Actually now that I think about it...this one has references to past fics of mine...but you don't really need to read them to understand I don't think. Its the same with Teal's characters that are in this...
Chapter 5
The next morning Shriek woke up and saw Spider looking out over the lake, deep in thought.
"What are you doing up so early?" she asked as she padded over and nuzzled him.
"Debating..." Spider said as he returned her gesture with a smile and a rumbling purr.
"About visiting your old friends?"
"Yeah..." Spider said with a sigh, "I want to see how they are doing but..."
his expression turned into sadness, "I'm afraid of the old wounds it will open..."
"Oh Spider..." Shriek gave him a reassuring nuzzle, "if we don't revisit our past once in awhile we won't be reminded of why things are the way they are now."
Spider thought a moment as he took this into consideration.
"Yer right." he said finally, "I'll go visit and see how they are doin'. Afterward maybe I can introduce you and the others to them."
"Sounds good." Shriek said as she nuzzled him again, "I'll keep the clan in order while you are away."
"I'll try not to take too long." Spider smiled as she kissed her. He then trotted off in the direction the village was.
"Good luck." Shriek said with a smile as she watched Spider disappear into the trees....
Everyone was busy repairing the damage the giant crossbreed had done the night before and Tok yawned tiredly as he took a break.
Stupid brainless beast... he thought annoyed as he looked at all the damage it had caused. Something caught his eye in one of the alleys, something big and green. By reflex he grabbed his spear and pointed it at the alley.
"Who's there?" he demanded, "Show yerself!"
"Quick on the draw as always Tok..." a very familiar voice said with a mild chuckle, "Yer jus' as I remembered yer when I left...over a year ago wasn't it?"
Tok's eyes widened with disbelief as he saw his old Alpha appear out of the shadows. While it was still obvious as to who he was, he looked a bit different. He was leaner, not from lack of food, but from roughing it out on his own and his muscles had a more refined look to them. Signs of battle where evident on him: three parallel scars running diagonally on his chest, two neck spines where missing...looking like they were so forcefully removed that they will never grow back, and perhaps the most frightening...a circle of teeth like scars on the back of his neck, right behind his head, obviously from a battle that was nearly his last.
But all that didn't really matter to Tok...
"Spider..." Tok whispered...almost a whimper, as he dropped his spear and embraced him, "Yer back...Oh Odd did I miss yer..."
"I missed yer too Tok..." Spider said as he returned his old pack mate's embrace. He looked up and for the first time noticed all the damage to the village. "What the frack happened here? Looks like tornado hit the place."
"Practically...a very big...and I der mean big...crossbreed like yer was runnin' amuck here last night." Tok explained.
Tok was a bit surprised when he saw Spider visibly wince.
"No one was hurt was there?" Spider asked.
"Couple of scraps and bruises...that's it."
"Good." Spider breathed a sigh of relief, "No one was hurt due ter Goliath's lack of intelligence..."
"Goliath? Yer knew that brute?"
"Yes...we got separated durin' a storm a couple weeks back...I was surprised he lived this long. He is back with the others now."
"Others? There's more of yer?" Tok asked, surprised.
"Yeah..there are 12 of us in all. I will bring 'em ter the village later. I jus' want ter see how everyone is first..." He hesitated briefly, "and if there are any hard feeling's fer me leavin' in the first place..."
"As far as I know there ain't..." Tok said, "Other then the normal few that jus' didn't like yer ter began with. Stay put and I'll get the rest of the pack..."
As Tok ran off to find the others, Spider looked around to see if he could spot anymore familiar faces. And he spotted one....
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