I'm adding a post here to revive this because I was re-reading something I didn't even remember writing, and wanted to share. Bit cheesy, so forgive me :icon_redface::
[spoil]To focus he has to go forward, but to think he must go backward.
He cannot focus, though. He is distracted, his mind elsewhere. He cannot draw himself back to where he is, nor see the tasks in front of him. His brothers notice his distraction, his inability to think, and stare at him with questioning looks. His unresponsiveness is uncharacteristic, and it worries them. They give him inquisitive looks and continue to stare, but he does not move or otherwise show any response.
They wait for him, staring, for a full hour, but he does not resume the hunt. He has lain down, and is staring with a passionate intensity at the ground in front of him. What he sees there has stopped him in his tracks, and his hunt for food no longer matters. He need not hunt anymore, if he can only track what he has seen.
His pack does not see it, nor could they. They cannot understand it, because they never saw what he had seen; never experienced what he had. To them, it is a normal occurrence with no distinguishing characteristics.
His pack howls, nuzzles him, but still he lays examining the ground. It has grabbed his attention, and his focus is elsewhere.
The wolves in his pack move on, but still he stares. When they are gone from his sight, having abandoned him, he rises. He stands a full half-foot taller than any of his brothers had, and his rippling muscles allow him to run at speeds they could not hope to match. His sharp claws and powerful jaw with pointed teeth allow him to catch animals they could not. But this; this is something he does not know he can catch.
He is staring at...a pawprint.
He had not seen that print in so long, he thought it had gone out of the world. But here it was, only a foot in front of him, and no more than a day old. The print is distinct, as it has one particularly small indentation in the dirt so small that not even his packmates could see. Fortunately, he was also blessed with better eyesight, and so he sees it. Immediately, he takes off running, following the pawprint's direction and the prints that follow it.
He runs for 2 days and nights, not stopping for rest, food, or water. His every muscle cries out, his brain begs him to stop, but he refuses. His entire being is focused only on this search, on this trail. Finally, across the horizon, he sees a blurry dot. The maker of the print does not see him, and he approaches stealthily. Power would give him no advantage here, as it was not a battle he sought. He came close, close enough that the maker of the print smelled him and turned around.
It was her.
He had thought he lost her, when she had been stolen from him. He thought she had been killed, taken by the other wolves to be claimed by another for as long as they wanted her. But it seemed...it seemed they had not cared for her the same way he had. Her skin was taut against her bones, and she looked ready to collapse.
Since the day she was taken from him, he had taken all his anger and frustration and focused it into one place; his tasks. He grew stronger, faster, and more resilient. Before long, even bears could not stand against him when they attacked, for he had the power of 5 ordinary wolves and the intelligence of 20. He worked and trained and fought, all the while searching for any sign of her. She had been his, and if he could not have her because he could not find her in time, he would exact his revenge on those who took her from him.
He had searched for so long, he never expected to find his love again. It became a desperate search, always on his mind as he performed his regular tasks. Even as other wolves followed him and his power, and as he earned their loyalty by saving them from the dangers of the world, she was always on his mind, and he was always searching. All the pain he endured, just to find her, was immense.
But here she was.
Maybe he was living in the past, maybe she didn't remember him. But as she turned to him, and he saw the gash on her face, he saw the recognition in her eyes. He saw the love, and the pain. Within a moment, the beast in him reared up and roared, and the growl from his throat was low and menacing. Animals in the area scattered, suddenly stricken by an inexplicable fear. His anger knew no bounds, but when she nuzzled his neck, it died, and he was at peace. He brought her food, led her to water, and she slowly recovered.
He saw the life slowly creep back into her eyes and limbs, and when she finally registered what he had become, she looked on him with amazement and a deep respect. But as he noticed the respect in her expression, he touched her ever so lightly with his paw, as if to say, "Only for you".
When the wolves came back, looking to take back his love as their prisoner once more, his anger awoke once more. The wolves had no fear, knowing he would not let them escape even if they did run. They fought, him against a pack of wolves that could just as easily have been his brothers.
Suddenly, just as it appeared his wounds would incapacitate and kill him, his brothers swarmed around, destroying the remnants of the pack that would have taken his love. He had won. But the blood was not important to him, no more than the revenge was. All that mattered to him was one thing:
He had her.[/spoil]
