A ragged, pure white wolf made his way slowly between the snowbanks. Even with the brightly shining sun, it was below freezing outside, the few humans who managed to live out there were all tucked away next to their roaring fires. It had been many turns since he'd abandoned that life for this, the death of his mother still weighed heavily upon him. If only he'd have stayed home, he could have saved her. If only he hadn't had gotten so mad at that boy that he changed....

If only...

Lifting his head, Ech'inee smelled something unusual. Not food, not human it was.....another wolf. A male treading his way through the snow by the frozen river. "My territory." The white wolf tilted his head back and howled at the wolf, looking back to see it turning at leaving, only stopping to howl back, "Sorry, didn't know."

His life was devoid of any other creatures than prey now, he never made friends with other wolves, nor took his human form to live amongst them again. He detested them, all they did was hurt and kill one another. After he ran from his father many turns ago, Ech'inee had given up his human name and took his wolf name. Traveling to the mountains where he knew, he'd be safe. Many people had tried to kill him along the way, some out of fear, some for his white fur. Never had he harmed one, just managing to get away was enough without knowing that he had caused a single family grief. His father never caught up to him, maybe he'd just given up. The wolf didn't care, he felt nothing toward that man now, only sad regret. This day was different though, there were new smells in the air. Curiously, Ech'inee followed them and found a huge mountain that was occupied by people, and the strangest things he'd ever seen. They were vaguely familiar though.

The wolf hung around this busy place for some days after discovering it. He observed the familiar flying things coming and going every day, most looked alike but every so often different ones emerged. Purple and two-toned black-blue and green-white. This place was nothing like he'd seen in his life, but he remembered only a little of the first few turns. Those were his human days, and he never wanted to think of them again.

Once out of between after the trip from one world to the next, both dragonriders were happy to see a weyr cheerfully bustling in the freezing morning. Maleeth bugled a greeing to the watchdragon as the two circled down to land.

Wait, M'naz. There's something in that wood over there.

The blue nodded toward a forest that was skimpy in winter but promised to be full and green once spring hit. "Are you sure? Should we not enter the weyr first?"

Maleeth and Zana can go inside first and announce search there, you and I can investigate. Falaath responded, turning from his green partner. "Okay, tell Maleeth."

I have. There it is! Do you see it?

M'naz craned over his dragon's neck to see the small white moving speck he pointed out. "A dog?"

No, a wolf, and not just a normal wolf either. "Shapeshifter?" Falaath rumbled and stared contemplatively at the creature for a few more minutes before saying, It looks hungry, shall I kill a wherry for it? "We don't want to deplete their animal supply..."

Oh come on, do you think they would deny us one small wherry when we're on search?

"Okay, okay...it might help it to trust us anyway" Falaath swept down upon the Feeding Grounds and deftly plucked a smaller wherry from the flock and snapped its neck as he rose back into the sky. He looked into the barren trees that surrounded the weyr and saw the white form moving toward the edge of the wood. It is leaving the forest, should I land now? "Yes, make sure you give it a wide berth though." Falaath dropped the wherry before landing and helped M'naz off. The creature looked out at them from the forest, black eyes not missing a single detail. "Put the wherry close to it." M'naz whispered. The blue gently picked up the dead wherry and lay it down closer to the animal, using a talon to neatly slice it open and releasing all those wonderful smells into the air. "Why'd you do that?" M'naz asked. Because, the blood might attract it. was the dragon's calm response. Nodding, M'naz leaned back and waited.

"What are they doing?" Ech'inee watched the human and his large blue friend lay a dead bird in front of them, the blue slicing its stomach open. He could smell the blood, and he hadn't eaten for days. Most of the animals around here were too small to make a decent meal out of. "Why not, if they were going to hurt me, they would have already done it." Slowly, the white wolf approached the carcass and once near it, he practically dove inside, eating the warm meat rapidly. Out of the corner of his eye, the wolf saw the man inspecting him. He would murmur something to the blue thing and then look back to Ech'inee. "Don't tell me he's never seen a wolf before?" the wolf thought as he ate. Lifting his blood-stained muzzle, Ech'inee tilted his head to the side. The man appeared to be speaking with himself, but was looking at the blue thing. Then he remembered. "Dragons! The dragons that fight Thread. He's talking to his, and this must be a weyr." Now the wolf was even more curious. This was the first real reason he'd had to resume his human form.

In his youth, his mother had often dreamed aloud to him about how one day he'd grow to be a dragonrider, and like most small boys he was dragon-crazy. It took both of his parent's warnings to keep him from going out in Threadfall to watch the great beasts battle their ancient enemy. "I wonder if she would still like me to become a dragonrider." The blue regarded him with curious eyes as Ech'inee ate everything edible on the carcass, except the heart which he carried delicately back into the woods. "Where is he going?" M'naz wondered to his dragon.

Maybe he has a mate in the forest, and he's taking food to her

"That's not enough meat to feed another wolf. Let's go inside, I'm getting cold and we need to fill Zana in." He quickly mounted his blue and they took off back for the weyr, leaving a cloud of firelizards to descend upon the wherry's remains and pick at the minute leftovers.