Chapter 9

Storm ended up sleeping for over sixteen hours, not waking until past noon the next day. He got himself up and went outside to the shed where his team used to live, the place seeming unnaturally empty. He felt a pang in his heart, thinking about the team he'd never see again, and knowing that he was the only one who could do them justice. Storm took a moment to let all of his emotions; his anger and hate build up in him so he would have strength and power when he needed it.

Storm stalked off towards the town, a dangerous glint in his eyes. He would still have to be smart. He didn't know how many dogs had attacked his team, or who they were or what they looked like. So if Storm was seen by one of them, the whole thing could turn bad quickly. He would have to be careful about how he did this. As far as anyone knew, Storm was dead, and he wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible.

Storm went into the town. I need to try to attract as little attention as possible while not looking like I'm not trying to attract attention. Storm scowled at how little that thought made sense and yet how much sense it made.

Storm looked around, trying to figure out where a good place to hide a wolf would be. Getting Aniu was his first priority. Then he would deal with his own emotions, but Aniu had to be saved, as she very much deserved to have a chance to get home.

Storm glanced around and noticed a particularly large crowd of people heading towards the old warehouse. He knew dog fighting often went on in there, and although people usually didn't pay too much attention to it, if something…

Then it hit him. Aniu was in there, and she would be fighting. That's what was attracting so much attention.

He took off towards the building, swerving through crowds of people and dogs alike, earning him more than a few angry comments and gestures. While he wasn't allowed inside, Storm snuck around the back of the warehouse and climbed up a stack of boxes to a dirtied and partially broken window so he could look down onto the crowd below.

The ring where the dogs would fight was surrounded by hay bales, and currently two dogs were fighting in it. Both were at each other's throats, the crowd cheering when the larger of the two dogs bowled the smaller one over, slamming him into the ground and finishing him within a few seconds. The losing men then gave their money to the winners, and the next fight was to begin.

The crowd parted, and a man led the next fighter down into the ring. Storm instantly recognized the white furred yellow-eyed wolf, and he had to stop himself from leaping in through the glass right then and there. Getting himself hurt, or more likely, killed would help no one. Besides, Storm was sure Aniu knew how to fight, she was a wolf! All wolves knew how to fight, at least, Storm hoped so, or else this wouldn't be a fight but more like a slaughter.

It was dark inside the little room, but she could hear a lot of people outside. Some of them sounded happy, some sounded disappointed, but all of them were cheering about something.

Before Aniu even knew what was going on, someone opened the door to her room, allowing a bright stream of light inside, temporarily blinding her. The person then proceeded to drag her by the muzzle/collar thing that was around her neck.

She was then dragged into a large room absolutely filled with people, more than she'd ever seen in one area before. There were several men passing what looked like green leaves, as well as golden and silver coins between themselves. Dogs also sat, eying her curiously. The stench of cigarette smoke, alcohol, and most noticeably blood filled the room, and that was when Aniu realized what went on in here. These people would make bets on dog fighting, who would win and such, and that she was to be the next contender.

The person who was dragging her abruptly stopped, took off her muzzle, and threw her into the fighting ring. It was surrounded by four foot high walls made of hay bales, and though Aniu knew it was possible to jump out of there, she likely wouldn't make it very far, as a lot of the people in the crowd had guns.

"Pretty far from your home, aren't you wolfy?" A taunting voice commented.

Aniu noticed then the husky that was in the ring with her. He stood imposingly, a large dog that had many scars on him, making him look all the more fierce. The crowd shouted their approval, and made their bets. Aniu wondered what kind of odds she was getting.

Both stood facing each other, the dogs back to the crowd and hers to a wall. Finally a bell was rung that Aniu knew meant the fight had started, and the dog started circling her. Aniu did the same, and both turned counter clockwise until their positions were reversed.

The husky then lunged at Aniu, feigning left and attacking right. Aniu felt his snapping teeth glide through the white fur on her neck as she jerked herself back, the husky instead running into the wall that had been right behind Aniu.

She used the two-second time from his being dazed to her advantage, and leapt up on top of the husky's back and wrapped her forepaws around his neck. The larger dog easily threw her off and pushed Aniu back into the ground, stomach up. He pressed his paws down onto her neck, attempting to crush her jugular.

Aniu kicked between the dogs back legs, and his body automatically tensed up. Aniu broke free of his hold, clamping her jaws down on his neck and swiping her paws through his. And just like that, she was on top.

Aniu hated killing someone, but knew that if she didn't, the husky wouldn't hesitate, especially after what she'd done to him, to kill her.

The husky tried to kick her off, but his blows were becoming weaker each time. Eventually someone from the crowd leapt into the ring and pulled Aniu off, but it was much too late. The husky dog convulsed twice before lying still.

The crowd was in absolute shock, no one saying anything or moving for a few seconds. Aniu looked around at the crowd, all of their faces unreadable. Then a huge cheer went up, and people were once again trading their money.

Jones stood up triumphantly, collecting at least five hundred dollars in profit. He seemed to be content with that, for as soon as he'd pocketed all of his earnings, he quickly muzzled Aniu, who didn't resist due to the stick in the humans grasp. He took her back to the same dark room and put her inside.

He allowed her to eat a piece of meat, something Jones felt the wolf deserved for her performance. When she was done, he reapplied the muzzle, and then made her go back into the cage.

"Good job wolfy," he commented, "you sure proved them wrong. Keep performin' this way for me."

With that, Jones turned around and left the room, leaving Aniu in almost total darkness once more.

After watching to make sure that Aniu was once again safe, Storm quietly descended from his perch and breathed a sigh of relief. He had been worried there. Even though the fight had lasted all of a minute, it had seemed like an eternity. More than once Storm had had to stop himself from jumping down into the middle of the fight. Aniu had performed well though, and was quickly taken out of the ring, much to his pleasure and relief.

Storm decided he needed a plan of action. He analyzed the ally he was in, and it looked like if he jumped from the stack of boxes, he could make it onto the slanted roof of the warehouse. Deciding to test that theory, Storm climbed back up the boxes, wondering why he had even dropped down in the first place.

Balancing carefully, he found he was easily able to clamber up on top of the building. Although it was a bit slippery, he was able to move somewhat quickly. From here Storm could see over most of the town, and he looked for the safest and quickest way out of town. While he was fairly confident in his ability to get Aniu out of the warehouse, despite the team that lived there during the night, it was getting her out of town and to somewhere that was safe that would likely be the biggest challenge.

Storm walked to one edge of the building, and saw that the next place over was within jumping distance, and had a flat roof, much to Storm's great surprise. He jumped onto the roof, landing with a quiet thud, and continued on. The next building was a house, again with a slanted roof. Storm kept himself hidden as he jumped to the roof. He walked quickly across that one, and to the last, but probably most challenging building. Behind the house was an ally way that led directly out of the town. Storm leapt to the roof, sliding off immediately. He stayed skidded down the icy roof like a professional skater, and completed his landing magnificently.

Satisfied with his new escape route, Storm followed the ally out of town, and then circled around to Jarrod's house, which was thankfully about a half a mile outside of the town. Perhaps he and Aniu could hide there for the night, if she wanted to, then the next morning she could leave for her pack, or wherever she lived.

It was then that Storm wondered, what will I do when this was all over? The thought had crossed his mind more than once, but he'd never stopped to dwell on it until now. What would he do?

What Storm hoped was that another sled team would pick him up, although with no human master to trade or sell him; Storm knew that many mushers would be at least a little bit hesitant about allowing a stray to join their team. He shook his head violently, clearing all thoughts. Helping Aniu was the most important thing now; he could worry about what was to become of him later.

And he still wanted vengeance. Maybe, after Aniu was safe he would return to fulfill that, and if he got killed, so be it. There was no one left in his world to care for him, so perhaps he was better off dead? Again, Storm cleared his thoughts, this time banging his nose into the wall of Jarrod's house to do so.

Don't think like that, Storm. There's something out there for you to do, a team that will take you somewhere, all you have to do is sit back and wait for it.

And so he did, Storm sat back and waited for night to come, as he would need all possible cover. Just wait a few more hours Aniu, I'm coming for you.

..

I'm caught up now after being able to write while FF had problems. But we're going to be very busy now, so no updates for probably the next week. As many of you knew, my Grandmother was sick with cancer. She died yesterday at 4:10, I got the call only minutes after I uploaded yesterdays chapter. Now don't think of me as some heartless person, but I'm actually not that sad. Well I suppose I am, but I know that, after seventy-eight years of living, and living well at that, I'd be ready to retire to God's kingdom with eternal life, love, and happiness as well. Just so ya know.

As before, please leave a comment. I like to know how good, or not good I'm doing. And don't forget to watch the Super Bowl!

Thanks y'all,

-ANonymouS