The 80s...
For the most part, it was truly a unique time to be alive. An era that many were around as an adult or as a memory from childhood, wearing the latest fashion or enjoying the newest trends, it didn't matter. Music stored on cassette tapes, trampolines, colorful cube puzzles, BMX bikes, action figures, you name it, It was most likely a style at the time. Times like that were wild, even rebellious If you think about it with no rules to speak of.
However, on a windy and misty night roaming through a forest outside of a beach resort were three brothers wearing backpacks while holding onto flashlights. They were in search of something they didn't know anything about except for the one leading the pack.
A young blue heeler striking a mullet haircut that moved in the wind with light blue fur and some tan on his nose, belly, and ears respectfully walked while waving a flashlight left and right seemingly looking for a sense of direction. The main thing that stuck out about him was some black fur around his eyes resembling a ski or bandit mask.
"Bandit, are we there yet?" One of the brothers, who appears to be the youngest in his family, broke the silence, asking his brother in front of him whose name went by Bandit.
"No, but I can sense we're getting closer." He gave him an answer. Bandit continued searching while moving his flashlight left and right to avoid any hidden holes as the younger brother wondered why they were even out here in the first place. "When are you going to tell us why we're out here?" He asked, only to receive the same silent treatment.
The younger blue heeler wore a red, white and blue headband and had light blue fur around his body along with dark blue fur on his tail and on the left side of his face. He also had his left ear bent with the right sticking upwards. He sighed and thought of how to attract his brother's attention until he looked to his right to see his other brother who seemed to be older than both of them walk beside him.
He is the same dog breed as them, but looked strikingly different having teal, yellow, and orange fur accompanied by his main feature being his long hair. He was distracted playing on a portable gaming system called the Game Pup playing a role playing game conveniently named final fur 7, but his gaming session was cut short feeling his younger brother giving him a light nudge. He noticed his younger bro was trying to talk to Bandit and backed him up.
"Stripe has a point mate, you better not have brought us out here for something stupid, we're missing the biggest wrestling match ever seen on television." He told Bandit. The youngest of the three was named Stripe as his mind suddenly thought of something, a way to get Bandit to reconsider. "Actually now that you said it, maybe it would be better (even safer) if we just go back home. We can check out whenever you want to show us tomorrow, what do you think?" Stripe asked, recommending that they should turn back.
Bandit in response to the repeated questions, stopped in his tracks. He turned around to look at them, not pleased. "Look, I know we're missing the smackdown and I'm sorry. I've wanted to see it too, but I can't show you guys tomorrow. We're planning on leaving and going home, this is my last chance to show you guys. Trust me mates, I promise it will be worth coming out here." Bandit explained to his brothers. The two looked at each other with worry but chose not to say anything and only gave a nod of approval. Bandit proceeded to continue walking with the other two following suit.
"I don't know about this Radley." Stripe whispered to his brother next to him, who went by the name Radley before then asking him. "Is it just me... or do you feel uneasy being out here?" Radley wasn't sure what to say, while walking he didn't feel like they were in any danger nor was there any wildlife in sight. The one thing he knew for certain was they were definitely going to get in trouble when their mum found out they were not asleep back at home.
"I kind of do. I remember we were out here last week with mum and dad. Not at night, but I recall the stump we passed by." Radley replied, trying to sound calm and reasonable compared to Bandit and Stripe. He is on the same page as his younger brother, but wasn't down with disappointing Bandit by offering to turn back after all the pleading he did to get them outside.
"Not this far, we're past the original trail. I don't trust being out late, not without supervision." Stripe said to which Bandit overheard and turned around.
"Maybe you're just overthinking it, mate." He rest assured his younger brother before continuing to speak. "I mean... sneaking out like this probably wasn't my smartest idea. However if we see something odd or feel unsafe we can leave, how does that sound?" Bandit offered. "That's not what I mean." Stripe said, which made Bandit instantly retract what he said a moment ago and instead try to calm everybody down. "Ok, how about we take a breather. We should calm down and consider a different idea." Bandit said, not getting to finish the last part of his statement.
"Calm down... seriously? we're out in the forest in the middle of the night and the first thing you thought about is taking a breather?" Stripe asked Bandit.
He could tell Stripe was beginning to panic and think of what would happen if their parents found out they were out here. "If mom finds out we're out here, we're toasted." Stripe added.
"Everything will be fine. Nothing has happened from us being out here, like I said we'll head back after I'm done showing you guys the thing I found. So let's get going before..." Bandit was about to finish what he had said, but instantly paused when he saw his older brother sniffing the air rapidly. His nose must have caught something out of the ordinary which made both him and Stripe confused but also concerned.
"Uh... Mate? What's wrong, what is it?" Bandit asks Radley which he stopped and looks back at him. "I can smell something..." He tells Bandit and Stripe before taking another sniff of the air. "Something like.." After sniffing a bit harder, Radley finally came to a conclusion as to what his nose caught. However it wasn't a positive smell as Bandit and Stripe can tell by his face which became worrisome.
"Fire." He described what he smells in one word.
The two looked at Radley stunned hearing his response. "Fire, Where?" Bandit asked, hoping he could sense the direction to where it's coming from. "It's hard to make out but..." Radley replied just as confused as his brothers. He sniffed again only this time he noticed the smell was close by and to his left but when he turned his head all he saw was some huge bushes. He started to think, maybe there is fire coming from behind those bushes.
"Seems to be coming from that way, through those bushes." Radley told his brothers while pointing directly at the bushes. Bandit and Stripe then looked at each other, unsure if they should take his word on him smelling fire nearby. Either way it wouldn't hurt to investigate just to be safe. "We should go check this out, mate." Stripe said while looking at Bandit, who stood aside him.
"Yeah." Bandit replied back, as he proceeded to be cautious walking over to the bushes. Stripe and Radley followed behind him, looking to their sides for anything out of the ordinary. Now being in front of the bushes, there didn't appear to be anything moving or even burning which fire would normally do when in contact with something like brushes or even wood, but when the three looked up at the sky their eyes saw black smoke rising in the air. Somebody was using a campfire or something that required a fire behind the bushes, turns out Radley's suspicions were correct.
"You two stay here, I'll check this out." Bandit said to his brothers, advising them to stay back and let him go investigate. He then slowly moved over to the brushes, however Stripe wasn't on board with this, feeling like this might lead to something bad. "Bandit, wait." He quietly called out to him, now fully having thoughts this might be a bad idea, but despite his concerns it was a little too late, Bandit took a step through said brushes rummaging straight ahead for a couple seconds until he saw there was end in sight.
When he stepped out, it showed he was now on the edge of a very small cliff, the starry dark blue sky circling around him along with the black smoke which he saw in front of him. He walked over to the edge of the cliff and looked down, what he saw was beyond shocking and his eyes widened, he saw exactly where the smoke was coming from. "What in the..." Bandit said, completely lost for words as to what he was seeing. Stripe and Radley came out from the brushes, noticing he's ok but standing over the edge emotionless.
"Mate, did you find something?" Stripe asked his brother, he didn't say a word which made the two grow concerned and tempted to see what he was looking at. "What is it?" Radley asked a question of his own. They walked over to the edge of the cliff where he stood, when they both saw it their eyes instantly widened in shock.
"Oh... my... fudge sticks." Stripe could only say, He and Radley saw exactly what Bandit was staring down at and were just as stunned as he was.
The three of them saw a fairly large camp consisting of different sized tents and huts with wooden chairs, tables, and even coolers placed to the side, but in the middle of all the tents and huts, a large campfire was lit and unleashed black smoke in the air, the heeler brothers now figured out where the black smoke came from, there was a camp settlement here. "What is all this?" Bandit asked while staring directly at the campfire.
"A campsite, that smoke was coming from here this whole time." Radley responded to his question, Stripe quickly roamed through his backpack and pulled out a large paper that Bandit and Radley saw to be a map, one to help pinpoint where they were.
"That's odd, according to the map, this isn't considered a camping spot." He said, pointing at the exact spot the three are currently. Stripe then noticed a red highlight next to where they stood on the map followed by a message which he began to read "Actually, it says here this spot is restricted and not suitable for camping, this shouldn't be here." Stripe explained, showing them the map as proof. He wasn't lying, the message stated it in bold black text.
"Only thing I would suspect is they might be using it for research or personal reasons, Bandit does like that archaeologist stuff and they usually check places that are off limits to the public." Radley began to theorize a reason for a camp like this being out here. Bandit's mind began to think, the mention of archaeology created a happy feeling in his mind, until an idea emerged in his head which got him quickly smiling.
"You don't say..." Bandit thought to himself in a mischievous voice. He then springs up with energy before looking at Stripe and Radley with glee. "Well mates, that's all I needed to know." Bandit said, walking away happily, Stripe on the hand grew suspicious, though he does like Bandit's optimism to explore, he knew in the back of his head he was up to something and it wasn't a good idea.
"Wait, you're not suggesting going down there are you?" Radley then asks, realizing what Bandit was thinking. "Why not? Maybe it's a dig site and a group of archaeologists are here, searching for buried bones or possibly treasure, it doesn't hurt to go take a peek." Bandit said, very excited. Stripe's eyes began to widen, he's about to do something reckless and this needed to stop instantly. Bandit then slowly went to the edge and looked downwards, small drops of rain suddenly falling from the sky creating a slick slope of mud which he could use to slide down and get a closer look, without hesitation he took a big step forward, preparing to slide down the small cliff, until...
"Oh no you don't!" To his surprise he was quickly pulled back from the edge before he could proceed down. Bandit turned around in confusion and found it was his younger brother pulling him by his fur as he moved him away.
"You're not going anywhere, we're leaving this place now, let's get out of here before one of those "campers" sees us." Stripe said, making air quotes after mentioning the word campers. Bandit forcefully breaks out of his grasp and turns to look at him with frustration. "Sorry mate, I'm not leaving." Bandit protested while growling under his breath. "Bandit.." Stripe tried to be reasonable, only for Bandit to talk over him. "Just imagine what we found out here, it could be something extraordinary, we might've found a discovery that would break history as we know it, why would you want to miss the opportunity?" Bandit asked his brother.
"Because, Bandit." Stripe answered back, refusing to give him his true opinion. "Cause what? Is this really about the wrestling match or is there something I don't know about, that you've hidden from me?" Bandit continues to ask, but this alone finally pushed his brother to his limits, making him reach his breaking point after everything Bandit has done to show them a thing there not even at, it was enough for Stripe to snap.
"Cause I don't want to lose you, if something happens!" Stripe yelled, finally admitting his reason for why he shouldn't go down there. The three brothers immediately stood in silence after he said that. Bandit was surprised to hear this and even Radley was too but it seems like there was more to this as Stripe continued to speak. "You're my brother, for pete's sake and..." Stripe said, trying to find the right words while in a state of panic.
He then saw Bandit and Radley stare at him with confusion which led to him to calm down, taking a few deep breaths before explaining his thoughts a bit better.
"I know we had our moments staying here for almost a week now, even in general for that matter. You were a real jerk to me, which was why Radley jinxed you so I could pay you back. But that doesn't mean I don't care about what happens to you, I can't bear to see you get hurt or possibly killed because of something stupid like this. I care too much about you Bandit, and we are not going down there." Stripe explains.
The truth has now been revealed to Bandit and Radley. Stripe didn't want anything to happen to Bandit like getting hurt or a possibly worsen outcome to occur the entire time but Bandit was too distracted trying to find a stupid rock to see that. Radley then looked at Stripe, being shocked hearing all of this.
"Woah Stripe, that's a bit of a stretch don't you think?" Radley asked his younger sibling, thinking what he said was a bit much even for him. "Nah mate, he's right." Bandit said, actually agreeing with Stripe about this. Unannounced to them though, Bandit began moving backwards to the edge once again. "I'll make sure... I do this cautiously," Bandit told them both as he quickly turned around while Stripe knew exactly what he was doing and tried to stop it.
"Bandit!" Stripe quickly ran trying to grab him, but it was too late. Bandit slid down the cliff reaching a good amount of speed until he landed onto the ground into a mud puddle, his fur was now covered in mud as he got up. "Bandit, What do you think you're doing?" Stripe asked from above which Bandit then looked up and told him.
"I'll be right back, I promise." Bandit said. He began looking around for anything of value or something you can use to get back up to them when his eyes saw some rope laying on a wooden box. "That's convenient." He said to himself, quietly grabbing it and running back over to his two brothers who were watching his every move.
"Here, hang on to this." Bandit told his brothers. He threw the rope up to them which Stripe grabbed from off the ground. "When I get back, you let it down and pull me up, ok?" Bandit asked, telling them what his plan for the rope was. Stripe however was not on board with this still thinking this is a bad idea.
"Fine, just make it quick please." Stripe responds, being hesitant about his plan. Bandit proceeded to run off to get a closer look at the campfire, leaving his two brothers to think among themselves. The looks on their faces made it clear they were concerned for his safety. "Should we follow him?" Radley wondered, asking the question to his younger brother.
"Here take it, stay here and watch out for anything suspicious, I'll bring our idiot of a brother back" Stripe replied. Without hesitation he slid down the cliff while landing into the same mud puddle Bandit did and ran after him as Radley watched him and gave a nod.
Bandit was now sneaking around the campsite. He hid behind tents, wooden boxes, and even went under tables to avoid any possible detection. He was closer and closer to the campfire in the middle by the minute until he finally reached the spot hiding behind a tree that was close but a good distance away.
"Ha, made it," Bandit said, while he pulled out his flashlight, being able to see around him more clearly. His first course of action now was to take a peek at the campfire, however behind him something was moving around the brushes along with the other trees. He could briefly hear a faint sound of wind blowing into his ear. "Huh? Who's there?" Bandit wondered, slightly spooked by the noise. He turned around, moving his flashlight left and right to see if anything or anyone was there only for there to be nothing there at all.
"Umm... that's strange..." He comments, while growing a bit of suspicion. "Anyways, let's see what's really going on here." Bandit said, digging into his backpack and pulling out his binoculars. He then looked through them, seeing a closer view of the campfire.
While looking he strangely saw multiple silhouettes sitting around the campfire, one seemed to be throwing wood into the fire while others were doing nothing. It was hard to make out if they were dogs like Bandit or unknown creatures, either way the blue heeler smiled, maybe he was right after all. "So there are archaeologists here, I knew it." Bandit said with complete surprise. He zoomed in closer with the binoculars.
"Man, why of all days did it have to be cold?" Suddenly he could hear a voice come out of one of the silhouettes. They sounded male and at first Bandit thought he was talking to himself but came to realize he saw there was something next to him. They seemed to be having a conversation. "Beats me, at least it's not boiling hot." The silhouette next to the other said. They also appear to be male like the first silhouettes.
"Come over here, it's a lot better than where you're at." Out of nowhere a third voice was heard, not too far from the two males only this time it was of a female voice calling specifically to both of them to join her and the others. Bandit watched it all play out and was very intrigued, they can talk for starters, but were these dogs like him?
"Good to know they can talk, but the question remains are they really-" Bandit was about to finish his sentence, but was then startled, as he heard another faint dash coming into his ear which made him turn back around to investigate. "Huh? Again!" Bandit asked, now being paranoid while waving his flashlight to the left and right again but like last time not a single thing was there.
"What is wrong with me, it's probably just nothing." Bandit told himself as he turned back around at the campfire. As he continued to snoop and overhear the silhouette's chatter, right behind him a brush began to raffle like crazy but stopped a second later. A black creature came out from said brush and walked slowly over to the blue heeler. Bandit's ears quickly perked up in response, hearing someone's footsteps behind him which frustrated him dealing with this for the third time now.
"I figured you chase after me Stripe, if you're attempting to scare me that isn't going to work considering-" Bandit said while turning around, thinking he was going to see Stripe behind him but paused his speech when he was instead greeted by a small creature that stands on all fours. They had completely blackout fur, large perked up ears, and paws that revealed its sharp claws. The main detail that Bandit noticed however, being its bright purple eyes that gazed into the blue heeler's eyes making him afraid.
"Huh? You're not Stripe!" Bandit stated. In a matter of seconds the strange encounter opened its mouth to reveal its sharp fangs as the creature became hostile and tried to pounce on Bandit. The blue heeler managed to dodge it by slapping it away from him, however, that might've made it worse and very angry as said creature made a fairly loud screech lunging towards him again.
Bandit immediately panicked and started running like he's never ran before while the creature chased him, having a comparable speed as Bandit. "The heck are you?!" Bandit asks with fear in eyes, his voice making it clear he was panicking. The creature didn't respond, it only screeched louder than it did prior as it got close enough to him and pounced once again. This time it managed to pin Bandit onto the grass.
"No! hold on... wait! stop!" Bandit stutters while he struggles trying to get the creature off of him. He hits in the face as hard as he could even grabbing some grass and putting it in it's face but to no avail, the creature won't budge. "Please quit it, let me go! I'm not your enemy!" He pleaded for his life, still trying to fight it off. But suddenly some luck came his way.
"Watch out!"
Bandit was greeted with a male disembodied voice as he walked to his left to see a shovel being swung in his direction.
The shovel hit the creature in the body, hard enough for it to be thrown in the air and land into the large campfire as it disappeared into nothing but ash. Bandit quickly took notice that he was free from the creature's grasp and proceeded to catch his breath before saying a single word.
"Oh my goodness... thank you mate, I knew you wouldn't-" Bandit was about to say, thinking he was talking to Stripe who he thought saved him from the creature, only to be proven wrong again. His eyes widened when he saw in front of him a group of hairless creatures, standing on two legs and wearing clothing instead of having fur like Bandit as some were behind the man who held the shovel and saved Bandit.
The man was fair skinned and wore a blue and white varsity jacket with a maple leaf on the right side of the jacket, the number 74 on his left shoulder, and on the back was the same maple leaf design but only bigger along with the name Russell. He also wore black jeans, brown tennis shoes, a plain white shirt underneath his varsity jacket, and lastly a silver watch that shined when close enough to the fire.
"Did that dog just talk?!" One of the hairless creatures shouted in fear.
A whistle was then heard as Bandit turned to his right and noticed another hairless creature coming over to them. "Hey is everything alright out there! I heard the commotion and-" Suddenly a woman appeared wearing an explorer outfit and a cowgirl hat as she quickly raced over and looked at the man with the shovel with a worried expression.
"Yeah. Your husband hit some kind of furry creature into our campfire." Another one of the hairless creatures said, pointing at the man who held the shovel. Bandit assumes the man that saved him and the woman in the explorer outfit must be married, at least it's good to know.
However her worried look would change to a surprised one when she noticed Bandit on the ground. "Holy smokes." She reacted in shock while the campfire behind the group illuminated brightly. Bandit had no clue what to say at this point or if there was even any. However, there was still one lingering question on his mind. So at the worst possible time, he kindly asked the group one simple question.
"Um... are you guys archaeologists?"
Author's Note:
Hello readers, I hope you enjoyed reading the prologue for Human of the Wild. I will note that this fanfic came out back in 2023, and this is the remastered version of the Prologue. All the chapters that will be released are remastered versions of the originals with new content, new plot details, remade dialogue, and lastly quality improvements that will make the story better. Anyways, I hoped you enjoyed the prologue. Thanks for reading, and see you next time.