When the Snow

Dyed Red

Chapter One

It's the middle of summer. No wind blew through the compound, making the scorching summer heat almost unbearable. A blond haired male led the half-wolf named Terra back to the cage where she was kept. He locked her in, his mind on the money he had won since Terra had won the match against the pit bull. "You did well Terra! You make sure you get some rest my money maker!" he says. He walks away, counting the money. "I hate him..." Terra says, panting. "Yeah. Every dog does." says a collie in the cage next to Terra. The collie is white with patches of black and brown. Her name is Claire and she's the closest thing to a friend. Terra pushes herself up and walks over to her water dish to drink whatever's left of the dirty water. "I hate every human" she grumbles. Claire sighs and puts her head on her paws. "Well you're a dog that lives in a small caged area. I don't blame you." She looks at her cage. It's much bigger. "I'm not sure why mine is bigger"

Terra grumbles. "Oh, stop bragging." Claire growls, "I'm not bragging!" she looks up and sees a boxer being lead to his cage on the other side of Terra and whispers, "Oh great. Here he comes."

The boxer enters in his cages and sits. His name is Killer, another top fighting dog. He scratches his ear. "How did the fight go Terra?" he asks. "I won, of course" she says irritably. Killer smirks. "You know, if you ever had to fight me I'd rip you to shreds." Terra just looks at him. "That stupid human won't make us fight each other. He only wants us to get this thing call money or whatever." she says with a huff while watching the sun sink to the ground. "He doesn't want me to fight. He says I'm his beauty dog or something I go to those pageants with other dogs. I hate it." Claire growls. "He makes me wear that stupid gold collar which weighs a ton." She sighs, "I hope one day we can leave this pit hole of a place." Terra looks at her with her eyes. "At least we're not forced to get pregnant like the other females." Killer yawns with boredom, trying to ignore the girls.

Claire whimpers, "Yeah at least you aren't...He's still finding another collie to make me breed with." Terra looks at the rising moon. It's so beautiful... she thinks. "Terra! I'm scared I think he's close to finding another collie! What am I going to do?" Claire cries. Terra looks back at the frightened collie. "Try and fight back. Kill the other collie. Do what ever." Claire shivers. "I don't know how to fight, but I'll try."

"You can't do anything. Face it you two, you'll never get out of here. You'll just have to fight to survive for the rest of your lives." Killer barks. Claire snorts at him. "At least you don't have to get pregnant on purpose." Terra sits up, "Even if we did get out where would we go? We don't belong anywhere...Especially me." Claire's ears droop and she sighs. "Yeah. We wouldn't even be able to survive out there" She says sadly.

Terra looks at the ground. "But..." Killer and Claire look at her. Then footsteps of a human begin to walk over. "Shh! I think I hear someone coming!" Claire whispers and runs into her dog house. Killer sits. Terra lies down. "Who cares? They can't understand us." She says blankly. A brown haired human is checking all of the cages and gates to make sure they are locked. The three dogs don't make a sound. Terra glares at the human. Finally, the human leaves. "Anyways..." Terra mumbles. Claire pokes her head out and sighs. "I really hate being here." Terra looks back at the moon. "I feel like there's a place for me." Claire's ears perk and she looks at Terra. "Where Terra? And if there is, I hope there is one for me too?" Killer scratches his ear. "Weren't you saying just a minute ago that you felt like you don't belong anywhere?" he says. Terra looks away from the moon. Claire growls at him and glares. "Oh shut up Killer!" Killer growls at her. "I know but...when ever I look at the moon I think differently." Terra she says. There's hope in her voice.

Killer huffs. "Well you know your never gonna get out of here." Claire comes out of her dog house. "You don't know that Killer" Terra growls at her. "Stay off my side Claire!" She glares at her. "I was only trying to help." She sighs and walks back into her dog house. Terra curls up and whispers," I don't want help...I want to leave."

~ The next Morning~

Terra! Terra, you flea bag, Wake up!

Terra groans and gets up. She looks up at the blond human. Finally! Stupid mutt! The human was mean as ever. Claire pokes her head out of her dog house. Get Claire. He says. The other one opens her cage. Alright. He steps inside with the leash and collar. Claire backs deeper into her cage. The human grabs her and puts the leash on. She yelps and gets dragged out of her cage. Killer paces, itching to fight. I got Claire. You want me to get Killer?, He asks the blond human. Yeah. He'll be the next fighter after Terra. Terra growls and backs up against the back of her cage. Killer jumps up against the cage. "Fight! Fight! Fight!" he chants. "Killer he'll shock u again. Don't bark like that!" Claire warns. Quiet Killer! The human pushes a button and a shock goes through Killer's body. He yelps and sits quietly.

"I told you." Claire whispers. Killer growls at her. You drop Claire off. Bring Killer afterwards. I'll get Terra ready. The other human nods. As they walk toward the fighting, Terra whispers to Claire, "Just kill the collie. Kill him." Claire gulps. "How? My nails are always cut and they make my teeth dull. I have no choice." She whimpers, "If I kill the collie, they'll put me down. I just have to go along with it. I'll be ok. The worse thing is that I'll get pregnant" Terra huffs. "Weakling." The human puts Claire in a cage and puts her in a truck. "I'm not a weakling" she says under her breath, "I just don't want to die".

The truck drives away. Terra watches it disappear. The human takes them to the ring. It's surrounded by other humans waiting for a fight. "Wonder what fluff ball I'm fighting today." Killer says excitedly. Terra rolls her eyes. A booming voice rings in their ears. IN THIS CORNER WHO IS UNSTOPPABLE IS TERRA AND IN THIS CORNER IS THE NEXT STRONGEST DOG FLUFFY! The human places Terra in the ring. Make me a SuperStar. He say's to her.

The dog, Fluffy steps into the ring. He is much bigger than but Terra stands there, unafraid. "You ready to loose your title Terra?" he barks. She stares at him, emotionless. READY! REALSE! "PREPARE TO DIE!" Fluffy launches at her. Terra swiftly ducks under him and clamps on his foot. She tosses him into one of the rings walls. Fluffy jumps back up and grabs Terra by the neck. Terra tears off his neck and he yelps. In anger he tosses Terra away. Terra gets up easily even with her neck wound pouring out blood. She unaffected by it and lowers her head. She looks like a wolf! One human cries out. Fluffy begins to shake in fear of her. Terra launches at him and bites into his shoulder. Fluffy yelps. She bites through the muscle and there is a loud crack. Fluffy screams in pain and falls to the ground. Terra lets go, her face fur dyed red and kicks dirt on him before walking away. AND THE WINNER AND STILL CHAMPION IS TERRA! Terra leaves the ring and licks her wound.

NOW IN THIS CORNER IS THE MENACING KILLER! AND IN THE OTHER CORNER IS JANGO! Killer snarls menacingly at the other dog. "A-Are you going to hurt me?" Jango asks timidly. Killer laughs. "This is going to be too easy." He lunges at the frightened dog and pins him against the hard dry ground. Jango yelps and tries to fight back. Killer clamps on his throat and squeezes until Jango goes limp. The human takes Killer out. "Too easy", he says yawning. And once again Terra and Killer stay in the lead! Come back next week for another amazing battle! See ya next week! The humans voice dies down as Terra and Killer get taken back to their cages. Claire comes out of her dog house, yawning. "How did it go?" she asks. Terra lays down. "I won of course." Killer grins and barks. "I won my match! OF COURSE!" Clearly he had enjoyed himself in his battle. Claire sighs. "It seemed like you were having fun" she says. "Fun? Of course I had fun! What's more fun than getting to rip another dog's head off?" Killer yells. "All you did was suffocate him." Terra says quietly. "You killed a dog again?" Claire asks him.

"I killed a dog again? What kind of question is that? Of course I did! Hence the name KILLER!"

"You have problems, Killer. Serious problems"

"Like I said, it's fight for survival in this place. But you would never understand, since the humans treat you like a stupid poodle!"

Claire growls at him. "I am not a poodle! I don't act like a snob you over grown pup!" she snarls back. Tired of hearing their bickering, Terra turns to Killer.

"Hey guess what Killer."

"What?"

"Shut up"

Claire giggles and Terra smirks. Killer lays down and growls quietly. "Stupid collie..." she says quietly whimpering. "Told you. You should have fought back." After a few minutes of quiet, snarling and growling is heard. Terra jumps up and walks to the front of the cage. Claire and Killer do the same and they all listen. Some humans appear dragging a very large dog toward a cage. "New dog?" Terra watches. It clearly did not want to be taken into the cage. "Looks like it" says Killer. "He's enormous." Terra says while staring at the large dog. "Maybe he's from the pound" Claire suggested. "He doesn't smell like he came from the pound" Terra tenses,"He smells much different." What is he? She thinks. Claire sniffs. "Your right. I've only smelled this one other time. He smells like the wild." Terra looks at Claire.

"The wild? What's that?" Claire looks back at her. "It's where animals who don't have humans ,or anything like we have, live." The wild. Terra thinks. She looks back at the large dog being shoved in the cage. "There's no such place." Terra looks at Killer. He huffs. "All dogs live with humans" Terra looks back at the pacing dog. "Then maybe he isn't a dog" she says. Killer looks at the dog. "He sure looks like a dog" The dog looks at them. His eyes are similar to Terra's eye but only red. "Who are you?" Claire asks. The dog lowers his head down and glares. Terra glares back at him. Killer jumps on the gate in front of him and snarls at the new dog. The dog lifts his head and stops glaring. He wags his tail and barks at them. "What is your name and where do you come from?" Claire asks. The dog twitches his nose. "Can you talk?" The dog nods. Killer jumps at the wire again and barks. "Shut up Killer. Jeez" Terra says irritably. "Can u tell us your name? Oh I'm sorry my name is Claire and this is Terra and Killer." Claire says. Terra growls at Claire. "Don't say my name to him!" Killer sits down, "Killer of Dogs is my full name." The dog looks at Terra and paws at the gate in front of him. "Now that you know our names what's yours?" Claire asks.

The dog blinks. "Forgive me. But I will not say my name." he says. "Why not? Is it something embarrassing like Fluffy?" Killer laughs. "No. I am very proud of my name." the dog says calmly. "Can u tell us where u come from? I can smell strange scents that I have only smelled once before are u as I believe from the wild?" Claire asks. The dog sits. "I cannot say that" Claire sighs. "What should we call you?" The dog sits up. "Call me Wolf." Terra huffs and goes to the back of her cage and lies down. Killer rolls his eyes. Claire goes into her dog house. Wolf sits and watches Terra.

~A few days later~

Terra wakes up to the blinding, hot sun. Ugh... she thinks. Mornings are always the worst time of day. There will be no shade from the sun for a few hours. Already beginning to heat up from her thick coat, Terra goes to a ditch that she digged out. At least it's a little cooler there. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Claire make her way to her food bowl. After a few moments of staring at the food, she pushes it away. "You're not going to eat?" Terra asks, but Claire just goes back to her dog house. The human that takes care of Claire walks over. What's wrong Claire? You haven't eaten in awhile. Claire whimpers. Then Killer's loud voice rings in Terra's ears. "Who cares? Gimme her food!" he barks. Terra growls trying to ignore the human and Killer. Terra closes her eyes. She tries to imagine the wild. It sounded wonderful. It sounded like freedom. Terra breaths in, hoping to try and get Wolf's smell. The smell of the wild.

Terra sniffs again and flashes her eyes open. She looks at Wolf's cage. He isn't there. Where was he? The blond headed human comes up to her cage. Alright Terra. Time for some practice. Of course! He must have been the dog to practice on. The human takes her to the ring. A wired ring. Claire and Killer can see her battle. Hey Jake. The blond human says to the one in front of Claire. You can take her to the vet after the practice round. Get Killer. He needs to practice too. The other one nods. "Let me out! Let me fight let me fight!" Killer barks jumping on the front of the cage. The human takes out Killer. He's shaking all over from the excitement. "Oh boy oh boy oh boy! Fight Fight Fight!" He says giddily. Claire rolls her eyes. "Stupid mutt." Terra enters into the wired ring. And indeed, Wolf is there.

Wolf looks at her. "What's going on?" he asks. Terra curls her lips back and launches at him. Wolf moves out of the way swiftly. Terra lands and looks at him. No one has ever dodged her attacks! Not even once! She starts attacking him again. "Get him Terra!" Killer yells out. "Rip his head off!" Terra finally tackles him and pins him against the hot, hard ground. "Oh wow..." wolf whispers. Terra ignores him. "Bite his throat!" Killer yells. "I can't watch." Claire looks away. Wolf smiles at Terra. "You're beautiful."

Terra uncurls her lips and gasps. She backs away to the wires. He gets up and shakes the dust out of his fur. "I can help you get out of here." He says, "I am Cortes of the Cerulean Sun Wolf Pack." Terra stares at him, stunned by the kindness he shows and the compliment he gave. Killer barks loudly. "What is she doing? Let me in there! Ill rip his head off! Ill do it!" He snarls. Claire notices the humans getting angry. "The humans are getting really angry!" Cortes glances at the humans then looks back at Terra. "Terra. Come with me. I can get you out of here." Terra stares at him. "I can set you free." He says almost whispering.

You stupid half-dog! Yells the blond human. Terra looks at the ground and curls her lips back. Cortes's ears start to lower. But suddenly, Terra launches herself at the human and clamps on his throat. "Woah..." Cortes whispers. He jumps out of the ring as well and Terra releases the human. She made sure to leave a scar on his neck. The human gets up and runs. Kill those wolves! The word echoes in her head. Wolf. Then she remembered. Her father was a wolf and her mother was a Husky. "Terra!" Terra focuses on reality again. "Terra lets go!" Cortes looks at her urgently. Terra nods. "And good riddance!" Killer snarls. "Now that you're going Ill be the best dog!" Cortes smirks at Killer and chuckles. "Its a good thing you didn't battle me Killer of Dogs." Cortes looks at him, "I would have killed you." Killer growls. "Yeah right!" Terra and Cortes runs but Terra stops in front of Claire. Claire looks at her with pleading. "Please get me out of here! Please Terra!" She whimpers. Terra launches at her gate and breaks the lock. Claire pushes it open. "You two go ahead." Cortes says to the two girls.

Terra looks at him. "What about you?" Cortes puffs out his chest to look even braver. "I'll catch up with you later." Terra huffs. "Show off." She and Claire run to the main gate. "You maybe the Killer of dogs" Cortes says. He looks at Killer, "But you'll never be the killer of Wolves." The human holding back Killer lets go of his chain and Killer runs toward Cortes snarling and growling. He launches in the air at him, ready to kill him.

YELP! Cortes clamps down on Killers neck. Killer's screams and yelps gets cut off as Cortes squeezes his neck. Killer goes limp and Cortes sets him down. He runs to Terra and Claire. "Life is not all about fighting" he whispers, "If only you could have realized that."

Terra leaps over the large gate and breaks the lock. "Ok! It's unlocked!" she calls over. Cortes slams against the gate door. "Was that necessary?" Terra asks. Cortes staggers a bit and shakes his fur. "Probably not. But I always wanted to do that!" he says happily. Claire giggles. "Claire, Join a dog pack. It's the best thing for your pups." He says calmly. "Thank you Cortes. Where is one that will take me in?" She asks. "There's one a few miles from here." Terra suggested. "You can go there" Cortes nods. "And Terra and I are going to head in that direction." Claire smiles and barks happily. "Then I will travel with you until we get to the dog pack." Cortes grunts in agreement and they run down the street, finally free.