"How are we gonna get out of this one, Hal?" Kilowog mumbled through the cloth. Hal looked around, his heart pumping. His eyes passed over the three other canines and by time he glanced back all three had disappeared. Razer was free.

"Give them the child." Hal ordered, which Kilowog happily obliged. He craned his head down to let the child's feet and legs within the mother's grasp. "Alright, now run." He barked. Kilowog nodded and turned to leap off the boulder. But they were surrounded. The two dogs stood side by side, each facing the opposite direction.

"I've got your back if you've got mine." Hal growled.

"All this for a lousy wolf." Kilowog spat.

In the dark shadows, Lanos and Aya were planning.

"We could attack the humans…" Lanos pointed out. "Surely one death would stop them."

"No, Lanos. One death would make things worse. We must talk to them." Aya countered. His hind leg still tender, Razer sat a distance away. He examined the circumstances. Behind the mob of humans he noticed their still smoldering campfire. He looked around and found a pine branch. The idea was moving his legs before he was actually considering it. The wolf crept silently away from the two arguing dogs and behind the mob to the fire pit. The pine branch in his jaws, he rested its needles in the ashes, stirring them a bit.

He was suddenly aware of how exposed he was. All it would take was one human to turn around and see him, then he would be dead, as well as the others. The small flares bit lazily at the plant.

"Come on, come on," He growled. There it was, a solid bite.

"Hey!" A human voice shouted. Razer's eyes flew to the crowd, frustrated to find few coming toward him. Just as they were close enough to grab him, the fire roared. Razer's swung his head instinctively, showering the humans in ashes. Fire burned bright from the branch in his jaws. All the humans hushed, terror in their primitive hearts. The old man, Myglom, appeared at the front of the crowd. He fell to his knees, fear forcing his strength into his mouth.

"Oh, great Fire Wolf! We did not know! We would never have-" But Razer's rage burned a hole in his heart. He snarled viciously.

"Silence!" He rasped through the splintering wood. The crowd cowered. Then it hit him. They thought he was a god… He could use this. "You have angered me, my rage will scorch you all." His voice was deep and gravelly.

"Please, Mighty Rirnef. God of justice and anger. God who gave us fire!" Myglom called out. A woman wailed at the back of the pack. In awe, neither Kilowog nor Hal moved from their boulder. "We beg your forgiveness, we were only planning a sacrifice to you and your brethren. We did not know that you would come to us."

"That is why I have come to you, fool!" Razer snapped, crunching the branch in his teeth. "The sacrifices must stop! A dark time will fall upon the forest soon," Razer went on, only this time, it was different. His eyes stared off into space and his tail rose of its own accord. His voice dropped even deeper. "Mankind can no longer be at war with life around him. Stop the sacrifices or suffer the consequences." His posture returned to normal and his eyes cleared and focused. The old man bowed, and his people followed suit. Razer dropped the piece of wood, leaving it to burn and padded around the people to the boulder.

"It is safe now." He barked in his normal voice. Hal and Kilowog, broken from the spell, jumped down. The sky was beginning to grow lighter. Razer waited for the dogs to take the lead and followed them obediently. Once they were out of earshot, Kilowog turned on the wolf.

"Wait, why are you following us? We can leave you back there now that they won't torture you." He growled. Razer turned his muzzle to avoid the spittle from the larger dog.

"Because I would like to amend my mistakes…I would like to join your cause." He murmured. Kilowog's eyes widened in surprise and he looked to Hal, along with Lanos. Aya's eyes remained on the wolf. Was he lying? They all waited for their alpha to make his decision. Finally, Hal opened his jaws to speak.

"He is coming with us." He said softly. "Back there, you put yourself in harm's way to save us. I trust you."

"Well I don't." Kilowog growled. Razer smirked, casting a glance at Aya. The she-dog tilted her head in a questioning look. What was he doing?

"By the way, where's Goggon?" Hal asked after a moment.

Skip

A few days later, the scruffy dog awoke to a snapping branch. He looked around, horrified to find himself surrounded by humans.

"No! You no take Goggon back!" He snarled as viciously as he could. But a man with a kind face stepped out of the shadows and knelt before the dog.

"No need to fear. We will not hurt you. We want to feed you and care for you. You will never go hungry again." He crooned. Goggon's eyes drooped.

"But Goggon, so…tired." He growled before passing out. The man rushed forward to catch him, then scooped him up in his strong arms. "If you sleep instead of eat you will die." He muttered, scratching gently at the dog's ear.

"Come on. We will bring Myglom his new dog." He commanded to the others.

"But why did Myglom want a dog?" A teenaged boy asked. He had recently married into the tribe and did not know their customs well.

"Because a dog is a man's wolf. And Myglom has changed our tribe to the Fire Wolf Tribe, instead of the Death Spider Tribe.." The man explained.

Skip

Back in the valley, the she-dog wandered. She could not remember. The only word that came to her mind was razer, and she did not know whether it was her name or someone else's. She looked around, her ears searching through the dark afternoon light. Had she been wandering in circles? She could smell canine, but it was stale. Had dogs lived here? Instinct took over. She sat down. She needed to find her pack. Her head slowly tilted to the skies and an ancient voice lifted from her being. At first it was scratchy and sour. But as she cried, her voice began to tell a story. I'm lost. I'm here.

Hey guys, I know this is the first time I'm talking to you! Wah! Anyway, I'm wondering if you have any suggestions. As you can tell I'm deviating from the script on a lot of things, but what things do you want the same? What cool concepts have you been thinking about? I'd love to hear it all. Just review. And, each review equals the number of chapters that I will have, so the more reviews, the more chapters! Thank you all for reading, Sonoma signing out, peace!