Title-- On the Brink
Rating and Warnings-- PG for angst, depressive content, implied violence, and mature (non-sexual) themes.
Species and Characters-- Species of choice is Wolf Shifters, as this shidbit is a well-written part of my Shifter Chronicles. Characters range the gamut of my Wolves--so you'll just have to pick them up as they come. Included are Sachi, Jay, Fire, Desheh, Syhali, and Symah.
Summary and Notes-- I adore this bit, now that I reread it (I wrote it a year-ish ago). While it is quite desperate and dark in factual content, it combines a sort of story-telling with "actual" novel-esque writing, which I like. I would give you many more details on this, but no one I know reads the Shifter Chronicles, so you wouldn't understand the finer things in here. I'd greatly appreciate feedback on this, by the by. I have a second (but not final) part to this, which I'll post later if you'd like. :D I've tried to explain species/culture/situation/characters as I go along in this story, which goes against my tendency to lump "background info" together, so do tell me if it worked.


Years upon years ago, Silverwood was a large and prosperous pack, led by the former Alphas' daughter and her new mate...

Sachi awoke face-down on the ground, scratches on her skin burning unpleasantly against the chill dampness of soil and grass. Stifling a groan for the aches throbbing in her muscles, she pushed herself up, rocked back on her haunches, and looked around with slowly clearing vision. The battlefield was empty, but she and her bloodbrother Jay had been left lying near scattered patches of blood-stained earth. Dakaya must still be sick; only Tepura, Alpha female, would leave two of her Wolf Shifters unguarded and unhealed after a pack battle.

The young woman, now in her late twenties by human measurements, rose with considerable steadiness and brushed rag-edged clothing off, palms smarting with the motion. With dirty red-brown hair that tumbled in tangled curls nearly to her hips, Sachi could nonetheless be considered wolfishly attractive; she was tall and well-built, curvy but muscular, with vivid golden eyes even in human form and tanned, if scarred, skin. But she had never cared for vanity. At an age when nearly every Wolf of any quality was raising pups, Sachi was still mateless and not looking.

'Jay.' At the sound of his name, the massive swordsman stirred, a growl slipping past human lips before the male realized the battle was over. He rolled over, corded muscles stark in relief against dirty bronze skin, and with one practiced motion was on his feet again. Straight black hair was just long enough to brush his shoulders as his head turned to face his sister; Jay grinned ferally, amusement noticeably absent in the fierce expression. 'Left us out here again, eh?'

Sachi nodded, making her way over to her huge, broad-shouldered sibling; tall at 5'11", the Wolf was still dwarfed by his height of 6'5". He grinned down at her, a little humor softening icy emerald eyes, and offered his hand. Sachi clasped it in a Shifter-styled handshake and managed a grin as well, but that soon faded as thoughts began processing. 'Then we lost the battle.'

'Probably, yeah.'

Three litters were born soon after. The Alphas were blessed with identical twins, born in Wolf form and pure white: they named the female Shashibala and the male Hadilu. The Alpha male took the young adults and adolescents out one day on a hunt, leaving the rest of the pack in the center of the territory, safe with yet-unweaned pups...

'Come on.' Jay's deep voice shook Sachi out of her thoughts. 'We need to go back and find out how much territory we lost today.' The white Wolf snorted, 'I think it was yesterday, brother mine. But you're right.' Twisting her torso to work the kinks out of her spine, she sighed and began walking; Jay's surprisingly light footsteps followed, pausing once for the powerful Wolf to pick up his beloved sword from where its seven-foot length lay half-hidden in the decomposing autumn leaves. Hefting 'The Beast' over his shoulder, Jay eyed his sister as she walked silently ahead of him. These years had been so hard on her. On them all, really.

That was when the Evil struck: we called it the Kehl. It burned the center of the territory where our huts were and killed every Wolf there. The hunters sensed it and began to race back, but the Alpha male was faster than the rest...

Jay rolled his shoulders back, feeling the pull of strained muscles that screamed with the stretch. Craggy but handsome features settling into an emotionless expression, the male made a gusty sigh subtle as he inhaled and scented the new territorial boundaries. They had only lost a half-mile, but in acreage that was bad enough for a pack who was still desperately struggling to stay alive...

Sachi glanced over her shoulder, gold eyes darkened almost to aged bronze in a scowl; the swordsmaster could only nod. Things had to change. Every Wolf in the pack knew it, and their only obstacle was Tepura, Alpha female and Dakaya's sister. There was no other Wolf to take her place... suns, there were only about four females in the entire pack, none of which were Alpha material. Sachi turned back around, long fingers curling into a clenched fist at the smell of utter pain and despair radiating from Silverwood. It hurt.

The Alpha male returned and found his mate slaughtered, his two pups dead. None had survived the Kehl, or so he believed; stricken with grief, he fled and did not return. When they arrived, too late to even see their Alpha depart, the younglings left saved the two Alpha pups and one from another litter, a black-furred male. Hadilu died shortly afterwards, but Shashibala lived and was renamed Sachi; the other pup, Jayfasu, simply shortened his name to Jay...

Fire, a petite bladesmaster, sprang to her feet as the two bloodsiblings entered the center of the territory, nearly leaping to greet them without any joy on her face. Aquamarine eyes were dangerously cold as she stopped within inches of the two; a steely soprano voice hissed, 'Dakaya is no better and Tepura refuses to call for Clearwater's healer. She is ultimate authority for the time being, and I swear she's willing to let her own brother die to keep it this way.' Jay's heavy hand gripped his lover's shoulder tightly, but the wiry little Wolf did not relax, freckled skin flushed in anger. Sachi took one deep breath and let it out as a sibilant sigh. 'What can we do, Fire, short of challenging her?'

The red-haired Wolf snarled under her breath, water-hued eyes locking with her friend's golden gaze. 'You challenge her, blast it! You are the Alphas' daughter!'

'And they left me quite a legacy, didn't they?'

Years went by. Without older leadership, role-models, or examples to follow, the twenty-some young Wolves that now made up Silverwood adopted two new Alphas: Dakaya was a silver-tongued diplomat and Tepura, his sister, was the voice of cold, clear logic. Dakaya appeased the neighboring packs, keeping them from tearing Silverwood apart for years, while Tepura barely held the pack's domestic life together. As Sachi and Jay, now linked by a blood ritual, grew into adulthood, both Alphas began failing at their tasks. It was Tepura's hatred of Sachi that would be her ultimate downfall...

Fire cringed, recoiling as though she'd been slapped. The two women had had this argument ever since Sachi was a full adult and able to challenge for Alphaship; it had never been settled, not even as Silverwood's status fluctuated wildly under Tepura. Dakaya had his paws full dealing with neutral packs and Silverwood's one ally, Clearwater; it was the Alpha female who controlled the pack. And of late, her control had become a dictatorship.

Jay's hand didn't move from the short Wolf's shoulder, his other still balancing The Beast against his shoulder, but the swordsman glanced at his sister in silence. Sachi sighed, 'Sorry, Fire. But tails, I can't do anything. None of us can.' The silence of an approaching Wolf brought the three around, only to see Desheh padding forward on mud-brown paws in Wolf form. Fire's cousin had his ears low, silver eyes half-lidded; it made for an oddly subdued look in the massive, hulking male. Behind him was the taller, gaunt, iron-furred loner, Fire's older brother: Syhali. Even the ruthless male was silent and expressionless.

'What happened?' Sachi ventured, eyeing the two huge Wolves with worry barely flickering in her yellowed eyes. So much pain and trauma had made most Silverwood members numb to any more bad news...

The pack continued in a downwards spiral. A few Wolves were lost every season, either in battle or to the promise of a better life in another pack. With slowly dwindling numbers, Silverwood continued to do worse and lose more territory, but unless they produced a litter of pups, they would continue to be strangled by their greedy neighbors. However, with less and less land and resources, there was no time nor enough food to raise pups... not to mention the lack of mated pairs who would be capable parents. Tepura would not even consider searching out decent, packless Wolves to adopt into the pack, though this was the only solution readily apparent...

Syhali shook his head, exhaustion lining the rough-furred male's every bony inch. He had once been well-muscled, like his cousin, Sachi thought to herself. Silverwood had drained the self-proclaimed loner. It had them all. Instinctively, Desheh shifted to human form to match his companions, brown fur of varying shades thinning to mild brown skin and lengthening to a hip-length braid of reddish hair, garnet tunic and trousers ragged and blood-stained. Syhali slowly followed the example, losing none of his gauntness as grey fur became dark greybrown skin and short-cropped black hair, his dark clothing just as worn as his cousin's.

'The pack we lost to last night just got new Alphas. They're the ones Dakaya was worried about.' Desheh's deep, gravelly tone was tired. 'I think they're already planning a concentrated series of battles against us. We were walking the new border and were attacked.' Gold, aqua, and emerald eyes widened in unison at the thought of Syhali, one of the best warriors in the pack, and Desheh, an experienced Guard, losing to anyone. 'How many?' Jay queried, both black brows arched. Syhali turned his head and spit. 'Four.' Fire flinched before leaning heavily against Jay; the swordsman draped one arm across her slender shoulders, letting his gargantuan blade fall to the ground from limp fingers.

Slowly, the entirety of the pack turned against their Alphas. Dakaya's diplomatic efforts had nearly failed completely, and though they still liked him, he was no longer an effective leader. Tepura was disliked or hated, and as time went on and Silverwood continued to lose ground and Wolves, mutiny was brewing, something unheard-of on Alasa-Ca...

Sachi suddenly blurred, moving too fast to be seen by using a bit of her well-developed energy, and lashed out, her fist sinking ten inches into a six-foot-wide tree trunk. Bark chips and organic dust billowed briefly, but none of the other Wolves nearby even flinched. Trees all around the territory bore such abuse, a reception of repressed anger and desperation. For the first time, the white Wolf seriously debated challenging Tepura--

A growl abruptly broke out among the human-formed Wolves, and Sachi spun with instinctive rage staining her gold eyes fire-orange. Intruder. That threat unified, however briefly, the dozen or so Wolves in the area, and they were on their feet with weapons drawn to face it.

Palms outwards in a sign of peace, a tall, well-built young man stepped out of the forested shadows. Sun-bleached blonde hair that fell in a silky waterfall to his elbows was a sharp contrast against dark mocha skin, and the Wolf grinned only slightly as the Silverwood Wolves recognized him as being from Clearwater--an ally, not a threat. 'Symah.' Sachi sighed and went to meet him, adrenaline draining out of her form and leaving her even wearier than before. Emerald eyes glittered in tacit apology as he dropped his hands and hooked his thumbs into the waistband of his black trousers, which were his only article of clothing other than his sandals.

'My apologies, Sachi. I'm here on official duty, though why they send a loner like me out to do this, I'm sure I don't know.' The dark-skinned Wolf held up one finger before Sachi could offer the location of the Alphas, and his lips twitched in what might have been a grin at her confused expression. 'This message is from my Alphas, but mostly Nihmasu, right to you.' Gold eyes narrowed slightly, but Symah shrugged. 'Nihmasu told me herself what to do, Sachi. This is to you and you alone. And I assure that it has nothing to do with your cousins in Clearwater,' he added with a soft smile.

Sachi nodded slowly, then bit back a surprised noise as Symah reached out and lightly touched her shoulder; the blond Wolf teleported them both out to the Cats' edge of the transpack hunting grounds. 'Easier done than said,' he offered as way of explanation, grinning slightly. She nodded, then folded her arms in silence; Symah took his cue and began reciting the message in a narrative voice.

'This to Sachi from Nihmasu, Alpha female of Clearwater, Silverwood's one ally. I believe I know you well enough to speak very frankly, Sachi, and I trust our Symah implicitly. As you know, my mate Cahdah and I are aging. It is only a matter of months before we step down from Alphaship and let our daughter, Rydoni, take her rightful place. Your cousin Acuya will join her as Alpha male; they've been mates for almost a year now, thankfully. But of all this you're already aware.'

Symah paused, closing his eyes in an effort not to watch Sachi's expressionless face. How could a Wolf be so unresponsive to hear from an official source that one of her few relatives is becoming Alpha, an honor of which most Wolves can only dream? 'Of this, you are not. I have no wish to step down while Tepura is still in power and Dakaya ailing. Cahdah and I fear that your Alpha male will not recover. Should that happen, Tepura would have the option of refusing a replacement, and that she would surely do. This must not happen...'

The spearman eased his eyes open again, pale brows falling as his tone deepened slightly. 'This must not happen. Sachi, as your friend and mate-linked relative, I implore you to do something. And, as the Alpha of Clearwater, your pack's sole ally, I demand it. You have our full support. Much of Clearwater considers you and Jay to be the only reason Silverwood is still alive. You are, you know. I give you my Symah to help you. I will give you anything in my power, anything you ask.

'But promise me this, Sachi. You cannot let Tepura stay in power. She will destroy you, and that will wound Clearwater. If nothing else, get your Wolves to come here. Any Silverwood Wolf is welcome at Clearwater as a permanent resident, no questions asked, no past attached.'

Symah studied the woman before him, gauging her reaction. She was surprised, of course, but there was also a tired, pained light in her eyes that worried him. He'd known her since they both became adults, and he had never before seen that. 'Sach'?' The low tenor seemed to wash over the white Wolf without registering, but she opened her eyes again after another second. 'You... need an answer now...?' Feeling a surge of pity for this Wolf and this pack, he gripped her shoulders tightly, ignoring the startled look. 'Sachi, by the burning suns above, you already know the answer. You've known it for ages. There is one way to live, and there are many ways to die... Nihmasu now offers you a way to escape both and start anew. Choose a path... which I know you've already done... so tell me what it is.'

There was a long moment of silence, Sachi's face a study in not giving away a single thought or emotion. Symah dropped his hands from her shoulders, waiting; finally, she moved, reaching out to take one of his hands and clasp it in her own. 'Symah,' she said in a very quiet voice, 'I am going to need your help.'

The loner grinned, giving her fingers a squeeze. 'You've got it.'