Merry late Christmas and a happy early new year! Hope you all are having a great seasonal break wherever you may be. Sorry for not being very consistent with uploads, but I'll try to get as many chapters written and uploaded before the seasonal break is over. Anyways, here is chapter 7 of The Power Inside!
"Intruder? How do you know?" I asked, thoughts frantically racing through my head. Great, more reasons to prove that I irrationally attacked Rocky.
"Well, we found Rocky in his room unconscious. After taking him to the examination room, I found that he had a few broken ribs." Marshall explained quickly. "We need you to help us find who it is so we can stop them. I just hope it isn't a wolf like the other night."
"Uhh, about Rocky…" I started, hesitating to say that I was the one who attacked Rocky.
"There's no time to talk right now! We need to go find this intruder before he hurts more of us!" Marshall interjected, cutting me off of my confession. The other pups had sped back to the lookout, prepared to find this "intruder".
"But Marshall…" I started again.
"Can it wait?! This is really important! Do you understand that…" Marshall hollered.
"Marshall! I was the one that attacked Rocky, okay?!" I screamed, getting Marshall to shut his maw. He gave me a wide-eyed stare as he backed away to his truck.
"No, I don't believe it. You would never do something like that. You're just saying that to get me to calm down. It's nice and all, but you really don't have to do that." Marshall laughed awkwardly.
"I mean it. I attacked Rocky. I wasn't myself when I did" I replied, lowering my head in regret.
"You mean that you were the one that knocked Rocky unconscious, broke his ribs, and bit his neck?" Marshall asked in disbelief.
"Yes, that was me." I replied blankly. Marshall stared at me for a while while I stared at the hard gray pavement.
"I don't believe it. I need to ask Rocky. He knows who attacked him." Marshall growled as he hopped back into his truck and drove towards the lookout. Meanwhile, I still sat on the sidewalk, staring at my paws at what I had caused. All this panic I caused. I'm not like Tracker. My power hurts others. If I did open up, then who knows who I would hurt. I can't stay, but I want to stay by my friends. I want to feel loved. I want to have a family.
I don't want to feel alone.
I quickly drove back up to the lookout where I found everyone in a hurry, looking for the intruder. I huffed, knowing that they wouldn't have believed me too if I had told them that I was their so called intruder. I decided to let them search so they would come up with nothing. Then, I would tell them. I pawed up to the recovery room where I was certain that Rocky would be. As I was about to push the door, Marshall came barging through with tears forming in his eyes and a face of anger plastered on his face.
"You lied to me! I knew it wasn't you, you stupid pup!" Marshall shouted at me and left. That left me confused and anxious. What had Rocky told him? Had he defended me even though I had hurt him? Quietly, I pushed open the doors to the room. There, I found Rocky lying on the bed on his side, bandages bundling up his chest and his hind leg. I slowly walked up to him and found him reading an old book that looked to be hundreds of years old. As I came up to Rocky, he took a glance at me, scowled, and turned the other direction so that he was facing away from me. I guess he is still mad at me. I attempted to start a bit of conversation.
"Hi Rocky, I hope you're doing well" I wished, hoping that Rocky would lighten up. Rocky stayed facing away, not speaking a word. I stood next to him, waiting for a response. When I gave up waiting for a response, I decided to ask him the one question that was on my mind.
"I have a question, Rocky. Why did you tell Marshall I didn't attack you, especially if you're still mad at me." I asked. Rocky stayed silent for a bit before finally answering.
"I told him that because I know it wasn't your fault. I just don't know whose fault it is' Rocky huffed. Hey, at least I got a response.
"But it was my fault that I attacked you. I overreacted." I claimed.
"Overreacted? Overreacted to what?" Rocky asked, getting curious.
"I thought you went through my stuff. I found my papers all over the place" I answered. Rocky turned around and gave me a harsh stare.
"For real? You thought I went through your stuff? What kind of friend would I be if I did that?" Rocky replied with a small giggle.
"But then who could've been through my stuff? And why do you have a cast over your leg?" I asked, noticing that his hind leg was bundled up pretty tight.
"You mean you don't remember? You were the one that attacked me! You gave me a massive gash down my leg!" Rocky exclaimed, wincing at the thought of the huge cut down his leg. I cocked my head to the side.
"I never gave you that cut" I mentioned, and I became very suspicious. My mind started to swirl with thoughts. Who in the world could have given him that scar if it wasn't me? Hold on. There was someone in the lookout. Someone who looked through my papers. Someone who hurt Rocky besides me. I need to find them.
Before Rocky could reply to my comment, I rushed out the door. I joined the search for this mysterious invader. I was almost positive that it was another wolf with some power. If he was anything like the previous wolf, we may not be able to fight off this one, unless I stepped up with my forbidden talent. I shook my head. Who knows if there really is an invader. It could be a wild animal. Hopefully it is.
Suddenly, I heard a loud bang around the corner of the recreational room. I quickly zoomed over to find that Zuma was knocked unconscious next to a dented wall. I glanced over towards the other pups and found a new pair of purple eyes staring at me. Oh no, not another wolf. The other pups were in a ready stance to fight this wolf, but I knew that this wolf could easily overpower all of them. Marshall took the first blow by shooting a huge blast of fire at this wolf, but the blast barely phased him. In fact, the wolf's fur wasn't even charred, as though Marshall hadn't even fired at him. The wolf, however, licked his lips and bared his teeth.
"Purple eyes! Elemental powers don't work on him!" I yelled at the other pups. They turned to look at me, surprised. The wolf took this opportunity to jump at Marshall, managing to give him a scratch along his shoulder. Marshall yelped as Rubble charged into him. The one good thing is that even though most of the pups couldn't hit him, Rubble's strength and Skye's mind manipulation should overpower the wolf. The wolf, however, took the blast with no problem. It stood there still as a stone and smiled at Rubble.
"Gotcha!" the wolf howled as he gave Rubble a hard blow on the chest. Rubble went flying past the pups, crashing into a couch, effectively shattering it. Rubble was out. I was baffled at the wolf's power. His power could absorb and reflect self enhancing powers like Rubble's. This was not something that I remembered purple eyed powers could do. I started to get scared of this wolf as Skye lifted the wolf with a magical aura. The wolf grunted as he struggled to get free, and gave Skye no easy time to control and move him. I could see Skye having difficulty holding him with her grunts and her shaking. I needed to help. But how? All I can do is run really fast. I need to lure it away from the others if I want to deal with this wolf. I need it to target me.
Meanwhile, Skye had forced the wolf into the air and was pelting the wolf with anything she could get a hold of. Her powers, though, were straining beyond what Skye could handle, and beckoned for the other pups to help. The others were using their own powers to weaken the wolf, but the wolf took all of the attacks that they could muster together. He endured another one of Marshall's fire blasts, and Rubble had gotten back up and given him a barrage of punches which didn't even make him flinch. This wolf had absorbed all the attacks we could throw at him, and I knew that his stored power could easily injure, or even kill, another pup. I needed to act quickly to lure him away.
"Skye, let the wolf go. I have a plan!" I hollered to Skye.
"Are you crazy?! This wolf will kill us!" Skye screamed back, refusing to let go, sweat beading around her head and ears.
"Trust me! I know how to deal with him!" I replied back, hoping that Skye would let go. Skye whimpered, and let go of the wolf. The wolf instantly jumped towards Skye, and I bashed into the wolf's side, which caught the wolf by surprise, forcing its stored energy to release away from the other pups. It growled, and lunged towards me. I ran towards the door, making sure that the wolf followed. Surprisingly, he followed me out the door, down the runway and into the forest where I was alone. I wanted to lose this wolf in the forest, buying the others time to heal and prepare, but the wolf disappeared from my view.
"Oh no, where did it go? I can't have it going back" I panicked to myself.
"Oh, I'm not going anywhere" something growled through the bushes. The wolf suddenly pounced onto me, knocking the air out of me and pinning me down. I gasped for air as the wolf placed his paw over my throat, choking me. The wolf howled, and soon I heard more paw steps around me. There were more wolves that were coming.
"Look what I caught" the wolf growled, teeth bared towards me. All I could do was struggle from the wolf's weight on my body. I felt myself drifting away towards the world of unconsciousness when I heard another howl something to another and claw me on the side. I produced a muffled howl as my side bled on the ground. I soon fell unconscious, unaware of what the wolves would do with me.
As I regained consciousness, I found myself in a cave in the mountains, presumably Jake's mountain. My paws were bound with what looked like vines and another vine bundled my muzzle shut. I whimpered as a white wolf pawed up to me. I made a small growl towards it and it struck me on the head.
"Show respect towards savior" the white wolf growled in a barely decipherable language. I cocked my head towards the wolf. My savior? Savior of what? The white wolf came up to me and stared directly into my eyes.
"You the one." the wolf barked, smiling at me with a toothy grin. The wolf raised its claw and struck it down towards me. I closed my eyes, waiting for pain to rush down my body, but instead I felt the vines tying my mouth shut loosening. I took a big gulp of air as I looked at the wolf.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"No need know" the wolf responded plainly. I huffed.
"Can you at least tell me who were the other wolves?" I asked.
"Grey wolf dangerous. War with white wolf. You white wolf" the wolf responded. What. Me? A white wolf?
"Excuse me? I'm a German Shepherd, not a white wolf." I replied, getting slightly confused.
"Not white wolf. White wolf blood. The one who end war" the wolf howled. In the wolf's maw carried a hunk of unknown meat. "Eat."
"Uhh, no thanks. You got any kibble?" I asked sheepishly.
"Eat." the wolf persisted. I sighed, knowing that the wolf wouldn't take no for an answer. I took a small bite, and recognized it as beef. I devoured the entire piece as he unbound my paws. I stretched my limbs out as the wolf spoke again.
"You save by me. Me have power of stealth." the wolf explained. His eyes suddenly glowed a bright deep red, which shocked me. Red eyes were very rare, and to see a wolf with a power of this magnitude was surprising. The wolf showed me that he was able to disappear, and reappear whenever he wanted.
"What you power?" the wolf grunted. I snapped from my thoughts of red eye powers back into reality with the wolf's question.
"Nothing much, just super speed" I replied, showing my yellow eyes. The wolf growled.
"No. Real power" the wolf asked again.
"I don't have another power. I have no clue what you want" I replied, sweating a bit in the chilled cave.
"Real power. Red eye" the wolf asked again. Man this wolf was stubborn.
"Fine" I replied, and I closed my eyes. There was no one else anyways. It doesn't matter if this wolf knows. I revealed my true self, and my eyes turned a deep red. The wolf howled with glee.
"You the one! You the one! You end war!" the wolf howled. I was still completely left in the dark.
"Excuse me, Mr. wolf, I still have no idea what you mean when you say I'm the one" I questioned. The wolf proceeded to bite the scruff of my neck and carried me deeper into the cave. There, I found a few series of paintings on the wall. These paintings were filled to the brim with detail, and seemed beautiful. The wolf set me down and left me, leaving me to look at the art on the cave walls. From what I could understand, the white wolves and the grey wolves were at war, each fighting for their share of the land. Soon, this war broke out to more than just land, but for purely blood lust. This war raged for years, and was foretold that an outsider with the blood of a white wolf would end the war. That must have been why the wolf was so giddy when he saw me. That would also explain why the other wolf was circling Jake's mountain, because they were looking for me, and attacking me at the lookout.
I headed out and found the wolf preparing a soft bed of moss for me. The wolf saw me come out and gestured that I come over. I pawed over and he told me to rest. I didn't feel very comfortable in this cave, but it was better than sleeping in imminent danger of being attacked. I cautiously set my head on the moss, which I soon found out that is was quite nice to rest on. I quickly drifted to sleep. Once more, I had a dream, but this time I saw the white wolf once more, guiding me towards some bright light. As I awoke, I found the cave was empty. The wolf had left a bit of raw beef in front of me, and I gobbled it up. I took a look outside and found a bright, snow-covered landscape. There were no paw prints leading in or out of the cave, which surprised me. I forced myself out of the cave and to find my way back to the lookout. I knew I needed to get back. The strange part was that in an instant I found Jake's hut, and right next to it, I saw the lookout.
"Huh, that was easy" I murmured as I walked up to the hut. However, I found the cabin to be empty with no Jake or Everest. That was strange. It was as if there was nothing. In fact, the world around me started to dissipate into a wolf of snow. The cabin soon disappeared with the lookout, and I was left with nothing but hills covered in snow.
Suddenly, I saw a sheet of gray and black over in the horizon slowly advancing. I squinted and took a closer look. Wolves. It was a pack, no, an army of wolves crossing the horizon. I started to panic, and I tried to run. I ran in the opposite direction, hoping to avoid the wolves advancing on me. The wolves slowly gained upon me, standing directly in front of me. The world started to turn orange with the sunset, the sun blinding me from the wolves. Then, a single word flashed in my mind: Control. The world around me turned into a dark gray, and the moon shone above me. What was happening? The wolf army inched closer with their red eyes glinting in the moonlight. The wolves lunged at me, snapping their jaws towards me. One wolf slashed at me, dragging a blood trail down my foreleg. I yelped as I tried running once more, but the wolves soon overtook me. They surrounded me, and I felt like I was a helpless deer being hunted by these wolves. The circle that enveloped me slowly closed in on me, and I started to scream in vain. I gulped, not knowing what to do. The word "Control" flashed upon me once more. The moon started to melt into a deep red, and from that instant I knew what I needed to do. Something that I haven't done in a long time. Something I tried to keep hidden. Something that could destroy the world. My eyes started to turn red. A power manifested inside of me, and words started to form in my mouth.
"Oh, Moon hear my calls, I beckon the red harvest moon, lend me your strength; unveil the Blood Moon Harvest!"