Chapter 2: Brent and Agnes (written on January 14th, 2022)

Claudette returned to the hunting grounds that were now secured as the official training fields for the Games. The Northern team passed by. Fleet and Claudette exchanged smiles. She jumped in the air and did a flip.

"Go Northern Pack!" she cheered begrudgingly. "What am I doing?"

"Get back here, you peckers!" said a strange voice from the other side of the field. A flock of blue jays came from behind a bush. A bear cub was chasing them, and he cleared the bush adroitly. "Oh, isn't it cute, flying around little Junior's snout?"

"'Little Junior?'"

"I'll show you cute!" The bear ran towards her before making a big leap. He jumped over her as if she was nothing.

"Whoa. Yo, Junior bear! Wait, Junior bear!" But the bear was already out of sight. He disappeared into the forest. She had to have her siblings check him out!

Later...

"So... tell me again," said Stinky.

"It was this little guy. You should have seen how fast he was! And his jump... Seriously, he almost laid up a flock of birds!"

"So the plan is?" said Runt.

"Have you heard of drafting? And he said he was a Junior!"

Stinky started sniffing. When Stinky smelled something, it was usually something important. He was given one of the best noses of their pack.

"Okay, wait. I'm picking something up. It's definitely a bear but not very Junior."

"I'm smelling it too."

"Yeah, it's getting stronger," added Runt. They turned around and saw three huge bears staring at them! This district of the forest happened to be a bear-owned enclave.

"Hi there," said Claudette. "Uhh, we're just here to find this cub—Junior guy." The huge bears did not give words, but they were agitated.

"We just want him to join our team," Runt explained. The bears gave a growl and charged at them. The pups ran off. They went through a bush where they discovered a cub with a chubby porcupine next to him.

"What the—?" said the cub.

"Oh, my gosh! There he is!" Claudette exclaimed.

"And there they are," said the porcupine as the three bears found where the pups escaped to. Claudette hoped that talking to the cub would stop them.

"Hi! I saw you on the field today, and I wanted to come and have a friendly chat. You're a Junior?"

"Uh, yeah," the cub replied.

"Great! My brothers and I want to talk to you about joining the Great Games."

"Hundred feet," said the porcupine, referring to the closing distance between the adult bears and the pups.

"Sis', we may need to take them on," said Stinky.

"Fifty feet."

"Aren't the Games in all-Alpha Wolf Club?" asked the cub.

"Thirty feet."

"We want to make it for the entire Western Region," Claudette replied.

"Twenty feet."

"Got it!" The cub stepped through the pups and faced the adult bears. He stood on his hind legs and silently directed the bears to go away. The special waving of his arms was apparently some sort of bear code.

"Wow. I should learn that," said Runt. Claudette continued her discussion.

"My name is Claudette, and this is Stinky and Runt."

"I'm Brent, and this is my friend—"

"And protector, Agnes," the light blue porcupine finished.

"Uh, 'protector?'" said Claudette.

"Protector, mentor, coach, agent. What's the pitch?" Claudette decided to ignore her.

"Well, Brent, I saw you running in the field today. Looks like you were chasing birds." The cub turned to Agnes.

"You see? Everyone saw it!"

"Brent, it's okay," said Agnes. The cub began having a panic attack.

"No, it's not!" He sat down and tried to calm his hyperventilation. He closed his eyes and chanted some sort of gibberish. "Ah. Okay, reset. You were saying?"

"Look, you're really fast, and from what I saw, a great jumper." The cub appeared bashful from Claudette's compliment.

"Ah, shucks. I'm just a country bear." Suddenly, the porcupine jumped and landed between Claudette and Brent.

"Is there an offer?" she asked.

"Yeah... to join our team."

"But what else?" The porcupine's voice was very flat. The pups could tell she was exceptionally cynical.

"Like what?"

"Hmm. The wolves have a nice bunch of berry bushes."

"Done," Claudette replied swiftly.

"And Salmon Falls, for fishing?"

"Done."

"Okay! We'll get back to you."

"What? I need to know now! We only have a few days of training before the Games begin."

"Pushy, pushy... Brent, huddle." The two of them looked away from the pups and whispered to each other despite the fact that the pups could hear them clearly. "She's working you."

"I know, but I want to do it, and I'm a Junior."

"Aren't we all?" They then broke their huddle.

"Okay. I'll do it," said Brent, "but Agnes comes."

"Yeah! Great to have supporters!" said Claudette.

"No, she comes as part of the team."

"Okay. He gets worked, and I get stares," said Agnes. The pups could not believe what they were agreeing to. A porcupine had never been in the Great Games. Agnes was surely going to get the stares that she desired.

Later...

The five of them made it to the training fields. Before they could introduce the team to the others, Claudette stopped them. She had made herself the captain.

"Western team... Look strong." They all made aggressive poses. The Northern team then ran through them. The pups eyed Fleet.

"Huh, he's fast," said Stinky.

"But he can't turn like you, Claudette," Runt added.

"He didn't have Mom to teach him," their sister replied.

"Well, I did," said Stinky, "and I still can't turn like you." The Northerner seemed to hear their comments and circle back.

"Hey there."

"Hi," Claudette replied.

"So is this my cheering section, huh?"

"That's funny. More like kick-your-butt section!"

"And we could settle it right now if you want," Stinky said in a challenging tone. He stamped one of his forepaws.

"Whoa! Now that's a throwdown," said Fleet. Being the cool-headed one, Runt attempted to bring down the tension.

"Uh, hey, wolves. I think we'll just practice today, okay?"

"Hey, you need the field?" said Fleet.

"Well, it might be good to take a few laps," said Claudette.

"Sure. Go for it."

"Western team, we're going to take a few laps around the field. Slow build to a hunting stride!" Claudette led the team around the field as other teams watched. She passed by the Easterns. "Yo! Ed, right?"

"Um, yeah. Hi."

"We're the Western team!" she declared. She turned to her teammates. "Okay, let's kick it up a notch." The five of them increased their pace. "Let's get our legs under us. How y'all doing?" she said to another group of pups who were mostly females. "Uh, Southern team, right?" The Southerners giggled at the porcupine. Agnes was struggling in the back of the line.

"What?!" The porcupine shot them a dirty look.

"Ignore them," Brent cooed.

"I'll show those dogs fast!" Agnes began running as fast as she could. In no time, she got ahead of Claudette.

"Agnes, stay in line!"

"Agnes, control your speed," said the cub. "You know what happens."

"What happens?" asked Stinky. The porcupine screamed. She ran so fast that it seemed her feet were not touching the ground. The cub managed to catch up to her. He wrapped his arms around her spines, and they both rolled down in the grass. That was when the other teams burst into laughter.

"Nice catch, but get back in line, you two," said Claudette. She cleared her throat nervously as she faced the laughing pups. "Yeah, we're just dealing with some... growing pains."

"Oh, no!" Anges exclaimed.

"What now?!"

"Oh, no!" The two blue jays from earlier began flying tight circles around the cub's head.

"Brent! What are you doing?!"

"Uh, he's got bird issues," Agnes informed. Claudette made a scoffing noise before replying.

"'Bird issues?'"

"They're not birds! They are monsters!"

"Ignore them, Brent!" Claudette urged. Agnes initiated her usual calming ritual.

"Brent, the little birdie is your friend... not your enemy."

"They're always fluttering around my snout!

"Because they like you. They wanna make friends."

"They're rodents... with wings!" The birds seemed to double down their annoyance. "Oh, oh, oh! You want a piece of me?!"

"Brent, chill," said Agnes. "You're going documentary on us." One of the blue jays decided to leave.

"Order! Order on the field!" Claudette yelled. Stinky jumped in the air and caught the other blue jay with his mouth.

"Where did it go?" said Brent, scanning the skies. The bird chirped loudly in Stinky's mouth. "I hear it over there!" The cub stood on his hind legs and walked towards Stinky menacingly. "Tweet, tweet, tweet! Oh, look! It's a cub! Let's flutter around his nose!"

"Brent, time out!" Agnes stepped in front of the cub and tripped him. The chirping did not stop.

"I STILL HEAR IT!"

"Brent, calm down!" Claudette urged desperately.

"IT'S HIDING BEHIND STINKY! I CAN HEAR IT!" Stinky could not hold it any longer. He let the bird free. The blue jay finally left, and Brent finally calmed down. The other teams were laughing even harder.

"Sis', we need a coach," said Stinky. "A serious coach."