Beneath The Surface

Opening Act 1 - There's never an 'us' from the start.

Normal text
Thinking
Onomatopoeia

Ahri's POV
Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

My paws sunk deep into the thick snow as I weaved through the dense thicket. Long shadows were cast beside me, the extra bright moon hanging high up in the sky. The hungry darkness persistently chased behind me, seemingly hell-bent on consuming me in its darkest shadows. Fortunately, I wasn't alone in the dreary night. Because how could there be a predator that operates on its own? That would be a recipe for disaster. And if other wild beasts don't kill you, loneliness would. I was trailing closely behind a flurry of pale-blue furs. Icefoxes. Animals that only live in the northern regions of Shon-Xan. Or that's what the humans said.

The night air was windy and quiet, save for the loud crunching of multiple paws on icy ground. There was nothing in sight except for trees, bushes, snow, snow and more snow. The smell of damp pine trees made the air feel fresh and clean, a good night to hunt for dinner. Normally, such frigid temperatures would have spell doom for most weak critters but personally, I don't mind it that much. In fact, it was a comforting environment. One that's filled with nature and void of any human traces. Familiar territory that made me feel right at home. If I was even welcomed here in the first place.

Suddenly, a bark sounded at the front. The leader has found a safe spot for us young ones to rest. Or more like for the other runts. Despite feeling quite annoyed at stopping for a break when we had barely run for a while, I kept my mouth shut. The pack was already generous enough to let a stray like me stay amongst them, so it would be bad manners for me to ask too much, right? Besides, the other cubs were panting slightly. They're weak, which is understandable. In fact, it's normal for them to be tired after running like this. I'm the one being a weirdo for not feeling a hint of exhaustion at all. I mean, it's strange that a two-months-old baby fox could already run as fast and as far as an adult could, isn't it? Not really wanting to seem like the odd one out, I opened my mouth slightly, and let out a few quick breaths to pretend that I was dead tired when my limbs were practically bursting with energy. With this, I should be considered as one of them, right?

The pack gathered around a frozen lake and laid down while the leader and a few adults stood watch for nearby predators and any potential walking dinner. I lay prone on the soft snowy bed, all alone, watching the other kids who were somehow too tired to run but weren't tired to play and tussle with each other. They were rolling and tumbling over one another, playfully nipping each other. Some were dipping their paws into a small open section of the frozen lake surface to splash water at each other. To humans, they would probably termed this behaviour as childish. A foolish way to waste energy in such a dangerous place. They always love placing such rigid rules on themselves and live out their short lives as stale as they could be. But in this case, I couldn't really argue. Because I also thought so too. Even without gaining the memories and knowledge of my tasty meals, I too felt that such things were... pointless. Except to get oneself more prone to accidental injuries when the plays got just a bit too heated.

Well, if there's one thing useful to it, it was to establish a pecking order among the young. The other adults have their own social hierarchy in which the babies were left out of. But it didn't mean that they were safe from the confusing world of adulting. Through these pointless play fights, rungs were also established. A fox with icy-blue fur and a foolish-looking stripe running down his nose was the obvious leader who won most of the fights. He would probably be officially joining the pack as an alpha. The rest were simply too weak to contest with him. But to be completely honest, to me, the 'leader' was still far too weak to take up a leadership position. I didn't say he looked foolish just because of that stripe alone. He was, in fact, very naive. Always too rash during fights. He only won because of pure strength. Nothing else. In short, he's what humans would call 'all brawn and no brains'.