The Last Tribrid

PART 1: Chapter 4

Scratch! Rip! Growl! Bite! Stab in the back! Ouch. maybe it wasn’t a good idea to rip the scarecrow’s arm off. The bleeding creature staggered to the side after being stabbed by the stick that’s supposed to hold the dummy’s broken arm in place.

“You’re not watching what you are doing again,” Blayze called from a distance. Storm sat up, ignoring the pain in his back. 

“You’ve been training for a while now. What happened?” 

Storm looked up, ears pinned back, “Sorry, sir. I’ll try to do better.” 

Blayze smiled comfortingly at him, “it’s not that you’re doing bad, Storm. It’s that you’re forgetting some of the simple and most important things in combat.” It’s been 3 years since Storm started his training with Blayze. He’s learnt many things since then, and mastered most of it.

Blayze playfully shoved Storm, causing him to fall over. He felt like he was shoved enough by now and pounced at Blayze, making him fall over too. But Blayze only laughed, and Storm wagged his tail playfully, “Could you cut it out! It’s annoying.” 

“But it’s fun,” Blayze pushed Storm aside so he could stand, “why not?” 

“Because I don’t like being shoved around all the time!” 

“Alright. I’ll let you go for today,” Blayze wrapped his tail around his legs as he sat. Storm smiled gracefully at him, “thanks.” 

Sometime later, the two wolves trotted through the forest. Blayze led the way towards a large cottage. The walls were made of stones and the roof was wooden. Trees and bushes surrounded the cottage. There was a wide fence surrounding the area. 

Blayze and Storm squeezed through a small gap in the fence (even though they could've gone around it). The cottage was empty, that's for sure. Vines crawled up the walls, strangling the house. The door was half rotten. An old chicken den laid between the bushes around the corner. The air filled with fresh prey scents. A few fox scents surrounded the area, but very faint.

Blayze stopped a few metres away from the cottage. Storm sat beside him, admiring the area. The sun warmed his body like a floating heater. Birds and leaves zoomed around. The smell of delicious prey gave Storm an appetite for juicy flesh. 

“Do you smell that?” Blayze sighed, sniffing the air. 

Storm closed his eyes as the wind blew fresh air containing delicious prey aroma, “Yes, I can definitely smell it.” 

“Where is it coming from, then?” 

Storm knew that Blayze was testing him. He played along, and nodded towards some rustling bushes against the walls, “somewhere in there.” 

Blayze nodded majestically at him, “you know what to do.”

He nodded in return, then crouched towards the wall. He listened for the footsteps that shook the shrubs. 

His eyes were heavy. His feet were nearly as light as a feather. His tail was as low as it could go, but never touched the ground. 

As he got closer, his jaws bared. Drool dripped from his mouth. When he was close enough, he pounced. 

Storm wagged his tail joyfully as he trotted out from the shrub with a rabbit in his mouth. 

“Well done, Storm,” Blayze commented earnestly as Storm dropped the prey at his feet, “You’ve improved a lot.”
Storm wagged his tail gracefully.

The cottage was always the best hunting spot. The grass and flowers were abundant, and so were rabbit holes. Abandoned rabbit holes provided reliable shelter for other creatures. Storm and Blayze always go hunting on these grounds. Storm was almost old enough to hunt by himself without Blayze’s help. 

After some time, the two wolves headed back to the forest. They were only a few metres away from the human path. Blayze couldn’t help but remember how his mother had disappeared, looking at the road as a reminder. Storm noticed his heartbroken expression, “it’s about her, isn't it?”
Blayze glanced at Storm, turning his head only slightly. He sighed, “yeah. Same memory as every day,” he sniffed. Storm looked down at his feet, nearly slowing down. 

“I miss her,” he finished. 

Storm couldn’t blame him. He missed his own mother just as much, and not just his mother, but his brothers, too.

The wolves were crossing the path by now. The concrete smell would have filled Storm’s lungs if it wasn’t for the carcass in his mouth. He noticed that Blayze seemed more wary of his surroundings. Before he could ask, Blayze spoke, “I sense danger. I suggest you watch your step.” 

Storm sniffed the air. He smelt an unfamiliar smell, though he didn't think of it as a problem. The abandoned house always had unfamiliar smells.

Storm noticed Blayze slowed down. He looked up at him. Blayze was eyeing something that stood at the edge of the path. He stopped dead when he realised what it was. Storm obviously didn’t understand what was happening, “what’s wrong? Did something scare you?” he questioned. Blayze didn’t answer. He continued to stare in fear. 

Storm finally looked forward, and his ears pricked up in alarm. A large and white vehicle travelled towards them. Blayze shoved Storm, signalling him to move forward, “go! Hurry up!”

He panicked, unaware if he should do as Blayze said or to just stay still. Blayze shoved him harder, “move!” Storm finally made his move. He darted forward with Blayze following behind. The vehicle made a sudden stop just before it crashed into the two wolves, Storm almost tumbling on fright, but Blayze shoved him to get up. While he helped Storm get up, two, very tall creatures hopped out the vehicle. They sounded excited as they hurried out with leads in their grip. Storm got up like a bolt and took a run for it. Blayze tried to follow.

Just when Storm thought Blayze was right behind him, he heard a loud whimper, and he swiftly spun around. Blayze was not right behind him. Instead, he was struggling with the creatures back on the path. Storm widened his eyes and shouted, “Blayze!” Without thinking, he darted towards him. Blayze ripped his head left and right trying to shake the lead from his neck, The creatures yelling and groaning in frustration. Blayze glanced at Storm running towards him, and immediately Barked at his direction, “No Storm! Stay! Or you’ll get captured too!” 

He made his sudden stop as Blayze barked, and panicked as he watched Blayze struggle to keep his gaze. The scene in his eyes a reflection with fear and worry. His legs shook, like they were giving up on him. Storm watched Blayze get forcefully shoved into the white yet threatening vehicle. 

Storm couldn’t stay anymore. He had to save Blayze. He Charged at the vehicle before it hurried away, but he was just too late. He was a millimetre away from the vehicle when it suddenly jerked forwards. But he didn’t stop there. He sprinted for the vehicle.

Just as he caught up with it, one of the creatures popped half of its body out of the window with a small L shaped weapon. Before Storm could make out what it was, there was a loud 'bang!'

Storm instinctively hopped to the side as the bullet bounced off from the tar, but kept on running. The creature yelled "this stupid dog!" at his direction, loading a few of those small bullets into the pistol. Storm tried to hop onto the vehicle but had to dodge out of the bullet's way instead. eventually a whole lot of gunshots rang in Storm's ears as he barely dodged every bullet. He was forced to fall back, for he was becoming tired from running. He stared at his feet as he caught his breath. His legs shook rapidly. his jaws were clenched from frustration. his breathing became intense, and a tear trickled down his cheek. When Storm was about to sob, he heard the same sound of the vehicle, just behind him. He spun around to face another vehicle, only not a white van, but a black, low car. He expected it to stop in front of him, like the van did. But the car wasn't slowing down. He dodged and barely made it into the forest as the car screeched a loud and long 'honk!'

The car continued its way like nothing happened.

He ignored the moment and collapsed into a sob, his body shaking uncontrollably, "that's the last thing I had left..." he muttered to himself, "Why?"

That's the end of PART 1. Part 2 shall be coming up later in the long-term!