The Mighty Fall [Chapter 1]

Where is he? Where is he? Amice was panicking. Her paws walked through the forest in a hurried pace. Her white fur was dirty and matted together. It was the stress getting to her. Never, never would she let herself turn out this way. So why did she now? Oh right. Rivaille is missing. It's been three days now. Frantically, she moved her head quickly around. What if he's dead? She relied greatly on him. Rivaille was an important wolf in her life, the most important wolf in her life, if getting any more specific and more detailed on their relationship. Mates. Mates for life, that's a better way to describe the two of them. They were polar opposites. She was a happy wolf, always excited and scaring away prey. She couldn't catch a rabbit by herself, not without the help of the male wolf. The male wolf, the one she was looking for and afraid she might die if she doesn't find him, was serious. He didn't let prey get out of his paws. Not without a fight, at least. Another way to show their opposites was the color of their fur. She had white fur, which could easily get dirty. That disgusted the male wolf so much when she was playing around in mud or doing anything else that could get her in a mess. He'd make a 'tch' and then bark at her to go to the river, the lake, or anywhere else that was water and close by to clean up her fur. Never would he admit it though, but he enjoyed watching her. He enjoyed her happy personality while she bounced around, scaring away prey and then later yelling at her for doing so. Quietly she'd apologize to him and then lick his ear. Those were times she was going to miss. They were gone now. He was probably dead. She was gonna be dead soon too.

"Rivaille.." She quietly said, her words choking out of her throat as she said the wolf's name. Soon letting her legs give in. She collapsed to the floor. What will she do now? Maybe catch a squirrel. Yeah! There was one right there, nibbling on an acorn. He was busy, he wouldn't notice the female wolf approaching him. The last time she ate was when she last saw him, before he said he'll be back soon. The situation she found herself in after he vanished out of her life wasn’t gonna get any better than this. Come on, Amice. All she had to do was prop herself up onto her legs once more. Get herself standing on those dirty paws that were darkened by mud. He’s going to be so disappointed when he sees her again and she knew it. He’s gonna bark at her to clean herself, tell her she shouldn’t have been so worried. In no way would he ever let himself die so easily, and Amice knew that. Maybe, just maybe she needs to take the situation off of her mind. Get that squirrel, or try to without scaring it. Well, she wasn’t her usual self. That was one thing that may make her hunt much easier.

It wasn’t a quick action, but a rather slow one as she pulled herself up onto her four legs. It was followed by a quiet whimper. Not out of pain, but out of depression. ‘Okay Amice, just catch that pray and we’ll be all good. Get it. Kill it. Eat it and you’ll be fine. Then you can go find him! Yeah! You’ll find Rivaille, we’ll have a happy reunion and everything will be fine!’ she thought to herself as a form of cheering up. By telling herself that, she gave herself some sort of hope. Her mouth agape, she let out a rocky breath. One step, then another. She was closer to that squirrel who was playing, rotating and nibbling that acorn that fell from the tree. Maybe he’ll bury it later, forget it was there and run around while trying to find where he hid it. They didn’t have the best memories ever.

Once she was at a fair distance, one that she could easily leap at the squirrel at and crush it with her body after the fall onto the rodent. That was one way to get her food, to fill her stomach just a bit. After she catches this, she could come hopping over to Rivaille, forget the fact he was gone and tell him how she caught a squirrel! He’d probably chuckle, lick her ear and praise her. Go on and say how he’s proud that she didn’t scare away the animal and actually caught yet. If only she found him. She could do that.

Before making her tackle onto the small animal, she took a gaze up at the sky. What was the time? The sky was cloudless, giving her more than enough noon sunlight in the forest where lanky trees surrounded her. The leaves, that were a former vivid green, were losing their pigment and turning into beautiful shades of orange, red and yellow. Some of them would fall from the trees to shower onto the forest floor. A simple step on them could crunch them under her paws, alert anything near by, and scar them away. Thankfully, her pathway she was in was clear of any leaves. The wind had blew them away the day before.

‘Okay Amice, you can do this. You can kill that squirrel and eat for a bit, get a little energy. Rest yourself after you kill it.’ She told herself in her head as a promise. The things she could look forward to if she makes this quick and easy kill of the small brown animal. With a breath, she then took a leap towards the animal, ready to lay her entire body weight onto the acorn eating animal.