Moon's Herald
Chapter 2: The Shadow Dog
One thing I've learned in my life is that any good thing that happens to you, or any fun thing you do, is twice as special when you share it with someone you love. That evening I spent in the pasture with Michiru was magical, partly because it was the first time we had gone off to play together since we were tiny pups, and partly because it was the last carefree hour I would have for a long time to come, though I didn't know it then.
Now that the hot sun was going down and their wool was summer-light, the sheep were calm enough that driving them to the pasture was blessedly easy; even the ram was docile and made no trouble. I trotted along on one side of the flock and Michiru walked on the other, using his walking stick to nudge back into line any sheep that seemed inclined to wander off in another direction. When we reached the pasture, which was on the very edge of the property on the farthest side, the sky was stained pinkish-red in the west and purple where the red met the fading blue of the eastern sky. Fluffy clouds like pink marshmallows floated in the midst of it all.
Surrounded by this beautiful scenery, the sheep got right to the business of grazing on the new spring grass, good-naturedly ignoring me and Michiru as we raced playfully back and forth among them. Tired as I was, I seemed to have found my second wind; I ran and jumped right along with the boy, barking as he laughed, and chasing my tail as he spun in dizzy circles. When Michiru got so dizzy that he fell down, I pounced on him and we wrestled as we had back in our puppy days. I know we were acting really stupid, but I didn't care. It's fun to act stupid sometimes.
Eventually, we got so tired and out of breath that we knew it was time for a rest. We went up to the highest point of the field, on top of a little hill that rose up near the middle. I lay down with my head on my paws and Michiru sat beside me, scratching behind my ears as he tried to catch his breath. "Whew," he said, "that was fun, eh, Foxie? Too bad we don't have time to play more often."
I wagged my tail a few times in response while quickly weeping the pasture before us with both my eyes and my nose to make sure all was well with the sheep. Though sheep can often seem to be all alike to a human, I knew each one in my flock by sight and scent and could check on all of them just by sifting through these scents. The sheep were all present and accounted for, and grazing peacefully, so I closed my eyes and just enjoyed the gentle breeze that had begun to blow and the feeling of Michiru petting me. For a few minutes, I knew nothing but this utter peace and happiness. I heard Michiru comment that our hour was nearly up, but he didn't sound in a hurry, either.
Then I heard it. Actually, I didn't even realize that I had heard a sound at first, and I still don't remember exactly what it was; my ears just pricked up of their own accord and turned toward the forest on the other side of the pasture fence, just beyond the border of the farm property. A moment later, I came to my senses and my head shot up as I gazed toward the forest. Michiru and I used to play in there a lot when we were small, sneaking away to have our own little adventures. But no more, not since the farmer's wife found out and started lecturing Michiru periodically about the dangers that lurked there – wild animals, traps, hunters who could mistake him for game, cliffs he could fall off of. We'd heard it all a million times before the woman was done.
I used to think she was so paranoid when she started on a tirade, but gradually I realized that she was at least a little right. While guarding the sheep, there had been a few occasions when a wildcat or a fox ventured out of the woods and I had to fight it and run it off, and although it was nothing I couldn't handle, I didn't really want Michiru to be around such creatures. They were tricky and more than a little dangerous if provoked, and I learned to be wary of them.
That might explain the uneasy shiver that ran down my spine when I looked into the shadows under the trees, though I couldn't actually see anything there. I couldn't smell anything, either, because we were upwind of the forest. But something had startled me out of my peaceful doze, and I had to find out what it was. I jumped to my feet and loped purposefully down the hill and across the field with my eyes fixed on the forest, ignoring the sheep that hurried out of my way and Michiru's call. If he wanted to know what the matter was, he'd have to come along with me, though I hoped he wouldn't in case I had to fight another wildcat or something.
I didn't stop or even slow down till I came right up against the fence. I squinted through the wire mesh that was stretched between the horizontal logs and stared into the dark forest, boring as far into the shadows as my eyes would let me. It was eerily quiet in the space between the fence and the trees. All my senses strained for some sign of the source of whatever miniscule sound had disturbed me. It was my job to protect the sheep at any cost, and I was very serious about this when it came right down to it. However, after a few minutes of intense concentration, nothing showed itself and I began to relax. Must've been a false alarm.
I was just about to turn back and return to Michiru when the wind suddenly shifted, bringing to my nose an odd scent I had never smelled before. Some kind of animal, it smelled like. I snapped my head back around to stare at the forest once more, nostrils flaring to catch more of that indefinable scent. My ears pricked forward, straining for any sounds, and I stared so hard into the trees that my head ached. A low growl started in my throat, but I held it back for the time being.
A few moments ticked by with no change, but now I knew there was a creature of some kind out there, and I gradually let out the growl I was suppressing. Suddenly, there came an answering growl from among the trees, and I fell silent in sudden fear. The shadows under the large oak at the edge of the woods had come together and taken shape, and they were staring at me. This animal, whatever it was, was so dark in color that it actually seemed to be made of shadows; I could barely separate its outline from its surroundings, but from what I could tell, it was huge and had bushy black fur and pointed ears that stood erect on top of its head. It had such a big, deep voice that I could almost feel the vibrations in my own chest.
It was night now, and the moon must have suddenly come out from behind a cloud, because next thing I knew there was enough light to illuminate the shadow-beast, making its bared white fangs glow. It was a dog. . . . Wait, a dog? But it was way too big, and it smelled so wrong for a dog. I could tell it was a male whatever-it-was, but nothing beyond that made any sense. And then I noticed the worst, most disturbing thing about this animal – its eyes were white. There was a large black pupil at the center of each eye, but the rest was completely white. This "dog" was the most unearthly thing I had ever seen, and I began to quiver as my tail crept between my legs.
Just then, I heard an uneasy bleat from somewhere behind me and was suddenly reminded of the sheep and my duty to protect them, and Michiru in this case, from wild animals like this. Somehow, this realization gave me the strength I needed and my fear turned abruptly to protective fury. I burst out barking like crazy, with my teeth bared and my ears laid back against my skull. I felt the guard hairs on my neck hackle, and I threw myself repeatedly against the fence, snapping my jaws so violently that saliva went flying everywhere.
The shadow dog had been looking at me until that point with an odd expression somewhere between hate and curiosity in its eyes, but it snapped its jaws back at me and growled even louder than before when it saw the change in my demeanor, and its white eyes burned menacingly for a few moments before it whirled and, with another flash of white, disappeared once more into the shadows.
"Foxie! Foxie!" came Michiru's distressed call as he ran up behind me at last. "What is it, girl?"
I had stopped barking by the time the boy reached me. I was just standing there now, every muscle tense, staring into the woods after the shadow dog to make sure he was really gone. Even Michiru's warm hand in my fur didn't relax me. We stood together for a moment, looking out at the dark forest that had once been our playground. I couldn't believe at that moment that I had ever dared, much less desired, to go in there. You may think I was overreacting, but if you had seen it . . . . I had never known that our forest had animals like that one, but now that I did know, I totally agreed with the farmer's wife about that place and intended to keep a sharp eye on it.
"Foxie," said Michiru at length, "there's . . . nothing there. At least not now."
The boy tugged gently on my chain collar a few times, trying to pull me away from the fence, but I felt like I was under a spell or something. All I could think was, what the hell was that thing? over an over again to the point that it drowned out everything else.
"Come on, Foxfire," Michiru said finally, tugging very hard and breaking me out of my daze. I turned around with him and followed him back to the flock. "We're late. Dad's gonna be pissed."
I waited while Michiru went to retrieve his walking stick. To avoid looking back at the forest, I looked up at the sky instead. It was now a dark blue-black, clear, and dotted with millions of bright stars. The moon was beautiful and full. Normally on such a beautiful night, I would sneak out of the house after everyone else was asleep and go out to the farthest end of the farthest field to make up songs to sing at the moon. I never really knew why I did it and I couldn't sing very well, but the moon's beauty was just so inspiring, even to a musically challenged dog like me. But that weird animal had freaked me out so much that I felt more like cowering under the sofa than singing. Oh well, I thought with a sigh, maybe I'll just forget about it soon. Yeah, that's it; I'll just forget.
I nearly jumped out of my skin at Michiru's shrill whistle. I snapped myself back to attention as best I could and immediately sprung into action, hoping to numb my racing mind with the sound of pounding hooves and the feeling of the night breeze as Michiru and I rounded up the sheep to bring them home.
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A/N: Well, there's another chapter. Please R&R - it gives me encouragement to know people are actually reading this!
