Proving Grounds {Closed}
Jan 14, 2019 2:04:04 GMT -5
Post by Rykett on Jan 14, 2019 2:04:04 GMT -5
((Hello and welcome to a massive, single-post thread! This thread is not actually a solo thread despite its initial appearance. Tiel and I collaborated on this post in a Google Doc and I’m just the one posting it. This thread is for a plot that we had with Meds, tovaana, Shiver, and Pittypat and though they didn’t write any of the final product, their ideas were what gave this plot life. Of course, there are a ton of characters in this post and those that I couldn’t adopt, I made sure to get permission from their players to temporarily use them here (I only had to do this for Umbra). The location of this thread jumps around a little, but the majority of it takes place in the Ruins. I hope you enjoy! <3))
Lydia’s paw struck the Striken upside the ear. It rang from the force. Striken stood his ground. ”Tell me, Caeth!” Lydia’s sharp tongue demanded. The Alphas’ pups needed to complete some sort of ritual. They’d put Lydia in charge of finding some Good wolves to participate. Striken didn’t like the sound of that, so when his master had come demanding that he give her a list of wolves, he’d remained silent. So she beat him. He would bare it. Lydia was about to strike him again when she froze. ”I’ve been a fool,” she murmured then strode away with a bark, ”Follow!”
Striken followed. He still wasn’t used to taking orders from Lydia. It’d been less than a month since they’d been captured. Lydia went straight to the little den he’d found for Calypso. Lydia ducked inside and came out dragging Calypso by her ear. Striken’s ears pinned. Lydia struck Calypso so hard that the blueish she-wolf tumbled to the ground. Calypso gasped and struggled to escape. ”Don’t,” Striken’s voice was soft as his morals and instincts battled within him. Lydia pushed Calypso against the ground then the gamma paused. A cream paw massaged the slight bulge in Calypso’s belly. A wicked grin spread over Lydia’s muzzle as she met Striken’s gaze. Lydia positioned both her pups on Calypso’s stomach and the unborn pups inside, claws ready to tear. ”Stop!” Striken cried, ”I’ll tell you.”
Lydia released Calypso. His mate stumbled upright. Striken rushed to comfort her, but Lydia stepped in his path, eyes hard. Striken’s thought for a second, his thoughts alighted on a family in Eternal Snowfall. ”Leo and Rayen. They have five pups that would be nearly a year old.” Lydia smile and stepped aside. Striken raced to Calypso. He tried to bury his head in Calypso fur, but she pushed him away with a betrayed look. ”What have you done? What are they going to do to Leo and Rayen?!”
Striken lowered his head, ”I don’t know…” Calypso looked like she had more to say, but Lydia interrupted, ”Caeth, we’re not done yet. You need to show me where I can find those pups.” Calypso shot him an even more frustrated look before fleeing into the den. Striken glumly followed Lydia away as the sun dipped towards the horizon.
The night air was crisp as Xena snuck out of the den. Her four sisters followed her. Xena had decided that they were old enough to explore beyond the territory alone and had convinced Ka, Rhul, Kuu, and Midori of the fact. So they’d plotted to leave just for one night.
Xena’s heart thumped in excitement as they neared the border. She stopped at the invisible line defined by scent markings. Then she leaped over the border with a yip of glee. The five sisters continued onward, sniffing at rocks and for perhaps some prey to hunt. Ka suddenly paused. Xena noticed and turned to her sister, ”What’s wrong?”
”I smell wolves…” Ka whispered.
A cream wolf erupted from the grass and tackled Rhul. The young orange wolf was easily overpowered by the older she-wolf. The female’s teeth were hovering over Rhul’s within seconds. ”Don’t move or I’ll kill her.” All four sisters froze. The female’s eyes flicked to each pup, counting them. ”Perfect,” the she-wolf seemed to purr, then called with a commanding growl, ”Caeth! Their parents won’t be nearby, will they?”
A second adult emerged from the tall grass. Xena recognized him, Timbre’s father… Timbre and Kokem’s parents had left on a week-long hunting trip almost a month ago. They’d all been starting to worry about the couple. ”Striken?! What’s going on?”
Why did this she-wolf call him Caeth? Why did it seem like he was helping her? Striken didn’t meet Xena’s gaze and addressed the female in a soft, broken voice, ”They might, Mistress Lydia. We’re outside the territory and it’s late. They won’t have let them venture this far without supervision… unless the pups sneaked off.”
The wolf he’d called Lydia scowled, ”We don’t have time to deal with the parents. Let’s get them out of here quickly.” Lydia then spoke to the pups, ”You will follow me to our destination. If any of you lags behind or tries to escape, Caeth will kill you.” Lydia met Striken’s gaze and her piercing stare seemed to imply an ”or else.” The male winced and looked away.
Lydia released Rhul and started walking away. The pups hesitated, but Striken growled and they started following. Xena padded just in front of Striken. She looked back at him and started whispering her questions, ”Why are you doing this, Striken?”
”They’ll hurt Calypso and kill our pups if I don’t…” he whispered, his expression pained.
”But, Timbre and Kokem are safe in Tranquil Meadows.”
”Not them… We’d just decided to have another litter when they captured us.” Xena gaped a little. Timbre and Kokem now had siblings!?
Kuu, who was listening in on the conversation spoke up, ”Who’s ’they’?”
”Midnight Silence,” Striken shuddered.
”What’s going to happen to us?” Xena asked, refocused on the situation.
Strikem shook his head, forlornly, ”I don’t know…”
”Quiet! Stop pretending that I can’t hear you whispering back there!” Lydia’s bark came, ending their conversation. They continued on in silence.
”Line up!” the snapped command came from Skia. Five pups scrambled out of the den and into the early morning light. One was absent from the line-up. Usually Skia would’ve dragged him out of the den by his tail, but Skia already knew the legitimate reason why Insolence wasn’t joining in today. The pup was sick with a persistent cold and Skia worried that would put him in too great of danger in today’s activity. The pups were nearing their first birthday and it was time to conduct their rituals. Since their parents were the Alphas, it was only natural that they’d have aid in setting up the ritual. However, Skia would make sure there was no cheating during the ritual, itself. Lydia had been sent to capture some Good wolves down in the grasslands. She would drive them North and meet the Alphas midway at the Ruins of Abetyu.
Skia inspected her offspring as they stood at attention. They all seemed perfectly healthy and ready to conquer their rituals. Skia gave a slight nod of approval. A wide grin suddenly split across Zodi’s muzzle. Skia glared at him, but the smile stuck. Skia scowled. There’d been some unusual problems with Zodi during his upbringing. Unlike all the other pups, he’d had trouble killing. That simply wouldn’t do. However, he’d gotten over it, but the optimism that Skia had expected to fade only seemed to grow stronger as the days had passed. Zodi was an odd one and Skia couldn’t figure out how to fix him.
Her brown eyes shifted to the white form of Fjord sitting a bit off. As soon as she caught his gaze, he padded over. His tail touched her side as he passed her, but other than that, he didn’t show any other signs of affection for his mate. Skia’s heart fell a little, but it was something she was used to by now. ”Let’s go,” Fjord led the way out of camp. A couple members joined the procession to watch the long-awaited ritual.
Strange stones towered around the small group of wolves traveling through the ruins. Zodi gazed up at them in awe, mouth agape. He’d never seen anything so cool! ”Shut your mouth and keep walking, bumswaggler,” Fia hissed at him. Zodi realized he’d slowed his pace while looking up at the rocks. With a couple quick steps, Zodi was back where he belonged.
Skia and Fjord soon halted the parade on the border of a circle of rocks. Zodi pushed past Katana and ducked under Skia’s legs to get a better look. His sister glared at him. ”Woah!” The circle was large and dirt filling it was bloodstained. They stood at the only entrance. Spectators climbed surrounding buildings to get a good view of the fight. Their previous Beta, Acribus, had found this place and formed it into a fight club. Though word of it was slower to travel after his passing, it was apparent that Fjord still intended on using it as a proving grounds for his pups.
Lydia and her Servant rounded the edge of the the circle with five terrified Good pups in tow. Zodi’s eyes met their gazes with a flash of guilt. He knew exactly what was going to happen to them. No! Why should he feel anything for them?! Their lives were meaningless. Every life was meaningless. Meaning was something wolves assigned to themselves, so the only meaning that matter to Zodi was his own. The wave of apathy washed over Zodi and he smiled, now looking at the Good pups with hunger. They stood between him and promotion.
His mother roughly pushed him back. ”First fighters into the ring!” No order had been established so it was first-come-first-fight. Fia snarled and snapped to get her way, but Tuhota was closer to the entrance and stepped in before the rest. Skia started escorting her remaining pups to a viewing platform so they could spectate until their turn came. ”Good luck!” Zodi yipped to all the contestants as he followed her away. The Good wolves were especially going to need it.
Little grass grew inside the arena. Most had been stomped away and flattened by tussling wolves. Tuhota turned to face the opening he’d just walked through, wondering which of those pups would be his trophy. He could see them all, resisting Lydia’s prompting to enter. Suddenly one shouted, ”I’ll go! Just don’t make my sisters!” There was a chorus of outbursts from her sisters as they tried to stop their sister or take her place as the supreme sacrifice. Lydia merely smiled, ”Only if you survive.” The pup nodded in agreement and Lydia shoved her into the arena. Her sisters tried to follow, pleading for her to come back, but Lydia held them back. ”Caeth, sit at the entrance and make sure no pup gets in or out.”
The Servant assumed the requested position as door guard as Tuhota started circling the other pup. She pranced away from him, blue eyes nervous. Tuhota studied his prey. She was a well-built pup. Strong muscles rippled beneath her orange and green fur as she moved and she stood slightly taller than most of her sisters who were still sobbing her name on the sidelines, ”Xena! Please don’t! Get out of there!” Xena was still dwarfed in comparison to the massive Tuhota. Tuhota had always been large and that would definitely prove an advantage in fights like this where neither wolf was all too graceful and instead had to depend on their strength.
Finished with his pre-battle analysis, Tuhota charged with a snarl. Xena yelped and tried to dodge the attack, but his teeth caught her tail and yanked her back. She delivered a powerful kick with her hind legs to his face, forcing him to release her. As soon as she was free, she fled. He loped after her, then charged again. She wasn’t fast enough to dodge again. He tackled her and immediately started tearing apart her pelt with his claws and yelp. Xena fought back furiously. He went for her throat, but she managed to bite his muzzle and deflected the murderous attack. Her teeth dug deep ruts into the top of the muzzle. Tuhota winced but pushed aside the pain. He would handle it later. For now he had to win this fight!
In Tuhota’s second of pain, Xena escaped his grasp and fled once. This was getting tiring. Why couldn’t she face him instead of running away like a coward! Anger flared through Tuhota. He had to win! He had to prove himself! With a roar he charged Xena, who had finally seemed to decide to stand her ground. This time she timed her dodge right and evaded Tuhota’s teeth. She even counter attacked by hooking her teeth into his scruff. Using the momentum of his attack, she swung onto his back. Xena’s sisters cheered as she gained the advantage. He bucked like an elk while her teeth dug into his scruff for dear life and her claws tore at his sides. Tuhota made a roaring charge again, this time, straight at one of the boulders that made up the wall. At the last moment, he turned his head aside and slammed the wolf on his back up against the stone. Her ribs cracked under the combined force of his weight and velocity. She slid to the ground in a crumpled heap.
Had he won? Tuhota paused. Xena rose, coughed up blood from a pierced lung. Determination still flickered in her eyes, so Tuhota slammed her against the rock again, his jaws clenched. This time he used his front paws pushing against her chest. She gasped in pain as he pressed the broken ribs deeper into her lungs and cracked another rib. Tuhota went for her throat. She weakly resisted. It was enough to avoid him tearing out her throat, but not enough to stop him from piercing her artery. Tuhota released the pup and collapsed to the floor. She would bleed out within moments, slowly and painfully. He started to walk away, but paused as a sound other than the sounds of a dying wolf trembled through the air. He turned to see Xena struggling to her feet. ”I won’t… die… I have to win… for them,” she coughed out the words. Blood gushed from her neck. She took a step towards Tuhota, but immediately collapsed. She struggled from breath. Tuhota returned to the dying pup’s side. She pawed at him weakly. He gripped her throat and twisted, ending her life with a snap.
Xena opened her eyes to blinding light. She blinked allowing her blue eyes to adjust. She felt like she was floating, but there was no breeze through her fur. Her eyes began registering the surrounding landscape. She was in the ruins. The ruins… The fight! Xena’s tried to turn, but the movement was gracefully slow. Finally she could see him. A raspberry pup, only a couple months her senior. His eyes were fixed on something beneath Xena. Dark, fresh blood coated his muzzle and pooled at his paws. Xena was still gracefully turning. She willed herself to stop, but it was useless. She continued drifting in a circle. Xena’s blue eyes fixed on the puddle of blood at the enemy’s feet. Was it his blood? No, though he had scratches in several places, none of his injuries would cause that much blood. Besides the blood at his feet was part of a larger puddle beneath Xena. Xena finally glanced down and gasped as she saw her corpse. Her body was obviously dead. Severely bleeding and fatally wounded, the dead eyes stared into the distance. ’I’m dead. How is this possible? This can’t be real! How can I be here if I’m dead?’ Horrified, Xena tried to catch a glimpse of whatever body she was now inhabiting since she definitely wasn’t inside that corpse. It looked like her old body, but it was see through. Whatever wounds she’d gotten from the fight were still there, but they didn’t hurt or bleed or anything! Her paws weren’t touching the ground! Was she flying? Could she fly? ’What is going on?!’
There was a sharp intake of breath from her murderer and Xena met the male’s gaze as he stared at the apparition above his victim. He took a step back, his mouth open in confusion. A white wolf with blood red paws spoke to the pup from above. “Looks like this one had some unfinished business. You needn’t worry about it. Ghosts cannot affect the real world.” Ghosts… She was a ghost! No, that couldn’t be possible! Xena waved her legs, trying to move but without any real direction. She started to do slow, lazy rotations, barrel rolls, and flips above where she’d died, instead. Ethereal tears streamed down her face, dissolving as they left her fur. Xena wanted to scream. She opened her mouth to do so, but only a distant, nearly inaudible noise left her. She couldn’t talk, she couldn’t move, nobody could touch her, nobody cared about her. No, that last one wasn’t true. Her sisters cared. They were here and maybe they could do something, anything.
Her blue eyes searched the wolves staring down into the fight ring. She quickly focused on her siblings’ faces poking past Striken’s form. ”Help me!” she mouthed at them. They stared at her, horrified.
Striken stepped aside to let the victor leave the arena. Kuu’s red eyes tore away from the ghostly form of her sister above the bloodied corpse to flick up to where their opponents battled to be the next to fight. A black wolf was already darting towards the arena, ahead of his furious siblings. He tripped the last second and tumbled into arena. Xena’s bloodstained murderer joined his parents and frustrated siblings on a viewing platform to watch the next fight. The four remaining sisters huddled together. Rhul glared angrily at their captives, but Kuu could see the terror in her eyes. Terror that was much more evident in Midori’s wide eyes. Ka evidently could, too, for she spoke words of comfort to the other pups. Kuu gritted her teeth as Lydia’s gestured for Striken to push one of them into the arena. Ka tried to enter, but Rhul pushed her back to enter instead. They were all trying to save each other, but they were all going to end up just like Xena. Dead. Kuu was going to go out fighting. Kuu leaped into the ring in front of Rhul and Striken stopped her sisters from following.
Kuu’s pale red eyes focused on the black wolf. One of his paws was pulled up to his chest. It was deformed and unuseable, but the pup stood confidently on his three working legs despite it. With a growl, he lunged at her. Kuu responded with a snarl and met his attack with her teeth. Kuu kept aiming for the shoulder of his deformed leg, but he brushed her off every time with a practiced shove or dodge. His training had obviously accounted for his disability. With one particularly strong shove, he pushed her off balance and he immediately took the opportunity.
Jaws closed around Kuu’s throat, but the hold was awkward. The other wolf wasn’t in a position to tear out the throat, but neither could his teeth rupture any arteries. The evil pup tried to break Kuu’s neck with a sudden twist, but Kuu’s resisted with a paw against the male’s face. The other pup tightened his grip until Kuu couldn’t breath. Kuu struggled, but her movement grew weaker and weaker as her lungs burned for oxygen. The sobs of her sisters reached Kuu’s ears. They’d been so shocked during Xena’s fight that tears hadn’t fallen immediately, but now the reality of their situation was sinking in. Kuu batted her murderer one last time before her vision faded to black and her heart stilled.
Kuu expect to wake, hovering over her body as Xena had, but when she opened her eyes she lay in a strange, misty place. Ghostly forms moved through the mists around her. Where was she? A green and blue color ghost approached her. He had a welcoming, but sad smile on his face. ”You’re young to already be in the Afterlife,” his cheerful, friendly voice defied the atmosphere. ”I can help you adjust, if you’d like! I’ll help you get through the loneliness until we find someone you know or they join us here. All will come eventually…”
”My sisters will be here soon. I want to wait for them.”
Fia observed each fight with careful consideration. Watching. Learning. The arena was painted with blood now, and as an older wolf dragged away the tiny, limp body of a pup she had never met, Fia’s eyes found the eyes of her parents. She searched for approval in their claw-sharp gazes, but as always, their expressions remained blank as ever, letting no emotion show. How Fia longed to draw out even the smallest bit of that veiled substance, make a lip twitch, a brow raise. Her siblings were doing exactly as they were told — Fia would do more than that. Not only would she win the fight, but Fia was also determined to make this the most memorable fight in the history of the ritual. Geist would tell its tale to power-seeking mortals. Make yourself as worthy as Fia, then you will receive what you desire.
“Me next!” Zodi said cheerfully as he pushed passed Fia, only to be yanked back by the tail by Katana. “I don’t think so,” she snorted, and the two began to wrestle, which gave Fia the opportunity to skirt around their brawl and into the arena, chin up, ready to prove herself. Her fur matched the crimson ground — this was exactly where she belonged. Once she reached the center, she stopped and waited for her prey to be brought to her. She studied her parents, who in turn studied her, expressionless. It was irking, Fia’s inability to decipher what her parents thought of her. Right now, their faces looked the same as they did when her siblings were in the ring. It made her feel painfully unremarkable.
“Fia?”
She froze, and a shiver ran down her spine. Did her parents notice her reaction? They looked unimpressed, but they always looked unimpressed. Her siblings, though, seemed puzzled that the other pup knew her name.
Fia tore her eyes away from her family and turned around. Caeth backed away from the tiny form of Midori, who now stood only a few paces away. Fia didn’t say Midori’s name. She would never in front of this crowd, her parents, her siblings. What would they think if she did?
“Fia!” Midori said again. The fur below her eyes was wet from crying. “Do something, Fia! Stop this!”
Fia gulped, then turned away from Midori. This was completely unfair! Her siblings didn’t know their targets personally! Not that she couldn’t handle it — Fia could handle anything, thank you very much. But this would likely take away from the splendor of her performance. Her fight would fall back into the ranks of every other Ritual of Silence. Just a bunch of yearlings killing each other, like a pup catching his first squirrel. Nothing to go down in history. Her one shot to stand out! Blown!
“Fia?” Midori faltered, bottom lip quivering. Any hope she might have gained at the sight of a familiar face was fleeting from her brown, leaky eyes as Fia continued to ignore her. “Y-you’re really going to do it?”
Fia stepped toward Midori.
“No, no! Please no! Don’t hurt her!” cried the ghost pup, her voice sounding distant and weak. A funny thought occurred to Fia, ’Would one of my family members say that about me if I were the one being forced into the ring?’ Fia shook off the thought. There was a reason Fia wasn’t the victim in this situation, she reminded herself. Midori was nothing to her. And besides, it wasn’t like this wasn’t going to be a fair fight. Midori would be given a fighting chance.
Midori backed away, now realizing that Fia would not spare her just because they knew each other. Fia lunged at Midori.
It was all a blur of sharp claws and sharp teeth. She wanted her parents. She wanted Xena back. Her only comfort was that soon, she would be with Xena, wherever it was that Xena was speaking to them from. Soon it would all be over, and they’d all be together again.
Midori collapsed to the already bloody ground, struggling to breathe. Vaguely, she could see the shape of her attacker, and behind her, Ka, and Rhul. She couldn’t see their faces, but she could imagine what they were thinking. Next, it would be them lying on the ground, shaking as they faded from the world.
For a long time, too long, there was great pain, but then there was nothing. Nothing but, distantly, Fia’s nose pressed against her ear. Almost inaudibly, she whispered to Midori, “I’m not sorry. But thank you for helping me — it may have been what you were born to do. This is what it means to be a part of Midnight Silence. And there’ll be more like you. Wolves I’ll have to kill, even if I know them, maybe even like them. Now I know how. So next time, I won’t hesitate.”
There was no hope. Ka knew this fact, but she couldn’t quite accept it. Xena, Midori, and Kuu were all dead. Their killers were obviously well-trained and determined to succeed. She and her sisters had spent their pup hood days romping around, while this litter had obviously been training to kill and maim. Logically there was no way for any of the Eternal Snowfall pups to win. Yet Ka shoved Rhul roughly aside to step into the circle next. Was it selfishness or selflessness that drove her? Ka couldn’t tell. She just knew that she couldn’t be the last one standing. She couldn’t be the one to watch all her sisters being killed. She needed to at least try to save one. Ka knew Rhul would have similar feelings, but she couldn’t dwell on that…
Ka turned to watch her opponent enter the arena. An orange pup and a white pup battled to enter first. The orange one released a carnal snarl at her brother and snapped her teeth inches from his nose. He started and the orange pup slipped into the ring. ”Guess I’m last!” the white pup sighed, ”Good luck, Katana!” Ka’s eyes fixed on the enemy, Katana. A throwaway thought in Ka’s mind found it ironic that her killer’s name was like an extension of her own. The other she-wolf’s jaw was slightly twisted to allow a large tooth to poke out. The snarl tooth disfigured the face. It was a monster coming for her blood.
Ka set her jaw and widened her stance, standing her ground even as her logic insisted that there was no hope. She would still try to win. There was the smallest chance, right? No matter how much Ka tried to banish it for the better, her hope remained.
Katana glanced up at her parents watching above. They were expecting a show full of pain and death. Katana could easily give them death. This pup was so obviously untrained that it was almost laughable. Pain wasn’t that hard, either, but her siblings had just ended their fights as quickly as they could. Katana knew better. She wouldn’t just give them pain to enjoy; she’d give them torment.
Katana approached the other pup and danced around the pup’s clumsy attacks. With a snap of her mismatched teeth, Katana grabbed one of the black ears and tore it off. The yelp of pain in response was music to Katana’s ears. Then Katana went for the tail. She managed to grab it and swing the pup to ground with a thump. She pushed the body into the ground with a large paw while she pulled the tail. The whine of pain turned into a howl as the limb ripped free. The pup struggled underneath Katana’s paws, but the evil she-wolf easily kept her pinned. With a shift in grip, Katana targeted one of the pup’s back legs. With a sudden, vicious step, Katana broke it. The pup screamed and writhed. Katana eyed a front leg. She decided to break this one with her jaws. Katana grasped it and twisted, but her snarl tooth caused her grip to slip. The muscles beneath Katana’s paws suddenly contorted and teeth closed around Katana’s throat.
Through a cloud of pain, Ka watched Katana prepare to break another leg. She couldn’t go through that pain again. Ka had to do something! Suddenly, Katana’s jaws slipped and Ka saw it… The opening. Katana’s head tilted as she instinctually tried to recover from the mistake, leaving her throat wide open. Ka used what strength remained to dive into that opening and grab her would-be murderer’s throat. Both pups froze. Ka knew she should bite down, but she couldn’t. Logically, she realized that this wolf will kill Ka and her entire family if given the chance, but the same emotion that had given Ka hope was screaming at her to show mercy. Katana noticed the hesitation and tried to jerk away. Ka tightened her grip, so Katana only succeeded in ripping out her own throat.
Ka dropped the piece of flesh in her maw in horror and stared at the corpse. She stumbled to her paws and met Rhul’s gaze.
After Katana had entered the ring, Zodi had reconsidered joining his parents up on the viewing platforms. Instead, his dark brown eyes turned to the last good wolf outside the rock circle. Her pale red eyes were fixed on her final sister with terrified fury. Since it was evident this wolf would be his to kill, Zodi decided to get to know the pup before she left this world. He skipped up to her, ”Hello!”
As the pup’s eyes tore away from her sister’s fight, she stumbled away from him, ”Wh-whaaa?!” There was a mix of terror and confusion in her voice. Zodi giggled a little. Why was she so scared? He wasn’t going to hurt her… yet.
”My name’s Zodi! What’s yours?”
It took her a while to respond. She seemed so taken aback by him speaking to her. ”Why are you asking me that?”
”Because I wanna know. Why? Do you not have one?” Zodi tilted his head at the thought. Was it possible for a wolf to not have a name?
”Aren’t you going to kill me?”
”Yeah, but it doesn’t hurt to know the wolf you’re going to kill.”
”That makes zero sense!” The pup burst out. She almost seemed angry, ”Why would you want to know the wolf you’re going to kill. That’ll just make it hurt more when they die!”
”No. Everyone dies. Why would me knowing them before they die, make it hurt more? It’s better than never knowing them at all. So, you don’t have a name?”
The pup opened her mouth as if to argue more, but jumped as a yelp came from her sister inside the arena. She glanced at her sister in despair. ”It’s Rhul…” Then she suddenly snapped her attention back to Zodi. ”Zodi, right? Can’t you stop this?! We don’t deserve to die!”
”Nobody ’deserves to die.’ It just happens. Sure, it might be happening earlier than most to you and your sisters, but that doesn’t really matter in the long run. Besides, why would I stop it? Me and my siblings need to kill a Good wolf to become full members of the pack. We can’t go on being considered pups our whole lives.”
A howl of pain came from the good pup inside the ring. Rhul seemed to be growing desperate, ”But… you’re different! You’re friendly! Please! Save my sister!”
”I may be different, but I still do what Mother says. She told Katana to kill and that’s what Katana should do.”
Screaming ripped the air as an audible crack sent shivers through the watching wolves. Rhul was sobbing. Her eyes kept flicking between the fight and Zodi, ”Please, Zodi! I’m begging you! I can’t watch her die!”
”You don’t have to watch if you don’t want to. Besides, even if I tried they wouldn’t listen to me. In fact, Mother might even punish me for interfering and that wouldn’t be fun at all.” Rhul’s tear-filled eyes couldn’t seem to pull away from her sister’s torture. Zodi followed her gaze. Katana was gripping her victim’s leg, her grip slipped and the other pup suddenly had her by the throat. The whole clearing seemed to freeze. There was a sharp, hopeful intake of breath from Rhul.
’Goodbye, Katana…’
Then she was dead. ”NO!” Skia’s wail of despair rung through the ruins. Zodi jumped and looked up at his mother with surprise. She was actually sad about Katana… Skia looked like she was about to leap off the platform and straight into the arena. Fjord was holding her back from breaking her own legs. Skia’s eyes flicked to Zodi, her pup nearest the circle. ”Zodi! Kill her!!! Rip her to shreds!!!”
Zodi leaped forward to obey. Rhul tried to stop him with an outstretched paw in his path, ”No! Zodi, don’t!” He pushed past her. Caeth was reluctant to allow him in, but Zodi squeezed past. As soon as he was in the ring, Zodi started picking up speed. Katana’s killer had pulled herself to her three working legs. Zodi barrelled into her at full speed. His jaws hit her first and closed around her shoulder, ripping a massive chunk free. Zodi’s momentum sent him flipping over her falling form. He managed to land on his feet and immediately whipped around to face his opponent. She was trying to pull herself upright. He bounded over. She tried to bite at him, but he bludgeoned her with a paw, stunning her and dropping her back to the dirt. Zodi went for her throat. He tore it out, killing her. But Zodi didn’t stop there. His teeth dug into the corpse’s flesh once more. Mother had ordered him to rip her to shreds and Zodi followed her words to the letter.
His shoulders heaved as he stood in the center of the bloody arena. His white fur was splattered with blood. His paws and muzzle were practically dripping with it. Pieces of the other pup were strewn around the ring, paw here and a rib bone there. Zodi looked around at his handiwork. His tail started to wave back and forth lazily as he looked up at Mother with a smile, searching for approval. He’d done as she’d asked, right? Skia grimly nodded.
Fjord and Zodi’s siblings descended from the viewing platform to gather outside the arena. Zodi glanced at Rhul. Weren’t they going to have him kill her? Perhaps killing Katana’s killer had counted as his ritual. Zodi trotted out of the ring. He would’ve shouldered his way into the center of the line of wolf pups, but Tuhota stepped aside for him. Weird… Father started addressing them, ”Well done, my children. You have all completed your Rage Rituals and will now be counted as full Midnight Silence Brothers and Sisters. I give you our Mark of Silence so every wolf will know of your strength.” Fjord activated his power, his eye glowing with its blue light. One by one he branded his pups with the crescent moon. Zodi couldn’t help but yelp at the pain of it. He rubbed the aching shoulder that now bore a permanent mark of his triumph. Zodi smiled.
”Collect what trophies you would like and we’ll return home,” Fjord dismissed them. Zodi wondered if there would be any part of his ritual victim intact enough to be even taken as a trophy. Mother was sitting beside Katana’s body. Zodi approached her.
”Mother?”
She glanced at him. Her eyes were filled with tears. ”Thank you for avenging her, Zodi. You did well… Now go find a trophy so everyone will know about your victory.” He smiled and scampered off.
After he’d dismissed the newest members, Lydia approached the alpha with her servant in tow. ”What about the last one, Alpha Fjord?” Lydia gestured to the small orange figured, shivering in the shadow of a boulder.
”Kill her.” Lydia nodded and turned away. Her servant had other ideas.
”Wait!” Lydia whipped around with a snarl, ready to punish Caeth for speaking out of turn and to the alpha. Caeth ducked his head, shying away from her teeth, but he continued onward, ”Alpha Fjord, you could use her. Isn’t there one among your children who still need to complete their ritual or one among them that deserves a reward?”
Fjord stared at the male with cold, calculating eyes. The servant shrunk away from his gaze. Finally, he spoke, ”Very well. We’ll take her back to Midnight Silence. But Lydia, teach your servant to hold his tongue in the future. I don’t wish to hear from him again.” Fjord left Lydia to punish the servant. He stepped into the arena and his eyes immediately fell on Skia. He padded over and sat beside her, looking down at their dead pup. His heart twisted at the sight.
”If I’d trained her better, this wouldn’t have happened,” Skia voice was uncharacteristically soft. Fjord looked at her. Her cheeks were wet with tears. He longed to give her comfort, to wrap a leg around her and pull her close or lick those tears away. But he couldn’t. He had to keep up appearances and not show weakness. Skia has only followed him because of his strength. What would she do if he made such a weak gesture? Yet… Skia seemed so vulnerable right then, sobbing for her child. Fjord didn’t doubt her strength, but to an outsider, she might seem weaker than she truly was.
”Her mistake was hers alone, Skia. She fought well, all of them did. Let’s get her home.” Skia nodded in response. Fjord carefully picked up the corpse. He started leaving the ruins with Skia beside him, expecting the pack to follow.
Xena kept trying to scream and protest as one by one, her sisters died. Instead of growing hoarse as a voice should, Xena’s had begun to gain strength as the massacre ended with Ka’s death. Ka had won her fight, but they still killed her. Rhul was still alive, but Xena doubted that they’d let her stay that way. ”Collect what trophies you would like and we’ll return home,” a wolf commanded the victors. Her sisters’ murderers entered the ring again to collect their prizes. As the white one that’d killed Ka passed near her, Xena whispered, ”Why did you do this?” Her voice had gained enough strength to be heard.
He paused turned to look at her with a smile. A smile. He smiled even while sweet Ka’s blood dripped down his muzzle. ”Why do you care?” he responded, in a peppy voice that felt wrong. Intrigue and curiosity glinted in his dark eyes.
”What? Why wouldn’t I care? You and your siblings have killed my sisters and me!” He looked down at her body, which his brother was retrieving then back up at her. That smile was infuriating.
“You were going to die eventually. We’re all going to die eventually. Why do you care if it was a little early? I don’t think it matters, whether we care or not. I don’t think anything matters in the long run. Sure, it might seem important now, but your life and the lives of your sisters will be lost with time. So will mine, but I figure that I might as well enjoy it while it lasts. You and your sisters’ deaths were needed for me to do that. I’ll be much more happy as a fully ranked member of Midnight Silence now that I’ve killed your sister.”
Xena stared at him. How could he truly believe all that? ”Even if what you say is true and it doesn’t matter, I still wanted to live. I still wanted my sisters to live. I wanted us to be happy, together, for as long as time would allow. I wanted to make a difference, even if it was only a small difference. Now, I can’t. What gives you the right to live happier than anyone else?”
The other pup considered her words for a second before responding. “Because I’m me. To me, I know what I want, so I do what I want. It wasn’t my fault that you didn’t use your time wisely. I’m living how I want. Being happy, serving my pack well, that’s all I really want. I’ll die and I’ll be forgotten and the world will end, but I will have enjoyed my time. But, I have to head home, now,” He started to walk away, but paused again, ”You’re lucky, though. You still get to exist, albeit, as a ghost, but you still get to exist. That’s more than that can be said for most. I might not even get the chance you have. Goodbye, ghost.” He grabbed the decapitated head of Ka a couple tail-lengths away. Half of her face had been torn off and single dead eye stared sightlessly. Xena looked away as the murderer carried his trophy away, following his siblings back to their pack.
Xena stared after him. The wolves around the ring were dispersing. They’d probably had enough of puppy fights to the death if that was possible for wolves like them. Xena glanced down at her blood. She reached a paw towards it. She was still slightly rotating from the previous, frantic movements. Her white, transparent paw went straight through the liquid, but there was some form of resistance from the ground. Hesitantly, she placed her paw against the dirt. Then the other three followed. Her rotating stopped and she anchored her spiritual form upright. She tried taking a step. It felt the same, but different. She could probably walk in a way. She could make it back home to Mom and Dad. They’d be wondering where she and her sisters were. Could she even face them? She was the oldest, if only by several minutes, so it was her responsibility to make sure they were alright. She’d failed and would return as a ghost. Where else could she go, though? They might know what to do about her new state. Maybe they could fix it or at least get rid of the ugly death wounds covering her lovely pelt. She began a careful, slow walk towards home. As her confidence about moving as a ghost grew, Xena’s pace quickened and she was running. The tears came again as she ran, desperate to just get somewhere safe, desperate to bury her face in her mother’s fur, desperate for things to be alright. But they wouldn’t be, couldn’t be ever again.
The funeral march to Midnight Silence felt much longer than it should have. It reminded Rhul of the walk to the Arena, but this was horribly different. Rhul was alone and surrounded by grisly reminders of her sisters’ demises. Rhul kept her eyes down at the ground to keep from catching glimpses of the fragmented corpses that murderers carried home.
She could hear Striken’s footsteps behind her, but she didn’t look back at him. Her mind kept replaying when Lydia had kidnapped them all. Rhul had to focus on an event before the Arena, but not a happy one. She needed something that wouldn’t remind her of everything she’d lost. Lydia had threatened Rhul in order to keep her sisters from rebelling. Rhul had been so panicked that she’d barely registered what was happening. But she now had time to piece the encounter together. Lydia had asked Striken about their parents. She’d been falling back on his knowledge. He must have told her about them! This could all be his fault! Rhul finally glanced back at the wolf in question. Striken’s head was down and he didn’t meet her accusing gaze.
Rhul considered the uncertainty of her future. Rhul had a feeling that she’d never see Tranquil Meadows again or her parents. She dared not imagine what kind of horrors awaited her in Midnight Silence. Perhaps it’d be better to just run and let them kill her while she fled, but… she couldn’t summon the courage to step out of line and join her sisters. So she walked, onward towards her possible doom.
Lydia’s paw struck the Striken upside the ear. It rang from the force. Striken stood his ground. ”Tell me, Caeth!” Lydia’s sharp tongue demanded. The Alphas’ pups needed to complete some sort of ritual. They’d put Lydia in charge of finding some Good wolves to participate. Striken didn’t like the sound of that, so when his master had come demanding that he give her a list of wolves, he’d remained silent. So she beat him. He would bare it. Lydia was about to strike him again when she froze. ”I’ve been a fool,” she murmured then strode away with a bark, ”Follow!”
Striken followed. He still wasn’t used to taking orders from Lydia. It’d been less than a month since they’d been captured. Lydia went straight to the little den he’d found for Calypso. Lydia ducked inside and came out dragging Calypso by her ear. Striken’s ears pinned. Lydia struck Calypso so hard that the blueish she-wolf tumbled to the ground. Calypso gasped and struggled to escape. ”Don’t,” Striken’s voice was soft as his morals and instincts battled within him. Lydia pushed Calypso against the ground then the gamma paused. A cream paw massaged the slight bulge in Calypso’s belly. A wicked grin spread over Lydia’s muzzle as she met Striken’s gaze. Lydia positioned both her pups on Calypso’s stomach and the unborn pups inside, claws ready to tear. ”Stop!” Striken cried, ”I’ll tell you.”
Lydia released Calypso. His mate stumbled upright. Striken rushed to comfort her, but Lydia stepped in his path, eyes hard. Striken’s thought for a second, his thoughts alighted on a family in Eternal Snowfall. ”Leo and Rayen. They have five pups that would be nearly a year old.” Lydia smile and stepped aside. Striken raced to Calypso. He tried to bury his head in Calypso fur, but she pushed him away with a betrayed look. ”What have you done? What are they going to do to Leo and Rayen?!”
Striken lowered his head, ”I don’t know…” Calypso looked like she had more to say, but Lydia interrupted, ”Caeth, we’re not done yet. You need to show me where I can find those pups.” Calypso shot him an even more frustrated look before fleeing into the den. Striken glumly followed Lydia away as the sun dipped towards the horizon.
The night air was crisp as Xena snuck out of the den. Her four sisters followed her. Xena had decided that they were old enough to explore beyond the territory alone and had convinced Ka, Rhul, Kuu, and Midori of the fact. So they’d plotted to leave just for one night.
Xena’s heart thumped in excitement as they neared the border. She stopped at the invisible line defined by scent markings. Then she leaped over the border with a yip of glee. The five sisters continued onward, sniffing at rocks and for perhaps some prey to hunt. Ka suddenly paused. Xena noticed and turned to her sister, ”What’s wrong?”
”I smell wolves…” Ka whispered.
A cream wolf erupted from the grass and tackled Rhul. The young orange wolf was easily overpowered by the older she-wolf. The female’s teeth were hovering over Rhul’s within seconds. ”Don’t move or I’ll kill her.” All four sisters froze. The female’s eyes flicked to each pup, counting them. ”Perfect,” the she-wolf seemed to purr, then called with a commanding growl, ”Caeth! Their parents won’t be nearby, will they?”
A second adult emerged from the tall grass. Xena recognized him, Timbre’s father… Timbre and Kokem’s parents had left on a week-long hunting trip almost a month ago. They’d all been starting to worry about the couple. ”Striken?! What’s going on?”
Why did this she-wolf call him Caeth? Why did it seem like he was helping her? Striken didn’t meet Xena’s gaze and addressed the female in a soft, broken voice, ”They might, Mistress Lydia. We’re outside the territory and it’s late. They won’t have let them venture this far without supervision… unless the pups sneaked off.”
The wolf he’d called Lydia scowled, ”We don’t have time to deal with the parents. Let’s get them out of here quickly.” Lydia then spoke to the pups, ”You will follow me to our destination. If any of you lags behind or tries to escape, Caeth will kill you.” Lydia met Striken’s gaze and her piercing stare seemed to imply an ”or else.” The male winced and looked away.
Lydia released Rhul and started walking away. The pups hesitated, but Striken growled and they started following. Xena padded just in front of Striken. She looked back at him and started whispering her questions, ”Why are you doing this, Striken?”
”They’ll hurt Calypso and kill our pups if I don’t…” he whispered, his expression pained.
”But, Timbre and Kokem are safe in Tranquil Meadows.”
”Not them… We’d just decided to have another litter when they captured us.” Xena gaped a little. Timbre and Kokem now had siblings!?
Kuu, who was listening in on the conversation spoke up, ”Who’s ’they’?”
”Midnight Silence,” Striken shuddered.
”What’s going to happen to us?” Xena asked, refocused on the situation.
Strikem shook his head, forlornly, ”I don’t know…”
”Quiet! Stop pretending that I can’t hear you whispering back there!” Lydia’s bark came, ending their conversation. They continued on in silence.
”Line up!” the snapped command came from Skia. Five pups scrambled out of the den and into the early morning light. One was absent from the line-up. Usually Skia would’ve dragged him out of the den by his tail, but Skia already knew the legitimate reason why Insolence wasn’t joining in today. The pup was sick with a persistent cold and Skia worried that would put him in too great of danger in today’s activity. The pups were nearing their first birthday and it was time to conduct their rituals. Since their parents were the Alphas, it was only natural that they’d have aid in setting up the ritual. However, Skia would make sure there was no cheating during the ritual, itself. Lydia had been sent to capture some Good wolves down in the grasslands. She would drive them North and meet the Alphas midway at the Ruins of Abetyu.
Skia inspected her offspring as they stood at attention. They all seemed perfectly healthy and ready to conquer their rituals. Skia gave a slight nod of approval. A wide grin suddenly split across Zodi’s muzzle. Skia glared at him, but the smile stuck. Skia scowled. There’d been some unusual problems with Zodi during his upbringing. Unlike all the other pups, he’d had trouble killing. That simply wouldn’t do. However, he’d gotten over it, but the optimism that Skia had expected to fade only seemed to grow stronger as the days had passed. Zodi was an odd one and Skia couldn’t figure out how to fix him.
Her brown eyes shifted to the white form of Fjord sitting a bit off. As soon as she caught his gaze, he padded over. His tail touched her side as he passed her, but other than that, he didn’t show any other signs of affection for his mate. Skia’s heart fell a little, but it was something she was used to by now. ”Let’s go,” Fjord led the way out of camp. A couple members joined the procession to watch the long-awaited ritual.
Strange stones towered around the small group of wolves traveling through the ruins. Zodi gazed up at them in awe, mouth agape. He’d never seen anything so cool! ”Shut your mouth and keep walking, bumswaggler,” Fia hissed at him. Zodi realized he’d slowed his pace while looking up at the rocks. With a couple quick steps, Zodi was back where he belonged.
Skia and Fjord soon halted the parade on the border of a circle of rocks. Zodi pushed past Katana and ducked under Skia’s legs to get a better look. His sister glared at him. ”Woah!” The circle was large and dirt filling it was bloodstained. They stood at the only entrance. Spectators climbed surrounding buildings to get a good view of the fight. Their previous Beta, Acribus, had found this place and formed it into a fight club. Though word of it was slower to travel after his passing, it was apparent that Fjord still intended on using it as a proving grounds for his pups.
Lydia and her Servant rounded the edge of the the circle with five terrified Good pups in tow. Zodi’s eyes met their gazes with a flash of guilt. He knew exactly what was going to happen to them. No! Why should he feel anything for them?! Their lives were meaningless. Every life was meaningless. Meaning was something wolves assigned to themselves, so the only meaning that matter to Zodi was his own. The wave of apathy washed over Zodi and he smiled, now looking at the Good pups with hunger. They stood between him and promotion.
His mother roughly pushed him back. ”First fighters into the ring!” No order had been established so it was first-come-first-fight. Fia snarled and snapped to get her way, but Tuhota was closer to the entrance and stepped in before the rest. Skia started escorting her remaining pups to a viewing platform so they could spectate until their turn came. ”Good luck!” Zodi yipped to all the contestants as he followed her away. The Good wolves were especially going to need it.
Little grass grew inside the arena. Most had been stomped away and flattened by tussling wolves. Tuhota turned to face the opening he’d just walked through, wondering which of those pups would be his trophy. He could see them all, resisting Lydia’s prompting to enter. Suddenly one shouted, ”I’ll go! Just don’t make my sisters!” There was a chorus of outbursts from her sisters as they tried to stop their sister or take her place as the supreme sacrifice. Lydia merely smiled, ”Only if you survive.” The pup nodded in agreement and Lydia shoved her into the arena. Her sisters tried to follow, pleading for her to come back, but Lydia held them back. ”Caeth, sit at the entrance and make sure no pup gets in or out.”
The Servant assumed the requested position as door guard as Tuhota started circling the other pup. She pranced away from him, blue eyes nervous. Tuhota studied his prey. She was a well-built pup. Strong muscles rippled beneath her orange and green fur as she moved and she stood slightly taller than most of her sisters who were still sobbing her name on the sidelines, ”Xena! Please don’t! Get out of there!” Xena was still dwarfed in comparison to the massive Tuhota. Tuhota had always been large and that would definitely prove an advantage in fights like this where neither wolf was all too graceful and instead had to depend on their strength.
Finished with his pre-battle analysis, Tuhota charged with a snarl. Xena yelped and tried to dodge the attack, but his teeth caught her tail and yanked her back. She delivered a powerful kick with her hind legs to his face, forcing him to release her. As soon as she was free, she fled. He loped after her, then charged again. She wasn’t fast enough to dodge again. He tackled her and immediately started tearing apart her pelt with his claws and yelp. Xena fought back furiously. He went for her throat, but she managed to bite his muzzle and deflected the murderous attack. Her teeth dug deep ruts into the top of the muzzle. Tuhota winced but pushed aside the pain. He would handle it later. For now he had to win this fight!
In Tuhota’s second of pain, Xena escaped his grasp and fled once. This was getting tiring. Why couldn’t she face him instead of running away like a coward! Anger flared through Tuhota. He had to win! He had to prove himself! With a roar he charged Xena, who had finally seemed to decide to stand her ground. This time she timed her dodge right and evaded Tuhota’s teeth. She even counter attacked by hooking her teeth into his scruff. Using the momentum of his attack, she swung onto his back. Xena’s sisters cheered as she gained the advantage. He bucked like an elk while her teeth dug into his scruff for dear life and her claws tore at his sides. Tuhota made a roaring charge again, this time, straight at one of the boulders that made up the wall. At the last moment, he turned his head aside and slammed the wolf on his back up against the stone. Her ribs cracked under the combined force of his weight and velocity. She slid to the ground in a crumpled heap.
Had he won? Tuhota paused. Xena rose, coughed up blood from a pierced lung. Determination still flickered in her eyes, so Tuhota slammed her against the rock again, his jaws clenched. This time he used his front paws pushing against her chest. She gasped in pain as he pressed the broken ribs deeper into her lungs and cracked another rib. Tuhota went for her throat. She weakly resisted. It was enough to avoid him tearing out her throat, but not enough to stop him from piercing her artery. Tuhota released the pup and collapsed to the floor. She would bleed out within moments, slowly and painfully. He started to walk away, but paused as a sound other than the sounds of a dying wolf trembled through the air. He turned to see Xena struggling to her feet. ”I won’t… die… I have to win… for them,” she coughed out the words. Blood gushed from her neck. She took a step towards Tuhota, but immediately collapsed. She struggled from breath. Tuhota returned to the dying pup’s side. She pawed at him weakly. He gripped her throat and twisted, ending her life with a snap.
Xena opened her eyes to blinding light. She blinked allowing her blue eyes to adjust. She felt like she was floating, but there was no breeze through her fur. Her eyes began registering the surrounding landscape. She was in the ruins. The ruins… The fight! Xena’s tried to turn, but the movement was gracefully slow. Finally she could see him. A raspberry pup, only a couple months her senior. His eyes were fixed on something beneath Xena. Dark, fresh blood coated his muzzle and pooled at his paws. Xena was still gracefully turning. She willed herself to stop, but it was useless. She continued drifting in a circle. Xena’s blue eyes fixed on the puddle of blood at the enemy’s feet. Was it his blood? No, though he had scratches in several places, none of his injuries would cause that much blood. Besides the blood at his feet was part of a larger puddle beneath Xena. Xena finally glanced down and gasped as she saw her corpse. Her body was obviously dead. Severely bleeding and fatally wounded, the dead eyes stared into the distance. ’I’m dead. How is this possible? This can’t be real! How can I be here if I’m dead?’ Horrified, Xena tried to catch a glimpse of whatever body she was now inhabiting since she definitely wasn’t inside that corpse. It looked like her old body, but it was see through. Whatever wounds she’d gotten from the fight were still there, but they didn’t hurt or bleed or anything! Her paws weren’t touching the ground! Was she flying? Could she fly? ’What is going on?!’
There was a sharp intake of breath from her murderer and Xena met the male’s gaze as he stared at the apparition above his victim. He took a step back, his mouth open in confusion. A white wolf with blood red paws spoke to the pup from above. “Looks like this one had some unfinished business. You needn’t worry about it. Ghosts cannot affect the real world.” Ghosts… She was a ghost! No, that couldn’t be possible! Xena waved her legs, trying to move but without any real direction. She started to do slow, lazy rotations, barrel rolls, and flips above where she’d died, instead. Ethereal tears streamed down her face, dissolving as they left her fur. Xena wanted to scream. She opened her mouth to do so, but only a distant, nearly inaudible noise left her. She couldn’t talk, she couldn’t move, nobody could touch her, nobody cared about her. No, that last one wasn’t true. Her sisters cared. They were here and maybe they could do something, anything.
Her blue eyes searched the wolves staring down into the fight ring. She quickly focused on her siblings’ faces poking past Striken’s form. ”Help me!” she mouthed at them. They stared at her, horrified.
Striken stepped aside to let the victor leave the arena. Kuu’s red eyes tore away from the ghostly form of her sister above the bloodied corpse to flick up to where their opponents battled to be the next to fight. A black wolf was already darting towards the arena, ahead of his furious siblings. He tripped the last second and tumbled into arena. Xena’s bloodstained murderer joined his parents and frustrated siblings on a viewing platform to watch the next fight. The four remaining sisters huddled together. Rhul glared angrily at their captives, but Kuu could see the terror in her eyes. Terror that was much more evident in Midori’s wide eyes. Ka evidently could, too, for she spoke words of comfort to the other pups. Kuu gritted her teeth as Lydia’s gestured for Striken to push one of them into the arena. Ka tried to enter, but Rhul pushed her back to enter instead. They were all trying to save each other, but they were all going to end up just like Xena. Dead. Kuu was going to go out fighting. Kuu leaped into the ring in front of Rhul and Striken stopped her sisters from following.
Kuu’s pale red eyes focused on the black wolf. One of his paws was pulled up to his chest. It was deformed and unuseable, but the pup stood confidently on his three working legs despite it. With a growl, he lunged at her. Kuu responded with a snarl and met his attack with her teeth. Kuu kept aiming for the shoulder of his deformed leg, but he brushed her off every time with a practiced shove or dodge. His training had obviously accounted for his disability. With one particularly strong shove, he pushed her off balance and he immediately took the opportunity.
Jaws closed around Kuu’s throat, but the hold was awkward. The other wolf wasn’t in a position to tear out the throat, but neither could his teeth rupture any arteries. The evil pup tried to break Kuu’s neck with a sudden twist, but Kuu’s resisted with a paw against the male’s face. The other pup tightened his grip until Kuu couldn’t breath. Kuu struggled, but her movement grew weaker and weaker as her lungs burned for oxygen. The sobs of her sisters reached Kuu’s ears. They’d been so shocked during Xena’s fight that tears hadn’t fallen immediately, but now the reality of their situation was sinking in. Kuu batted her murderer one last time before her vision faded to black and her heart stilled.
Kuu expect to wake, hovering over her body as Xena had, but when she opened her eyes she lay in a strange, misty place. Ghostly forms moved through the mists around her. Where was she? A green and blue color ghost approached her. He had a welcoming, but sad smile on his face. ”You’re young to already be in the Afterlife,” his cheerful, friendly voice defied the atmosphere. ”I can help you adjust, if you’d like! I’ll help you get through the loneliness until we find someone you know or they join us here. All will come eventually…”
”My sisters will be here soon. I want to wait for them.”
Fia observed each fight with careful consideration. Watching. Learning. The arena was painted with blood now, and as an older wolf dragged away the tiny, limp body of a pup she had never met, Fia’s eyes found the eyes of her parents. She searched for approval in their claw-sharp gazes, but as always, their expressions remained blank as ever, letting no emotion show. How Fia longed to draw out even the smallest bit of that veiled substance, make a lip twitch, a brow raise. Her siblings were doing exactly as they were told — Fia would do more than that. Not only would she win the fight, but Fia was also determined to make this the most memorable fight in the history of the ritual. Geist would tell its tale to power-seeking mortals. Make yourself as worthy as Fia, then you will receive what you desire.
“Me next!” Zodi said cheerfully as he pushed passed Fia, only to be yanked back by the tail by Katana. “I don’t think so,” she snorted, and the two began to wrestle, which gave Fia the opportunity to skirt around their brawl and into the arena, chin up, ready to prove herself. Her fur matched the crimson ground — this was exactly where she belonged. Once she reached the center, she stopped and waited for her prey to be brought to her. She studied her parents, who in turn studied her, expressionless. It was irking, Fia’s inability to decipher what her parents thought of her. Right now, their faces looked the same as they did when her siblings were in the ring. It made her feel painfully unremarkable.
“Fia?”
She froze, and a shiver ran down her spine. Did her parents notice her reaction? They looked unimpressed, but they always looked unimpressed. Her siblings, though, seemed puzzled that the other pup knew her name.
Fia tore her eyes away from her family and turned around. Caeth backed away from the tiny form of Midori, who now stood only a few paces away. Fia didn’t say Midori’s name. She would never in front of this crowd, her parents, her siblings. What would they think if she did?
“Fia!” Midori said again. The fur below her eyes was wet from crying. “Do something, Fia! Stop this!”
Fia gulped, then turned away from Midori. This was completely unfair! Her siblings didn’t know their targets personally! Not that she couldn’t handle it — Fia could handle anything, thank you very much. But this would likely take away from the splendor of her performance. Her fight would fall back into the ranks of every other Ritual of Silence. Just a bunch of yearlings killing each other, like a pup catching his first squirrel. Nothing to go down in history. Her one shot to stand out! Blown!
“Fia?” Midori faltered, bottom lip quivering. Any hope she might have gained at the sight of a familiar face was fleeting from her brown, leaky eyes as Fia continued to ignore her. “Y-you’re really going to do it?”
Fia stepped toward Midori.
“No, no! Please no! Don’t hurt her!” cried the ghost pup, her voice sounding distant and weak. A funny thought occurred to Fia, ’Would one of my family members say that about me if I were the one being forced into the ring?’ Fia shook off the thought. There was a reason Fia wasn’t the victim in this situation, she reminded herself. Midori was nothing to her. And besides, it wasn’t like this wasn’t going to be a fair fight. Midori would be given a fighting chance.
Midori backed away, now realizing that Fia would not spare her just because they knew each other. Fia lunged at Midori.
It was all a blur of sharp claws and sharp teeth. She wanted her parents. She wanted Xena back. Her only comfort was that soon, she would be with Xena, wherever it was that Xena was speaking to them from. Soon it would all be over, and they’d all be together again.
Midori collapsed to the already bloody ground, struggling to breathe. Vaguely, she could see the shape of her attacker, and behind her, Ka, and Rhul. She couldn’t see their faces, but she could imagine what they were thinking. Next, it would be them lying on the ground, shaking as they faded from the world.
For a long time, too long, there was great pain, but then there was nothing. Nothing but, distantly, Fia’s nose pressed against her ear. Almost inaudibly, she whispered to Midori, “I’m not sorry. But thank you for helping me — it may have been what you were born to do. This is what it means to be a part of Midnight Silence. And there’ll be more like you. Wolves I’ll have to kill, even if I know them, maybe even like them. Now I know how. So next time, I won’t hesitate.”
There was no hope. Ka knew this fact, but she couldn’t quite accept it. Xena, Midori, and Kuu were all dead. Their killers were obviously well-trained and determined to succeed. She and her sisters had spent their pup hood days romping around, while this litter had obviously been training to kill and maim. Logically there was no way for any of the Eternal Snowfall pups to win. Yet Ka shoved Rhul roughly aside to step into the circle next. Was it selfishness or selflessness that drove her? Ka couldn’t tell. She just knew that she couldn’t be the last one standing. She couldn’t be the one to watch all her sisters being killed. She needed to at least try to save one. Ka knew Rhul would have similar feelings, but she couldn’t dwell on that…
Ka turned to watch her opponent enter the arena. An orange pup and a white pup battled to enter first. The orange one released a carnal snarl at her brother and snapped her teeth inches from his nose. He started and the orange pup slipped into the ring. ”Guess I’m last!” the white pup sighed, ”Good luck, Katana!” Ka’s eyes fixed on the enemy, Katana. A throwaway thought in Ka’s mind found it ironic that her killer’s name was like an extension of her own. The other she-wolf’s jaw was slightly twisted to allow a large tooth to poke out. The snarl tooth disfigured the face. It was a monster coming for her blood.
Ka set her jaw and widened her stance, standing her ground even as her logic insisted that there was no hope. She would still try to win. There was the smallest chance, right? No matter how much Ka tried to banish it for the better, her hope remained.
Katana glanced up at her parents watching above. They were expecting a show full of pain and death. Katana could easily give them death. This pup was so obviously untrained that it was almost laughable. Pain wasn’t that hard, either, but her siblings had just ended their fights as quickly as they could. Katana knew better. She wouldn’t just give them pain to enjoy; she’d give them torment.
Katana approached the other pup and danced around the pup’s clumsy attacks. With a snap of her mismatched teeth, Katana grabbed one of the black ears and tore it off. The yelp of pain in response was music to Katana’s ears. Then Katana went for the tail. She managed to grab it and swing the pup to ground with a thump. She pushed the body into the ground with a large paw while she pulled the tail. The whine of pain turned into a howl as the limb ripped free. The pup struggled underneath Katana’s paws, but the evil she-wolf easily kept her pinned. With a shift in grip, Katana targeted one of the pup’s back legs. With a sudden, vicious step, Katana broke it. The pup screamed and writhed. Katana eyed a front leg. She decided to break this one with her jaws. Katana grasped it and twisted, but her snarl tooth caused her grip to slip. The muscles beneath Katana’s paws suddenly contorted and teeth closed around Katana’s throat.
Through a cloud of pain, Ka watched Katana prepare to break another leg. She couldn’t go through that pain again. Ka had to do something! Suddenly, Katana’s jaws slipped and Ka saw it… The opening. Katana’s head tilted as she instinctually tried to recover from the mistake, leaving her throat wide open. Ka used what strength remained to dive into that opening and grab her would-be murderer’s throat. Both pups froze. Ka knew she should bite down, but she couldn’t. Logically, she realized that this wolf will kill Ka and her entire family if given the chance, but the same emotion that had given Ka hope was screaming at her to show mercy. Katana noticed the hesitation and tried to jerk away. Ka tightened her grip, so Katana only succeeded in ripping out her own throat.
Ka dropped the piece of flesh in her maw in horror and stared at the corpse. She stumbled to her paws and met Rhul’s gaze.
After Katana had entered the ring, Zodi had reconsidered joining his parents up on the viewing platforms. Instead, his dark brown eyes turned to the last good wolf outside the rock circle. Her pale red eyes were fixed on her final sister with terrified fury. Since it was evident this wolf would be his to kill, Zodi decided to get to know the pup before she left this world. He skipped up to her, ”Hello!”
As the pup’s eyes tore away from her sister’s fight, she stumbled away from him, ”Wh-whaaa?!” There was a mix of terror and confusion in her voice. Zodi giggled a little. Why was she so scared? He wasn’t going to hurt her… yet.
”My name’s Zodi! What’s yours?”
It took her a while to respond. She seemed so taken aback by him speaking to her. ”Why are you asking me that?”
”Because I wanna know. Why? Do you not have one?” Zodi tilted his head at the thought. Was it possible for a wolf to not have a name?
”Aren’t you going to kill me?”
”Yeah, but it doesn’t hurt to know the wolf you’re going to kill.”
”That makes zero sense!” The pup burst out. She almost seemed angry, ”Why would you want to know the wolf you’re going to kill. That’ll just make it hurt more when they die!”
”No. Everyone dies. Why would me knowing them before they die, make it hurt more? It’s better than never knowing them at all. So, you don’t have a name?”
The pup opened her mouth as if to argue more, but jumped as a yelp came from her sister inside the arena. She glanced at her sister in despair. ”It’s Rhul…” Then she suddenly snapped her attention back to Zodi. ”Zodi, right? Can’t you stop this?! We don’t deserve to die!”
”Nobody ’deserves to die.’ It just happens. Sure, it might be happening earlier than most to you and your sisters, but that doesn’t really matter in the long run. Besides, why would I stop it? Me and my siblings need to kill a Good wolf to become full members of the pack. We can’t go on being considered pups our whole lives.”
A howl of pain came from the good pup inside the ring. Rhul seemed to be growing desperate, ”But… you’re different! You’re friendly! Please! Save my sister!”
”I may be different, but I still do what Mother says. She told Katana to kill and that’s what Katana should do.”
Screaming ripped the air as an audible crack sent shivers through the watching wolves. Rhul was sobbing. Her eyes kept flicking between the fight and Zodi, ”Please, Zodi! I’m begging you! I can’t watch her die!”
”You don’t have to watch if you don’t want to. Besides, even if I tried they wouldn’t listen to me. In fact, Mother might even punish me for interfering and that wouldn’t be fun at all.” Rhul’s tear-filled eyes couldn’t seem to pull away from her sister’s torture. Zodi followed her gaze. Katana was gripping her victim’s leg, her grip slipped and the other pup suddenly had her by the throat. The whole clearing seemed to freeze. There was a sharp, hopeful intake of breath from Rhul.
’Goodbye, Katana…’
Then she was dead. ”NO!” Skia’s wail of despair rung through the ruins. Zodi jumped and looked up at his mother with surprise. She was actually sad about Katana… Skia looked like she was about to leap off the platform and straight into the arena. Fjord was holding her back from breaking her own legs. Skia’s eyes flicked to Zodi, her pup nearest the circle. ”Zodi! Kill her!!! Rip her to shreds!!!”
Zodi leaped forward to obey. Rhul tried to stop him with an outstretched paw in his path, ”No! Zodi, don’t!” He pushed past her. Caeth was reluctant to allow him in, but Zodi squeezed past. As soon as he was in the ring, Zodi started picking up speed. Katana’s killer had pulled herself to her three working legs. Zodi barrelled into her at full speed. His jaws hit her first and closed around her shoulder, ripping a massive chunk free. Zodi’s momentum sent him flipping over her falling form. He managed to land on his feet and immediately whipped around to face his opponent. She was trying to pull herself upright. He bounded over. She tried to bite at him, but he bludgeoned her with a paw, stunning her and dropping her back to the dirt. Zodi went for her throat. He tore it out, killing her. But Zodi didn’t stop there. His teeth dug into the corpse’s flesh once more. Mother had ordered him to rip her to shreds and Zodi followed her words to the letter.
His shoulders heaved as he stood in the center of the bloody arena. His white fur was splattered with blood. His paws and muzzle were practically dripping with it. Pieces of the other pup were strewn around the ring, paw here and a rib bone there. Zodi looked around at his handiwork. His tail started to wave back and forth lazily as he looked up at Mother with a smile, searching for approval. He’d done as she’d asked, right? Skia grimly nodded.
Fjord and Zodi’s siblings descended from the viewing platform to gather outside the arena. Zodi glanced at Rhul. Weren’t they going to have him kill her? Perhaps killing Katana’s killer had counted as his ritual. Zodi trotted out of the ring. He would’ve shouldered his way into the center of the line of wolf pups, but Tuhota stepped aside for him. Weird… Father started addressing them, ”Well done, my children. You have all completed your Rage Rituals and will now be counted as full Midnight Silence Brothers and Sisters. I give you our Mark of Silence so every wolf will know of your strength.” Fjord activated his power, his eye glowing with its blue light. One by one he branded his pups with the crescent moon. Zodi couldn’t help but yelp at the pain of it. He rubbed the aching shoulder that now bore a permanent mark of his triumph. Zodi smiled.
”Collect what trophies you would like and we’ll return home,” Fjord dismissed them. Zodi wondered if there would be any part of his ritual victim intact enough to be even taken as a trophy. Mother was sitting beside Katana’s body. Zodi approached her.
”Mother?”
She glanced at him. Her eyes were filled with tears. ”Thank you for avenging her, Zodi. You did well… Now go find a trophy so everyone will know about your victory.” He smiled and scampered off.
After he’d dismissed the newest members, Lydia approached the alpha with her servant in tow. ”What about the last one, Alpha Fjord?” Lydia gestured to the small orange figured, shivering in the shadow of a boulder.
”Kill her.” Lydia nodded and turned away. Her servant had other ideas.
”Wait!” Lydia whipped around with a snarl, ready to punish Caeth for speaking out of turn and to the alpha. Caeth ducked his head, shying away from her teeth, but he continued onward, ”Alpha Fjord, you could use her. Isn’t there one among your children who still need to complete their ritual or one among them that deserves a reward?”
Fjord stared at the male with cold, calculating eyes. The servant shrunk away from his gaze. Finally, he spoke, ”Very well. We’ll take her back to Midnight Silence. But Lydia, teach your servant to hold his tongue in the future. I don’t wish to hear from him again.” Fjord left Lydia to punish the servant. He stepped into the arena and his eyes immediately fell on Skia. He padded over and sat beside her, looking down at their dead pup. His heart twisted at the sight.
”If I’d trained her better, this wouldn’t have happened,” Skia voice was uncharacteristically soft. Fjord looked at her. Her cheeks were wet with tears. He longed to give her comfort, to wrap a leg around her and pull her close or lick those tears away. But he couldn’t. He had to keep up appearances and not show weakness. Skia has only followed him because of his strength. What would she do if he made such a weak gesture? Yet… Skia seemed so vulnerable right then, sobbing for her child. Fjord didn’t doubt her strength, but to an outsider, she might seem weaker than she truly was.
”Her mistake was hers alone, Skia. She fought well, all of them did. Let’s get her home.” Skia nodded in response. Fjord carefully picked up the corpse. He started leaving the ruins with Skia beside him, expecting the pack to follow.
Xena kept trying to scream and protest as one by one, her sisters died. Instead of growing hoarse as a voice should, Xena’s had begun to gain strength as the massacre ended with Ka’s death. Ka had won her fight, but they still killed her. Rhul was still alive, but Xena doubted that they’d let her stay that way. ”Collect what trophies you would like and we’ll return home,” a wolf commanded the victors. Her sisters’ murderers entered the ring again to collect their prizes. As the white one that’d killed Ka passed near her, Xena whispered, ”Why did you do this?” Her voice had gained enough strength to be heard.
He paused turned to look at her with a smile. A smile. He smiled even while sweet Ka’s blood dripped down his muzzle. ”Why do you care?” he responded, in a peppy voice that felt wrong. Intrigue and curiosity glinted in his dark eyes.
”What? Why wouldn’t I care? You and your siblings have killed my sisters and me!” He looked down at her body, which his brother was retrieving then back up at her. That smile was infuriating.
“You were going to die eventually. We’re all going to die eventually. Why do you care if it was a little early? I don’t think it matters, whether we care or not. I don’t think anything matters in the long run. Sure, it might seem important now, but your life and the lives of your sisters will be lost with time. So will mine, but I figure that I might as well enjoy it while it lasts. You and your sisters’ deaths were needed for me to do that. I’ll be much more happy as a fully ranked member of Midnight Silence now that I’ve killed your sister.”
Xena stared at him. How could he truly believe all that? ”Even if what you say is true and it doesn’t matter, I still wanted to live. I still wanted my sisters to live. I wanted us to be happy, together, for as long as time would allow. I wanted to make a difference, even if it was only a small difference. Now, I can’t. What gives you the right to live happier than anyone else?”
The other pup considered her words for a second before responding. “Because I’m me. To me, I know what I want, so I do what I want. It wasn’t my fault that you didn’t use your time wisely. I’m living how I want. Being happy, serving my pack well, that’s all I really want. I’ll die and I’ll be forgotten and the world will end, but I will have enjoyed my time. But, I have to head home, now,” He started to walk away, but paused again, ”You’re lucky, though. You still get to exist, albeit, as a ghost, but you still get to exist. That’s more than that can be said for most. I might not even get the chance you have. Goodbye, ghost.” He grabbed the decapitated head of Ka a couple tail-lengths away. Half of her face had been torn off and single dead eye stared sightlessly. Xena looked away as the murderer carried his trophy away, following his siblings back to their pack.
Xena stared after him. The wolves around the ring were dispersing. They’d probably had enough of puppy fights to the death if that was possible for wolves like them. Xena glanced down at her blood. She reached a paw towards it. She was still slightly rotating from the previous, frantic movements. Her white, transparent paw went straight through the liquid, but there was some form of resistance from the ground. Hesitantly, she placed her paw against the dirt. Then the other three followed. Her rotating stopped and she anchored her spiritual form upright. She tried taking a step. It felt the same, but different. She could probably walk in a way. She could make it back home to Mom and Dad. They’d be wondering where she and her sisters were. Could she even face them? She was the oldest, if only by several minutes, so it was her responsibility to make sure they were alright. She’d failed and would return as a ghost. Where else could she go, though? They might know what to do about her new state. Maybe they could fix it or at least get rid of the ugly death wounds covering her lovely pelt. She began a careful, slow walk towards home. As her confidence about moving as a ghost grew, Xena’s pace quickened and she was running. The tears came again as she ran, desperate to just get somewhere safe, desperate to bury her face in her mother’s fur, desperate for things to be alright. But they wouldn’t be, couldn’t be ever again.
-Exit Xena-
The funeral march to Midnight Silence felt much longer than it should have. It reminded Rhul of the walk to the Arena, but this was horribly different. Rhul was alone and surrounded by grisly reminders of her sisters’ demises. Rhul kept her eyes down at the ground to keep from catching glimpses of the fragmented corpses that murderers carried home.
She could hear Striken’s footsteps behind her, but she didn’t look back at him. Her mind kept replaying when Lydia had kidnapped them all. Rhul had to focus on an event before the Arena, but not a happy one. She needed something that wouldn’t remind her of everything she’d lost. Lydia had threatened Rhul in order to keep her sisters from rebelling. Rhul had been so panicked that she’d barely registered what was happening. But she now had time to piece the encounter together. Lydia had asked Striken about their parents. She’d been falling back on his knowledge. He must have told her about them! This could all be his fault! Rhul finally glanced back at the wolf in question. Striken’s head was down and he didn’t meet her accusing gaze.
Rhul considered the uncertainty of her future. Rhul had a feeling that she’d never see Tranquil Meadows again or her parents. She dared not imagine what kind of horrors awaited her in Midnight Silence. Perhaps it’d be better to just run and let them kill her while she fled, but… she couldn’t summon the courage to step out of line and join her sisters. So she walked, onward towards her possible doom.
-Thread End-
