Life of a Wolfdog
Chapter One: Beginning of a Journey
My name is Kamara. I am a wolfdog. There are many wolfdogs like me. There is one catch: I have been abused most of my life, hiding in fear, cowering. My cruel owner is always after me. I cannot live like this anymore. I have to leave, go somewhere. I cannnot take it.
I have heard of this place called "Paradise." I wonder if it is real. Maybe it is. But I do not know. All I know is, is that my life is no Paradise. It is more like "Hell." I claw at my cage bars, whining. The man, my owner, comes toward the cage. Maybe he is going to let me out? I look up at him with the biggest puppy-dog eyes he has ever seen. But, no, of course. He slaps the cage. "Shut up," he snaps. I bare my teeth at him. Which only angers him all the more.
"I said, shut up!" he yells, causing me to whimper. "Good girl," he says after I have gone quiet. I am angry. Why should I be treated so badly? It is not right! After the man is gone, I stand weakly and claw at my cage some more. Finally, I manage to get out. I run from the house and into the fresh, clear night. "I am free," I breathe. "Free at last!" I am so happy, I do not know what to do.
But my happiness is short-lived. For a second after I escaped, a huge wild dog jumps up after me and knocks me to the ground. "Please do not hurt me!" I beg, tears filling in my eyes. "I won't hurt you," he sneers. "I just want you to tell me where the wolves are." My ears perk up. "The wolves?" I repeat. I have heard of wolves that have the ability to shift to human form.
They are searching for this Paradise. "Yes, the wolves," the dog growls irritably. "Do you know where they are?" I shake my head, shivering. "No," I whisper. "I do not." He narrows his eyes. "Well, I shall let you go," he tells me. I breathe a sigh of relief. "But," he adds, "once you find the wolves, you must hand them over."
"No!" I cry. "You cannot do this to them. They have done nothing wrong!" He chuckles. "They are creatures from Hell," he informs. "They are?" I am shivering uncontrollably.
"Yes," he replies. "If you don't hand them over, consequences will be swift." He steps down on my tail, causing me to yelp. "Shut up," he snarls. I do. "I promise you, you will be punished," he swears. I am shaking. I cannot look this dog in the eye. "Now, go find them!" he yells. I stand and run, grateful to be out of the dog's reach. "What the hell was that?" I mutter under my breath. I sigh, a shaky sigh. What must I do now? I cannot let him hurt these poor wolves! They have done nothing wrong. Well, I will not tell him about them if I do find them
I shall join their pack. Yes, that is it. If they accept me, that is. I shiver and continue walking. After a long night of walking, I come to a cave. I debate silently wether I should go in or not. Finally, I say out loud, "Yes. Go in. Maybe that can be your home from now on." I walk in. It is dark. Darker than I imagined. And my eyes are not used to the dark.
So I blink several times. The cave has crystals on the wall. Up ahead is a sparkling blue pool. It is beautiful. Maybe this place is the Paradise I am looking for? I shake my head. No. It could not be so. I venture further down into the cave. I hear voices. "How long has it been since we ate?" a boy's voice asks. "Ah, a couple days or so," another replies smoothly. "If we stayed in the city," the first boy's voice says, "we would have something to eat!"
"Would you two quit your whining?" a new, harsh voice demands. "You're acting like a bunch of pups!" Curious, I walk slowly down the slope. Four boys are leaning against the wall. They are all wolves. This is the pack I am searching for! Yes! I have found them. "Hey!" I call. All heads turn toward me. I shiver. "What are you doing here?" the owner of the harsh voice snaps. He is wearing a black outfit. His hair is silver. He seems to have a bad history- I can tell already from his attitude. The other three boys seem to be more friendly than the harsh one. "I'm Kiba," says the boy with curly black hair. I examine him: he's wearing a green shirt with a white t-shirt under it. And he's wearing jeans and tennis shoes. The boy who first spoke up is wearing jeans and a red T-shirt. He has auburn hair.
The last boy is wearing a yellow hoodie and jeans. "I- I am Kamara," I tell them. "I have come here to escape my cruel owner. Do you think I could...maybe join your pack?" The one with the harsh voice narrows his eyes. "You can't let a house-pet into our pack!" he hisses. "Please, Tsume," Kiba says firmly, "she's friendly." Tsume only snorts and moves away.
"Ignore him," the boy with the auburn hair tells me. "He's grumpy."
I nod. "I know the type," I mumble. "You can join the pack," Kiba says. "Really? Thank you," I say. "No problem," the boy wearing the yellow hoodie adds. "I'm Hige," he says then. He gestures to the auburn haired boy. "That's Toboe, and the grouch is Tsume."
"I heard that," Tsume speaks up, causing Toboe and I to suppress a giggle. "Get over yourself, Tsume," I call to the back of the cave, causing an outburts of laughter from the pack. I start laughing, too. I do not know how long it has been since I last laughed. I do not know. It feels good. Maybe I should more often. "Welcome to the crew." Kiba smiles. "Thanks." I smile, too.
Later that night, I am sitting outside on the grassy hill, staring up at the sky. Toboe sits next to me. "Hi," he greets. "Hello," I reply, looking at him. "What's happened to you?" He points at the scar on my chest. It is a long, bloody scar. I cannot stand to talk about it. But, maybe this wolf will understand. "It is from my owner," I tell him. "What did he do to you?" he asks. "He would beat me if I did not do right." Toboe's eyes fill with tears. "That's terrible," he whispers. "It is very sad, but please, do not cry," I say. He wipes his tears and smiles. I am starting to like this Toboe. "Your owner was mean, wasn't he?" he goes on. "Yes," I respond. "He was, indeed, very mean." Toboe leans against my shoulder. I hug him.
"Shame shame, we know your name," Hige teases. We pull apart, startled. "Ooh," Kiba adds. "Guys, we are not-" I start. "We know romance when we see it," Tsume jokes. Toboe blushes, and I giggle. "Come on, guys," Kiba says. "Let's leave them alone." I roll my eyes. "How immature," I mutter. "We heard that!" Hige yells from inside the cave, causing Toboe to crack up. I smile. "Toboe and Kamara," Kiba chants, "sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes the love, then comes the marriage, then comes Kamara pushing the baby carriage." I snort. "Real mature, guys," I say sarcastically. Toboe grins.
The other wolves go to the back of the cave again. I cannot help but laugh. "Such dorks!" Toboe nods. "Yep," he agrees. "Dorks." I lean back on my hands. "So," I ask, "what happened to you?" He sighs. "I've never told anyone," he whispers. I raise an eyebrow, but drop it quickly. "Not even your own pack?" I counter. He shakes his head. "They wouldn't understand."
"I would," I say. "And, besides, you know I would understand." He breathes in. "Okay," he agrees at last. He leans back. "I was raised by this old woman," he begins, "and she loved me like a son. But one day, when she brought me food, I tried to play with her. I guess I was a little too rough." He shrugs. "I killed her accidentally," he whispers. "That is terrible!" I feel so bad for Toboe. He slumps. "I know," he mutters. "Please don't hate me." I cock my head. "Oh, Toboe," I murmur, "is that what you were afraid of?" He nods.
"Yeah," Toboe replies. "I was scared they would hate me if I told." I can feel tears filling in my eyes. I do not want to look like a weakling, so I sniff and brush them away. "Oh, no one would hate you, Toboe," I tell him. "Yes, they would," he insists, whining. "Toboe, I could never hate you. I just met you, and I know I like you." I smile. He does, too. "Thanks," he whispers. "You are welcome." I lie down. "We should go to sleep," I suggest. "Yeah," he agrees, and lies down next to me. "You know," he says quietly, "we can turn into humans. Can you?" I shake my head. "I do not think so."
"Give it a go," he suggests. I breathe in and get to my paws. "Close your eyes," Toboe orders. "And think of your goal. That is to shift into a human." As told, I close my eyes. In my mind's eye, there is an image: a girl who looks to be about seventeen years old. She is wearing a black T-shirt, black jeans, and black boots. On her wrist is a tattoo that reads "Paradise." Her eyes are blue, like the morning sky. Her hair is black, and she has her nails painted black. Her hair is black also. I let out a sigh. The next thing I know, I have shifted into a human. Toboe has shifted from a brown wolf with rings around his left paw to the boy in the cave.
He smiles. "How does it feel?" I grin. "Awesome," I reply. "I can finally be free. And, if my owner comes to take me away, he will not recognize me- I am a human." He nods. "Yep," he agrees. "You'll be safe now." I sigh. "I only hope my owner does not come back," I whisper. "Don't worry," Toboe assures me, "I'm sure he won't." I'm not so sure of that, Toboe, I think. But I do not say that out loud, for I do not want to scare him. Soon, I lie back down. And I fall into a deep, dreamless sleep.
I wake up in human form to see Toboe (in his wolf form) standing over me. He whines and nudges me. "I am awake, alright?" I stretch and yawn, shoving him off of me as I sit up. He shifts to human form. He giggles. "Sorry," he tells me. "It is okay." I smile. "Yo, love wolves," Hige calls, "let's go." I smirk and roll my eyes. I look at Toboe. "Come on." He follows me happily. I walk next to Kiba, who is taking the lead. "What's up with you and Toboe?" he asks in a low voice. "We are just friends." I cross my arms and stare at him.
He narrows his eyes. "Well, it seems a little bit more than 'friends.'" I snort. "Come on, Kiba. I do not date boys!" The thing I am frightened of the most is relationships. I have never been in one, and I never will. Maybe that will change, but not likely. I do not date for fear of men. I glance back at Toboe. He is chatting cheerfully with Tsume, who has his usual bored expression planted on his face. He seems to be trying his best to ignore the pup. "What's wrong with Tsume?" I whisper, looking back at Kiba.
"Ignore him, Kamara. He's just-" He glances at Tsume- "Moody," he finishes quietly. Well, I could see that right off. You do not have to tell me, Kiba. "Yeah," I say flatly, hoping he will get the point. "About that." He looks up ahead. "Look there." I do. And see a city. "Guys, we've made it to freeze city," Kiba announces. "Cool!" Toboe exclaims. Tsume only sighs. This, apparently, is not as "cool" to him. "Come on," I say. "We should see what it is like in the city."
I do not know what the city is like. My master lived in the country. He ran a farm all by himself. But, even if we lived in the city, I never would've seen it: I would have been locked up in a cage the whole time. Which is not fair. I push old, horrible memories away and look at Kiba. "Are we going or not?" He nods. "Yes. Let's go." We all follow him down the rode. "Where should we stay?" Toboe asks, and Tsume shrugs. "In the gutter," he says flatly. "No, Tsume," Hige says calmly. I suppose he is used to Tsume's negative attitude.
However, I think I may understand Tsume. He seems to have had a hard past. I silently decide that I will ask him about himself later. As we walk into the city, all human eyes are trained on us. I eye them firmly, as if to say "stay away." It works. The crowd backs away slowly, whispering to one another. "Move," Kiba whispers to Toboe, shoving him foreword. He whimpers but steps foreword. We make it to an alley, where Kiba says we are spending the night.
Later on, during the night, I see Tsume sitting against the wall, staring out into the street. The others are asleep, even Toboe, who was hyper all day, so I walk over to him. I sit down next to him. "Hi," I say softly. "Hey." He looks at me, but not for long. "Are you okay?" I tilt my head curiously. He breathes out. "Yeah. I'm fine." He does not seem to be. "Yeah, sure," I tell him. He narrows his eyes. "You really want to know what's wrong?" he counters. "Yes," I answer, "I do."
"Hmm. Well, first off, it's my past," he says in a low voice. "Tell me everything." I stare at him. "Okay." He seems hesitant, so I say, "Go on." I sit back and lean against the wall, waiting for him to start.
Reviews are appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to read my story. Talk to you later,
"Kamara."
Chapter Two
"Well," Tsume begins, "my pack was killed by Lady Jagaura's troops. The Alpha of the pack attacked me, leaving the X-shaped scar on my chest. Which I now have as a reminder of what happened." He pauses. "Anyway, I was exiled after that. I joined a gang of humans after that, using them. And here I am now, with this pack of dogs." He snorts.
"Wow, that is terrible," I whisper. "No, it's okay." He stares up at the sky. "I bet you are glad to tell someone," I say. "Well, yeah. It does feel a little better," he admits. "Yes," I agree. "I am sure it does." I pause. "You know, I have had a rough past, too," I tell him. He shoots me a look that clearly says he does not believe. "No, it- it is true," I stammer. "Hmm" is all he says. So I tell him all about myself. It is very painful to talk about this. I cannot help but cry a little afterwords.
"I am sorry," I sniff, "I must look like a stupid weakling to you." He shakes his head. "No, it's okay," Tsume tells me. "I just do not want to be hurt anymore." I wipe my tears away, but more flow out anyway. Tsume allows me to cry into his shoulder. "I am sorry," I repeat between sobs. "I cannot take it anymore...I want to lie down and die." Surprisingly, he hugs me. "It's okay," he whispers. After awhile, I pull away and wipe my tears away. I feel better, now that I have told someone about myself. And so does Tsume. He seems happier. More friendly.
I breathe in, then let it out. "We should go to sleep,"