Prologue -
A black and silver female husky-wolf slowly backed away as three German shepherds closed in on her and her family. They were snarling and growling and their foaming mouths looked diseased. She continued to back up until her rear end bumped softy against the brick wall of the alley. The German shepherds surrounded them. They were trapped. The largest one, a dark brown male with unnerving dark gray eyes smirked. "There's no where to run half breeds!" He snarled at the large husky and his pups. His companions chuckled and bared their fangs as they crouched, prepared to leap. "Now. Before we rip you to shreds," The lead shepherd started. "I, for one, would like to make you an offer." He swung his head in the direction of their small pile of food. "Give us that food and," He turned his head and stared directly at the black and silver female pup. He grinned and his blackening teeth flashed in the moonlight, as if they were winking at the small pup. "Her." He snarled devilishly. "And we'll let you and the other two go free. But if not..." He snapped his jaws. The black and silver pup crouched low to the ground and her eyes widened until they were the size of saucers. The large husky growled and stood protectively in front of his daughter. "You'll get her over my dead body. He hissed at the shepherds. The largest one smirked again. "That can be arranged. Weasel. Crash. Let's get 'em." The other two shepherds chuckled and happily and continued to creep forward. The large husky turned to his pups. "Crescent, get Misty and Hutch out of here, now! You can take care of them. Run and never stop!" He shouted. The black and silver pup who was the oldest of the three shouted back, "No Ranger! We're not leaving you behind!" She stared at her father with a look of fear and determination in her gaze. "That's an order Crescent! Go and go NOW!" Then Ranger whirled around in a circle with his front paw extended and slammed it into the lead German shepherds face as he leaped at him. No matter how much she wanted to believe it, Crescent knew she and her siblings had no chance against the German shepherds. "Hutch, Misty, RUN!" Crescent shouted at her younger siblings. Without a second thought, they spun around and began to race towards the entrance of the alley. Crescent turned around about to follow when she heard the lead shepherd shout, "She's getting away! Get'er you idiots!" But meanwhile, the two not-so-bright males were too busy clawing at Ranger to notice the commands of their leader. The leader snarled and lashed out at the closest shepherd. He sank his claws deep into the shepherds neck, and he gurgled and fell to the ground, dead. Crescent gasped as the leader turned and shouted, "You!" Then he leaped at her and clamped his teeth down on her ear. Crescent yelped as he picked her up by her ear. "Ouch! That hurts! Put me down you fleabag!" She squealed. The shepherd laughed but it was muffled by the flesh he held in his mouth. Crescent felt her anger bubbling up inside of her. She hated being laughed at. Blind with rage, she growled and lashed out at him with a paw, slashing at his eyes. She didn't stop until she felt her claws sink into flesh. He let out a howl of pain and dropped Crescent, and she landed with a soft thud. She could feel pain shooting through her ear and her front paw, but she ran towards the mouth of the alley, following her siblings scent. At the very front, there was a cross-wire fence with a hole hear the bottom just large enough for Crescent to squeeze through. She dove through the hole, leaving some of her black fur behind and continued to follow Misty's scent. Behind her, she could hear the growls and snarls of the lead shepherd as he leaped at the fence, throwing curses in her direction. But she ignored it and raced on until she was sure that she had put enough distance between herself and the shepherds. Her paws were aching and her head was spinning but she continued to run. She ran until she crashed into something hard. She felt blood seeping down her muzzle to her paws and tried to push her exhausted body onward but instead she collapsed. The last thing she saw were two large, blurry shapes closing in on her, then all went black.
Crescent could hear voices around her, but she couldn't make out the words. Her head was still spinning, her paws ached, and she could feel a large gash on her side. She was laying on something soft and warm, but her small body was racked with shivers every second. Her throat hurt from breathing so hard and her torn ear stung. She blinked open her eyes and saw that she was in a small room, with stone walls and a low ceiling. She saw two dogs mixing up some leaves and berries. For a second, she couldn't remember what had happened to get her there, but then it all came crashing down on her. The loss of her father, the terrifying german shepherds, the long breathless run. It was almost too much for Crescent. She wanted to fall asleep and never wake up again. She shut her dark blue eyes and tears leaked out of them. She made no attempt to stop them. Crescent continued to cry until she felt a small paw prod into her side. "Hey. You awake?" Asked the familiar voice. Crescent sniffled and looked up. "Misty?" She breathed. "Is it really you?" The silver and white husky nodded. "Misty! I'm so glad you're safe!" Crescent yipped and wrapped her front paws around her sister. Misty returned the gesture and smiled. "Where's Hutch? Is he with you?" Crescent asked. Misty's smile faded and her ice blue eyes teared up. "Misty? What's wrong?" Crescent asked. Misty paused to wipe a tear from her eye before she answered. "I'm so sorry Crescent." Her voice cracked. "But Hutch is gone. The dog catcher got him." She buried her nose in Crescent's shoulder. "There was nothing I could do." She whispered. Crescent drew her rough tongue over her sister's ear. "It's okay Misty." She said, although her eyes were tearing up again. "We still have each other, right?" Misty sniffled and looked up at her older sister. She smiled again. "Yeah." She said. Only then did Crescent realize that they were being watched. Three dogs, a light brown saymoned, a black cocker spaniel, and a tawny gold golden retriever puppy were watching them from the back of the den. They were all teary-eyed and smiling. The saymoned walked over to them. "So sweet. I wish my siblings and I were that close." She said, wiping a tear from her green eye.
Crescent growled and shoved Misty behind her.
"Who are you?" She snarled. The saymoned chuckled. "No need to be alarmed young'un. I ain't gonna hurt ya. My name's Spice. And this is Maple and Sasha." She said pointing to herself, the spaniel, and the retriever in turn. Crescent smiled at them. "I'm Crescent, and this is my sister Misty." She said. Sasha raced up to the pair. She was a pretty tawny gold color, with pale gray ears, paws, and tail tip. And a white chest, underbelly, and white spots around her eyes. Her eyes were a pale lavender, and she wore a shiny gold ring in her left ear. "Hi. I'm Sasha. Are you two huskies?" She asked. Crescent nodded.
Spice smiled. "We'll give you three some time to get to know each other. Come on Maple, let's go hunting." The spaniel nodded and followed Spice out of the den.
Sasha turned back to Crescent and Misty. "Cool. I've always wanted to meet a husky. Are you two part of a sled dog team?" Misty shook her head. "No, but our father was."
"Really?" Sasha said. "Who was he? Maybe I've heard of him."
Crescent opened her mouth to answer, but Misty beat her to it. "His name's Ranger. He lead a team named the Lightning Racers." Sasha's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. "You're... you're father was the famous Ranger!"
Misty giggled and said, "Yeah, but we never knew he was famous." Sasha smiled.
Crescent laughed, but then winced with pain and held her injured side. She gasped as the most intense pain she had ever felt hit her. Sasha's eyes were wide with concern. "What's wrong?" She asked.
Crescent slowly removed her paw from her side and showed Sasha her gash. Blood was seeping through her fur and dripped onto the stone floor.
Sasha gasped. "Hang on. I've got the perfect thing." She said and raced through a tunnel at the back of the den. Crescent collapsed onto the mossy bed. Sasha came back a few minutes later with a bunch of plants and a cloth strip shoved in her jaws. She spat the plants out next to Crescent and grabbed some moss from Misty's bed. Then she walked over to a thin stream of water near the mouth of the den and wet the moss. She walked back over to Crescent and used the moss to clean the blood off Crescent's wound. After that was done, she took a long leafy plant and began to chew it up. She spat the paste onto Crescent's scratch and rubbed it in gently. "So." She started. "Where are you two from?" She asked.
Crescent took a minute to think before she answered. "I really don't know. We've moved so much that I never really learned the names. Where are we now?" She asked.
Sasha stopped rubbing for a second and looked up at Crescent. "Right now you're in a forest right next to a little town called Adventure Bay."