Queen hazel

Chapter 15

"Sorry, l didn't mean to be rude. But chasing a butterfly..." He started sniggering again.

Sadie put her paw on Bailey. "Don't mind him, he eats cockroaches for breakfast. We'll be really sad to see you go."

Our group howled in goodbye. I watched downheartedly as Bailey trotted around the corner, disappearing from sight. Shoulders slumped, I sat down. "Can we rest for a while? I'm utterly exhausted."

Sadie sighed impatiently, but agreed reluctantly with a nod of her head. "LET'S GO ALREADY! WE WASTED 10 MINUTES EATING! I HAVE TO FIND DANGER!!" Shadow jumped about, screeching loud enough to be heard all the way back at the pound. Sadie shook out her fur, annoyed.

"Fine, fine. Let's go." She started leading us to the base, while Shadow bounced about, rapidly asking questions.

"Did Danger miss me? Has she changed? Does she think about me? Do you think-" Rose bit him on the tail, and Shadow let out a cry. "-Ow! What was that for?" But soon, he was bouncing about again, asking dumb questions.

Finally, we arrived at the entrance, and as soon as Rocky removed the bars covering the hole, Shadow peered down. "Wow. There were steps? They're so stee-" He broke off, as he started tumbling down the stairs. "-AGH!!" Sadie shook her head, muttering under her breath. "Stupid dog, no way to knock any sence into him!"

Rocky laughed, shaking his head as he walked down the many steps. Rose and Sadie followed, and I determinedly thought: I will not roll down like potatoes. I will not roll down like coal. No use, I tumbled down, embarrassment tugging at my pelt when I passed the others. Somehow, I caught up with Shadow who was trying to tell me something, though I wasn't sure what.

When we finally arrived at the bottom, Shadow leaped up and said, "WOW! DO YOU DO THIS EVERY TIME? IT'S AMAZINGLY FUN!!" I shook my head, exasperated. We waited for the others, and Rose said, "When will you ever learn?" Then padded away. When will I learn? Hmm... We walked a bit longer, and suddenly, the lights were turned off. Sadie, Rocky and Shadow seemed unbothered, but my eyes had trouble adjusting to the dark. Soon, I bumped into a furry wall, the lights flicked on for a second, and I saw the furry wall was my worst enemy: Coco. Muffled shrieks sounded around me, and we were brought into a room. The room lit up, and I saw Ripper, Coco, and three other dogs holding back my friends and I.

"Well, well. I see our friends are back. They brought a new one too. Well, lets see what our leader would think of this." Rocky and I shared uncertain glances, but we followed Coco into the common room. Ripper had raced to the common room first, as we saw tons of hostile glares waiting for us, and Danger's furious gaze ready to burn our souls. Ripper looked quite proud of himself, and was puffing out his chest in delight.

Danger ran towards us, her eyes filled with fury and concern, but her expression was charming and happy. Her eyes darted to each of us, and when she saw Shadow, she looked close to faint. She heaved a deep breath, and shakingly said, "S-shadow? Is it really you?"

"Yes." said Shadow, his eyes filled with awe.

"Oh Shadow!" Danger rushed close and embraced Shadow, and the other dogs backed away to give them space. Coco and some of the other dogs curled their lips in disgust. Ripper stalked away, but kept looking back at us in disgust. Danger talked to Shadow, asking so many questions, that Shadow seemed to be overwhelmed with confusion. After several minutes, Danger called up two other dogs to escort Shadow to the bunkers, where he could rest and sleep for a while. At last, she turned to us, her expression filled with terrible anger, and amazing happiness.

"So... You have brought back Shadow, and I appreciate that, but you shouldn't have come back. The Savages are really angry at you four, they feel betrayed, especially Coco. well, since you're here, I expect you might want to stay for a bit." We nodded eagerly. "Fine. I have lots to tell you guys and I want to hear all about your adventures!"

She led us to a room, and gazed at us importantly. "Thank you, Sarah," She said. Sadie snorted. "Its-" I gave Sadie a flick in the air and gave her a warning look. "Anyways, these few weeks haven't been easy, The Savages argue a lot, and the group went down in masses of chaos for a week. We've gotten two new recruits, though." I nodded. "Ain't you happy?! We brought back Shadow!" Rose gushed. Danger sighed and smiled at her. "Yes, yes l am. And the recruits...Well, I guess you wouldn' exactly call them the 'friendly' type. I found two dogs wandering the streets, and they told me they were lost, with nowhere to go, so naturally, I brought them here. At first they seemed calm and kind, but soon, their aggressive side took over. Anyways, they go by the names Max and Smudge."

I blinked. "Uh... Okay!" Danger nodded once and led us to our rooms. I closed my eyes and took in the familiar scent.

"Rose and Sadie can sleep on the left bed, and Hazel and Rocky can sleep on the other one,"she said. I looked around, blinking.

"Sounds alright to me!"remarked Rocky. Rose looked at me with an evil grin. I suddenly felt hot all over and gave Rose a warning look.

"Don't. You. Dare,"I said to her through gritted teeth.

"Well, that's settled then!"said Danger, heading for the door.

"Hey, Rocky,-"started Rose. I gave Rose a sharp nip and glared at her. She immediately shut her mouth.

After a long, productive hunt, we returned to the hideout, rubbing our full bellies. We entered our room, drowsy from food. Danger followed us.

"Well then, have a good night's sleep. Get some fuel for tomorrow."

We nodded, and Danger left the room. There was absolute silence as we stared at each other.

"Guess we should sleep then,"I said awkwardly. We all shuffled to our beds.

"Have a good time cuddling with your boyfriend!" whispered Rose. She winked at me as we brushed past each other. I glared at her, oh I'll get my revenge, Rose, you'll see. I cackled in my head.

Even though it was relatively early, the Savages had all gone to sleep, since we heard no noise outside. We were in complete darkness as we curled up on our beds. Time was passing by slowly. I could almost hear a ticking of a clock beside my ear.

I adjusted my position. Rocky was right next to me, his expression peaceful. I thought about how cute he was, especially when drool started running down his mouth. He started sniffing mid-dream, and wormed his way up so his mouth was next to mine. The ticking of the clock was getting agonizingly annoying. I stared at Rocky's sweet smile, and slowly leaned in...

Suddenly, an alarm started beeping. So that was why I heard ticking! A blast of foam hit right in between our snouts. I jumped up and tried to spit it out. Everyone else seemed to have been attacked by the foam too! The foam kept on squirting at us from who knows where as we swatted and choked. Finally, both the foam and the alarm stopped.