Nootau sat atop a rock in a small clearing in the forest, looking up at the twilight sky. He had gotten on a nocturnal kick recently, and twilight was a time of waking and searching for breakfast. But he had done both, and so was gazing up at the eternal sky. The bright blue of the day was fading into a soft purple before the black of night would fade in. The birds were growing silent as they returned to their nests, and their songs were replaced by the lullabies of crickets. His orange eyes glowed when the light caught them, enhancing their color, but his rich brown and cream fur became muted as the sun finally disappeared over the horizon, marking the end of a cold day. Nootau shivered slightly as the coolness of night tried to penetrate his thick fur. Still, he didn’t feel motivated to move from his spot.

He was thinking about his past, and all the wolves he had met. He remembered his mom a bit, but her form was pale and abstract and his former packmates seemed foreign when the images of their wolf faces danced before his mind’s eye. He wondered why they had abandoned him – not that he was sad about, really. He was quite enthralled, actually. They hadn’t physically abused him… they had just worked him hard and fed him too little. But that was also to be expected because food was hard to come by where he was from. This was why he was currently underweight. The appearance was worsened by the fact that he was as tall he as was going to get, but had yet to fill out. He was a young wolf and between the stages of pup and adult hood. It gave him an odd look – leggy and narrow. He was 33 inches tall, and certainly not at all the big buff-male that was threatening.

He might be though, when he filled out. The black on his back, shoulders, neck, head, and face might add to an intimidating effect one day. For right now though his coloring camouflaged him into the darkening forest. The night pressed against him, and slowly, he realized that he was very lonely. Wolves were pack animals, after all. Nootau knew that there were wolves in this area because he had picked up traces of their scents. He wondered if any were nearby. He lifted his head and formed his lips to howl. The sound was full and straight from his chest. Where are you [other wolves]? it seemed to express.