"Come on guys!" Humphrey said instigating. "If we get going now, we can probably make it to the top by morning!"
Everyone else was still in shock. Humphrey must have been out of his mind. Finally, Shakey spoke up. "Humphrey, are you crazy? We can't go up Pyramid Mountain just to go log sledding!"
"Why not?"
"Well, first of all," answered Garth "it's the center of the cougar territory. If we go up there, Harrison and his boys will rip us apart. What do you suppose we do? Go sneak past them to the top?"
"No! I have a much better idea."
"What?"
"We're going to go meet Harry face-to-face, and ask him if we can slide down. That way he won't feel like we're sneaking past him, and he won't be angry with us."
Garth almost exploded laughing. When he finally died down, Salty went on. "And you think he's going to say 'yes' to that?"
"Well, the cougars don't own the mountain."
"Uhh, technically they do."
"Well, it's worth a shot, don't you guys think?"
"What's with all the talking?" Shouted Mooch angrily. "Why are you all being so loud? Can't we just sit back and be ummm, uhhh, quiet for a uhh, yinute?" Everyone turned awkwardly to Mooch for a second. After a few seconds of the silent awkwardness the demanded, he quickly turned around and threw up all over the ground, reminding everyone that he was still drunk.
"And another thing:" Garth continued. "If the cougars don't kill us, the sled ride definitely will. I mean just look at how high and steep Pyramid Mountain is. We'll be sliding down at incredible speeds, the rocky slopes will probably shatter our log, and if we crash, which we probably will, we're dead!"
"Don't worry about the ride, Garth." Replied Humphrey still calm. "First off, the snow should cushion us against most of the rocks. Second. I have a plan."
"What plan?" asked Shakey.
"You remember that blanket we took from the hunters earlier? We're going to need that."
"Well, no matter what, I think we are up for this little ride," spoke up Marcel. "What do you say Paddy?"
"Whatever you say sir." He replied
"See, the birds are up for it." Said Humphrey.
"Well, thing is if anything goes wrong we can fly away." Replied Marcel. "I don't know about you wolves though."
"Oh, right." Said Shakey sullenly.
"Humphrey, I don't think you're thinking this through entirely." Said Garth in a calming tone, the kind of tone you use to talk to your friend when they are hysterical and you want them to calm down. "Maybe you had a bit too much punch. I say we just call it a day and go back to the dens."
"Nah! I'm fine." Humphrey replied. "I just had like, three or four cups. Mooch on the other hand, I'm a bit worried about." He pointed over to Mooch, who still had a ring of vomit around his snout, and then he turned around and threw up again.
Suddenly, Salty got an idea. "Uhh, yeah! We should be worried about Mooch. I mean, nineteen cups of punch, that's a lot! I don't think he's sober enough to sled."
"We'll dunk him in the pond here a bit to wake him up." Replied Humphrey apathetically. "Besides, by the time we reach the top, he'll be well and sober again."
"Look Humphrey," said Shakey, now in a serious tone. "It's cool that you want us all to do this, but we all love our lives, and we're not going to throw them out just because you want to do something fun before you get married."
"But you guys are my friends." Humphrey asked, his spirits starting to falter. "Shakey, what about everything you said at the hot springs about sticking together and being there for each other?"
"I know I said those things, and believe me, we will always be there for you and help you when you need us, but going on a pointless suicide mission that's entirely your idea? That's a bit different."
"Yeah Humphrey." Garth spoke up. "We all love you, but we have our own lives. Just look. I'm the future leader of the pack, and I want to lead the pack and keep it safe, just as my father trusts me to do so. Shakey here is getting engaged to Janice soon, Salty finally got a relationship, Mooch is still looking for one…"
"And what about us?" asked Marcel, starting to feel excluded. "There are still dozens of golf courses I would still like to tour in my time. Places I want to see. Things I want to do."
"And we both want to meet girls ourselves." Added Paddy.
Humphrey could understand what they were all getting at. They all looked at him with sad, serious faces. The faces told him that they could not come with him on this. They would not put their lives at such risk just for him. He understood that, but it seems they did not understand what was going through his mind.
"Guys, like I said before, you're all family to me. I love you guys. Do you really think I'd put your lives at risk like that? Like I said before, I have a plan. I'll explain it to you on the way back to the den. Just trust me."
"Why are we going back to the den?" asked Salty.
"We need to get the blanket, remember? So come on guys. I promise, nothing will happen to you guys, we're going to come out of this alive." And then Humphrey started to turn around and walk in the direction of the dens, glancing back to see if his friends would follow.
The other wolves first exchanged worried glances, then after a few minutes, Garth walked off after Humphrey. And then Shakey followed, then Salty, then Mooch, then Marcel, then Paddy on his crutch.
The party quickly ran back to the dens, and grabbed the blanket, which they tied around Mooch to carry. They had also stopped by the creak again and quickly dunked him in the water a few times to help wake him up, as he was still drunk. They had taken the blanket off of him for this, as Humphrey did not want the blanket to get wet. It had taken them a full hour to do all of this. By that time, the moon was at its apex in the sky, indicating midnight. Many stars were still in the sky, but many fireflies and crickets and called it a night and vanished, beginning to allow the valley to fall asleep. The party was now heading in the direction of the large mountains.
"Wow Humphrey bro. You really had me worried there." Salty was saying. "At first I really thought you were out of your mind, but now that you've explained the whole plan, I feel so much safer."
"Yeah, me too." Added Shakey.
"I still think this is a bad idea." Garth piped up, uneasiness in his voice.
"You've thought everything we've done today was a bad idea." Said Shakey, making everyone giggle.
"And I was right for everything, except the hot spring part, because no one got hurt there."
"What about me?" snapped Paddy, who was angry that Garth apparently forgot about his burnt foot.
"Oh right. Sorry."
"Hey what have we got here?" Humphrey suddenly said, as they came to a bush. Everyone listened for a second, and they could all here loud voices, singing and laughing. As they looked behind the bushes, they found the source of the noise.
Right there was a conga line of wolves, about ten of them, all hopping and kicking to the sides in sync with each other. In the head of the line was Milo, followed by Candu, then Rocky, then Hutch, and then some other wolves that the gang recognized but did not know personally. They were having their own little after-party.
They were all singing together a song that everyone could recognize:
Milo: When the party was nice, the party was jumpin'
Line: Hey, Yippie, Yi, Yo
Candu: And everybody havin' a ball
Line: Hah, ho, Yippie Yi Yo
Rocky: I tell the fellas start the name callin'
Line: Yippie Yi Yo
Hutch: And the girls report to the call
All: The poor dog show down!
Who let the dogs out (who, who, who, who)
Who let the dogs out (who, who, who, who)
Who let the dogs out (who, who, who, who)
Who let the dogs out (who, who, who, who)
Humphrey was bobbing his head and tapping his paw along with the music, as was Shakey. "Man, we should have done this at the howl." Said Salty.
Suddenly, as the line was trailing past the bushes, Milo looked over and noticed the gang. "Hey guys! Come on!" He shouted over the singing and waved at them. "Jump in the line!"
"And rock your body in time!" added Candu.
Humphrey was about to jump in the line, when Garth put up his paw, stopping him. "Sorry Milo, we're having our own little after-party." He replied.
Milo gave a confused look, so he hopped out of the line, and headed over to the gang, and was soon followed by Candu, and Rocky, and then Hutch, who passed on the lead to the guy behind him.
"What do you mean your own little after party? What are you guys planning? Where are you going for it?" Milo asked confused.
"You guys think you can throw a better after party than us?" asked Candu, a slight bit of irritation in his voice.
"No, nothing like that." Answered Humphrey. "We're going to go log sledding on Pyramid Mountain."
"Oh, okay." Replied Milo, acting as though it was nothing. The other three, on the other hand, looked quite shocked.
"What about the cougars?" demanded Hutch in a worried, curious tone. "How are you going to get past them?"
"We're actually going to ask them permission." Answered Shakey, leaving Hutch with a still puzzled look.
"And do you really think you can beat those steep, scary slopes?" added Candu.
"We'll try. And Humphrey here as a plan for it." Said Garth.
"Well, okay. Good luck. Hope you guys make it out okay." Said Milo.
"Thanks. We'll see you guys after the ride tomorrow." Replied Humphrey as he and the gang all walked past the foursome, and then the line, continuing their trek towards Pyramid Mountain. Mooch followed along, still staggering.
When they had gone, Rocky spoke up. "Hey guys, I have an idea."
"What?" the other three turned to him and said in unison.
"Milo, run back to the eastern dens, get everyone who's still awake, and tell them to come out here. And tell them to bring all the meat they can carry"
"You got it." Milo replied and saluted. And then ran off towards the dens to follow his orders.
Rocky turned to Candu next. "Candu, you do the same for the western dens."
"I'm another beta you know," Candu responded angrily. "You can't tell me what to do."
"Come on, just do this. I'm asking you as a friend." Rocky replied calmly.
"Fine." And with that, Candu was off.
"We're going to have some fun when they get back here with the meat." Rocky said to Hutch with a grin.
Another fifteen minutes of walking, and the party had finally come to the foot of Pyramid mountain. The giant, tall and wide, had blocked out the moon, casting a long, dark shadow over the small portion of the valley, which had darkened the valley the last few minutes of their walk. The wolves ran their eyes up the mountain, looking at the steep, twisted slopes that they would soon have to conquer. Thankfully, they noticed that the slope flattened out at some places, somewhat resembling the more shallow slopes of the valley that they were use to. Finally, their eyes came to the top of the stretched out, yet jagged top of the mountain, high up and foreboding. They then looked down again, and noticed a small slope that seemed like a trail that started going u the mountain. That would be their starting point. They still stared at the mountain and let it's intimidating size sink in.
"Well, we're not going to get to the top by just standing here." Humphrey finally spoke up cheerfully. "Let's get going." And he headed toward the path.
Salty gulped at the immense height of the mountain, and then followed Humphrey. The other wolves must all have been thinking the same thing, as they all had terrified expressions on their faces.
"You know Humphrey," Marcel said. "Paddy and I have been walking along with you boys for most of this trek so far. If you don't mind, I think we will fly to the top and meet you guys there. Just because we're tired of walking."
"Oh, you're tired?" Paddy snapped irritated. "Try walking this far with a burnt foot!"
"Yes Paddy. I am fully aware of your condition. I'm tired now, so I can barely imagine how exhausted you must be now."
"Okay then." Replied Humphrey. "You guys go on and fly up and we'll meet up with you guys."
"Hey wait." Garth chimed in. "How about you guys take the blanket so Mooch doesn't have to?"
"I suppose it would make things easier for you boys." Replied Marcel. "I guess I should get it so you don't have to Paddy."
"I'd appreciate that, Sir." Paddy replied gratefully.
Salty was already at work untying the blanket from Mooch's back, and started folding it up into squares as small as he could.
"Say, what should we do if we run into the cougars? No doubt they will attack and devour us if given the chance." Asked Marcel, shuddering at that last thought.
"Then do what you said earlier: Fly away!" chuckled Shakey.
After everyone shared the laugh, Salty finally had the blanket folded up, and handed it to Marcel. "Now remember, don't get it in the snow. We can't get it wet." Salty reminded him.
"I promise, I will guard it with my life." Marcel replied. "Unless of course it is absolutely necessary because you know, I'm not going to risk my life for a blanket."
And so, Marcel took the blanket in his feet, flew off up the mountain, Paddy tailing right behind him. "Are you sure you've got that sir?" asked Paddy.
"Don't worry Paddy. If I can carry Humphrey around, I can handle this blanket."
The wolves watched from below as the birds flew off until Humphrey finally spoke up. "Well, we don't want to keep them waiting. Come on!" And he ran off up the path, all his companions followed as they began the dangerous part of their trek.
Meanwhile, back in the valley, Milo, Candu, and all the other wolves had all joined up with Rocky and Hutch with all of their meat. However, the other wolves who were already there were still doing the conga line.
"All we need to do is get their attention and we can get this assembly started." Stated Hutch.
"No problem." Replied Rocky. He stepped forward closer to the crowd. "Okay guys, look over here quick." Of course, nobody listened to him. Why would they? They were all dancing, singing, and laughing together. Why would stop just because one person asked politely?
"Umm, hello! Over here!" shouted Rocky.
"I got this one, Rocks." Said Milo smoothly stepping forward. He cleared his throat, took a deep breath, and then screamed at the top of his lungs "YYYEEEEEYIEYIEYIEYIEYIEYYYEY!"
This definitely made the line stop and turn towards Milo. "Uh, Milo, why did you do that?" Hutch asked. He was both confused and embarrassed.
"Hutch, my good friend. Nothing gets people's attention more than a totally random scream in the middle of a crowd. Man, I'm good!"
"Thanks buddy." Rocky uttered, slapping Milo a high-five.
All eyes were on the four of them now, so seeing his cue, Hutch cleared his throat and spoke up to the whole crowd. "We have some news for you. Our good friends Humphrey, Garth, Salty, Shakey, and Mooch are all journeying to the top of Pyramid Mountain to go log sledding."
This aroused some gossip amongst the crowd. They mostly said things like "What are they? Crazy" or "They're going to die." "What are we going to do without Garth?" "Salty owes me a squirrel!" "I heard those birds are going with them."
"Yeah, crazy, I know." Hutch continued.
"So, anyone wanna bet that the omegas won't survive?" asked Rocky to the crowd.
"Oh, me! I bet two caribou legs that all the omegas die, but Garth and the birds survive." Announced a red-furred, white spotted wolf. He walked up with two caribou legs in his jaws, and dropped them onto the ground in front of Rocky and the foursome.
"Now whatever you bet, if you win, all the meat will be divided amongst you and whomever also bet the same outcome." Stated Hutch. "If you lose, you forfeit your meat. If you win, and you should still get more meat from the share, the four of us will pay you back when we can."
"The four of us?" asked Milo, skeptically.
"Okay, that's two legs for Torque." Said Candu, as he drew a mark in the dirt to remind everyone.
Lola spoke out next. "We bet a set of ribs on Salty and Shakey." Abby brought up the bloody ribs, and placed them in the middle."
"An entire sirloin and tenderloin say that Humphrey, Garth, and Shakey survive." Said a black wolf, bringing up his meat.
"I got a torso on everyone surviving but Mooch." Exclaimed another.
"A calf on Humphrey, Shakey, and the birds."
"I bet an entire caribou on none of them."
"Yeah, me to. Three legs on none of them."
Everyone was grabbing for their meat, and bringing it to Hutch, Rocky, Candu and Milo, and all calling out their bets on who they thought was most likely to survive, and betting against those they thought would not. The four frantically tried to keep track on all the bets being made when suddenly, Milo though of something, and turned to Rocky.
"Hey Rocky, I've just thought of something: You know how Humphrey and his friends are all going to be up there on the mountain, and we're all going to be down here?"
"Yeah, so?"
"So how are we going to see all the action from here? You know? How are we going to know who lives and who dies?"
"Oh, right, hadn't thought about that." Rocky admitted. He thought for a second, then snapped his fingers. "Oh, I know! Milo, you know my collection of junk I collect from the hunters we've beaten?"
"Yeah."
"Well in the junk, I think I have this thing that looks like two small tube connected together. They have holes in the tubes, covered in glass. I might have two of these devices. I don't know. Anyway, run back to our den and grab up those devices, and bring them back here. Got it?
"Roger!" and with that, Milo was off again, and Rocky went back to keeping track of the bets.
Meanwhile, Humphrey, Garth, and the other omegas were already hard at work climbing up the perilous slopes of Pyramid Mountain. The path that had started them off had long since disappeared, and now they had to scale the side of the mountain, standing up, and being very careful not to slip off the thin strip of rock they were given to stand on. Garth took the lead, followed Humphrey, then Mooch, then Salty, and ending with Shakey. Occasionally, chunks of the wall gave way and broke off, but the wolves always managed to save themselves from falling. They all kept quiet to concentrate on the trail.
Even Mooch by this point was started to become more balanced. He was finally starting to sober up, although he still threw up every now and then. Occasionally, he lost his balance and almost fell over the edge, but his friends were there to catch him and pull him back up together.
Finally, they came to a ledge not far away. It was wider, so they could actually start walking like normal again, and the moon was shining on it, so they could see better. Only problem was that it was about two yards away, and the strip of rock on which the wolves scaled ended right there.
"We're going to have to jump." Announced Garth.
"Jump? Are you crazy?" asked Mooch, shocked.
"Don't worry. We can make it." Said Garth reassuringly. "I'll go first." He carefully got down on all fours, still careful not to lose his balance and fall over the edge to his death. He crouched down quick, and then took a flying leap, and landed safely on the path. "Alright Humphrey, your up." He called back to Humphrey.
"Garth, we're not fit alphas like you." Humphrey answered nervously. "I don't think we can make this."
"Just jump. You'll make it, trust me."
"Okay…" Humphrey looked down. They had been climbing for about an hour now, and have come up so high. When he looked down, he saw the long slope of the mountain stretching down about a mile, ending with the hard ground that would shatter all of his bones if he fell and met it.
Humphrey gulped at that thought. And then he looked up again at Garth. "You can make it Humphrey!" he called. He had a look on his face, and kind, friendly look. A look that said "I won't let you fall."
At last, Humphrey took a deep breath got as close to the edge of the strip as possible, and crouched down as low as he could. "Go for it Humphrey! We're right behind you." Called Shakey from the rear. "Yeah." Insisted Mooch.
Finally, Humphrey exhaled, looked straight ahead at the ledge, and jumped. The jump seemed to last a scary, painful five minutes, but at last he hit the ledge, most of his body got on, but his hind legs did not get a good grasp of it, and he began to slip back.
Garth dashed forward and held out his paw, which Humphrey grabbed hold of, stopping himself from slipping off the ledge. "Hold on!" Garth exclaimed, and he managed to pull him up with his great alpha strength and a few grunts.
Humphrey took a breather once he was up on the ledge safely. That was truly terrifying. Had it not been for Garth, he would have fallen to his death. "Thanks." He managed to blurt out after a few breaths.
"Don't mention it." Garth replied, turning back to the other omegas. "Okay, your turn Mooch." Humphrey called over.
"Are you insane!" he shouted back in horror. "If Humphrey can barely make that, there's now way I can. I'm way to heavy!"
"Just jump out as far as you can. We'll catch you."
"Okay, I guess." And so Mooch got low, close the edge, almost lost his balance, but Salty put his paw on him from behind to steady him. Mooch still had a look of terror on his face as he crouched down and prepared to jump.
"On the count of three jump." Called Garth, trying to encourage him. "One…" Mooch did not look any less scared. Humphrey and Garth got to the edge of the ledge and held out their paws, preparing to catch him.
"Two…" Humphrey, Salty and Shakey had joined the countdown. Mooch closed his eyes and braced himself.
"Three!" "RAAAAHHH!" Mooch yelped as he jumped out as far as his legs would carry him. Only his upper body made it. He tried to cling to the ledge with his paws, but he was slowly slipping. Garth seized his left paw as Humphrey got his right, and both pulled as hard as they could, grunting as they did so.
"Come on guys, you can do it!" cheered Salty. "You got him!"
At last, with combined effort, Humphrey and Garth managed to pull Mooch up to safety.
"Phew! Thanks guys." Mooch huffed.
"What else are friends for?" smiled Humphrey.
"Me next!" called Salty with glee. He was already at the edge, crouched down, and was about to jump, seeming to blow caution into the wind, and took a flying leap.
"Whoa!" Garth cried as he ran back toward the edge of the ledge. He quickly extended his forelegs and caught Salty under the shoulders, and pulled him in onto the ledge. "Dude! Give us a bit more of a warning next time!" Garth scolded.
"Sorry." Salty stammered.
"Let's go, Shakey." Humphrey called over to Shakey, who now stood alone on the edge.
Shakey took his time scotching over to the edge, crouching down, taking a deep breath to get over his fear, and at last took a flying leap. It was a big jump, bigger than Humphrey's and Salty's were. He definitely would make it, without his friends having to catch him or pull him up. Everyone on the ledge moved out of the way for him as he landed.
"Nice jump." Commented Humphrey.
"Thanks." Shakey replied.
"Okay, we're all across, let's get going." Said Garth, walking ahead again. The path up ahead was sloping upward around the mountain. Up ahead was a bend that turned upward more. There were two large rocks on the trail on this level, large enough to hide a cougar. One closer to the wall, the other closer to the edge. The wolves walked through the gap in between them.
Suddenly, Garth's nose picked up a new scent. It was a foul smell that could only be another animal.
"Wait!" he hissed back to the others, and held up his paw, signaling for them to stop.
"What? What's wrong?" asked Humphrey. And then his nose picked up the scent that Garth's keen alpha senses had picked up before him.
"Ohh, I get it." Stated Salty, who had also picked up the scent.
And then they heard the crunch of heavy footsteps on the rock with their acute hearing. The footsteps seemed to be getting louder, and louder. It was right above them, just up around the bend on the trail above them.
"Someone's coming!" Garth whispered back to the others seriousness in his voice. The anger type of serious, not fear.
"Is it a cougar?" asked Mooch, starting to sound worried.
"I think so." Garth had been taught that he must not show fear in front of his pack, even if those who were his closest friends. He must display himself as a strong, confident, fearless leader.
"Okay guys, remember the plan." Humphrey spoke up and took a step in front of Garth. We're just going to ask him or her to take us up to Harry. No insults, no violence. Just a clean, friendly conversation."
"Okay, whatever you say." Shakey replied sheepishly. He was obviously afraid that this cougar would tear them apart. Nevertheless, the held his ground as the others did.
Finally, the large body of the cougar stepped around the bend, and stopped facing the wolves. The glare of the moon had silhouetted most of his body, so it was difficult to make out its fur color, although they could make out his head, and noticed that his ears, standing straight up on his head, were gnawed and had some teeth marks in them. The cougar then let his small cat tongue hang loose from his mouth as he stared down at the wolves. However, what truly gave away this cougar's identity was when the wolves' eyes adjusted to the light, and they looked into his crazed, bloodshot eyes, with the dark yellow iris, and blood-red sclera.
"Oh, phew." Huffed Salty in relief. "Its just Pete."
"What do you mean 'Just Pete'?" Garth sneered back at him, trying to remind him what Pete was capable of.
"Well he's obviously not going to take us to Harry." Humphrey commented sadly. "I guess it can't hurt to ask though. Hey Pete-"
"No!" Snapped Garth. "What are you doing? Don't say anything."
The other omegas took the cue as well, and shut their mouths, and didn't move. They just stared up at Pete, waiting for him to do something, but he did not. He just stood there, his twisted eyes glancing off in different directions.
"Nobody move," Garth whispered "nobody make a sound."
"But you're making a sound right now." Whispered Salty.
"Salty, shut up!" Garth hissed back.
Pete continued to sit and stare with that creepy grin on his face. A fly buzzed up around his head, but he took no notice of it. It even landed right on his eyeball, and he did not even flinch. The fly then got off and buzzed away.
"Maybe he's calm." Shakey finally said, breaking the silence.
With that, Pete finally lowered his ears, stepped forward, and roared at them, startling them. "HEHEHEEHE WAHAHAAH!" He cackled as he picked up a rock and hurtled it at the wolves.
Humphrey hopped out of the way as the rock bounced off the ground, and off the mountain.
"He's not calm!" cried Humphrey.
"Quick, behind the rocks!" Garth ordered.
And with that, the wolves charged behind the rocks as Pete continued to throw rocks at them. Mooch, Salty, and Shakey got behind the one closest to the wall while Garth and Humphrey took the one closest to the edge. Pete, a demonic shadow in the moonlight, cackled manically at his trapped adversaries.
Back in the valley, Kate, Lilly, Janice, and Reba had all finished removing their make-up, and where now walking through the woods towards the dens.
"I can't believe it took us that long to get that make-up off!" complained Reba.
"Well, we didn't go strait to the pond to wash it off, remember?" replied Kate. "We walked together and talked about how the howl went."
"I must admit, it was a fun howl, for me and Shakey!" laughed Janice. "And he said I did great at the show thing."
"I was so nervous when we were up there." Lilly squeaked up. "I was afraid I would miss a step, or screw up a note in the song, or get out of rhythm some how.
"Girl, that's what we rehearsed it for." Said Reba.
"Yeah, and Lilly, you did great. Don't doubt that." Said Kate, trying to comfort her sister. "Did Garth like it?"
"Absolutely. He loved my dancing, and told me that I didn't miss a beat, even though I thought I did, even on the third 'Cause you're Everywhere to me'. He said the only thing better than my singing is my howl, and that he couldn't wait to see me at home." Lilly closed her eyes at that last thought, imagining her big, brawny, strong man in the caves lying down, waiting for her.
"Girl, you have a beautiful singing voice, don't let anyone tell you different!" snapped Reba.
" 'Girl?'" Kate laughed. "Reba, you've been hanging out with Chelsea too much."
"Well, if you're making jokes like that, Kate, you've been hanging out with Humphrey too much!" Janice replied. Everyone laughed at that joke.
"Hey, where is Chelsea now anyway?" asked Lilly when the laughter died down.
"With Milo no doubt." Answered Janice. Earlier, as they were washing off their make-up, Milo had come by and gotten Chelsea to come with him. For some reason, he would not say what for.
"Well, whatever it was, it's probably over now, and everyone's at the dens, asleep, getting ready for tomorrow." Said Kate calmly.
"Just think of it Kate." Said Janice, getting all giddy. "After tonight, it'll be just one more day, and you're going to be married!"
"And I couldn't ask for a better man to be my mate." Sighed Kate, daydreaming about Humphrey.
Finally, they had all arrived at the western dens, and were shocked to see that they were all empty. They each split up quickly, and looked into each den, each one void of any wolves. Finally, they headed up the hill to the alpha den, where they found at least Winston and Eve just settling down for the night and cuddling up together,
"Ahh, girls." Smiled Winston at the sight of his beautiful daughters and their friends. Ready to call it an evening?"
"Dad. What's going on?" Demanded Kate nervously. "Everyone's gone. The dens are empty."
"Oh yeah." Eve spoke up. "Candu came here earlier and told everyone to go out to the valley for something, and bring all of their meat."
"Why would Candu make everyone do that?" asked Lilly confused "Dad, aren't you worried about what's going on?"
"Well, Hutch is down there, so whatever's going on, I'm sure he has everything under control." He began to lower his head. "We're going to sleep now. You girls may go ahead and check out what they're up to if you'd like."
"Let's go. Maybe the boys are down there." Stated Janice.
"Must be something big." Kate whispered as they all walked down the hill. "Let's hurry and see what's going on." And she started running into the valley to try to catch the action, and her companions soon followed.
After a ten minute run, following the fresh scent of a running crowd of wolves, they had finally come to the spot in the valley where the entire pack had come.
"Hey, this is both of our packs, isn't it?" asked Janice as they approached the crowd.
"Yeah." replied Reba. Pretty much everyone we know is here."
"Do you see the guys anywhere, Kate?" Lilly asked her sister, who was sitting up and trying to look over the heads of the crowd to see.
"No, but I do see Hutch, Candu, and Rocky in the center. Let's go see them. Maybe they can help."
So the girls all pushed through the crowd to get to the center, gently pushing and apologizing, and saying "excuse me" to everyone they bumped. At last they got to the center, and faced Hutch, Candu, and Rocky. Alongside of them was a huge pile of all the pack's hard-earned meat. On the ground they noticed were some tally marks and names that the boys must have drawn there.
"Candu, Hutch, Rocky." Kate called over, getting their attention, and walked over to them. "What is going on here?"
"Oh, uhh, hi Kate." Stammered Rocky. He looked over her shoulder and saw Reba. "Hey Reba babe." He waved to her."
"Hi big stuff." She replied, flattered.
"Oh, we're gambling." Said Hutch to answer Kate's question.
Suddenly, Milo burst through the crowd, and walked up to Rocky. "I found your two tube thingies Rocks." He panted. He must have run back from the eastern dens as quickly as he could, as he seemed nearly out of breath. As he dropped them both from his jaws, Chelsea came in with the other one, and dropped in front of Rocky. "So, how do they work?" He asked.
"Well, you look through the glass parts of the tube, and they make things farther away seem closer." Rocky replied.
Milo picked up his device in his right paw, and looked through it at Pyramid Mountain, but it looked even farther away then. "I don't think it's working Rocky. It's making the mountain look even farther away."
"You're looking through the wrong end." Stated Candu. "Try the other way." As he was told, Milo flipped around the device and began to look through it again, only this time, his vision was pointed at Candu, and when he looked, the saw a large, angry, scary yellow eye look right back at him.
"Whoa!" Milo jumped back. "Yep, they're working!"
"Wait, what are you gambling on?" Kate demanded.
"We're betting on who we think will survive the log sled ride." Answered Hutch.
"What ride?" Asked Lilly.
"You mean they didn't tell you?" said Milo, sounding shocked. "Humphrey, Garth, and the guys are all going to the top of Pyramid Mountain. They're going to slide all the way to the bottom from up there! And the steaks are high here! You wanna make a bet on who you think will survive?"
"WHAT!" exclaimed Kate, suddenly horrified. Actually, her thoughts were a mix of horror and anger. What was Humphrey thinking? He was going to go into the heart of the cougars' territory and ride a log down on a super dangerous route to the bottom? How could he be so reckless?
Kate turned to her sister. She must have been thinking the same thing about Garth. Same thing with Janice for Shakey.
"We have to get up that mountain!" Kate hissed frantically. "We have to stop the boys from making a huge mistake."
"And then we should totally beat them for being so… so…" Lilly could not think of a good word to describe how the boys were being.
"Boy-like?" Janice finished for her.
"Yeah, that's good."
"Just come on." Kate snapped and she and Lilly started running through the crowd again in the direction of the mountain. Lilly turned back to Janice and Reba.
"Janice, Reba, are you guys coming?"
"I don't think so." Replied Reba. "I think if we go along, we'll probably just slow you guys down."
"But be sure to scold Shakey for me." Janice called after them.
"Lilly, Come on!" called Kate who was waiting for her sister to finish. Reba was probably right. Protecting Lilly would probably be hard enough, but plus two peace-loving omegas who did not have the protein needed for mountain and fighting climbing would be a handful. So Kate and Lilly dashed off toward the mountain, hoping to god that their mates and the other boys were okay.
"Hey Hutch," called Claw coming in through the crowd. "Scar and I bet this caribou head that Kate and Lilly beat the crud out of Humphrey and Garth before the ride even begins." And behind her came Scar, on his back was the caribou head, his neck still in tact, and ripped from the body about where the shoulders once were.
(Author's Note: Claw and Scar are those two Eastern wolves that interrupted Kate's first hunt. Claw is the red one I think, and Scar is the brown one. I also think they are mates.)
"Okay, so that's a caribou head for Humphrey and Garth dying, right Claw?" checked Rocky.
"Yes." Replied Claw. Scar just grunted.
"One caribou head for Claw and Scar." Repeated Rocky as he made another mark in the dirt.
"And I bet this bag of berries and nuts for my Shakey." said Janice.
"A chuck for Shakey and Garth." Chelsea followed up.
"Four legs on Humphrey and Garth." Called out Rachel.
As Rocky was busy writing down all of these bets, Hutch walked up to him and whispered to him. "You know, I did a little check and calculating, and if nobody bets on all of them, we're going to owe a lot of wolves a lot of meat."
Rocky's ears perked up at the sound of this. "Any bets for all of them surviving?" he announced. For a few moments, nobody said anything, or raised their paws or anything. "Come on!" he shouted. Still no answers. And then, he turned to Milo.
"What about you, Milo. You haven't made a bet yet."
"Yeah Milo." Said Candu instigating. "How about you bet something big, like five caribou on all of them?"
"I ain't stupid guys." Milo replied. "I'm not going that far. Besides, I'm a gamma. How am I suppose to catch five caribou on my own?"
"I'm sure your mate can do something about that." Snickered Rocky.
"I'm not betting five caribou on all of them."
"What are you scared of?"
"I'm not scared."
"Sure you're not."
"Really. I'm ain't scared of nothin'."
"Chicken! Bagock!" and Candu started to strut around and hit his head in the dirt making chicken noises to make fun of Milo.
"I ain't no chicken!" snapped Milo, but that did not stop Candu.
"Prove it." Chuckled Rocky. "Make the bet!"
"Alright, you asked for it, Rocky! Five Caribou on all of them surviving!"
"Five Caribou for all of them!" Rocky repeated for the crowd to hear, leading to the crowd cheering gleefully.
Milo actually felt pretty satisfied with himself, until someone came up behind him and he turned around to face a very angry Chelsea. "So, if we lose, I have to hunt five caribou?"
Milo was completely freaked out. He did not want to keep Chelsea angry at him. Sometimes she was even scarier than Eve. "Uhhh, well sweetie," he stammered, "if we win, we get five caribou! Heh heh…" Chelsea continued to stare him down.
Milo turned to the mountain, and held up his paws in a prayer. "Come on guys, don't let me down!" he said to himself. "You all better come out of this alive!"
Pete was going completely wild. He was flinging rocks, twigs, and rodents down at the wolves, all while screeching like a chimpanzee. Luckily, the wolves managed to find some cover behind some large rocks.
"We'll never get to the top with that monster blocking the way!" Called Salty over to Garth and Humphrey.
"We're going to have to take him out." Said Garth. "Okay, here's the plan: guys distract him, and while his attention is off me, I'll sneak up and pounce him!"
"Okay, sure. Whatever you say, you're the alpha here." Replied Humphrey, nodding his head. If any of them knew anything about taking out a dangerous opponent such as this, it would be Garth. He was, after all, one of the finest and most well trained hunters in the western pack, or both packs for that matter.
So Humphrey jumped out from behind the rock and started waving his arms around and dancing and such shouting "Hey Pete!"
"Hey you big stupid cat!" Shakey shouted tauntingly, following Humphrey's example, and throwing pebbles at him. Soon Salty and Mooch joined in as well.
Pete turned his psychotic gaze onto the omegas, and started bombarding them even harder with his debris. They all ducked and dodged to avoid getting hit, and still continued to taunt him.
Meanwhile, Garth crouched down, and snuck behind the omegas, and jumped up onto the mountain wall as silently as possible. Then he crawled over on the ledge, staying low, getting closer to Pete, until finally, he was finally in range of a good pounce, and still high enough to Pete could not see him.
Little did he know that Pete had already sensed him approaching with his superior cat hearing. He could hear even the softest taps of Garth's paws on the cold, hard rock. But Pete was clever, though no one took him as such, he barley even glanced at Garth. He continued to chuck rocks and picas at the omegas.
Garth did what he was trained to do: First he crouched down lower, got a good lock on to Pete, steadied his shoulders and forearms, and finally lunged at Pete with a grunt.
Just as he did so, Pete looked up and acted fast. He jumped back, sprang out his claws, and as Garth was coming in toward him, Pete struck him, sending him hurtling smack into the rock wall.
"OOOH!" the omegas all shouted in unison, giving a sympathetic look of disbelief. The kind of look and sound you give someone when they go though something that looks really painful.
Garth tried to get up, moaning from the pain from the impact, but Pete was not about to let him get off so easily. He grabbed Garth by the back of his neck, and by his back right below his shoulders with his claws, sat down close to the wall, and then started violently ramming him head first into the wall. And as he did so, Pete was no longer screeching like a monkey, but now was cackling sadistically.
"Hang on Garth! We're coming!" called Humphrey as he ran up the trail to help his friend.
The other omegas, on the other hand, were a bit slow, and did not react for a second. "Wow Garth." Said Salty in an amazed tone. "That looks like it really hurts."
"Help. Me. You. Jerks!" screamed Garth in between bangs.
"Oh yeah! Hold on, we're coming!" called Shakey as he and the others ran up after Humphrey.
Pete suddenly turned his attention from Garth to the Omegas, and saw them all running up to him. In just a few seconds, they would be upon him, and likely outnumber him. Maybe. So, he stopped smashing the alpha against the rock, and pulled back, holding Garth over his head, and threw him at the omegas.
"Look Out!" Garth screamed as he hurtled toward Humphrey. In response, Humphrey skid to a halt, and tried to turn around, but Garth struck him, and the two rolled together down the path, right at the other omegas. "Incoming!" shouted Mooch as Garth and Humphrey struck them, making the sound effect of a strike in bowling.
All the wolves lay piled and scrambled up together, moaning from the force of the blow. "A perfect strike, Pete." Laughed Humphrey, giving Pete the thumbs up.
"Don't encourage him!" snapped Garth, who got beaten up more than all of them.
"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Cackled Pete with delight from up the path, as he continued to throw things at the wolves.
The wolves all quickly snapped out of their wooziness, and ran back to their rocks for cover. Again, Salty, Shakey and Mooch behind the one closest to the wall, and Humphrey and Garth behind the one closer to the edge.
"Okay, that didn't work." Commented Humphrey after they all caught their breath.
"Well, Humphrey, let's see you come up with an idea on how to beat him!" hissed Garth. He was frustrated for a number of reasons. One, he had failed to take out Pete, which he found quite embarrassing. Second, he got seriously beaten up, and now as in pain, which no one seemed to care about right then. Third, here Humphrey was criticizing his hunting strategy. What did he know about hunting? He's an omega!
Humphrey was a bit offended by Garth's attitude first, but he actually did have an idea, so he simply replied "Okay." He turned to the other omegas. "Guys, let's lower the boom!"
"Yeah, let's boom it. Alright!" Salty and Shakey said.
"Alright let's do this!" shouted Mooch, cracking his knuckles.
"Wait, wait! You're going to throw Mooch at him?" Garth asked disbelievingly.
"You wanted my idea, that's my idea." Replied Humphrey. "Don't worry. We've thrown Mooch at a lot of our enemies before."
"Well what if you miss? Mooch is going to go flying off the edge!"
"Well, do you have a better idea?"
Garth and Humphrey continued to argue as the other omegas just sat and hid from Pete. Just then, Shakey got an idea. He noticed one stray pica crawling around right next to him, and grabbed it before it could get away. "Wait guys." He shouted over, interrupting the argument, and drawing their attention. "I have an idea!" And he jumped out from cover to confront Pete.
"Shakey, No!" Cried Humphrey, thinking he was going to do something crazy.
"Hey Pete," he called over to the rampaging cougar, "how about a nice, tasty pica?" He held up the pica toward Pete, who suddenly stopped throwing things, and began staring at the scrumptious little rodent being offered to him, and drooling and licking his lips over it, and showing his rows of fangs and teeth, and panting heavily.
"Shakes, be careful!" said Salty. All the wolves were now were staring intently at Shakey, hoping for the best for him.
Shakey slowly came closer to Pete, still holding out the Pica. "Who's a good kitty?" He said cheerfully as he shook the pica, "Hmmm? Who's a good kitty?"
Pete kept panting at the snack before him. His creepy, hungry eyes stayed locked onto it as the wolf shook it. He tried to take a snap at it, but Shakey quickly pulled it away.
"Fetch, boy!" Shakey suddenly exclaimed as he tossed the pica back down the side of the mountain that they had come up. Immediately, Pete leaped after the Pica, forcing the other wolves to split to the side of the path, out of his way. When it landed on the tiny strip of rock, Pete chased it around the side, while still keeping his balance amazingly.
"That should keep him busy for a few minutes. Let's get going before he gets back." Said Shakey.
Surprised at his technique, the party proceeded to follow Shakey. They still had a long way to go before they reached the top.
"You know Shakey," Said Garth at one point, "you could have just thrown the pica off the cliff and we would have been rid of Pete forever."
"Garth," said Shakey in a matter-of-fact tone, "nobody, not even Pete, is crazy (or stupid) enough to jump off a cliff for a pica."
"Hey Garth, you okay?" asked Humphrey, remembering how badly he got beaten up. Humphrey looked Garth over. His right eye was black, and he had some bruises on the top of his head and his back.
Shakey quickly ran his paw down Garth's strong back. "I don't see any blood or scratches. I guess the claws didn't go deep."
"Think he'll be okay?"
"Yep, I think he's okay."
"Yep, I'm good." Replied Garth. "Thanks for finally asking!"
"Sorry, I was too worried about Pete."
"Oh, you were worried about Pete? Well how do you think I felt? He used me as a battering ram!"
Everyone started laughing at that joke. They were all happy and having a good time again on their hike. Meanwhile Pete continued to charge after the tumbling pica.
Meanwhile, just up ahead in the mountain, where the snow had covered everything, and the moon was reflecting off of it, creating a beautiful bluish glow, out by a small pond were two cougars, sitting side by side snuggled up together, enjoying each other's company. One had grayish fur, the other was crème.
"Wouldn't it be nice if there were fish in this pond?" asked the grey one.
"Of course it would, but for now, we have plenty of other animals to gaze at and eat. We have goats, condors, and buzzards, don't we? whispered the crème colored one. "I mean those were some delicious buzzards you caught for us today, Oscar."
"I'm glad you liked them." Answered her love. "Only the finest for my pack. Besides, you don't know what I went through to get those birds today, or how much Pete I had to put up with."
This comment forced her to laugh. "Well it was all worth it in the end, wouldn't you say?" she asked, snuggling more into his warm fur.
"Oh yeah. Definitely."
After another minute, Oscar pulled back and looked at Chloe. He noticed how the moonlight illuminated her crème fur, setting it off more with the snow in the background. And lastly, he stared into her sparkling turquoise eyes that matched perfectly with all the surroundings.
"What is it?" She finally asked. She knew why he was staring at her, she just wanted to hear it herself.
"You're just so beautiful." He replied. "I'm brought back to the night I first saw you. I noticed how you taught the stars to burn bright, and hang upon the cheek of the night. You are a rich jewel in an Ethiopia's, beauty too rich for heaven, and for Earth to dear. And I ask myself: Did my heart love 'til then? Forswear its sight. For I never saw true beauty 'til that night."
"Ha. You got that from Duke, didn't you?"
"Of course I got it from Duke. The guy's a slithering library for crying out loud!"
Again, Chloe could not help but laugh. She looked again at that handsome cat before her, and moved in closer to his face, began to close her eyes, and slowly let her tongue slide out.
Oscar could see where she was going, and moved in closer to her, his tongue also out. They were inches away from slobbering each other gingerly the way cats do, when suddenly, two large, hulking cougars jumped up and shouted "Hey Boss!"
Chloe and Oscar must have been so focused on each other that they did not hear them coming. Disappointingly, Oscar pulled away from Chloe, who herself was sad that their time together was suddenly cut short. Oscar turned angrily to his bumbling henchmen.
"What is it guys?" he asked irritably. One of the large cougars had brownish-gold fur, the other had a dark brown coat. The dark brown one spoke first. "We heard Pete make the monkey noises, and then it go quite again, and then screaming, and laughing ha ha, and loud bangs and…"
"Bruiser," hissed Oscar, more irritated that this one was being so difficult to understand. "Let Carnage do the talking." And he turned to the brownish-gold cougar.
"Well, Pete set off the monkey alarm, so I think we're being attacked by the wolves." He said.
"Did you guys see any wolves yet?"
"No. You always said come get you if we hear from Pete." Replied Bruiser.
"Oh, right."
"So, can we go bust some wolf heads?" hissed Carnage, baring his teeth and pointing his ears downward.
"Yeah, Yeah! Let's bust some heads!" Bruiser giggled.
"Yeah, sure, whatever, go ahead just leave me alone with Chloe."
"Aren't you going with them?" asked Chloe astonished.
"What, you don't want me to stay here with you?"
"Well it is your responsibility to be on guard duty, isn't it."
"Do you really want to watch the three of us shred some wolves? I know you hate violence."
"Of course I don't want to see that. I want to see you go talk to them, and see what they want."
"You've gotta be kidding me!"
"Come on Oscar, do it for me." And she gazed at him with her pretty greenish-blue eyes.
"Oh, alright. I'll see what they're here for, and it its bad, we'll kill them."
"That's more like it." She said sweetly, and so the four of them set down after the wolves.
Those wolves were getting closer and closer to the top slowly. The path made it easier to climb up, and they did follow the path for another good part of the way, but of course the path was not always straight. Sometimes they had to climb up the wide, flatter slopes of the mountain, and then go back to the path when it became steep again. Sometimes, they had to jump across or climb the tall rocks again. Some of these rocks were very tricky and tough to overcome, and demand extreme agility to overcome, something many cougars had over wolves. Garth and Shakey were able to jump across most of these rocks. Humphrey and Salty did okay for the most part, but needed a little help every now and again, and Mooch almost always needed to be pulled up over the rocks.
Finally, after hours of hiking and many stars have vanished, and the moon was sinking into the horizon, they finally came to a change of scenery. The path was now going almost straight up, with some rocks to climb onto, and the path branching off into horizontal paths every now and again. The mountain was no longer mostly rock with some weeds or flowers sticking up out of the cracks. Instead, the mountain was starting to get covered in snow. Many rocks were still unburied, and were dark and black. No life could be seen either. No picas, so goats, nothing. No plants were left on the mountain, save a few brown, dying weeds. Cold, strong winds were blowing up at that high altitude, sending trails of snow dancing through the air, and sending chills down the wolves' spines. Even their fur could barely keep them warm up there.
Nevertheless, the wolves continued to climb up the way they have been so far. At last, They had finished up the straight path, and were onto the horizontal trail again. Garth and Humphrey walked side by side in the lead, while Mooch, Salty, Shakey and Mooch trailed in right behind them. Finally, Garth spoke up. Even though they were right next to each other, he had to shout over the wind to be heard.
"Humphrey?"
"Yeah?"
"I really don't think we should be up here."
"That's because we shouldn't"
"We're high enough. I say we find a log somewhere and slide down from here. What do you guys think?" he turned back to the three omegas.
"Yeah, lets do that." Shakey said.
"Sure." Said Mooch
"I'm freezing." Salty complained.
"Come on Humphrey, we don't need to go to the tip-top. We're all scared and cold, and we just want to get out of here before something bad happens."
Humphrey looked at Garth, and saw the snow particles in his fur. Garth himself was starting to shiver. He looked back at the omegas, and saw that they were shivering even more than Garth, their faces squinting in pain from the frostbite. Humphrey understood that they needed to get somewhere warmer, or within another couple of hours, they would proably freeze to death. He looked up at the mountain. They where about another few miles away from the top, jagged peak, just stretching out an inch higher than the others. Humphrey wanted to go up there, and see view of Jasper from up there, and witness the thrill of sliding down from up there, but his friends were much more important than that. He turned to Garth and was about to say he agreed with him, when suddenly, he remembered something.
"What about Marcel and Paddy? We can't go without them."
"Did somebody say our names?" called a familiar voice. Everyone turned to the source of the voice, which was Marcel's head, which popped out from a pile of snow. Some of his feathers were blue from the cold. "Paddy, wake up. The wolves are here." He caused a small bit of shaking in the snow, and Paddy's head popped up right next to him. He looked just as cold as Marcel.
"Whoa, are you guys okay?" asked Shakey as he stepped closer to the birds.
"A spot of hot tea would be nice right about now." Marcel said, trying to sound humorous. "I couldn't agree more." Said Paddy.
"Hey, where's the blanket?" asked Salty.
"Ah yes." Marcel got up out of the snow, shook his feathers dry, and waddled over to a big rock. He lifted the rock with a few grunts, and quickly took out the folded up blanket with his foot. "Kept it dry."
"Great job." Garth commented.
"Why thank you."
Humphrey spoke up next. "Okay, so you guys are all freezing, right?"
"YES!" everyone else shouted in unison.
"Okay then. Forget the top. Let's split up and try to find a log we can use to slide down from here."
"You're not going anywhere!" growled an angry voice. And before anyone could say or do anything, two huge cougars, about twice as big as Pete, though slightly smaller than bears, jumped down from the wall above them, and right on the path the way they came, cutting off their retreat. One was brownish-gold, who snarled and hissed and arched his back, indicating that they were ready to fight, and kill. The other was a darker brown, and he just roared at the party.
When his roar was finished, Marcel and Paddy both let out a loud, blood-curdling, girly scream, and hugged each other for protection.
The omegas each jumped and scrambled back to be in line with Garth and Humphrey, each letting out squeals and moans of fear. Humphrey was so frightened by these two giants that he forgot the plan, and turned to run. But as he was doing so, his snout bumped into the nose of another cougar, and looked straight into his angry, greenish-yellow eyes. Humphrey let out his own small scream (though a manly one, not girly) and took a step back.
He looked over at the cougar he had just bumped, and recognized him as Oscar, Harrison's second in command. And beside him walked up a crème-furred cougar they all knew as Chloe, Oscar's girlfriend. These giant cougars, on the other hand, none of them were familiar with. Whoever they were, they had them trapped.
Author's Note: Phew! Another long chapter! Sorry about that folks. I know last time I said it would not be so long, but I just got carried away. I hope it was enjoyable nonetheless. I promise the next chapter will be shorter, and it will come up in a sooner date. Again, big thank you to all of my readers, supporters, reviewers, and subscribers for appreciating my work. Song credits go to "Who Let the Dogs Out?" By the Baha Men, which I do not own.
