//------------------------------// // To Bite or Bark // Story: Applebloomed // by StormDancer //------------------------------// Yellow Red returned to the whelping den today with injuries. Her diseased muzzle was blighted and even her ruff had been fouled with brambles and soil. Instead of barking out a soft greeting when I met her at the side where her magic opens up into the rest of the den, she stalked past me and went directly to her cloud thing. For the moment I saw Second, before my alpha's magic closed the Side, even it seemed concerned about my alpha's health. Since she hadn't acknowledged me, I decided to wait patiently. Perhaps she must decide how best to stalk the Unmoving or defend against Ambercrown's resistance to her magics. Perhaps Evil has been secretly poisoning her. Perhaps she is growing weaker from her illness. No, that last one cannot be. I will not let it be. I was still pondering her actions when I heard her start to whimper. It was such a strange sound that, at first, I didn't even recognize it for what it was. I assumed that the Unmoving outside had decided to taunt us or, perhaps, Second was attempting some form of trick. Something sensible like those. But when I went to Yellow Red to see what we should do about it, I saw her curled up on her cloud thing, clutching her head and shaking slightly. Yellow Red, the leader of our pack, capable of taming our three greatest enemies, having quelled the Unmoving armies, bearer of magics so powerful that they can build a den above the ground with the bodies of enemies slain in glorious battle.... whimpering. I didn't know what to do, so I did the only thing I could think of: I climbed onto the cloud thing and lay down next to her. If something can hurt my alpha, I won't be much use fighting it off, but I'll be kindling before I simply let anything hurt her again without at least trying. I refuse to fail. This morning, before she stirred, I snuck out of the hidden place and put a few of my twigs back into my Alpha's traveling den. It may not be much, but as long as I can hear or see something, I can pretend I am scouting with my Alpha. All I have to do is remain quiet, assure her I will be hidden through the day, and let her go on her hunt as usual. I heard Evil somewhere in the den, preparing the remains of the Unmoving as she seems to do every morning and knew it was time to hide. If Evil is awake, Ambercrown and The Predator will be shortly as well. I scrambled back under the cloud thing, shuffling in amongst my camouflage. I knew there was little I could do until it was time, so I relaxed... and waited for Yellow Red to awaken. It was little different than any other morning when my alpha stirred. First there was the cloud thing shifting, then one of the Unmoving corpses that held it aloft cried softly. Then the bird scream from outside and more of the Unmoving corpse's cries as Yellow Red shifted the cloud thing a bit more. I know this game though, the bird thing will stop screaming in a moment, the Unmoving corpse will grow quiet, and Yellow Red will test me to see if I have been tricked by her cunning. I know because I was fooled enough times to know what happens next. So I wait, relaxed, still and quiet. Yellow Red is preparing the ambush. The only warning we will get is the whisper of Unmoving corpses in the tunnel beyond the side before Ambercrown will burst in howling and barking, Second racing past to leap onto the cloud thing. I know this part too... Second will jump around, trying to goad Yellow Red into attacking... still trying to break the spell on Ambercrown.... but it will fail. My alpha's magic is too strong. Next, Ambercrown will gently attack the cloud thing and the Unmoving corpses that hold it. Yellow Red will bark back and, after a moment, appease them enough to make them leave. Then, and only then, will she rise and prepare for the day's hunt. I know this game, she plays it nearly every morning with them. My alpha is training them well, even if they don't realize they have been tricked into a patrol of our den. If an Unmoving had, somehow, snuck in overnight and overcome my alpha, the promise of the game would bring Ambercrown and Second to discover our plight... no doubt taking the Unmoving invader by surprise and allowing us to overcome it. If not, or if Ambercrown and Second were somehow defeated, the game has been taught to the Predator as well, though he plays only if Ambercrown is released without Yellow Red's acknowledgment. I wait as the Unmoving whispers cease beyond the side, and when it opens, I stay perfectly still as Ambercrown and Second race in, barking and howling. So simple. So predictable. And then the gentle attacking of the Unmoving holding the Cloud thing comes. They cry a bit as their corpses shake, but nothing unusual. My alpha is playing dead well today. Very well. Second jumps down and Ambercrown has stopped howling. Something is wrong. Ambercrown is not leaving and her barks are sounding softer. And then I hear it.... my alpha is whimpering again. Ambercrown begins to climb onto the cloud thing as she keeps barking softly. This is bad. An alpha cannot be challenged while on the hunt, but an alpha can lose their position in the pack if they are challenged while resting or at play. Yellow Red is resting in the whelping den... she is not on the hunt yet... and Second has, no doubt, run off to tell the others still in the den. It is a moment before I notice that Ambercrown has not finished climbing onto the cloud thing. She is propped up on it, leaning upon it, and is still barking softly while Yellow Red whimpers. I am confused. If Ambercrown wanted to challenge for the alpha, why hasn't she? Yellow Red is resting, and is whimpering. No matter how strong or clever my alpha is, such are signs of weakness. Her disease must have been progressing for far longer than she let us know if she is so rotten that she can't face Ambercrown in her own den. I am right about to pull myself together when I hear Ambercrown bark out loudly... the bark is one I've heard often enough to bring a dry leaf to my boughs.... she is calling for the Predator. I cannot fight them all. I can not let them harm my alpha, but I can not defeat them all, especially not if the Predator is here. Thinking as fast as I can, I try to come up with a plan Yellow Red would be proud of. I must be cunning. I must be frightful - no, I must be terrifying. Yes! I must be terrifying enough to scare them off since I can't hope to fight them off. I pull myself together as quietly as possible and sneak to the back side, the side most deeply hidden under the cloud thing, and start to climb the corpses of the Unmoving. It is a tight fit, one that even I have trouble relaxing through, but for my alpha, I will do it. I can hear him, the Predator, coming - his clawless roots thumping along the tunnel with a deafening finality. Second will be back any moment, and if things go too poorly, even Evil. I have very little time as I pull my brush past the tight spot and feel the cloud thing pressed against me. I hear the Predator very near now, Second with him, and I know I must wait for the perfect moment to spring my trap. Second will race in, like it always does, and bound to the cloud thing. The Predator will stalk through, likely to observe, perhaps to challenge himself. Ambercrown will not go for the kill until she has witnesses to Yellow Red's weakness and inability to lead the pack. The critical moment will be after Second races in, but before the Predator has entered. I will pounce upon Second as it leaps to the cloud thing, startling Ambercrown from her strange leaning, then leap back to defend my alpha right as the Predator enters. He will see me 'defeat' Second and Ambercrown before either of them can touch my alpha, hopefully stopping his challenge. If we are lucky, Ambercrown and Second will be so startled that they may flee, and without the support of the Predator, my alpha will be safe until after the hunt at least. If the hunt goes well, and it always does, I doubt Ambercrown will challenge for a time, especially after being seen cowering from a cub. Or, I will be struck down by Ambercrown as I leap. Even then, the Predator will witness the madness of a packmate slaughtering a cub and his dedication to the pack should force him to stop Ambercrown. I doubt he will be fast enough to save me, but by stopping Ambercrown, he will stop the challenge and Yellow Red will be safe for another day. Either way, I must wait until Second begins to race in. I listen as the Predator grows closer, Second's roots clacking across the Unmoving corpses. I hear Second's charge and I start my scramble from behind the cloud thing. Time is critical and I put everything I have into the motion. I feel something strange. There is something touching part of me that is not part of me. A moment later, the world erupts in a terrible noise and I lose my rooting to the cloud thing just as my muzzle breaks through from the edge beside Yellow Red. I can't move! There is another cloud thing on top of me! Yellow red is laying upon one and pinning me with the other! NO! My alpha is trying to protect me even now! No! My alpha needs help! I need to help! I cannot do nothing! I hear Second. I hear second but I do not see Second? Ambercrown is facing away from the cloud thing as the Predator comes around the corner. He is looking down, confused. I can hear Second, but I cannot see Second. I can see Ambercrown and the Predator, but I canno.... the traveling den! I had hidden some of my twigs in the traveling den! When I struggled to move to a pouncing position in time, I forgot about my twigs! I must have pulled them, but the den is powerful magic and I am too weak to break it, but I must have caused something to move within the traveling den. No! I have doomed us both! I cannot surprise them now. Even if I do attack, the Predator will see my trickery and will crush me for attacking Ambercrown without a challenge. Second will know I am here before I can do anything. Ambercrown knows my alpha is weak and cannot defend herself. I've doomed us both! I try to rouse my alpha, prodding her gently with my muzzle while they are all looking at the traveling den. If we can flee while they're distracted, we can get WhiteFlower and Dirty Sap. We can hunt and come back again. We can survive! I nuzzle her more urgently. They won't be distracted for long. We must leave now! Why isn't she fleeing? Why is she only whimpering? And then, the Predator looks up. His bark is as soft and slow as always, just as lethal and methodical as he is. I grow still. There is no hope for us now. I watch him approach, Ambercrown looking up a moment later and following, before he leans down and ... nuzzles Yellow Red? She only begins to howl plaintively... my alpha.... howling like an injured cub. The Predator stays a moment before pulling his head back and barking something at Ambercrown. A moment later, Ambercrown is nuzzling Yellow Red too. And then Ambercrown stops and puts her muzzle right up against mine, and bites down. I find myself being pulled out from under Yellow Red's cloud thing and held by the muzzle in the air. Ambercrown's giant deformed maw holding me tightly with her diseased thorns and barbs. This close, I can see how sick they all all.... even their muzzle barbs are blunted, as if broken off at the stem. And then she puts me down on the cloud thing with a strange look. After a moment, she pushes me up closer to Yellow Red and barks out softly. Yellow Red reaches out and pulls me in, her dew watering me as she whimpers and howls plaintively. I remain stock still. Eventually the others leave, Ambercown looking back and waiting at the side for quite some time before closing the opening to the tunnel. It is a while later when Ambercrown returns with some of Evil's food. She stays only long enough to bark out a few things softly and nuzzle Yellow Red a bit. A bit later, Yellow Red finally releases me and eats from Evil's meal. She stays close to me and barks out some things softly. I can still see the bruising on her trunk and muzzle, her ruff and brush are still stained. She offers me some of her meal, and after assuring me it is fine, I eat. As always, Evil's food is delicious. The day passes quietly and I find myself often being held by my alpha. Dirty Sap and Whiteflower both appear later, but they don't stay long. They, too, look as if their diseases are progressing, though Dirty Sap's branches buzz no less strangely. It worries me that the three strongest hunters in our pack seem so ill. But I am amazed when I finally understand, that night, what Yellow Red has done. She tricked us all.... everyone but Dirty Sap and Whiteflower.... she tricked the Predator, Ambercrown, and even Second, into thinking she killed me and was burying me for winter. When they all looked away, she anticipated my pounce and pinned me down to protect me. She knew I couldn't fight them all. She knew I would be too frightened to move. She knew that they would find me, but only Second has seen me and Second was still distracted. Somehow.... somehow she knew exactly what to do to keep them all under her spell and keep me safe. My alpha. My alpha is the greatest alpha. I won't fail her.