“Alright,” Lingdao grinned, “here’s how the game works. This is a team wrestling game. You’re out if your shoulders are pinned to the ground for a count of ten seconds. No weapons, no punching, and no primordial stuff,” he said, nodding generally at Lolo and her team,” just good, old-fashioned wrestling and martial arts. Yes, ganging up on each other is allowed. You have to stay in this grove of trees we marked off by the lake. If you’re tackled, return here to the meadow. Last man (or woman) standing wins the match for their team. As is tradition here in the Lang household, Qingchi and Rensui are the team captains, and the rest of us twins automatically get split up between the two teams.”

Qingchi and Rensui took their positions as the team captains. Zizai and Haowan added themselves to Qingchi’s team while Lingdao and Zhongyan joined Rensui.

“Rensui, want to pick first?” Qingchi offered.

“Sure,” Rensui grinned. “We’ll take Standig.”

“Fortus and Ulana,” Qingchi countered.

“Philige and Jadu.”

“Lolo, I guess that means you’re with us.”

“Don’t sound so disappointed! I might have had a set-back, but I can still whip you, Qingchi,” Lolo laughed good-naturedly.

With the teams divided, they split up to opposite ends of the grove to discuss tactics.

“Alright Fortus, thoughts?” Qingchi deferred to the better strategist.

“Standig is our biggest threat. Even without using his ultimate, it will take several of us to take him down. If we can’t take him down quickly, we might as well surrender.”

“We should stick together until we pin Standig,” Lolo added. “However, if he charges, scatter. We don’t want to give him a clustered target.”

“Good point, Lolo,” Fortus agreed. “I think our best strategy is to go on the offensive. We shouldn’t wait for Standig to find us.”

“Ulana should be on point,” Lolo nodded. “She has really good eyes.”

“Are we ready?” Qingchi grinned, and everyone nodded. He pulled out a small battle horn and blew it once to signal that they were ready. A few moments later, they heard Rensui blow his own horn and the match was on.

Qingchi’s team picked their way carefully and quietly through the trees until Ulana raised a fist to tell them to stop. They crouched down and Ulana pointed. Up ahead, Lingdao and Zhongyan were patrolling a small clearing.

“Should we take them down?” Haowan asked gleefully.

Ulana shook her head. “They’re the bait.” She pointed again to a large tree on the opposite side of the clearing. “I’ll bet you anything that at least Standig is behind that tree.”

“Qingchi, Ulana, and Zizai, you’re with me,” Fortus whispered. “Lolo and Haowan, be distracting.”

Lolo nodded, and she and Haowan waited while the rest of their team snuck around in a wide circle to get behind the large tree.

“Ready?” Lolo grinned.

“You’d better believe it!” Haowan nodded.

Not really interested in being stealthy, Lolo and Haowan marched right up to their brothers.

“Want to tangle?” Lolo laughed and charged Zhongyan. Zhongyan tried to side-step her, but Lolo had anticipated that and dove for his feet, tripping him up and knocking him to the ground. Haowan, who had been following close behind Lolo, pounced on Zhongyan to pin him while Lolo found her feet again to prevent Lingdao from helping Zhongyan.

Lingdao had size and strength in his favor against Lolo, but he couldn’t match her speed or martial arts. Lolo held Lingdao in a headlock while she waited for Haowan to finish counting to ten. With Zhongyan down, Haowan moved to help his sister pin Lingdao’s shoulders. With Lingdao down, Lolo cautiously approached the large tree.

“Haowan!”

Haowan joined his sister to witness the fight taking place out of sight behind the tree. Qingchi and Zizai were out. Two on two, Fortus and Ulana were battling hard against Standig while Rensui worked to make it difficult for them. Lolo and Haowan charged. Standig’s back was turned toward the clearing, so Lolo used a boost from Haowan to jump on Standig’s back and wrap her arms tightly around his neck. Haowan moved to take down Rensui.

Lolo let her feet dangle down Standig’s back to try and twist them through his legs and trip him up. Fortus caught on and snagged one of Standig’s ankles with his foot while Ulana took a spectacular leap into Standig’s chest. Lolo felt Standig tip over backwards and let go in time to not get crushed by his fall. Everyone pounced on Standig. With Fortus on his legs and Ulana and Lolo each on an arm, they managed to pin him.

“Nice work,” Standig teased. “It only took three of you!”

“Har, har, har,” Lolo rolled her eyes.

Rensui took off running after pinning Haowan, and Ulana gave chase, tackling him before he could get very far. By the time Fortus and Lolo joined them, Rensui was already out.

“So who’s left?” Lolo asked. “I take it that we’re the only ones on our team. And Jadu and Philige are still up?”

“That’s right,” Fortus confirmed.

“Jadu will likely be looking to pick someone off, and he may or may not be working with Philige,” Fortus said. “Does someone want to be the bait?”

“Oo! Pick me!” Ulana said.

As Ulana tromped noisily through the woods, Lolo and Fortus split up to follow her quietly from a distance.

“Come out, come out!” Ulana called in a sing-song voice.

Jadu was clever. He assumed that Ulana was the bait and waited for Lolo and Fortus to pass. Then he went for Lolo, catching her completely by surprise as he tackled her from behind.

“Guys!” Lolo yelled as she rotated around, struggling against Jadu’s sneak attack. Jadu had Lolo nearly pinned with his shin bearing down on her hips when Fortus rounded the tree and knocked Jadu to the ground. Ulana arrived in time to watch Fortus and Lolo work together to force Jadu’s shoulders to touch the dirt.

“You really made us work for that, Jadu,” Lolo said, wiping the sweat off her forehead. “You almost had me! If Fortus hadn’t gotten here when he did….”

Jadu laughed. “It wouldn’t be fun if I’d made it easy.”

“'Just Philige left?” Ulana reminded more than asked. “How do we want to play this?”

Fortus looked at Lolo and flashed her a charming, boyish grin. “I think we have the perfect bait.”

They set up in a clearing. Lolo got comfy sitting against a tree to wait for Philige to show up while Ulana and Fortus concealed themselves behind a couple of trees that had grown close together. They didn’t have to wait terribly long before Philige emerged cautiously from the woods.

“This is a trap, isn’t it?” he said.

“Yup!” Lolo smiled broadly.

“What is she doing?!” Ulana whispered to Fortus.

Fortus held up his hand to hush her and grinned. “Just watch.”

“Am I the only person left on my team?” Philige was asking Lolo.

“Yes,” Lolo nodded.

“Who’s left on your team?”

“Me, obviously, and Fortus and Ulana.”

“How do I know that you’re telling the truth?” he asked, giving Lolo a suspicious look.

“I guess you don’t,” she smirked. “The way I see it, you have two choices. You can walk away and take your chances against the rest of my team, assuming they’re actually there, or you can let yourself fall into my trap. What’s it going to be?”

“How do you know that I won’t just pin you?” Philige asked, approaching cautiously.

“You can try, I suppose,” Lolo shrugged. “Like I said, this is a trap, and I have teammates waiting to help me take you down. Or,” she smiled wickedly, “you can yield, and I’ll make the loss up to you.”

Fortus had a hard time not cracking up watching this exchange play out. “Philige is one lucky devil,” he said to Ulana, suppressing his laughter.

“If you were him, what would you choose?”

“Oh, I’d take the loss. No question. I wouldn’t even be mad if I found out later that she was bluffing.”

Ulana just rolled her eyes.

Huo Lohse leaned lazily against her tree, waiting for Philige to come to a decision: gamble that Lolo was alone and try to pin her, or accept defeat and her consolation prize. Philige seemed to share Fortus’s opinion that taking the loss was the better choice.

“You’ll make it up to me?”

Lolo nodded. “It won’t even feel like you lost.”

“How so?” Philige asked, kneeling down in front of her.

“Have you made your decision?”

“Maybe.”

She grinned and beckoned him closer until she could wrap her arms around his neck. Rolling him onto his back, Lolo kissed him, pinning him firmly to the ground.

From their vantage point, Fortus and Ulana could only see that Lolo’s legs were on top of Philige’s, so she wasn’t the one being pinned. Ulana started counting, “... eight, nine, ten. Should we tell them that that’s enough?”

Fortus chuckled. “Leave them to it. We’ll go tell everyone else that the game is over.”

***

Coronations in the Wolf Tribe were really more of a giant party centered around a brief ceremony that lasted only a minute or so. The morning of the coronation, Pack Hall was absolutely crowded with citizens from all over the Wolf Tribe and friends of the Lang family from other tribes. By the afternoon, the crowd could no longer be contained within the walls of Pack Hall, so people congregated on the grass all around it.

Around four o’clock, a great horn sounded to indicate that the ceremony would begin shortly. With such a huge turnout, everyone was ushered out of Pack Hall through the front gate to find places to stand at the bottom of the hill in the field below. The ceremony was to take place at the top of the hill.

The Lang siblings, minus Zhongyan, took their positions near the gate. The great horn sounded again to indicate the beginning of the ceremony, and Ming Lang walked through the front gates wearing an ancient, elaborate, ceremonial crown, only ever used during a coronation. Zhongyan followed behind him a few moments later, and father and son stood together, facing the multitude.

Zhongyan turned to his father and knelt down, bowing deeply. Huo Lohse, her brothers, and the rest of the Wolf Tribe followed his example, bowing for the last time to the old Alpha. Ming Lang removed the crown from his head to place it on Zhongyan’s. Zhongyan stood up, and Ming Lang knelt down to make his own bow. Once again, Lolo, her brothers, and the rest of the Wolf Tribe bowed, this time to the new Alpha. Ming Lang stood up to embrace his son, applause erupted from the crowd, and the ceremony was over. The horn sounded for a final time, musicians found positions on the hillside to play dance music, and the old and new Alphas returned to the council room to welcome dignitaries from visiting tribes who had come to wish Zhongyan well.

It wasn’t like Huo Lohse to skip out on a social event, but something about the coronation ceremony left her feeling nostalgic. In essence, the coronation marked the ending of an era, the end of her childhood and the carefree dynamics of her relationships with her brothers. It was the end of her dad’s rule and the beginning of her generation’s leadership. Lolo wanted nothing more than to find somewhere quiet to be alone with her thoughts, and, with the party now taking place outside of Pack Hall, Lolo slipped back inside to seek her solitude.

Philige climbed the hill to look for his fiancé so they could officially represent the Bear Tribe together and give their well-wishes to the new Wolf Tribe leader. But Lolo was nowhere to be seen. “Qingchi, did you see where Lolo went?”

“Yeah! She’s right….” Qingchi spun around looking for his sister but didn’t see her. “Well, she was right here just a minute ago. Sorry. I didn’t see where she went.”

“It’s alright, thanks. She couldn’t have gotten too far.” Philige scanned the hill from top to bottom and then looked into the nearest section of the crowd. He didn’t see her. “Maybe she’s already inside.” He poked his head through the front gate to look around the courtyard, but she wasn’t there.

Philige changed strategies. “Fortus can find her with that tactical communication ultimate thing that he does.” He looked around and spotted Fortus with Standig, Ulana, and Jadu about halfway down the hill.

“Fortus, can I get your help?”

“Sure. What do you need?”

“I can’t find Lolo anywhere.”

“'Want me to see where she’s at?”

“If you don’t mind.”

Fortus closed his eyes for a moment to concentrate.

Lolo was sitting under a tree near an old training courtyard when she felt Fortus try to connect with her. Not really wanting to be found but also not wanting him to worry, Lolo closed her eyes so Fortus couldn’t see where she was.

“Lolo?”

“What is it, Fortus?”

“Your fiancé is looking for you.”

“What does he need?”

“Uh. I don’t know. Hold on, I’ll ask.” Fortus opened his glowing amber eyes to look at Philige. “Lolo asked me what you need.”

“We were going to represent the Bear Tribe together and greet the new Alpha,” Philige replied, wondering why Lolo didn’t simply tell Fortus where she was. “Is she ok?”

Fortus already had his eyes closed again. “You were going to help him represent the Bear Tribe? Also, he seems to be worried about you.”

Lolo sighed. She’d completely forgotten about the whole representing thing. “Tell him to wait for me in his room. I’ll just be a couple of minutes. Thanks, Fortus. Sorry to turn you into a messenger boy.”

“It’s no problem. It’s good practice. By the way, Lolo, why are you keeping your eyes closed? ‘Don’t want me to know where you are?”

“I was enjoying my solitude, yes.”

“Solitude? Lolo, we’re at a party. Since when do you prefer solitude over a party?”

“Like I said, Fortus, I was enjoying my solitude. Kindly get out of my head now?”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bother you.”

“It’s ok.” Lolo broke the connection.

“Lolo? Hello?” Fortus’s eyes had returned to normal when he opened them again. “She said she’ll meet you in your room.”

“Is she ok?” Philige asked.

“I’m not sure. She wouldn’t let me see where she was, but she told me that she was alone. Eventually she shut me out too.”

Philige frowned. “Thanks for your help, Fortus.” He turned to head back up the hill, through the front gate and to his room to wait.

Lolo didn’t make him wait very long, which was a good thing, because Philige was trying very hard not to worry about her. “Hey-”

Philige had her wrapped up in a kiss before she could say anything more. “Are you ok?”

“What? Yeah. I’m fine.”

“You’re sure?” Philige was not convinced.

“Absolutely. I just went to find somewhere quiet to think.”

“What were you thinking about?”

“Growing up.”

“What about it?”

“Oh, just that things are different now from when I was a child. I was processing that feeling, allowing myself to be nostalgic.”

“I’m sorry to interrupt you then.”

“It’s no problem,” she said. “Should we get going?”

“Lolo, I know things are changing, but are you happy?” Philige asked sincerely.

Lolo smiled and pushed Philige backwards into a chair. She moved behind him to wrap her arms around his shoulders and nuzzle her nose into his neck affectionately. “Don’t doubt it. I am very happy.”

Zhongyan handled the dignitaries very gracefully until a petite young woman representing the Sphinx Queen stepped forward.

“Et’zana?!” Zhongyan lost all semblance of decorum and gawked at her.

Her tinkling laugh made him blush.

“You’re here!”

“I am,” she smiled.

“Are-are you… how long?”

“How long?”

“How long do you plan to stay?”

“Just until your sister’s wedding,” Et’zana declared.

“You don’t want to stay longer?”

She laughed again. “We’ll see,” she said as she bowed.

Zhongyan watched her walk out, and Ming Lang had to nudge his arm to bring him back to the room and the next visitor.