Journeys Pt 11.

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Thanks to MsCloverJellicle and Faded Book (did you change your name?) I'm very glad that the incident with the kittens had the desired effect. I did give a clue early in the story that something bad was going to happen, but I don't think many people picked the particular twist.

I'm sorry that this update has taken so long and I hope that I haven't lost any readers. I'm in the middle of driving 6000km to my new home with my family so time and energy to write is at a bit of a premium at the moment, as you can imagine. I'm still chasing suggestions as to what you'd like to see the group get up to.

This should be a short chapter and any spelling mistakes are due to me having to use wordpad, because I forgot to put office onto the damn laptop.

I have edited this chapter and resubmitted it. The fight scene has been expanded and a few other tweaks have been made, including I hope the fixing of most of the spelling mistakes.

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"We hunt!"

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Toby directed Jericho to start to quarter the clearing so source in what direction the pack of dogs went after slaughtering his kittens. He paced the clearing as Jericho looked for tracks or a scent trail. The eagles that had come along were asked to begin an aerial search for which they were happy to oblige. The kittens had been formally adopted into the eagle tribe upon their birth at the camp and the slaughter of them had incensed the birds.

Alonzo had stepped back into the den, steeling himself against the sights that he'd so briefly seen before, and began a search to see if he could ascertain the details of the day. As he searched the timeline and activities of the dogs that normally inhabited the den became clearer. There were 6 dogs total, 5 adults and one pup that seemed barely old enough to stand. There was no evidence of any females apart from some chewed bones in the rear of the den, and there was a surprising amount of signs that the pup was regularly abused physically. A small unkempt sleeping pad was found in the rear by the bones that was surrounded by bits of fur that did not belong to the kittens and had both fresh and old bloodstains about it.

Alonzo turned his attention to the pit where the slaughter took place. Before the final strokes it appeared that the kittens had been played with over the course of several hours. He also detected signs of a slight struggle near the den entrance where he also discovered not just two sets of prints but together with the kittens, was a slightly larger print. More and fresher bloodstains were also found there.

It all added up to a few surprising conclusions and Alonzo headed back outside to pass on his thoughts to Jericho and Toby. As he approached the furious tom, Jericho let out a yell from the edge of the campsite, "found it! They went this way, and only about an hour ago."

Toby immediately called the eagles in and sent them off to search in the direction of the scent. Jericho was sent to follow the trail and the rest of the group would follow a little behind so as not to muss the scent trail.

They followed the trail for hours. Slowly gaining on the dogs as they meandered across the bush in search of prey. Finally the group of tired cats, pollicles and eagles were just minutes behind the dogs. A circling eagle swooped in on the searchers and passed to Toby that the dogs were resting just a hundred metres ahead, around a small waterhole.

Toby gathered the group together to pass along his plan of attack. First he sent the eagles to cordon off the northern and western sides of the clearing and sent Alonzo, Jericho and Christo off to the east to do the same. He kept Jerrie and Twitch with himself on the approach from the south. He stressed that the group was only there to prevent the escape of any of the dogs and they were not to get involved in the fight. The grey and white Jellicle then changed into his cat form and began to shimmer. He grew to a size akin to the big cats that they'd all seen in the Zoo in Sydney a few weeks before and the groups moved out to their respective positions.

Alonzo and Jericho moved towards the east and approached quietly. As they neared their positions they began to hear voices. Getting down to their bellies and looking through the tufts of tough spiny grass that carpeted the area the two found the source of the sounds. It was the dogs, it appeared that they were not quite what they seemed and were actually a pack of pollicles. They must have been some of the random occurrences of pollicles being born to normal parents in a litter and not getting discovered in time by the pollicle psychics. There were 4 mediums size mutts and one big brindle dog laying around the water. A sixth dog, a small pup with a tan and black mottled coat and white markings around the chest and mouth was lying on its side panting. It's eyes were staring at the moisture and it began to edge closer to the pool. It had covered about half the distance when the big brindle leapt upon it and picking it up by the scruff of the neck through it into a thornbush.

"Nothing for you traitor!" the brindle roared. "This is the price you pay for trying to help my prey escape. I put a lot of effort into drawing those two kittens away from those damn eagles and you try to release them because you felt sorry for them? I should have killed you at the same time as your damn parents. You didn't even have the guts to partake in the feast, I think next time we'll just eat You!"

The small pup weakly rolled out of the thorns and lay on the ground once more. As it rolled over a long jagged tear, caked in flies, became visible on it's right side. The big brindle morphed into a hybrid form and kicked the young pup in it's injured side.

Alonzo added two and two together and worked out that this pup had attempted to help the kittens escape but had been caught during the attempt, resulting in the injury and also the punishment that was being handed out. He motioned Jericho closer and said, "We have to protect that pup. I don't know what Toby plans to do but we have to get it to safety."

Jericho who'd heard the exchange agreed and the two worked out a plan. One would hold the perimeter whilst the other would run down once the fight began and pull the pup out to safety. It was rough and simple but it was all they really had time for, and they just hoped that it would work.

They didn't have long to wait. A loud rumbling growl was heard, bringing the 5 dogs to their feet and facing in the direction from where the noise originated. A voice followed on the heels of the growl. "You killed my kittens!"

The big brindle pushed his way forward and replied, "what of it? They were there and we hate cats. Come on out kitty-cat and I'll send you to meet them. I can do with another snack."

The growl was heard again, "You killed my kittens and you dare mock me. I'll give you a snack!"

The huge white and tan cat leapt into the clearing and tore into the dogs. Pollicles or not they stood no chance. The leader however seemed to have a few tricks of his own. As Toby rounded on the hybrid dog, a darkness fell across the clearing and suddenly he wasn't there anymore. Toby scanned the area to no avail and a light pattering of footsteps was heard before a heavy blow was felt against Toby's front leg. The dog briefly became visible before disappearing once more. Toby lashed out blindly but hit nothing before the process repeated itself at one of his rear legs. The attacks continued again and again and though the damage being done was minor the wounds were starting to add up, and together with exhaustion, slow Toby down. It was at this point that the wounded pup got his revenge. He'd managed to drag himself to his feet and morph into a hybrid form, where he'd gathered a pile of the fine red bull dust that cakes the outback, in a broken container from the rubbish that was strewn around the waterhole. The pup lauched the dust into the air above the two combatants before collapsing back to the ground, changing back into a pup as he fell. The fine dust obscured the fight briefly as it fell before having the effect the pup was looking for. As the air cleared the falling dust caked every surface that it touched including the huge cat and the much smaller and now visible pollicle. Once he could no longer hide with invisibility, the dog scarcely lasted longer than his smaller packmates, before Toby disembowelled him with a swipe of his claws, before opening his jaws wide and biting off half the dogs face.

Alonzo had taken the opportunity during the final moments of the fight to edge down and drag the puppy up the rise where Jericho and Chris waited. He'd hoped to escape notice, but it was to no avail. Toby once he'd finished ripping the bodies of the dogs into their component parts turned and jumped up to the top of the rise. He rushed the, now unconscious, pup and swiped a huge paw and the dogs head, only to have it strike some kind of blue nimbus and bounce off. Toby tried again and again to no avail and finally turned the others before taking a step back in surprise.

Jericho's eyes were glowing in the manner indicating the presence of the Everlasting Cat. "You shall not harm this puppy my son. Nor shall you allow your mate or any of your tribes cause him to be harmed. You have handed the miscreants the punishment that they deserve, however I will not allow you to murder this innocent in your rage and grief."

Jericho raised a paw and suddenly there stood the natural form of Toby. There was none of the usually transitions, one second he was a 8 foot long cat and the next he was a 2 foot high hybrid again.

"Besides," the ethereal voice explained in a lighter tone. "I believe that Victoria would get mighty upset if you butchered her soulmate."

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Well there you go. Another chapter done. I like this version of it a little better.

As always please read and review.

The next chapter will be about Dom.