Amber's POV

Amber bounced around her mother, her still-young blue eyes dazzling with the prospect of finally leaving the den. Her mother, Shade, was leading the way into the brush, following a slightly-worn path that twisted towards the distant Cove Mountain.

Amber's brother, Fox, chased after her, his short russet legs churning as he galloped along the path. Amber squealed as he rammed into her, knocking her off her paws and leaving her flopped over on the peaty ground. Fox stood above her, crowing at his victory, and she glared at him.

"Come along pups! We can't be late for your First Training." Shade called gently. She was much farther along the path now, having padded on as the wolf pups play-fought.

Amber leaped to her paws, knocking Fox off in the process as she raced ahead of him.

"Hey, stop! Wait for me!" He howled, just barely getting up. Shade sighed and loped back to the two pups, her much larger shadow covering both of them. She bent her head down and gently closed her teeth around Fox's scruff, hauling him up and along as she continued on. Fox hug as limp as a piece of prey, enjoying the fact that he didn't have to walk. Amber, however, didn't mind, and she managed to keep up with her mother as they went farther and farther into the Autumn Wolf territory.

Soon Shade set Fox down again, much to his disapproval.

"Mooom, can't you carry me a bit further? My paws hurt!" He whined, pretending to limp on one foot.
Shade snapped her teeth at him, a clear sign to stop faking. "Fox, I'm sure you can walk now. It hasn't been that long, and besides, I need my mouth free to tell you two a little bit about today."

At this, Amber and her brother pricked their ears, completely alert for this new story. In their den at the tribe camp, when they were still too young to venture outside, the two siblings had been told many stories and tales about ancient wolves and past events that dazzled their minds. However, the one thing their mother had never told them was what would happen when they were finally old enough to leave the camp.

Shade smiles at their attentive enthusiasm, and began to speak in a very soft voice. "You know that we are special. We, the Spirit Wolves of the Green Forest, have more to us than you could ever possibly imagine."

Amber grinned and hopped a bit as she padded on, recognizing the words her mother used to start every story. Just a few pawsteps behind her, Fox was still conpletely focused on their mother's voice, entranced by the musical hint that seemed to be in all Autumn Wolf voices.

"As Spirit Wolves, every tribe has something unique about them, something that sets them apart from the others. Shadow Wolves learn how to fight, Earth Wolves learn how to build, Ice Wolves learn how to disappear among the leaves. But we, the Autumn Wolves, learn one of the most powerful skills: song."

Fox snorted, even though his eyes were still glimmering hopefully. "Singing?"

Amber rolled her eyes and pushed him with her shoulder, trying to get him to see how dumb he sounded.

Fox shot her a look, but continued. "I mean, isn't that just sound? All wolves can howl and stuff, so what's the difference?"

Shade smiled and almost seems to laugh at her son's idea of song. "It's a bit more powerful than that, actually. When an Autumn Wolf sings, they sing from the heart, channeling their emotions into the melody and words. This emotion carries out into the air around us, and it can affect the wolves who hear it."

Amber tilted her head, confused. "So the songs do stuff to other wolves?"

Shade nodded. "In essence, yes. Basically, whatever emotion you're feeling and singing about is what they will experience. What you will learn as part of your Autumn Wolf training is how to control what you sing, and how to draw certain emotions out within yourself so that you can use the right mix for whatever situation you may encounter."

This time, both Amber and Fox cocked their heads, even more confused.

Shade sighed, and tried again. "Here's an example: if there was a wolf next to you who was sad, and you wanted to cheer them up, you would sing a happy, cheerful song. And if you were feeling, say, bored at that moment, with training you would be able to find something very powerful and happy to think about that would make your song happy enough to cheer up the other wolf. Does that make a bit more sense?"

Amber nodded, and Fox hesitated only for an instant before nodding. She repeated her mother's words over and over again in her head, determined to drill them into her memory for future reference.

Suddenly, Shade stopped walking, and Amber, not paying attention to what was in front of her, ran right into her mother's tail. She spluttered indignantly, unsuccessfully trying to scrape hairs from her mouth. Shade, however, paid no notice and began to wag her tail, looking out at the area in front of them where the path has widened and disappeared completely.

Amber leaped back, wary of the swinging fur now, and looked at her mother's face. Shade was smiling in a dreamy sort of way, like she was remembering something. Fox came up behind her, giggling to himself. "You got a face-full, didn't..." He stopped mid-sentence, his muzzle agape as he saw what was in front of them.

Amber followed his gaze, and to her utter shock, she saw what seemed to be hundreds of wolves, all milling about and talking to each other, or playing games, or practicing hunting moves, or swimming in the large pond that was fed from a stream out of the mountainside. Everywhere she looked, she saw different colored wolves doing different activities, and they were all mixed up together, one shade of fur blending in to the next.

The weirdest part was, she felt as if she belonged here, among all of these strangers. It was like something had been calling her here for the whole time she was in the camp, and now it had brought her here, where she belonged.