A gift story

To Speeddog

Prologue

I had never even dreamt of freedom and yet, standing on this hill, overlooking the dumpsite for all existing cages, I can’t help but wonder: will we finally be able to stop running or hiding? My hopes were heightened as I saw the stack of cages growing in the pit and decided to go home. Once there, I ran into the den to greet my future wife who purred at my newfound happiness. “You should see yourself smile, what happened?” she asked, while I nudged her cheek with my nose. “It’s over,” I whispered “they’re dumping their cages.”

“What!?”

“I think the hunt is over.”

She went quiet as she sprinted out toward the hill where I had stood. Waiting for her return I dug out our den a little further to make room for larger prey an softer bedding and just as I would run out to gather more cloth to cover the floor with, she came back.

“I don’t think the hunt’s over Speedy honey.” She said in a low, clearly worried voice.

“What do you mean?”

“They’ll come back.”

“But they’re…” “NO! They are not getting rid of the cages because they want to stop hunting us,” she suddenly interrupted. “They’re throwing out their cages because they won’t keep us.”

Terror spread across her face and in the hopes of being wrong I found myself able to ask just one question.

“Then what will they do?”

“They will hunt and kill us, until the last of our kind is gone.”

Silence fell then as we both stared at the forest not far from our home. All the fighting we had done and all the others we had set free would have been for nothing. War was coming, again. But this time, we would be waiting; we would be prepared and ruthless as they had always been.

Chapter 1: the start of something new

I had been out in the field for the past two days, which often happened when I was hunting larger prey though this time was different. I had sprinted across the entire west side of the forest not far from my den during the entire time and hadn’t even picked up the scent. I still had hope of finding at least one deer somewhere in the centre of the forest and so, I ran just a little faster.

Trees went by, moss, grass and dirt spewed up from under my paws and yet there was no other sound for miles. It was as if all life had been drawn out of this place. I would have given up then after stopping to take a breath, but then I picked up the scent of a large buck not far from my position. I took one more deep breath and began the hunt. Drool was forming in my muzzle and I got ready to strike. Then I saw the animal, completely unaware of my presence and in one fluent movement I took it down, tightly biting its throat until all life had slipped out of it.

I was happy with my fresh kill and decided to drag it back to the den where I’d be free to eat it in peace. The strange scents I had picked up at the edge of the forest made no difference to me as I dragged it inside. There, I took the first bite, filling my drool filled mouth with the soft and sweet meat of the sturdy male. It became clear to me that it had been a strong animal once I started on its muscles though neither they, nor his bones would be a match for my fangs. You see, they did not consist of the normal bone as they would’ve been had man not interfered. They were made of a strange metal alloy which could cut through any material I had ever come across.

To tell you the story of their making would probably confuse and upset you though it is imperative that you know that I have ever since the day of the massacre that marked my escape, I had hated the humans and vowed to destroy any that crossed my path. I take no pleasure in the death of other living creatures though, make no mistake about that. I just value my own life and freedom more than that of those who cross me. Having finished my meal, I pushed out the carcass and crept back into the very back of my den where I would sleep out the rest of the day. Sleep found me easily as my damp fur dried and I could ask for little more than the bliss of dreaming what I was about to dream.

The dream took me to a meadow filled with tall grass and the occasional flower where a playful, high-pitched voice swirled around me laughing the funniest laugh and spreading a scent that was unnervingly alluring. And even though I never got to see the creature that did all this, I still felt happy dreaming these strange things, because they gave me peace. And after the dream had ended and sleep was traded in for the waking world, I found myself wanting to hunt again. But this time the prey didn’t have to be as big as the last time. After all, the strange scent at the edge of the forest might have been that of some new prey meaning I’d be out for less than a day. I ran, as fast as ever toward the edge of the forest and quickly picked up the scent. I sniffed once, Female, the thought was like a strong command, definite. I ran further and followed it to the centre of the forest where the scent got stronger and I sniffed again, Feline, the thought was a command and a warning, this could get ugly. I ran faster nearing the source and I sniffed again, unnervingly alluring, the thought sent my mind racing back to the dream. I ran faster and there she was, lying on a big stone purring as she fiddled with some grass. “Who or what are you!?” I growled at the non-interest she showed. She merely sat up and looked at me before finally answering.

“What’s it to you dog?”

“I’m no dog, I’m a wolf.”

“Are you really? Then why *sniff* *sniff* do you smell like one.”

“A dog is a domesticated wolf, that’s why.”

“What do they call you anyway?”

“My name is 'Speeddog'.”

“And here I was, thinking you weren’t a dog.” She laughed a sharp laugh.

“I’m really not.” I replied before asking “What do they call you?”

“I am Greykitty, and my name doesn’t lie.”

“I guessed as much. Now how do you explain your scent?”

“What about it? Do I smell like something you pooped out or something?”

“No, your scent is unnervingly alluring. It’s not right for your kind to smell like that to mine.”

“If you’re saying that somehow you like me, you’re crazy. You’re a dog and I’m a cat.”

“I can’t help it.”

“I guess not, but it’s beyond weird. It’s unnatural.”

“I know, but what does my scent tell you?”

No answer followed but she pretty much tolerated my presence and that was all I could ask for at the moment. “You know what, tell me once I get back, I need to hunt.” I said, before sprinting off into the forest to feed myself. After about an hour, I was able to pick up the scent of a big group of boar and decided to hunt them. It wasn’t half a challenge to pick two of them off and devouring them in the same time it took me to kill them. No longer hungry, I made my way back to the meadow where I’d found her and noticed there were scratch marks on the stone and in the dirt around it. Seeing as I couldn’t see her anywhere around I decided to examine them more closely. Slowly, patterns became visible depicting several different animals and some humans. If not for the knowledge that they were carved, I could’ve sworn that some of them were real. “What are you doing?” she scolded as she came closer. “I’m admiring the patterns you carved into this stone and the ground.” I answered, still in awe.

“Thanks, I guess, they’re sort of my pride and joy.”

“They’re amazing; I wish I could do something like that.”

“You could, with those weird fangs of yours. What’s with that anyway?”

I sighed, looking at the ground and ended up telling her everything. And after having told her about all I had done, the silence made me look up. Her mouth was open in shock and her eyes were moist, then she sat down and looked at my eyes one by one for minutes. Then finally she cleared her throat, blinked quickly and spoke. “I’m so sorry for you.”

Not understanding the reply, I looked at her, my expression probably fixed in confusion. And all of a sudden, she pounced at my neck just holding me and purring a quiet and comforting purr. Time passed, though less noticeable than usual. “I’ll be your friend from now on, beats being alone anyway.” She said, her voice slightly mocking. “Thank you.” I managed to whisper. The next five days, we hunted together and carved together making it seem as if we were a pack. We told each other everything and lived without judgement which was refreshing after the long time I used to spend with the few who betrayed me in the end. After I brought back another big carcass on the sixth day of our companionship and having shared it, she curled up against me and whispered. “You know what, *sigh* I think I like you now, too.” I lay myself down as well and as the joy of hearing her words had set over me, I knew. This would be the start of something new.

Chapter 2: A day to remember

It was a week after having first met Greykitty that I set out to expand my territory. I ran along the eastern side of the forest this time and ended up at a place without trees or any kind of life. Seeing the markings on the tree stumps I knew they were made with human tools and/or machinery. It was no doubt another one of their plans to drive the animals into their nets and cages. Knowing that, I sniffed around to confirm my suspicion and quickly picked up the trail of the ones that did this. I sprinted across open fields and into a large field of their dens where I saw men wielding sticks in all shapes and sizes, no doubt weaponry of sorts. Without so much as a second thought, I stuck to my vow and slew them. They would cry out in agony just seconds before I ended their life, but it wouldn’t save them.

Slowly and carefully, I made my way to the source of the scent I had picked up at the edge of the forest. It was a pen, filled with big machines with sharp edges and the stink of ill-cleaned humans in them. It didn’t take long for one of the humans to come out of its den and point one of their sticks at me in a threatening way. Thinking it had picked up my scent while I was snooping around in its machines; I bowed my head and slowly backed away when suddenly it made the ground in front of me explode with a thunderous sound. I sprinted away then, in fear of these explosions, but half way out of the big human’s pen I noticed more and more of them gathering outside of their dens.

Most of them made scolding sounds and others made the ground and dens around me explode, until I finally made it to the edge of their field where the sound of an explosion was followed by a stinging pain in my ear. I sprinted toward the reflecting pools, too fast for any human to follow, and examined where the pain was coming from. A perfectly circular wound had formed at the tip of my left ear and I realised that it was the human’s weapon which had caused this.

They had attempted to take my life, and with this signed a declaration of war against me and my friends. I hurried back to the den where Greykitty lay sleeping and woke her gently to have my wound treated. It was after all a wound I could in no way bind for myself, seeing as my paws were stubby and could not hold a piece of cloth long enough to wrap it around the wounded ear. “What happened?” she asked, after she’d finished up taking care of the wound. “The humans were making the ground explode with thunderous sound and then one last explosion wounded my ear.” I explained, hoping she wouldn’t call me crazy. “Speeddog, what you heard was what they call a gun. It shoots out iron cones they call bullets.” She said, making it very clear that it was a serious matter. “They could easily have killed you.”

“Then at least I would have taken pleasure in the knowledge of slaying two of their kind, first.”

She fell silent, and in her silence I could hear more shots being fired in the forest. I had brought war to my territory and Greykitty knew why. I decided then and there that I would take out any of the ones who threatened us. “We’re going to be caught and put in cages.” She finally whimpered. “I promise you, we will remain free.” I vowed, stepping out in front of the den. A strange scent emanated from the forest, after a long time of the humans’ shooting but at least it stopped. I slept outside the den that night, determined to protect my love. Dreams did not bring me solace and rest as I’d hoped, but they brought me anger and that was something I knew how to channel. I used it to fuel the energy I would need to take down the humans which were shooting the forest’s wildlife. I looked up and as a final preparation for the coming fight I howled a long, fierce howl.

The next few minutes seemed endless as I ran the fastest pace I could manage, taking down a small pack of three of them with a single rip of my fangs. The next pack was more challenging. I had to sneak to the last one and take his life silently, the second and third went down in the same way. But to my surprise, the last two stood back to back covering every angle. They were intelligent but their smell was filled with fear, I waited on a hill for them to pass and then jumped onto their shoulders, ripping the fourth one’s head to shreds and nearly getting shot in the attempt to slay the fifth. The shots the fifth one had fired alerted an enormous pack of humans not far from their position.

The greatest of packs though, was not violent. They stood there without weapons, in long white fur which changed colour around their necks and then showed naked skin where their snouts were. Then, one of them stepped out of their lines and placed a spiked collar with a small device on it not too far from me. I decided to view it as a peace-offering and slid it around my neck.

A friendly-looking one stepped toward me with a similar collar around its neck and spoke to me. “There’s nothing to fear. We are scientists.” I looked at it with confusion, not knowing how they had learned my language and answered. “I don’t know what a scientist is, but I have slain many of you who threatened my land.” But somehow, I couldn’t understand my own words. It was as if the device in my collar had deformed what I said and made it human language. “We did not come to threaten you.” It replied. “Then what is your purpose?” I asked in a strict voice. “We want to know what you want. Because we do not believe you would kill these men without purpose.”

“All I want is for you to stop hunting animals in order to make them your slaves.”

“So be it, but what guarantee do we have that you will not hunt us out of vengeance?”

“You have none, except for the promise that I won’t cross over into your land.” I said, as I turned to head for my den and Greykitty. That was the last time I would ever speak to them in their language and the last they would speak in mine, so I destroyed the device that deformed my voice and kept the collar as a trophy. Though I and all animals with me knew that after what had happened, this would truly become a day to remember. A day on which humans left us in our independence, and we left them unscathed.

Epilogue: a bitter ending

The night after the encounter with the “scientists”, I slept a peaceful sleep, and Greykitty slept with a clutch of my fur firmly in her claw. It could have easily been the most perfect day in the history of days my territory had ever seen.

The next morning, I woke because of a strange sound and went to the hill which overlooked a deep and wide valley from which the sound was coming. Then I saw huge machines dumping millions of cages into a large pit they had dug out somewhere during my blissful sleep. But something was odd; the machines were guarded by a large pack of men with guns. It was as if they were making sure no cages were left in use or something.

I had never even dreamt of freedom before and yet, standing on this hill, overlooking the dumpsite for all existing cages, I couldn’t help but wonder: would we finally be able to stop running or hiding? My hopes were heightened as I saw the stack of cages growing in the pit and decided to go home. Once there, I ran into the den to greet my future wife who purred at my newfound happiness. “You should see yourself smile, what happened?” she asked, while I nudged her cheek with my nose. “It’s over,” I whispered “they’re dumping their cages. I talked to them yesterday and asked them, and now they’re doing it.”

“What!?”

“I think the hunt is over.”

She went quiet as she sprinted out toward the hill where I had stood. Waiting for her return I dug out our den a little further to make room for larger prey and softer bedding. And just as I would run out to gather more cloth to cover the floor with, she came back.

“I don’t think the hunt’s over Speedy honey.” She said in a low, clearly worried voice.

“What do you mean?”

“They’ll come back.”

“But they’re…” “NO! They are not getting rid of the cages because they want to stop hunting us,” she suddenly interrupted. “They’re throwing out their cages because they won’t keep us.”

Terror spread across her face and in the hopes of being wrong I found myself able to ask just one question.

“Then what will they do?”

“They will hunt and kill us, until the last of our kind is gone.”

Silence fell then as we both stared at the forest not far from our home. All the fighting we had done and all the others we had set free would have been for nothing. War was coming, again. But this time, we would be waiting; we would be prepared and ruthless as they had always been. I would not be taken and slaughtered or experimented on. The only problem I would be facing would be training Greykitty in combat to make sure she would still be able to live on should I come to perish in the pointless and probably endless battle that was to come. I went to sit at the thought of losing her and did something that would repeat itself through the rest of time, for as long as humans still hunted us. I prayed.

~~~~~~~~The End~~~~~~