Juniper

Juniper in the tall summer grasses of First Meadow

## About Juniper

### Biography

Juniper was born to Luna and Red alongside his three sisters Fawn, Huntress and Opal inside the Bison Pass den. He has four older half-siblings, namely Gold, Galaxy, Jupiter and Saturn, because they have the same mother. His life started out slow, innocent and carefree, as all he would do was roll around in the warm spring grass and play with Opal. The two younglings would constantly stick by one another, talking, playing and scheming on how they would annoy the others. It was the two of them against the whole world for some time, and everything was bright and colorful. However, their childlike happiness didn’t last long; one dark night, Juniper and Opal couldn’t sleep no matter how hard they tried. Bored out of his mind, a fun idea popped into Juniper’s head – he dared his sister to leave the den site and wander away as far as she could. Reluctant but unwilling to leave her brother annoyed or angry with her, she accepted and slowly walked outside into the abyss of the night. She was good as blind outside and kept spinning around in circles for some time before hearing the alarmed barks of one of their other littermates. Scared, she tried her best to relocate the den, but it was too late as a sickly coyote emerged from the bushes. With absolutely zero hesitation, it ran toward her and bit her by the hind leg, shaking her in its jaws like a ragdoll. Gold, who was asleep behind one of the tall trees, was woken up by Huntress’ warnings and chased the attacking coyote away as quickly as he could, despite still being half asleep. Everyone woke up mere moments later, rushing to Opal’s side as Juniper could do nothing but stare, full of guilt. Across the following days, he stayed as close as he could to his heavily injured sister, as it was a miracle she even survived the coyote’s attack in the first place. He would allow her to eat most of his food and his bright, rambunctious personality toned down. Somehow, some way, Opal pulled through and the pack made their way to the summer rendezvous site, although she was left with a permanent limp. Time continued to pass and the seasons slowly changed, painting over one another. Before Juniper knew it, he was a yearling and traveling to Amethyst Mountain to learn to hunt.

Due to a string of bad luck, Juniper, his littermates and their parents arrived at Amethyst at the worst time possible. Soon after their arrival, they sensed a disgusting, ash-like stench, unlike anything they had ever sensed before. Nobody truly understood what was going on before them until Luna saw something that would haunt them all forever. A fire large enough to swallow the entire mountain whole had broken out amidst the trees of Fossil Forest, spreading at unimaginably fast speeds. None of them had experienced a fire of this size before, so they didn’t have the slightest clue as to what they needed to do. All they mustered up the strength to do was look around and try to find an escape route, yet time wasn’t on their side. A large, thick branch had caught aflame directly above Juniper’s head, ready to fall onto him; and he didn’t even notice. He was far too panicked to even think, and when the branch began its fall, Luna charged head-first into him to get him out of the way. It worked, but Luna herself didn’t have enough time to move to the side aswell. The branch of raw, searing flames had fallen onto her spine full force, killing her almost instantly. Watching the life leave his mother’s eyes when everything was alright a mere moment ago was absolutely horrifying – it petrified him, and all he could do was stare. That was the moment adrenaline kicked in and his legs started moving, and he began running without any sort of plan. Opal did her best to follow Juniper as they had remained close despite the coyote incident, tumbling and sliding downhill into him. At that point, the fire had spread to a point where Red, Huntress and Fawn could no longer reunite with the pair, making them take a completely different route in the opposite direction. Juniper and Opal, the two defenseless yearlings, were separated from everyone else in the middle of the fire, defenseless and alone. Their situation was absolutely horrible, and they didn’t see even the slightest chance of survival. Lost and disoriented, they simply continued to run as far as their feet took them, until they eventually just dropped. Out of energy, they just waited for someone to rescue them; and that’s exactly what happened. A pair of Druids, yearlings too, were in the same situation as them. Hydra and Snowstorm were their names, and the two just began dragging Juniper and his sister to the nearest creek, until they eventually reached a safe spot that the fire couldn’t reach. Snowstorm, being the soft-hearted one, was the one that convinced her brother to help the lost Moon Pack wolves. After taking a short time to catch their breaths and simply exchange names, they threw themselves into the river, but that was when Juniper noticed the burns covering his body. The adrenaline wore off, and he could feel everything. In a surprising turn of events, Hydra was the one to comfort him and say it would be alright. The group of four stuck around to defend themselves after escaping the flames, hurrying right back to Slough Creek which was thankfully unaffected. As they spent more time together, the two males realized just how many things they had in common - their close relationships with their sisters, the closeness they felt to their packs, and the way they both got separated from the rest of their pack. Turns out, most of the Druids had perished in the fire aswell, leaving him and Snowcone as their only successors. However, Hydra didn't have any interest in carrying on the pack legacy - instead, Snowstorm dispersed from the group in search of a new pack. She wished to go somewhere far, far away, as the memories of thse who perished or disappeared in the fire were far toohorrifying to think about. Sometime after Snowstorm departed, Hydra and Juniper shared their pasts with one another, and although they were both males, they felt a close bond and paired up. They stuck together for the next year, and once they were full adults, Opal found a mate of her own - Nightfall. Juniper and Hydra traveled to Slough Creek's First Meadow alongside Opal and her new mate, with a wish to carry on the Moon Pack's legacy.

In the midst of spring, Opal and Nightfall had a litter of 7 pups. However, they determined that they were unable to raise all of them at once due to Opal's weak leg and Nightfall's reocurring illnesses. Hydra and Juniper were unable to have pups of their own; however, they were in perfect health. They decided to adopt and raise 3 of the pups as if they were they own, namely Aurora, Cryo and Snowy. Snowy was named after Hydra's sister, so he held her particularly close from day one. Since they grew and learned to hunt properly by themselves with no assistance from the Moon Pack, they decided to seperate themselves from their natal pack and create something of their own - the Meadow Pack. In their time of ruling First Meadow and Grassy Plateau, Juniper and Opal found out what happened to their older half-siblings that had left even before The Burning. Jupiter and Saturn were taken by the flames not long after the fire even started, while Galaxy disappeared tracelessly despite escaping at first, leaving Gold as the only known survivor. He took it upon his hands to continue the legacy of the Moon Pack instead, as he was unaware of Red, Fawn and Huntresses locations, and whether or not they would simply toss the pack name away. To his disdain, Juniper and Opal were unaware of what happened aswell. They decided to have each other's backs from this point on, defending one another in fights with the other packs - especially Junction Butte, whose southern half was almost entirely driven out by Gold while he was healing from The Burning.

Some more time passed, and the younglings were large enough to travel to the summer rendezvous site just south of the den site. The sandy dunes cascaded down the hill, and they were horribly slippery and easy to slide down. It was fun for some time, so Snowy and Drift rolled and played in the sand until it was hard to even move. Their dizziness overtook them, and they were falling and slipping left and right. Juniper and Hydra followed closely behind, but once the sisters got lost in the grass at the bottom of the hill, they had to take the time to search for them while Opal watched the other five pups. An eagle with talons long and sharp as blades began circling while everyone was distracted with Snowy and Drift, and it was a game of who would get to them first. Time sped up. Then it slowed down. The colossal bird downturned its wings and took a deep plunge, aiming at Drift. The suddenly dangerous situation seemed hopeless for her, but that was when it happened. Shadow – one of the brothers that Opal was still responsible for – slid downhill through the sand, tossing it everywhere. The eagle came to a short stop, redirecting its attention to him in an instant. And then, it stabbed its talons into his sides before knocking up a gust of wind with its flapping wings. It flew far, far away with Shadow, and that was the last anyone saw of him. No time to mourn, no ability to properly bury him. He was in so much shock, it felt like Luna's death all over again. They had to continue moving without saying a single word, and Juniper couldn't find it in himself to bring it up even once they made it to the Rendezvous site. Hydra had to stay by his side as they both took in what happened. *Shadow was dead, and he was gone just like Red, Huntress, Fawn and Galaxy. There was no proper closure, no burial. Nothing.*

Although all the other pups ended up surviving, Opal didn't end up having a second litter, meaning Juni and his mate didn't get to have any more adoptive pups either. They accepted the decision, and felt content staying in the First Meadow territory, before eventually letting their adoptive daughter Snowy take over the pack legacy once she reached two years of age. Forgetting that Shadow ever existed was the apparent solution to most, though the message of life's unpredictability was something that stuck to Snowy in particular. She took great care of all her siblings and made sure nobody was ever left out again, even in the smallest way. She wanted to ensure that everyone stayed happy for as long as posible, and Juniper appreciated that greatly, so he had her take over the Meadow Pack's legacy - he knew his daughter would do just fine, and for that, he was thankful.

### Strength

Juniper wasn't particulary physically strong or terribly fast, but he was very healthy and could withstand even the toughest battles due to the hidden muscles he had built up in spite of his smaller build. He was very persistent, and didn't give up in battle easily.

## Personality

As a young pup, Juniper was known as one of the notorious troublemakers, always stirring up chaos and mischief, sometimes to the detriment of not only others but himself as well. His thirst for adventure often led him into tough situations, driven by a childlike innocence and an obliviousness to the dangers of the world around him. Juniper was, above all, exceedingly playful, and his never-ending quest for fun made him the loudest one around - alongside his sister and partner-in-crime, Opal.

After Opal was bitten by a coyote due to being dared by him to sneak out, Juniper realized he shouldn't do everything so unnecessarily recklessly anymore. He became more endearing, loving and caring than ever, and he toned down a notch. He developed a resentment for coyotes, attacking them on sight in fear of them harming someone again. Yet, he couldn't escape the weight of guilt that bore down upon him. Juniper believed he played a significant role in the incident, and as a form of self-imposed punishment, he insisted on giving Opal most of his food, often eating last as a way of apologizing. Opal, with her forgiving nature, never held him accountable, but she appreciated the gifts anyway.

As an adult, Juniper's playfulness reappeared, but this time without the lack of care for his life. His playfulness rekindled, but not without the additional intelligence he had acquired from his past experiences. He learned when something was okay to do, and when it was time to stop. He became a more mature and balanced adult, but the cheekiness remained.

## Appearance

Juniper is an underweight - yet still healthy - male, built with suprisingly solid, sinewy muscle. He has thick, light gray fur that blends into pale shades all over his neck and back, but also some stunning white spots flowering the darker areas of his coat. His legs and paws are completely white and have a very long, slender build, granting him a falsely tall mien. His back has an elegant curve, which bestowes him an overall refined appearance. The top sides of his snout, head and ears are light brown. His eyes are a stunning jade green shade that glimmers in the moonlight, and a radio collar similar to Luna's is around his neck.

## Litters

### First and only litter - adopted from Opal

Juniper and Hydra were unable to have pups of their own, so they raised three of Opal and Nightfall's pups. Their 'litter' consisted of two females and one male.

Aurora was an oddly observant soft beige female. She would find secrets out sneakily, and then act completely nonchalant when bringing them up. She showed little emotion, but she felt a lot of it. She was determined to see just how much she could push herself to do things like hunting, running or swimming, and she had an insatiable thirst for knowledge. Aurora was also rather sly and inquisitive, carefully phrasing her words in even the least serious situations and using her cunning to sway others over to her side.

Cryo was a very light reddish-brown male. He was very polite and would usually let others get their way with him, so he was also rather timid. He never really used his physical strength unless he believed it was absolutely necessary. He would often just sit quietly as he gazed at the faraway sunfall and moonrise, breathing in the beauty of it all. Cryo was surprisingly sentimental at times, and hearing someone talk about deeper things - such as the Pack of the Starlit - would immediately get his attention as he would quickly leave his shell and rant to his heart's content.

Snowy was an extremely gentle and soft-spoken snow white dame. She was an avid storyteller and would let her imagination run wild as she reeled in everyone's attention. She was constantly careful not to get in anybody's way, as long as they respected her back. Those that disrespected her or her packmates would first be warned, as Snowy didn't wish to harm anyone, but if they continued with their antics, she would retaliate with her teeth! Although she enjoyed the company of others, she would usually stay in her den, and mostly went out when it rained or snowed due to the odd sense of comfort she got from the scent of petrichor.

## Trivia

* Juniper is the first (and also sadly last) wolf that wasn't interested in the opposite gender, and liked individuals of the same gender instead. This is due to the family tree's system that doesn't allow you to change your player-wolf's gender, making the entire exploit completely innefective. The only reason it was possible to give him a male mate was because he wasn't created through the family tree, as he already existed in Classic and Legacy versions before being brought over to the Anniversary Edition.
	+ This is the exploit that allows you to get a mate of the same gender! > Edit your wolf to have the gender *opposite of your desired mate*'s gender. Load a game with them and find a trial mate (can be a dispersal *or* pack wolf). Save the game and return to the Edit Wolf section. Give your wolf their previous gender, and ... voila! This can be done with F/F ***and*** M/M pairs.