Chapter 6
Cerberus finally stopped running.
It had been a long time since she had had to push her body this hard. Since she even had the strength to push it this hard.
She stood with her tail between her legs. It had been over a year since she had had anything even close to a friend. All of her old friends had eventually ended up getting brutally murdered before her eyes.
It was times like back at the track, with that bastard, Fukuda, that she was most reminded of those times.
Trying to kill them because they were in the way.
Everything was the same. It was so God damned predictable.
She paused to wipe the blood off her face.
Cerberus resumed her flight from the stadium at a much slower pace than before, well aware that it was dark out, that she reeked of fresh blood, and she was in the middle of nowhere.
True, she was following the road, but it might as well have been in the middle of nowhere.
Cerberus cast her gaze downward and sniffed at some fresh paw prints. They bore the scents of five different dogs, and these same five dogs seemed to be on the brink of starvation. From what she could gather from the size of them, the dogs that made them were about a third to just over one half of her own size.
Beautiful. Just fucking perfect.
Cerberus could take on a small deer by herself, kill it, and pick the bones clean within an hour on a good day, but today was certainly not a good day. Today, she was both physically and emotionally drained. Beside that fact, it was nearly impossible to win in a fight against five other dogs, even if all of them were only about a third of her size. Even if she was at her peak strength.
Cerberus shuddered. She was familiar with the stabbing hunger that would drive the wild dogs to kill and eat their own kind, but she had never really considered being alone, exhausted, and reeking of blood when that hunger would strike other animals.
She wasn't really afraid. There wasn't much to live for, anyway.
She almost stepped on a dead, flattened squirrel.
Lunch.
Cerberus started to salivate. Dimly, she wondered how disgusted Hotaru would be if she saw her salivating over roadkill (which Haruka had probably run over earlier that day).
She laughed, even though it wasn't really funny. Let Hotaru spend six years on the verge of death. See how she turned out.
Without batting an eye, Cerberus picked the roadkill squirrel up in her mouth and swallowed it whole.
Thanks, Haruka-san, she thought dimly.
Haruka.
She winced at the memory. There was no way she could justify Fukuda's mauling, but she wished she had at least told Haruka why she did it.
Although living alone again was certainly a much tamer punishment than having to live with the sight of yet another friend lying dead on the pavement.
Cerberus turned her head as a car blared its horn at her. She leaped out of its way seconds before it would have flattened her. She almost wished it had.
The driver threw a pop bottle out the window of his car as he passed her. It struck her in the face with a loud SMACK and clattered to the ground.
Cerberus let out a snort. This damned piece of plastic was practically a cruel joke on her life. Just when she thought humanity couldn't shit on her any more, it tossed her some garbage for a change.
She crushed the plastic bottle under her left paw and continued walking.
Cerberus had almost reached "home" again. She looked at its dark alleys, covered with graffiti, and its familiar mounds of dog shit. So little had changed since the day she had first been dumped into the middle of an alleyway six years ago.
If it hadn't been for blind luck, she would have died.
She was just a pup, who had barely been away from her mother for more than five minutes. Life had taken a twisted and cruel turn that night. If it weren't for her old pack, she would have been something's breakfast in two minutes.
It had been hard for Cerberus to learn how to live on skid row. It was only after several severe mistakes that she first got any clue as to how close to death she lived at every second.
For example, if she hadn't eaten that rancid donut, she might not have for days, which would have made looking for food even harder, and would have made her easy prey for other starving individuals. She most certainly would have died an agonizing, humiliating death and nobody would mourn her passing.
Not that she was really complaining. As of this moment, she didn't really feel that she deserved anyone's sympathy.
Cerberus loped past a large sign that read "Ichi-no-Hashi Park." She had barely taken two steps into the park when the dogs finally stepped out of the shadows and showed themselves.
Each of the five shaggy beasts was only about half her size. But they were far better equipped for battle than Cerberus was.
They were five.
She was one. And exhausted at that.
The apparent alpha of the pack sent his followers to attack positions. His eyes glowed eerily in the dark night as each of the smaller animals positioned themselves for the kill. Cerberus almost felt sorry for the wretched things as she let her gaze sweep over the mangy, flee-ridden, emaciated beasts.
But she would be damned if she would let them take her down without a fight.
Cerberus put on an impressive display of aggression. She pricked her ears up, picked up her tail, and raised every hair on her body with a low snarl. She appeared at least twice her actual size, which was already a fairly intimidating sight.
In her heart, Cerberus wasn't afraid. Even if she lost the battle, she would win the war. Even if she died, she would win in the end, because she wouldn't have to live in fear anymore.
"Come and get it," she snarled.
Even though her enemy couldn't understand it, it made her feel more confident in saying it. The alpha faltered for a split second, but with a swish of his tail he quickly sent his pack in for the kill.
Adrenaline powered through her veins as the enemy threw itself at her. She set her fangs into one of the offending animals' neck and tossed it aside as if it weighed nothing. It yelped as it smashed into the very same garbage can that Cerberus had been rooting through only a week ago.
The other four beasts charged, slashing at her with their own fangs. A horrid rending sound let itself be heard as the ravenous jaws closed on her. Pieces of torn flesh and hair went flying as Cerberus tried to fight them off, but she had no chance out in the open. She leaped out of the fray, screaming in agony as the enemy tore long gashes across her side with their hundreds of yellow and broken teeth. She ran as fast as her weakened condition would allow, but the dogs gave chase. Soon enough, they had her cornered in an alleyway.
Cerberus couldn't have chosen a more perfect place for her to fight. She turned around to face her assailants.
The noise would have been terrifying for anyone else. The other dogs growled and gnashed their jaws. The most terrifying look was present in their eyes; a look that was filled with helplessness as much as it was with cruelty and hunger.
Cerberus let out a deep, loud roar as she prepared to meet her fate. This raw, feral battle cry reverberated along the narrow alleyway, sending shivers down the dogs' spines.
The sound of snarls didn't quite drown out the rending noises of torn flesh. The dogs fell on Cerberus once again, and she fought back with all her strength, skill, and power.
Her jaws closed on one of the dogs' throats, and it screamed as she tore its jugular with one mighty sweep of her neck. A fountain of red blood sprayed out of the wound and against the narrow walls of the alleyway. It fell to the ground; twitching, convulsing, and choking on its own blood.
The three remaining dogs pinned her to the ground. They tore at her body, shredding her skin, ripping out chunks of fur. She tore herself free of their grips with a scream of rage and agony. One of the dogs raked her face with its wickedly sharp eyeteeth as she did this, sending blood gushing across her line of sight.
The alpha grabbed her by the collar as she tried to regain her composure.
Curse that fucking pink collar!
He pulled at it, nearly crushing her windpipe in the process and forcing her to stay in one position. She tried to blink the blood out of her eyes and fight back at the same time, even as the other two of her enemies lunged for her throat.
At the last second, Cerberus violently thrashed the alpha off her neck and in the direction of the other two dogs. He carried to collar with him. Confused, the two dogs tore him to pieces before realizing that they had killed their own leader.
Poor things. They would certainly die, now that they had lost their alpha.
Cerberus lunged at the last of her enemies, barely holding on to her own conscious. The remaining two dogs ran off. Co-ordination without an alpha would prove too chaotic for them to continue the assault.
Cerberus was hurt badly. She could barely see, her face was so covered with blood. Her belly, throat, and legs had been brutally slashed, and her tail had been broken to top things off. She was growing weak from blood loss from these numerous open wounds on her body.
Cerberus looked to the sky through a haze of red. The moon was barely a sliver of light in the sky.
The moon's glow had always held a sort of special meaning for her, although she had never really understood why. Most people thought that wolves howled at the moon every day, that it was just something they did. But Cerberus hardly ever howled at the moon; in fact, had only ever done it once before. The moon had enough troubles of its own than to hear her whine about life.
Cerberus could hardly remember when she had last howled to the moon. It was only a year ago, but it was a time that Cerberus would have liked to forget. It was an entire lifetime ago for her.
It had been on the day her pack died. Cerberus had been slowly dying of blood loss through her right shoulder. It was a death song, this howling to the moon. Not just any song.
As she watched it, the moonlight died out.
Cerberus howled her mournful song to the moon one final time before she hit the pavement.
Cerberus finally stopped running.
It had been a long time since she had had to push her body this hard. Since she even had the strength to push it this hard.
She stood with her tail between her legs. It had been over a year since she had had anything even close to a friend. All of her old friends had eventually ended up getting brutally murdered before her eyes.
It was times like back at the track, with that bastard, Fukuda, that she was most reminded of those times.
Trying to kill them because they were in the way.
Everything was the same. It was so God damned predictable.
She paused to wipe the blood off her face.
Cerberus resumed her flight from the stadium at a much slower pace than before, well aware that it was dark out, that she reeked of fresh blood, and she was in the middle of nowhere.
True, she was following the road, but it might as well have been in the middle of nowhere.
Cerberus cast her gaze downward and sniffed at some fresh paw prints. They bore the scents of five different dogs, and these same five dogs seemed to be on the brink of starvation. From what she could gather from the size of them, the dogs that made them were about a third to just over one half of her own size.
Beautiful. Just fucking perfect.
Cerberus could take on a small deer by herself, kill it, and pick the bones clean within an hour on a good day, but today was certainly not a good day. Today, she was both physically and emotionally drained. Beside that fact, it was nearly impossible to win in a fight against five other dogs, even if all of them were only about a third of her size. Even if she was at her peak strength.
Cerberus shuddered. She was familiar with the stabbing hunger that would drive the wild dogs to kill and eat their own kind, but she had never really considered being alone, exhausted, and reeking of blood when that hunger would strike other animals.
She wasn't really afraid. There wasn't much to live for, anyway.
She almost stepped on a dead, flattened squirrel.
Lunch.
Cerberus started to salivate. Dimly, she wondered how disgusted Hotaru would be if she saw her salivating over roadkill (which Haruka had probably run over earlier that day).
She laughed, even though it wasn't really funny. Let Hotaru spend six years on the verge of death. See how she turned out.
Without batting an eye, Cerberus picked the roadkill squirrel up in her mouth and swallowed it whole.
Thanks, Haruka-san, she thought dimly.
Haruka.
She winced at the memory. There was no way she could justify Fukuda's mauling, but she wished she had at least told Haruka why she did it.
Although living alone again was certainly a much tamer punishment than having to live with the sight of yet another friend lying dead on the pavement.
Cerberus turned her head as a car blared its horn at her. She leaped out of its way seconds before it would have flattened her. She almost wished it had.
The driver threw a pop bottle out the window of his car as he passed her. It struck her in the face with a loud SMACK and clattered to the ground.
Cerberus let out a snort. This damned piece of plastic was practically a cruel joke on her life. Just when she thought humanity couldn't shit on her any more, it tossed her some garbage for a change.
She crushed the plastic bottle under her left paw and continued walking.
Cerberus had almost reached "home" again. She looked at its dark alleys, covered with graffiti, and its familiar mounds of dog shit. So little had changed since the day she had first been dumped into the middle of an alleyway six years ago.
If it hadn't been for blind luck, she would have died.
She was just a pup, who had barely been away from her mother for more than five minutes. Life had taken a twisted and cruel turn that night. If it weren't for her old pack, she would have been something's breakfast in two minutes.
It had been hard for Cerberus to learn how to live on skid row. It was only after several severe mistakes that she first got any clue as to how close to death she lived at every second.
For example, if she hadn't eaten that rancid donut, she might not have for days, which would have made looking for food even harder, and would have made her easy prey for other starving individuals. She most certainly would have died an agonizing, humiliating death and nobody would mourn her passing.
Not that she was really complaining. As of this moment, she didn't really feel that she deserved anyone's sympathy.
Cerberus loped past a large sign that read "Ichi-no-Hashi Park." She had barely taken two steps into the park when the dogs finally stepped out of the shadows and showed themselves.
Each of the five shaggy beasts was only about half her size. But they were far better equipped for battle than Cerberus was.
They were five.
She was one. And exhausted at that.
The apparent alpha of the pack sent his followers to attack positions. His eyes glowed eerily in the dark night as each of the smaller animals positioned themselves for the kill. Cerberus almost felt sorry for the wretched things as she let her gaze sweep over the mangy, flee-ridden, emaciated beasts.
But she would be damned if she would let them take her down without a fight.
Cerberus put on an impressive display of aggression. She pricked her ears up, picked up her tail, and raised every hair on her body with a low snarl. She appeared at least twice her actual size, which was already a fairly intimidating sight.
In her heart, Cerberus wasn't afraid. Even if she lost the battle, she would win the war. Even if she died, she would win in the end, because she wouldn't have to live in fear anymore.
"Come and get it," she snarled.
Even though her enemy couldn't understand it, it made her feel more confident in saying it. The alpha faltered for a split second, but with a swish of his tail he quickly sent his pack in for the kill.
Adrenaline powered through her veins as the enemy threw itself at her. She set her fangs into one of the offending animals' neck and tossed it aside as if it weighed nothing. It yelped as it smashed into the very same garbage can that Cerberus had been rooting through only a week ago.
The other four beasts charged, slashing at her with their own fangs. A horrid rending sound let itself be heard as the ravenous jaws closed on her. Pieces of torn flesh and hair went flying as Cerberus tried to fight them off, but she had no chance out in the open. She leaped out of the fray, screaming in agony as the enemy tore long gashes across her side with their hundreds of yellow and broken teeth. She ran as fast as her weakened condition would allow, but the dogs gave chase. Soon enough, they had her cornered in an alleyway.
Cerberus couldn't have chosen a more perfect place for her to fight. She turned around to face her assailants.
The noise would have been terrifying for anyone else. The other dogs growled and gnashed their jaws. The most terrifying look was present in their eyes; a look that was filled with helplessness as much as it was with cruelty and hunger.
Cerberus let out a deep, loud roar as she prepared to meet her fate. This raw, feral battle cry reverberated along the narrow alleyway, sending shivers down the dogs' spines.
The sound of snarls didn't quite drown out the rending noises of torn flesh. The dogs fell on Cerberus once again, and she fought back with all her strength, skill, and power.
Her jaws closed on one of the dogs' throats, and it screamed as she tore its jugular with one mighty sweep of her neck. A fountain of red blood sprayed out of the wound and against the narrow walls of the alleyway. It fell to the ground; twitching, convulsing, and choking on its own blood.
The three remaining dogs pinned her to the ground. They tore at her body, shredding her skin, ripping out chunks of fur. She tore herself free of their grips with a scream of rage and agony. One of the dogs raked her face with its wickedly sharp eyeteeth as she did this, sending blood gushing across her line of sight.
The alpha grabbed her by the collar as she tried to regain her composure.
Curse that fucking pink collar!
He pulled at it, nearly crushing her windpipe in the process and forcing her to stay in one position. She tried to blink the blood out of her eyes and fight back at the same time, even as the other two of her enemies lunged for her throat.
At the last second, Cerberus violently thrashed the alpha off her neck and in the direction of the other two dogs. He carried to collar with him. Confused, the two dogs tore him to pieces before realizing that they had killed their own leader.
Poor things. They would certainly die, now that they had lost their alpha.
Cerberus lunged at the last of her enemies, barely holding on to her own conscious. The remaining two dogs ran off. Co-ordination without an alpha would prove too chaotic for them to continue the assault.
Cerberus was hurt badly. She could barely see, her face was so covered with blood. Her belly, throat, and legs had been brutally slashed, and her tail had been broken to top things off. She was growing weak from blood loss from these numerous open wounds on her body.
Cerberus looked to the sky through a haze of red. The moon was barely a sliver of light in the sky.
The moon's glow had always held a sort of special meaning for her, although she had never really understood why. Most people thought that wolves howled at the moon every day, that it was just something they did. But Cerberus hardly ever howled at the moon; in fact, had only ever done it once before. The moon had enough troubles of its own than to hear her whine about life.
Cerberus could hardly remember when she had last howled to the moon. It was only a year ago, but it was a time that Cerberus would have liked to forget. It was an entire lifetime ago for her.
It had been on the day her pack died. Cerberus had been slowly dying of blood loss through her right shoulder. It was a death song, this howling to the moon. Not just any song.
As she watched it, the moonlight died out.
Cerberus howled her mournful song to the moon one final time before she hit the pavement.