Part Seven: Misty Mountains
There was a bark of surprise from the mists below, and Scanlon guessed it to be the sound of a bitch. He strained his ears back to listen, but still he would not release the traitor. He knew that Kensell would have no trouble in sorting any situation out, but he was slightly on edge about his supposed captain. Why would anyone of their group be slinking back to the pack spy Neko when they were supposed to be watching the mission carefully? Why would someone of such a meaningful rank also go and neglect their watch duties as well as put the pack at risk? Scanlon carefully curled his lips, growled low, and began to whisper sternly toward the nervous looking poodle. He did not want to upset the other dogs, but they were all watching him fearfully; the situation deserved care and forethought, he just needed to know what was going on.
"If you do not tell me, captain, then I may have to kill you! What's going on with you and Neko? Has he been sent after us to make sure I do my job? Or is there something much more sinister going on? After all, why would you only smell of Neko, the boss's private spy when he could have sent any of the others onto us? What's going on, captain? Is there something else I should know about this mission?" Scanlon breathed deeply as he tried to control the drool forming in the back of his throat. He had to fight the urge to slam the poodle around at the scruff like a villainous rat! But he needed to maintain control, he was in a very important position; he had never heard of the great Gin, Leader of Ohu, picking up a dog like Hyena and swinging him around by the neck for information! It just did not happen like that!
But his questioning was cut short by the arrival of the mysterious follower in the mists. It was a surprise to see another traitorous animal step amongst the company at the edge of Kensell's bared teeth. But sure enough, there was the Retriever bitch that had been owned by humans and had almost got Scanlon killed. Here was Miho, and within seconds Kerriane had leapt from amongst the other dogs and charged at her, followed closely by Akilli. The two bitches went to attack her, but Scanlon darted over to protect the bitch as she dropped to the ground with fear. The two females pulled up, but they began to growl and snarl curses at the untrustworthy she-dog, all the time wondering how she'd managed to follow them this far without them smelling any humans!
"MIHO! What in Gin's name are you doing here? Have you brought your owner and your pack here to finish the job?" Scanlon half snarled at her, standing over her with hackles rose as she rolled over with submission. Some of the other males however were interested in checking her out and immediately rushed to sniff at her tail. Miho cringed under her inspection, but Kensell and Scanlon pushed them away and nudged Miho to stand up and stop submitting.
"I followed you... My master threw me out. He said I'd stunk of blood and thought I'd killed most of the hunting dogs. I didn't, your Killer Kensell did! He would have killed me if I hadn't wet myself, then he threw me out and I ran off. I caught your scent and followed. Aren't you happy I came?" Miho whined gently, lowering herself and sniffing at Scanlon's leg while wagging her tail with impatience.
"Send her back where she came from Scanlon! A bitch like her will only bring trouble to us like she did before. She's not in the least trustworthy, and her hide reeks of humans!" Akilli snarled as she pressed her narrow little muzzle to Miho's face and snapped at her. With a shriek Miho lunged behind Scanlon, and he stood over her protectively. But some of the newer dogs were no longer interested in Miho, rather they were eyeing up Kensell wearily.
"Her story is true, I think... She's not been doing well living off our scraps and you can tell she needs some food. But it's your decision, Leader." Kensell growled angrily. He then eyed the treacherous Nezumi and sniffed the air. He could smell the terrier scent upon him still and wanted to rip the poodle apart. Unlike Scanlon, he did not need information to get rid of Nezumi, he just needed the opportunity, but as he felt Kerriane's eyes upon him, the big Rottweiler snorted gently and turned aside to settle down.
"Then we should leave to hunt. Miho will stay beside me." Scanlon growled and the other dogs backed away. They liked Scanlon, and though some did not understand the aggression against this strange bitch, they could all smell human. But they could all see how skinny and wretched she looked, and they wished for food as well before Scanlon urged them to climb on again.
Amaya watched Scanlon and Miho carefully from where she dozed beside Kensell. She had been glad the large Rottweiler and his sister had not tried to push her away and had instead encouraged her to stick with them, and Kensell was a powerful ally. She would never get on the wrong side of him, but she was curious as to why Miho struck Scanlon's interest. Perhaps it was her looks? Maybe her pedigree blood? Whatever the reason, Amaya felt jealous and it aggravated her. She'd liked Scanlon, hence her joining up, but she had not realised how much she'd liked him. Well... if he chose Miho instead, Amaya would make the weird bitch fight for the right. But Amaya was not alone in thinking so as she looked toward the returning hunters which included Tibelda, Akilli, and Kerriane. The later marched over to her, a snake hanging from her jaw, which she gladly offered to Kensell.
"She and Kensell would be a nice item I think... The guard and the warrior, the pair of them would produce mighty pups if they got together." Tibelda mused as she watched her brother greet Scanlon's one-eyed sister eagerly. Akilli nodded her head and offered her share of rabbit to Amaya. The three bitches sat close to one another, away from the two love birds, but within sight of Scanlon, who was seemingly pampering the skinny retriever. Amaya could guess they both had feelings for him, but Akilli had been showing more interest recently in one of the mongrels that had joined from her pack, and her sister was mates with Scanlon's brother anyway. As for Tibelda? Well the bigger bitch was not looking well in herself and Amaya could not help but question it a little.
"Are you well, Tibelda?" Amaya whispered gently, Akilli looked toward her friends, her eyes filled with concern. Tamoshii the Doberman also joined them with a chunk of boar meat, which she gave to Tibelda. She heard the questioning and snorted gently before nipping at her friend's ears.
"Tell them, they won't tell your brother and they will not tell Scanlon either." Tamoshii growled gently. She was aware that there were other eyes upon them, Kin the Staffie was watching quite eagerly, if only because he held an interest in Amaya. But Tibelda seemed reserved, unwilling to speak. A secondary nip urged her to speak, and the bitches were all quite worried.
"I will not be around much longer... I had a vision of the mountain tops, of us crossing during a bad wind, and I was swept away. I saw death take me, but I saw Nezumi in my jaws. Something bad will happen as we climb, and I am afraid that the poodle has more allies then we thought... Or more ambitions..."
The pack began their second attempt at the climb the next morning, the clouds in the sky heralded trouble ahead, but their early start meant that they carried on for a good few hours before the snow started to fall again. It was well known that there was always snow in the Southern Alps, but none of the dogs had expected the amount that fell and by midday the wind had picked up just as the dogs reached the plateau. The plateau was neck-deep in snow, and the bigger dogs like Kensell and Tibelda had to plough ahead of the pack to assist. The breeds more suited to the snow had little trouble in climbing onto the compacted piles and trotting ahead. Amongst them was Amaya and as the wind began to whip at their ears, she found herself with an important task.
"We need shelter…. There's too much snow for the smaller dogs and we still have youngsters with us!" Scanlon howled with annoyance as he tried to climb out of the snow trench and toward the husky type. Amaya paused alongside some of her former pack members, watching him eagerly whilst the wind pulled their tails. Scanlon slumped back down into the snow again but gave a bark once more for them to get close to him. "Go on ahead and find a shelter for us all. Anything, just an outcrop away from the wind!"
"We'll try! For now, you should all probably stop and start padding down into the gaps or start digging…. That way you can outlast the blizzard that's building up!" Amaya and Scanlon were almost yelling at each other, even though they were no more then a few inches apart. The noise of the wind was worse then a howling wolf and Scanlon was getting agitated by it. He knew there was a blizzard coming but he did not understand what Amaya was saying and let her leave.
"What's the plan?" Kensell's deep rumble called back, he had managed to stop his sister and followers ahead of him. The Rottweiler twins' thin coats were matted and they were visibly shaking from the cold. Scanlon looked at them both with a fondness for their loyalty and pity for their suffering. But Scanlon knew that if Kensell or Tibelda had to stay still, they would more then likely freeze. Akilli behind him was already hopping back and forth to stop her toes from freezing, Tamoshii was being shielded by two large hairier dogs, and as short Kin hurried over, his nose almost blue Scanlon shook his head.
"We've got to keep going until Amaya returns with news of a shelter. But we have to hurry with the blizzard coming." Scanlon barked, his ears being pulled almost off his head as the wind roared past as if on queue. But he was nipped on the shoulder suddenly by Kerriane and he was confused greatly.
"Didn't you hear Amaya? We'd be safer cuddling up together with the worst affected in the centre!" Kerriane snarled angrily, her sight was getting worse as her one eye was being stung by the biting wind. But Scanlon looked at her with a snort of arrogance, shaking his head and then barking for them all to continue marching. Kerriane found herself annoyed but forced to keep moving onwards. But she was getting even more worried for Tibelda's prophecy.
"So I'm to keep marching?" Kensell growled above the gathering snow and he got a bark of agreement from Scanlon, even though Kerriane shook his head. But Kensell was dubious, if Kerriane thought it was a bad idea then it usually was – however he could never let himself disobey his boss. As he padded back to the front and beside his sister, they once more began to plunge through the snow, trying their best to make sure there were no sudden drops beneath their feet.
But as the other dogs began to move on, the dogs ahead began to bark a few warnings of a narrow edge on the side of their tracks. Kerriane growled with annoyance at the news that it was on her blind side, but she stepped in line behind her brother and they continued to pace. After a few minutes though, the troublesome poodle had finally endured as much matted snow in his fur as he could carry and he began to growl and snap in annoyance. But when Scanlon encouraged him to move, Nezumi lost it.
"Why don't you die?" The poodle snarled and dove into the air above the others, standing on the risen snow next to their trenches and darting at Scanlon. The Alsatian paused at the noise and turned to see what was about to happen. Yet he was surprised that instead of hitting him, the wind threw Nezumi's aim and he landed clumsily behind Kerriane. But when Scanlon turned to give him a thrashing and the shadows of Kensell and Tibelda were forming on the edge of the snow, Nezumi panicked. He lunged forward, grabbing the blind side of Kerriane's face and swinging her with a surprising strength. Kerriane prepared herself to be dropped over the edge, but something lunged forward and caught her.
"All of you get back into the snow and huddle up before the storm hits!" Amaya growled with annoyance, releasing Kerriane gently but angry with Scanlon's actions. Though the other dogs began to nestle down, Scanlon was outraged by what had just taken place and lunged at the poodle. Nezumi expected the attack and dodged past, nipping Scanlon's tender underside as he shot past hoping to escape. But to his upset Tibelda and Kensell stood in front of him, he lunged forward, grabbing at Tibelda's scruff though she bent down and sunk her teeth into his head.
The blow was a killing one, and as Kensell prepared to rip the poodle's corpse from his sister, he realised the mistake being made. Scanlon had not realised that Nezumi had just been killed and he was charging at him. Before Kensell could get in the way to stop the charge, Scanlon had smashed into the corpse. But his speed had ricocheted into Tibelda and she slipped backward. The ledge sat beneath her toes and she could feel herself slipping. Though Kensell was quick to grab Scanlon and throw him aside, the big beast could not grab his sister. As Tibelda felled with a howl, her brother could not stop himself and dove off the edge after her, hoping to catch her before they hit the rocks below. As Scanlon realised the situation he found himself jumping off as well to catch them, but only as he felt his weight fall away did he howl out in his fear.
Then there was silence and the blizzard came upon them as Amaya disappeared into the snow, searching for her friends. Kerriane stood panting and pining in surprise, howling out to the wind for her brother, but soon smothered away by the snow.
Coming Soon – Part Eight: The Land Past the Alps
The lands around the edge of the Southern Alps are close to the land of the Koga, Kai, and the dogs of Mutsu – it is within these lands that Kerriane has led the pack to get directions to Weed's land and then get help in seeking out her brother. But her claims of being John's daughter does not seem to get through to the Mutsu dogs, and Kerriane will have to prove it or end up being forced to join their pack.
Meanwhile, once again Kensell has ended up saving Scanlon's life – but at a terrible cost. As predicted Tibelda is dead and it looks like they might be soon after her, but Amaya is with them both and eager to lead them up a safer route from the precipice their stuck on. But a fall into a river leads them to a land of terrifying dogs that would rather take their ears off then give them aid.