[CW - ongoing story] The Dwellers - Ch.5 up!

[FeralGator]

My first fanfic in quiet some time. I keep getting this story in my head so I'm gonna type it out and place it here for you guys to read.

Plot: Stray and wild Pokemon of Reborn try to live in the harsh environment of the city. Some believe it is best to side with humans, while others rebut and fear the idea of being captured by them. The story follows one young Poochyena through his struggles in this world and through the hard choices that come with it.

Feedback Topic: http://www.pokemonreborn.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=19724

Take note that I do NOT have an editor for this. I'm editing it on my own so if I miss anything, do not hesitate to mention it in the feedback topic. I greatly appreciate any and all feedback you guys have to help make this a better story.

THE DWELLERS

Reborn fan fiction written by FeralGator

Prologue

Lightning crackled across the sky, turning a pitch black stormy night into a second long day of horror. There standing overtop the ledge was one heavy furred female Mightyena. Her red nose dipped downward as her eyes lay unmoving from their aimed target. Next to her grey and black furred body stood another Mightyena. Together, they had a presence that most would avoid. Apart however, and it was clear whom among the two was in charge.

“One less mouth to feed,” growled the female of the two.

“C’mon now. That used to be one of ours…” the male then broke in. “Couldn’t you show a bit of sympathy for him?” His ears shot back as a glare was cast in his direction. Thunder rolled at that perfect time, just as it seemed to be doing this entire night, aiding in the fear that the female was casting off.

“We do not mourn the loss of a mouth, Derek,” she instructed him with a kind of soft intensity. Derek nodded quickly, understanding his alpha before looking back to the beta that now lay dead in the putrid waters. He knew that the alpha was right in what she said. The loss of this Mightyena just meant that it would be easier all around to feed the rest of the pack. The only problem was the relationships he had gained in his time among the ranks.

“To those that joined the search, let us return to the rest. Garret is lost to us. His body is lost to our young. We will hunt in the morning.” The alpha then began to walk off with only two others accompanying her. Derek, however,r was not among them. “Derek that means you as well!” she called out.

“I will join you momentarily my alpha! I just…. need to….-”

“-You need to follow along!” she interrupted with a quick dart of her head back to stare at the other Mightyena. “Get your skinny ass back in ranks. The last thing I need is for some human to see you alone and attempt to capture you.” Derek sighed and looked from the body of Garret back to his alpha.

“Yes, alpha,” he sighed as he walked back over to them.

“Honestly Derek. Why you are my beta is beyond even my own understanding sometimes.. Why if I had my way I would-“ Her words began to trail off for Derek. He had taken the time to look back to the edge as he walked further and further away from it, ears flattening as he made a silent prayer for his friend. His alpha wasn’t in the wrong, not at all. He could never feel that she was. Derek just honestly wished that she could show more of what the rest could never see.

For a Mightyena however, such things could mean life or death consequences.

~~~~~

“Tackle me, Johanna!” cried Prince as he dipped from left to right. The smaller gray and black Poochyena was energetic as ever despite the storm that was currently going on. The lightning often would stop the play between him and his brother, opting instead for a quick dart under the nearest Mightyena. The group would then laugh a bit, taking some enjoyment from their young members.

“Maybe this can wait until the storm is over… huh, Prince?” asked Johanna. Prince nodded a bit after the two picked their heads up from underneath the extra fur that Albert had, chuckling themselves as they both agreed to wait out the storm. As fun as this play fighting was, it had more moments where they cringed in fear than when they would tackle in bravery.

“It won’t be long before Alpha Killa returns,” marked Morrison as he looked to Prince and Johanna. His ears fell back when he stared at them. There was some form of guilt in their movement, even though none of it was truly directed towards the pups. “I hope she’s found Garret and a few other females…”

“Don’t even talk about that savage,” groaned Percy.

“Knock that conspiracy shit out of here, Percy. You know as well as I do that Garret was a strong wolf capable of bringing in food!” snarled Morrison. They were both the muscle of the pack, having hauled in more kills than anyone else save for the beta and alpha. They were like a guardians left behind to defend the weaker ones from trainers and who knows what else. That didn’t mean that they were without their faults though. While Morrison was overly trusting of his pack mates, Percy was the exact opposite. He trusted some, yes, but he held serious grudges against others. Garret just happened to be one of them.

“Conspiracy my ass, Morrison! I saw him taking parts of the kill out of the territory a few nights back! And even then I saw the same thing last week! And before that even and-!”

“Alright, alright! Sheesh you’re a whiny little pup, aren’t ya’?!” Morrison spat as he placed a paw over the other Mightyena’s muzzle to shut him up. He chuckled just then and gently patted Percy’s head before getting up to walk away from him. Percy remained there, grumbling to himself over Garret and the situation at hand. It was hard for anyone to make it out as anything but gibberish, though no one honestly tried.

“Let’s just hope we see more females coming back with her. Dahlia isn’t going to make it much longer… we’re going to need another female if we want to survive,” Morrison then sighed as he walked over to their sickly member. She was barely breathing and barely cognitive. Anything said about her now would certainly go unheard and unnoticed. He went to sit by her, laying his head gently over her shoulder. “Why did you have to drink it?”

Another string of lightning and a roar of thunder once again prompted the two pups to press under Albert. He chuckled, letting them hide as he curled himself around them. “It’s okay pups. The storm can’t get you. Not down here at least.” Their alleyway home was a decrepit one that lead to a dumpster in between two large buildings. The rain was still able to pelt them all, but it was merely just a trifle at this point. In all fairness, the rain reaching them was cherished. It still had some kind of purity to it that the sludge and slime of their drinking water didn’t. Still, it was not without its aggravations from time to time.

“Drink the rainwater… at least try to Dahlia. Please…” pleaded Morrison. The female gave no response. Her breathing so low it was barely even visible through her small belly. She hadn’t spoken since her pups had been born. They were all sick and weak. Too weak to ever survive. The alpha had them killed when it was shown they wouldn’t be of use, leaving the mother devastated to say the least. “It wasn’t your fault…” he told her. She’d already been sick during her pregnancy, and knew well that her pups had a high chance of contracting her disease. Still, it was painful to have to know their true fate.

“Dahlia will be okay,” barked out Prince. “She’s a strong Mightyena!” Morrison looked to Prince with a weak smile, nodding as he responded back.

“Yes Prince. Dahlia is indeed a strong Mightyena. The strongest of us all.”

Edited March 3, 2016 by FeralGator

[FeralGator]

Chapter 1: The Unthinkable

The storm ravaged on showing no signs of regressing anytime soon. Each member of Killa’s pack was soaked to the bone from the continuous rains. There weren’t many places in the southern part of the Peridot Ward that the pack could take shelter in unfortunately. Most places that existed were already inhabited by other Pokemon, or in most cases, by human gangs. The run down buildings that looked at least ten times their age didn’t fair much better either. Their destroyed walls, broken in rooftops, and unstable foundations made it too tricky to take one of them for shelter either. For now, the pack remain in their open alleyway near the dumpster. The smell was ungodly when the rains fell, but it was something they just had to deal with.

“Alpha still isn’t back yet,” whined Prince as he curled up against Albert some more, trying to find dry fur to nuzzle into. Albert was a fairly seasoned Mightyena with fur so matted and clumped together, it was a wonder how even flees could call it home. Every time the old wolf scratched he either got his leg caught in some of the matted mess, or a clump of it would tear out. He often times just laughed those moments off, not letting his age or poor health get in the way of his enthusiasm. Even in these dreary times, the old coot somehow found a way to bring even a little hope to this tiny male oriented pack.

“Don’t you fret there young’n,” he said in a raspy yet chipper voice. “Our ol’ Alpha is a strong girl. I bet you she’ll be bringin’ back with her somethin’ of a catch to eat!” Albert knew that there wasn’t much food out there, and also that if anything was brought back it most likely would be nothing more than some scrawny bird or something. Still, it was best to try and keep the little ones hopeful. They were the only true lights this pack had.

“Ugh… there he goes filling their heads with false hope again,” grumbled Percy through gritted teeth. He was sitting a ways away from Albert and the two pups, keeping mostly to himself so he could complain in peace. The only pack member that ever seen to truly listen to his ramblings was Euca, and sadly he was off on patrol with the alpha. Percy was a decently aged Mightyena with lighter colored fur than most others in the pack. It wasn’t light enough to really mark him as unique, but it certainly distinguished him from the rest in the pack.

“You’re lucky the pups can’t hear you right now, Percy,” stated Morrison. “Not that it would matter in the end. I’m sure Albert would find a way to twist your words around or mark you off as a ‘stinky stunky’ so to speak.” Morrison’s words were soft and quiet as he lay next to Dahlia. Only Percy would be able to hear him at his pitch, not that Percy himself was even paying attention.

“Look Percy,” he continued, “Prince and Johanna need to have hope for every tomorrow that comes for them. We want them to be strong and proud of the pack they are in. It doesn’t matter the state of our health or anything like that. We need to keep them smiling and feeling safe and proud. You and I, even Albert over there, know the true state we are in. That doesn’t mean however that we ruin it for the young ones. Yes, we should make sure that we keep it to a moderation, but that doesn’t mean we extinguish it all together.”

Percy let out a huff of air from his nostrils, snorting in Morrison’s direction before going to rest his head on his forelegs. “Yeah well if you ask me… Albert’s done more than his share of ‘hoping’ for them…”

Morrison simply rolled his eyes at Percy before taking all his focus back to Dahlia. She barely spoke anymore and barely ate. Nuzzling into her soaked fur, Morrison let out a long and soft sigh. He worried about her more than anyone else in the entire pack, often sitting vigil alongside her each and every night.

“She’s going to get up again… right?” Morrison jumped at the tiny voice, looking quickly to see the strangely colored Poochyena beside him now.

“I can’t say for sure, Johanna,” sighed the older wolf. He put on a placid smiled for the pup before another string of lightning strikes lit up the sky, startling the pups once more. Both buried themselves into the respective Mightyena they were near; Morrison grunting at the sudden burst of the light brown and white Poochyena as he pressed against his chest. “There, there, Johanna. You and Prince know that the lightning can’t hurt you. Nor can the thunder that follows after it.”

Johanna barely peeked over the fur that his face was pressed tightly against, a little whimper in his voice breaking up some of his words into a higher pitch as he responded, “But it’s still scary, Morrison…” Another flash and the pups eyes were planted into Morrison’s fur once more. Percy rolled his eyes and looked away, trying to find a part of their alleyway that didn’t have anything annoying in his line of sight. Morrison comforted Johanna as best he could, keeping the pup close as the storm billowed on.

“Thorn keep point! We’re closing in on our camp!” barked Killa as she looked back to the males behind her. “Euca, go gather up the scraps we hid.” She looked to Derek then, her eyes squinting some before turning away to focus on something else. Derek’s ears flashed back at her look before slowly flipping forward again. He knew what this meant. Thorn and Euca did as instructed without any hesitation, Thorn keeping point and watching over Euca as he ran over to a few piles of trash. The ground was too hard to dig in and with so few patches of dirt to work with, they had to adapt and use human garbage to hide their food under. It had been all too long since Euca had last tasted a Pidgey that was fresh and unaffected by what it was buried in.

Sadly, it had also been a long time since Euca had tasted Pidgey to begin with. Their scraps consisted mostly of old chicken bones with barely anything left on them, a few pathetic pieces of discarded hamburger, and some fast food wrappers still covered in grease and a bit of stuck cheese. It was hardly a meal for anyone. Even a pup would struggled with finding anything filling with this pathetic haul. Still, a haul was a haul and every bit of it was taken advantage of. As Euca was gathering up the pieces of the haul, his ears twitched. Quickly his attention turned, though his head remained lowered.

Killa didn’t even have to tell Derek to check out the sound. He was on it as soon as it had crossed his ears. Slowly he walked around the corner of one of the buildings, doing his best to try and sniff out any hostile scent that may have been near. It was true that not many Pokemon would dare try to take on a pack of Mightyena, but that didn’t mean that everything was safe. Purrloin were crafty enough to sneak on by as well as brave enough to attempt stealing from their haul. Murkrow were the same, though it wasn’t likely that one would be out in this storm.

When nothing could be spotted or smelled, Derek pulled back. It was a reluctant withdrawal back to his group, but it was one he made with some confidence that the noise had nothing to do with them.

“Nothing,” he said to Killa.

“Good. The last thing we need is a scuffle so close to camp.” Killa gave the order and the three males followed behind her into the alleyway that they marked as their own. Thorn turned after walking into the entrance and sat down to block the only open way in (and subsequently out) to the rest of the pack. With him on point, it wasn’t likely that anything would get by.

Further in the alleyway, Killa came upon the rest of her pack. She could see Albert with Prince, telling him a story to keep his attention diverted from the storm above. Percy was moody as usual, and Morrison like always, was still taking vigil next to the sickly Dahlia. Her brow lifted when she saw that Johanna was with him, but quickly just shrugged it off and moved on from it.

“Prince, Johanna, come get the chicken bones from Euca,” she ordered.

“Alpha!” blurted out Prince. “You’re back!” As he got up to rush over towards Euca, the rest of the pack turned their attention over to the returning group.

“Find anything?” asked Morrison.

“Hey c’mon now, Prince you gotta share! That chicken has more on it than the one I got!” Johanna barked as the two pups were given their respective chicken bones to feast on. Their little scuffle went unnoticed by the rest of the pack whose attention were all locked on Killa at the moment.

“Garret is gone. We found his body in the water by the old factory. There will be no new females either. We barely even managed to find food this time, so I doubt that any chances of gaining new females will be happening anytime soon.” The pack was silent at her announcement. Even the scuffle between Prince and Johanna had stopped.

“Garret…. Garret is gone? You mean he’s..”

“Dead.” Killa didn’t even bother letting Albert try to finish his sentence. “Yes. He’s dead and his body was floating in the toxic waters making it impossible for us to eat it. The only thing that has come from this discovery is that now we have one less mouth to feed. Two if Dahlia’s condition doesn’t improve.” There was a cold ruthlessness in Killa’s voice as she spoke. Her eyes stayed locked on Albert, their cold gaze practically staring right through the older wolf before taking a quick glance over to the barely breathing body of their second female. She could tell that Morrison wasn’t a fan of what she’d added in there, seeing a bit of his fangs as he tried to unsuccessfully hide them from her.

“What are we going to do, then?” Albert asked. Killa didn’t give him any kind of an answer. Instead she just walked over towards Morrison and made sure she was in his line of sight. She didn’t bother sitting down, nor did she lower her head to look at him. She kept it raised, her eyes focused on the dumpster at the end of the alleyway as she spoke.

“You know that I’m right, Morrison. Showing your fangs in the hopes that my word will be taken back is chivalrous at best. Dahlia’s condition hasn’t improved in almost a week now. You need to come into reality and face what you find so unthinkable. If you don’t, then I cannot promise you that your remaining time in this pack will be easy spent.”

“That’s a laugh,” chortled Percy. Killa slowly turned her gaze to him; her rather lifeless, cold eyes almost challenging Percy to open his mouth again. Percy’s reaction was instantaneous upon the gaze settling on him. His maw shut tight and once more, his eyes shifted quickly to whatever part of the alley that was barren and empty. His body stiffened up as well, almost curling in on itself a bit more as he hastily raised up what little defense was left in his mangy form.

Johanna and Prince both looked at one another; ears flat and bodies almost limp from everything being discussed. Prince turned away from Johanna to look at their alpha. With a small whimper he asked her, “Is he…. is he really…… dead? Will we never see Garret again?”

Killa didn’t even respond to Prince. She didn’t even looked the two pups in the eyes as she walked past them. She merely just headed to her spot in the back, laying down next to the dumpster and curling up in a way so only her back faced the rest of her pack. Derek nodded to Euca to pass out the rest of the scraps while he went to tend to Killa.

“Where is all your proud talk now, Morrison?” questioned Percy in a harsh whisper as Euca came over, handing him the wrapper. “Get that away from me,” Percy snapped. “I don’t want it. Give it to Albert!” He quickly turned around so his back was facing Euca, prompting an exasperated sigh from the younger male. He did as Percy demanded and handed the wrapper over to Albert whom had come over to where both Percy and Morrison were currently laying. He sat down, thanking Euca for the food and slowly lowered to his stomach.

“My my… these ol’ bones o’ mine are gonna’ give out on me one o’ these here days, haha. Can’t say I don’t be blaimin’ them neitha. Not with all this rain we been gettin’ lately.”

“Could you give it a rest already, Albert?!” snarled Percy. “Stop putting on an act of faith! Look at this pack! Look at what we are being forced to eat! Hell, look at the fact that our only real source of clean water is the very rain that your damn bones seems to hate so much! Hell not even the RAIN is perfectly clean! Why can’t you just for once try not to find a positive outlook for everything?! Not everything is going to have it!”

“Hey knock it off, Percy!” Morrison chimed in. “The last thing we need is for you to go off the rails again! It’s not good for the pups and it certainly isn’t good for Dahlia!”

“Oh well EXCUSE ME!” Percy swiftly stood, his fangs bared and ready to rip into whatever pushed him even further. “Wouldn’t want to interrupt the she-yena while she’s busy dying over there! No, no it’s very important and requires her full undivided, yet fading, attention!”

Morrison had been pushed beyond his limits right there. With his fangs at the ready, his lips curled back, and his fur on end, the young wolf leaped at Percy. The two were now in a full fight with one another. Snarling and growling echoed in the alleyway as the two bit, slashed, ripped, and clawed one another in their very limited space. Johanna and Prince were now behind Albert, shaking and whimpering as the older wolf remained where he was, unmoving aside from his head and eyes.

Not even Killa reacted to the fight outside of her ears as they twitched every so often. She just kept her gaze to the brick wall in front of her as Derek turned to watch the fight in disgust. He knew better than to get between the two wolves when they were like this, and that nothing he could do would be any better than the solution the two had come to on their own. Even Euca and Thorn didn’t react outside of a typical twitch of the ear.

Fur was being thrown everywhere as blood splattered the two fighting Mightyena. Their quarrel showed no evidence of mercy as each sank their teeth deeply into the other when the chance was given. It wasn’t long after the fight had started did a victor soon begin to show. Morrison was younger than Percy and had more saved up strength than the other Mightyena. It was evident more and more as Percy started failing to land his bites and failing to block any of the attacks. When his chance was there, he jumped away from Morrison, landing a few feet from him. Turning with a snarl, he tried to gain his footing as Morrison darted after him. The two locked jaws with one another, Morrison biting down on Percy’s face while Percy did the same to Morrison. Through force and a bit of luck, Percy was able to manage his footing and push Morrison back. Through this, Percy turned his head in the gripping bite and locked his paws on the ground. This gave him the momentum he needed after pushing Morrison back, to pull his head to the side, cutting through Morrison’s muzzle. The younger wolf quickly released, whimpering loudly as he stumbled back and fell to the ground, bloodied and shaking.

“Know….. know your place… pup,” huffed Percy as he stood victorious. One wouldn’t have guessed it to be a victory however. The Mightyena’s legs shook from the pain that coursed through his body, while blood painted his already darkened coat with patches of deep crimson. His breathing was irregular from both being out of breath, and from the pain refusing to properly let any breath in.

Morrison was in just as bad of shape as he lay on his side, huffing and gasping out for whatever air he could manage to pull into his lungs. His body was weak, tired, injured, and shamed. He’d lost not just a fight against a pack member, but he’d lost the fight to reclaim Dahlia’s honor. What Percy said still rang true with this defeat, shattering both Morrison’s heart and his pride.

Percy didn’t even take a minute before letting himself limply stumble to the ground, lowering to his stomach so he could rest and regain his strength. He had his back to Morrison, knowing well that the Mightyena wouldn’t dare try to attack him any time soon. The two were both injured and exhausted beyond their limits for anything more to happen. The only thing the both of them could do right now was to just lay where they fell and let their bodies try to heal. It was going to be hard due to both food and water being pretty much unavailable, but certainly not impossible.

There was only one thing that Killa had to say in remark to this, and it was a word uttered under her breath as she breathed out.

“Fools.”

Edited February 8, 2016 by FeralGator

[FeralGator]

Chapter 2: The Silence

It had been what felt like days since Morrison and Percy lashed out at one another. Time itself seemed to travel barely an inch per second as unease decided to rest itself upon the two Poochyena, making it difficult for a simple hour to feel like a simple hour. Both pups were still next to Albert, their ears back and their eyes barely lifting from the soaked ground. The silence the pack had fallen into was practically devastating for them, making the aftermath even more difficult to bare. Still the pups kept silent, knowing that this tension could easily be ignited once more with the wrong word.

Thunder boomed across the sky, scaring the two Poochyena as it had so many times prior. The only difference now was the unmoving bodies of the two pups as they remained practically frozen to the ground. Albert noticed this and sighed, reaching to pull the two closer so they could bury their faces against him.

“It’ll be alright boys. We just be havin’ a little scuffle is all. No need te’ be workin’ yerselves up like this,” he cooed. He licked the heads of the pups in hopes of a reaction. It didn’t have to be verbal or anything, just something that Albert could feel relieved by. Percy had spat out so much truth that Albert worried how Johanna and Prince were taking it. Not only was this the first real fight they’d seen between two packmates like this, but it was honestly the first time so much reality was thrown at them.

He got no initial reaction, leaving the Mightyena almost clueless as to what to do next. He was a bit surprised when Derek had walked over, giving a little nudge to Prince’s rear end.

“...?” Prince looked over to Derek, half surprised at the nudge, and half still lost to Percy’s words.

“Everything is going to be explained to you and Johanna. We’ll get you two cleared up on this whole mess,” he tried to assure.

“... I hope that dont be meanin’ what I think it do,” protested Albert. His voice remained very calm throughout this so as to not ignite more flames. He watched Derek carefully, making sure to keep aware as to the beta’s body language. He watched a small smile grow on his face, listening intently as Derek responded.

“Unfortunately, it most likely does. We can’t keep them in the dark forever Albert. You of all our packmates know this.” Derek felt saddened as Albert sighed, looking to the pups before giving them both a lick atop their heads. “.... It was going to happen sooner or later.”

“I know…. I just be wishin’ it were later.”

Euca barely paid the beta and Albert any mind, instead working on grooming Percy’s matted and bloodied fur. He made a few glances over to Morrison, who had refused to be tended to and merely remained at Dahlia’s side just as he’d been prior. Euca didn’t even dare to speak to him yet. Morrison’s hope had been sent through a shredder during that fight, leaving the Mightyena seemingly lost to them. It was worrisome to say the least.

“I don’t know why the alpha is keeping that sack of flesh alive…” started Percy in a hushed voice.

“Percy!” answered Euca quickly through the same pitch.

“I mean it! Look… it’s obvious that Dahlia isn’t going to get better. You think it doesn’t affect me? It does. However… I’m not so hung up over her like Morrison that I let it cloud my vision. He needs to let her go. He’s only prolonging her suffering…” while Percy’s words were harsh, his voice held hints of something that only Euca was able to really pick up on. With a sigh, Euca just continued to groom, chatting softly with his friend as they exchanged their views on the current situation.

Night trudged on for the pack, as did the storm. It seemed almost never ending for everyone as each member found sleep to be unattainable. They only spoke to certain other members every so often, each discussion barely audible to anyone outside of whisper range. The only ones that said nothing throughout the entirety of the night were Killa, Prince, Johanna, Thorn, and Morrison. They remained silent, keeping to themselves out of fear, anger, sadness, forlorn, and contempt.

As morning slowly drew near, the storm seemed to begin subsiding. The lightning was but a memory by this point; faint thunder the only thing remaining as a distant reminder of what had consumed the sky for nearly two full days. There was still a bit of rainfall, but nothing like earlier. What had been a downpour was turning into a soft drizzle, almost like the sky itself was trying to soften the blow the pack had felt.

Morrison looked up, eyes wide and teeth clenched together. “Dahlia… Dahlia please drink! The rain is almost gone..! Please…. please drink before it’s all gone…” he pleaded softly. He pressed his head against the weakened female’s shoulder, his own tears starting to form. “We can’t lose you too. We just can’t..”

Johanna and Prince were looking over to Morrison as he pleaded, their attention diverted from what still danced around in their heads. In a way it was a relief for them. They hadn’t really had much to talk about to try and keep Percy’s words from echoing over and over, pushing themselves deeper and deeper down the brother’s throats. Albert and Derek also watched, both saddened by the scene before them. They had no clue how to help Morrison through this. Percy just ignored the pitiful whimpers while Euca half ways listened in. Killa like always, remained silent while Thorn reacted through simple ear twitches.

“You can get through this… I know you can…!” It took a lot for Derek to walk over, giving Morrison a gentle lick on his shoulder. “Just please try to drink. Show everyone how strong you are…”

“Morrison…”

“Just show them..!”

“Morrison…”

“What?” Finally, Morrison turned away from Dahlia. His eyes were bloodshot and shiny from his tears. Derek could see how vast and deep the pools of dread and sorrow were the very second his eyes locked onto them. It was daunting to say the least. The beta had lost his voice for a second, trying to regain his composure to look from the distraught Mightyena over to the sickly one.

“You know that… that she won’t make it? You know that what Percy said… well what he meant…. that he wasn’t wrong?” Derek sat next to Morrison as he spoke, his voice soft and in a sense, very calming. His words almost felt healing to those that heard them. Even if it hurt, there was just something about the way Derek held himself right now that seemed to give off calming waves of energy.

Morrison looked slowly back to Dahlia, seeing her fickle frame barely moving in its weak and pathetic attempts to suck in air. For the first time, Morrison could truly see the state of the female he constantly tried to encourage. It hurt him even more to see her like this, skinny and weak. Indents across her frame revealed her ribs and spine, her legs barely even looking like legs anymore.

“You need to let her go Morry. You need to let your sister finally rest.” Morry… the nickname that Dahlia always called him back when she was healthy; Back when she had the strength to play and hunt, to joke and laugh… to see and breath. Derek watched as his friend gently placed his head against Dahlia’s side one last time. The wolf tried to hold back his tears as he felt his sister’s breath fading. He wasn’t ready to let her go. He wasn’t ready to lose another family member.

Morrison remained like that, even after the last breath had been taken. He knew that his sister had been gone for days now, her body just barely trudging along behind her. Her suffering was over, and her pups were now again with the mother that life had initially denied them of. Still, in Morrison’s heart, he cried for her to come back. Despite knowing all of this and having witnessed the pain she was in for so long, he still wanted her back.

Derek went to lay down beside the sobbing Mightyena to keep him company as the rest remained in their silence. Johanna had pressed his face deep into Albert’s fur while Prince watched the scene before them. He could hear his brother’s whimpers coming through Albert’s scruff despite how deeply the light brown pup tried to hide them. Prince wanted to console his brother like Derek was for Morrison, but didn’t know how. He couldn’t think of what words to say let alone where his voice had gone. Each time he tried to speak, he could only push out a soft breath of air.

As Morrison was allowed to mourn his sister, Killa remained with her back turned to the mess. Her ears were prompt and listening, picking up on whatever they could. Even through all of what was happening, she remained stagnant in her reaction. She showed no remorse, no anger, nothing at all. The only thing she showed was her confidence in Derek to handle this. She trusted his judgement more than anyone else, and knew that if anyone could help bring this nightmare to an end, it was him.

Her eyes glanced to the right just then, glancing Thorn as he came to a halt next to her. She spoke nothing to him, merely letting her body do all the talking she needed.

“My alpha,” he began, bowing to her before he spoke any further, “I am going to search the parameter. With the rains dying down, I feel that it’s the perfect opportunity to not only refresh our borderlines, but also to scout for any intruders.”

Killa looked away from him, letting herself take a few moments more of silence before finally speaking words of her own, “Take Euca with you. Scavenge for any food while you’re refreshing the borderline.”

“Yes my alpha.”

“Oh, and Thorn?” Thorn stopped mid turn and looked to her, asking what else she wanted of him. “If you happen to spy any of the twins’ pack nearby… do not engage them. That includes warning shots. You act based on how they’re presenting themselves. Understood?”

“Understood.” Thorn bowed once more before turning completely to walk away. Killa watched as he went over to Euca and then as the two got up to being their patrol. Her ears flattened as she watched the two vanish, her nerves slowly stiffening as she could only predict the outcome were any patrol’s of the twins spotted. As quickly as her nerves stiffened however, they began to relax when she looked to the rest of her pack. They were devastated from the losses they’d just had to suffer. Two were injured, two were untrained, honestly only her beta was of any use were something to happen. It was true there was Albert, but even he wasn’t as fit as he used to be. Malnourishment and age clearly didn’t look good on him despite how much he joked about it. If anyone was to die next, Albert was the likeliest of candidates.

“Arceus help us if the twin’s try anything, “ she prayed to herself. After hours of laying still in the pouring rain, Killa finally decided to get her body moving again. Her fur felt like a weight as she went to stand. With a rapid shake, she threw off a lot of the excess rain that remained atop her fur, leaving only the soaked in rain for her to deal with as she made her way over to the rest of her remaining pack.

“As Dahlia has now demonstrated for you pups, life is not going to always be like the stories you are told by Albert.” Johanna and Prince both looked to her just then, their heads turning slowly as if weighed down by the very thoughts that had been plaguing them most of the night. “You will need to learn to face these challenges and obstacles if you wish to try to remain alive. I cannot promise you however that by doing so, that you WILL remain alive. Understand?”

Johanna and Prince both looked at one another before looking back to their alpha. They were confused by what she said and were both struggling to really take all of it in.

“What she is sayin’ to you two be that ye’ be needin’ te’ learn how te’ handle yerselves out in this world o’ ours. My stories, though excitin’ as they are, can no longer be how ye’ both be seein’ things.” It was obvious that the two pups were still a bit confused and dazed from this. They still had confusion plastered on their faces next to everything else that they were feeling at the time. Just then, their attention was drawn quickly to Percy as he spoke.

“You live in a world of poison. Learn to become immune to it, or you’re both going to be killed by it.” Percy then sneezed, snorting soon after to clear up his nostrils. “To put it simply… everything and everyone wants to kill you. If something doesn’t kill you, then they’re just toying with you. Sizing you up. Breaking you down. Doesn’t matter how you say it, everything will try everything to make sure you breath your last breath.”

“... Thank you Percy. That was riveting to listen to,” complained Morrison. He then went back to silence, nuzzling his sister as he tried his best to just ignore what the other Mightyena had to say. Derek just sighed a bit, shaking his head as he looked over at Percy.

“Not everything is going to want to kill them, Percy. There are some things out there that would rather see us alive and safe than dead or in danger.”

“You would know, wouldn’t you Derek?” Percy spat. Just then, a bit of a shock came to everyone when Killa turned on Percy, barring her teeth and pulling her lips back as she stepped towards him. The sudden fear in Percy, as quickly as it came and went, was extremely prominent. He knew instantly the mistake he’d made, and held back his tongue from making any other kind of remarks. She stared at him for what felt like ages before squinting a bit. She then turned around to look back at the pups to see that they were almost as wide eyed as Percy just was. With a hefty sigh, she began to patch up the gaps that Percy left.

“Percy makes a point, but so does Derek. Not everything is going to want you dead. However, that doesn’t mean that you should give anything, or anyone, the chance to get to that point. Be cautious and alert. What may seem harmless, such as the filth in the water,” she mentioned with a glance to Dahlia, “Could wind up being the most violent killer we face.”

Morrison wanted to retort at that, growling at the disregard his alpha was showing to Dahlia. Derek kept him in check though. He made sure to let the mourning Mightyena know through simple body movements, that his alpha wasn’t trying to start anything nor was she trying to disrespect Dahlia’s death. The pack was very well aware of Killa’s strange etiquette and persona, but it still had a way of getting under their fur every so often.

Morrison calmed himself with Derek’s guidance, taking back to looking at his sister while just barely paying much mind to the conversation with the pups. He knew that this lesson was important for them, and that he too should add to the explanation being given, but he just couldn’t. He barely even knew what to do himself now that his sister was gone. All that he could get himself to feel currently was crippling loneliness. He knew he wasn’t truly alone, but it didn’t stop his heart from shutting itself into a dark room.

“You will both begin training today after Thorn and Euca return from patrol. They will be the ones to teach you how to hunt, stalk, scout, mark, and size up your opponents. You will train every day until you have everything down and can effectively hunt for yourselves.” She then said something that not even her beta could have predicted.

“I refuse to have any dead weight helping the suffering of my pack to grow. If I find that you’re not going to cut it, I’ll just kill you.” Her eyes were dead serious and locked strictly on the two Poochyena. They both stared back in fear, seeing nothing but a cold and looming presence standing there in the form of their alpha.

“Arceus help them…” whispered Derek.

[FeralGator]

Chapter 3: The Reality

“I don’t like this…” whispered Prince.

“I don’t either. But we have no choice, Prince,” retorted Johanna.

The two brothers spoke to one another as the rest of the pack went about their morning. Percy and Morrison were both cleaning their wounds and being given time to rest, while Albert was slowly preparing himself to head out to hunt.

“Ah it does a body good te’ be huntin’ again!” he proclaimed, trying to again shield the harshness of reality. He knew that the two pups were aware of the challenges ahead of them (even if the challenges hadn’t fully revealed themselves), but didn’t stop trying to lessen the weight of the moment. He knew exactly what his alpha was trying to do, but halfways didn’t agree with it. In the end, it was still her choice and hers alone as to the way things were done here. All Albert felt he could do was try and keep at least SOME spirit alive in the pups. “You both will finally be gettin’ te’ see me take down prey! Ye’ lot excited?”

“... Sure,” answered Johanna as he looked away from Albert. The elder male felt his heart sink a bit, breathing out into the cool air of the morning. His breath danced as the warmth hit the cool, creating a tiny fog that Johanna would have found enjoyable were not for the weight hanging over him and his brother.

“Lads…” Albert walked over to the two, nuzzling them as he told them, “Yer alpha knows what be best. Sure… the costs be high… be trust me. Ye’ both will get through this. I know me pups and believe you me. Ye’ two lads are going to rattle this pack with yer promise!” Smiling, Albert once more did as he did best. He could see it working, at least for Prince. Johanna still seemed to have some withdrawal in regards to the challenge facing him.

Time passed on and the sun rose steadily higher. The temperature began to warm a bit with each passing hour, letting the wolves loosen the muscles and wake up their bodies. Normally, Killa would have sent her pack out by now. Her instincts however were keeping them back. She had no reason to throw everyone into the unknown so soon after losing two pack members. She had to be sure that the twins weren’t out there, nor any other pack for that matter. With the way they were presently, they’d stand no chance were another pack to try and challenge them for their males or their land.

She waited for Thorn and for Euca’s return from their patrol. On edge the entire time, her body only gave the evidence of it through her thumping tail that seemed to never stop. Her gaze was locked onto nothing and her ears were stiff as boards. In a way, she looked more like a statue now than ever before.

“If you’re so worried about them, why don't you send out a howl? It’s not like you can’t reach them. You have one of the loudest howls in Peridot,” stated Percy. He gained a harsh glance from Derek, flushing his ears back about as fast as the beta had shot his gaze at him. “Sorry…”

“You’re a practical Mightyena, Percy. Think about it for a second. If our alpha were to let out a howl like that, if there were ANY remote chance that another pack’s Mightyena were out scouting our land, it would give away that not only do we have a patrol out, but that the patrol was far from the main base. Their protection wouldn’t be guaranteed and they would certainly become targets of the enemy.” Derek was quick in his response, though far from loud. He spoke calmly but with just enough diction that his seriousness easily came through to the stubborn male.

“Isn’t that assuming the absolute worst there, Derek? Also… isn’t that a bit farfetch’d as well?” asked Percy.

“Maybe. However, it’s best to think of every possible outcome given the current situation. I highly doubt I need to remind you of anything that’s just happened and the conditions the rain has put us in, yeh?” Percy scoffed and turned his head to the side. He returned to cleaning his wounds as Derek said, “Good. When you finish, you’re going to be taking over patrol from Thorn. Euca will remain with you when you make your second rounds.”

“What?! Are you insane?! Have you seen my wounds?! Morrison ripped into me pretty hard you know!”

“Your point?” growled Killa just then. Everyone turned to her quickly, staring at her as she began to move. She stepped over towards Percy, forcing the older male to crouch down with his tail between his legs. His fangs bared themselves as his ears flew back flat against his head. His shaking was visible even to the pups as they watched the fear and defensiveness of the male grow exponentially through Killa’s rant.

“You will go on patrol Percy, and you will make sure to spy every single nook, cranny, and ledge that borders our land. I don’t care the wounds you have. You brought those onto yourself. Now take them like the Mightyena you are, and do as your beta commands of you. Do. I. Make. Myself. Clear?” Johanna hadn’t seen so much held back aggression in his alpha before. She was like a voltorb ready to explode! He looked over to Albert, his body struggling to keep from shaking.

“Ah needn’t ye’ worry there Johanna. The alpha’s anger barely gets past that level. Still, I best be takin’ that te’ heart and keepin’ on her good side. There isn’t a dog alive that would wish that kinda’ rage placed on’em I bet ye’ what!” Albert laughed. He gave a soft nuzzle to Johanna just then before turning to walk away from the two Poochyena. He was headed over to Morrison who was struggling to get the top of his muzzle clean.

“He’s right,” Johanna told Prince. The two brothers looked at one another and nodded, silently agreeing that they were going to do everything possible to keep in their alpha’s favor. Despite everything that was ahead of them, there seemed to be a small growing light of hope that they would grow up side by side.

Time passed yet again, leaving the sun in the middle of the sky. It was by this time that Killa was now pushing past her patience limits. She’d taken herself back to her stiffened stance, her tail thumping away over and over. Her fur was partially dry by now from the sun that cast over a clearing sky. It was almost unreal for Prince and Johanna to see her like that. What Mightyena could possibly remain in such a stance for so long?! Was she even a real Pokemon?

“Alpha,” came the soft voice of Derek. “Let me send out a search party for Thorn and Euca. They’ve been gone far too long. This is unsettling for everyone and I truly feel it’d be best if we-”

“No,” came Killa’s quick response. “Our numbers are dwindled as it is. Sending more out would only weaken us further and potentially place us in the perfect position to be attacked.”

“But alpha… If we remain like this, how will we get any food? Rather… how would we know of a possible ambush or even an attack? What if one of our wolves has fallen and the other is stuck trying to protect them? Or a trainer has caught one and is hunting the other? We can’t just leave our packmates out there to fend for themselves, can we? Not after what’s all happened… right?” Derek tried not to speak above his alpha. He knew her tempter would overshadow what he said if he didn’t word himself properly. She was overly stressed at the moment, so it was a distinct possibility that such a thing could happen.

“I understand your qualms, Derek. I wish I could say you were wrong, but you aren’t. You make very valid points. I just..” her voice died just then. “I can’t risk more of our numbers on a hunch.”

“You know that you have to though… For the benefit of the pack. All packs have to. Our members are our lifeblood. We need them. Especially because of the twins.” Quickly, he gave Killa a tiny nuzzle before adding, “Let me go. I’m the healthiest among us aside from you. I can take one of the pups with me as well to get their training started.”

“.... Go. But leave the pups. I know what I said, but right now is too risky to let inexperienced Poochyena. Especially for Johanna…” Derek nodded and quickly darted away, running out of the alleyway and carefully looking into the streets. He was gone before anyone could say anything, leaving only a trail of dust in his wake as he went off in search.

“Does this mean I don’t have to go on patrol?” inquired Percy with a sort of chuckle in his tone. It wasn’t well received however, leaving the male to lower to his stomach and let out an annoyed, “Tsk.”

Johanna looked over at Percy, his ears flattening some just before turning his attention onto his brother. “What’s up?” he asked.

“If it really is the twins, what are we going to do? Are they really all that strong?” Killa took notice of the question and made it her task to answer for them.

“Yes,” she began. She had walked over to them and sat down. With a slight dip in her gaze, she began to tell the pups, “They have been a threat to many a pack for years. Their numbers are large and they command a territory from a little out of Jasper all the way to Beryl. There is no safety outside of Peridot for Mightyena and Poochyena. It is true that Obsidia offers some protection, but there are few to little locations for a pack to reside. Any locations that exist are already claimed by other Pokemon such as Electrike, Scrafty, and worst of all, Pangoro. Peridot is truly the only place where packs can live, and it’s constantly under threat by the twins and the humans.” Her voice held back many a snarl as she spoke. Her fur lifted at certain times from sheer rage that she had to force back down.

“But… but there has to be a way we can all live together, right? Surely the twins would understand what struggle is like, right? They wouldn’t try to steal land if they have so much… would they?” Prince asked very quickly.

“You would think that. Their territory sits perfectly adjacent to a forest that hasn’t been touched by the humans. They cherish it and keep it how it is with very few additions. I’ve heard of a single building in that forest that houses books for the humans to read. I’ve not heard of anything more. Still, that won’t stop the twins from wanting to capitalize on the struggles that we are enduring right now.”

“Why don’t they just try taking over the forest?” asked Johanna curiously.

“That’s something not even I know, Johanna,” answered Killa. She took the moment to breath in a bit, calming herself down in the process so as to not release any anger onto the two curious Poochyena. It wasn’t their fault for getting her worked up like this. She was merely just reacting to the disdain of the situations she was speaking about. If anything, she was happy that they wanted to know. It saved her having to create an awkward moment in their teachings. Granted… given how they currently lived, describing anything would feel awkward for her. She just wasn’t good at explaining these kinds of things to the pups without sounding too harsh or cruel. Almost as if she were belittling them or flat out attacking them. Still she did her best, trying to keep their curiosity satisfied as best she could.

“We aren’t the only pack that lives in Peridot though… right?” questioned Prince. “There are others that live here too. At least… if I remember right?”

“Yes. Here in Peridot there are a total of five small packs, and the twins large one. Granted most of Peridot still belongs to the five, it’s slowly turning into a land war with how much the twins are pushing through. The other packs are in no better shape than we are from last I checked. They are each struggling to maintain their numbers and what little land they have.” Killa watched during her answers as the confusion set in for Prince, but understanding set in for Johanna. He always seemed to be quicker to understand these kinds of things than his brother. She noticed that during all of Albert’s stories. When it came to land struggles and pack numbers, Johanna seemed to pick up on them faster than Prince did. Granted the stories they had to understand were never as grim as what they were being told now.

“Why don’t the five packs just band together then to push the twins out? I mean… if we all just worked together we’d be-”

“No pack would dare work with another,” interrupted Percy. Killa shot him a glare to shut him up, knowing that he’d speak harshly about the other packs, possibly even belittling them in the process. She looked back at Prince whom now had a hunched over stance with his ears flat. Sighing, she continued what Percy started, giving no real comfort to Prince at all despite his current shock.

“Percy is right. No pack would dare wish to work together out of a strict guide of respect and honor. Each pack holds themselves to a certain degree of strength. Even though we know our weaknesses, most of us refuse to accept help from any other. The alpha’s of the Peridot packs are… in a way… a bit too cocky and thickheaded to accept assistance from others; myself included.” She gave a very short and very brief smile at that before returning to her usual stoic look. It was hard to keep any kind of smile going knowing that what she said was easily what could cost her pack their lives.

It was then that she was hit by her own words. They blazed in her mind as she recognized the fault in her actions as well as the actions of the other packs. Though her body didn’t portray much of her realization, her mind was racing with both self blame, and possible solutions to fix their situation. The ample pause from what she was saying to now was enough to even prick Albert’s attention. He cocked his head a bit, confused as to the silence that Killa had taken up.

“Alpha?” he asked.

“Hm? Oh. Right. Yes.” Killa shook her head as if to shake off excess water before continuing, “Anyways… where was I…? Oh right... “ She cleared her throat, “As such, the twins are more than capable of pushing through and taking more and more land. It’s a fault that we recognize, but one that honestly… we’ve never dreamed of acting upon to try and fix. I don’t think that any effort to do so would result in a success either. If anything it’d just create more fighting between us. We live relatively peacefully for the moment. No current reigning alpha would try to break that. Not now at least…”

“But… it’d make things so much easier,” Prince responded in a hushed voice. He lowered his head to the ground as his gaze was stolen by a tiny puddle. He looked forlorn from all of this. It was bound to happen though. He and Johanna knew nothing of the other packs nor of how they truly were living. For them all that existed were the food problems. She could only imagine his tiny mind trying to filter through all of what he’d just learned and still had to learn.

“I guess…. think of each pack like members of ours, Prince!” started Johanna. His brother looked over at him with a lifted brow, obviously confused. Even Killa lifted a brow, more so curious than confused.

“Huh?” asked Prince.

“Percy is grumpy, Albert is kind, Derek is wise, Thorn is proud, Euca is generous, Morrison is protective, and the lapha is strong. Think of all of them like an individual pack. Would Percy ever agree to team up with Morrison if he were leading a pack? Or even with Albert? What about Thorn? Would he try to team up with Euca?” Johanna thought that his analogy would be easily understood by Prince, but instead he seemed to just confuse his brother even further.

“But… they do all work together. They are all super different yet they still protect one another regardless of that. What would making them pack leaders do to have any kind of change over that?” Prince truly didn’t understand. He still thought that the packs had nothing to lose from just setting aside their stubborn natures so that they could band together to stop the twins from taking over.

“Johanna… I don’t think yer bein’ very clear…” interrupted Albert. “Yer makin’ yerself a commendable effort that be true, but really it be better left to the alpha te’ be explainin’ this matter. Still a good effort on ye’ fer tryin’!” He hoped that Johanna wouldn’t feel bad from this.

“... I guess,” replied Johanna as he looked to the side. Under his breath you could hear him say, “I understood it…”, while flattening his ears and making a rather pouty looking expression. Killa just seemed to chuckle a bit, rolling her eyes some before adding to what Johanna was trying to explain.

“Prince, Johanna was giving you an example of very different personalities. Even though our pack works very well together, it doesn’t mean that were we all of our own packs, that we would still do the same. It’s more than likely that we would be a lot more vocal of each other’s problems and feel more defensive in our trust towards one another.”

“.... oooohhhhh,” remarked Prince. “I think I get it now..!”

“Wha? But….. but how was that any different from what I was saying?!” barked Johanna. “Did you really not get that from what I was saying?!”

“Not really, Johanna. Sorry,” answered Prince with a bit of a chuckle. It was his first one since all of this chaos started. He almost seemed like his usual self right there, laughing a bit at his brother’s expense. Moments like this one were among the few that Killa was thankful for. To see that there was still some light in her tiny little pack of males was enough to confirm even her own stubbornness that they were capable of surviving. Still, her heart knew the reality of their situation. As the two pups began to go through their version of an intelligent argument, Killa flicked her ear and turned her head over towards the entrance of their alley.

“... Derek?” she questioned. Just then, she saw Thorn running up. He was exhausted and out of breath, falling to his face as he tripped over a crack in the ground. Those that remained in the pack all turned to face him, shock in their faces as they witnessed the event start to take place before them. Killa ran over, quickly pushing Thorn to his feet with a grunt.

“Where is Euca? Where’s Derek?” she asked quickly. Thorn gave no real answer to her. He was so out of breath and in what looked like immense pain. Strange enough was that there were no true viable wounds on him to warrant his agony. Still it was there, and still it remained present as he fell back down to the ground despite his alpha’s help. Through a stiff voice he told her only what his energy allowed.

“Wella…. is looking for you.”

Edited February 15, 2016 by FeralGator

[FeralGator]

Chapter 4: The Meet

Killa had left her pack to tend to Thorn’s strange injury and was now running through the streets to where she’d been told to go. She ignored the trainers and made no attempt to hide herself as they looked on, curious and scared. She could hear mothers gasping, children in awe, males grunting curses, and everything else as she pushed through the few crowds that existed. She was told to go all the way down towards where the train station was. She had no clue why her packmates had gone there, seeing as that territory belonged to Wella and not her. Her land strictly resided around an old factory that was abandoned, but impossible to penetrate, along with a few ally ways (one being which her pack resided in). Why had they gone to the train station?!

Her mind raced with thoughts on this as well as instinct to both protect and abandon Euca and Derek. Granted she only thought of Euca as a captive, while Derek was probably trying to bargain his way into getting him back, still it wasn’t ignored that he too could have been captured. She didn’t stop, she didn’t slow, and she didnt’ waste any time. All she did was run as fast as she could, jumping over cracks in the ground and making her way through fallen rubble from collapsing buildings. Once she arrived near the gates that separated a few homes from the station, she came to a halt.

He breathing was rampant as she stared through the greats of the old rusted fence, ears back as she put herself on alert. She was in the thick of Wella’s territory now, and easily capable of being taken down by whatever members of Wella’s pack still remained.

She could feel her heart beat begin to slow as she cautiously looked around. Through a low growl, she called out to Wella and waited. The she-yena was formidable in combat, yet a bit too naive in leadership. It was true that Wella always had her packs interest at heart, but the actions she tended to take often overshadowed the good she was hoping to achieve. Killa had to keep all of this in mind. If it came to negotiating with her, she’d have to take all of that into account.

“Bout’ time you showed,” snorted a female voice. Killa turned to look over towards an old abandoned house. She saw Wella walk out in all her disgusting glory. The female was tattered all over, even more so than Albert, and spoke with an incredibly raspy voice. Her color was paler than normal, showing both signs of age and illness. Her eyes were layered with bags as her body showed signs of what could only be mange.

“Why did you attack my patrol? You know very well that my pack is stronger than yours!” started Killa with a defensive grunt. Her fur stood on end as Wella began to make her way over. “Stay back you flea bitten mongrel,” she threatened.

“Temper, temper, Killa. I only wish to speak with you.” Wella’s voice was harsh to Killa’s ears. Like nails on a chalkboard, it tore through Killa’s head and caused her fur to lift even more. Her breath was none the better either. Like a rancid stunky, this female was truly the definition of walking trash.

“Where is my beta and Euca? Show them to me Wella, or I will assume you attacked them and return the favor to you!” Killa didn’t back away despite her urge to do so. She had to stand her ground despite the filth that came ever closer to her being.

“They’re fine. The only one that suffered any kind of injury was that Thorn of yours. He was such a handsome pup too. Strong willed, brave, silent, I rather do enjoy those types. Either way, the poor boy came into a heap of trouble with a Hoppip. Got himself covered in a stun spore attack. I simply just took the advantage of the moment and had my boys take that pretty little plant down before shuffling your two dogs past my border. After all, the rest of the hoppip weren’t too pleased and I had to make sure that no Mightyena fell victim to their attacks again! Aren’t I just the nicest?”

“About as nice as a Garbordor in the heat of summer,” muttered Killa as she watched the female. Wella had begun to circle her, keeping her pinned to the spot she’d taken a stance in. Wella’s voice was disgustingly riddled with pride and over confidence, her steps coursing through satisfaction and joy like a pup. She was so proud of herself and didn’t hesitate one bit in showing it off. “Why bring my pack here? Are you wanting to start a fight?!” Killa asked her.

“Please. I know better than to start a fight with the all mighty Killa!” Willa retorted. “Oh no. I brought them here because I know that I couldn’t get a private meeting like this with you otherwise!”

“That’s a load of crap and you know it!” Killa retorted back quickly. “I would have seen you if you’d have asked! You didn’t need to go to these ridiculous lengths to get me here! How do I even know that it wasn’t your dogs that startled the Hoppip into releasing Stun Spore in the first place?!”

“Why, Killa..!” started Willa with shock as she lifted a paw to her chest, obviously hurt by the assumption. “You think I would honestly stoop so low?! No my girl I simply had no reason to trust a simple conversation could be had otherwise! You know as well as I that my pack couldn’t fight you, and with the way food and water is, I couldn’t even BEGIN to imagine you and your pack being civil enough to want to hold a meeting between us! Especially when the meeting meant you and I had to be alone!”

“Cut the act Wella,” snorted Killa in a calmer tone. “You want to talk? Fine. We’ll talk. But first you let my beta go, and you let Euca go. Once I see that they are safely able to return to our land, you and I can talk one on one.” In a way, Wella did have a point. Food and water was so scarce that seeing her in their territory would have prompted an attack first over words. Still, the lengths Wella had gone to were far from easy to deal with in Killa’s mind. Wella had only one more step to make incorrectly before Killa would act out. All that remained was the time spent getting there.

Wella gave a simple call and looked over towards the old house. Killa too looked over and saw both Derek and Euca coming out with a couple of Mightyena around them. Euca looked exhausted while Derek remained tall and strong. It may have been for show however, as Derek was no better off than Euca in terms of health and strength. She nodded to them and watched as Derek’s ears were thrown back. He disapproved of this situation completely, but didn’t act on it. He instead nudged Euca to follow him, and the two were allowed to leave without any problems. Once they were out of both earshot and eyesight, Killa turned to Wella and asked with a stiff voice,

“What is it you want to talk about?”

______

“Derek, ye’ be actin’ more like Killa since ye’ came back here with Euca. Yer beginin’ te’ worry me there lad,” Albert remarked as he walked over to the beta. Derek had taken vigil at the foot of the alleyway (while still keeping out of sight of humans), and was only reacting to what was being said through twitches in his ears. Every so often the beta would react to an itch, scratching his fur quickly, but that was the heaviest extent of movement he offered since his vigil began.

Albert was now next to Derek, sitting down as he too found an itch almost impossible to ignore. Through his scratching, he spoke again.

“Ye’ best be havin’ more faith in our alpha. Ye’ know that Killa can handle herself against that pack. Trust her.”

“I do trust her, Albert,” Derek told him. “However I DON’T trust that pack of Wella’s. Even with their small numbers, they outmatched the alpha five to one. She could get out of it yes, but not without injury. Injury that we can’t afford for her to gain.”

“Especially from that rat pack of Mightyena,” Percy broke in. He snorted again and added, “That flea bitten mongrel pack is better off dead than alive. All they do is spread disease like walking plagues!” He got no argument from anyone. Not even Morrison spoke against him. Prince and Johanna just remained still, both laying on their stomachs next to one another as they listened intently to what was being said. In their minds, the pack Killa was up against looked nothing like Mightyena. Instead they resembled figures that were more formless than anything else. How could you picture something like they were describing anyways? Walking plagues? What were those? Euca shuttered just then, catching the two’s attention.

“You okay, Euca?” asked Johanna as he lifted up his head.

“Yeah you don’t look so good,” remarked Prince.

“Just nauseous is all,” Euca answered.

“Get over it you big baby,” pestered Percy. “You weren’t the one that suffered stun spore! You’re not even hurt either!”

“You try staying at their base then and come back feeling dandy as a rose!” barked Euca as he looked back to Percy. “Their home borders the water. Do you even realize how strong the rank smell is coming from that poisoned ocean? Combine that with the mangey way they live and… ugh…. it’s enough to make even a Skuntank shutter!”

“It’s not like we live any cleaner,” retorted Percy. “I bet we stink just as much as they do. After all it’s not like we have any proper ways of cleaning ourselves. We’re not cats.”

“Cats?” Pricne asked confused. His ears twitched as Morrison sighed and answered for Percy.

“He means we don’t lick ourselves clean. Cats do that. Liepard, Meowth, Purrloin, Skitty, the lot of’em. They can clean themselves by licked their bodies with their tongues.”

“Blech!” responded Prince as he stuck out his tongue. The pack began to laugh a bit, save for Derek and Percy that is. Derek found no humor in their situation, but like Killa, was able to just brush it aside for the moment. He focused strictly on keeping watch in his vigil for their alpha to return. What was she remaining behind to do with Wella? Were they talking? It wasn’t obvious for Derek seeing as how him and Euca weren’t spoken to about the reasons they were taken there. The real reasons that is. All they were told was that it was to protect them from the Hoppip’s attacks. Derek knew better however; able to pick up on the type of tone that Wella had been using while she spoke to them.

“Were you scared, Euca?” asked Johanna soon after the laughing had stopped. “You know.. being in enemy territory and all?” It took Euca a moment to answer, looking up a bit as he thought about it.

“You know… not really. Despite the smell, they didn’t threaten me or Derek all that much. The only threats that they gave were just sending us back out into the stun spore without any help or protection. A few of them know how to use the attack Protect, shocking enough. It’s strange. It makes me wonder if some of them were trainer raised and abandoned or something..”

“It doesn’t matter,” Derek chimed in. “Trainer raised or not, their threat was still a threat. I don’t care their intension or anything else. They made that threat and it could have easily costed us our lives if it were put through!” Agitation was in Derek’s voice as he remained in his stance. He was twitching a bit, his legs shifting ever so slightly from how long he’d been waiting. The sun was just due to set after all and their alpha was still no where to be seen or smelled. He hated this. He absolutely hated this! He should have stayed with Killa and let Euca go back alone! He shouldn’t have left her to deal with Wella’s pack on her own like that!

Glancing back though, he knew Euca wouldn’t have made it back on his own. Euca was considerably weak for his age. He was fast that much was true, but the Mightyena lacked a lot of skill in physical strength. They were lucky that the Hoppip didn’t continue their assault when they left. Sheer dumb luck probably rather than luck, but either way it made no difference. He looked away again, his body aching from how badly he wanted to just dart off.

Where was she?

____

“My pack isn’t up for trade,” growled Killa. “They aren’t up for mixings or anything like that.”

“Come now Killa! You consist of mostly males! I consist of mostly females! It just makes sense that we form an alliance between our two packs! Don’t you want your legacy to continue on?!”

The two female leaders had been at it for hours. The females of Wella’s pack could tell that Killa wasn’t going to budge on this issue. It aggravated them to no end. They wanted to mate and have pups. They wanted to expand their pack and their bloodlines. It didn’t matter who the males were anymore. They simply wanted to survive and Killa was keeping them from it!

“The packs have never before formed alliance before and I don’t feel like starting it now!” barked Killa. She stood up and pushed herself forward towards Wella. Her teeth bared themselves as she continued on, “How many times must I tell you that I refuse to let MY pack mate with the filth of yours?! I don’t care about how many of this or that we both have, I care for the health of my pack! Allowing your kind to step in could cause serious issues and trust me when I say that I’d rather my legacy end with my boys than continue with your blood contaminating it!” Her ear twitched just then as her attention was thrown to her backside when a deep and booming voice asked her a question.

“Then how about you do so with us?”

____

Night had fallen. Derek remained in his vigil while the rest of the pack slept. He wasn’t going to close his eyes until Killa was back safe and sound. The two pups were the only ones barely asleep, Johanna waking up every hour or so from presumably nothing. His dreams didn’t exist and the night was quiet. His stomach wasn’t churning and his nerves weren’t shot. Still he woke constantly, getting more and more agitated by the minute. His brother also seemed to be doing this, though not as often. He’d wake up and yawn, look over to Derek, and just slowly try an lull himself back to sleep. Johanna played it differently. After so many times of waking up, he gave up on trying to sleep again and walked over to Derek.

“Back to sleep, young one,” Derek initially said.

“You don’t think I’ve tried?” returned Johanna. He sat down next to Derek whom gave no indication of pushing the Poochyena away. With one more yawn, the brown and white colored pup found himself waking up even more. “I can’t sleep, Derek. I don’t know why. I thought it might be because I’m still hungry but… I don’t think that’s it. I think it’s something else…”

“You’re worried, most likely. Our alpha still hasn’t returned from her time with Wella. It’s only natural that you’d be worried seeing as she’s-”

“I guess…” interrupted Johanna. Derek looked at him a bit intrigued. Why would he interrupt like that? “But she’s the alpha. I shouldn’t be worried for the alpha. I really shouldn’t!”

“I sympathize with you, Johanna,” began Derek. “I too feel like I shouldn’t worry, yet here I am, sitting here in vigil, doing just that. I want to know she’s okay, but I can’t. I want to act for her, but I shouldn’t. I want to rush in after her, but I won’t.” Johanna looked up to Derek as he spoke, listening as the frustration came pouring through Derek’s words like a waterfall. “I need to remain here and just hope for her safe return. Despite knowing how strong she is, I will not stop worrying. It’s nothing to be ashamed of despite how we think it may be. It isn’t us showing weakness or even a lack of faith. We are just worried over someone we care so very deeply about.”

Johanna looked away from Derek, his ears falling back as his eyes took to the ground. Someone he deeply cared about? Did he deeply care for the alpha? He obviously did care, but it was hard to really say just how much that care reached. She was his alpha that much was true, but she never felt like anything more. She felt nothing like how the others felt. he was proud of her and loyal to her, yes, but personally… did he really have the level of concern that Derek obviously had? He’d never had to think about something like this before, and now that it was happening, it was making it even harder for him to find the sleep that he craved so much.

“Brother?” whispered a small voice. A yawn came soon after as Prince walked up to the two. Sitting down, the pup found himself in the middle of both being awake and being asleep. He only headed over because Johanna was here. “What’s going on? Are you okay?” he asked sleepily.

“Yeah I’m fine. Just… worried I guess? I don’t know…” answered Johanna. he didn’t outright say what he was thinking, worried that Derek would probably scold him or something, so instead he tried to brush off his unease as best he could as just nighttime jitters. “Alpha still hasn’t returned. I’m worried but… I’m also not? Like… she’s super strong. She can handle herself. Still though…”

“Yeah. I’m worried as well. I keep dreaming about her when I fall asleep. She’s never been out this long before..” Prince was obviously much more concerned than Johanna was if his dreams were even teaming up with him. “They aren’t really nightmares but… they aren’t good dreams either. They just start and then end with no explanation as to how they ended. Like… I see her but then everything just black’s out because I open my eyes.”

The two continued to speak as Derek focused on his watch. He only half paid attention to their conversation, jumping back and forth from it to his own thoughts. He prayed silently to Arceus for her safe return. He prayed that their bad luck was finally going to end. That they would be able to finally find food the next day, find a suitable drinking source, and get their leader back unscathed.

Edited March 3, 2016 by FeralGator

[FeralGator]

Chapter 5: The Proposition

Killa turned around, teeth bared and fur on end from her rage as she saw the figures walking over towards her. They were both rather muscular, though one more so than the other. One had a red nose much like her while the other had the signature black nose that most Mightyena possessed. They both looked at her with snarky and conceited expressions, chuckling a bit as they eyeballed the two female alpha.

“What in the name of Arceus are you doing here, Keto?” Killa growled as the more muscular of the twins stepped closer.

“My brother and I were in the neighborhood scouting out some new females when we came upon this pack in great need. We offered them protection in our ranks, but Wella simply declined us. Shame really, isn’t it Wella?” he asked through a chuckle.

“Back off, Keto. I already said no. My allegiance belongs to Killa and only Killa. It will never be yours, nor any of the other alpha!” Killa looked to Wella and snarled towards her. What in the world was she saying?!

“Does it now? I heard this alpha decline your offer to align the two packs. I even heard her state that she would never in her life let her legacy be mixed with your pack’s filthy blood. However,” he then turned to Killa and smiled. “My pack is open for all your males. We have plenty of room, plenty of food, and even a source of clean water. How about we form a proposition, Killa? What do you say?”

“Not in your lifetime, Keto!” Killa quickly retorted. She watched the second twin step forward, seeing his disgusting mug wrap itself in an even more disgusting grin.

“Is that really the best answer to give us, Killa? Isn’t your pack in desperate need of food and water? Forget the females if you can and just focus on that. You have two young pups, do you not? Wouldn’t you rather they be able to live to see tomorrow?” The male was pushing her buttons more so than Keto. He pulled up the topic that easily got Killa to second guess herself. It was true her pride pushed her from wanting to align with another pack, but would her heart let Johanna and Prince die because of it? She was smart. Smarter than other alpha. She knew what the right choice was to make. The only issue however… was making it at all.

Wella looked to the twins and threw back her ears. “How is this offer not being handed out to my pack, Keto?! Are you and Kito going to just leave mine to die from the exact same reasons as Killa’s?!”

Kito merely turned to gaze at her for a split second. He gave her a look of warning to watch herself before turning back to Killa. Keto however gave her the answer she wanted. Approaching her with a prideful expression, he said to her, “No pack would ever dare mix with yours. Your wolves are riddled with disease and no matter what you say, are destined to die from illness before the years end. No human will capture you, no male will mate with you. From what I heard, some of your females can’t even bare milk anymore let alone get pregnant! You are so swift to try and align with others, yet you don’t even THINK about the state your own pack is currently in! You’re a walking plague, Wella. If it weren’t so beneath me, I’d take it upon myself to rid this city of you and yours before it can suffer further from your rank stench of an existence!”

Wella back away from him, her ears flat and tail between her legs. Fighting may have been something she was good at, but intimidation was intimidation. She wouldn’t dare take on the twins in combat knowing how well kept they were compared to her. She also knew him to be right despite how strongly her mind argued it.

“Get out of my territory,” she softly demanded.

“With pleasure,” Keto returned in an equally soft a voice.

The trio then left, Killa looking back to see Wella hunched over seemingly deflated in her ego. It would have been pathetic looking were Killa not feeling the same way. As the three walked, Killa began to ask questions to try and get what was happening on a level she could better try to control.

“Strange how you just so happened to show up right as Wella was talking about communing packs together?” She made sure that her curiosity shone through with a glance from one twin to the other. It was Kito that answered her, his voice lighter in its pitch and tone than Keto’s.

“Apologies on that. We’d actually been scoping out her pack for some time. We managed to find a bit of luck when she decided to go after yours like that. Oh well. No harm done am I right?” he laughed.

“What are you two planning to do with the rest of the packs?” she asked.

“A super pack,” began Keto. “One that will never be looked at as catching fodder again. One that can support itself easily and take command of many territories. One who-”

“One whom can control the rest of the Pokemon living in the territory that you plan to overthrow,” interrupted Killa. Keto turned to glare at her questioningly. He made no efforts to stop in his walking, but he certainly hadn’t done anything to try and speed up either.

“One must do so in the face of adversary. Our pack needs the space after all. Others must be accommodating to that.” Keto began to ramble on and on about protocols that would follow, methods for a tightly woven mind rather than a hillside of scattered Durants. She didn’t much care for this kind of talk. She felt it was more aimed towards the goal with very little concern placed on those that would even get them there. Kito noticed the hesitation in Killa’s reactions to Keto’s words. He also noticed a distant look of what could only be thoughts processing. For that to be left unattended was dangerous.

“You’re so very quiet in all of this, alpha Killa. Is something on your mind over it?” he asked her.

“...” Killa did not respond, and instead carried on. Her pace almost seemed too quick as well, leaving her being incredibly suspicious to the younger of the twins. Keto hadn’t noticed, but that was to be expected.

“Do you have anything you might wish to add to a proposition of allegiance?” Kito chimed in just then. Killa stopped dead in her tracks, ears back flat as they could go. Both the twins turned to stare at her. Keto quandried about his brother’s sudden inclusion into the talk. Normally the wolf remained fairly silent. He wouldn’t deny Kito the honor of being the one to talk however. He’d let the wolf go on and see just what that mind of his was thinking.

Killa looked over at Kito, voice silent and eyes locked to him as she quickly judged her situation. She took but only a few moments before answering him.

“I do,” she started. Her voice was gruff and thick; filled with unease at the current tension. She had to word herself carefully around these two. “If I ally my pack with yours I will require a few things. First off, we will NOT be fully integrating into your ranks. We are staying as our own unit. Second, we will need our own den. I don't wish to see my pack being washed into yours. We're a family and we will stay strictly as that. We will help you as needed but otherwise, we remain as we currently are. Those are my terms. If you want to ally with me, that is what needs to be met.”

“That sounds reasonable to me. Keto?” Kito condescendingly asked as he glanced over to his brother.

“It does indeed,” agreed Keto. “Finding a secluded den for you and yours won't be any trouble my dear Killa. There are plenty of alleyways in Jasper that you can take, as well as possible dens in the adjacent forest if that would be more preferred.”

Killa looked at the two with a bit of disbelief. The way they held themselves while speaking to her was practically insulting. They spoke with what sounded like top level superiority while looking down on her from heads held high. It was infuriating for her to have to listen to their wretched tones. With her ears back and eyes full of wariness, she nodded to the twins and simply told them, “Good.” She then pushed between them and continued on, walking back towards her territory. She noticed the twins following her and quickly turned to look them in the eyes.

“Is there any reason you’re following me? You have my answer. Do you feel that my pack will need an escort to find yours? Are you that mistrusting?” The twins looked at one another, still smiling their conceited as sin smiles. As Keto stepped forward, Killa could see a sternness grow across his features. That condescending attitude was all but gone, replaced with one of threatening strength and prowess.

“Your pack will adhere to the rules that we dictate, Killa. You may have your proposal, but don’t let it get to your head. Your wolves and you are no more special than a blade of grass is to a field. My brother and I are providing you and yours with protection, food, and clean water. Just keep in mind your situation and how, if you were to indeed prove our mistrust to be right, could easily be made that much worse than it currently is. You are alpha of yours. We however, are alpha of you.” There was an underlying growl to Keto’s words that made Killa practically fall to her stomach with unease. She’d never heard a wolf, or anyone for that matter, speak in such a way. She knew her deal had been made with a devil. She knew that it was a mistake to trust them so much with her family. The only problem though… what other choice did she have?

What was even more uneasing was Keto’s sudden change in demeanor after he finished speaking. His prowess practically vanished, instead taking back to that smiling conceited alpha she’d been seeing this entire time. Kito had no change in his presentation during all of this. He actually seemed to be enjoying his brother’s sudden mood shift, almost laughing throughout it. Keto turned and walked over to Kito, the two just looking at one another for a few seconds before they both began to head off in a different direction. Killa watched as Keto looked back to her, ears still flat against her head as he said to her, “Join us by tomorrow evening. We’ll be waiting by the gates.”

Killa remained silent where she stood as the twins walked off. They weren’t headed back home, but rather deeper into Peridot. Killa could only imagine that they were off on a scouting run, checking out every pack that was remaining within the ward to judge the best candidates for new packmates. She slowly turned around and began to walk back to her pack. She was conflicted with her decision to join them, knowing well that her packmates would be completely against it. The only ones she truly believed would give this a chance were the pups, Albert, and Derek. Percy, Euca, and Morrison she knew would be completely against it, and Thorn was such a mystery that his opinion was completely undeterminable.

“It had to be done…” she assured herself. Her body was exhausted as was her mind. Even if her time with the twins had been minimal it still seemed to drain everything from her. She wanted sleep more than ever before. Her thoughts didn’t rest though, some of them darting to and fro from the conversation, to wondering if her pack had taken initiative to go hunting with the pups. She then stopped and felt a bit of shock overcome her.

“Johanna… Prince… We never taught them to hunt…!” It had only just dawned on her that her pups wouldn’t be able to contribute anything to the twin’s pack. She would have normally brushed this aside given that alpha’s generally don’t expect much of young pups until they were past a year in age, but Keto and Kito weren’t just your average alpha. She quickly looked back as if to try and find them, her heart almost racing by this time. She new they’d be long gone by now deep into another pack’s territory. Unless she wanted to incite war between her pack and another’s, she couldn’t follow.

“We will have to train them in private… We’ll need a forest den,” she told herself through a hushed voice. Her nerves had officially been rattled at this thought. The twin’s pack was huge with over twenty wolves throughout. There was very little information on how the pack treated themselves, but what was known was that they were harsh on newcomers. It would be difficult to avoid getting lashed at even as one of the best hunters of your pack. There was no telling what they’d do to two useless pups…!

“Arceus help my pups… Protect them from harm. I know I have not been much to them but an alpha, but hear me as something more, my lord. Keep them safe in the light of your sun, Cresselia your moon. Let lord Darkrai not haunt their dreams. Let no mon’ stand in their way. Hear me my lord… hear my prayer to you. If I cannot help them, please lend your guidance until I am capable.” It was rare that Killa ever let out prayer like this. She was more practical than anything else, focusing strictly on how she could fix a situation rather than looking to a higher power. In this moment however, she felt like a pup herself. She felt lost in her choices and surrounded by her own resentment towards them. This was the only thing she knew to do at the moment to try and ease her building struggle.

All that was left…. was to tell the pack.