Terra: Chapter 2

Chapter 2!

 

 

 

Situation:

 

Terry (Inspector) ⁽¹⁾

Day: June 15

Location: Southeastern Incarnadian

Territory Prison

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            The iron bars to the prison cell creaked open slowly revealing the once feared Ex-princess Lavender. She always had that death stare… even when she was still in power. I had been working directly for the team that was formed in order to investigate Lavender’s past exploitations. Our focus was to find enough evidence to lead to her execution… and so far we were on track. “Good morning, princess.” I said sarcastically. She said nothing. Her cell was located underground, away from all the other prisoners for one reason. When she was originally arrested, she was introduced to the entire prison population… however, after six hours she killed over thirteen animals for no reason. Her paws were still stained with blood. I moved aside to allow the prison guards to take her to the room which I was to question her. They wrapped a heavy chain collar around her neck and followed me down the dark halls of the prison. The cries from the prisoners echoed throughout the place… it made me a little edgy... hearing all of the pain and misery of the place… I certainly was glad I wasn’t locked up there. The entire prison was nestled in between two large hills surrounded by a thin moat. Since it was made entirely of iron and because of its location, it was always very cold inside. Right after Princess Lavender was removed from power, we got to see what went on within these walls during her terrible reign and… it wasn’t pretty.  “Right here is fine.” I said stopping at a small room. They led her inside and hooked the chain on her collar to a metal clip on the floor. They then proceeded to leaving the room.

            “Just call if you need anything.” One of them said leaving me and the fallen princess alone. There was a little silence between us. She gazed deathly in my eyes making me a little nervous and sort of scrambling my thoughts. “It must feel awkward being locked up in the same hell you sentenced so many innocent animals to.” I muttered. She smiled, “Actually it kind of is.” Her voice sounded like she was very tired. “Did you not get enough sleep?” I said sitting down in front of her. “What is it that you want… quit wasting my time.” She growled. I was a little nervous at that point… but I learned never to show your opponent your weakness. “We’re doing a little investigation into your misdeeds.” I said smiling, “Looks like you won’t have that much time left to enjoy anymore.” Lavender began laughing. It was a very intimidating and evil laugh that sent a chill through my spine. “Oh, but it’s a special day today ya’know.” She said with a big smile. “Yeah? And why is that?” I replied interested in what she was saying. Lavender’s smile disappeared, “I’m going to get out of here… and when I do…” She pointed at me, “You’ll be the first to die.” Those words scared the crap out of me. She seemed so sure of herself, even in the position she was in currently. “That’ll never happen.” I replied acutely, “You’ll never see the light of…” I was interrupted by the sound of the door behind me opening. I glanced back slowly but before I could see who entered, a huge iron collar used to detain prisons smacked me across my face.

I fell to the ground… too dizzy to stand up I tried calling for help but the unknown individual who entered stomped down on my throat. “About time you showed up,. Paegen ⁽²⁾.” Lavender muttered. As she said that, another wolf came into the room. She had white fur with black hair and a black underbelly… I thought she seemed familiar… “Can’t rush perfection, princess.” She said, undoing her chains. I was panicking. I couldn’t call for help and, worse, I was trapped. Still dizzy, I glanced at the animal whose heavy paw remained on my neck. It was one of the prison guards that helped me take her to the room in the first place. His muzzle was bloodied… probably from killing the other guard. A million thoughts ran through my head as fast as the situation’s change. I was trying not to black out from the impact of the iron collar, but I could already feel the blood from my head pouring out from the wound. Lavender’s heavy iron chain hit the ground as Paegen finished freeing her. “You’ve got ten minutes.” Paegen said heading to the door, “then we’ve got to leave.” Lavender looked over at me with that death stare she always had, “That’s all the time I need…?” My heart raced. “She is going to kill me…” I kept thinking to myself. The unknown wolf’s paw pressured my throat so it was impossible to breath. I struggled to think of something… but I was trapped… it was hopeless. I was going to die right there… “Aaaand the tables turn, just like that.” Lavender said walking towards me. She wasn’t laughing anymore… she had returned to her normal scary and merciless self.

She picked me up by the neck with one arm and slammed me against the wall. She had a terribly cold look in her eyes as she began squeezing the life out of me. “There are a couple of things I can’t stand…” She growled to me as her grip on my neck tightened immensely, “One of those things happens to be when little animals think they’re better than me…” she continued producing a very large blade that Paegen had handed her, suddenly I felt the cold blade cut through my chest and out of my back. It clinked against the wall behind me as I gasped from the impact. I tried to regain my breath but I couldn’t. My body was panicking… I got the pins and needles feeling all over. Suddenly I began to get dizzy again. I looked down and the saw my blood rushing out of the wound and splattering against the floor. She immediately ripped the blade from my chest and I dropped to the floor in a pool of blood. Without saying another word, she and her entourage left the room leaving me alone. My breathing had become shallow and I could feel my heart slowing. Desperately and with all my strength, I tried crawling to the doorway to call for help. Before I could make a move I immediately began coughing up blood… The blade had apparently cut through one of my lungs and nicked my heart. I laid my head down. There was no way I could do anything now in this condition. I survived for a little less than five minutes before everything went dark…   

 

Notes

1)      Terry is an inspector within the team created to investigate the misdeeds and exploitations.

2)      Paegen is a firm supporter and one of Princess Lavender’s former advisers. She is a white wolf with a black underbelly and black hair. She has a noticeable scar on her chest.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Situation:

 

Darryl and Scarlette

Day: June 15

Location: Terminal, Western Inaria

Secret Operation

 

 

 

 

 

 

It took a good four days to get to Inaria… Apparently Osoloscia had a major typhoon and the flights had been canceled for two days straight. Scarlette and I had been in the airport waiting for Fluffy’s arrival for hours now… and she was getting very annoyed. “When was he supposed to get us?” She grunted impatiently, “What kind of a name is ‘Fluffy’ anyway…” I shrugged. The airport was pretty loud, with a lot of different types of animals coming and going. There was also a lot of police there… probably because of the recent attack in Antarceos. The world was quickly becoming more and more paranoid and security conscience because of what happened… I had never seen anything like it before. “I we started walking now, I bet we could make it before he even gets here.” Scarlette finally said after a while, “It’s a straight shot isn’t it?” I knew she was right. In his field of work (especially in his region) it has to be easy to get caught up in a case. “Maybe he got caught up in some business.” I said getting up, “I’m sure we’ll find it. It can’t be that hard to miss.”

            We left the airport and immediately began walking in the direction of the East Inaria Intelligence center where Fluffy was supposed to take us. Even though we had no idea where the exact location was, we figured we’d find it ourselves. “It looks different… since the last time I was here…” I said looking around. The once massive plains had new villages sprouting up, more and more herbivores began living openly and the skies were filled with life. “I’ve never been here before.” Scarlette replied looking up at the clear blue sky, “I never really left Incarnadia.” As we walked, we encountered a lot of different animals as well as scenery that we could never see in Vitraia ⁽¹⁾. We walked for hours admiring the scenery until we reached a thin forest. As we entered, we began to see a drop in the number of animals we had seen before. “That’s weird.” Scarlette said looking around, “Where did all the animals go?”  I didn’t know myself. It was a bit nerve wracking entering the quiet forest, but the sun shined through the canopy which made the trip a little easier.

            We continued on for six more hours until we reached an opening in the forest. In the center of it was a small, clear blue pond. “We can chill out here.” I said lying in the thick grass. “Finally! I thought you’d never say that.” Scarlette sighed walking up to the pond for a drink. I don’t know… maybe a few minutes passed when suddenly I felt the presence of someone standing over me. I assumed it was Scarlette so I ignored it… until it began sniffing me. I opened one eye to see another animal there. She appeared to be a wolf mixed with some sort of dog… and she had an unusually long tail that dragged behind her… it looked like a thick furry snake. I immediately jumped up out of surprise. Her eyes widened with surprise, “I’m sorry, did I wake you?” Her fur was two different shades of brown, the darker shaded covered the top half of her body and the other covered the lower. She had light green eyes and an unusually friendly smile.

            “May I?” She said with a friendly smile. I had no idea what she was talking about. “WH-what?” I replied bewilderedly. She seemed confused at my confusion but she continued to smile, “I’d like to get your scent.”  It was then that I remembered. As a greeting, most canines like to get each other’s scent… by sniffing each other’s asses. It’s an awkward formality if you’re not used to it but one can learn quite a bit about the other just by doing that. . “Uh… sure…” I replied still a bit perplexed at her request. I stood there awkwardly as she stuck her muzzle under my tail. “You’re not from around here are you?” She finally said after about thirty awkward seconds. “No I’m here on business…” I replied cautiously scanning the area behind her looking for Scarlette. The awkward wolf-dog girl immediately became excited and before I knew it, she was up in my face happily asking questions. “What kind of business? Are you and that pretty wolf-girl getting married?!” She cried out excitedly, “No wait… I didn’t smell your scent on her… so that’s not it…” I interrupted, “No we’re both here on… vacation?” I said quietly trying to hide our real reason for being here. It was a secret operation and we’d both catch hell if anyone else would find out about it.

            “I’m sorry; it’s none of my business.” The wolf-dog said calming down, “I can help you if you’re lost though… I noticed you’ve been circling these parts for hours now…” I sighed. Apparently Scarlette and I hadn’t made that much progress since we left… instead, we were going around in circles… “I… we’d appreciate that…” I said with a smile. Once I had woken up Scarlette, we followed the wolf-dog towards the eastern Inarian city of Osten ⁽²⁾, where the police HQ was located. “I never caught your name…” I said to the wolf-dog as we walked. “Kya,” she replied still smiling, “What’s yours?” Before I could answer, Scarlette whispered to me, “What’s with her tail…?” I had mentioned earlier that her tail was unusually long, but I guess I never realized how long it actually was. “Don’t stare at it… it’ll just make things more awkward…” I replied quietly. “Uh I’m Darryl… this is Scarlette!” I loudly responded to Kya. “Nice going, idiot, why’d you have to say it so loud? Now she knows we were talking about her…” Scarlette hissed. “You think she knows?” I whispered back nervously, “She looks crazy… she keeps smiling at me…” Kya began singing to herself. “What the hell… she’s insane…” Scarlette whispered looking at me, “She’s probably taking us to our deaths…” I shook my head, “No way, she’s taking you to your death… I think she’s going to kidnap and ra…” Before I could finish, Kya began talking.

            “If you turn left and keep going straight, you’ll eventually hit the Andaman Sea… which is very beautiful this time of year.” She said, totally oblivious to everything we were saying. “These animals are weird…” Scarlette whispered to me, “I don’t like this place.” We continued on until we finally reached the exit of the forest and back into the very well-populated and (now covered in hills) plains that we had grown to appreciate. “Welcome to Eastern Inaria.” Kya said smiling, “I was born around here… I’m pretty sure you’ll love this area.” There was a wide river that cut through the hill-covered region as well as a few trees that dotted the horizon. The sun began to set as we approached the crossing. “How much longer do you think this is going to take?” Scarlette whined to Kya as we crossed the bridge. “We’re almost there.” She replied, smiling as usual. We crossed the bridge into a small path surrounded by hills. The trees on top of the hills made the path very dark and peculiar. I looked back at Scarlette, who looked like she was thinking the same thing I was, “Well this is creepy.” I said laughing. She looked back at me frowning, “I don’t like it.” When I turned back around I ran into Kya, who had turned around looking at me.

            She and I were nose to nose… and she had that same smile she always did…. Except this time it had a more sinister look. “So… Just curious… what kind of business are you guys on again?” She said. The pupils in her eyes had shrunk a little bit making her look a lot crazier than usual. “V-vacat…” I began saying but she interrupted. “Ah I remember now… Vacation.” She said. I felt her long tail easing up behind me. I looked back to find Scarlette… but she was nowhere in sight. Suddenly, Kya wrapped her long tail around my neck and began constricting it, “I know what kind of business you’re really here on.” She said with that creepy smile, “I came to find Fluffy… but I found you instead!” I couldn’t talk. Her tail had been tightening around my neck so it was impossible to breathe. From the background I heard Scarlette fighting something else. “I wonder what’s taking so long…” Kya began with that smile, “He’s not usually the one to be late…” She looked behind me at the scene going on in the background giving me a chance to strike back.

            I quickly tore my claws across her face, causing her to release the grip she had on me. Before she could recover I tackled her to the ground and forced my paw on her throat. “Who the hell are you?” I growled trying to regain my breath. Kya still had that creepy smile, even with the wound I had given her across her left eye, “I’ll tell you… but…” Before she could finish I was tackled by an even larger animal. I quickly recovered to see what exactly had hit me. I couldn’t believe it myself, but there was a massive saber-tooth tiger standing there. Its face had been badly wounded, by Scarlette I had assumed. I stood back up to see Kya standing behind the colossal animal. Her eyes were closed, but she still had that smile, “Kill him.” At her command, the saber-tooth tiger ran at me, full speed. There's two things to keep in mind when fighting felines in general: One: Their claws are the most dangerous thing. Saber tooth tigers, despite their size, are very fast and strong. I knew that if I wanted to get out of this alive, I’d have to avoid its claws at all cost. Two: Their teeth. Saber tooth tigers will only try to bite you if they have you pinned or if you give them a chance. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen one, but they have massive canines that will kill you no matter where they are dug into. I had never gotten into a fight with anything as big as that tiger was, but all animals have their weak points. The problem is finding it.

            I seamlessly avoided all of the jabs the saber tooth tiger had thrown at me and continued to try and make space between us. Naturally, I was going for its throat… but it had defended that area very well. It wasn’t going to be easy. The saber tooth charged at me a second time but I managed to jump out of the way. Simultaneously, I turned around and jumped on its back and wrapped my jaws around the back of its neck, digging my teeth into its skin. The tiger tried throwing me off, but I held on as tight as I could. Eventually it’d get tired… I kept thinking to myself. But that was never the case. I loosened my grip a bit to try and get a better one, but at the same time it had successfully shaken me loose. I hit the ground hard causing me to become a little disorientated. Before I could come to my senses, the saber tooth slammed its massive paws against my chest and his razor-sharp claws began cutting into it. “S**t…” I thought to myself. I couldn’t move… he had me pinned… Before he bit down though, Scarlette came out of the woods behind us and tackled it. Her weight did almost nothing against it, but managed to get its attention. He had released me and went after her, leaving his throat completely exposed.

            I took that opportunity to attack, at the same time he attacked her. I sprang up and enveloped the bottom of his neck in between my jaws. With all my strength I burrowed my teeth into his throat and began twisting it from his neck. The saber tooth began struggling to release me, which only worsened his case and improved mine. Blood and fur from the badly wounded saber tooth’s neck went everywhere as he continued to struggle. Finally, with one massive pull, I tore his throat out. Blood sprayed everywhere and the saber tooth fell to the ground, lifeless. I was still dizzy with adrenaline when I saw Scarlette seize another wolf, who had tried to escape. I shook the blood from my fur and turned toward Kya, who was still smiling. I began walking towards her slowly, “Who the hell are you…” I said, trying to catch my breath. As I got closer, I noticed Kya had begun backing away. My eyes were glowing red ⁽³⁾, which had been caused by the adrenaline rush and I could tell it had frightened her. She still had that smile... but this time I could see the fear in her eyes. “I won’t ask again” I said coming ever so closer. She smiled, “Wow, you’re good!” I bit the back of her neck and forced her to the ground, so she wouldn’t try to escape, “Don’t play with me…” She replied, still smiling, “I’m just a friend of Fluffy’s. Nobody special.” From behind, I heard a sound that was similar to a crunching sound. Afterwards, I saw Scarlette slowly limping towards me. “Are you okay?” I said observing her wounds. Scarlette had sustained massive injuries, from four other wolves that attacked her. She was covered in deep cuts and tears and was soaked with blood. “I’m fine.” She said quietly sitting down. Her breathing was quick and shallow.

            “Impressive! You took on four by yourself, huh, maybe I underestimated you.” Kya said with that smile, “You guys remind me of Fluffy!” I pressed my paw against her throat, “Why did you try to kill us?! Where are we?!” I began barking at her impatiently. “Oh wow, you’re strong…” She replied tantalizingly, her eyes narrowing seductively, “If Fluffy weren’t around I’d definitely have your puppies…” Scarlette pushed me aside and grabbed Kya by her muzzle, “B***h, I will snap your neck if you keep playing with us…” She hissed very quietly and in a very scary tone. Kya’s attitude changed from her sarcastic smile to a very terrified look. “Okay, okay… just… please don’t kill me…” She said desperately, “I just wanted to see Fluffy…” She mentioned Fluffy a lot, it made me a bit curious, “What’s with you and Fluffy?” She swallowed, “I like him… I…” Scarlette pressed down harder on her throat, “Then why try to kill us?!” I nodded, “Obviously you had some sort of ambush waiting for us.” Kya struggled for air, “I was trying to kill him… then I heard you two were coming… alone…so…” I was confused, “Wait, you wanted to kill him? Didn’t you just say you liked him?” Kya shook her head, “You’ll never understand…” “Where the hell are we?” Scarlette continued to asked, “Where have you taken us?” She released Kya who remained on the ground. “Just where you wanted to go… the station is over there...” She said pointing toward the exit of the path. Scarlette and I looked that direction and before we knew it, Kya had disappeared. “Where the hell did that little b***h go?!” Scarlette growled. She winced in pain and sat back in discomfort. “Don’t worry about it, for now, we’ve got to get you to a doctor,” I said sliding under her and placing her on my back, “That was some crazy s**t…”     

 

Notes

1)      Vitraia is the continent where Veridia and Incarnadia are located.

2)      Osten means east in German. It is the easternmost city I Inaria.

3)      Pure-blooded Veridian wolves’ eyes glow depending on their eye color. They glow under several different circumstances: During a full moon, during an adrenaline rush, and some wolves can even control when it glows. When their eyes glow, they can see very clearly in the dark and they can think clearer and quicker.

 

 

 

 

 

Situation:

 

Scarlette

Day: February 21 (Five months ago)

Location: Veridian-Incarnadian Border

Scarlette’s Sentencing ⁽¹⁾

 

            Scarlette was sentenced to “Death by Banishment” Two days ago. At that point she was given three days to escape the death wolf pack sent to kill her by the Incarnadian Authorities. If successful, she would be allowed to live… however, she would not be able to return to that territory. She survived two days so far and is on her final night. However, the death squad is hot on her trail and she is tired and badly wounded from her confrontations with the wolf pack the past two days. Can she make it to day three?          

 

 

I stopped at a small pond in the forest. I had no idea where I was… or where I was going. The night clouds had hidden Triton ⁽²⁾ and its bright glow… which was good for me I guess. “What are you doing?! Keep going!” Morgan ⁽³⁾ hissed at me. I was covered in wounds and blood but I had no choice. So I kept running. It was freezing that night and the cold air numbed my lungs. In the background I heard the wolves sent to kill me howling. “I can’t believe they’re enjoying this…” Morgan said shaking her head, “Some animals are just sick…” I couldn’t help but think that I was in the same business as them just a few months ago. “Morgan… I c-can’t…” I groaned almost out of breath. “Shut up! Keep running!” She screamed back at me. I could smell them getting closer and I could have sworn I heard their footsteps beside me. “They’re trying to surround us…” Morgan said looking back, “I’m going to make way for us okay? Go up a few hundred feet and then head back this way.” Morgan’s saliva is poisonous because of an experiment done on her when she was a child. The venom takes a few seconds to kill its prey… but I was more worried about her. “What… about you…” I breathed, “They’ll kill you…” “Just do it d****t!” she said hopping off of my back. I did as she told and continued running.

****************************  Two Days Earlier  *******************************

I sat alone, thinking about everything that had happened to me… At one point I was the queen of torture for Lavender… and I enjoyed it so much… hurting and killing other animals… for the Princess. Then one day I found out what terrible things I was doing for a terrible wolf… It was too late to do anything about it then… and now it’s too let to change “You look kind of pathetic…” A voice said from the window of the prison cell. I turned to see Morgan sitting against the bars. “Oh thank goodness… I thought they had gotten you…” I said with a smile. She climbed down to me, “What are you thinking about?” I shook my head, “I don’t know… I’m kind of regretting being alive right now.” Morgan climbed on my back and crawled to her usual spot on my shoulder, “If I were you, I’d look ahead to what’s to come… have you planned your escape tomorrow?” I shook my head again, “What’s the point… I deserve it anyways…” Morgan sighed, “You really are pathetic aren’t you.” I looked back towards the window. Triton was out that night… its sharp blue glow is said to bring a glimmer of hope. “Well that’s a good sign.” Morgan said after a long pause, “They say if Triton’s out during a miserable time, things make a turn for the better.” I nodded, “Mommy used to tell me that all the time.” We sat in silence for a little while before I finally decided to say something, “I might head to Veridia…” Morgan smacked me, “Are you insane?” I shook my head, “They won’t follow us that far… it’s the only way.” I replied quietly. Morgan knew I was right. “I hope you’re right…”

****************************** That Morning ********************************

            Before the condemned are released, the pack of wolves that would be to hunt them are taken out to observe the condemned’s release. At that moment, they obtain the condemned animal’s scent and wait until sunset to hunt them down. At this point, the pack obtained her scent and she is ready to be released.     

I sat there trying not to look back. Behind me was the entire pack of wolves that were going to be sent after me after the sundown. They mocked me and tried to intimidate me. I was scared… terrified to be exact, but the key is to never show weakness. I glanced back out of curiosity and finally saw what I was going to be up against. It was a pack of wolves; about ten to twelve members strong… all male… and all looked very fit and strong. I looked back ahead of me. The wolves behind me continued to laugh and threaten me as one by one they came up to me to get my scent. I counted them as each stuck their muzzles under my tail to obtain my scent. The final one was number thirteen. “I’m personally going to rip your spine out through your a*s.” The last wolf whispered to me with an evil smile and with a flick of the tail, returned to the others. Morgan, who sat hidden behind my hair, hissed at him. Finally, the prison guard came up to me, “Okay, you can go… and you had better run.” I immediately started towards the forest where I would find cover for the night and eventually into Veridian Territory. It was my best bet… (At that point Veridian Territory was still closed off to Incarnadians, the wolves wouldn’t dare cross into it) I disappeared into the forest in an instant and ran for my life.

******************************* Present (Night 2) ******************************

      I had ran for a good half a mile before I decided to turn around after Morgan. The trail back was quiet… meaning I had lost the wolves who were trying to encircle me… and that Morgan had successfully dispatched the wolf behind us. It was a little while before I came across the wolf who was already dead. He had obviously been poisoned by Morgan as he had vomited blood a couple of times, a side effect of her poison. I desperately searched the area for Morgan until I finally found her… dead. “No…” I whispered to myself as I picked up her small body. The wolf had twisted her head from her spinal cord... obliterating her neck and killing her instantly. “I’m so sorry…” I whispered to her. I put her body down and continued running, like she would want me to do. Tears clouded my eyes and I wanted to at least stop and cry for her, but my legs wouldn’t stop… they couldn’t. There were still wolves out there trying to kill me. I continued on for a miles until I reached a huge drop off. I couldn’t go any further. The huge ridge was a good sign though… it was the Veridian border. At the bottom of the ridge was a jagged river full of rocks. And on the other side was the beginning of the Veridian Forest. I sighed to myself, “Made it…” Before I even had the chance to celebrate a familiar voice called out… the sound of his voice sent the biggest shock down my spine and almost stopped my heart.

“Awwww… and you almost made it too.” The voice said. It was the wolf that had promised to tear out my spine. I turned around to face him. “No…” I said to myself, “No…way…” He was smiling as he approached me, “I followed you for some time now… just waiting for the perfect opportunity… and BOOM here it is!” I couldn’t back away… I couldn’t escape… “That was a nice little stunt you pulled back there… almost professional.” He said, we were nose to nose, “But now we have to say our goodbyes.” He then pushed me off of the ridge. As I fell I couldn’t get over how close I had gotten to freedom… how Morgan sacrificed herself so that I could escape… and it was all hopeless… I hit the water’s surface and was immediately rushed to the shore by the current. I couldn’t move. The rocks in the water cut a large gash in my stomach that bled profusely and I was tired from the run. The impact had knocked all the wind out of me… but somehow I was still alive. I lied there shivering until the wolf came to my side to finish me off. He lifted up my head and looked into my hardly-opened eyes and twisted my head in a diagonal direction. I heard my neck crack and then he dropped my head back into the sand. “It’s over.” He muttered to another wolf who spit on me and disappeared into the night. Everything went black after that… but I wasn’t dead… not yet.

            Maybe a few hours passed by before I opened my eyes again. I was in the same spot I had been left in, but now I was sore and lost a lot of blood. It took all my strength to stand up… but I immediately fell back down. I was weak from blood loss. “I’m sorry Morgan…” I whispered to myself. I was about ready to die… before I heard footsteps. I was too weak to be able to look from the direction they came but I knew it couldn’t have been one of the death squad members. Before I knew it, the animal began picking me up. It was the most painful thing I had ever felt… being carried with all the wounds I had gotten, but I was more relieved than anything. I passed out a few minutes later… the wolf’s warm fur and steady heartbeat lulled me to sleep. I woke up inside of a very warm den. I don’t know how much time went by… but it had to be quite a bit… because I was starving.  I looked up to a see a wolf puppy, a very young white wolf with black hair, markings and green eyes. She looked very shy and as soon as we made eye contact, she quickly glanced away. Suddenly I heard the voice of what appeared to be another wolf puppy, “Alex, leave her alone!” She cried, “Mom said leave her alone!” Alex looked up and nodded, and then looked back down at me, “I’m sorry…” She whispered and ran off. I was confused… but I was warm. I heard another wolf enter, this one was grown though. He looked just like Alex… except he had red eyes… I assumed he was her father. “It’s been a while Scarlette.” He said gently, I looked up at him but I didn’t recognize who he was. “Wh-who are you?” I whispered.

            He gently patted my head, “Save your strength.” His mate (I figured) entered the room with a bowl of water, “Her wounds look a little better.” She whispered to him. I relaxed and waited for them to leave before I got up. She left the water next to me and they both disappeared outside. I sat up and began drinking the water. Out of the corner of my eyes I saw that my wounds had been stitched up and my fur had been cleaned. I felt a lot better than I did before… I pretty much owed my life to this stranger… who claimed to have known me. “Ah good, looks like you recovered nicely.” The wolf’s voice said at the mouth of the den. I looked back to see the black and white wolf standing there. “I don’t know how to thank you…” I said quietly. He entered the room, “You’re probably the first one to survive that huh.” He said sitting down next to me. I looked up at him surprised, “How did you…?” He looked outside of the den where his puppies were playing together, “I’m with the VSS⁽⁴⁾, and your name comes up all the time… you’re a really colorful individual.” I looked down shamefully, “Then you know who I am… and what I did…” The wolf shook his head, “I knew who you were.” I looked up at him, “What do you mean…?” “Every animal deserves a chance to use his or her skills for good.” He said smiling. “But… I killed those animals…” I said shamefully, “I don’t deserve another chance.” The wolf shook his head, “You may think so… but I’m offering you one. I’ve seen your skills… I can use them. Consider working with me, you’ll have a chance to do some good.” He got up and headed out, “Now that you’re free and Incarnadia thinks you’re dead, your life is up to you now.”

 

            Scarlette Agreed to Work with Darryl and the VSS in order to make a better world than one she was used to. She healed up three days later and the once very violent and scary executioners could be seen playing happily with a litter of puppies. She became Darryl’s new Partner within the VSS.

 

Notes

1)          Referring to Scarlett’s sentencing which was “death by banishment” which was mention earlier. The condemned is given a few days to escape a pack of wolves sent specifically to hunt the individual down. If he/she escapes, she is freed, however cannot return. If he/she does, the individual is killed.

2)          Triton is Tirrora’s second moon. It’s blue instead of whit like Titan is and is out very rarely and randomly.

3)          Morgan is a monitick who Scarlette befriended as a puppy. She is often her voice of reason and only wants Scarlette to live a truly happy life.

4)          VSS= Veridian Secret Service

 

 

 

 

Fluffy and Ebony

Day: June 15

Location: Southern Chechnya (headed back to Osten, Inaria)

 

 

            “The sun’s almost down…” Ebony said to me as we continued walking, “Where did today go?” I shrugged, “No clue… but I can’t help but think there was something important I was supposed to be doing right now…” “Killing me?” Ebony laughed, “Isn’t that what you were here for?” I shook my head, “That’s not it… although you’re tempting me right now.” We continued walking until we finally reached the bridge where Inaria began. I noticed that the guards where lying down this time though. “That’s odd… they have to sleep here too?” I wondered out loud. “That’s not right…” Ebony whispered stopping in her tracks. The bridge was covered in blood… the guards had been killed. “What the fu…” I began to say before a familiar voice called out to me from behind, “There you are!” Ebony and I quickly turned around to see what appeared to be a half wolf half dog mix sitting in a tree. I immediately recognized her. “Ashley ⁽¹⁾…? Dear goddess I can’t believe you’re still alive,” I said, “Was this your doing?” She smiled maniacally, “Yup! Isn’t it beautiful? There’s blood EVERYWHERE!”  “Who the heck is that…?” Ebony whispered to me. “Watch your back…” I whispered back to her. “Kya was looking for you ya’know.” Ashley said jumping down from the tree, “She found your friends instead.” I was confused, “My… friends?” Ashley nodded, “Yeah… and they were very mean to her.” It was then that I remembered what I was supposed to be doing… “The airport… Darryl…” I said to myself, “D****t, that’s what I was supposed to be doing…” from the woods behind us, a bunch of wolves emerged… apparently part of Ashley’s crew. Among the wolves was a saber tooth tiger. “Ughh…” I groaned to her, “This again?!” Ashley nodded, “This is going to be fun!” Ebony leaned closer to me, “I’ll take the saber tooth… you can have the wolves… and that crazy chick.” I replied, “Why do I have to have all of them and you get the tiger? You suck. That’s not fair.” “Fine, we’ll switch.” She replied. I shook my head, “No you get the saber tooth aaand the crazy chick. I’ll get the wolves.” “Fine.” She replied.

            All at once, Ashley’s crew attacked us. I avoided all of the sharp claws and teeth that were surrounding me and out the corner of my eyes, I could see Ebony doing the same. “Ya’know, I think Kya likes you.” Ashley cried out behind me, “She wants your puppies.” I ignored, and focused on the matter at hand. Even though all of Ashley’s wolf friends looked intimidating, they were all amateurs at fighting. A lot of them left themselves totally exposed and couldn’t even fight properly. “I’ll give you one chance to leave…” I said to the group attacking me. They said nothing and continued attacking. “Suit yourself.” I smiled. I avoided the claws of one of them and slashed his throat; I then avoided two more and bit another. “One down…” I said to myself and continued. I only killed two more before the rest began to back off, leaving one female behind. She looked pretty sure of herself… until she noticed that her friends had abandoned her. She looked back and then returned her glance to me. She had a terrified look on her face. Her ears laid back and her tail between her legs she began to cry, “P-please don’t kill me… I-I’m s-sorry…” I shook my head, “go home.” Immediately, the wolf girl turned tail and ran away. I turned around to watch Ebony fight the Saber tooth tiger. “You okay over there?” I laughed watching her avoiding the Saber tooth’s attack.

            “We should’ve switched!” She cried between breaths, “You had it easy! No fair!” The saber tooth was fast, but Ebony was faster. She kept on attacking the saber tooth tiger’s side, little by little, until it began to let its guard down. “You need help?” I cried out to her. I knew she was too prideful to accept help from anyone. “Screw you!” She cried out continuing to fight. The saber tooth began to tire but Ebony wouldn’t back down.  She quickly hopped on its back and then jumped off, its slow response to that allowed her to get under it. With all her strength, she flung the saber tooth on its side and produced a couple of knives she had hidden under her belly. With lightning speed, she immediately began stabbing the saber tooth with her hidden blades. “Holy s**t…” I said to myself. I sort of began remembering why I had fallen for her in the first place. “You owe me, you b*****d.” Ebony said returning to me. I turned around to see Ashley standing there. Her eyes were widened and she had a puzzled expression. “You have terrible friends.” I said to her walking towards the bridge, “If I see you again, I’ll kill you, Ashley, I promise you that.” Ashley growled and ran towards me, but before she got far Ebony threw one of her knives which stuck right into her back left leg. She cried out in pain and fell to the ground. “I don’t like when little crazy animals try to kill me.” She growled pulling her knife out of Ashley’s leg, “If I see you I’ll kill you too.” She laughed and followed me across the bridge back into Inaria. “You owe me one. Don’t forget that.” Ebony said to me smiling. “I’ll pay you back one day.” I replied. But first I really need a drink.

            We walked for hours until we returned to the city of Osten where the HQ was. We walked through the city which had just lit up for the night. Osten was a very active city at night, mostly because many nocturnal animals live here. We walked past a huge building being constructed by dragons, which where one of the only animals that had the ability to do so. “What would we do without them huh, they build our buildings, carry us across the ocean, dragons really are very helpful.” Ebony said looking up at the impressive scene. “Sometimes I wonder why they don’t just take everything for themselves… they’re capable of it…” ⁽²⁾ I replied continuing to the HQ. “Are you sure it’s okay to go in there…?” Ebony said quietly as we approached the HQ building. I had totally forgotten that I was supposed to be investigating her. “Meh, who cares?” I said and we both entered. Nichole was standing in the lobby with Darryl, my old friend who I had been working with for quite some time. Nichole saw Ebony and she made the most puzzled face I think I had ever seen her make. “Hey! What’s going on?” I cried out to Darryl who was standing right beside her, “It’s been too long!” He laughed, “Definitely too long.” Nichole grabbed my ear, “May I see you in private?” I reluctantly followed her to behind the desk. “What the hell are you doing? I tell you to go spy on your ex and you bring her back her to spy on us?!” she hissed. “Relax, she never had a pack. She was alone and I made sure of it.” I replied, “Maybe you should trust my judgment… have I ever been wrong?” Nichole looked at me with the look she always gives me, “What about the agent that was killed? Have you forgotten her?” I shook my head, “It had to be the work of Kya and Ashley… Those marks she had been from a saber tooth tiger…” Nichole nodded, “Alright then... If this backfires, Fluffy, I will wear your pelt to your funeral…” I nodded, “Love you too Nichole.”

            We headed back to the small examination room where Scarlette was being patched up. “So now that I’ve got all of you together, we can get down to business.” Nichole began to talk. “In lieu of what’s happened in Antarceos a few days ago and the organization, we have a new threat… this one’s closer to home.” She glanced over at Ebony, “What can you tell us about the organization?” Ebony nodded and began to explain, “The organization is headed by a wolf named Hardy… he has three regional commanders… I don’t know who they are… but anyway the organization is called “the Inner Circle” and they are known to help smaller terrorist groups… I don’t know what they’re trying to accomplish overall…” Nichole began explaining, “That’s right, so our biggest fear is this… There is a new thing going on in the Bering Isles right now… where the dragons live… Visceral⁽³⁾, the dragon leader of the Bering isles is mobilizing his army… for what… nobody knows… we sent an eagle to get more information, but he was killed. Our friends in the northern Island of the Bering Isles sent a distress message… they’re afraid that the dragons are going to invade, not only their small island, but eventually the surrounding areas.” I had suspected this to all go down at some point. The dragons had confined themselves to such a small island… I couldn’t imagine how such massive animals could survive and reproduce on such a small continent. “So you’re saying that the dragons might try and attack us?” Scarlette asked nervously, “We don’t stand a chance against them…”  Ebony nodded, “Exactly… which is what takes us to your next mission… setting aside the events in Antarceos… we’re sending you into the Bering isles to gather information about exactly what’s going on in Visceral’s land… it’s going to be very dangerous… but I think you all will be able to handle it.” 

 

            The Bering isles are a mountainous island continent where the dragons make their nests and, after a while, decided to live. The northernmost island is where many animals who fled the war between Siberia and Chechnya decided to settle. The dragons always despised these animals for invading what little territory they had. Visceral then decided to rally the rest of the dragons to take over the northern island for their own, and then retake the rest of Inaria and some of Vitraia in order to return to the top of the food chain.

 

 

Notes

1)      You probably assumed this wolf-dog is Kya from Darryl’s story. You were close. Kya and Ashley are actually twins who are always chasing after Fluffy. Kya likes him, but for some reason wants to kill him out of love… weird….

2)      Fluffy is suggestion to what might be happening in Chapter 3…

3)      Visceral is the dragon leader of the Bring Isles, a mountainous island continent where the dragons make their nests.