Chapter 4: Reveille

Zootopia...Kaiden's Apartment…Present Day

Kaiden had stopped telling the story to reflect on events, going over them in his mind and finally talking about it was dredging up old emotions, old thoughts that he hadn't touched on in years. Like a photograph of an old girlfriend that you put in a drawer and keep tucked away for a time.

Judy and Nick were listening intently to the story and seemed surprised when the old fox stopped talking. Judy finally said something.

"What happened next?" she inquired desperately wanting the next part.

"I know I said I was going to tell you, but can we pick this up later? The exhaustion from drinking is setting in and I really want to catch some sleep."

"Are you going to be alright?" asked Judy

"Yeah, I'll be fine."

Kaiden stood up and ushered them to the door, Nick and Judy followed. As they walked out Judy turned back to Kaiden.

"Are you sure you're going to be alright?"

"I'll be fine Judy, I promise."

She smiled sweetly back to him.

"I would like to ask you for a favor though, if I may?" he inquired with a crooked eye.

"Sure, what is it?"

"Would you and Nick be willing to go with me?"

"Sure, where are you going?"

"To…to South Bunnyburrow, to visit her grave." He replied.

"Oh." Judy responded surprised

"You sure, I mean, isn't that rather 'personal'?"

"Generally yes, but she would want to know I wasn't alone on 'our' day."

"'Our' day?" Judy replied puzzled.

"Tomorrow is our anniversary, which coincidentally, it's also the day of her death. It's the reason why I was especially drunk this evening."

"Oh my…..I'm so sorry."

Kaiden didn't reply, just used his paw to prop himself against the door.

"I generally like to go down there at least once a year to….pay my respects, and to see her. This will be the first year since she died that I will have made progress on my promise."

"To get Jarod?" she surmised.

"Yes."

"Unfortunately, it hasn't served to make me feel any better about it. Either way, I would really appreciate it if the three of us could go."

"Of course, Of course. I'll clear it with the chief for a day off."

Kaiden nodded sadly.

"Thank…You."

"And thank you for tonight, I'm really glad it was you instead of someone else, last thing I want to be doing is spending the night in the ZPD's drunk tank."

Kaiden smiled weakly, and they said their goodbyes. Kaiden closed the door and passed out on his bed, the alcohol finally taking its toll. Nick and Judy had managed to get back their car. They drove back to the station to drop off the squad car and head back home to their apartment. Nick hadn't said anything on the ride back to the station, on the way home however was a different story.

"Jeez…That fox is messed up."

"He's been through alot." Judy defended.

"I know, it's not like I'm faulting him for it or anything, it's just a commentary on the situation."

"It must be hard."

"Being alone like that?"

"Well, not just that, but being angry like that."

"Angry?"

"Well you saw his expression when Jarod showed up down there, the fact that they fought in that room. He must have hated Jarod very much."

"Yeah, anger can do that, I've seen it consume people. It usually helps them at first, it reminds them to eat, to sleep, to breathe. But then it consumes people sometimes, it becomes their whole world."

"Yeah….." she replied looking down sadly.

"I never thought…I mean he just seemed so….."

"Indestructible?" Nick finished.

"Yeah." She replied sadly.

"We're not all made of stone Judy."

"I know that." She fired back turning to look at him.

"I didn't say you didn't, carrots. But I know how you put people on a pedestal sometimes, and sometimes you should remember we're all simple mortals."

"Though in Kaiden's case, I think that's ironic."

"What do you mean?"

"Well clearly, there isn't anything 'simple' about him."

"On that much we can definitely agree."

Nick nodded in response.

They eventually got home to their apartment going through their post shift routine, Nick cooked dinner as per the usual, adding his usual flair to the presentation, scoring him a smile from the bunny. They decided to take a walk up to the roof of the apartment building, Nick managed to somehow score a key from one of the building managers, which allowed him unfettered access to the roof.

The roof was a perfect spot to look at the beautiful vista of the stars paired with the metal and glass structures of downtown Zootopia. They sat up there I silence for the most part just enjoying each other's company, and holding paws. Judy after hesitating finally managed to speak.

"Nick?" she looked at him.

"Yeah, Carrots?" he replied turning to look at her.

"I want to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"If….If something was to happen to me…" she started biting her lower lip nervously.

"Don't." he interrupted

"Nick."

"I said don't…..I don't even want to think about it."

They stood silently for a moment, the wind wafted through their ears.

"I don't want you to blame yourself." She insisted.

"Damn it, fluff." He replied with a frustrated expression on his face.

The bolt of the image hit his mind and he winced, turning to look back at the city but mainly just away from her gaze.

"Nick, I'm just saying, I know that my life is a dangerous one, I made my choice to do this, I just want you to know if something happens to me, I don't want you to feel guilty or feel that I blamed you or anything, because I don't."

Nick didn't reply just kept staring ahead, he huffed a couple of times, seemingly a combination of emotions this one being sad-mad.

"You done?" turning to face her finally.

"Yeah." She replied, her ears drooping and hanging her head.

"Well my answer is, Carrots, it doesn't matter, because I will blame me. I will always blame me. Because it's my job to keep you safe, and failing that it will be my fault, no matter what. Look call it what you want, some outmoded sense of patriarchy or a prehistoric male impetus."

He turned his body to face her; he placed both of his paws on her shoulder and stared into her eyes.

"You are my mate, my mate, Judy. In canine but specifically fox culture, you are the most important person to me, and I would do anything for you, anything."

"Nick…I…" she choked up.

"If anything happened to you, I would never forgive myself."

Nick turned back towards the city.

"And I know where you're going with this. And don't even try, you're looking at Kaiden and thinking, "This could be Nick if things went just the wrong way." Well you're right, that's exactly what would happen, as it should."

"As it should?" she asked puzzled.

"Yeah, 'Foxes mate for life' isn't just some slogan on a bumper sticker, fluff. It means something; it's more than just some deep seated monogamy characteristic of modern society. It's something foxes have always done. Our mates, they are a part of us, connected through some bond that I can't even really describe. And losing that bond….It just shatters us in such a fundamental way."

Judy hugged Nick, squeezing him, Nick wrapped his arms around her and petted her with his free paw.

"Judy, I would give anything for you, I would give everything for you." He told her as he stared lovingly into her amethyst eyes, choking up on his words.

"I can tell you 'I love you' for days on end and it still doesn't get across my feelings, I don't even think words really can express it."

She moved her arms to drape around his neck, looking back into those emerald pools with the same loving expression as his, almost tearing up from the sheer affection dripping off his words.

"Doesn't mean you can't keep trying." She replied as she pulled him in for a loving kiss.

Nick huffed as his heart skipped a beat; he gave her a squeeze with his arms and swept her off her feet, holding her to his chest. They could feel their hearts beating against their respective chests, and she felt lighter than air as her rabbit feet dangled, occasionally touching the fur his legs.

Central Station, The next morning.

Nick and Judy had made it to the station and looked around for Kaiden, dressing in casual but more formal than regular street clothes, Nick had actually tucked in his shirt for once. They met up with Kaiden near the station platform, he had their tickets in hand.

"Firstly, I want to thank you for coming with me, I….I really appreciate it." Kaiden smiled sadly.

"Anytime." She replied.

"How are you feeling this morning?" asked Nick.

"Nothing a sports drink and pawful of aspirin can't fix."

A soft alert sound came over the public announcement speaker in the station

'Bunnyburrow Express will be leaving in 15 minutes, all passengers please make you way to your seats.' Cried out the announcement into the station air.

Kaiden handed them their tickets and they paced a few yards to the ticket master who scanned the tickets into his check in computer, handing them back to their respective mammals, as they boarded the train, they heard the low level 'hum' of the engine and the air system.

The tickets were for the 'Woodlands' section as opposed to the 'Meadows' section for two reasons, one given that Nick and Kaiden were physically bigger than Judy it allowed for more head room for them, and though while they could travel in the section for Judy's size, there was a more important reason for choosing 'Woodlands'. The ride was quiet, since this was the burrows express, meaning no planned stops at any of the other commuter stops along the way, the likelihood of any foxes, wolves or other similarly sized animals going to Bunnyburrow was low, meaning population of the mammals in this section would be low, and he didn't want to be bothered.

After they had settled in on the car looking out the window, the conductor announced the train departure. The deep 'thud' as the train's brake disengaged and lurched forward softly as it started to disengage from the train platform. Chugging out of the station, Kaiden watched as the platform whizzed by and out onto the open track.

"So…did you think you would be going back to Bunnyburrow so soon?" asked Kaiden turning back to his companions.

"Well…actually Nick and I went back about a month or so ago." She replied patting Nick on the thigh.

"Oh?" Kaiden tilted his head, an ear perked up in curiosity.

"Yeah….I uh…rather We uh…" Judy replied nervously.

"What fluff is trying to say is we went to tell her folks about 'us'." Replied Nick ushering a paw at Judy and himself.

"Ah." Kaiden nodded

"And how did that go?" he asked, already imagining the scene.

"About as well as you expect." Nick replied.

"It wasn't that bad." Judy corrected.

"Uh carrots, your dad threatened to run me over with his thresher….And I don't even know what that is."

"He was kidding and you know it."

"Not with those murderous eyes he wasn't."

"Oh shush." she swatted playfully at Nick.

"So it was a shock to say the least?" asked Kaiden.

"To say the least…" both of them replied in unison.

The old fox chuckled and smiled back at his friends.

"What?" Judy inquired.

"Nothing…it's you two look…adorable together."

Judy blushed at that.

"Thank you, I really am happy." As she scooted closer to Nick.

"So how did your parents ultimately take it, in the end I mean?"

"Well, I think after Mom and Dad calmed down and came off the shock, I think they accepted it, and honestly they took it better than I thought they would."

"It certainly helped that your little brothers and sisters took to calling me 'Unkie Nick'." Nick interjected.

Judy smiled and laughed at that.

"Oh yeah, you should have seen it Kaiden, an army of small bunny kits piling on top of this orange mountain of fluff."

"I wish I could have seen that." Replied Kaiden.

Judy retrieved her phone and swiped a few times and then turned the phone to Kaiden. The picture was of Nick covered from head to toe in a plethora of various colored and sized bunny rabbits climbing on Nick.

The old fox let out an audible laugh.

"Ah, carrots." Nick whined.

"Oh come on you know it's cute." She replied

"I thought we weren't supposed to use that word" joked Nick.

"Well in this case it's true, and it reminds me how important family is to a mammal's life." She replied back with a grin.

Judy's smile drained when a thought crossed her mind, she turned to Kaiden.

"Oh god, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…."

"It's ok, I asked. Besides I enjoy watching you two be happy." He absolved with a wave of his paw and a gentle smile.

The train has made its way around the 'Zootopia loop', the nickname for the final circular spin around the city that serves to act as a tour and wow factor for newcomers to the city, practically though it serves as an acceleration/deceleration loop for trains leaving or entering the city. The train coming out of its final angle of the arc and hitting the straightaway section of track, The trio took one last look of the shining city center as it quickly moved rearward of their perspective. Kaiden put a paw on the glass and petted it, as if petting the city.

"Strange." He muttered

Judy's nose twitched in curiosity, Kaiden turning towards her.

"I have a love/hate relationship with this city. It's given me as well as taken from me, so very much. Somedays I want to set it ablaze for all the pain it's caused me, yet I couldn't imagine life without 'her'."

"I've bled for this city, and she's given me nothing but grief, and yet I still can't stand idly by and let someone destroy her."

Kaiden turned back to the pair as the city center disappeared behind the train, they had reached the straight and level track, a long bridge heading over 'Zootopia Sound' the body of water that is south of Sahara Square and divides the city from the rest of the land mass to the south. The train started picking up speed, just slow enough where a normal mammal wouldn't be able to feel it, but a accelerometer in Kaiden's head, just one of the many sensors he had, told him that they were going faster. The train would soon speed up to its max, allowing them to get to Bunnyburrow in decent time, overall the journey would take two perhaps two and half hours to make it the two hundred and eleven miles.

Eventually they made it across the bridge, and the open field on the other side filled the view, it triggered a memory. He took a breath and settled back in his seat.

"I want to continue if I may?" he asked.

The duo at first confused by the question, until Judy realized he was talking about the conversation last night.

"You stopped at when your parents…."

"Yes….and while you would think that was bad enough, this next part depending on your point of view could be interpreted as worse."

"I think mainly, it scares me because I value you friendship….both of you, and I feel that upon hearing this part, I don't think you will look at me the same way."

"Same way? Kaiden, what could an eleven year old do that could make me not want to be your friend?" she said with a level of incredulity.

"Indeed." he replied cryptically.

Now Judy was the one who tilted her head to the side with a slight worried expression on her face.

"What do you mean?"

"Judy, I wasn't always like I am now, there was a time, when I was younger, I knowingly did bad things. And I hurt people. Innocent people, whom I visited upon them the same suffering and cruelty that had been visited upon me, I'm not innocent but as you say 'I don't deserve all of this' either."

"I just hope that after this, I don't shatter too many of your illusions about me, but I feel in my heart that you deserve to know the truth, warts and all about my life."

Judy and Nick sat silent, a preface like that, and their interest even more piqued.

"Fine, I'll start."

"After, my parents died and I was ripped from the only home I've ever known, I learned quickly that the mammals that picked me up we're NOT from child services but agents of the MIA, which apparently has a program involving children being trained to conduct operations, elsewhere, taking care of 'obstacles' to the political will of those that run Zootopia. Euphemisms aside I would say that regardless of their motivations, they were, very effective at accomplishing what they wanted…"

Zootopia, Top Secret MIA Training Center codenamed 'The Pit', 24 years ago…

'Orientation' as they called it lasted the first month, it was pretty mundane really, how to address a superior officer, knowing when to salute, how to salute, "yes sir" "no sir", calls to attention, "at ease", "parade rest", knowing how to march, and how to disconnect your emotions leaving a stoic face, at the very least a loose understanding.

When they first arrived Kaiden along with the other children were a crying mewling mess, they cried, they screamed, demanding they be allowed to go home, others like Kaiden were quiet, other orphans who realized they had nowhere to go, tossed out like refuse in a garbage can, broken and unusable for a world that cared not, then in the days and weeks after, the start of the shaping touch of drills, schedules and discipline.

After a month's worth of drills, amazingly you had this small group of 28 children able to assemble in proper ranks, come to attention, march in formation and have the beginnings of a unit. The 'class' consisted of canines, a few wolves, Kaiden being the only fox, felines such as cheetahs, bobcats, lynxes. and few bovine and bears dotted around for good measure. All standing at attention, as blank expressions as they could muster.

Kaiden was sure that on the inside they were still the boiling bubbles of emotion and memories, he knew at least he was. He tried to not think of Bunnyburrow or Lily, for if he focused on it too much he would lose his composure and where he was at, emotions made you weak.

A rather large and imposing grizzly bear walked in front, he stopped giving a stern once over of the children.

"I am Chief Master Sergeant Humphrey Kerberos, you may address me as "Chief" or as "Master Sergeant". Do NOT address as "Sir", I work for a living. I have been assigned to you for the duration of your training, which will BE substantial."

"I want to make a few things perfectly clear. One, I ain't you daddy, I am your trainer, you need to address a training or personnel issue with me, fine, but coming to me crying over your lost Lenore will not win points with me. You got to talk about your daddy and mommy issues, the camp shrink is right in the admin building. Two, any of you got any dreams, aspirations, inklings or fantasies about escape. Don't, we are MILES from anywhere, and nobody knows you're here, not that you have anyone looking for you anyway. But let's say you do in fact get over those walls. All you will find is miles of open country and my guards who WILL tranq you and drag your 'piddly' ass back here, at which point you will begin serving your punishment. Consider this my one and only warning."

"Make no mistake and get it through your heads. Your previous lives, short as they were, are over." He said pacing in front of the platoon.

"And while you lives belong to whoever is running this 'shit show', your ass belongs to me!" he exclaimed.

"I have never failed to train a class, and I'm certainly not starting now. You try to fuck with me, I will fuck you up right back."

He paced back to the center and stood towards the children.

"Are we understood?!" he asked.

"Yes, Master Sergeant!" replied the voices of the children.

"Tomorrow, the shit begins, get a good night sleep. Welcome to hell, Dis-missed!"

And begin it did.

The squads were assigned; Kaiden was paired up with three other children, A lynx, a lioness and a bison, at first strangers but would come to know them well. Jarod Novitski was the lynx, descended from a very aristocratic family, out of all the kids he was the only one who was put her by his parents. Kaiden often though 'what kind of parents would do that to their child'? The other two the lioness Nala Rosanov and Lionel Barrett the bison. Nala's parents were junkies who abandoned her in Savannah Central, bouncing around from foster home to foster home and Lionel Barrett who was an orphan much like Kaiden.

The training was hard, the kids were often pushed to their limit and beyond. First it was the standard fare of exercises, running, pushups, situps, pullups, climbing, jumping. But then came the basic combat training, knowing how to stance, how to punch or kick, to claw or bite, throw your opponent off balance and taking the advantage.

Rubber knives for knife training, rubber guns for disarm and return fire training. Life became a series of points and wins and losses, wins were celebrated with a sense of accomplishment, failure was punished severely. Target practice was especially fulfilling the loud pop and thwack of a bullet hitting its mark, becoming familiar with a wide variety of firearms, their operation and maintenance.

Kaiden had taken to absorbing it all, a deluge of information and pain, his world became filled with concepts and ideas that other children wouldn't encounter, how to fashion rudimentary weapons out of the environment or survive harsh conditions with nothing but what was in your pockets.

He tried his best not to think of Bunnyburrow or Lily, those memories were just too pure to be allowed to be tainted by this place. It was usually at night, while he lies in his bunk he would think of her. Like opening a keepsake box with a treasure inside, he would imagine her face and try to remember her sweet flowery scent. He would look out the bunk room's window and stare up at the moon, wondering if she was staring up at it too at that exact same moment.

Sometimes, he would silently cry into his pillow, keeping track of his breathing so as not to make a sound. Even though thinking of her would bring tears, it was the only time he could relax, the only time that was his, the only thing that would calm the screams in his mind for this to stop. Sleep was difficult but it would have to be enough.

The forest nearby was used for survival training, Jarod's team, it had become known as because he was the de facto squad leader, was left in the forest, the exercise to find their way back to the facility. They had been blindfolded and driven around via a roundabout method till they were dropped off at their destination; the truck was allowed to drive away before they were allowed to remove their blindfolds. The truck engine faded into silence, and the small group of children got to their feet.

"Was anyone able to keep track of where they are?" asked Jarod.

The other three shook their heads.

"How are we going to find our way back" asked a Nala.

"Don't worry, as long as we stick together we can find our way out of anything. Agreed?" asked the lynx offering his paw.

"Yeah" she replied

"Might as well" said Barrett

"Okay." Replied Kaiden.

"So first we need to find out where we are."

"Agreed. Let's take a look around; we need to find a water source." Replied Jarod.

The team walked through the woods carefully keeping a constant eye on their surroundings. They eventually found their way to a nearby river. Their survival training told them that following a water source such as a river should lead them to civilization. Life needs water, and mammal kind has taken to living near water sources, rivers, lakes, streams, oceans. No sense in making a larger effort to gather water then need be. As a result, your best bet to finding your way back is following a water source.

They knew that the training camp was near a creek, as during morning exercise runs they would often run by it on the north side of their loop around the base, it was Jarod's hope that this river connected to that creek.

The squad followed along the river keeping an eye out for any sign of direction or useful material, Kaiden had picked up a few thick tree branches and handed them out to his squad mates, either to use as walking sticks or as a defensive weapon should the need arise. Better to have them at least, and given the 'Chief's tough attitude, he wouldn't be surprised if they were miles from home.

'Home', the fact that Kaiden referred to 'The Pit' as home made his stomach turn. This place was anything but, Kaiden was sure that Kerberos' men were out here somewhere, if they made any attempt to escape they would spring upon them.

At the very least they had clear access to water, and could fashion shelter or hunt for food from the local insects. They traveled some distance down river hoping to be going the right way, though they didn't think about it, they hoped they would make it back first. Though while not a competition per se, it did help to be the first in Chief Kerberos' challenges, this would net you at least some protection from the harsh treatment, here winning wasn't so much about achieving as it was surviving, not about being rewarded but more trying to avoid the harsher of the punishments. The more vicious, domineering and drastic the victory, the better off you were. They didn't just want obedient soldiers; they wanted viciousness, and a bit of cold blooded calculation.

They traveled for several hours and the sun was already starting to go down, they realized that they must have been taken a long way from the base to travel as much as they did and still not be within any distance where the landmarks are familiar. They managed to find a small ridge near the river, and stopped in the lee of the ridge. There was a large redwood near them whose roots were partially exposed as it jutted out of the raised part of the ridge. Kaiden gathered some wood, helping Nala build a fire, Jarod had fashioned a small lean-to out of canopy branches and sticks. Splitting some of the wetter pieces into strips to use as rudimentary twine, Barrett foraged. Between Kaiden and Nala they finally managed to get the fire going after a few failed starts, just in time for Barrett to come back, who had gathered a series of berries and bugs.

"So what did you find?" asked Kaiden.

"I found some natural wild berries a little ways away." Barrett replied popping one in his mouth.

"Idiot!" Jarod reacted, smacking the young buffalo in the back of the head, causing him to spit out the berry.

"You need to check it first." The lynx explained.

"Remember what Kerberos said, never assume anything is edible otherwise you could be killed by something other than the enemy."

"Oh, right. Sorry." Barrett

The buffalo put down his foraged goods on a nearby rock, giving each member of the squad a berry, everyone squeezed the berry slightly causing it to burst, then rubbed it against the skin near their one of their wrists. They remembered the words of their trainer, "When unsure of the edibility of a berry, first you burst it, and rub it on your skin and wait, if this causes a reaction such as a rash, then the berry is poisonous, if not, then dab it on your tongue but don't eat it, if it has a detestable flavor or causes the tongue to swell slightly, it's poisonous. If it passes these two tests, and tastes sweet to the palette then it's probably safe to eat, but if you're unsure, Don't."

So they waited to see what reaction if any the dab on their wrists would do. While they waited they took the time to skewer the worms and bugs that Barrett had gathered, a cursory exam of them showed them to be the edible kind, Jarod took the skewers and put them on the fire to cook.

"Anyone have any problems?" the lynx asked pointing to his wrist.

"No." "Nope" "Nuh uh." Replied the others

Jarod took the bold move to dab it to his tongue to test its viability.

"Well?" Nala asked a bit nervously.

"Wow." Jarod replied as he closed his eyes and chewed the berry.

"Jarod?" asked Kaiden.

"That is so good." He purred.

"So they're alright?" Barrett nodded asking for confirmation.

"Yeah. Dig in."

The squad each gathered a pawful of berries and started eating, Kaiden carefully crunched the first berry in his mouth, as its flesh crunched and tore under his teeth releasing the juice inside, splashing on his tongue. It's sweet flavor eliciting a smile from the young fox. Jarod had turned and gathered the skewers of now cooked worms and bugs giving a kabob to each of his squad mates. Everyone took a kabob and slowly enjoyed their bugs even Barrett. The protein from the bugs would be needed to fortify them for the night and the coming day of travel, depending on how far they were, they may have to do this several more times before reaching 'The Pit'. They had eaten all that Barrett had gathered, the buffalo actually had managed to gather enough to with a sensation of satiety, but at least the hunger pangs were gone.

Jarod had pulled the lean-to over and propped it up against the ridge, ushering them in with his paw. They all climbed in and huddled for warmth, the fire would last only until the last one of them fell asleep and could no longer tend the fire. Jarod put the last of the wood they gathered for one last big blast of heat then joined his squad.

It was a sight to behold, a lynx, fox, lioness and buffalo all huddled in a lean-to huddling for warmth against the cold night. It would be an adorable sight if it wasn't for the facts of how and why they were in this position in the first place. For now though, they were alive, fed and warm. Tomorrow they would make their way back and continue their training.

The Next Morning…

They awoke with the early light peeking through the trees, the dew flecking the leafs in a tiny drops giving an almost fuzzy aura to the woods. The campfire had long since died out and even the last wisps of smoke had died out to the small breeze, a few embers among the soot and ash.

Kaiden perked his head up and for a split second in his groggy thoughts he felt he was somewhere else.

"Lily?" he asked.

Obviously no answer, he had gone camping many times with Lily and the smell of the dew drops in the morning took him back. Then reality came rushing in like the morning tide, the rush of realization and the subsequent sinking feeling.

Kaiden shook his squad mates, who awoke with similar starts, each waking up in their own way. They collected themselves, dusting the dirt off their clothes and hides.

"Well that was surprisingly not as uncomfortable as I thought." Said Nala.

"The softness of the dirt helped." Said Barrett.

"Let's get a drink of water from the river and head on back, I'm worried we are going to come in dead last." Chided Jarod.

The squad quickly realized the implication, one word. Punishment. They quickly gathered themselves and sprang to the nearby river, taking a drink, and washing their muzzles and faces, it probably didn't rid them of a smells but it felt good. After they were finished they continued down river a ways. After a few miles of travel, they rounded a bend, and the terrain became familiar.

"I knew it, they took us North." Commented Jarod.

They managed to round the bend and onto the hard patted down dirt path, the platoon regularly would run down this path on their way back to camp. They dutifully followed it, eventually finding their way back to the training field.

Chief Kerberos was waiting as if on cue, he saw the squad come in through the fence and jogged up to him, they were panting and out of breath but everyone stood at attention. The old bear stood for a moment and let out the slightest indication of a grin.

"Congratulations Echo Squad, looks like you made it back first."

The members of Echo smiled, despite the exhaustion.

"But don't think you can rest on your laurels…Being the first doesn't mean you're the best…Doing it consistently, able to achieve your goals continuously, that's what makes you the best."

"Yes, Master Sergeant." Answered the squad in unison.

"But for now…being first….Is good enough. Get cleaned up and get some chow. Dis-missed!"

The squad fell out and did as they were told. They met and rose above the first of many challenges that the Chief would have for them, some more subtle and unnerving than others. But for now, they took their small victory for what it was.