Chapter 7: Dinner with the Newton Wolves
In the night, hours after our departure, I was having trouble sleeping. It was because of this that I decided to head outside for a bit, going to the roof to where my only present company was the moon. After encountering that Mega Monkey, I was beginning to worry about my Tribe. Seeing how strong it was, I was beginning to fear that my home wouldn't be safe from Scarlemagne. I wasn't sure if it was to either easy the worry I had or to at least get me to go back to sleep, but I began to sing that song that my sister would sing to me, one that our father taught her which Mom made for me after I was born.
You are an ocean wave,
Looking to find,
Life beyond the shore,
To destiny, you are forever bind.
Yet the tide ever changes,
Flowing like time,
The endless stream,
The path is yours to climb.
That night, I was having trouble getting to sleep. How could I? It had been almost a month since Axel and the others left to get Kipo back to her Burrow and they still haven't come back. I came out to the garden and looked to the full moon. Right there, I decided to sing that song Mom made for Axel when he was a baby. After getting through the first part, I kept on going as I was feeling a little better.
Hero of the light,
With an outstretched hand,
A divine blade lies before you,
Power at your command.
May your heart be your guide,
Let it show you the way,
To restore the world,
And bring a brand new day.
Unknown to each other, Axel and Miwa were singing together as they sang the very same song that seemed to bring them comfort.
Hear the prayer, hear the song,
Of birthrights and love.
Come the morning sun,
In the sky above.
Dawn breaks through the gloom,
Light takes the throne.
Lost in thought,
All alone.
After they were finished, they both looked up at the moon with smiles of content before they both headed back indoors, Axel mentally promising to return home and Miwa praying for her little brother to come back safe and sound.
The next morning, after Uncle Donnie woke us up, we got ready to get going before we found out we were low on supplies, mostly in food. Luckily, Benson told us that where we were going would get us some more food. It was with that we soon began following Benson as he led us to where he thought we could start looking for Kipo's people. It was only a while of walking that Kipo started getting impatient.
"So, Benson, where are you taking us?" Kipo asked.
"Kipo…" Benson said to the Burrow girl, clearly wanting her to be impatient.
"But we've been walking forever!" The girl whined impatiently before she brightened up. "What if I guessed?" With that, she began to think before she spoke. "I've got it! You're taking us to a mystical blind woman who lives in the trunk of a spooky old tree and doesn't need eyes because what she can see is the future!" That got all of us confused as we had no idea where she got that from.
"Okay, first of all, it's been an hour, and second, what?" Benson said as he turned around.
"Yeah, where the hell did you get that from?" Gordy questioned her.
"She's not gonna stop." Wolf told him as she already knew what was gonna happen and smiled nervously. "Just tell us."
"Seriously, Benson." I said to my fellow Tribe member. "We're already low on supplies and you haven't told us much a thing about where we're going."
"Look, if there's one thing I've learned in all my time on the surface is that you gotta enjoy the journey. Not just the destination." Benson calmly said before he suddenly snapped in anger. "So everyone, shut up and enjoy the journey!" This surprised us since Benson was usually a cool guy. This was definitely a new side of him we've never seen before.
"Whoa! Take it easy, Benson." I said to him, trying to calm him down.
"Yeah. Wake up the wrong side of the bed or something?" Aurico questioned, making our "guide" sigh.
"Sorry. We haven't eaten in a while and my blood sugars crashing." He told us as we continued walking.
"We all get that, Benson." Caldwell told him. "I mean, seriously. Riku has been carrying Thora and Hikari for the last half hour."
"So… hungry…" Thora weakly said with Hikari giving a weak groan as Riku kept carrying the two girls in his arms.
"See? This is why I don't have blood." Dave said, leaning on Mandu before the piglet moved away and made him fall flat on his face.
"So, this Scarlemagne, what does he want with my people, anyway?" Kipo asked as we kept walking.
"Who knows?" Wolf answered. "If he's using mind control to control a Mega Mutant, I guess he could probably use it on them."
"Yeah." Aurico added. "Which would explain why there aren't many escapees."
"I heard that he is a Mega," Dave added, walked up beside us, "and that he uses his mind control to make people walk right into his mouth."
"What?!" Kipo exclaimed as she freaked out. "I don't want my dad to walk into a mouth!"
"Nobody's walking into anyone's mouth." Wolf said.
"Yeah, Scarlemagne is not a Mega." I said before I spoke to Dave. "Dave, whoever told you that story is full of it."
"Oh, yeah?" Dave questioned me. "How would you know?"
"Because one of us has actually seen him before." I said before I then motioned to Uncle Donnie. "Uncle Donnie was there when he turned most of the Wonderbeasts into Packs."
"It's true." Uncle Donnie told us with a grim tone in his voice. "I was there when that no-good son of a bitch first showed his ugly face. I know exactly what he is about and why it is more important than ever that we find Kipo's Burrow before he does."
"Aha!" Benson exclaimed happily as he turned the corner. "We're here." When we got over, we saw he went into a large bush. We waited for a moment before he popped his head out. "You coming?" After he went back in, we all went through the thick bush and saw what was on the other side.
"'Con-vie-nen-chey'. I believe it's Italian for 'snacks'." Benson said as we found ourselves in some kind of building, a sign behind him with a word I haven't seen before (but I had the feeling he was pronouncing wrong). "Which I really need right now or I'm gonna pass out."
"That says 'convenience', Benson." Uncle Donnie told him as he walked around. "It's a word meaning something that is done with little effort or difficulty. Looks like you found a convenience store."
"Oh, so that's how you spell 'convenience'." I said to myself before I spoke to my uncle. "Uncle Donnie, what's a convenience store?"
"A convenience store is a small shop where people in the old world would go to find some supplies for a journey." The Elder explained before he looked to some of those glass doors in front of us. "Though it looks like there's nothing much for us here."
"What?" Benson said in shock as he went over and spoke out in despair. "No, no, no! Noooo! This was my secret spot!" When we heard munching, we looked to find Mandu eating out of a bag. Benson dives for it and made the piglet scram, but, much to his misfortune, there was nothing inside. Well, except for crumbs.
"Sheesh! This has been licked clean." Aurico said as we looked around. "I think somebody hit this place."
"Hey, guys!" Gordy said as we looked to find him behind the counter, looking like he got a hold of something. "Look who I found."
With that, he then tossed something out and we all found it to be a black Wonderbeast Mouse wearing a worn-out gray hoodie and a single white sock as a glove. This was one rodent my fellow Tribe members recognized from a past encounter.
"Squeak?" I said with surprise as I wasn't expecting to find this mouse around.
"Oh, hey, guys!" Squeak nervously said as he got himself up to his feet. "How's it hanging?"
"You know him?" Wolf asked me.
"Kinda." I answered her before giving Squeak a glare. "Squeak's a loner, constantly running around Las Vistas. One time, he tricked us and nearly made off with most of the Tribe's food supply."
"Hey, you know how I am?" Squeak said as he tried to defend himself. "Gotta eat to steal, gotta steal to eat." He then put his hands together to make it look like he was begging. "By the way, you guys got any food on you?"
"Get out of here, you food-snatcher!" Aurico told him angrily. "Before I give you the 'Mouse Trap' experience!" With that, Squeak then scurried away in fear, disappearing into the bushes.
"It's okay, Benson." Kipo said to the sobbing Benson, trying to cheer him up.
"Is it?" He snapped at her.
"It isn't." Wolf simply said.
"Wolf!" Kipo scolded the little warrior, not liking her attitude.
"Do you even have a plan?" Wolf questioned Benson before she motioned in the area we were in. "Because this clearly isn't helping anybody."
"Yeah, I'm kind of with Wolf on this." I told him, feeling like we weren't making any progress. "Look, I get it, you're hungry. We all are. But looking for food is not gonna matter unless we have plan."
"What? You don't trust me?" Benson questioned me as he got up to his feet and glared at me.
"It's not that." I said to him. "It's just that we don't really have much time for luxury or taking a break. We're pressed for timing to finding where Kipo's Burrow went before Scarlemagne finds them. We need to figure out our next move before we keep moving, starting with you telling us where exactly you're taking us."
"You want to know where? Fine!" Benson said before he motioned over to an old picture of a building hanging on the wall. On the picture above the building, it said "Las Vistas Observatory". "The old observatory. It's got a giant telescope that can see the whole city. If your people are out here, we'll spot them. "
"The observatory?" I said as I realized where he was taking us. "No way! Benson, that's a terrible idea!"
"What he said." Wolf spoke up, backing me up. "We're not going near that place."
"What? Why?" Kipo asked in confusion.
"Benson, why don't you tell her?" Wolf suggested as she walked over to the poster, glaring at the Tribe boy.
Benson chuckled nervously and said "Well, technically the observatory is Newton Wolves territory."
"Which is bad?" Kipo asked.
"Of course it's bad!" I exclaimed, emphasizing the situation. "That place is their den, the center of their territory! Out of all the Wonderbeast Packs, these guys are the most dangerous!"
"Nah!" Benson calmly said, waving it off. "They just look at stars and talk about math all day. They're a bunch of dweebs." We all flinched as we looked to find Wolf slashing the poster.
"They're dangerous!" The young warrior said, turning back to us. "Wolves are predators… Every one of them."
"Yikes!" Dave said, nudging my leg. "Sounds like someone is still mad at the wolf she's wearing." Hearing this, the young survivor growled at him in annoyance.
"Wolf's actually right." Aurico spoke up, explaining to Kipo about the Wonderbeasts at that observatory. "During the beginning of the Beast War, these guys took that place by storm, chasing away everybody that was living around there. The Order tried getting it back, but those wolves made it impossible. They lost a few men from going anywhere near their territory."
"I hear they force people they catch in their hunts, one where they become their next meal." Gordy added, speaking in a serious tone to hide his fear. "We go in there and we'll be dinner!"
"Okay, I get it. These guys are pretty dangerous." Kipo said, stepping forward. "But that telescope could be the only way I find my people! If there's a chance, I have to take it. Please." I then thought about it for a moment before sighing in defeat.
"As much as I hate to say it, Kipo does have a point." I spoke up.
"Seriously? You're with her on this?" Brook asked in disbelief.
"I know it seems crazy, but we're not making any progress the way we are now." I answered, stating the obvious. "This might as well be a risk we're just gonna have to take."
Wolf thought about what was said and looked back at the poster before walking off and saying "If we do this, we need a plan."
"Yes!" The Burrow girl excitedly exclaimed. "We're doing it!" I then cleared my throat as we left, reminding her that we were still planning on how to do it. "Sorry. I mean, we're planning it."
As we left, I heard Benson gasp and looked to see he found a box that'd most likely contained some food. He lifted up the box, removing the lid. Unfortunately, he only got more crumbs before he slapped his head on the counter.
"Don't worry, Benson." Caldwell said, comforting him as we all walked out of the store. "We'll get you some food."
As we traveled toward the observatory, we began brainstorming a plan on how to deal with the Newton Wolves. The reason for this was because we knew we couldn't just fight our way as they would no doubt have us outnumber and, seeing as how they had repeatedly caused the Order to retreat, they would be able to overpower us.
"Okay, Wolf." I said to the little warrior, knowing she would be the expert about wolves. "You've been around wolves before, so mind telling us how we can be able to deal with them?"
"Wolves hunt isolated prey." Wolf explained to us. "If we want to survive this, we need to think like a pack and act like a pack. We need to be a pack."
"Be a pack. Got it." Kipo said, understanding the plan.
"Yep." Benson said.
"Okay, so how do we be a pack?" Aurico asked her.
"Just follow these rules." Wolf told us before we stopped and started working on being like a pack. It was at that moment Wolf got some vines and tied them around our waist, tying us to each other.
"Um… what is this?" Sora asked as we all wondering what was going on.
"Pack Rule Number 1: move in unison or die." Wolf answered before we then all then started walking together.
The goal of this was that we all kept up with each other, making sure no one fell behind and got separated from the rest of the pack. There were a few mishaps, but we managed to get it right and moved on. A moment later, Dave was blindfolded with Mandu behind him.
"Okay, why am I blindfolded?" Dave asked, confused by this.
"Pack Rule Number 2: listen to each other." Wolf said as she used her staff to pick up a rock onto it. "Okay, pig, one squeal means 'duck' and two means 'jump'." Mandu nodded her head before Wolf flung the rock at Dave, making Mandu squeal to tell him to duck. But Dave jumped instead and got hit, knocking him down before he got hit in the groins.
"Okay. I guess it'll be harder to figure out Mandu's warnings." I said before we continued to work on it.
It took us a while (especially with some of trying to pay more attention to Mandu's warning squeals), but we managed to finally get it right and moved on. With that, we all started doing trust falls where one person would stand behind someone and catch them as they fell backwards. Each of us (except for Wolf and Uncle Donnie) was partnered up with one of us ready to fall back while the other stood behind to catch them. Benson was catching Brook, Thora was catching Stella, Hikari was catching Brandon, Gordy was catching Kylo, Sora was catching Hotaru, Riku was catching Musa, Aurico was catching Caldwell, Nadu catching Aisha, and I was catching Kipo.
"Pack Rule Number 3: No matter what, always have each other's backs." Wolf said as we all got ready to catch our partners.
"Okay, Kipo. Just lean back." I told the Burrow girl.
"Benson, you're gonna catch me, okay?" I heard Brook say to his partner. "I'm expecting you to when I lean back."
"Don't worry. I got ya." Benson told him before my attention was dragged away by some rustling.
"Guys, I just found an apple!" The bug said as he came out of the bushes, holding a single apple before eating it, much to the dismay of Benson, Thora, and Hikari which dragged all the catchers' attention.
Realizing that I was a catcher, I looked back and quickly caught Kipo while giving a sigh of relief. After helping her up, I looked and saw Wolf give me a nod of approval before we all looked to see the other fallers lying on the ground with their catchers trying to apologize to them. Yeah, this was something we had to work on, even with the distractions that came along. After finally getting it down, Wolf went on to establish the final rule for us.
"And finally, Pack Rule Number 4: follow your alpha." Wolf told us from a tree branch above us. "An alpha leads and speaks for the pack. The Newton Wolves will only address our alpha. That's just how wolves work."
"She's right." Uncle Donnie said before he explained. "When the Wonderbeast Wolves formed their Packs, they all went to their old traditions, such as having the alpha as the leader. As such, they'll give a little more respect to a pack with an alpha."
"And our alpha is you?" Kipo questioned.
"No, Kipo." My uncle answered her. "I'm not really fit to be an alpha, even for those wolves. The alpha of this pack will be Axel." I was surprised by what he said.
"Wait, me?"
"Why isn't it me?" Dave spoke out. "Besides the turtle, I'm the oldest and best looking. I'm a born leader."
"Born leader, my ass." Riku said to him. "You can barely fight."
"He haves a point." Wolf said to the Wonderbeast. "And no offense, Dave, but you're a pea brain. These wolves are nerds and Axel is… well, a big nerd."
"Uh, offense taken!" Dave said to her, not liking the insult.
"Um, while I like the compliments," I spoke out, not really certain having me as the alpha would be a good idea, "why am I the alpha?"
"Because you're a Fire Dragon." Uncle Donnie explained to me. "The Newton Wolves are those who look towards knowledge and that's what they mostly look for in an alpha. A Fire Dragon is known to have greats amount so it would stand to reason that they will be looking to you as the alpha."
"Yeah, you are a big nerd after all." Aurico added, backing our uncle up.
"But my knowledge is mostly on the topics of biology!" I said to him, telling them my knowledge might not be good enough for the wolves. "These guys are all about astronomy! Kipo is more of a wiz at that subject than me."
"Yeah, but I'm not really much of a leader." Kipo said to me in an honest tone. "You pretty much got that role down, Axe." I actually blushed at the comment.
"Exactly." Uncle Donnie said to me. "And we need that kind of person to act as alpha. We need you." With that, I then felt more confident and willing to accept the role of alpha. "Besides, in order for this to work, we're gonna need both kinds of knowledge. With both an expert in Wonderbeast biology and an expert in astronomy, the Newton Wolves would like to speak to you both."
"But I thought you said they'll only speak to an alpha." I asked him, confused by this.
"They will, but that's why Kipo will have another role in this pack, one equal to the alpha." He answered me. "She will be your luna." I was shocked by what he said there as I knew what that title meant.
"My… luna?" I said to myself as I felt my cheeks begin to feel hotter.
"What the hell is a luna?" Aurico asked, confused by this.
"It's uh, the name for…" I answered him, trying my best to explain, "a female alpha."
"Exactly." Uncle Donnie said. "Which means Kipo will be able to speak to them as much as Axel."
"Which means we'll have a better chance of being let in. We need to show them we're worth more than just food." Wolf said as we all looked to her. "These wolves need to believe we have knowledge to offer. Kipo knows all about stars and galleries."
"Galaxies." Kipo corrected.
"Nerd." Dave coughed, earning a slap from me.
"And Axel has knowledge about various different species of Wonderbeasts, especially the Megas. They'll keep them talking. They'll let us stay for the night and we'll sneak up to the telescope once they fall asleep."
"I don't know. Can't we just ask?" Kipo asked, questioning the plan. "This sounds like this involves a lot of waiting and my people could be miles away by then or in a Wonderbeast's mouth…"
"Well, we can't rush things." I said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Kipo, I know you're worried, but we have to play this smart. These Wonderbeasts aren't ones we can convince into cooperation so easily."
"Exactly." Wolf said as she jumped down, getting into the Burrow girl's face. "You think they'll be your friends, But wolves aren't like other Wonderbeasts, get it?"
"She haves a point." Uncle Donnie said as he looked towards Wolf. "But, before we do anything, we have one little thing to take care of?"
"And what exactly is that?" Wolf asked as I soon realized what Uncle Donnie was talking about.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Dave questioned her. "Like your choice of wardrobe maybe?"
"No." Wolf said in realization, slowly backing away as she gripped her cloak. "No way."
"Wolf, this plan isn't gonna work if you go walking in looking like that." I told her.
"He's got a point." Benson said. "The poisonous staff and the dead wolf on your back might send the wrong message."
"Then I won't go." She told us as she turned away from us.
"Really gonna ditch the pack?" Aurico questioned her. "Wasn't one of your rules was to stick with the pack?"
"You have a pack." Wolf simply told us. "I don't." It was only a moment before Kipo walked up and spoke.
"You do have a pack." Kipo said, speaking to her like a friend. "You have us."
"She's right, Wolf." I said to the little warrior. "After everything we've been through together, I can honestly say we're already a pack. And a pack sticks together, right?"
Wolf was silent for a moment as she took in what was being said before sighing in defeat and heading over to the tree, where she then put her staff and her wolf cloak inside the tree hole. When she came back, we were all surprised to find her black hair looked like Thora gave her a static charge.
"Whoa!" Aurico said in surprise.
"What?" Wolf asked with that stoic expression.
"Nothing." I simply told her. "Just now see why you wear that cloak."
"Let's just get this over with." Wolf said as we all then started walking toward the observatory.
After a while of walking, we managed to make it to a road that led to the observatory. Though, at that point, Benson decided to stop moving due to his hunger which led to him being carried by Gordy. After a little while, Gordy began to explain.
"Seriously, how did I end up carrying Benson?" Gordy said as he carried our fellow Tribe member under his arm.
"Benson has gone a while without food, Gordy." I told him as we kept walking. "He needs to conserve his strength until we get him some food, especially with where we're going."
"So hungry…" Benson groaned before I looked to Kipo as she talked to Wolf.
"Hey, I just realized it." Kipo said to the little warrior. "We shouldn't call you 'Wolf' in front of them. So maybe you can tell us your real name."
"Um… Yeah, it's Bone Ripper." Wolf told us before Dave gave out a laugh.
"Ba! That's a load of…" Dave said before he gained a look of surprise. "Actually, that's the coolest name ever."
"Really, Wolf?" I said to her. "That's not a name. I know you were raised by wolves, but I doubt they gave you a name like that."
"Yeah, I met wolf who's called Jerry." Aurico added. "That might be a good nickname, but nobody would actually name their kid 'Bone Ripper'."
"Come on, Wolf." Kipo said, hoping to get her to open up. "If we're ever going to be real pack, you gotta tell us the truth."
"She's right, Wolf." Uncle Donnie said to her. "If we're going to ever convince them we're a pack, we need to call you by a real name." Wolf then sighed as slid a hand down her face.
"Why don't you just pick one for me?" Wolf suggested, not really wanting to say her real name
"Oh, okay." Kipo said as she then gave some thought. "We'll call you… Jolene!" Wolf then stopped walking from hearing Kipo say that while the rest of the group and I were surprised and couldn't help to find that a little funny. As Kipo walked off, I saw Musa, Sora, Riku, Hikari, Hotaru, Gordy, Caldwell, Brook, Lobbo, Plagg, and Aurico burst out laughing while Stella, Brandon, Nadu, Aisha, and I tried to hold in our laughter. Even the rest of the kwamis were snickering about this.
"Never mind." Wolf grunted in annoyance.
"I'm afraid it's too late, Wolf." I told her, trying my best to hold back my laughter as the rest of the group and I walked past her. "That's the choice of an alpha and I agree with it."
"Yeah, so you're stuck with it, Jolene." Aurico said before he went back to laughing. "Great name!"
After a while of walking, along with getting around some outgrown vegetation, we managed to get to the observatory, the sun already setting to begin the night.
"Almost there." I said as we all got up the hill. "Let's do this, pack." It was only after everyone got up that I heard Wolf gasp and looked to see her looking with shock. "What's wrong?" I then looked to where she was looking and saw there was a Wonderbeast Wolf wearing a turtleneck looking right at us. "Guys, stay close to each other."
With that, we all huddle and began walking as a group. As we walked, I looked around and watched as more wolves came out from behind trees around us, growling and flashing their teeth at us.
"Uh, 3?" Brook nervously said.
"Keep calm." I told everyone as I felt the wolves following us. "Keep your eyes forward. Don't let them know you're afraid."
As we reached the front door, we looked behind and saw that the wolves had us surrounded. Though I was feeling as nervous as the others, I reached out and knocked on the door. It wasn't long until the doors opened up to reveal two more turtleneck-wearing wolves, who I had no doubt had to be the leaders. The one on left had dark blue fur and wearing a grey blazer with a black turtleneck underneath while the other one was similar with the only differences being that his blazer was white, his fur was a lighter blue, and he was wearing a pair of bronze glasses with large, circular lens.
"Humans in our territory." The one wearing the grey blazer noted.
"Hmm…" The spectacles-wearing wolf said to him as he stepped forward. "I think, they're a pack." I then cleared my throat and we all stood up straight. "I mean, a very weird pack, but a pack."
"They're trespassers." The darker attire wolf said before he looked to the wolves behind us with a smug. "And what do we do to trespassers?" The other wolves howled as to giving their answer until the lighter wolf spoke up and stopped the howling.
"Brother, brother, brother." He said to him. "Don't be shackled by your instincts. Remember, we're evolved. Let knowledge be our prey."
"Let knowledge be our prey." The wolves repeated.
"Nerds." Dave coughed, earning another slap from me.
"Don't be so rude." I told him.
"Well, well. A Fire Dragon." The intelligent wolf said to me. "Has been a while since we encountered one, especially one so young. I've come to understand that you speak for your pack, young man?" With the spotlight instantly put on me, I then took a deep breath before I spoke.
"Yes, I do." I said to him as I stepped forward. "I'm the alpha of this pack. My name is Axel Frank the 3rd."
"Well, it is a pleasure to meet you." The friendlier wolf said to me.
"What exactly is your pack doing on our turf?" The more aggressive wolf asked.
"We're astronomers." Kipo spoke up as she stepped up next to me.
"I was talking to the alpha, human." The darker wolf said to Kipo.
"Well, I'm an alpha too." She told him. "I'm the luna of the pack!"
"A luna?" the lighter wolf said in surprise. "My, my. A pack with an alpha pair. Never thought I would actually see one." I blushed at the words "alpha pair". "And who might you be, my dear?"
"I'm Kipo Oak." She told him in a friendly manner.
"Well, it truly is a surprise." The lighter wolf said with a smile. "Excuse my brother's behavior. He tends to act somewhat uncouth for those not of our pack." The dark wolf crossed his arms as his brother continued to speak. "So you say you're astronomers as well?"
"Yes." I told him. "We've come to share our knowledge."
"Oh, we're the most learned scholars on Earth." The light wolf exclaimed, speaking rather smugly.
"What can you possibly share that we already don't know?" the dark wolf asked.
"There are one thousand, trillion, billion stars in the night sky." Kipo said to them, sharing her astronomic knowledge.
"Heh! Kids' stuff." The friendly brother told her. "Everyone knows that."
"Which is ten times greater than a grain of sand in all the world's deserts and beaches." She added, surprising me.
Wow! Kipo is defiantly smarter than I am. I mentally said to myself as I watched her reach into Benson's backpack.
"But there are even more ways to shuffle a simple deck of cards." She then took out a whole deck of cards. "How many, you ask? Eighty quintillion combinations. That's eight with 67 zeros." The wolves gasped in shock as everyone's minds were blown away, all except for Dave. I couldn't even tell if she was just making stuff up or not.
"Huh. Not bad for a human." The dark wolf commented.
"Yes, you've certainly picked quite the female to be your mate, young Frank." The light wolf said to me, causing Kipo to drop the cards in shock, the cards landing on Dave's head.
"Um… did you just say…'mate'?" Kipo asked, still in shock of this.
"Well, of course." The friendly brother said as he explained. "The luna of the pack is an alpha's mate, hence the two alphas of the pack are known as the alpha pair."
"Why are you asking us that?" the rough wolf questioned her. "You did know that when you became his luna, right?"
"Well, um… uh…" Kipo stuttered nervously as the wolves behind us began to growl at her. Seeing how she was starting to turn red, I decided to step.
"Let's not question our ranks." I said, trying to avoid Kipo from getting questioned. "Let us discuss more on our share of knowledge."
"Yes. Quite right." the light wolf said, agreeing with me. "Seeing how knowledgeable the luna is, I would say that the alpha has a great amount of knowledge as well."
"Well, to be perfectly honest, the knowledge I have is not like yours." I said, bringing out my journal. "Kipo knows much more about astronomy than I do. But, while I lack in knowledge of the stars, I instead study the many different species of Wonderbeasts on the surface, especially the Mega Mutants," I then passed on my journal to the light wolf as he looked at it, "their lifestyle, everything."
"Hmm… Interesting." The specked wolf said as he browsed through the pages. "You even have knowledge of us. Very impressive. Even though you lack in some knowledge we know, it's good to see others with different knowledge."
"Thank you. Anyways, allow me to introduce the rest of our pack." I said before I then motioned to each member of the group. "These are our muscle, Gordy, Riku, and Aurico; our scouting team, Stella, Musa, Brandon, Aisha, and Caldwell; our wild cards, Hikari and Thora; our tactical expert Hotaru and Nadu; and our elder Donatello." When I motioned to Wolf, I used her fake name. "This is Jolene. She doesn't talk much, but don't be fooled. This girl is our tracker and survival expert and heads our tracking team with Kylo and Brook. Gotta be prepared out in the field, right?"
"He does have a point." The rough wolf said in somewhat agreement.
"Yes, yes, that is true." The gentle wolf said before I then motioned to Benson and Dave, the Wonderbeast getting the cards off his head.
"This is Benson, our provision handler. And this is Dave. He tries to help out, but he's mostly around as comic relief."
"Comic relief?" the light wolf asked with curiosity.
"Sometimes you gotta have a laugh every once in a while or you can go insane."
"Hmm… interesting." The good brother said as both he and his brother understood that. "And what about her?" Looking to where he was pointing, I saw he was asking about Mandu who was eating the cards Kipo had dropped.
"Oh, Mandu?" I said, trying to come up with a good excuse. "She's uh… Dave's mate!"
"Wait, what?" I then grabbed Dave, pulling him up to glare daggers right at him.
"Are you seriously questioning your alpha?" I asked him.
"No-no, sir." Dave said nervously.
"Good." I said as I then dropped him before I spoke to the leaders. "Always got to remind them who's the alpha, am I right?" Both wolves nodded at my actions as a few wolves growled, no doubt want to see some proof. Seeing this, I then glared at Dave to tell him to "prove" it. So he puckered up his licks and it turned into a gross make-out session, even though they were faking it. After the very disturbing display of "love", the speckled wolf spoke up.
"Well, um… Alpha Axel, if your pack has been drawn together by a passion for science, you will find friends here." the light wolf said to me. "I am Billions."
"And I am Billions." The rougher wolf said.
"Billions…"
"And Billions."
"Um…" I said, trying my best to not sound rude. "Not that I'm judging, but is there a way of addressing you two separately? Just using 'Billions' might prove to be confusing."
"Yes, perhaps." The good brother said. "Though I must say that we haven't come to consider that."
"Well, mind if I make a suggestion?" I asked them. "For the time being, we can address you as White Billions and Black Billions."
"White Billions and Black Billions." The good brother (White Billions) said as he thought about it. "I believe those names shall work. Don't you agree, brother?"
"Yeah, I guess they're not bad names." The rough brother (Black Billions) agreed with him.
"Join us and we can exchange, not just knowledge of the cosmos, but others over dinner." White Billions said to us as he and his brother walked inside.
"Yes, I am quite eager to see what else you have to offer." Black Billions said before we then followed them inside.
After a while, we soon found ourselves within a room. After entering, we all watched as the ceiling became covered in images of the stars, giving us an amazing sight.
"Hi, Orion! Little Dip! What's happening, Big Dipper?" Kipo said as she looked at the ceiling while we walked. "Hey, look! There's my sign, Aries!" She then spoke to Wolf who wasn't really in the best mood. "Remember the first time we saw the real Aries the first time we met? So in a way, it's kind of like our sign."
"Newton Wolves!" Black Billions spoke up, getting our attention. "Time for dinner!" with that, the rest of the canines took their seat at the table behind the Billions.
"Your pack may be seated." White Billions said, motioning over to another row of empty chairs. Instantly everyone started running over, all except for Uncle Donnie who just walked over.
"Hey, hey!" I spoke up, making them stop as I took their role as the alpha. "All of you, relax. We're in no rush." With that, we all walked over and quietly took our seats.
"Hey!" Kipo whispered to Wolf. "It's alright. The plans working and they really like us." It was at that moment that I caught a whiff of an enticing aroma.
"Hey," I said as I tried to figure out what that smell was, "anybody else smell that?"
"Yeah. Smells good." Aurico said to me before the doors opened up and we all looked to find two wolves with trays holding what looked like flayed food.
"Oooh, yes!" Benson said as he, Hikari, and Thora were eager to finally eat. "I'm starving!"
"For our guests, our finest flays." White Billions said as the plates of food were passed out. "Enjoy." Benson, Thora, and Hikari did just that and started chowing down. Pretty soon we were all eating. Since Uncle Donnie didn't eat, Lobbo took the chance and started ravaging the flay, leaving nothing left. While we were eating, the stage's spotlights suddenly turned on, shining on the brothers.
"Tonight, we join a pack who not only share our love of the cosmos, but other knowledge as well." White Billions started.
"And if they can illuminate us with their knowledge, perhaps they can be invited to our desert hunt at moonrise." Black Billions finished as the other wolves howled for some reason.
"Desert hunt?" Aurico whispered to me.
"I guess it must be how they deal with the urge to hunt." I said to him at the same volume. "Their desert is something they hunt."
"Yeah and, if they can't, maybe they'll be our desert hunt." One of the wolves at the table whispered.
"Oh, dear." I said, seeing how bad our situation would get if we didn't impress the wolves.
"Hey, Jolene. We got this. Easy peasy." Kipo said, trying to calm Wolf down as she no doubt overheard the whispering wolf. With that, Kipo then looked down at her plate in despair. "My dad is probably starving right now. I hope this is a short meal." Just then, some music started playing and we all looked back at the stage.
"And now, please enjoy our nightly ritual." White Billions said as he and Black Billions stood back to back. "A brief presentation on absolutely everything we learned about the universe." There, the Billions began to rap (something Uncle Donnie explained to me that came from the old world), Black Billions starting them off while pouring a vial of some liquid onto the floor and creating an explosion.
All life started,
With the Big Bang.
From the smoke, White Billions appeared to begin the next verse. As they exchanged verses, they began to wear weird costumes as well. At one point, the other wolves began a chorus.
An explosion so great,
From which we all sprang.
The universe dispersed mass,
Traversing space as time passed.
Space expanding mad fast,
Stars made of light and gas.
The cosmos with billions of stars,
Gleaming.
These are the events,
That brought us wolves into being.
(New-ton!)
(New-ton!)
While the wolves were occupied in their music, the group and I quickly took time to talk. We all kept our voices down as so the wolves didn't hear us.
"A big bang?" Dave scoffed, brushing what the wolves said. "These dorks have absolutely no idea what they're talking about."
"Actually, that's actual true knowledge." Uncle Donnie said to him.
"Oh!" Kipo said as she got an idea. "Let's sneak off and see the telescope while they're distracted."
"No. We stick to the plan." Wolf said, everyone else in our group agreeing with her. "We wait until they're asleep."
"My dad might not have another night! This our chance!" Kipo said. Just as Wolf was about to say something, the brothers got right into Wolf's face and kept rapping about their knowledge of the universe. Quite frankly, I was really starting to get annoyed with these guys.
Alright, now it's time to break it down.
With every kind of star that's ever been classified!
We talking giants,
Subgiants,
Red giants,
Blue giants,
Luminous giants,
Very luminous supergiants,
And less luminous supergiants!
While this was happening, I managed to catch Kipo walking off.
"Really, Kipo?" I said as I stopped her. "You're gonna abandon the pack?"
"What? No, I'm…" Kipo started before I stopped her.
"Hold on." I told her before I then leaned over to Dave. "Dave?"
"Hmm?" He hummed as he heard me.
"Tell the wolves we went to use the bathroom and, whatever happens, improvise. Got it?"
"Yep! You count on me." The Wonderbeast replied while doing a quick salute before Kipo and I quickly got up. Looking to Kipo, I saw she was looking back at Wolf who was getting really uncomfortable with the Billions Brothers getting so close to her.
"She'll be fine, Kipo. We got to move fast." I said to her, getting her attention while I motioned her to follow me as we snuck through the halls. "Come on, I think it's this way."
"Oh, my gosh! Is that a Tesla Coil?" She excitedly said as we saw a machine producing electricity through a window.
"Kipo, focus!" I said to her, snapping my fingers to snap her out of it.
"Sorry!" She apologized and before we kept moving through the halls. We found some doors and opened them to find the telescope.
Sneaking in quickly and quietly, we made our way inside. Though I looked and saw we weren't alone, quickly grabbed Kipo and got us into hiding. I covered her mouth and shushed her before pointing to the two wolves using the telescope which had some big and pink on it.
"Still no sign of the Burrow humans." One of the wolves said, sounding female. "Scarlemagne won't be pleased."
"Well, why don't we just give him the humans we found today?" the other wolf asked, making Kipo gasp in shock while I leered at them narrowed his eyes upon now realizing that these wolves were Scarlemagne's eyes over the city. "Hold them over until we find the others."
"Weren't you listening? They're astronomers!" the female wolf said to him. "Billions and Billions want to compare notes with them." The male wolf scoffed as the pink mass moved and revealed to a Wonderbeast Flamingo, a two-headed bird that I heard was used by Scarlemagne.
"Just send the report, Megan." The male wolf said as his colleague gave a rolled-up piece of paper to the flamingo, the bird taking it before flying off.
"You know what?" the wolf (who I guess was Megan) said as the two walked down the step ladder to the telescope. "It almost seems like you have no respect for our alphas."
"I hope we didn't miss the rap." The male wolf said they left the room.
"The Newton Wolves work for Scarlemagne?" Kipo said in disbelief.
"Yeah and they're using the telescope to act as his eyes over Las Vistas." I said, deducing what the wolves were doing. "That must be how Scarlemagne knew where to find your Burrow. As soon as we're done with this, we got to get rid of this telescope before they find your people and then get out of here."
When we heard someone laughing, we looked and were surprised to find it was the Mod Frog Jamack, all tied up.
"Jamack?" I said, causing the frog to turn and look at me.
"Of course. Another cruel joke from the universe." The frog muttered.
"What happened to you?" She asked in a worried concern, making him chuckled at the question.
"What happened to me? You happened to me! You and your friend!" He snapped at us with a glare. "After I escaped that Mega Bunny that you left me with, I ended up getting kicked out of the Mod Frogs! I mean, look at my tie!" I looked and saw that his tie was cut in half. "Now I can't go back to the pond! I fought, and scratched, and hopped for everything I had in this world and, in one fell swoop, you both just took it all away!"
"What happened was your own fault." I told, stepping forward while pointing at him. "Kipo never wanted to fight and neither did I. We were just trying to get her back home. But no. You choose to go after us. There's no one else to blame but yourself."
"Uh-huh." Jamack said as he refused to accept it. "Now, just before I become desert for a whole bunch of wolves, you both show up to rub it in my face!"
"Desert?" Kipo asked as she was confused.
"Uh, yeah. I'm not here to clean the telescope." Jamack said sarcastically. "You know, my one solace is knowing that her people are going down."
"The only one who's going down is Scarlemagne after I kick him off his high horse!" I told the frog. "Can't believe you guys listen to that maniac. Haven't you forgotten what things were like back then? How peaceful Las Vistas was? All that changed until Scarlemagne came in and destroyed it all."
"Hey, he showed us we were so much stronger than you." Jamack said, trying to argue. "After everything you had done to us in the past, it was time to return the favor!"
"Oh, cut the crap, Jamack." I told him. "For the last few years, it had been the same with all the Packs out there: herd versus pack versus flock and Scarlemagne uses that chaos to induce fear, fear which he uses to control you and any human on the surface. Is that really living? Under some whack-job's rule and fearing your own life?"
"Well, there's a price for everything." Jamack said. "But the point is that he's the new game in town and he wants her people."
"I'm not afraid of Scarlemagne. Me and my friends are a pack." Kipo said confidently. "We'll find my people before he does."
"And that's a promise." I said, backing her up as Jamack laughed at us.
"Oh-ho-ho! Yippee!" Jamack mocked us. "I'm sorry! I didn't realize you have the power of friendship on your side!"
"Mock us if you want. With the way you are, I doubt you'd know anything about it." I told him. "Much less bother to find out."
"Get real. Your 'pack'? They'll abandon you when you're most vulnerable. Just like my pack abandoned me."
"Wolf…" I heard Kipo say under her breath.
I then sighed before using my metalbending to free Jamack from his restraints.
"There." I told him as he looked at me with surprise. "Now you can get off the wolves' menu."
"What?" Jamack said in disbelief. "Why would you do that?"
"I told you to do some soul-searching." I told him with a stern tone. "I'm making sure you can still do that."
"Well, don't think this makes us even." Jamack said before he started walking away. "See you around, Tribe boy." The frog then made an attempt to jump out the window, but instead hit the wall before he started repeating his actions. "Stop looking at me!" We did as he requested as he kept on trying. "Almost there…" We then turned to see him climbing out the window before he fell out of it, his screaming being heard from outside.
"Well, that happened." Nooroo said before Kipo spoke to me with a look of depression.
"Axe," She said as I looked at her, "about what you said back there to Jamack? I think I might need to some soul-searching myself."
"How come?" I asked her before she then looked to the telescope and saw she was conflicted between finding her people and helping Wolf. "You're worried about Wolf, huh?" She then looked to the floor in shame. "Well, we did say we were her pack, right?" She then turned to look at me. "Or was that something to get her to help?"
It was only a brief moment before Kipo said "No, we are her pack." With that, I then smiled at her before we then walked out of the room to help the others.
When we got back, we found Uncle Donnie on stage, trying to give his notes on his own scientific knowledge and was doing quite well. As this happened, Kipo and I returned to our seats with the Burrow girl reaching over to Wolf who slapped her hand away.
"I'm sorry for abandoning the pack and you." Kipo said to her, taking the little warrior by surprise. "You were right about these wolves. They're not our friends. They work for Scarlemagne and…" We heard some doors open and looked to find a wolf holding Jamack's restraints.
"Desert has escaped!" the wolf said, making Wolf look at Kipo in shock.
"What did you do?" Wolf asked before I spoke up.
"Actually, that was me." I told her. "The desert hunt was Jamack and I let him go free."
"You let him go?!" Wolf shouted, making the wolves all glare and growl at us.
"Cuz, why did you do that?" Aurico said in disbelief.
"Jamack's without a pack." I told him. "He got kicked out of the Mod Frogs. I couldn't let him die like this."
"Well, now thanks to you, the wolves have no desert!"
"Oh, we'll have desert." Black Billions said as he walked forward. "If not frog, then what will we hunt?" The lights turned off, instantly raising the tensions. After a moment, just when I thought we were done for, Wolf spoke up.
"Not them." Wolf said as she walked up to the table and made her way over to where the growling canines were at. "They're slow. They're stupid. And they're not a pack. If you want a real hunt… Hunt me." My fellow Tribe members and I gasped in shock before she rushed out of the room, leading the wolves outside.
"Even if she got her staff, she can't be able take on that pack by herself." I said to the group as I got up from my seat. "We got to help her!"
"We'll never catch up to them!" Benson exclaimed as we reached the open doors.
"We have to try! She's a part of our pack!" Kipo said to him. "Whenever she wants us or not!"
"Then let's go!" Aurico yelled out as we all then rushed off into the forest.
"Come on!" Kipo said as we reached a river.
"Where are they?" Benson said as we looked to see some clouds move in and cover the moon. "It's getting dark."
"I don't know." Uncle Donnie said as we looked around before I heard some more howling.
"This way!" I said as we were heading towards the tree where Wolf left her stuff, Kipo and I being the first to make a rush through the river.
By the time we got there, we saw Wolf walk out from the tree to face the Newton Wolves, staff in hand and her cloak on, the wolf skin shocking the wolves.
"Is that…skin? Ugh!" White Billions said, grossed out as his brother growled at Wolf.
"I. Hate. Wolves." The young warrior said to herself before the fight began.
"She's trapped! What'd we do?" She asked as we watched our friend slam Black Billions into another one of his pack and block off Good Billions before kicking him back.
It seemed as though she was gonna win, until the clouds came and blocked the moon, shrouding the area in darkness. Hearing Wolf gasp, I knew she was now at the disadvantage. She couldn't see the wolves thanks to the darkness, but the wolves could still see her.
"Oh, no! She can't see them!" I said, worried about Wolf. But then, out of nowhere, I was able to see, but I could see the wolves and Wolf in three colors (red, orange, and yellow). "What?" I rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn't seeing things, but it turned out to be real.
"Behind you!" I yelled out as I saw a wolf coming at her, getting Wolf to jump, get her staff underneath the wolf's chin, and flip it into the tree. Right there, me and Axel then went right over to her then rushed down to her.
"Why are you here?" Wolf said to me as I tied our wrists together with a vine while Axel got ready to fight. "I ran away so you could escape!"
"Pack Rule Number 1," I started as Axel finished.
"Move together!"
"Uh...Can anyone see them?" Benson asked in confusion before we all rushed down to join the battle. "Wait, where are you going?"
Listening to Kipo's instruction, Wolf and I got ready to fight the Newton Wolves.
"Duck!" We did just that and watched two wolves just right over us. "Right!" Wolf then slammed her staff into an incoming canine. "Left!" Both Wolf and I slammed into another, me using my metalbending and her using her staff. I looked and saw Mandu manage to dodge the incoming wolf just in time.
I looked over and saw Dave rolling down the hill as he bumped into a small tree. Hearing the piglet squealed warning, I watched as Dave ducked to dodge an incoming wolf. From there, I watched as Mandu helped Dave dodged the Newton Wolf's attacks.
"Benson, how's that blood sugar?" Kipo called out. "Because there's a wolf coming right at ya with two juicy apples!" Hearing a battle cry, I watched as Benson grabbed an incoming wolf, slammed it into the ground, and threw it aside before punching another, all while screaming away.
After a while of fighting those wolves, we were able to beat them, the battle was won.
"Looks like that's the last of them." I said as I took down the last wolf.
"Yeah! We beat them!" Kipo cheered as I looked at her with a smile.
But I lost that smile when I looked at Kipo's eyes and gasped. Why I gasped was because I was in shock from seeing her eyes had changed. They were still the same purple, but her pupils had become slit-like a feline. Was that how she could see them? This was impossible. Though I didn't have time to think about as, with the clouds moving away to reveal the moon, her eyes turned back to normal. Now this was something I was greatly confused about.
"Hey, it's alright." Kipo said as I looked to see her calming Wolf down, the little warrior breathing heavily. "We're okay now. We're a pack."
Wolf looked around before she smiled at Kipo and said "More like a group of people who are pretty not good dying together."
"Kipo, how'd you see those wolves?" Benson said as he spits out the wolf arm he was biting.
"I've lived underground for so long, so I'm used to the dark?" She said, clearly having no idea what just happened back there. "I guess?"
"Guys, we should get to that telescope before these hairy geeks wake up." Dave advised.
"It's a dead end." Kipo spoke up sadly. "They work for Scarlemagne. He's been using it to search for my people. There's only one thing we can do. We have to destroy it."
"Then we better make it quick." I said before we all went off towards the telescope.
After getting there, we all began to cut the vines holding it in place so that it would come down on itself. Wolf is now seen slicing off one of the many vines holding the telescope in place. She along with everyone else was doing what they could to break some too, all while various noises were heard.
"How's the steak, Benson?" I heard Lobbo say as he and Benson ate some steaks that were leftover.
"A little rare, but I'm into it." He said and ripped off a chunk before he spoke to the kwami with his mouth full. "How's yours?"
"I'm not complaining in the slightest." Lobbo said before I then went on to help Kipo tear off a vine.
"Thanks." She said to me before she looked the other and I saw Wolf over there, looking like she was thinking. With that, I then nudged Kipo a bit and motioned with my head to tell Kipo to go talk to her.
"I'm sorry I didn't trust you about… the wolves." Kipo apologized to her. "You were right. You knew better. You were raised by them." Wolf then turned to her. "What happened with your old pack?"
"Best you don't know." Wolf said to her. "Trust me."
"Guys, how're we looking?" I asked out to the others.
"This suckers about to come down!" Dave answered before he looked to Kipo. "You sure you don't want to use it to take one last look, Kipo? See if you can spot your people?"
"There's no time." The Burrow girl answered. "I won't put my friends at risk. Not again."
"Well, we came all this way to use it, so we might as well." I said to her with a smile. "It's just one little peek." Kipo then looked to Wolf who nodded her head to do it. From there, Kipo went over and then looked through it, no doubt getting a view of the whole city.
"Kipo, see anything?" I asked her.
"No. I don't see anything." She sadly said. "I'm sorry, Dad." She then looked back into the telescope and gasped before she said "3.262!" Just when I was about to ask to take a look, I heard a creak and looked to Benson to see he sat on the last supporting vine, making it snap. "Whoa! Wait!" It was too late as the giant telescope was now toppling down the cliff. Though we got rid of Scarlemagne's eye over the city, we also got rid of our chance over any confirmation of what she saw.
"What was it?" Wolf asked, anxious to hear what they'd found. "What did you see?"
"A message!" Kipo answered. "A message from my dad."
After managing to get a safe distance away from the wolves, we then set up camp for the night. Despite Kipo wanting to go to the message right away, Uncle Donnie told us that they really needed some rest after such an eventful day, much to Benson and Dave's relief. After we put up camp for the night at some old restaurant, I then called my fellow Tribe members (except for Benson, of course) for a little talk and we all headed to the roof.
"What's up, cuz?" Aurico asked me. "Why'd you call us up here?"
"Guys, you're not gonna believe this." I said as I explained. "In that fight, something happened to Kipo."
"What are you talking about?" Gordy asked me in confusion.
"When I looked at her, I saw her eyes." I told them. "They changed. They were… the eyes of a feline." This shocked the group.
"Wait, you mean like…" Caldwell said.
"Yes, Cal. Exactly like that." I answered him before I then turned away and sat down with a sigh. "I see now. If Kipo is like this, then Mr. Oak no doubt knows the very answers we were looking for. What I'm wondering is, how much does he know about?"
"That is quite the question." Uncle Donnie said to me as they all came over to me. "One we will find the answer to once we figure that clue her father left."
"If Kipo can figure it out." Aurico added.
"Yeah, I guess you're right." I said to them. "Guess I just have to be patient." With that, I then looked to the moon as a few clouds were coming by. "I just can't believe that there's someone that's… like me." As the moon was being covered by clouds, I closed my eyes. When I felt the moon become completely covered. I then opened my eyes, revealing my Fire Dragon eyes. But these were not the ones that I had in my Miraculous form. The way they looked then was something I had managed to force as to conceal the secret I had. My true eyes looked the same, but have my blue irises with the pupils slit vertically, much like how Kipo's eyes were in that fight. With that, I was now more determined to find Mr. Oak and find out what secrets he holds about what me, my father, and now Kipo are.
Author's Note: Hey, guys! I hoped you like the chapter. What do you think of that? Were you surprised? Well, you'll find more surprises along the way as the story progresses. Stick around long enough and all the answers about these two will be answered, especially to what they are. That's all I got for now. Don't forget to leave a comment to tell me how you think of it. See ya in the next chapter!