The stars swirled above his head like a kaleidoscope, pushing colors and lights around in a fluent circular motion. Stars popped into visibility from the horizon, then slipped behind the other horizon fleetly.  A light of dawn glared across the base of the sky, but the sun never rose. The land was dripped in the first vibrant lights of morning, shaking off the cold night and preparing for the sun to fully awaken. The ground beneath his dark paws was bare and dusty, cold and frozen from the hours of night before. Not a tree, hill, or mountain could be seen in every direction. All the moisture had been sucked from the Earth, leaving triangles of curled dirt. Leopard was the only living thing to be seen for miles.

He looked behind him. His shadow was tall; stretching out for as far as the eye could see. When he lifted a paw to watch his shadow move, he noticed it was long and slender, not pudgy and slow, like his puppy paws normally were. The fur on his toes was jet black, like the space rested between stars. Bright yellow light reflected off his ankles like a river in the sunlight.

Is this a dream? Leopard wondered. It was too real to be a dream. When he normally dreamed, he never recalled it until he woke up. And they played through his head like a memory would. He could only recall faceless shapes and colors acting out scenes in his mind.

But this wasn't like a dream. He could feel the cold bite of frost in the ground, and the nip of fall in the air. He could smell cold dirt and mildew, though he didn't know where mildew would be able to grow in such a dry place. There wasn't a breeze on the air, and it made him agitated.

Leopard stared out in the desert with perplexity. It all looked exactly the same, except one half had a rising sun, and the other was dark and cold.

Leopard turned around, towards the dark half of the sky. Nothing but his shadow and stars.

He turned around again, and jumped when he saw another wolf just a few feet away.

Ahh! Leopard barked, but no words came from his jaws.

The wolf smiled. It was a much older, taller version of him, but the color of his eyes were swapped. The wolf had bright orange fur with dark brown, almost black, markings the same as Leopard's. He looked wise and mature, but he held a witty and stubborn stance. Thankfully, he had pupils in both his eyes.

"Oh, great stars, you scared me out of my pelt!" Leopard said. This time he was able to move his lips to speak. His voice was much older than his puppy voice. "I thought I was alone!"

"Leopard, you will never be alone. There will always be something or someone around every corner, watching every move. Especially the movements you believe were going unseen." The wolf said calmly, smiling as if it was a joke that Leopard didn't understand. "There will always be someone, good or bad. That's why you must never do something you might regret. Especially when you think you're alone."

"Okay. But who are you? Where am I? Am I dreaming?" Leopard asked.

"It doesn't matter who I am. And it doesn't matter where you are. But yes, you are dreaming, in a sense."

"In a sense?" Leopard wondered aloud.

"You aren't dreaming." The wolf said. It was so strange to Leopard that he could see his lips moving, unlike before when voices only rung around, not coming from a particular source. "Death is the last dream anyone can ever have. You can't dream anymore; you've already had the last one. But you must dream. It keeps you sane; keeps you alert. Helps you decide your life. So when you sleep, you don't dream the way a normal being should; you dream far past yourself. Far past the silver pelt and all the planets from above. You can't really dream, but your dream world never ends."

Leopard was still confused, but like most adults, he assumed this one wasn't any different. They usually didn't expound on answers enough to be understood. But from what Leopard got, he couldn't dream like other creatures.

"Leopard, do you remember being in the Starry Pelt? It is the ultimate dream zone. Once you have visited it fully, with every trace of your immortal being, you progress to a more sophisticated state of dreaming. Before, you couldn't remember most of your dreams. Now, you will remember them like it was yesterday." The wolf smiled like it was a good thing.

It seemed cool to be able to remember every dream, especially since he usually had funny and interesting dreams. But what about nightmares?

"But why am I here?" Leopard asked. "In this desert?"

The wolf's smile fell a bit. "It represents the sorrow of your soul. The emptiness. I can't explain; I'm not allowed to, but your actions will not reap fruit anytime soon. I hate worrying you, but I've already hidden so much from you."

You've got that right . . . Leopard thought.

From behind the wolf, the sun peeked over the horizon, rippling it's way up slowly. Rays of light pierced deeper into the desert, stretching over the whole land.

"Morning. Tell anyone of this dream, and you might rip a seam." The wolf said methodically.

A chirp of a bird grabbed Leopard from his sluggish state. He desperately wanted to go back to sleep, but he didn't want another weird dream.

What had the wolf meant by rip a seam? What in the name of Starry Pelt was a seam?

Leopard brushed off his confusion and got up. He knew if he laid there for too long he would fall asleep again.

Dawn was just beginning to peak through the fluffy pink clouds. They were the exact shade of Dawn's soft fur. A whisper of Fall nipped at him, but it wasn't cold enough to frost the landscape yet. Only a few wolves were awake. A patrol was being organized by his father.

Leopard trotted to him. He loved it when his father was able to chat with him for a while. He looked busy, but just being close to him made Leopard feel better.

"Camo, Ice and Snake will check the border by the Trembling Mountain and Flying Breeze packs. Scree, Riser and Hawk will check the border by the High peaks and Swift River packs. It's an awful lot to cover with six wolves, but we'll need the others for battle practice today. Let's get this done quickly and without quarrels. Remember, don't cross the border, but if another wolf has crossed, remind him or her to go back. If they refuse once come back for reinforcements and we'll beat 'em back. I don't have the patience to remind stray dogs about borders anymore . . . " Sol muttered drowsily. "I'll go with Camo and the others to Trembling Mountain. Let's go!"

He was about to bound out of camp when Leopard grabbed his tail in his teeth.

"Wait, Da!" Leopard muttered, holding onto red furs. He felt Sol's tail bones.

Sol turned around in frustration. "What?" He was obviously ornery from many long border shifts the day before. Not to mention his son coming back from the dead.

"I wanted to ask Mist if she would catch me a bird later, but she doesn't like it when I wake her up. I know you're busy, but would you mind getting me some fresh meat when you're done? The old meat on the pile makes me feel sick." Leopard said. Old meat grows maggots. The weird voice said.

"Maybe later. Wait for hunters to come back; they'll have fresh meat." Sol said before walking off with the older wolves. There was guilt in his eyes; he had blown Leopard off so easily, but there was little he could do. His first priority was to the pack.

Leopard watched as his father ran off to the South with Camo, Ice and Snake. Leopard hadn't noticed it was cold till the sun's warmth broke over a giant cloud.

Your father's duty is to his pack. The pack comes before everything, even your own family. The voice said. Leopard was still very confused on how it could speak in his head.

"Why in the name of Kryyg are you doing in my head!" Leopard said aloud, yelping with frustration. It was clear that there was a voice in his head, but it wasn't just his. It was like a little mouse had buried itself in his mind and made itself comfortable.

Watch you language! The voice said. Youth should not use such worlds, especially out loud.

Leopard frowned. Now the voice was telling him what to do. "I asked what are you doing in my head. I know that language is bad, but I believe it was called for. I still have no idea what you are and what you're doing."

Whose to say that I'm doing anything? It asked. And I don't think my identity matters to you now.

Leopard was confused. First the weird dream, now the weird voice in his head. He couldn't think straight. He was muddled and sickly. His brain felt like someone had dropped a rock on it, drilled a hole through his skull into his brain and poured gallons of pond scum in it.

Leopard sat there and swayed, trying not to fall as his father ran farther into the woods. He wanted to sleep, but dreaming wouldn't make him feel any better. He got up and took a walk around camp instead.

Leopard felt like a weekling again. He fell over his long black legs like a newborn fawn would. He stumbled face-first every other rock.

He got tired of falling over repetitively. He almost even cried one time, unable to wrestle the flow of emotions and discouraging thoughts that made him feel useless. But he got up and kept walking, no matter how angry and upset he felt.

He walked till the sun had peaked well over the mountain and the rest of camp was awake. Patrols were organized, breakfast was eaten and gossip passed between the Deltas.

Star yawned as she exited the hollow in the cliff that was the Delta's den, stretching her slender, creamy legs. She shook her orange-dappled fur around and licked her chops before selecting a rabbit from the kill pile to eat.

Leopard trotted to her, making sure he didn't trip over himself. He puffed out his chest and ruffled his fur the way Dawn said a girl likes.

"Hey Star." Leopard said. He noted that his voice didn't crack, and silently praised himself.

"What's up with your fur?" She asked, casting a blue eye his way.

"Um, nothing." He promptly licked his fur back into place and sat down.

"How are you doing?" Star asked.

"Good." Leopard lied. He felt like a pile of mushy Kyyrg scat. "I think I can almost walk again."

"Really?" Star marveled. "You look like you were doing pretty well just now."

Leopard smiled despite the many scrapes on his face. "I think I heard my dad talking about battle practice earlier. You guys might be doing it."

Star gave a slight moan. "Ugh, I hate battle practice! I suck at it, and nobody can tell me how to fix my posture and stuff. I'd much rather be doing border patrol; at least I'd be able to talk with Lily as we walk."

Lily was Star's litter mate. They both held a striking resemblance, but Lily was built like a bird; skinny and small. Star was thicker and sturdier, a lot like her older sister Riser and their father, Flame. Riser was more orange than yellow though, and she had grayish-brown eyes.

"I can't wait to start my training!" Leopard exclaimed. "The camp is so boring!"

Star smiled, but there was obviously something behind them. Like she was annoyed that Leopard didn't understand how hard training was.

"Deltas! We are meeting in the meadow to train with some of the Betas later. Hurry up!" Some she-wolf that Leopard did not know called out, and she ran down the trail on the cliff towards the meadow.

"I gotta go. You can finish this." She said curtly.

"Bye!" Leopard said. She turned around to quickly smile, then ran to the cliff trail with the Deltas.

I think you're laying it on to thick. The voice said.

"Wh-" Leopard almost said aloud, but he caught himself. What?

You and Star. You obviously fancy her. She doesn't seem to be so enthusiastic about you though.

What? No way! We're just friends. Leopard said. More like . . . A quail tins.

It's called an acquaintance, by the way. You're in a puppyish stage when you try to be friendly to everyone, but it usually ends up annoying. So be polite and socialize but don't talk too much. A few more minutes and Star would have walked away anyways.

Leopard was starting to get annoyed of the voice.

"Leopard! Come back to the den, you can hardly walk! And your face is all scraped up!" Oak called from the healer den.

Leopard groaned a bit, then stomped off towards the den. He promised himself he would manage to escape later.