond faintly. "Maud, Diggs, knock it off. There's no reason for this, even with him being a Frick. Let's just get some prey."

"It's not just about him being an abomination according to the Legend, it's about him being one in general, Alaktalan or not!"

Blinking away the tears, the grey pup vanished in the woods, grieving.

He sighed and shook his wet fur. The voices of the pups bickering had vanished in the dense forest. The snow helped to mute the sounds more, as well. There were no birds whistling and he only heard his own pawsteps as he planted his feet in the snow.

The pup blinked away his tears and sat down. He looked at the dark, blue-grey sky.

He sighed. "M...Mom...are you still thinking about me? Is Laika alright?

"Please...Shinwa...please, take care of Mom and Laika. And Dad.

"And...maybe, just maybe...of me.

"But they come first.... It's worthless here. I feel like...I'm turning against You somehow...and I don't want to! I don't want to harm You, or my family, or anyone...I..."

He sobbed. "I beg you, just show me the way through these dark times.... Thank You."

He dropped himself in the deep snow and started to wail out loud.

He lay there for quite a long time, until the snow stopped and the sky turned deep blue, until his eyes hurt from the tears and his throat hurt from the wails. He suddenly felt something poke his flank.

The gray pup got up and squealed.

"Shush, it's just me!"

One-eye shook his head in confusion. In front of him stood Silkey, looking rather worried, her hair spiky and wild, as opposed to how he'd seen her before.

He sighed. No Arrow or Maud or someone like that. Just Silkey, alone.

The cub had grown quite a bit the past few weeks. The final signs of her early cubhood had vanished: Her eyes were amber and showed no trace of blue anymore, and the spots of her darker cub coat were almost gone, as well. 

"S...Silkey?" he asked. Why was she of all animals here? But, then again, she did always show up at the most random moments; that was sort of her thing. So maybe he should have seen it coming.

"Come here!" she whispered hastily.

One-eye got up and walked over to her. "What's happening?" he asked, a bit stressed, trying to ignore the tears.

She left without a word, so he went after her.

"Where are we going?"

She stopped near the Main Base, just in the thick shrubs so no one could see them. Silkey twitched one of her ears. "Remember a few days ago, right after I hit Diggs again?" she asked, whispering.

One-eye sighed, annoyed. "Yeah? What about that? I already thanked you a thousand times for it."

"Do you still feel sad?"

What does she want from me? "About what?"

"You know...being left out?"

One-eye sighed. He felt really uncomfortable. "Of course I feel sad about that! You don't have to rub it in my fa--Woooaaah!"

Silkey had grabbed his front paw in her mouth and started to drag him into the forest, eastward.

"Let me go! Let me go! What are you doing?" he yelped.

She released him, but kept running, further and further away from the clearing. I don't think I've ever been this far away from it, One-eye realized.

After roughly ten minutes of running, One-eye was exhausted. It'd been a tough day with a lot of early-waking, fighting, and getting bullied. And then there was also the fact that he'd hardly ever ran this far. The Main Base wasn't wide enough for running more than a minute or so without having to make turns or running out of the way of some kind of animal.

"Where...are...we...going?" he panted as he dropped to the ground, tongue lolling out of his mouth.

Silkey stopped and rolled her eyes. "Stay quiet! We don't want to get caught by a patrol! Follow me; I want to show you something!"

One-eye sat up, hunched and still panting. "Please...Silkey, I'm so tired...just let me get some sleep..." But, when he looked up, she was gone, and the ferns she'd walked past were still moving.

Ugh... One-eye got up and bolted after her.

He didn't run anymore, and just trotted after the trail her paws had left in the snow. It was easy to recognize: Silkey was one of the only cougar cubs that lived near the Main Base, and the print of her left hind leg paw pad had a small scar on it. He followed her trail until he saw her, though it was harder with the darkness. She was standing near a large tree, tail twitching eagerly.

"Alright. We're here," she said.

One-eye yawned. "What am I supposed to see? A stupid tree? These are everywhere!"

Silkey shook her head and looked a tad-bit offended. "It's not stupid! I want to show you something else. Follow me!"

"NOT AGAIN!"

She unsheathed her claws and jumped up on the trunk, grabbing hold on the bark. She avoided many of the small side-branches that were in her way and slowly climbed up, vanishing more and more in the mess of these twigs.

Then, he suddenly saw her again, poking her head out from the middle of the branches. "Well, are you coming?"

One-eye lifted his eyebrow. "Are you crazy? Wolves don't climb trees!"

She rolled her eyes. "It isn't a steep one, and it has many small branches on the trunk. Put your paws on those." She pointed at the smaller branches poking out at the sides.

One-eye sat down. "You're insane!"

Silkey vanished into the top of the tree again. "No, I'm waiting," she called.

He sighed and approached the tree, putting his paws on the trunk. What am I doing? This is stupid. Wolves don't even have retractable claws! And I only have four useful claws on my front paws. How am I supposed to climb up here?

He tried to grab one of the side branches with his stronger, deformed front paw, but he grabbed it too close near the end, and it snapped and he fell down.

"OOF!"

"Try again." When he opened his eye, he saw Silkey looking at him from halfway up the tree. "Put your paws as close to the trunk as possible; the branches are the strongest there. And I suggest you use these two as first supports, not that one." She pointed at two twigs.

One-eye sighed and tried again. This is useless. But once Silkey has something in mind, there's no going back, that's for certain.

He fell again. And tried again. And fell. And retried. And failed, one time after the other. At one point he'd managed to reach the halfway point up the tree, but then his deformed paw had slipped away.