Wind rustled the leaves, sending a whistle through the dusty air. Around the rocky cave was no more than grass, with wild bushes growing at every turn, their leaves pressed against tree trunks. Storm woke at the chirp of morning birds, her eyes crusty from the long night's sleep. Beside her, six more dogs slept peacefully. Bella and Arrow, and their pups. She'd flocked to the pack, happy for her new life, but a feeling remained in her chest. A sadness, as she regretfully knew.
The pack she once lived in turned against her, casting her out, listening to a traitor they had among them. Doing what drove Bella and Arrow out many moons ago. No, I need to block that out, Storm tried to wipe the memory as she shook her head, at the horror and disappointment, but it remained. It always did.
She stepped paw out of the cave, glancing around. No wolves or other Fierce-Dogs, just silence. Below her, the ground squished, mud embedding itself on her paws. Storm padded to the camp's center, searching for a squirrel or simple prey. Well, as simple as a squirrel can be.
Scrambling caught her ear. There! A splotch of brown fur, blending in with the trees it climbed on. She stalked closer, her body low to the ground. Thorns littered around the tree, spreading from crooked thorn bushes. Storm held a whimper as her paw fell on a thorny vine, but the squirrel stopped, its tail flicking as its body stilled.
Looking up, Storm caught a better view of the squirrel. Unfortunately, the squirrel had a similar situation. It leaped from its branch to another, shaking the leaves in a waking noise. The Fierce-Dog turned, her paws working to match the squirrel's speed. With a leap she swung her paws, knocking the branch before falling half-way in a thorn bush. This time, her whimper came loud and clear, just like the failure on her empty paws.
"Good try, you almost got it," a voice said behind her. Storm whipped her head around, seeing Arrow, still slow and sleepy. The black-and-tan Fierce-Dog had a joking smile.
"I'm still half-awake. Maybe later I'll get it," replied Storm.
"Well, the prey pile is almost gone, so I guess we'll be hunting later, anyways."
He trotted to the den, half his body still in sight when he stopped. Some words were exchanged, probably to Bella, and he sat down. Storm decided to step paw deeper in the forest, her nose on high alert and her ears swiveling. Her paws crossed the soil in silent beats, cracking only a few leaves on the forest floor.
Heavy shadows fell, swarming her in darkness. The unnerving silence grew as she continued, and no scents caught her nose. Forest-Dog, please be on my side, Storm silently pleaded, the eerie nature driving her further. A large rock crossed her path, the imperfect circle around it free of trees or any grass. Some dirt appeared turned over, like deer pulling up grass. She sniffed the rock, and a wolf's scent hit her. When she looked up, a wolf looked back.
"Hello," greeted the wolf. It was a he-wolf with an average pelt, as well as the usual amber eyes.
"Hello?" Storm tried to sound unthreatening. Her last encounters with wolves were rather mixed. The wolf kept silent, as though 'Hello' was all he could say. Then he came closer, getting a quick sniff of Storm before backing away.
"You're Storm, aren't you?"
Storm put a paw back. "Yes… are you from the Still-Water Pack?"
"Oh, them? No, no. I'm afraid not. A Lone Wolf is what I am. I go around, running from place to place. And you are who I'm looking for."
"Why?" an overpowering urge to run fell over her, but she dug her claws in the leafy soil.
"It's about your pack. The imposter. I know who it is."
The wolf bounded onto the rock, lifting his head up as though the Sky-Dogs were calling him. He turned his head back to Storm, facing her with pure concern. "But I can't tell you. I can only say how to defeat her."
"I need to know!" barked Storm, her emotion clogging her voice.
"Meet me here again, when the moon is up. Just a warning, you might get hurt."
He left, ignoring Storm as she barked for answers. And so she returned to her pack, spending the day with an ache in her head. By the time night fell, and the Moon-Dog rose above the trees, it seemed like many moons had passed. Storm returned to the rock, rushing with adrenaline in her long legs. Whatever that wolf is going to do, Storm thought, skidding beside the rock, it better be quick. What if the imposter attacked the pack more? What if she killed the pups? Or killed everyone who sided with her?
"Hello," said the wolf as he emerged from the shadows. Above them, the Sky-Dogs began to part in a slow manner. "So, are you ready?"
"Yes," Storm nodded. Her brown eyes leveled with his. "What do we do?"
"Stay still."
Storm opened her mouth to ask a question, but a searing pain shot up her leg. The wolf latched his teeth on the soft fur, oozing red as he let go. "Storm, I need you to slowly circle the rock. Hurry, before the wound heals."
With hesitance Storm listened, making a slow circle to stain the blood thinly across the floor. Every pawstep hurt, but she unknowingly trudged on. She left the circle and sat down the moment she finished, looking at the wolf for further instructions. In the process, another question escaped. "How does this help me defeat the imposter? If anything, now I'm weaker!"
"You can't stop her," the wolf shook his head, but a slight smile came. "But I know someone who can…"
The Moon-Dog's light hit the rock at that moment, turning its bleak gray into a shining near-white. Only the lights in the human towns had anything close to the light's brightness, and Storm had to look away while it got a little dimmer. Once she could see, her eyes noticed the white blob descending. It looked like a pup, with its small appearance, floppy ears, and wagging tail. The small tail wagged so hard that the shape's rump moved with it.
Before the colors faded in, Storm recognized the pup at once. She came as close as the lines in the circle allowed her, then spoke. "Wiggle?"
"Hello! I am here!" cried Wiggle, his voice booming.
"It's nice to see you again!" happiness took over her voice. It's been many, many moons since Wiggle was last in her sight, the previous time being…
"But why were you summoned?" the question made Wiggle frown a little, so she quickly continued. "Not to sound rude, I just need to know."
"Wiggle will destroy the evil consuming the lands."
In the next moment, Wiggle zoomed away, vanishing into the horizon. Storm shot the wolf a confusing glance, but he turned away. "On second thought… maybe listening to a pup wasn't a good idea."
"What do you mean?"
"Two nights ago, I saw something fall from the clouds. He told me about an imposter, and danger. I didn't know what it meant, but all I understood was 'find Storm'. I'm sorry. I didn't think it'll end badly."
Storm chased after Wiggle's trail, which was easy seeing the pup-shaped holes he left in the trees. Through the hole-filled forest she ran, trying to chase her litter-brother's trail. It was when she saw Bella and Arrow's camp did she stop. Her paws kicked loose stones down the freshly-formed pit, which swallowed the whole camp except for the den. Somehow, the den floated, just like a human structure. I don't like all these comparisons to humans I'm making.
"Bella? Arrow? Are you there?"
Surely Wiggle wouldn't destroy them… right? Two heads popped out, both belonging to the grown dogs. Bella spoke first, the golden-brown dog filled with fear and confusion. "Storm! You should've seen it, Wiggle came flying through here. I'm not making this up."
"I know," and I'm sorry, she would've added. "But what about Yip and Scramble? Are they alright?"
Bella's sadness grew at the question. "Wiggle circled them, sending some sort of dust down. Then the pups flew with him."
Wiggle, what in the Sky-Dog's name are you doing? Storm no longer had joy for seeing her litter-brother, all she had was concern. After some more talking, she got the directions to continue past the forest. Even if Bella didn't know where they went, Storm would have known anyways. Wiggle wanted vengeance, and the Wild Pack is where he'll find it. I just hope they'll let me in.
And hopefully, they'll survive Wiggle's wrath. Her paws hurt when the first smells of the Wild Pack borders hit her nose. It seemed like only one journey of the Sun-Dog passed since her exile. After pushing some pine branches away, she stared at nothing. Quite literal nothingness. In front of her, where the pack would've been, was a giant hole, like the night coated it in black.
"Wiggle?" called Storm, her voice shaky. 7 pups of varying colors and sizes descended into view. Each of their tongues lolled.
"Hi, Storm!" shouted Wiggle. "I am destroying all evil."
"You're creating holes!" shouted Storm back. This wasn't the same innocent pup who was nervous about everything. It didn't make sense.
"I am destroying the fabric of reality."
"But…"
Storm couldn't finish. In a single yip, the ground before her gave out, and she plummeted into the void below. The next time she touched land, it was on a cloud. Around her, many dogs, both unknown and known, watched as Wiggle gathered an army of pups and continued his wrath. Even the pup forms of other dogs joined in. All the spirit dogs tried to subdue them, from the River-Dog to the Sky-Dogs. They tried to stop the pups' overpowered destruction, but it ended in loss each and every time.
For many moons, centuries, if the dogs had a word for it, Storm watched the battles. The two forces collided again and again until the world was no more. By the time the Earth was completely destroyed, the Admin had to nerf pups in the next update, and the server was reset.
Changelog (V321.4):
+Nerfed pups
-Removed reincarnation
+Readded Storm of Dogs
-Removed Storm and for being overrated
-Mucky is no longer possible
+Snail has been readded.
