Tasha didn't allow the Luden to walk outside the den alone until he was older and more experienced.
One day, four cubs came outside Grey's den, nervously waiting. When Tasha noticed them, she called them to come inside. Once inside, they watched Luden standing and looking at them while shyly hiding behind Tasha. Tasha picked him up from behind and put him in front of her, and she watched with amusement as the five little ones communicated with each other.
The four cubs were initially nervous but soon got excited when they communicated with him and asked him to come outside to play. Luden looked at Tasha nervously and asked for permission. Once Tasha nodded at him, he got excited and ran outside with the other cubs to play, which marked his first time going outside alone and running around the pack.
Knowing that Luden was finally acquiring confidence and independence among the pack, Tasha watched with pride as he joined the fun. The other cubs were welcoming, and Tasha was delighted to watch her baby flourish.
Initially, the other wolves were wary of him, but as time passed, they accepted him as part of their pack. They realized that he was way more energetic than the other cubs and way smarter than them at learning things quickly.
The cubs were grateful to have him as a member of their pack. He brought a new level of enthusiasm and intelligence to their group dynamic when they played around the pack. The cubs weren't allowed to leave the pack and go out hunting even though the brown ancestral wolf pack they are part of is one of the strongest animal packs in the south side of the forest.
Because strong animals may harm the cubs if they leave, the cubs rely on the leadership of the older wolves to keep them safe and well-fed, ensuring their survival in the competitive forest environment. The cubs look forward to the day they will be old enough to join the hunts and contribute to the pack's success.
In the meantime, they spend their days playfully wrestling and practicing their hunting skills under the watchful eyes of the older wolves.
The family had just finished eating inside the den when Luden looked at his father and asked, "Dad, what does Luden mean?"
Surprised by the question, Grey chuckles and answers, "It means hope and life in our old language; it depends on how you add it to your full clan's name."
Luden takes a minute to process the answer, then looks at Tasha and asks, "What is our full clan name?"
"Hmm? Mine is Tasha le Tempest, says Tasha proudly.
"What does it mean?"
Tasha answers, "Well, for starters, Tasha means clouds, Le is our clan branch, which is short for white great wolves, and Tempest is our bloodline, meaning storm, you know because Mommy can conjure storm power with her bloodline."
"Cool!" Ludens exhales. Then he looks at his dad and asks, "What about Dad?"
Grey looks sad and sighs, "Mine is just Grey."
"Just Grey?" asks Luden.
"Yes, just Grey," answers Grey. Ludens looks at his dad with a mixture of confusion and disappointment. "But what does it mean?" Ludens persists. Grey looks at his son and says, "It means exactly what it sounds like," realizing that his father's name lacks the depth and meaning that Tasha's does. He wonders if there is more to his dad's name that he doesn't know about.
"What about mine?" finally asks Luden.
Tasha and Grey look at each other, surprised, and Tasha answers, "We were born with our clan names, but you can choose what you want to be called."
What do I want? Ludens takes a few minutes to think and says mine is "Luden Le Grey" because I want both of your names.
Grey and Tasha giggle at his decisions. "Luden Le Grey, I like it," Tasha smiles. "It's a perfect blend of our names," Grey adds, proud of his son's choice.
After a week, Grey's first complaint about Luden's inability to walk turned into a headache when Luden started to wreak havoc around the camp. His antics ranged from bothering the old wolves while they slept to howling at the moon daily and waking over cubs into joining him. Or to try to sneak outside the pack. Grey and Tasha quickly realized that Luden's mischievous behavior would be challenging. When raising their spirited son, they knew their work was cut out for them.
One day, while asleep in his den, the Ancestor noticed something tugging his paw. When he slowly opened his eyes, he noticed a two-foot-tall ball of trouble that had snuck into his den while he was asleep.
Smiling, he says, "So if it isn't the little troublemaker in my den, so little one, what are you doing here?"
Ludens looks up at the Ancestor, who looks like a mountain, and says, "I wanted to play with Big Grandpa because my friend is asleep." The old wolf chuckles at Ludens' boldness and gently nudges him with his paw.
"Play?" The Ancestor mutters and sighs. "I'm way too old for these, little Luden. How about I tell you a story?"
"Story?" Ludens' eyes light up with excitement at the mention of a story, nodding eagerly as he settles beside the Ancestor. The old wolf begins to weave a tale of ancient legends and adventures, capturing Ludens' imagination with each word.
. Meanwhile, Grey and Tasha searched the whole pack for Luden. When they finally learned he was at the old wolf's den, their hair stood on end, and they slowly started crawling there to sneak Luden out.
Once outside the den, they both argue about who should get Luden out. Finally, Grey finds courage and enters inside. Once inside, he notices the Ancestor is looking straight at him. Grey smiles sheepishly and bows, "Greetings to the Ancestor."
The Ancestor's eyes seem to twinkle with amusement as he nods in response to Grey's greeting. Grey's heart races with fear, and he nervously wonders what the old wolf might do to punish him. The Ancestor looks at him for a long time and finally says, "Well, it isn't the great alpha who can't even control his cub," with a smirk. "So, brat, do you want me to care for your cub after hundreds of years? And you too, lass, come inside," he yells at Tasha, who is sneaking away outside. Grey's face flushes with embarrassment as he stammers an apology, "I-I'm sorry, Ancestor." Tasha hesitates momentarily before reluctantly obeying the Ancestor's command and following Grey inside.
Once both of them stand before him, The Ancestor says, So how should I punish you?'
An hour later, a brown wolf approaches the Ancestor den. Once inside, he gets dumbfounded, seeing Gray and Tasha facing the wall at the back. At the same time, Luden is asleep on Ancestor's back. "Alpha Leader?" he shouts at Gray. Gray's body shakes, but he won't even dare to turn around and talk to the other wolf. The wolf remembers why he is here and shouts, "Greeting, Ancestor Lord Ruu Le Tempest is outside the pack and wants an audience with you." Tasha mutters under her breath, "Grandpa?"
The Ancestor looks at sleeping Luden, narrows his eyes, then looks at Gray and commands, "Gray, go and greet Ruu inside."
"Yes, ancestor," replies Grey and walks outside.
After a few moments, Grey comes back accompanied by a big white wolf as big as the Ancestor; once the other wolf comes inside, he looks around the den, notices Tasha, smiles at her, and then notices Luden, who is awake now and watching him with curiosity. With his big, wide eyes, he finally makes eye contact with the Ancestor. They both stare at each other, and the atmosphere becomes tense in the room... until. "Wow, he is as big as Grandpa and as strong, too."
The Ancestor sighs, "So what brings you to my humble pack, Ruu?"
Ruu looks at the Ancestor. "Can't I come to see an old body, Ulfr?" says Ruu, smirking and turning to Tasha. "How are you, child?"
Tasha smiles. "I'm good, Grandpa. It's good to see you."
"Good is fine," says Ruu, finally looking at Luden and saying, "Come here, boy."
Luden gets nervous and looks at his mom for confirmation. Tasha nods at him while smiling. Luden then slowly starts going to Ruu once he is close to him. Ruu bends down and looks at him closely with his big eyes, which are as big as Luden's, and starts sniffing him; Grey and Tasha watch him nervously.
Soon, Ruu says, "Hmm, I see," and turns to Grey and Tasha. "Child, leave me with this old fool alone." Tasha and Grey nod. Tasha gets close, picks Luden up, and walks outside Ancestor's den.
Once they leave, Ruu turns to the Acnestor and says, "You are making very risky moves right here, old friend."
The Ancestor looked at Ruu and asked, "just promise to see him as on of us."
Ruu sighed. "I will. So how is she as a mother?" Ruu asks while chuckling.
"Honestly, the boy is special and way too energetic for his kind and way smarter; you know he is a real pain to handle, but they are doing fine, apart from some mishaps. They are doing great.
Ruu nods in acknowledgment, a small smile playing on his lips. Ruu sighs. "She wanted a child even though I told her a tempest wolf won't have offspring if both parents aren't the same kind. I don't know what she saw in that brat, but I decided to stay with him no matter what at that time."
The Ancestor chuckles, "That brat happens to be the new Alpha."
Ruu, amused, says, "Will, isn't life something?" He slowly gets up. "Hmm, I'm going to bless them and leave you alone to sleep, you lazy old fool," says Ruu, who starts walking outside. Once, he was at the entrance. He looks back at the Ancestor and says hoarsely, "Goodbye, my old friend."
The Ancestors look sadly at Ruu's back and close his eyes. As Ruu walks away, the Ancestor whispers, "Goodbye, my dear friend."
As Luden grew, a new problem arose: Tasha and Grey noticed that other cubs were stronger than Luden. The animals evolved automatically without needing the chips as they grew. Yet, Luden remained unevolved, which became a problem when they went out and played hunting together.
They soon outran him and ran way faster than him. When they chased after a prey rabbit, they were able to catch it easily, but he struggled to keep up.
This problem became increasingly frustrating as he fell further behind his friends. Tasha and Grey realized that Luden needed help to keep up with the other cubs. They decided to seek advice from the pack's elders to find a solution for Luden's lack of evolution. But they were disappointed that this is how humans are.
One day, Luden accidentally discovers a new way to hunt: by making traps while playing with vines and twigs. Soon, this gave him ideas on how to use them in hunting to cover his shortcomings.
These traps started with simple rabbit traps with ropes and evolved to complex mechanics. His antics in the pack stopped when he discovered a new hobby of developing new ways to use tools and traps. He felt that the possibilities were endless here. Soon enough, other cubs didn't even know how they worked.
Luden became known as the innovative hunter among his friends, constantly surprising them with his inventions. His passion for creating new tools and traps ultimately improved the cub's hunting success rate.
When the Luden was 3 years old, Fang took all the cubs to teach them to hunt and survive in the wild.
Along the way, the cubs ran circles around Fang, so he had to yell at them occasionally to get them to behave. As time passed, he started to regret his decision to bring them here.
Fang complained along the way he was specifically frustrated by Luden using him as a mount and kept cursing Grey for this trouble he brought upon him.
Fang knew that the cubs would need to learn these skills to thrive in the wild one day. Despite his initial regret, he remained determined to see them through their training and ensure their success. So, he takes this job really seriously.
They move in a group along the way, Fang in the lead, surrounded by a Cubs while Luden runs circles around him. Fang has already gotten used to his shenanigans and ignores Luden. Finally, Fang notices all kinds of ropes, sticks, and weird items on Luden's back or tight around his waist. He remembers that his small son, who is Luden's friend, told him that Luden uses weird items in hunting.
Fangs takes the cub to a clearing that he knows houses many small animals suitable for the cubs to hunt. Finally, Fang ordered everyone to gather around him.