He had seen this place before. He knows this place; his home. Everything was so vivid, the warm sunlight that drifted in between the branches and gaps of the trees warmed his cozy hazel brown fur. Orion smiled and closed his eyes, enjoying the familiarity of this feeling. One he knew all too well. The gentle breeze combed through his thick matted fur, bringing along with it the scents of his loved ones.

Orion raised his snout into the air, giving the surroundings a good sniff. A feeling of exhilaration coursing through his veins. He could smell his mate, and his pup. They were close, yet he could not sense their presence. Frowning, he made his way through the densely packed forest, attempting to find the source of the smells. Orion found his way, his paws leading him toward his old pack grounds. But as he neared, he grew suspicious.

Something was wrong.

With every step into his old home, the scent faded. Panic ensued, and Orion fastened his pace. Checking every last inch of the grounds, he found no one. Where has everyone gone? His pack was nowhere to be found, no clue that they had even existed. It's as if they just simply vanished into thin air.

Feeling lost, Orion made his way to the center of the camp. He knew they wouldn't just all up and leave him, he was their alpha.. and his mate..his pup.. where have they gone? Miserable, he let his head sink. He combed through his mind for an answer. What happened?

Suddenly, a high pitched howl broke the eerie silence. Orion jumped up onto his paws. That howl was all too familiar, and it was a call for help. Desperately Orion ran towards this sound, into the thick dense forest once again. But with every step, it became more clustered with flora and trees, shadows became more relevant, and the howling became more urgent.

Orion did not give up, he pushed through as much as he could. He would not give up, for that howl was his mate's. Orion stumbled over vines, his paw catching underneath. Then, the howling stopped. the eerie silence once again formed, broken only by the wind.

The light faded from his view. Darkness slowly consumes every inch of his surroundings. For the first time, fear was instilled in him. It was not the dark that had scared him, but the feeling that had come with it. Evil lurked in the corners of this dark void. Chills were sent down his spine as whispers were heard, the voices were whispering in an ancient language, one that Orion could not understand.

He could feel his body become light, weightless. As if gravity were non-existent, Orion began to float. His rise did not stop, and the higher he rose, the louder the voices were. Eventually they became too loud, causing Orion to flatten his ears, and wince in pain. Then all at once, he dropped, many feet above the ground. With his descent, it became lighter, and Orion could see the ground.

He prepared for the worst.

Hitting the ground, immediately Orion became unconscious.

Orion immediately woke up. Panting, and terrified, he scanned and checked every inch of his body. Realizing he was okay, he laughed with relief, a hint of nervousness in his voice. "It's okay, I'm okay. It was just a dream.." he told himself in an attempt to calm his racing heart and his shuddering breaths. Although he felt exhausted and sore as if his dream had really happened.

He had dreamed of the past. A few months ago, he had been out enjoying a nice stroll in the woods, but when he returned he found he had no pack left to lead, no mate to love, and no pup to raise. This filled his heart with emptiness, a feeling he felt could not be replaced. For weeks he has searched for his pack, but could find no one. Not a single clue of where they had gone. It was as if they had just vanished into thin air- no trace left behind.

Orion Let out a loud weary sigh, all the negative feelings building up inside of his mind. But he shook his head, clearing it of such dirt, and focused on his current situation. After he had checked himself for injuries, he scanned his surroundings. Things were much more unfamiliar here to him now. He had been traveling throughout the night, and decided that here was a good and safe place to rest. The sunlight gave a different perspective to everything than the moonlight had.

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Orion found himself in moderately dense woods, with a variety of beautiful colors and plants. If he had not felt so empty inside, he would have enjoyed this sort of serenity. The vibrant colors were almost aching to his eyes. The damp scent of earth and forest filled his nostrils, along with it the scent of young and healthy prey. His stomach growled slowly in response to the scent, reminding him that hunger was a thing, and no being could function on an empty stomach. It was time to look for some food.

Not only did Orion wish to find food, but he also found himself looking for other canines. Mysteriously enough, Since his traveling began, he found no trace of others. He wanted answers, but first he had to find someone to give them to him. And even if he did, he had no idea how he would explain his situation without looking crazy... but he was still going to try.

Shaking himself free of such bothersome thoughts, he raised his snout into the air, taking a big whiff. Again the earthy and fresh scent of damp forest filled his nose. But this time, isolating the scent of prey out, Orion could just make out the faded scent of a deer trail. Not just one, but a whole herd. Slight hope sparked in his mind, igniting a small smile. "How lucky am i?" he wondered out loud. Thinking to himself, he pondered the possibility of running into canines following this trail.

Without hesitation, Orion lowered his nose to the ground and began tracking the faint scent on the muddy earth. It had just recently drizzled, so the scents were almost washed away, but Orion did not let such facts halter his mission. Following the scent through unfamiliar territory was not as easy as Orion had thought it to be. Constantly he had to remind himself to pay attention to his area, as he had kept tripping over the dense flora. Eventually though, he noticed the casual decrease of woods, and the sudden increase of sunshine and warmth.

Orion noted these changes, knowing that somewhere ahead lay some sort of large clearing. And with it, the now almost fresh scent of the deer herd. He sighed as he progressed, eventually coming upon a large opening in the forest. This opening led to a beautiful clearing , and a large one too. Past a dense patch of bushes, lay a large lake surrounded by a small herd of deer. The grass was ripe for their grazing, along with the abundant wildflowers that lay about.He was anxious to hunt, but he knew that attacking a herd alone was nigh impossible. Only a pack who could work together could bring down a buck.

Orion crouched low to the ground, using the tall grass to shield his body from the open view to the deer. He crawled slowly toward the herd, only stopping at the last bush patch to observe. He cocked his head, pondering how he could manage this. His eyes scoured over each individual buck, examining for such injuries, or physical illness that could increase his advantage.

One buck, he noticed, seemed to be limping. On their right hind leg, an open wound resided. It was clear that this buck's leg was infected. Orion felt his gut clench in sympathy for it. A wounded leg would slow one down for sure, and in the wild life, that means death. Whether by Predator or the infection itself, the buck was going to pass. Orion bowed his head, a quick prayer to the gods. Orion would end this one's misery and pain.

Orion tensed himself, letting his muscles ready for the chase. It had been a while, so this would be some good exercise for him to stretch for. Closing his eyes, Orion let himself relax as he always did before a hunt. Opening his eyes slowly, he adjusted himself and prepared to launch. What he hadn't noticed though, was the shadow lurking in the corner of his eye. And before he could launch himself, the shadow had instead.

Orion gasped and fumbled over his feet in an attempt to stop his launch, his eyes never leaving the sudden shadow running toward the herd. The Herd scattered in panic, buck leaping left and right to avoid the sharp claws of the attacker. It was clear that whoever this was, had no plan of attack, it was just a free for all blood fest. Orion, still shocked, began coming back into reality. Feeling furious at this stranger he crouched lower to the ground. His sharp teeth bared.

'The herd has scattered. That will make it impossible to single out the injured one- better yet, has that fool got any idea how to hunt correctly?'

Orion bit back his growls, and watched the figure sink into the ground in defeat. Now all anger vanquished and replaced with curiosity. Sniffing the air, Orion identified the figure as a female wolf. The air around her seems tense, and full of negativity. Orion studied her face. Hard to read- not that it was emotionless, only that there were too many emotions. Would showing himself at this moment...be okay? He questioned himself, seeing as how she was the first he'd seen in months, you would think he would be out there, tail wagging and face kisses. But no, something about this female was off.

Orion decided, might as well do the deed and get it over. Hesitantly, he crawled from his hidden spot into the open, slowly walking toward the female. She hadn't seemed to notice him, even as he stopped 10 feet away from her. She seemed to be fighting with herself on something, distracted. He wondered how to get her attention without scaring her, or starting a fight. But even though it was more than possible he would win. After all, she seemed to be in ill shape.

Finally, he let out a sigh, and spoke.

"You seem awfully distracted," he announced.