For the rest of the world, the Chaos Time had finally ended. Among the Gem Dogs, it was starting all over again. Infighting was rampant amongst the once united pack. Those the White Alpha had Collared and Tagged of the Diamond, Citrine, Emerald, Sapphire, Amethyst were angry at the lesser rank that she had arbitrarily given them and viciously fought each other, often to the death, to elevate it. These matches led to many orphaned pups, pups that were taken in by the Alphas Black Spinel pack and cared for.
Three whelping cycles after the fighting began, a single pup was born from each of the five quarrelling packs and the Ruby pack. The event was strange enough that the fighting temporarily stopped just long enough for all the Gem Dogs to wonder over the phenomenon. Of all the bitches in heat and bred, only those six had taken? And only a single pup when each bitch was known to whelp any number from four to nine? Then there was the fact that the six were … odd. All six pups were considered abnormal enough to raise a fair number of hackles among the packs.
The bitch-pup born of the Diamonds was an albino and built like a male, short hindlegs, broad chest and long forearms. Her eyes, even weeks after opening, remained a crystalline blue.
The dog-pup of the Citrines was nearly twice the size of the other five at birth and a clear throwback to his ancient ancestors with his thick, silver with gray splotched shaggy double-coat, straight spine and hind legs the same length of his forelegs. But his eyes, upon opening, were a piercing red that seemed to stare straight into your soul.
The bitch-pup of the Emeralds was strangely plain, when compared with the other five. She had a short, normal ochre coat with a straw-yellow ruff around her neck and shoulders. Her eyes at first were a pale green, but within a few weeks shifted to the colour of refined gold.
From sole survivor of the White Alpha’s massacre of the Sapphires came a dog-pup with a blacker than tar coat, a slim, bitch-like body and skin-pink eyes.
The small Amethyst dog-pup had almost comically enormous ears and paws he would never grow into, bright green eyes and a long, flat, silky dusk rose coat.
Out of the Ruby pack was born the strangest pup of the six. A bitch that seemed to be a hodgepodge mix of the traits of the other five. She was a tiny, fragile thing with enormous ears and thick black fur with an ochre ruff. Her eyes, upon opening, were each a different colour. The right one was a piercing red and the left a crystalline blue. To top it all off, she was utterly blind.
Unfortunately, the peace only lasted until the first argument and, five months after the six had been whelped, their mothers all died in defense of their strange pups and the now orphans were taken by the spinels to be raised. The names of the six pups died with their mothers, so they were each renamed to the gem of the pack they had come from. Diamond, Citrine, Emerald, Sapphire, Amethyst and Ruby.
When the six first met in the den of the Alphas, there seemed to be an instant connection between them, as though their differences drew them together. Enormous Citrine bounced not only between the other five his age, but also among the older pups. He put a stop to any fighting or bullying, made sure any wounds were cleaned, that everydog was comfortable and had full bellies. At his side in these tasks was Diamond whom, with her clever forepaws, would weave long grasses into soft mats and made sure none went without. As she grew and more orphans joined them, she would often share her meals with them and taught them to make the soft grass beds without asking anything in return.
Sapphire was always found at the side of Ruby, helping the blind bitch find her way around and making sure she wasn’t taken advantage of. He was often quick to fly off the handle at even a perceived insult towards one of his five pack mates, but when he was amongst them he was relaxed and soft spoken. During those rare times he had to leave her, he always left her in the care of one of the other four, Emerald, Citrine, Diamond or Amethyst, for he trusted no others. Ruby often wandered the caves when she could get away from Sapphire, or one of her ‘Sapphire Assigned Minders’. She would listen with her enormous ears to the world around her. Listen to the fights, listen to conversations and, whenever she could, she would find a tunnel to the outside and listen to nature. She often told anydog that would listen to her that she could hear the whispers of the stars she could not see, but such attempted conversation to any dog not Emerald would always end with her being picked up by her ochre scruff and carried back inside.
Emerald was the most laid back of the six, but by no means was she lazy. She threw her all and then some into any task she was given. Everything she did was performed in silence and for many years dogs and bitches outside the close-knit Six thought her mute. They were all very wrong. She could speak and when she did the words were always well thought out and never untruthful. She never sat and listened to gossip, she never spoke ill of any dog behind their back or to their face. Amethyst with his oversized paws and oversized ears bounced around in the literal sense. As the official pup-minder for the spinels, his boundless energy and determination to make sure the pups remained active and happy served him well. It was his active imagination and Diamond’s skilled paws that allowed the creation of soft toys for the pups to snuggle and play with.
As the Six grew into adults, the time came for them to be separated and returned to their original packs.
“No!” Sapphire barked with flat ears and showing teeth as he stood defiantly between the Alphas and his pack.
“Alphas, could you please let us stay together? We’re all so … different than the other packs and we know it causes … problems.” Few outside the Six had ever seen imposingly large Citrine so submissive, but his quiet plea seemed to soften to hard expressions of the Alphas ever so slightly.
“Save for Sapphire, you all have family waiting - ” The Bitch-Alpha was interrupted by a derisive snort from Emerald.
“The very same families that orphaned us in the first place?” Emerald asked flatly. “Sure we’re grown now, but one of us can’t defend herself.” She turned to Ruby. “Sorry.”
Ruby waved the comment off. “It’s alright.” Her ears swivelled and oriented on Amethyst as he began bouncing in place.
“I know! Why don’t we just all become the new Sapphire pack? That way we can all stay together and then we can use Ruby’s idea and stop all the fighting and everydog will be happy again!” He jabbered as he gave Sapphire a hug, followed by Citrine, Ruby, Emerald and Diamond.
Both Alphas glanced at the small bitch. “Really? You think you, of all Dogs, can stop the fighting when even Our orders and Our enforcement failed?” The Alpha Dog asked with an almost derisive look.
“Now hold on. We think her idea has merit.” Diamond interjected. “We know you’re both excellent Alphas and your spinels have done their utmost best to prevent more deaths. And we know that being Collared like we have by the White Alpha has put an absurd amount of stress on the breeding generation. And … well … go on Ruby, tell them. You thought of it.”
“What?” Ruby yelped, not expecting, nor appreciating, being put on the spot. Her ears drooped as she licked her lips in nervousness. She hemmed and hawed before she found the words she wanted and told the Alphas her idea.
All the dogs and bitches gathered on a lone grassy knoll at the call of the Alphas. The gems of their collars sparkled in the early evening moonlight as they looked upon their leaders and the Six behind them. The silence in the air was heavy and uncomfortable before the Bitch-Alpha broke it with a booming bark.
“We see no Gem Dogs before Us! We see only a large litter of ignorant pups squabbling over a single teat! You expend precious energy that would be better used for hunting or digging by fighting amongst yourselves! And those are not even the worst of your sins.” she growled as she cast a baleful eye on all the now cringing Gem Dogs before them. “You all have, time after time, disregarded our most sacred law. You. All. Endanger. Pups.”
With the entire Pack now thoroughly cowed and finally listening, the Dog-Alpha said his piece. “These Six that stand behind us are true Gem Dogs. They heeded the few lessons their mothers taught them before they were orphaned for their mere appearance; something that should never have happened in the first place! Each was whelped within a different gem-pack and when they first met, their differences brought them together. Each have strengths and weaknesses, and they not only covered for each other’s weakness; they applied their strengths not only amongst themselves, but to all of you as well.”
He paused and took a breath, casting a gentle gaze at the crowd before he continued. “Together they brought comfort, food and healing without prejudice or discrimination. Together, they extoll the virtues of all True Gem Dogs. Honor, Trustworthiness, Joyfulness, Empathy, Altruism and Wisdom. Hear their words and apply them.”
Sapphire took the stage first with his head held high and looked down his nose at the dogs and bitches below him.
“Huh. You know, I thought as soon as I got up here I’d be able to yell at the lot of you. But now that I am here, I only feel kind of sad that I actually have to tell you what you should already know.” With a huff, he plopped his rump onto the grass and continued. “Having others look to you makes you feel strong and getting Collared by that … that … that thieving tyrant takes that all away. I get that. You know what though?” He looked at their now quizzical faces. “That’s exactly what she wants! She wants us go crawling to her with our tails between our legs, begging her to take these off! But we won’t because we are stronger than that! We are servants to none but Our Alphas, these alphas, right here. So we get divided by gems, so what? Pick a Gem-Alpha, the right way, with no more deaths, and stick with them.” Sapphire gave them all a nod before he returned to his previous spot.
Emerald filled the empty place Sapphire left behind on the top of the knoll and cleared her throat. She received a lot of stunned looks as she began to speak.
“I was whelped after the Collars, but I remember the stories my mother told me about how the Pack was before. The way she told it, we survived the Chaos Time because we were always honest with each other. We told no lies to ourselves or to others, so the Chaos couldn’t warp our minds, only our bodies. My silence was a choice I made after my mother was killed because there was so much dishonesty I didn’t want to talk to anydog who didn’t want to hear the truth. I’m speaking now because I think you’re all ready to hear it. Lies will bring the Chaos again; being truthful always has and always will protect us from it.”
Just like that, Emerald was done and replaced by Amethyst whose serious expression looked foreign on him. He twitched his oversized ears and looked at his enormous paws before he began.
“One way or another, I’m sure you’ve all at least heard of me. I mean, come on, I’m the funniest looking dog here. Maybe you laughed with me, maybe you laughed at me and if you did, I don’t care!” Amethyst suddenly became much more active as his speech picked up speed. “I like how I look because it helps me make other dogs and bitches laugh and if they’re laughing, that means they’ve forgotten all the bad stuff that’s been going on lately. Making other Dogs happy is what makes me happy. It’ll make you feel all warm and happy too if only you’ll try it because we’re all alive, we’re all living, and a big part of living is feeling joy and spreading it to others!”
Amethyst finished and Citrine, who was half again taller than the biggest Dog, took his turn to speak to the entire pack.
“Size and strength are all well and good, but it all depends on how you use it. Isn’t that one of the first true lessons we teach the pups? We let them play-fight so they learn when they’re biting too hard and how much strength is needed to gently swat a smaller pup with their paws. It’s a critical part of growing up, but we always stop them when it goes too far. When did we stop doing that with each other? I didn’t have any littermates and it wasn’t until I met my packmates that I learned those lessons. Sapphire, Emerald and Amethyst were always ready and willing to play and it was in this way that I learned I was a lot stronger than they were, that I should always be gentle. Having to be so careful all the time carried over into how I treat everydog. Strength only means something if you use it to stop others from abusing theirs. This is something I’ve tried to show many of you not only when I stop fights, but also treat your wounds and care for you until you’re better. A couple of you did learn, but most simply started fighting the minute they were well again. I hope you’ll take my words to heart. Thank you.”
The fifth to speak was Diamond. At first she hesitated, but the words soon began to flow from her muzzle.
“Way back in our history, before Song, before speech, even before true thought, our noble ancestors hunted. Sometimes they hunted alone and would catch only small prey, barely enough to fill the belly of one. That single hunter, hungry though he or she may have been, would return to their pack and lay their catch before the injured, the ill, or the pups. By giving their catch, they gave the injured time to heal, the ill the nutrients to recover, the pups the time and nutrients they needed to grow. In their own primitive way, our ancestors understood that the strength of the pack was dependant on how many members they had. Over the evolutionary epochs since then, we have changed. We still follow and trust our instincts, but they are often supressed by our thoughts and it is no longer as strong as it once was. Taking its place now are negative concepts such as greed, power lust and selfishness. I bid you to abandon these thoughts, trust the instincts that have led us this far and will lead us further still!” Diamond shouted to the crowd below, eliciting howls of agreement and approval.
The speeches given had swayed the gem-packs, as one they turned to each other and began interacting as they had before the Collars. They cleaned wounds unreachable by the one who bore them, properly submitted to those who were stronger and welcomed the return of the pups their actions had orphaned. Seeing the hostilities had ceased, the Alphas turned to the Six.
“We admit We were wrong Ruby.” The Bitch-Alpha began. “Chastising and punishing the fighters individually wasn’t working. Only by bringing them together and reminding them of all that we once were, without violence, could any change be effected.”
“Indeed.” The Dog-Alpha agreed as he turned to Citrine. “I think it was good for Us to hear as well. For your deed, We grant your request to join together as one pack. You are all now the Sapphire gem-pack.”
At this declaration, the Six rejoiced and joined the other gem-packs below as the gems in their Collars flashed and turned to sapphires.