Chapter 13
"Peace"
I enjoyed times like these because they did not come often. I cherished them because they could not last forever.
The night was hot and the insects were loud. Their constant chirping and buzzing drowned out the playful groans and growls and yips of the pups as they learned from a family of Sand Shrews they dug up from the ground. The pups were of substance now and had no problems forcing the shrews into hiding. The Sand Shrews curled into balls, using their armored skin to protect themselves as the pups knocked them around, pouncing and pawing, and in one case, gnawing, ever important lessons about these new creatures into their memories. But the shrews' defenses held up strongly against puppy teeth.
I watched from a distance, laid out on a sandy patch of soil where the vegetation was short and scraggly compared to the rest of the grasslands. There was a time when I frolicked and played like them. Now, I bathed in the dawn light and that was its own type of pleasure. One aging bones and greying fur appreciated. Still, it felt good to be reminded of those days when rough housing and wrestling were all I cared about.
But a Mother's work was never finished.
A Slashing Shrew appeared in the near distance. It ran up from its usual nightly excursion, trying to get home before the sun broke the horizon, and found a pack of Mighty Hena settling down for the day above its burrow. It must have been a female because she was furious, bounding on all fours, spines and quills raised in maternal fury. Slashing Shrews were larger than their rough skinned hatchlings and were equipped with protective quills on their backs instead of armored skin. They were larger than our pups, but smaller than Mighty Hena, never rising above our chests.
Yet, they were still a threat to us both.
Their front claws grew long and thick to shovel and shred the hard packed dirt beneath our feet. There was nothing to stop them from warding off intruders with those same tools turned weapon. One well-placed swipe could gouge out a chunk of flesh whether the perpetrator deserved it or not. The danger the shrew posed to the pups was obvious, but I did not worry. My shadow had seen her too and was already on its way to intervene. Omega placed himself in the Slashing Shrew's path. His stance was awkward, but steady. He was determined to stop her and protect the pups as he saw others do many times before, but he had yet to take the initiative in battle, especially against a foe he never faced before.
The shrew charged to a stop a few lengths in front of him. She bounced on her front paws, rattling her spiky coat. Omega did not move. She stood on two legs and brandished her claws, sliding them along one another to make a scratching sound. Omega paced a few steps in each direction, looking for an opening between her claws and quills. He was unable to find one and could not afford to open a path to the pups to do so, so he feigned an attack. It mimicked the Blessed when they tested an opponent. He meant to draw her out. But the shrew was far more experienced in combat. She lashed out and nearly cut him across the mask. Omega instinctively retreated, which gave the shrew an opening, and she chased him with a ripple across her back.
But Omega was not intimidated.
He could not afford to turn tail. He, too, called a bluff and whirled back around with a snarl and show of teeth. The shrew immediately pulled up and flashed her claws again, forcing another stalemate. The pack was not easily moved after a long tiring night tracking bulls and the shrew would not give up so easily when her hatchlings were at risk. Omega performed admirably for his first time, but I did not want to risk his safety. A lesson like this could end harshly. So I stood up to assist him, but another was already in motion. Alpha slipped in beside Omega as smooth and silent as an apparition, startling both Omega and the shrew with his otherworldly appearance.
Alpha was almost a head taller than Omega. Bigger and darker and heavier of frame. The fact that his black markings covered his whole face instead of just his eyes like Omega's band seemed to intensify the differences between them. I expected Prima or Maw Mouth. Those most common around the pups to intervene. Alpha seldom bothered himself with the pups so young. It was when they were older, young ones looking to ascend into the pack, that his turn with them came. Where Mother raised and Prima guided, Alpha trained.
Then, I realized it wasn't the pups he was here for.
Alpha glanced down at Omega. Omega lowered his head a little and shifted his tail, but kept Alpha's stare and did not move away. It was in this that Alpha found him worthy to train. His focus then shifted to the shrew. She cowered from his gaze and bristled, staying low to the ground to keep her vulnerable belly protected. Her quills were her greatest advantage and she would use them instead of her claws in dire situations. Her hatchlings were no longer the ones in the most danger. She need not conquer this encounter, but survive it. Alpha trotted forward, pulling the shrew's attention away. She turned her back to him where the quills were thickest, keeping them aimed at him no matter which way he went. She struggled to keep up, spinning and spinning, one way then the other.
She fired a shower of quills from her back. One burst of speed pushed Alpha ahead of them. The projectiles whizzed through the empty air and peppered the ground. Again, she fired and failed. Her shield was thinner now. Her eyes, frantic. Alpha bounded back to Omega. He puffed and hardened his mane, shaking it out to make it longer. He was showing Omega how it was done. Alpha's tail thickened and lengthened, becoming even more like the shadows. Sleek and long and dark. This was a trick some of us could learn. A way to strengthen our fur and tails to become armor or weapons. Omega tried and tried again but his coat showed no promise. It was already shorter and thinner than most.
Alpha was not disappointed.
Like Blessed, we all had different gifts. He switched to footwork and the step he used to quicken his paws. Omega's eyes flashed. He was always quick and agile and reactive in order to avoid the scolding and bullying of others as the lowest in the pack. He never thought such movements to be his greatest advantage. Alpha then brought Omega with him back into the fight. The Slashing Shrew did not know what to make of this. Only that it was not in her favor. So she continued to keep her quills up. New tactics were needed. She kicked up some sandy dirt with her back legs. Alpha and Omega rushed ahead of it. Expecting as much from Alpha's earlier display, the shrew fired another round of quills ahead of the cloud.
Omega appeared from the dust, unaware of the trap. But that's why Alpha ran beside him. He instantly slowed to Omega's speed and, using his thickened mane, shielded Omega from the attack with a turn of his back. The quills caught in his fur and he continued to spin, lashing his extra long tail into the shrew's back. The hair was so thick that it caught in the quills better than briers in a thicket. But Alpha did not stop there. He kept spinning and whipped the entangled shrew off of her feet. He then dragged her, shrieking across the ground, until she eventually ripped free from the force. She tumbled through the dirt and when she finally managed to find her feet, took off running into the wild. She abandoned her hatchlings for the chance to lay another clutch far from the reaches of the Mighty Hena.
Alpha stopped to watch her leave. His tail slid to a stop beside him, returning to its proper size like a shadow slipping away with the light. Some of the quills clattered to the ground. Most remained in his mane and tail, spiking him like some sort of ancient monster. The barbs were harmless, never reaching skin, but they made a loud rattling statement for one who normally walked so softly. Left alone, the quills would eventually knot and pull at the hair and damage his coat or catch unwanted debris. Maybe even entangle him in the brush. So they needed to be removed sooner rather than later. And I wasn't the only one who understood the importance of such things. It was now that Maw Mouth appeared. He'd been watching from a distance and made quick work of the quills, biting them into pieces with ease.
They clattered against the dirt and rocks, littering the ground with bits and shards. This made space so that Omega could come in and nibble the remaining barbs free. Alpha patiently waited to be groomed. Meanwhile, he watched the pups as they abandoned their captives to investigate the battlefield now that the danger had passed. It was good to have them come close and test their tongues and paws on the barbs. One of the pups was already covered in them, squealing for help against the unusual tugging sensation. He back peddled, shaking his head and trying to free himself of the pesky burdens. The others were content to let him struggle and learn his lesson, but when others taught, it was Mothers who comforted.
I pulled up my shoulders and stuck out my front legs, stretching my paws one last time before I walked over to assist the little one. I laid so that he came between my front legs and placed my paw on top of him to keep him still. His ears were long and flopped over at the tips which caused the barbs to catch there and make them hang even farther. They were no match for my teeth and tongue as I pinched each one between my teeth and combed them out. I groomed this way countless times before. On short fur, long fur, brittle hair, smooth hair, and yet, despite my expertise, a barb snagged my tongue. I pulled back against the pinch, tasting blood in my mouth.
And suddenly, the night was no longer hot. It cooled, chilling my breath. The sun stopped rising and the sky became dark as the pitch of night. I felt the Spirit flinch, just as I did, and looked up.
For the rest of the pack, the dawn was normal. The weather, sweltering, but easily managed by happy panting smiles. Freed from his burdens, the pup between my legs ran off to rejoin the group. He leapt into more rough play and yapping, but it was no longer the insects that muffled his voice.
A heavy silence fell over me. That's when a far and distant howl reached my ears. It was Mighty Hena in origin. Desperate in nature. From one sent as runner to another pack should we face violence once again. Something had happened. I could not tell what, only that our peace had ended.
War for the Mighty Hena had finally come.
