Warclaw

Chapter 1: Warclaw.

The sky was blue and the sun was shining brightly. There was a gentle breeze that blew across the quiet land. The birds tweeted in the trees and the sea hummed quietly. As the wind gently blew through the trees, the leaves rustled quietly almost chattering amongst themselves. The beach was golden and the land was peaceful. The land flowed smoothly into the sea, which smoothly flowed into the bright blue sky. As you looked up into the sky the odd bird would fly gracefully by, with not a care in the world. It was a tranquil place and it couldn’t have been more picturesque than what is was then. But it was perfect... almost.

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A pitch black wolf walked down the golden beach at a slow and steady pace, walking towards the old lighthouse that stood overlooking the crystal clear sea. The wolf’s fur was neatly placed and its eyes were focused. The tail was long and sleek and flowed gracefully behind. His name was Warclaw. His eyes were a bright, sparkling blue. He stood high above the ground and was taller than any wolf had been. The old lighthouse had been abandoned many years ago, making it the perfect place to make a den. Having found this place not too many years ago, he had lived in the lighthouse ever since. The windows had been shattered and the glass littered the tiled floor, and as the sun started to go down and hide behind the gentle sea, the glass started to glisten, making sparkling lights around the room. Outside, the air was thin and the seagulls screeched their call as they flew past the lighthouse and out to the calm sea. The light had begun to dim in the background making the sky slowly turn dark and causing the stars to appear in the sky. As he walked he could feel the soft, warm sand go in-between his pads. It felt nice to him after a long days walk, smelling the fresh air as he walked along the beach and taking in the sounds of the peaceful evening.

Having been trying to find his pack, the hate for the Alpha had been churning away inside of him. Warclaw had been thrown out of his pack. He had been trying to search for the pack but had had no luck. Trying desperately to track the pack down, he had no luck as every method had been failing. The Alpha had been covering the pack’s tracks up; making it a struggle for Warclaw to follow, and this seemed to have been working. Warclaw didn't have the strongest nose in the pack but he was the smartest ever known, not only in the pack but in the whole world!

Walking past a darkened bush, he heard the sounds of the sea and the sound of the quiet, slow, wind rustle through the leaves. Except there wasn’t any wind anymore, the wind had died down ages ago. Hearing another rustle from the bush behind him, he turned round sharply and looked into the undergrowth. Warclaw could see something hiding there, but it knew that it had been spotted and quivered. Warclaw took a cautious walk towards the darkened bush. Making sure that he didn't make a sound as Warclaw went, what was hiding behind the bush wasn't as careful as him. As it walked back, it stood on a small twig that snapped! Hearing the twig snap, Warclaw's ears picked up the sound and he moved towards it. Jumping over the bush, he pinned that something down onto the cold, hard ground. It was a wolf. Seeing it was a wolf he started firing questions at it, not giving it a chance to reply in-between. "Who are you? What do you want from me? Who are you working for?" His growl had a sting in it. He felt the other wolf quiver beneath him. It gulped down a ball of saliva before trying to speak without stuttering. "I am W-Willow. I don't want any-anything, except s-s-somewhere t-to sleep. Also I-I-I don't work for any-wolf!" Warclaw had seen this face somewhere before, but he just couldn’t put his paw on where he had. She had deep blue eyes, a dark brown coat and a big fluffy tail. Then it hit him and it hit him hard. This wolf was from the pack he had been banished from. This wolf was the one that got him banished. This was the wolf that was the Alphas mate. The wolf that did the dirty work for the Alpha! She was the one whom destroyed Warclaw’s perfect life. Instantly, Warclaw knew not to trust her; after all she was the cause of getting him thrown out of the pack. Slowly getting off her, he gave her a deathly look that could frighten the toughest of animals into submission. Turning back around, he carried on walking across the beach towards his den, listening closely as Willow followed behind.

Warclaw walked Willow cautiously into the old lighthouse and left her to look around; what was a small room which led to an old stone staircase that spiralled into what felt like the sky. Leaving Willow to look around the small room, he went and sat down by the broken window and looked out towards the sea. By now it had become night, and very late. The moon was becoming a bright light that shone towards the lighthouse, making it glow. Willow had finished looking around the small room and looked around to see where Warclaw had gone. Spotting him sat by the smashed window, she walked over casually and sat down beside him. Looking out of the same broken window and up to the stars she wondered if the pack was looking at them as well. Feeling the air shift beside him, Warclaw looked in the direction of Willow and noticed that Willow was sitting next to him. When he looked at her features he knew she was in deep thought, about what he didn’t know, but he knew she was hiding something. Feeling eyes come upon her, she turned her head knowing that Warclaw was trying to figure out what she was up to. Looking into her deep blue eyes, Warclaw tried to see if the answer was there but it wasn't. Her eyes were like a titanium safe with a DNA lock and matching password. Impossible to unlock. Knowing that Warclaw was trying to search for the answer to his question about her being here, she diverted from his gaze. "Warclaw, is there something wrong?" Willow asked knowing what his answer would be. Warclaw shook his head, feeling as if he had been locked in a trance and looked back out to the sea. As he looked out, he wondered how she had come about his name if she was just some wolf that needed some shelter for the night. Feeling that there was more to her that meets the eye, he knew he had to be careful. ‘Only one way,’ he thought whilst looking out to the fading sun ‘she could know my name and that is from
the pack
.’

Getting up and stretching her paws on the tiled floor, she walked over to the curling staircase, but before she could even take the first step Warclaw was there like a bolt of lightning. Warclaw growled loudly at her, so loud that it was possible to hear him from the other side of the forest. Backing away from him, she knew this wasn't the time to go and investigate the darkened room that
he
protected so dearly. Willow knew to wait till the morning and Warclaw knew not to go far, as
this
temptress would be up those stairs and into
his
darkened room. Watching Willow lie down on the cold, red tiled floor, he figured that she was trying to figure out a way of getting up those stairs. Fearing this was her plan, Warclaw knew it may come down to the life and death situation. Knowing what was in there, he knew that if he wanted to keep his room safe, he would have to kill her. Willow not knowing Warclaw’s dark thoughts, kept planning on how she was going to get into this room, but, she didn't know what he was like. All she knew was to make herself popular with the Alpha again, she had to get into that room and get what her mate wanted. Laying her head down on the cold floor, she watched Warclaw walk up the stone stairs. Knowing that to fulfil her duty for her beloved Alpha, she needed to wait for Warclaw to have gone out, but that wasn't going to be till the morning. So she would have to wait till then. ‘Let the waiting game begin.’

Morning, when the bright orange sun started to come up, it glistened through the broken window that Willow was laying under. Gradually opening her eyes, Willow let the morning light fill her sense and bathed in the warmth of the sun, before she sat up. Stretching on the spot, Willow yawned and walked out of the lighthouse onto the glowing golden beach. To her left, Willow could hear the mellow song of the Robin and the chorus of the Blackbird in the trees. And to her right was the glorious sea that glistened under the sun. Willow looked around for Warclaw; she spotted him walking down the beach at a slow pace. Knowing that he would be looking for breakfast, Willow walked back into the lighthouse, through the old archway before calmly starting her journey up the stone staircase. Halfway up the stairs, the feeling that she was being watched swept over her body. She looked out of the window and spotted Warclaw watching her every move, from the far end of the beach. Looking up at his face, she noticed that his eyes were dark black, his pearl white teeth gleaming in the sun. But he wasn’t smiling as she thought for a second, he was growling. And walking. Warclaw was moving towards the lighthouse, at what seemed like a snail’s pace. But he sped up. He went from walking to jogging, and then from jogging to running, before finally going into a full sprint. Warclaw was closing the distance in-between them and fast!

As Warclaw rapidly made his way up the beach; Willow stood there frozen with fear. But then, suddenly her instincts kicked in. Willow darted down the circling stairs, getting dizzy as she went. When she got to the bottom of the stone staircase, she darted out of the arched door, but unfortunately due to her late reaction, she had given precious time to Warclaw, giving him chance to beat her to the entrance. His teeth were on full show, snarling at her. "What were you doing?" His growl had yet another sting. "What were you doing?" He growled again moving forward, backing Willow into the lighthouse. Keeping quiet, she tried to push her way forward but had no luck. With Willow being pushed back into the lighthouse, she was being confined into a small space with no other exit than that door which lay behind Warclaw. Growling again Warclaw spoke, "I told you not to go up there and what happens? You go up there!" His voice had turned from a growl into a howl. Seeing that the stairs were her only route out of here, she darted up the steep stairs. But Warclaw was hot on her tail.

As Willow was racing up the grey stone staircase, she could hear Warclaw closing the distance. She tried desperately, fearing that it may be the end of her life, running quicker but her body was already aching and weak. But it was about to ache even more… Suddenly, Willow felt a searing pain shoot up her back right leg. Feeling her leg starting to throb, she looked back in fear of what it was. Her eyes became wide with horror. Willow couldn't believe what she was seeing but what had she expected to see? A little scratch or scrap on her skin where Warclaw had missed? Dark red blood dripped down her leg and matted her lush fur. Her once beautiful coat was now covered in dark red blood, but what horrified her more was that Warclaw's teeth were still sunk into her leg. With his grip not loosening, she knew that this was most likely the end of her life as there wasn't a great chance she could escape this hell hole alive. Yet she would not go down without a fight. There was still fight left in her. So Willow bared her white teeth at Warclaw and made her move.

Willow sunk her own white teeth into his neck. There was fight left in her yet. Willow was certainly the type of wolf to not back down without a good fight, considering it was most likely the end of her short life. Howling in pain, Warclaw knew this fight was going to get tougher as each and every minute ticked by. Immediately, Warclaw let go of Willow's leg and chomped down onto her neck. Releasing her hold of Warclaw's neck, Willow howled in pain, before biting even harder onto Warclaw's neck. The battle was getting bloodier as it went, with more and more blood covering the ground below them. Before long, mid-day had arrived and the battle hadn't ceased. The two wolves were still fighting and each bite that one wolf took out of the other, was having its effect. Willows coat was covered with blood, both hardened, old blood and new, fresh blood. Her whole body was covered and Warclaw’s coat had hardly a stain on it. There was the odd spot around his neck but that was it. By late evening the battle had finally come to an end. A whole day wasted by fighting. The once clean floor was now covered in dark red blood. It could only belong to one of them.

Losing the battle, Willow’s body lay crumpled on the floor. Her body lay lifeless in front of Warclaw. Warclaw had come off worse than he thought he would’ve done, his neck had been badly shredded by Willow that blood dripped down off of his neck and onto the floor, leaving a trail as he walked towards the staircase. Gradually taking one step at a time, he looked back to the corpse that lay in his lighthouse and thought ‘To any outsider it would’ve looked like a normal scrap had just happened, well without that stinking corpse there!’ He chuckled evilly to himself before carrying on up the stairs. When he got to the top of the stairs, he nudged the door open with his black button nose and limped inside, allowing the door to slowly shut behind him with a quiet thud...