Laika and her older brother Daniel were out and about in their territory, by themselves for the first time. They had gone under the guidance of their parents before, of course, but to Laika this was a new and exciting thing to explore! There were so many scents and sounds out here that they didn't have on their little rendezvous site.

Daniel proudly presented the territory that lay ahead of them. "And this is the western edge of our territory," he said, while Laika looked around, taking in the sights as much as possible.

She then looked up at her brother. "Can we cross the border?" she couldn't help but ask, excited at the prospect of going even further. Curiosity caused her to want to know more.

"No!" Daniel instantly bayed. "Uh, I mean, not when Mother and Father aren't here. There are other wolves over there!"

"Oh, okay," Laika said absentmindedly. She was already forgetting about her question as she saw a quick burst of movement in the undergrowth ahead of them. "Oh, hey! Look! Look, a mouse!" She recognized the small creature, having seen it before when their father, Blaze, had brought in a carcass of one for her to play with. Without waiting for her brother's response she dashed ahead, trying to catch the thing.

"Wait, Laika, wait!" She ignored her brother's shouts; all she could think of was the mouse. The musky scent of the animal was strong and her mouth was starting to water at the prospect of killing it. The idea of bringing home her first kill was exciting, and would surely earn praise from both her parents; though she was too young to eat meat herself.

"Come here! I'm gonna getcha! I'm gonna getcha!" she said, giggling all the while. The mouse was still ahead of her, running with an unexpectedly fast speed. Laika's stubby legs were working extra hard to keep up with it.

"Hey, stop! I can't keep up!" she started to pant. At her young age, it was unusual for pups to run such a long distance. Still, she didn't give up until the mouse finally vanished into a burrow below the root of a tree. "Ah, shoot!" She scrunched her nose in dismay. All that hard work for nothing.

She walked up to the burrow and prodded inside with her nose. "Hello, mister mouse? Please come out so I can kill and eat you! Or just kill. Hello?" She wagged her tail, but her muzzle was far too broad to enter the hollow. She only ended up getting sand in her nose.

"Achoo!" She sat up and rubbed the dirt off her muzzle. "No fair. You're too small." She looked around, and only then did she realize that she had no idea where she was. This part of the woods did not smell like the territory she was used to, and the trees were unfamiliar, too.

"Hello? Daniel?" Laika tried not to feel nervous. Surely her brother would come to rescue her any moment now. I can't get further lost if I stay where I am, she thought. "Daniel? Hello? Anyone?" She waited and waited, but he did not show. Finally and tentatively, she decided to make her way back in the direction from which she thought she'd come. "Mommy?" She tucked her tail. "Daddy? Daniel? I think I'm lost."

"Lost, hm?" Like a shadow, a wolf emerged from behind a tree in front of her.

Laika froze. "Who are you? If you hurt me, my Mommy and Daddy will be really mean to you!"

The wolf narrowed his eyes, but was quiet for a moment, only staring at her. Laika forced herself to keep locking her gaze with his, thinking that he would strike if she were to look away.

"You're the youngest Wolverson pup," the stranger then concluded.

"Yes, and I'm trying to find my way back to my territory."

The wolf let out a hoarse laugh. "Blaze and Reika oughta keep a better eye on their pups. Now I have one wandering into my woods!" He shook his brown fur. "Come on, I'll bring you back."

Laika's ears perked in surprise. "You won't eat me?"

"Wolf pups aren't exactly of my taste," the large male replied. "Come along. I don't have much patience for young wolves."

Not wanting to get on the stranger's bad side, Laika followed him. As they moved, the trees and scents slowly but surely grew more familiar. The wolf seemed to be keeping his word on bringing her home.

"So, what's your name?" she asked him after a while, not sure who exactly she was dealing with. "My name is Laika."

"I don't care who you are, so long as you stay off my land in the future," the male grunted. A moment of silence. "But I'm called Ranger."

"Ranger?" Laika was surprised. This was the wolf her parents had warned her many times about, a supposedly vicious lone Lone One who defended his territory at any cost.

"It sounds like you've heard of me." Ranger chuckled. "Yeah, Reika and Blaze and I never really saw eye to eye, even though we're neighbors. Have had our fair share of border scuffles before. You never wondered how your old man got his scars and lost his tail?"

"Not really," Laika confessed.

"Well, now you know," Ranger went on. "But I would never take my dislike of them out on their pups. Even if you're a Wolverson."

"Thank you?" Laika didn't really know what else to say.

"Here's the border between our territories. Now go back to yours and please never set foot over these markings again, okay?" Ranger exhaled loudly through his nostrils.

Laika wagged her tail, happy to be home again. "I will! Thank you, Ranger! Goodbye!"

Ranger left without saying goodbye or looking back.

"Daniel! Daniel, I'm back! Daniel!" Laika was certain she was back at the right spot where she'd left her brother behind, but there was no sign of him. Had he perhaps gone back to the rendezvous site already? She sniffed the air, picking up unfamiliar scents. Someone has been in our territory. Multiple someones. But who? They don't even smell like wolves.

With a yip of alarm, Laika ran back to her parents, who were still waiting at the rendezvous. She hoped to find Daniel there, but to her surprise he was nowhere to be found. She was panting with exhaustion and anxiety now.

"Laika! Where have you been? What's going on? And where is your brother?" Her mother, Reika, instantly bent forward and licked her daughter's cheek.

"Daniel isn't here?" Laika inquired.

"You can see that, can't you?" Blaze remarked.

"Tell me everything. What happened?" Reika's voice was hushed but severe.

"I don't know. I got lost and when I got back Daniel was gone. And there's weird scents in the air." Laika decided to leave the fact that she'd left their territory and met Ranger out of the story, figuring it could get her in trouble.

"Take me there. We must go, now. Blaze!" Reika called her mate to her. He looked reluctant, but got to his paws and followed behind Reika and Laika.

"This is where I last saw him," Laika finally pointed out, feeling even more tired than before.

"There are queer scents in the air," Blaze remarked. "They're no wolves."

Reika started to call out frantically. "Daniel? Daniel! Daniel, where are you?"

No response came, and Laika couldn't help but worry that something had happened to her older brother. The panicked tone of her mother's voice didn't exactly help.

"Wait, I've found something," Blaze said after a moment.

Laika and Reika approached, and it took Laika a moment to realize what she was looking at. Lying in a small pool of blood lay the half-squished remains of a single, amber eyeball, torn from its socket. Daniel's amber eye. Laika felt herself gag.

"NO!" Tears formed in Reika's eyes. "Something hurt him! Something took him!"

"Seems like these strangers are the cause," Blaze said, his voice flat.

Laika was surprised at how cold her father was sounding, having just lost his son, while Reika broke down sobbing beside the eye of Daniel.

They sat like that for a while, though Blaze tried to keep Laika at a distance from her mother. Laika herself felt numb. She couldn't help but feel like this was all her fault. If she'd stuck around, could she have helped her brother?

Finally, Blaze approached his mate, who was still sobbing uncontrollably. "Reika, calm down!" he said. "Crying won't--"

Reika suddenly snarled and knocked him over, after which she ran away.

"Daddy!" Laika bayed helplessly. She watched as her mother vanished from sight. "Mommy!"

Blaze got up, uninjured. "Your mother is upset," he said softly. "She doesn't know what she's doing."

"I'm sorry..." Laika said, tears streaming down her face.

"Sorry? For what?" Blaze cocked his head.

"This is all my fault!" Laika wept. "If I hadn't gotten lost, Daniel would perhaps still be here! And Mommy wouldn't be sad!"

Blaze softly nuzzled her cheek. "None of this is your fault, Laika. You're a tiny puppy, you couldn't have done anything." He gave her a brief lick. "Come, let's get you back to the rendezvous. After that I'll go look for your mother. You'll see, she'll come to terms with things eventually."