Chapter 7: What You're Made Of (written on January 16th, 2022)

Later in the day, Claudette practiced in the fields, the same ones where Fleet was practicing yesterday. Now it was Fleet going to Claudette.

"Hey. Sorry about today." She was stopped in her tracks.

"Huh?"

"Everything... uh... that happened."

"Were you here to practice?"

"That... is all I do," he replied with a chuckle. The two pups began running alongside each other.

"You want to warm up together?" They jogged in a straight line, but Fleet soon transitioned into running.

"You just can't help yourself." She caught up to him.

"And you can't either," he replied.

"Hey, you want to learn how to do it?"

"But I'm your competitor!"

"Well... tomorrow you are."

"Hmm. Sure."

"Okay. When you come to a corner... plant your front paws, and just let your body slide!" Claudette did a demonstration, the perfect spin-out. "Your turn!" The Northerner went for it. He jumped. "Plant your paws!" Claudette shouted.

"Whoa-oh-oh! Ahh!" He slid into a bush.

"Fleet?" She went to check on him. He poked his head out the top of the bush and grinned. Claudette returned with a grin of her own.

"Fleet!" someone yelled. It was Nars. "Why aren't you training?" He was confused by the fact that his son was in a bush. It gave the impression that Fleet was fooling around. There was no time for that. "What are you doing?" he growled. Fleet exited the bush.

"What do you mean?!" he snapped. Claudette held her breath.

"Whatever that was. Fleet, you have to hate your opponent to win."

"Oh, really, Dad? And how did that work out for you?" Fleet turned his back on his father.

"Get back here! You need to train!"

"I've trained enough," Fleet protested. Nars bubbled with anger and stepped in front of his son. He brought his left forepaw up, ready to strike his son. "Go ahead, Dad! Make me a champion, right?" Nars glared at his son who exposed his chest proudly. Fleet thought if he was going to be hit, he was going to take it as an Alpha and show his injury to everyone. That would expose the real truth of the Northern Pack. Nars read this and calmed himself down but not by much.

"No excuses tomorrow! You hear me?!"

Fleet looked back at Claudette. She was saddened. Fleet himself began to cry. They exchanged a nod before parting ways.

Later...

A few hours after the scene with Fleet, Claudette returned to their parents' den. Her teammates were there along with the two birds and Mooch, but next to Humphrey was someone she missed dearly.

"Mom! You're back!" She ran to her mother and hugged her.

"I came back early! I got word of the Games. I heard you're all doing really well."

"Well, just a few techniques my mom taught me."

"So, Claudette, we're all thinking," said Humphrey, "we have a chance to win!"

"We do," said Claudette.

"Oh, Kate, you should have seen Nars."

"Wait. Nars from the Northern pack?"

"Yeah. You left him a lasting memory with your turnout. He is so bitter cave for one."

"And the way he treats his son, Fleet," said Stinky. His sister frowned. She then walked to the stone ledge in front of the den to watch the sunset.

"You know what's going on with her?" Kate whispered to her mate. Humphrey shrugged his shoulders. She decided to have a private chat with her daughter. "My first Games, it was really important to me too." Kate sat next to her. Claudette peered into her mother's brown eyes.

"Mom... what was the most important thing to you?"

"Hmm. Well... winning is fun... but I think digging down deep and seeing what you're truly made of is what really counts."