Hello, an thanks for clicking on this story. This is something new I'm trying. At the end of every chapter, there will be a choice to be made. You the reader get to decide which choice is made throughout the story. Which ever choice gets the most responses in the reviews will be the decision made. I wanted to try this to make the story a little unpredictable and challenging to write. So please, take the time submit your choice in this story. Every decision has an outcome. Thanks again!
I - Freedom or Redemption
The jail cell was dark and floor was frigid, and the stony scenery only made the atmosphere more lonely and claustrophobic. It's one inhabitant, a wolf that lay there unconscious with infected wounds on his chest and a functionless left eye that remained forever closed, was silent and under a spell of strong slumber. He motionless form leaned against the wall as he sat in the corner upon the ground. His legs were sprawled out and his head rested heavily with his neck bent awkwardly. The guards had put him there without care and treated him like the scum they saw him as.
"Hey, get up!"
The canine suddenly jolted awake, which surprised the guard on the other side of the bars. It normally took a violent shaking or good punch to the jaw to even get him crack his eyelid open, but he was clearly and fully broken from his narcoleptic state that he was entranced in for the last six months. He rose his head slightly while cringing at the pain in his neck for being in the position it was. However, the pain in his chest quickly overcame the minor neck injury. He gripped his pectorals with a paw as he glanced at the rhino that awoke him.
"Huh, you're actually wide-eyed now. That's new," the guard taunted.
The wolf quickly rose to his feet and observed his scenery. He deducted that he was in a prison cell, but in which prison? Hell, which city? Everything seemed to be such a blur the more he tried to remember it, and it increasingly bothered him. He looked back at the guard and decided to try speaking and make sure his vocal chords were still functional.
"Where am I?" he asked, a little surprised at his voice's clarity. The guard decided to humor him.
"Gongmen Jail, 2nd prison block, cell number two-zero-six."
"How long have I been unconscious?"
"Twelve hours, but this is the first time in about half a year you've been responsive."
"Why am I here?"
The rhino snorted viciously. "Now you're just playing stupid. Keep quiet till the doctor gets here."
The wolf felt like snapping back, but decided it was better to just do as he says and get answers later. Right now he was more in need of medical care. He could feel his infected wound on his chest getting more and more painful by the second.
Another ten minutes passed until the doctor had finally arrived. The wolf was surprised to see that his medical professional was another wolf just like him. He had a grey robe on with the symbol for health on the back. His fur was slightly dark than the prisoner's and his eyes were amber yellow. He peered into the cell and gave a look of surprise at the wolf.
"Ah, he's actually awake and appearingly comprehensible," the doctor even spoke like a doctor and his voice was firm and official, but young as well. In fact, the doc was probably no older than twenty-five.
"Yeah yeah, he just got up a few minutes ago." The guard had responded with a shockingly harsh tone.
"What has his behavior been like?" the doctor inquired. The guard grunted heavily.
"He's calm, but that doesn't change anything." What had he meant by 'anything'? the prisoner thought. In any case, he didn't really care. He was finally going to get some medical attention.
"Well, I best get to work." Before the doctor entered the cell, the rhino pulled him back by the shoulder and scowled deeply.
"Just remember, once you're done fixing this vermin, your free ride is over." The doctor swallowed and nodded.
"Of course."
The guard then opened the cell door while clutching his axe tightly, less either one of the canines decided to make a move. The doctor wolf entered and slowly approached the prisoner from the front. In return, the prisoner stood upright to face the man properly. At least he hadn't forgotten about his manners. Strangely though, he hadn't remembered being very thoughtful of his first impressions on people before.
"My name is Jen Zei Mung Toi, but you may refer to me as Jen, Doctor Jen, Doc or anything in between."
"I am…" The wolf began to struggle. He hadn't remembered who he was. His had basic motor skills, proper communication abilities and even observational skills. However personally and financially, he recollected nothing. Doctor Jen noticed this and gave a friendly smile.
"You don't remember who you are or where you came from. That's alright. I'm simply here to heal your wounds again as I have been for the last six months." The prisoner looked down at the bandaged cuts in his chest and glanced back at the doctor.
"No offense Doc, but I think you should go back to med school if you think this is a healthy wound."
The doctor chuckled lightly and withdrew a small scroll from within his robes. "Yes, well the amount and quality of supplies that are provided here are not up to par with most of Gongmen's standards," he explained. He took the scroll and unravelled it. He cleared his throat before he read. "Although he had no name, he has been referred to by his fellow canine comrades as "Boss". He was found floating in Gongmen Harbor after the incident with two large blade protruding from his chest. He was fished out and sent to the prison infirmary where he was paid little to no attention. After deciding that the other medical staff knew nothing of canine biology surprisingly, a wolf doctor by the name of Jen Zei Mung Toi was summoned from his banishment to assist in the prisoner's recovery." Jen looked at the prisoner wolf and gave him a faint smile. "The report from your arrest."
"I could guess," he responded with guff.
"Hey!" the guard shouted from behind. "Do your job or I'll do it for you!" Jen nodded and reached back into his robe. He pulled out a small vial with a green substance and a syringe with a blue liquid.
"Here, drink this." The doctor gave the prisoner the green vial. "It's a pain reliever."
Without hesitation, he shot the vial down his gullet, completely ignoring the horrible taste. "And the syringe?"
"It's a tissue repairing aid that doubles as a muscle strengthener."
"Why the muscle strengthener?"
"You'll see in a minute. Now hold still." Jen then took the needle and jabbed it into the prisoner's neck. He flinched acutely as the doc injected the blue liquid into his vein.
"Why'd you have to get me in the neck?!" he grunted angrily.
"It will flow through your blood a lot faster, decreasing the amount of time it will take for the-"
"Alright, that's enough time!" the guard huffed as he approached the two canines with his axe ready. He came up behind the doctor, who now had a more agitated expression than before. "Let's go, time to move."
Suddenly, the doctor swung around and slammed the guard in the jaw with a swift uppercut, sending him flying to the ground. While the guard was dazed, Jen withdrew a second syringe, this one filled with a yellow liquid. He quickly pounced on the rhinoceros and jammed the needle aggressively into his neck and injected the poison. The rhino quickly fell unconscious with a matter of seconds. The prisoner stood there with absolute awe.
"Doc, what did you do?!"
Doctor Jen then pushed himself up from the guards body and brushed himself off. "I injected a temporary poison into his bloodstream. He'll be out for at least a few days."
"Why?"
"So that we may escape." The prisoner now looked completely befuddled.
"What are you talking about? What's going on?" he inquired anxiously. Jen patiently exhaled and told the wolf why he should follow.
"If you want to remember yourself and find out why you here, you will follow me."
The prisoner now knew that this wasn't an other that could be turned down easily. He was so confused about his existence and who he was that he itching to find out even the most miniscule detail about him past. If Jen really did offer that possibility, rejecting it was not an option.
"Fine, but you're going to answer every question that I have when we get outta here."
"Agreed."
The wolf had now felt the muscle strengthener begin to kick in, as well as the pain reliever. He felt his muscles tense up a bit as he stretched his arms and legs. He followed Jen out of the cell block, leaving the guard there to be eventually discovered.
Doctor Jen had lead his newly escaped convict out of the prison without so much as a being seen by anyone else. Once they exited through a back door, they quickly moved through the massive crowds that were trafficking through the streets. The wolf had noticed the hateful and horrific looks he would get from most of the people he raced by. He couldn't help but feel horrible when he received once. It was almost like these people just wanted the canines to drop off the face of the planet, and it stuck with him.
Eventually, he and the doctor had made it to the outskirts of the city, now slowing their blistering speeds to a speedy jog. They reached a hilltop that got an extraordinary overlook of Gongmen City. The wolf became mesmerized by the sheer beauty and enormity of the city, causing him to halt and take it all in. He enjoyed the view for a while, until he remembered why he was running away from the city instead of back towards it, and all the faces of horror he had seen as he bolted by them. It was only miniscule moments, but they imprinted themselves in his memory so vividly. He now turned back away and ran faster than before.
The two only ran for another quarter mile before they came across a small hole that was covered by a sloppily put together trapdoor. Jen heaved the door up and tossed it aside, revealing a deep incursion that was dark and continued down for what appeared like forever.
"Down here," Jen told his follower as he dropped down, descending into the darkness. The wolf hesitated for a brief moment, but built up the nerve to do the same. He slipped into the hole and began to slide at an uncomforting angle that slowly grew more acute by the second, but did not slow him down in the slightest. He slammed his paws against the walls, trying to decelerate somehow, but it was a useless effort as he only managed to burn his fingers from friction. He slid for countless seconds until he was launched from a tight space into near freezing water. He held his breath as he quickly tried to reach the surface of the pool he had been dispatched into. He swam with extreme panic until he could breathe at the top. For some reason, the water gave a bad feeling, like the last time he was in water was when something terrifying happened. He poked his head up and rubbed his eyes to clearly see.
The wolf saw something that left him awestricken with memory. It was a cave, filled with at least three to four dozen other wolves. Seeing all those faces shot a petrifying flashback into his head. He saw many wolves, just like the ones he saw in that cave, being blasted by some sort of contraption - a cannon of some sort. He quickly shook it off and swam to the edge of the pool. He shook himself dry before he saw Doctor Jen again.
However, the prisoner took an observative look at all the inhabitants of the cave. They all seemed to be struck with an unspoken empathy of shock and amazement as they stared at him. It made him feel strange, yet it was an oddly familiar environment to him. Jen walked up to him with a sombering expression.
"Jen, why are they all staring at me?" he asked quietly. Jen only held his head high as he answered.
"They're staring because...their master has returned."
With those words, Jen and every other wolf in the cave kneeled down to the one eyed man and chanted with proportionate equality.
"BOSS."
The wolf felt overwhelmed. Now he understood why he had to escape, and why these men and women all looked familiar. He had remembered a crucial chunk of his past in that one moment, rushing into him at a breakneck pace. He remembered why he was called Boss now - he had lead these men into battles. He was their leader. However, that was all he knew. He couldn't remember his name, where he came from, who he was, or why he was imprisoned.
Before he could even try to contemplate what was happening, Jen rose back up explain.
"We have been waiting for this day for sometime now, they day you would fully awaken."
"Why?"
"You see Boss, we have been in hiding from the Gongmen imperial government, waiting to try and right our wrongs."
"What wrongs?"
"Does the name 'Lord Shen' ring any bells?"
"It feels vaguely familiar…" the boss admitted.
"He was a tyrant. A horrible, vicious man. However, we were his servants. He made us do wrong in the hopes that something right would spring from the ashes of the lives we've burned down."
"And you want to… redeem yourselves?"
"Precisely."
"With my help?"
Jen now displayed a look of uncertainty and guilt. "We… do not want to force you to do anything you don't want to. We freed you because we knew you were wrongfully imprisoned. You can use this freedom however you wish."
"What are you saying, Jen?" the boss replied sternly as he gripped his wound. The pain reliever was beginning to wear off.
"Well, what you choose to do from this point on is your decision." Jen gestured with one arm toward the exit of the cave that showed the bright sun setting against the horizon, and another deeper into the cave where the population density grew larger. "You can stay and help us rebuild our reputation, redeem our mistakes and climb back to the top… or you may leave. You will never see us again, nor will you hear from us. Your life will be a new as you start over. It's your choice."
If you wish for the Wolf Boss to leave the cave and start a new life, send the word "Freedom". If you wish for him to stay with the pack and help them reform and rewrite their wrongs, send the word "Redemption".
Don't forget to review. Thanks a ton, everyone!
