54. Cade
Cade
We all stood at the tree line. All the contestants for this challenge were passing several things back and forth. They would need to catch the scent. Kaya had helped design this particular challenge, but she did not know where we had hidden the objects that contained the scents. There were three objects out in the forest that all the competitors would try to find.
The three objects had a faint smell of what they were sniffing now. All three objects had a different smell. These objects were small and easily concealed, so finding them would take a lot of work. I wondered if one person would get all the objects or if it would be one object per person. We would soon find out. I spoke to the people milling about getting ready to watch.
"All of you have had a chance to get a smell of the scents you will be tracking. Three objects need to be found. Judging will be based on the time you retrieve the items and what you get, as each object is concealed in various degrees. And you will do this challenge in human form." This would be much harder as a human instead of a wolf. Wolfs had better noses, which is why it was a tough challenge.
If she had been competing, Kaya would have had no problem sniffing out the objects; her sense of smell was beyond that of the average. Kaya had given tips to some of the competitors from Shadow Pack. It surprised me that she went out of her way to provide them with a leg up. It showed me at least she was rooting for us. My feelings about where her loyalties lay made me nervous.
The fact she so blindly loved the North and openly scorned the South. She was a luna of a southern pack she would need to come around. When the tournament was over, she would implement some things she did growing up, which might help her not hate the South so much. She at least would feel more connected to Shadow Pack, and that is all I could hope for. And her changes would be good for the pack. I liked seeing her encourage our pack.
"Get ready, go." The people who were competing took off running into the woods. Kaya came up and stood next to me. "Our pack should do good." She said over the link. "What advice did you give them?" "I told them that as well as using smell, they should also track. I know their nose is not as advanced as mine; people left those objects. Meaning they left some kind of path to the objects. A good tracker does not just rely on smell if they are struggling; I told them to look for evidence that someone had passed through the area."
"That is good advice." "Yeah, so do you think anyone will fight?" She asked over the link. "Without a doubt." Yeah, I was sure that if someone found an object and was running back, they may want to take it for themselves and get the glory. There would be fights. "It will be a while until anyone comes back. Do you want to check on the people from the test yesterday?" She nodded and took my arm. We walked to the arena.
I felt something cold on my cheek. Kaya looked up to the sky. Tiny white snowflakes had begun to come down. Winter was officially here. Kaya mind linked me: "Will the snow stop, or will it just keep coming like it does in the North? Once it starts, it never stops until the spring." I smiled at her. "No, it will stop and start and stop again. It does not snow every day."
We sat down in one of the arena seats. A few others had come to see how everyone was doing. Three people had dropped out since yesterday. But there were still 10 people running. I saw that one of Shadow Pack was still running. His name was George. He was a young warrior and had good stamina. He looked exhausted, though. So did all the others. I looked to see Saka, who was just running as if he was yesterday. How was he so composed?
Kaya looked to be mind-linking with someone. I looked to the field and thought she was connecting to Saka, but he didn't look as if he was having a conversation. I looked to George, who now looked to be doing better. Was Kaya speaking to him. I mind-linked her. "Who were you speaking with?" "George." "What were you telling him." "That he is doing amazing, and he can do this. I told him I am proud of him for getting this far, and I know he has it in him to go a lot longer." "You didn't cheer Saka on?" She looked at her friend, who was doing just fine.
She linked me, "Saka does not need me to encourage him. He does not look to be struggling at all. George needed to be cheered on, so I did that." "Well, I think it was a good thing you did for him, Luna." "I am rooting for our pack. I want them to be better than most." "Even the north?" "Shadow Pack is equal in my mind as the North. I admit some things are backward, but I think they will get their priorities straightened out in time, especially with both of us leading."
"So you would not pick Shadow Pack over the north?" "Why must you continually ask me this question. I am loyal to this pack. I am rooting for them to win. I want Shadow Pack to be successful. I want the wolves in this pack to feel the goddess love and embrace her. I want this pack to be happy. What more can you ask for from a Luna?" "I am sorry. I just worry you will choose the North over us." "I won't need to. I told you before the North does not fight with one another. They will not fight against Shadow Pack now or ever, so there is no reason to pick sides."
There was truth in what she was saying. I felt a little jealous. I wanted her to feel overwhelming loyalty to the pack she now helped lead. But all her desires and actions in helping our pack with the challenges showed me she wanted us to succeed. What more could I hope for. And the things she wanted to change would make us stronger. I just needed to accept that she would never give up the North, and why would she. She had been told she would never leave it.
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