It was a beautiful spring morning in the forest by a human barn. The sun
shone brightly in the sky above the trees that rustled as a breeze sighed past,
casting long, dancing shadows across the clearing that was home to a small pack
of wolves. Several dens were dug under the shade of the tall, leafy trees. They
were strewn out among the edges of the clearing, identifying the areas of which
the different pack members slept and, after mating season, the females gave
birth and stayed in them for long periods of time, while the males would hunt
for them.
The sun was inching up into the sky as the first of the pack started
emerging from their dens. One, a pale gray-colored she-wolf with yellow eyes
and a bit of white tinged down her chest, belly and legs, walked up to a pure
gray male with big, red-orange eyes and softly pushed her muzzle into his neck
fur in greeting.
“Good morning, Inugami.” The female said in her soft, song-like voice. Inugami
nodded to her with a smile and greeted her with a, “good morning, Bell.”
Inugami and Bell
were the alpha couple of the pack. They were the ones who made most of the
decisions for the pack and who made sure that everyone was in order. Their den
was by a large tree stump, which they used to alert the pack of any danger or
threat. All of the dens were self-dug by the members of the pack. They believed
that independence was mandatory if the pack was to thrive. And it was thriving.
They had exactly five pack members, not including the alpha pair, so that made
seven. That was plenty enough to take down a grown bull oni, or maybe even a
bear demon, if threatened.
As Inugami and Bell
exchanged a few words of update on the camp and prey source, more and more of
the pack began emerging from their dens until all seven of them were out in the
clearing, sitting around and talking amongst them before they had to go out and
hunt or patrol.
Inugami finally ended his and Bell’s
conversation with a nod and turned to his pack-mates.
“Ok everyone,” he said after he knew they all were listening, “Time to
assign jobs for the day.”
There was a faint murmur of eagerness among the pack as they all lined up
and stood up straight, ready for their leader’s orders to be given to them. Bell watched her mate
with a smile as he paced down the short line of his pack-mates, assigning their
roles for today.
“Souel,” he said to a pure white, female wolf, “You will go with Takeshi and
hunt.” He gestured toward a dark gray, strong-looking male wolf. In return, Takeshi
nodded and went to stand beside Souel. As they stood side-by-side, it was easy
to tell who was stronger. Takeshi stood nearly a half-foot taller than Souel,
and his muscles always looked tense, as if he were prepared to spring at any
moment. But he looked as calm as a newborn pup in its sleep.
Inugami walked up to a male wolf with a mix of Black, gray, brown and white
all about his coat and said, “Subzen, you and I will go out and find some fresh
bedding for the dens and clean up around camp. I want this place neat for when
our new pack members come.” He smiled warmly to Bell, who smiled back and glanced at her
stomach, which was bigger than it normally should be. She was going to have
pups! Of course, all the members were happy for Bell and Inugami and everyone wanted to do
their part to help. But Subzen grimaced at the thought of having to clean up
after his pack-mates. It made butterflies in his stomach. But, he was a loyal
member of the pack, so he took the job with pride and acceptance.
“And now, Mud, you will go with Honey and find some herbs that will help
with birthing. The pups should be coming sometime soon, so we want to be
prepared.” Mud, a pale brown male wolf with even darker brown paws and muzzle,
nodded and went to stand beside Honey, who was a beautiful, tan-orange female
with a black-tipped tail. She nodded to her leader and glanced over at Mud, who
was staring at Inuagami, ready for him to give the command.
“Now, scatter.” Inugami said, going to get beside Subzen to start cleaning.
Bell looked
at her mate, “What should I do Inugami?” she asked, already knowing what he
would say.
“You will stay and rest in the den. Souel and Takeshi will be back soon with
some food so you can keep your strength up, and so you have plenty of milk for
the pups.” He said, giving her a quick, affectionate lick to her check and
walking away to help Subzen, who was struggling with a giant pile of bedding
which he collected, already, from all the dens. nugami went and helped to drag
the pile away.
Bell sighed
and went to lie outside her den. She would wait to go inside until Inugami and Subzen
had brought new bedding. She closed her eyes and slowly drifted into a doze.
Bell was
suddenly in an unfamiliar place. There were no trees, no bushes, just an
endless array of grass. She looked to see that a wooden fence surrounded her
and a big, wooden thing with clear, see-through squares here and there. It
looked about as big as a tree! Bell
was scared. Where was Inugami? Where was her pack? She lifted her head and
howled a distress call. No answer. So she got to her feet.
She walked a few steps, then fell back down to the ground. Why was she so
weak? She felt her stomach lurching greatly, but she didn’t feel sick at all.
“The pups,” she cried, “the pups are coming!” she howled again for her pack, still,
no response. But something did happen.
A human came out of the door of the big, wooden thing. It must be its den. Bell thought. The human
came closer and closer. It squatted down as it got into touching distance and
reached out for Bell’s
head. Bell
growled a deep, warning growl at the strange creature. It immediately withdrew
its hand and stared at her. She stared back, her piercing, brown eyes locked on
the human’s hand, her teeth bared in an intense snarl of protection. The pups
would come soon, and she did not want this human to touch them.
Bell growled
even louder, but this time, the human did not recoil in its position. Actually,
it did just the opposite! The human stretched out its arm and laid it gently on
Bell’s stomach.
That set Bell
off. The human was now too close for comfort. She stretched her neck to give
the hand that touched her bite. It tore into the flesh; ripping and causing
blood to emerge from the wound. The human let out a sharp howl of hurt. It
quickly stood up and ran back into its den and slammed the door behind it.
Bell was
satisfied. She knew that the human would not bother her any more. But she still
had the problem of delivering the pups. She felt an unknown feeling in her
stomach, it was moving around. This feeling would not stop; it continues to get
worse as it. And finally, she felt it. It was time. Alone, lost and weak, she
started pushing. I can do this, she thought as she began to deliver.
As time went by, three pups were born and already drinking from their
mother’s soft, warm underbelly. But Bell
could feel another still in her. She pushed and pushed with all her strength,
letting out small yips and yowls of pain, and finally, the last pup was born. Bell was so proud. She
looked at the three pups, which were by now asleep, and smiled. But she didn’t
feel the last pup come to drink. She looked over at him to see that he lay
still beside her hind leg. Her eyes opened wide in horror.
“No!” Bell
yelled, jolting up. She was back in the forest, the trees now still as noon
came. The sky started forming puffy, white-gray clouds that promised rain by
evening. She gave a deep sigh. It was just a dream at least that was what she
thought. The door slowly opened, and stepping forward was the leg of a human,
his clothes were black, it looked similar to a uniform of a human. Bell’s eyes instantly
locked on the humans hand, there was no wound, and this was a different human.
The human slowly moved closer, just within her range of sight. “You smell
familiar human, state your business”.
Inugami looked to the side, and then back to the woman “It’s me, Inugami”.
The wolf growled, in disbelief, as the other packs emerged from the darkness
that seems to retract with the lighting of the candles. “You smell like Inugami…,
did you hunt him!?” The wolf oni sighed, these wolves were his family, but due
to the unfortunate events, they were not his family any more “I’ll be leaving”
he said while turning his back. However Souel leaped from the ground, towards
Inugami. “Familiar of darkness, show yourself, and reveal the true nature of
destruction!” a bear slithered from the back of the male, ripping the wolf in
half.
He slowly moved towards Bell,
he could not stay with these wolves, no more. He turned around slipped from the
house, and leaped from the cliff. The den was high up, in a secluded area, he
could not go back to stay the way he use to be, he had become a stronger demon,
and there were other strong demons out there, and this was a whole new world to
him. The bear summon clung to his back, and as he landed, he noticed a serpent
demon in his way. “ Head first into this new world” after saying that; a grin slipped
onto his face as the bear began to attack the other oni.
1708 - 3 stars towards Chaotic Familiar
leaving 208 for EXP
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