Long ago the spirits of the four animals, cats, dogs, birds, and fish, and the spirits of nature, fire, lightning, ice, and wind came into contact with what was known as man. (Of course there are other animal spirits and forces of nature, but these are most commonly recognized as the first.) Our ancestors split off from the rest of humanity, and joined nature, (and good thing they did, because not long after the rest of humanity died off). After this, we began to connect deeper to nature, and where born with a spirit animal connected  to a force of nature. One day, generally after the age of six or seven, the animal will reveal itself. It will generally appear when your alone, and will usually appear made out of the force of nature you (and they) are imbued with. When they. . .

Hynth Ilmoor sighed epically, and looked up from his book. WHY? Why did they need to spend hours learning stuff they already knew? He raised his hand, and got permission to go to the bathroom. then slipped outside of the building. And wondered for the billionth time why they had school inside. He could already feel his focus returning, as the cool grass soothed his sore feet. A warm summer breeze blew his hair out of his face. But the breeze slowly strengthened getting colder, the grass beneath his feet frosted over, poking into his toes. But strangely the cold didn't bother him, it felt like coming home. The frost formed a path leading to a small grove of leafless trees. As Hynth approached the grove, he heard a light howl. He took a few steps into the grove, and found leafless, snow covered trees spreading for miles around him. A flurry of snowflakes drifted past, and suddenly Hynth was surrounded by twelve wolves. The leader was a large arctic wolf, ice swirling over his fur in majestic patterns.

The leader wolf knelt, and bowed its head. Hynth understood that this was his spirit animal, an ice wolf. The wolves howled, and Ray joined them, Slowly morphing forward, until he was a wolf. Hynth quickly morphed back into human form, but he still had wolf ears and a tail. The leader wolf howled and turned into a swirling column of ice, the wolf/ice column thing flew into Hynth, and he suddenly found himself lying on his back, at the edge of a groove a fruit trees. Hynth stood, still not believing what just happened. His tail whisked against his leg, causing Hynth to scream for a second. He headed inside, giddily, but a question hummed in the back of is mind. He knew generally the spirit animal was similar to that of your parents. His mom, dad, older brother, and older sister, were all fire lions, how could he be an ice wolf?

Hynth leaned back against the trunk of the tree he was sitting in, his tail spinning in lazy circles. It was midwinter, and any one else would be near a fire. The cold wind brushed up Hynth's arm, ruffling his short sleeves. It was probable 20 something degrees (Fahrenheit, around negative six Celsius) but the cold comforted him. He started climbing down the tree, and froze for a second. Being raised by lions, he had climbed trees a lot. But as a wolf, he often got moments of fear, or doubt when he started to climb up or down. He jumped the last seven feet, landing lightly, slightly crouched. He stood, brushing himself off. He focused, and created a small ball out of ice, which he began throwing skyward, and catching again. He thanked the tree, and headed off, walking in the direction of a small building. He opened the doors of the school and slipped inside. It was break time right now, and his ‘pack’ stood in a corner, talking and laughing.

“Hey, its the lone wolf,” his friend, Flix teased, as Hynth walked over.

Flix was a wind wolf, the only one in the group. They where all wolves of course, they were a pack, with the ‘alphas’ in charge of the group. They had the same in and outs as any other wolf pack. But the ‘challenges’ for rank were much gentler. Flix was a ‘beta' his sister Relin was also a beta, and a lightning wolf. 

Hynth grinned, he was probable the lowest rank in the pack, despite being the only ice wolf. His disregard of rules made it harder for him to gain way into the pack. The only reason he wasn't an ‘omega’ was because he was a good fighter, and had helped the pack out of a few tight spots.

“Lost in your own world again, huh?” Flix asked, bumping his shoulder.

“Well, no matter how little imagination one has, the world in their head is better then any world your in,” Hynth answered.

“Funny, I was thinking the same thing about you,” Relin teased, tossing her hair back. Hynth smirked at her, slightly raising an eyebrow at her fuzzy blue jacket.

“What's with the wardrobe choice Rel?” he motioned at her jacket. And Relin blushed lightly.

“It was cold, and this is the warmest jacket I have,”

“You call this cold?” Hynth asked. He raised his arms and breathed deeply, ice swirled around him, dropping the temp another five degrees.

“Stop,” Rel said, shivering. Hynth simply grinned, as the flurry turned into a mini blizzard centered on him.

“Cut that out, now,” The alpha-a seventeen year old wolf named Klern-commanded, snarling.

“What if I don't want too?” Hynth said, winking at Rel.

“Is that a challenge?” Klern growled. The air crackled with tension, or maybe from Klern's lightning powers.

“Do you want it to be?” Hynth asked, raising an eyebrow, letting the flurry subside.

“Do you, dog?”

“Maybe later, this is my favorite shirt, I don't want your blood on it,” The rest of the pack had gathered around, watching the exchange, a few winced as Hynth said that, a few grinned.

“Watch it mutt, just turn down the snow. And think twice before being rude to me," he flexed large muscles as he said this, smiling coldly.

“You flex your muscles, while the one between your ears isn't strong enough to realize that the snow has stopped already,” Hynth taunted.

“What did you say to me?” Klern roared. Most of the pack started laughing, which only made Klern madder. “You little runt, I'm gonna sma. . .” He was interrupted by a petite girl with fiery hair and gray eyes. She slipped in between them, and placed a hand on Klern's shoulder, meeting his seething gaze.

“You have to calm done. Getting so worked up over a joke from family is unbecoming of your status,” It was Sary, the other alpha.

“It's unbecoming of his status to taunt and make fun of me like that,” Klern growled. He turned to Hynth, who winked at him. “That's it!” he roared. “Hynth, you are hereby and henceforth banished from the pack,. Anyone seen associating with this wolf will be banished as well as charged for treason!” Stunned silence followed the outburst, everyone looked shocked. But Hynth just grinned, met Klern's eyes, and winked.

“Your loss,” he said, before turning on his heels and walking off. The sound of Klern screaming followed him out the door.

“You got kicked out of the pack?” Hynth's mother asked, her lion-like tail flicking around.

“Not for long,” Hynth said, smiling. 

“What do you mean, not for long?” His mother got nervous about almost every wolf related thing. Getting kicked out of the pack? It was a wonder she hadn't passed or, or gone crazy from the stress. Before Hynth could answer, A low howl rang through the air.

“What was that?” his mom snapped. Looking around wide eyed.

“Relax, its just Flix and Rel,” The two in question appeared a few minutes later.

“Hello Mrs. Ilmoor,” Flix said, as he walked up to where they where sitting under a tree.

“Hello Flirex, Hello Relin,”

“Please just call me Flix,” Flix said. He had always hated his full name.

“Oh alright,” Mrs. Ilmoor said, chuckling softly. She started heading inside, glancing at Hynth. He nodded, and she headed inside with a sigh.

“So, what are you guys doing here?” Hynth asked, turning to Flix and Rel.

“Me and Relin wanted to make sure your okay,” Hynth nodded, smiling slightly.

“I'm good,”

“Also, are you sure it's a good idea? I mean, you've never showed any interest in leading the pack before,"

“I'm not gonna stay alpha, I just want to get that jerk out of the way,”

“You really think that the rest of the wolves will let you just walk away, and whats to stop Klern from coming and taking over again? There was a bunch of people talking about maybe leaving and forming a new pack. I mean, we would have been swallowed by the Red Moon pack, but you saved us, you give them hope,”

“You are our strongest fighter, if you had any shred of of pride, or love for our pack, you would become alpha,” Rel said quiet bit firmly.

“PRIDE FOR OUR PACK? LOVE FOR OUR PACK? I ALMOST GAVE MY LIFE FOR IT!” He pulled down his shirt at the  right shoulder, showing a large scar that stretched from his shoulder down past where his shirt ended. “DOES THAT LOOK LIKE I DON'T LOVE EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM? I AM NOT A LEADER, IT WOULD ONLY HARM THEM IF I BECAME THE ALPHA. SO MAYBE LISTEN TO WHAT YOUR SAYING BEFORE YOU SPEAK!” Hynth had tears rolling down his face at this point, he turned his back on them, storming inside. Flix tried to run after them, but a wall of ice appeared, blocking the way in.

“What was that all about?” Rel asked, as Flix turned to her.

“Hynth is. . .” he paused for a second, choosing his words carefully. “. . . I think he's scared. He always felt like an outcast, a loner. He's a wolf born to lions for heaven's sake. He doesn't see what me and you do,”

“Well I'll wait,” Rel said stoutly.

“What's that supposed to mean?”

“That's for me to know, and you to wonder,” she sashayed away before Flix could say anything else.

Hynth sat alone in a small corner, his eyes closed, leaning back slightly. He knew that there were other settlements of people. Some of them acted a lot less like their spirit animal then his village did. Why did they need to live in packs? Why did they need to have an alpha? Couldn't they just get along? He sighed, and made a bed of snow. He curled up,closing his eyes. He was just about to fall asleep, when his mom called him for dinner.

His older sister-Blix-was already there, filling their plates. His mom was looking around for salt or something, and his little sister, Miat-who had just found out she was a fire lion-was playing with there baby-Grewen-who was only a-year-and-a-half-old.

“Hey honey,” Hynth's dad said as he walked in. Hynth's older brother-Strelwig-walked in a second later. Dinner was good, consisting mostly of some sort of steak or something. It always felt strange eating meat, I mean, what if it was an animal he had known? Hynth sighed as he finished eating. Tomorrow he would have to go to school. Where he would be the only wolf in the wolf section without a pack. If anything else, tomorrow was sure to be interesting.

“As you know, we are endowed with a spirit animal, and a force of nature, each one of us has the power to invoke the powers that the spirit granted us. One way we do so is by using the force nature we were endowed with, to perform minor wonders,” He waved his hand, and a wind blew across the room, sending papers flying. “We can also use the abilities of our animal spirit. But we can take it a step further,” He ruffled the small feathers on his hands and they began to glow. He transformed into a small whirl wind, and out came a bird. Then the bird slowly morphed back into a middle age, feathery man. “As you know, there is another type of people, sometimes known as the Lycans (Lie-sins), or their full name, Lycanthropes, (lie-santh-ropes). They only have a spirit animal, and are almost, half that animal. There are specific types, such as werewolves, or werebears, as well as smaller things, like wererats. We can also turn into our animal forms. . .”

“Gee, I didn't realize, I have never seen anyone do that before,” Hynth said dryly, rolling his eyes.

"I'm sorry Mr. uhm, anyway would you like to teach this class, or will you allow the professional to continue.

“Your a professional? Huh, could've fooled me. And by the way, my last name is Ilmoor, and I would love to teach the class,” Hynth stood, and smirked.

“Uh wait what?” the teacher  asked confused.

“Sit down Mr. M. if I am the teacher for a minute, then you are a student, so if you have something to say, raise your hand,”

“Okay, class.  As you know, we all have some trace traits of our spirit animal. Ears, tails, feathers, stuff like that. Maybe we are faster, or stronger then normal. Now the easiest to focus on is the most superficial traits, for me, my ears and tail,” Hynth reached up and rubbed the fur on his canine ears.

“Over the years we have gotten used to these, abnormalities. But I stress the term abnormalities. If you focus you can feel a difference there. The same thing you do to feel your power,” he held up his hand, and it glowed slightly, before frosting over. “you can use that sense to feel the difference, then, change it back to normal,” As he spoke his ears and tail glowed at the tips, the glow spread down his whitish silvery fur, erasing any trace of their existence. Hynth brushed back part of his whitish hair that matched the color of his fur, and showed regular ears. “I forgot how much better you hear with wolf ears,” Hynth said, laughing. “Okay, I want you guys to practice this, until either everyone gets it, or class is over,” Hynth sat down, giving occasional advice to those who needed it.  Mr. M. got it immediately, and Hynth called him over.

“Sir, you are very good at this, you can be my assistant today, I want you to help the others get it,”

“Okay,” he growled, turning and stomping off. By the end of class almost everyone had mastered it, and Hynth asked the few who didn't to practice it, then dismissed the class.

“Mr. Ilmoor, please see me at my desk,” Mr. M. called, beckoning him over. Some girl with cat like ears, and black lines on her face like a cheetah elbowed him.

“Your gonna get it now,” she whispered, giggling.

“Yes Mr. M?” Hynth said, walking over.

“As much as I appreciated your lesson, you were extremely disrespectful, and rude, so you will have detention for a month,”

“Yes sir,” Hynth replied, picking up the detention slip and turning to go. He quickly turned back though. “Um. Sir why did you do what I said when I was, uh, teaching?”

“There is something about you Hynth. Something . . . different. I wanted to see how you would handle the lesson. Most of the teachers here assign you no value, and see no future for you. But I think that if you apply yourself, you can achieve something great, after all, the lower you can sink, the greater your potential, right?”

“Right. Thank you sir,” Hynth mumbled, running a hand through his still ear-less hair. He walked away, and his wolf ears and tail reappeared, as his human ones disappeared.

What had Mr. M. meant when he said there was something about him? Was it a good thing or a bad thing? Did all the teachers really think he was a failure?

“What are you doing here?” someone hissed at him, pulling him from his thoughts. He realized he was in the Golden Fangs lunchroom, years of habit had brought him there. He thanked Thlia-the wolf that had warned him-before speedily backtracking out of the Golden Fangs territory. Deciding he had no other choice, Hynth donned a plane gray hat, marking himself as a lone wolf, and went to the nearest lunchroom. He was soon in the territory of the Black Jaws, and was almost immediately spotted by a wolf and taken to the 'alpha'.

One of them looked around seventeen, she had brown hair, and an olive complexion, a small staff that looked like lightning in her hand. The other was large with dark skin and a swollen, crooked nose. Sadly Hynth recognized him, after all he was the one who broke his nose. Hynth went on his knees in front of him, and looked up at him.

“Please, O great leader of the Black Jaw, allow me to shelter here for a time. I am alone, and hold no malice toward you, nor toward anyone in this illustrious pack. I do not seek shelter nor food passed today. Only for this hour do I ask for your help. Please do not turn your brother away empty handed,” Hynth wondered if it sounded as forced to them as it did to him.

“Brother? So now you are our brother?” He pointed at his swollen crooked nose. “Does ones brother do this? You are our enemy, not our brother!” Hynth decided to stop the act.

“Oh good, because I really didn't want to be a part of a pack with such a stupid name. I mean who the heck came up with Black Jaw. It sounds like some sort of shark species,” Hynth made a deep, monotonous voice. “And here we see one of natures finest and most dangerous predators. The Black Jawed Shark. It appears to be almost flying as it circles a small school of fish. The fresh blood in the water whipping it into a frenzy,” he laughed, before tuning and walking off. “Well, see you later,” he looked back and winked at him. “Bye,” He was halfway out the door before he heard shouts to stop him. In a second he was surrounded by wolves, and dragged back until he was facing the ‘alphas’. 

“You think you can walk in here, make fun of us, and just leave?”

“Well, I figured your crooked nose would remind you not to mess with me,”

“What did you say?”

“Nothing, just that your a weak loser and should think twice before threatening me, ”

“WHAT DID YOU SAY?”

“You need me to repeat it again? Seriously? Are all ‘alphas’ this stupid, or just you?”

“WHAT DID YO. . .” a Sphere of glowing blue ice erupted outward from Hynth, blasting everyone away and cutting off the ‘alpha’ mid sentence.

“I told you not to threaten me,” Hynth said laughing. Everyone was covered in frost, and could barely move. “See ya,” Hynth saluted and walked away, chuckling silently. He had been right, today WAS interesting.