The Lone Wolf (An Experiments Story)

Free picture of a wolf

### Apperance

red scales, blue eyes, white horns and spines, purple wings with star scales that fade into orange

## Character Pictures

Wolverine

Sabertooth

This is Darkmoon's fanfic about Wolverine and his origins. Please do not edit or steal.

## Author's Note

For this fanfic, I did a lot of research about the army and I tried to make it fairly accurate. Since I'm not in the army, never have been, and probably never will be, it's not entirely accurate and is mostly what I imagine the army to be like combined with the knowledge from my research. I might change it a little once I learn more when my friend in basic comes home.

## Prologue

In the dark of night, two eggs were sitting in the pale moonlight under the watchful gaze of a fierce NightWing-IceWing and a calm SkyWing, who had SandWing and MudWing ancestry. There was one egg that was big and strong, appearing to shimmer in the light. Its orange surface had bits of black scattered all over. The other egg was ordinary, but had a strength of its own. Its red shell had swirls of white that gleamed brightly in the dark night.

With a sharp sound, the orange egg cracked open. A myriad of small lines appeared on its surface. With two more tries, the egg broke open and the little dragonet inside emerged. He was rusty orange, with stripes of black. He bared his teeth in a little yawn, and his long white teeth caught the light. The other egg soon followed. In one strong movement, the dragonet in the red egg cracked the shell of his egg and fell out. He tumbled into his brother, and then stood up and shook out his wings. There was a beautiful indigo constellation spread across the tiny wings.

"They're beautiful!" the mother exclaimed. Her eyes shone with pride, and she smiled at the two brothers in the nest. "What do you think?" she asked her mate. She loved her little babies already.

"They look strong," he said. "They should grow up to be fine young dragons." He was a warrior, and to him, strength was very important. Having two strong sons made his eyes glow with pride too, although it was much harder to tell.

"They need good names," he said. "Names that tell of their strength. How do you feel about Sabertooth for the striped one, and maybe Wolf for the red one?" He thought the names were great, and suited his sons perfectly.

"I like them!" the mother said. "Wolf and Sabertooth. Our two strong sons. I hope they grow up to be as strong as you." Little did she know, they would both grow up to far exceed expectations of strength.

As the two young hatchlings played under moonlight, futures unfolded before them. There were tales of anger and woe, happy endings with loving families, dark paths that ended in death. One in particular showed Wolf with two little dragonets and a mate, but no Sabertooth. Another one showed Sabertooth, ruling an army. And the father of the dragonets saw all of these, because he was gifted with prophecy.

"Their futures are...complicated," he told their mother. "Some paths lead to happiness, and others lead to death. But I have no doubt about it, our sons will be truly great."

## Chapter 1: Recruitment

Wolf was running down the street, clutching a bundle of cloth and gems in his left talon as he ran with his other three legs. He saw Sabertooth not far away, ready to take it from him. He ran over to his brother, passing the bundle to him as he ran by. He continued down the street, grinning broadly, until he collided with a large, angry copper dragon. "Good morning...'mam," he said.

The new dragon have him a suspicious look with her golden eyes. "And who might you be?" she asked him.

"Oh, me? I'm Wolf. Who are you?"

"General Topaz, one of the highest ranking dragons in the entire force," she replied briskly.

Wolf swallowed. If the military were here, it was probably to mop up the mess he and Sabertooth had made. They had been thieves for the past twenty years of their lives, stealing for survival but also for fun. This latest batch might be enough to get them a decent place to live, as long as they didn't get caught.

"I'm here to see two brothers. You and Sabertooth. He sent in your applications, and after reviewing them, I was interested in recruiting you. Where is Sabertooth?" General Topaz said. Wolf looked around. Sabertooth emerged from behind a booth down the street.

"He's on his way, I think," he replied.

Soon, his brother walked up confidently to the general. "Hello, General," Sabertooth said.

General Topaz frowned. "Let's go to a place more suited for our discussion. Perhaps the military base will do," she said.

The three walked down the road to the military base. General Topaz took the lead, with Wolf and Sabertooth walking side by side. "When did you send in applications for us?" Wolf asked his brother. "I don't remember ever filling out one or expressing interest in the military. The military, for moons' sake! Why that, out of all jobs, when we do what we do for a living?"

Sabertooth replied, "Geez, calm down. I filled out applications for both of us a few days ago. I figured it would be safer, and anyways, we're full of promise. Both of us are strong, energetic, and can heal quickly. Why not join the army?" He seemed quite confident in his answer, but Wolf still scowled.

"So risking our lives daily is safer than borrowing stuff from harmless store owners? Yeah right."

Sabertooth rolled his eyes, but didn't get a chance to reply, because they arrived at the military base. General Topaz directed them to a tent outside the main building, which was labeled 'Recruitment'. Inside, there was a desk covered in neat stacks of folders and papers. Two piles of furs were on the floor to allow future soldiers to have a place to sit. They walked in.

General Topaz went behind the desk. "You know why I brought you here," she said. "I want to recruit you. Both of you are fine dragons, still full of strength and energy. I believe you would benefit from time in the army." Sabertooth and Wolf both listened, although Wolf was still unsure. After all, he wasn't a warrior. He was a thief, and occasionally also worked as a lumberjack.

Sabertooth said, "I'm in. The army is a lot better than living in poverty, in my opinion. I'll gladly join. I'm proud to offer my services, General." He stood up and saluted.

Wolf looked at him uneasily. "I'm not so sure," he said. "I'm not a warrior. I never have been, and I don't think I ever will be. But my brother is my only family, and where he goes, I go. I suppose I'll join."

Wolf stood up, and he also saluted the general. She looked at them, and frowned slightly. "Report to the barracks. Major Cinn will get you situated, and you'll begin Basic Combat Training in the morning." Wolf and Sabertooth saluted, and she walked out of the recruitment tent with an ever deeper frown.

Sabertooth grinned broadly at his brother. "The army! We'll make real money, and get to be warriors, not just thieving scoundrels! Isn't it great?"

Wolf was less enthusiastic. "I only agreed to it because you did, and I don't want to be alone on the streets. I just hope you're right about this," he said. They walked out of the tent, and down to the barracks.

## Chapter 2: Training

The barracks were two large stone buildings, one for guys and one for girls. Wolf and Sabertooth walked into the one for guys, which was marked with a sign that said 'male barracks'. When they walked inside, a large, rust red SkyWing was waiting for them.

"I'm Major Cinn," he said. "Are you two the new recruits?"

"Yes, sir," Wolf said respectfully. He was an adult, and fully grown, but Major Cinn still stood at least a few inches taller than him, and had plenty of muscle. The rusty red dragon was certainly intimidating.

Major Cinn scowled, and led them down the hallway to a room. Inside, there were four stone ledges with animal pelts on them, and a few torches lit the room from where they were held in little niches. Two of the beds had slightly ruffled pelts, like someone had slept there and then straightened the bedding. The other two beds were perfectly straightened and looked very crisp. Besides the beds, a single scroll rack sat below a window.

"Claim a bed, and then get out to the training field to meet your drill sergeant. I hear he's a real monster," Major Cinn said. A little bit worried, Wolf lay down on the lower bed on the right side of the room for a few minutes.

"Come on, we have to get to the training field!" Sabertooth said. "If our drill sergeant really is a monster, he's not going to be happy we're late." At that alarming thought, they both hurried out of the building and to the training field in the middle of the base.

The training field was a large, flat, sandy space that held the marks from thousands of previous recruits who had trained here. About thirty dragons were standing in a line, looking expectantly toward the door to a stone building nearby that served as the offices for the higher members of the army. Most of the dragons were pure-blood SkyWings, but there were a few hybrids.

Wolf joined the line, and Sabertooth followed him. They ended up standing between a SkyWing-NightWing hybrid and a blood-red full SkyWing. The hybrid turned to look at them, but the pure-blooded dragon didn't.

At the sound of heavy talonsteps, every recruit turned their heads to the approaching dragon and stood up straighter. Coming out of the office building was a large, scarlet SkyWing with blazing yellow eyes. He looked coldly at the recruits, raking his gaze over the line.

"Alright, listen up!" he barked. "I'm Sergeant Hawk, but you will refer to me as sergeant. If I ask you a question, you answer me with respect. Yes sergeant, no sergeant, yes sir, no sir! Now, today is the start of your training. I'll whip you into shape in the next six weeks, starting today with flying formations."

Wolf sighed slightly, but not enough to be heard by anyone except for Sabertooth and the hybrid beside him. "Now, get in the air! I want you to fly ten laps around the field to warm up," Sergeant Hawk commanded. Obediently, the thirty dragons lifted into the air and began flying laps around the field.

The hybrid flew with Wolf and Sabertooth. The afternoon sunlight shone brightly off of her russet scales, and her strong starry black wings beat powerfully. Her green eyes shone with determination. She saw him looking at her and smiled. "Hi, I'm Fox," she said. "Who are you?"

"I'm Wolf," he replied. "The orange and black guy with the black wings is my brother, Sabertooth. I'm here because of him." He continued to fly beside Fox for the rest of the laps, chatting about unimportant things, starry wings beating.

After a few hours, the drills and formations finally wrapped up. Sergeant Hawk said, "Alright, go get some dinner from the mess hall and then get to bed!" Slowly, tired and aching, Wolf walked with Fox and Sabertooth to the mess hall. He wolfed down the beef stew, going back for seconds and devouring that just as quickly. Sabertooth had also eaten quickly, so they both waved goodbye to Fox and went back to the barracks. Tired, Wolf lay down on the comfy animal pelts and fell asleep in seconds.

## Chapter 3: New Friends

Wolf was woken early by the sound of a trumpet. The torches provided most of the light, since only the pale light of early dawn was shining through the window. For a moment, Wolf had no clue where he was. Then he looked around, and it came rushing back to him.

*I'm in the army now. Moons, why did I let Sabertooth convince me to join?* he thought. He was in the army, where he didn't fit in. Stars, he wasn't a soldier! He sighed, and turned over onto his other side, rolling out of bed. There were three other dragons with him in the room, and two were unfamiliar.

The first was a bright, red-orange dragon with angry dark brown eyes. He had a scar on the right side of his face, but seemed darkly handsome, like a prince. The other unfamiliar dragon was muted red, with strange yellow eyes, like two tiny suns. The first dragon noticed him observing them, and scowled slightly. The other dragon noticed, and turned to look at Wolf.

"Hey, you must be Sabertooth's brother, Wolf!" he said. Currently, Sabertooth was asleep, but apparently he had been chatting with their new roommates last night.

"Yeah, that's right," Wolf replied. "And who are you?"

The red dragon almost smacked himself. "Oh, that's right, we haven't talked yet! I'm Ember, and the grumpy one over here is Wren." Wren just looked at Wolf, observing him.

"Well, nice to meet you, I guess," Wolf said. "Have you already met Sabertooth?" he asked.

"Yeah, he was chatting with us last night, since he couldn't sleep," Ember replied.

They would have probably kept talking, but the sound of heavy talonsteps startled them all, and the trio stood at the door, waiting for instructions. They saw the rusty red scales of Major Cinn, and soon he came to stand in the doorway. "Straighten your beds, then get to the mess hall," he said gruffly. "And wake that one up." He pointed to Sabertooth, who was still asleep.

All three dragons nodded respectfully and said, "Yes, sir." Ember and Wren straightened their beds, while Wolf woke his brother up. When he shook his brother's muscular shoulder, Sabertooth yawned and rolled over.

"Come on, we've got to go get breakfast," Wolf growled. He had already walked over to his bed, and he straightened the covers while he talked.

"Alright, there's no need to badger me. I'm getting up," Sabertooth replied, sounding more awake. The orange hybrid straightened his sheets, and then walked over to the door. "C'mon, let's go," he said.

All four roomates walked over to the mess hall, where they got toast and scrambled hawk eggs for breakfast. Fox came over and joined them, while Ember and Wren invited their friend Grouse to join them. The six dragons found a table and sat down.

While the new soldiers are their food, they talked about lots of fun, random stuff. By the time their breakfast was over, they had Grouse telling crazy stories, and Fox gossiping about her roommates. Everyone had a good time at breakfast, and the group all quickly became friends.

The sun has risen slightly while they ate, and the morning sun had brightened the horizon as if a torch had been lifted from below the distant mountains. All the new recruits were sent out to the field for more training, and the new group of friends stuck together as they walked. As everyone emerged onto the field, Sergeant Hawk walked out. He began the training, which lasted until noon, when they took a break. They kept training until the sun started to set, and then went to the mess hall for dinner.

The days seemed to fly by, every day feeling like the one before. The six weeks of basic training were over before Wolf knew it. With the SandWings causing a new war, Wolf and his platoon were all sent out to the desert to fight. For the next fifteen years, Wolf's life was a mess of fighting and clawing his way up the ranks. He never stopped fighting in some way or another, and he continued to get stronger by the day.

Fox and Sabertooth were stationed with him, along with Ember, but Wren and Grouse had been sent up by the tundra. Wolf still enjoyed spending time with his group of friends when they could. He and Fox had grown especially close over the years, and they were definitely a bit more than friends. He liked the way things were looking for him.

## Chapter 4: Love and War

Major Wolf was sitting in a tent, discussing strategy with Major Sabertooth and General Garnet. They were locked in a struggle with the SandWings, which started over a single city and grew into a full-scale war after assassination attempts and sabotage got thrown in.

Currently, Wolf was at the base of desert operations, one of the only permanent structures in the area. The base was an oasis, surrounded by stone walls and protected by guard towers. Inside, several huts had been constructed to serve various purposes for the army, and a few large tents had been pitched. Wolf, Sabertooth, and Garnet were all sitting in the biggest tent.

Their discussion of strategy had been going on for a few minutes, but Wolf wasn't paying attention anymore. In his mind, it was pretty clear what they would do: the same thing as always, use weapons and shoot from the trenches they had dug.

His mind began to wander, dwelling particularly on Fox. Her rank was captain, not quite high enough to make it into this meeting. She was in the same camp as him, a bit northwest of the main base. They spent a lot of time together, and when they weren't fighting SandWings, they were usually spending time together. They were a couple, but not a super official one, and neither of them were sure of what their future held.

Wolf snapped back into focus when he heard a voice bark "Major!" He sat at attention. "Yes, sir?" he replied.

"I asked what your thoughts on my strategy were. If you had been listening, you would have known that. Pull yourself together, Major!" General Garnet paused for a moment, taking a deep breath, then resumed. "The strategy is to strike by night, hit their largest encampment with specialized dragonflame cactus bombs, and then high-tail it out of there. What is your opinion on that?"

"Sounds like a solid plan, if we're sure we have everything figured out. We need to place the bombs strategically if we really want to do damage," he replied.

The general smiled. "Good suggestion, Major. Any thoughts, Major Sabertooth?"

"I think," Sabertooth replied, "that my brother is absolutely right. If we placed three large bombs at the oasis, the barracks, and the armory, we'll do a good amount of damage. A second round of smaller bombs would weaken them further, and it would give us a chance to injurw their forces more."

General Garnet nodded approvingly. He replied, "That sounds like a very good idea. We'll ensure that the bombs are ready, and the operation will go out tonight. I want you boys to lead the attack. If you succeed, you very well may earn yourselves a promotion. Don't mess up."