Syzek

9 - Lanbur: Remember

Dust was settling in for the evening.

The sun had set a good while ago over the snow-lined horizon out West. Balto and I were out in the town searching for any scraps of food we could possibly find; so far there was nothing within reach. Boris had been following us close behind, trying his best to help us search, but still to no avail.

Both of us were periodically sniffing the air for any sign of discarded meat, though I was also searching for literally anything besides deceased mice at this point.

A couple days ago, a new shipment of supplies was supposed to arrive in town, but it never did. Because of this, some old dude in tacky clothing ended up announcing to the townspeople to reduce their waste to an absolute minimum, which meant garbage cans and compost bins were no longer a reliable option for obtaining basic needs.

Fantastic, fantastic really. Just fantastic.

For all the time I've known Balto, we've always been able to gamble for some bigger game in the couple of shops dotting the tiny town knowing we could fall back on the trash cans if that proved unsuccessful.

Now, we were gambling with the trash cans instead.

And it's not like we could just go out and hunt for food either.

Well, we could, but it would never work. For one, neither of us know how to hunt. In Balto's defense, he was raised by a goose; not much he could've done about his circumstances there. As for me... I don't get the luxury of that kind of excuse. I was once a part of a pack, but for some reason I could never figure out how the other pack members managed to make successful hunts on smaller animals or cooperated to bring down an elk. As far as being useful was concerned, I was absolutely a sack of dead weight, and everyone knew it.

I was later left to die at the base of the highest mountain on a pitch black summer night under a darkened new moon.

Fortunately, a town lining the coastline was barely within sight, lights shining through the windows of the buildings within; they were speckles of brightness standing out in the sea of blackened trees. I had no other ideas but to commit the worst offense possible in my former pack: entering an area populated by people. By then, I could not give less of a cone about pack norms and whatnot and decided to live inside the small town. I would never learn how to hunt, but I did end up becoming an expert at exploiting the sheer amount of resources the people in Nome kept stockpiled all the time. It was a mundane but effective way to survive as a lone wolf, and so I'm still alive with no packmates and absolutely no idea as to how to hunt for my own moving prey.

I guess that was one thing we had in common besides a wolf mother.

Though it was a tragic coincidence neither of us had a clue when it came to hunting, it wasn't like it would've made a difference anyhow. Not only was the wilderness dead silent of life, as the elk and rabbits had left the arctic mountain ranges this season in search of food as well, every once in a while a pack of functional wolves would prowl the area for the same reason as us. If we ever ran into one out in the forests up North, we'd be slaughtered on the spot, which obviously wasn't helpful for the cause of staying alive and breathing to begin with.

Balto was currently rooting through a pair of metal garbage cans lining the exterior of the hospital.

"Nothing here either," he said sullenly, his snout buried in inedible junk as I watched from a few meters away. A sighing Balto then pulled his nose out of the trash can, lowering his front paws to the ground. "Rotten luck. Absolutely nothing today."

Boris waddled up to the wolfdog's depressed face, and gave his nose a light flick. "Come now, there is still time to find something for you two..."

The mind is cloudy.