Soaring Wings - Brightshadow's Tale

A child of the Soaring Wings tribe, Brightflame was the son of Elder Scout Hawkflame, and Mercenary Scout Alon'dra. He became known to everyone within the tribe as the son of the wild, being as how both his parents were practically outsiders of the tribe.

At the age of five, the young mischievous boy became lost during a horrible snowstorm. His parents, and the rest of the scouts were on the lookout for the young boy, but could not find him anywhere near the tribal grounds.

As fate would have it, Brightflame was returned back safely, accompanied by a young wolf later known as Winterfire. It seemed as though Brightflame followed his parents out of their home and into the snowy woods. The blizzard struck, and Brightflame became lost. Cold and scared, the boy cried out, and then came the young wolf companion to his side. The white and brown-spotted wolf kept him warm, and gave him comfort. He nudged the boy into a small cave where they both waited out the snowstorm. It was there when a connection was made between them, and Brightflame never felt alone again.

Having an animal companion is not uncommon within the tribes of the Kalun'tak Forest. However, Soaring Wings takes pride in obtaining hawks and falcons as their primary companions. After arguing and debating with the elder council and the chief of the tribe, Hawkflame had managed to convince them into letting Brightflame keep his new companion.

Afterwards, life for young Brightflame was innocent and wonderful, and his parents had shown him a kind of love and compassion that would allow the young boy to blossom into a true tribesman of the Soaring Wings.

But, as it turned out, fate again would cross paths with Brightflame.

At the age of thirteen, Brightflame's parents were involved in a horrible scouting foray. Ambushed by a group of newly discovered lizards, dubbed basilisks, both Hawkflame and Alon'dra were killed. Those who were part of Hawkflame's scout party were also lost. A devastating day for all of Soaring Wings, and one too horrible for Brightflame to bear.


Young Brightflame hid in the shadows of his tribal hut. Too stricken with grief, and with no relatives to comfort him, the only friend he had was his wolf companion Winterfire. Morningshade, a childhood friend who was daughter to the wise shaman of the tribe, would bring him meals, a shoulder to lean on, and generally watched over him during his time of grieving. Though he was too deep into his own depression to notice her outstretched arm, Brightflame did slowly recover.

As Brightflame emerged from the turmoil, he went before the council of elders and explained that the person known as Brightflame was no more. Instead he was a shadow of his former self, and therefore  asked the elders to approve his name change.  It was agreed upon solemnly. From that day on, he was never to be known as Brightflame, but as Brightshadow.

To Be Continued...