CANINES ;; undertale

six

Not much had happened over the next few days. Mutt continued to hunt for his owners, Papyrus and Sans, who were now brimming to the edge with energy. Sans had begun to teleport again, his magic reservoirs full. Papyrus had even started to heal Mutt whenever he got injured during his outings with Sans. The brothers were thankful, although the eldest didn't show it as often as the youngest. Papyrus showed his gratefulness by giving Mutt table scraps, sharing his "SUPER COOL" race car bed with him, and giving him lots of love. Sans merely just gave Mutt a scratch behind the ears and a "good boy."

Mutt sat on the couch, his back towards the TV. He merely gazed out the window, the static of the TV filling his sensitive ears. Snow drifted down the ground softly. The trees blew to the side, the force of the wind bending them slightly. Mutt let out a silent sigh, wishing he could roll around in the snow. The heat of the house was getting to him. Papyrus looked over to the side, catching his friend looking out the window. Papyrus paid no mind to him and simply reverted his attention back to the book he had picked up from the Dump.

Sans came shuffling out of his room, his meat cleaver slung over his shoulder. He let out a deep whistle, snapping Mutt out of his far-off stupor. Mutt looked at Sans who only tilted his head towards the door in response. Mutt jumped off the couch and sat in front of the door. Sans walked over to Papyrus and the two began talking in hushed whispers. Finally, they parted and Papyrus smiled, Sans slightly returning the gesture.

Sans opened up the front door, letting Mutt exit first before following behind him. He closed the door and began his journey into the woods, Mutt not far behind him. The duo ventured closer and closer to their first trap, something mid-sized having been caught in it. Mutt sat down in the snow, waiting for Sans' signal.

"mutt." Sans called out, standing in front of the trap, yet not making any move to get the prey that had been caught. "i'm gonna say somethin', and i want ya' to listen real good cuz i ain't gonna repeat myself." Mutt stood up and walked in front of Sans, sitting down once more and making eye-contact. "i have a coupla'... pals that i'm in debt to. i figured if i gave 'em some food, we'll all be happy-go-lucky. imma need ya to hunt for two more, got it? they're some big monsters too, so get as much as ya' can. i'll teleport it back to paps who'll start cookin' it. if you do well, paps has a present for ya'. capiche?"

Mutt leaned forward and licked Sans' metacarpals, letting him know he understood his assigned task. Sans muttered out a "good boy" and began to untie the dead animal caught in the trap.

Mutt stuck his muzzle high in the air, trying to catch the scent of anything he possibly could. Suddenly, the smell hit him. Dozens of deer. A herd was nearby. Mutt whimpered, catching Sans' attention who merely looked at him. Mutt furrowed his brows and tilted his head in the direction of the herd. Sans grinned maniacly and chuckled, shrugging his shoulders.

"go get 'em."

That was all the confirmation Mutt needed before taking off, running as fast as he possibly could. He jumped over ditches and ducked over fallen trees, the smell of the herd getting stronger with each stride he took. Finally, he reached the edge of a clearing. He crouched low in a bush, trying to see what all the pack held. A couple of fawns, their mothers, and a handful of bucks. Perfect.

Mutt stayed low to the ground, crawling from bush to bush as he stalked closer to his prey. His first target was a doe, unsuspecting of her killer nearing towards her. Her back was turned towards Mutt, making her completely oblivious. One of the fawns noticed Mutt, and had begun to scurry away.

Mutt reached the bush closest to the deer before making sure his final calculation was right. From the angle he would be attacking at, he would be able to get at least 2 more deer while the others flee. They would head into a heavily populated trap area. Majority of the herd would be killed via beartraps, or tied up in tree-high nets, unable to get down without breaking their limbs.

Finally, Mutt pounced, digging his teeth into the doe's neck. She didn't fight back as her body dropped to the ground, all life leaving her Soul. The herd began to run into the direction of the traps, making Mutt smirk. He ran behind one of the beefier looking bucks and jumped onto his back, digging his claws into the bucks shoulders in order to stay on. He snapped his canines into the deers jugular and locked on, this one putting up more a fight.

The buck tried to maneuver his head in a futile attempt to get his antlers into some sort of fleshy part of Mutt's body. His resistance grew still as he bled out, his twitches finally coming to a stop. His body dropped to the forest floor as Mutt finally released his jaws from the bucks neck. Once Mutt had made sure the buck was dead, he raced ahead.

Majority of the fawns and does had gotten trapped already, while a few of the bucks managed to narrowly avoid them. Mutt chased after the slowest one, who's ankle was twisted. Easy prey.

Mutt easily jumped in front of the buck, snarling as he flattened his ears.

"Surrender now, if you wish for your death to be painless." Mutt commanded as he growled out his order.

"You have murdered my mate. You have slaughtered my children. I will exact my revenge." The buck huffed in response, turning his head downwards, brandishing his fatal antlers.

The two stood in front of each other, Mutt deciding to make the first move. He ran at the buck and slid onto his side, successfully avoiding the bucks dangerous antlers. The two turned quickly, facing off once more. Mutt made another dash at the buck, who anticipated Mutt's move.

His antler made contact to Mutt's face, successfully snagging into his skin. Mutt tore away, pain singed in his face. His muzzle was torn open, from the lower left lip up to his left brow. Blood began to pour from the wound, forcing him to shut his eye, as to not let blood into it. Mutt barked loudly in response, the buck letting out a chuff of victory.

Mutt snarled and charged once more, before sliding to a stop. The buck stopped as well, confused at Mutt's sudden action.

"Farewell." Mutt said, bowing his head in respect.

"What do you mean, beast?" The buck asked after a pregnant moment of silence. Mutt chortled, his laugh deep and gravelly. He tilted his head a little, gesturing for the buck to turn around.

Sans was behind him, his eyelight surrounded by a burning fire of maroon. His cleaver was raised high above his head, his chest heaving with anger.

"nobody hurts him. g o o d b y e ." And with that, Sans swung his cleaver down, the bucks head coming clean off with fhe single chop. Sans snarled and spat on the bucks corpse before hurrying over to Mutt and getting on his knees, insisting on checking the dogs injury.

He would never admit it, but he had grown rather attached to the dog. He provided for him and cared for his brother, how could he possibly hate the runt?

"gon' make a badass scar." Sans said after thoroughly checking Mutt for any other injuries. "nice idea, by th' way. herding the deer into the traps."

Mutt gave a small chuff of appreciation.

"let's get home, bub."

Mutt said nothing.