A/N: Okay guys. This is my first fanfiction and I'm hoping it will be a good one. Feel free to leave a review at the end and don't hesitate to speak your mind, just do so in a way that is not insulting to me. Any similarities between characters you may have in your own stories in purely coincidental. I thought everything up myself.
P.S A huge "Thank you." to my friend Kirsten, who was an invaluable part of this story's progress.
Prologue: History
"What is history? It is that objective yet devoted stare with which humanity observes its own past; and in that stare; that attempt to see how things have become what they are, where they went wrong, and where right, that our only hope lies in having some control over our own future."-William Golding.
It was early. The sun had just begun to crest the horizon, like a single candle in a dark room it cast everything with a faint light, silhouetting all life against a backdrop of darkness. One such silhouette was that of a wolf named Kapu.
He moved on silent paws through the snow, leading two other wolves to a small hill overlooking a wide expanse of open land with strange, carved trees he knew to be human buildings forming a town in the centre. He stopped as he reached the summit and sat down, waiting for his companions to do so as well.
"Sir, with all due respect, what are we doing here so early?" asked a dark-grey wolf, trying in vain to disguise his displeasure at being awake so early.
"Because, Akino," Kapu began. "I have a very special, very delicate job for you and Kalona. Something that I feel might give me an edge over that dog." He finished his sentence with a slight growl lending edge to his words.
Neither Akino nor Kalona needed to ask who Kapu was referring to when he said that. They both knew perfectly well who it was. Monty, a dog who lived in the nearby town of White Mountainand all those affiliated with him were enemies of Kapu and his family. No one knew exactly what happened to provoke such animosity between them as Kapu would never explain. The only thing anyone knew for certain was this: Kapu and Monty could not stand each other and It had been this way since they were young.
"What would you have us do, sir?" asked Kalona.
Kapu's features were graced with a devilish grin and he laughed a mischievous laugh.
"I thought it might be nice to have one of Monty's sons to stay for a while if you get my meaning."
Akino and Kalona looked at one another, and then back at Kapu, incomprehension obvious in their eyes. Kapu groaned.
"I want you to go and kidnap one of Monty's sons, I don' care which, and bring him back here as a hostage. That way I can have a slight edge over Monty during our next confrontation. Now go, and best of luck to you."
Akino and Kalona were on their feet immediately, and with a militant "Yes, sir!" they were off. Kapu watched them leave, heir dark forms fading into the tree line. He then shifted his gaze to the rising sun. Kapu started to think back to when he was young, before his vendetta had begun and when he and Monty had first met.
Winter, 1914
Kapu cowered between his mother and Father as they exchanged cheerful greetings with another pair of wolves. There was something different about these wolves though. They had shorter muzzles, smaller paws and their tails curled up towards their backs. When there was a pause in the conversation Kapu, who until now, had not known that dogs existed, braved a word in his mother's ear.
"Mama, what are they?"
"They are called "dogs", my son." She whispered back. "They are to be treated just like any other wolf. Understand?"
Kapu knew that her last words prevented him from pursuing the subject so he remained quite. Noticing Kapu, one of the dogs stepped forward and cooed softly.
"Hello there. What's your name?"
Kapu, still weary of the strangers, retreated behind his mother.
"How cute," the dog chuckled. "How old is he?"
"Two months." Replied Kapu's father matter-of-factually.
"Well now, this is perfect. Have you met our son? He's your son's age. Maybe they would like to meet each other." ventured the male.
"What a good Idea," agreed Kapu's father. "Son, how would you like to make a friend?"
Present day.
Kapu remembered how scared he had been the first time he had met Monty and his parents. It had been awkward when he had been forced into saying "Hello" to them, like most little children, but soon afterward he and Monty were inseparable, as if they were brothers. From that day on, he and Monty would meet up frequently for play dates, which pleased each of their parents to no end. It went on for three months and on a day just like any other; tragedy would strike to end their beautiful friendship indefinitely.
Spring, 1914.
It was a beautiful spring day. The sun was warm on the backs of two young canines, lending them comfort as they continued their game of hide-and-seek. Since their awkward meeting three months ago, Kapu and Monty had grown closer than brothers and were seen in each other's company more often than anywhere else. Being a dog and a wolf respectively, they both had extremely keen senses of smell which, in effect, made it nigh on impossible for the one who was hiding to stay hidden, making it more of a game of tag rather than hide-and-seek. But whether or not their game was what it was meant to be, Kapu and Monty simply enjoyed playing together.
It was Monty's turn to be "It" so Kapu ran off into the forest in search of a hiding place while he named all the animals he could think of because of course, being a dog, he could not count.
"… fox, wolverine, bear, caribou. Ready or not, here I come!" came the obligatory warning as Monty sniffed the air, looking for his friend's scent. He picked it up along with an all too familiar scent which he could not put his paw on. He shrugged it off and walked at a brisk pace in Kapu's direction.
In virtually no time at all he came to a small clearing with large bushes and tall trees encircling a wide patch of grass. He immediately spotted Kapu at the other end of the clearing, hiding in the brush, crouched low to the ground and ears laid back.
"I found you!" he shouted triumphantly.
Kapu's eyes went wide and immedialtely he raised his paw in front of his muzzle.
"Shhh!" he hissed.
"Why?" asked Monty, puzzled.
"Shhh!" Kapu hissed again, this time in slight panic. Monty got the message and joined kapu in his hiding place.
"What's the matter?" he asked, just above a whisper.
Kapu did not need to answer for no sooner had Monty finished his sentence than had a human carrying a rifle stepped out from behind a tree parallel to their hiding spot. He was an Eskimo and he wore a dark brown fur coat and had a satchel slung over his left shoulder, he also carried a strange stick who's powers they would soon experience firsthand.
"We'd better get out of here." whispered Monty.
While the hunter's back was turned, he slipped out his hiding place and behind a nearby tree.
"Kapu, come on." Monty urged.
Despite his friend's plea, Kapu remained stationary in the paralyzing grip of fear. The hunter started to poke his gun around in the thicket he was hiding in and was but a tail's length away. Suddenly, Kapu snapped out of his fear-induced stupor and bolted right past the hunter and into the trees in the blink of an eye. Monty followed suite all too gladly.
"That was the scent I caught earlier." He mentally kicked himself for not realizing it sooner.
Still processing what had happened, the hunter gave chase and proceeded to shoot wildly at the fleeing canines. The bullets made whizzing sounds as they sped past them, rebounding off rocks and embedding themselves in tree trunks. As he ran, Kapu thanked the Great Wolf Spirit that the hunter had missed so far, but he knew that it was only a matter of time. He could feel his energy waning and he knew that Monty could not last much longer either. They would either be caught or shot eventually.
"Is this how it ends?" he asked himself, tears starting to stream down his face only to be flung off as he ran.
Meanwhile, Kapu's father, Bleddyn, and his mother, Tala, where relaxing outside their den, enjoying the mild warmth that accompanied the day. A loud explosion shattered the spring day tranquility and caused both of them to jump.
"What was that?" asked Tala, looking off in the direction of the sound.
"I don't know." Bleddyn replied, mirroring her gaze.
Suddenly, his face was graced by an expression of utter horror.
"It came from where Kapu and Monty are playing!"
With that, he raced off towards the now continuous sounds of gunfire. Tala could only pace the ground and worry aloud as any mother in her situation would.
"Kapu! We're coming to the pond! There'll be no place to hide!" yelled Monty as they ran, zig-zagging between trees and diving through bushes, anything to escape the pursuing bullets.
The truth dawned on Kapu like a rock through the face. The pond was situated in a clearing, with no place to hide and nothing to obstruct a bullet's path. They would be perfectly exposed and the hunter would have a clear shot at them.
"We have to try!" he yelled back and swerved at a sharp angle to crash through the brush and into the clearing. They wasted no time and shot straight towards the opposite end where, presumably, increased chances of survival lay. The clearing was large, over three hundred meters across with a small pond in the epicenter.
As the hunter came crashing out from the tree line, Kapu let out a howl. Never before had Monty heard a howl filled with such desperation and fear, as if it implored the very universe to just end it all right there.
The hunter gazed down the barrel of his rifle, taking aim.
"I've got you now." he said, a sense of triumph lending malevolence to every word.
His finger closed in around the trigger, he started to pull.
"No!" came a furious cry as the gun exploded sending it's deadly contents flying towards it's helpless target. The cry of pain which followed would have made the very heavens wince. The snow around the hunter's fallen mark ran red with blood as it seeped from the wound in the side of a fully-grown male wolf.
"Father! NO!" cried Kapu as he rushed to Bleddyn's side.
"So I did make it in time. Thank goodness." he said, every word strained.
The hunter approached, skinning knife in hand and an aura of victory about his movements. He chuckled cruelly.
Kapu stood over his wounded father, growling fiercely and, joined by Monty, advanced on the hunter. The hunter hesitated. In the midst of victory he had forgotten to reload his rifle. He took a step back. Kapu lunged at him, almost roaring out of rage. The hunter turned on his heel and ran for his life. He may have been able to take one, but not two. Kapu immediately gave chase but Monty barred his way.
"Kapu. Let him go. He's not worth it. Besides, your father needs you now."
KApu's rage was forgotten and replaced by fear for his father's life.
"Monty!" he said frantically. "Go and get my mother! We have to save him!"
Present Day.
Kapu continued to stare into nothingness as he recalled that terrible day. He remembered how frantic his mother had been. He remembered how Monty, since he belonged to the resident veterinarian of White Mountain, had offered to go and fetch him and the anxiety of waiting for him to return, knowing that his father's life hung in the balance. He allowed himself a venomous growl as he recalled what happened next.
Spring, 1914.
Every minute that passed seemed like an hour to Kapu. It had been half an hour since Monty had left to fetch his master and Bleddyn still clung to life, albeit weakly.
"Please, he prayed silently. "Please hurry."
Meanwhile, in White Mountain, Monty was trying to get his message across to the vet. He barked and tugged at his coat, but the vet just shooed him away, not even considering the possibility that something could be wrong. Monty didn't know how to get it through to him. If he couldn't do so soon, Bleddyn would succumb to his wound. He thought for a moment. Suddenly, it came to him.
"Here goes nothing." he thought.
He started to bark loudly, tugging at the vet's clothes and jumping around. When the vet waved a hand to shoo him away again, he shot forward and bit it, lightly enough as to not injure but hard enough to get a reaction. The vet yelped and pulled away, clutching his hand tightly. Monty started to run, barking all the while.
"Hey, you stupid dog! Get back here!" the vet yelled as he gave chase.
Kapu lay beside his father, whimpering softly. It was mortifying seeing the one who had always been there for him, his hero and his father on his last legs. In the past, death had always been of little concern to Kapu, an idea; something he knew existed but mattered little. And now with his father so close to it, he suddenly grasped how fickle life was, it could change for better or for worse in the blink of an eye without any warning whatsoever. Bleddyn stirred.
"Kapu," he said weakly. "I love you my son."
"I love you too father." Kapu replied, sentiment flowing freely.
They lay beside each other for a long while. Kapu silently cursed. What was taking Monty so long?
Suddenly he heard barking in the distance. He got to his feet and walked to the den entrance. Monty was making his way towards them with the vet in tow. Kapu retreated back inside the den so as to not scare the vet off before he could see the problem at hand.
Monty ran into the den, followed by the irate vet.
"Finally. You've got nowhere to run." he panted, trying to catch his breath. "Now come on. Let's go ho…"
He stopped in mid-sentence as he noticed that Monty was not the only canines in the den. There were three wolves, one of which was lying on the ground and not moving save the rise and fall of his chest as it breathed. This one had a small wound in its side which was caked in drying blood.
Monty nudged Bleddyn and whimpered, trying to tell the vet that he needed help. The vet hesitated. These were dangerous creatures. They might attack at any moment. Then there was the wounded wolf in the middle of the cave. It was obvious that they needed him to help it. Without a second thought he knelt down beside it and began examining his unexpected patient.
Silent tension presided over everyone present as the minutes crawled by. Finally, the vet got up and turned towards the exit of the cave, his face emotionless. Bleddyn wasn't moving. Not caring whether they could understand or not, he told them the truth.
"I put him to sleep." he said sadly. "There was nothing else I could do."
Without another word, he left the den and began walking back to town.
Kapu just stood there motionless, his eyes wide and mouth ajar.
Monty could do nothing except watch as his friend broke down into tears over his father's body. Monty could feel his own tears moisten his cheeks as he, too, wept for this very unfortunate event.
Kapu was suddenly silent. He got to his feet; his head hung low and started to growl fiercely.
"Kapu? What's the matter?" Monty asked, puzzled by his friend's sudden change in demeanor.
"You." Kapu said, just above a whisper.
"Excuse me?" Monty asked, now slightly worried about his friend's apparent aggression.
Kapu's head snapped up, his eyes ablaze with anger. The Kapu Monty had known had vanished and in his place stood an avatar of retribution. His father's death had matured Kapu well beyond his years and he would have vengeance upon those responsible.
"This is your fault!" Kapu yelled, though he made no move to attack, his intentions were clear.
"My fault? How is this my fault?" Monty protested, utterly bewildered and slightly unnerved.
"If you hadn't brought that vet then he might have made it!" Kapu continued to yell. "It's your fault!"
With a roar, he lunged at him. Monty jumped to the side and assumed a defensive stance, but made no aggressive move.
"Kapu, you must understand. There was nothing to be done." Monty attempted to reason with his enraged friend. "My master spared your father a slow death and many hours of pain."
"No!" Kapu yelled stubbornly. "He would have made it! I'm sure of it!"
He lunged again, this time connecting with Monty's flank. Monty was knocked to the ground. He got to his feet and was immediately knocked down again.
"Stay down and I'll "Spare you a slow death and many hours of pain."" He used Monty's own words with such acidity that they would have burnt through stone if it were possible.
"Please Kapu…" Monty begged.
Before he could pick himself up again, Kapu was standing over him. Kapu reared up on his hind legs and brought his forepaws down upon Monty's side. Monty screamed in pain. Kapu reared and brought his paws down again.
"Now you die." He growled as he picked Monty up by the neck and began to squeeze.
Monty was in too much pain to resist. Only one thought traveled through his mind as he struggled in vain for breath and his vision dimmed.
"Why?"
Suddenly, he felt the pressure on his throat lessen and finally cease. Kapu released him and he dropped to the ground, gasping loudly.
"I spared your life only because we were friends, once. Do not expect me to do so again. Kapu growled. "Now be gone! Just remember, I will have my revenge eventually."
"Kapu, please don't…" Monty began.
Kapu spun round and his paw connected with Monty's muzzle.
"I said "Be gone!"" he roared.
Tears came to Monty's eyes, not from the blow he had just received, but from sadness. His best friend had just announced his eventual murder. He ran from the den towards his home, weeping bitterly.
Kapu watched him go, staring daggers into the back of his head.
"You will pay eventually Monty. You will pay."
Present day.
Kapu got to his feet and started towards his den, the recently risen sun lending him comfort from his dark memories. Ever since that fateful day, he and Monty had waged unceasing war with no side gaining an obvious advantage, but thanks to his new plan, Kapu was sure this would change.
Little did he know that his misplaced hatred towards Monty would soon cost him far more than a mere friendship.
A/N: So what do you think of my first attempt? I don't think it's all that bad. Leave a review but be nice about it. If you have to flame, then do so in a way that you'll be proud of tomorrow. With regards to an update, all I can say is that I can't tell you because I don't know myself. You'll just have to wait. ;D