The Luna and her Quadruplet Pups by Jane Above Story

3rd Person

The mountain village of Alta Montaña sat so deep in the rainforest that unless one was standing at its center, they might never realize it was there. It was well known throughout the kingdom for its beauty and artisan wool goods, but it wasn’t the sort of place many Southern Islanders went unless they were trading or hoping to soak up some time in nature.

While tourists poured into the town from regions far and wide, the area’s raw natural beauty struggled to tempt locals – as more often than not the entire mountain was covered in clouds. Even when it wasn’t raining, it was a normal occurrence to walk out the door only to disappear into a blinding haze of white fog.

Needless to say, it wasn’t a good place to lose one’s possessions, as finding them again could prove very challenging.

This was part of why the city’s orphan gang proved so successful when it came to pickpocketing and

swindling. It was easy to hide among the clouds and grift money from unsuspecting tourists, for even when their mark realized something was missing, they certainly couldn’t see to track down the thieves.

This was also how it came to pass that Ethan and Jane managed to come within feet of their lost pups,without ever realizing it.

They arrived in the village in the early hours of the morning, having driven through the night to reach their remote destination. They had no way of knowing whether or not the pups were somewhere in the small town, but it was the closest corner of civilization to the jungle where the children were last seen.

“1 don’t know about this.” Jane murmured, gazing around the quaint village. “If they went into the jungle maybe we should start looking there – this is an awfully long way from the turn off.”

“I know.” Ethan sighed, “but somewhere here might have seen them. There’s no telling where they might be in the forest, and they’re smart kids, they’ll have tried to get to people for help.” As beautiful as he found the landscape here, Ethan was less than amused by the constant downpours and relentless cloud cover.

It made picking up on the children’s scent- let alone tracking them – all but impossible.

Jane was not convinced, she nervously gnawed her lower l!p as she scanned the village, trying to put herself in her pups’ shoes. She knew they were smart enough to try and find food and fresh water, but would they trust strangers? Would they go to adults for help after everything that they’d been through? Sometimes she worried there was too much of her in them, or that she’d unintentionally imposed her own insecurities onto them – and that was before any of this began.

She scented the air for what felt like the thousandth time, but like Ethan, the flooded streets and dense fog prevented her from smelling anything but damp and mud. It was so powerful in fact, that she was struggling to even smell Ethan. Her wolf was anxiously pacing in her head, and Jane had to wonder how anyone tracked anything in such an environment.

swatting at the dozen mosquitos happily svcking her blood. “It’s hot and miserable and just…

blame Linda. It had been days since they’d heard from Eric, and even then

hate to think about the pups handling it all on

suggested, seeming to realize she’d accidentally increased her friend’s concern. “You know how they are with bugs and nature – they’re not nearly as high maintenance as

her siblings, she had never had much opportunity to explore the outdoors. Her heart had

Jane, so he swallowed his concerns and continued to scour the area for signs of the

side of the cloudy town square, the pups were standing hand

have to be lightning fast.” She advised. “And only use your pointer and middle fingers – never your thumbs. Pinch them together like tweezers and your mark won’t

mark?” Paisley

know, mark- like target, whoever you want to steal

don’ wanna steals from anyone.” Paisley

girl with resignation. “How do we

“Plus the locals know what we’re up to. You can tell who’s who just by the ways they

objected, feeling equally as sulky as her sister. “l can only see people’s feets through

advantage” Sophie turned them around, pointing

to the ground to see what the grown ups can’t. And the feet are all you need, rich people have really nice shoes, and you can

what if we get caught?” Ryder

of you gets pinched, the other three can help fight off the baddie” Sophie suggested. “Honestly you’re lucky, do you have any idea how many times I wished there were two of me so I could fool a mark? That’s why Fabian’s so excited about

is?” Parker asked, wrinkling his

of you!” Sophie informed them with a

we’re not gonna stay here very long.” Riley reminded her.”Just until

that will take a little time. You’re first few scores have to go to Fabian –

pay for our spots?”