Of Silver and Gold (Silver's Backstory)(Not an RP)

I am running. Running away.
   I don’t know where I am running to.  Somewhere safe is all I hope.  There has to be somewhere safe.  The world isn’t all bad, is it?
   And yet I know I’m running from something bad.  But what? I have no clue. I cannot seem to recall.  I cannot seem to recall anything. I don’t remember anything.
   My memories seem to be lost.  Torn away from me until I can’t remember anything.  But I can still feel the pain of their absence.  And even worse, I feel the pain of the faintest traces left behind.  Traces of their presence.
   I’m a wolf.  I know for certain.  Or at least I thought I knew.  Until I thought I remembered human things.  I don’t know what I really am, now.  But right now as I run, I am a wolf.  I feel my fur as the wind ruffles it up.  I feel my claws grabbing traction from the ground.  I feel wolfish senses greeting my nose and ears and mouth.
   But I should think about that later.  I have more important issues to deal with than knowing who I am.  Like running.  I have to keep running.  I don’t know why, but I must keep running.  Maybe I’ll understand later.
   It’s dark.  It’s so dark.  All I can see is shadows.  The darkest faint outlines of broken darkness, which happen to be dark reflections of things living and things not. Onto the ground they shine, where they melt into darkness as they mingle with other shadows.
   That’s all darkness is.  Shadows.
   The shadows around me are from the tilt of the earth.  But darker shadows come from the smaller parts of life around me. Trees, and bushes, and small nocturnal creatures.  And of course, one very quick shadow that dances across the land silently.  My shadow.
   But my shadow slows as I begin to slow.  And as this happens, the trees’ shadows are blurring by less fast.  And I can see them.  And they frighten me.  Huge, long shadows that stretch all the way across the ground.  And they appear to reach for me.  They frighten me so, that I actually think I feel them pulling on me.
   Tugging at my fur.
   Why should this bug me? Why should I feel so frightened? It doesn’t make sense. I need to take a break. I need to slow more.
   Just a little break.
   It is only when I slow to a stop that I realize how very much I need a break.  Each muscle in me is screaming.  I guess I must have been ignoring their desperate pleas for me to stop.
   I find a small cave-shaped den. It seems to be as good a place as any to rest.  It seems pretty safe to me.  Nothing seems to have lived here in a long time.  In fact, this whole forest is pretty empty.  It makes me wonder why there are only small rodents.  I wonder where the predators all went.
   But that doesn’t matter now.
   If I’m breaking from running I should probably rack my brain for any memories.  It would be helpful if I knew what on earth I was running from.  Or perhaps know who I am or who my parents are or something.
   I lay down and try to think.  But it takes longer than I would have wished for any thought to form in my mind.  I concentrated really hard on forming a story in my head.  If I knew anything, could remember anything at all, I might be able to remember more.
   Bang!
   What was that?
   That one noise in the distance seems to trigger my brain.  The noise isn’t important to me.  It’s miles away.  Gears start turning and I put two and two together.  I see a grainy image in my mind.
   Humans.  Men.  Hunters.  Guns.
   A picture of wolves.  A family.  The mother was silver.  The father was gold.  And there were three pups.  Two were black.  And one was silver.  She was like the mother.
   And I come to realize something as these memories flood me.
   I am the silver wolf.  Or was.  I’m not sure.  With soft, shiny, greyish fur.  And two eyes that didn’t match.  The right one the darkest, most earthy brown.  And the right one, the lightest, gentlest blue color.  I was nearly a yearling.
   But the picture I see of the family.
   Something is wrong.
   I am just seeing it inside my head, a memory forming a movie.  But something seems wrong.  So very wrong.
   I thought the wolves were sleeping.  But, why would they be sleeping out in an open field?  And that angle doesn’t look comfortable . . . .
   They are dead.  All of them but me. That’s why I remember the hunters.  My family is dead.  All as gone as my memories were.
   We were a strange family, I feel.  We were humans.  I was right.  But we could be wolves if we wanted to.  And we mostly wanted to.  Because the human world is greedy and unkind.  We would rather be free.
   I think I faintly recognize names.  Silver was my mother.  Gold was my father.  Those weren’t their birth names, though.  They had renamed themselves.  My sister’s name was Ebony.  And my brother was Eclipse.
   But I don’t remember my name.
   I snap out of my thinking as I almost start to cry.  I have to keep moving.  Even if I feel safe here.  There’s no food.  Or water.  Or other wolves.
   I would surely die without those three things.  They are the only things I feel I need.  I cannot live long without them.
   As I think of this my tummy seems to agree.  And it growls loud enough for it to echo around the cave I’m in.  I almost start to giggle.  But it’s really hard to giggle when you know you just came from a bad situation.  Though I do manage a slight smile, and I makes me feel better.
   I’m prepared to keep running until I find my three vital necessities.  Food.  Water.  More wolves.
   I begin to run faster.  I can run really fast as a wolf.  And for a really long time.  But I won’t be able to run forever.  I sure hope I get to an alive part of these woods soon.
∞∞∞
I’m about ready to take a break again.  I think I’ve been running for hours.  Because the shadows are all dying as the sun begins to replace them.
   But a sudden noise stops me.
   A howl in the close distance.
   A howl!  I’m near other wolves!  If there are other wolves, then there must be food and water and a way to survive!
   This excitement gets me running faster and faster until I think my lungs might implode and my muscles catch on fire.  I burst through the thick undergrowth and bushes.
   And I’m on the edge of a gorge.  The drop where I’m at into the gorge is small and not very steep.
   I see wolves.  Wolves everywhere!  They are milling around the gorge.  Some with prey in their mouths, others playing with each other, and a few on top of a big boulder, talking amongst themselves.
   There are humans here, too!  Walking around as normally as the wolves.  And the wolves don’t seem to mind.  The people are getting jugs of water from a thick stream that runs down the center.  Some of the teenagers hang around the edges of the entire place.  Luckily not near the edge I’m hiding at, though.
   Are they like me? Are they wolves who are humans?  Humans who are wolves?  I hope so! I don’t want to be alone!
   I almost jump up in excitement.
   But I hear a voice.  I almost jump anyways.  Not in excitement, but at the fear that someone found me.  I’m going to be in trouble!  They won’t let me be here!
   I don’t know what the voice said.  I wasn’t paying attention.  But it was only a few short syllables.
   But when I turn around to see who spoke, I see a gentle, kind face.  The face of a young human woman.  From behind her crawls out a pup a little older than me.
   She has tan skin and long, reddish-brown hair.  Her eyes are a shade of aqua-blue that remind me of diamonds.  And they shine like gems, too, to add to the effect.
   The pup behind her looks just like her.  But he’s a guy.  And he happens to be a wolf. Not a person like her.
   And she’s smiling at me.  Not scowling.
   “What’s your name?” she asks.
   I’m afraid to speak back.  I don’t know what my name is.  She seems to understand that I don’t feel like talking.  So she just backs away a little and opens her arms for me to jump in, as if she wanted to take me.
   It looks safe here. Food and water and other wolves.  Not just any other wolves.  But wolves who look like caring wolves.
   I jump in her arms and she has no trouble carrying me. It reminds me of how a mother would be.  Soft and gentle.  Steady.  I almost fall asleep as I think she carries me towards the center of the gorge.  And a thought hits me.
   A mother?
   I suddenly think of my mother.
   “My name is Silver,” I whisper.
   I named myself after my mother.