Puppy Paws

What Am I?

Thanks for all the feedback n3rdcompany ! And, as always, comment and vote please! 😘

"So like, what are ya good at, kid?" Larry grunts as he comes over to me. Everyone had cheered when they heard I was accepted, and now the dogs were dispersing, heading away into the woods to who knows where.
"Um... I..." I stutter. What am I good at? Why does he want to know?
"He wants to know if you'll be a gatherer, a hunter, a guarder, a searcher, or an improver," explains Amber, the only dog besides Mama who stayed.
"A what?" I say frantically. I have no idea what she's talking about. I look to Mama. She flashes me an encouraging smile. It doesn't help matters.
"Skitter's a gatherer. I'm a guarder. Rogo's a hunter, along with Carazo. Your Mama's a searcher with Amber, here. Alice is everything, basically. And you're the New Dog," says Larry, a little impatiently. I think for a few seconds. My stomach rumbles, and suddenly one of the strange jobs makes sense.
"Gatherer? Like for food? Kibble?" I exclaim excitedly.
The three dogs recoil when I say the word kibble.
"No Paws. Not...kibble," says Mama.
"Oh," I mutter, a little put off by their actions.
"It's ok, Paws. It's just that that reminds us of our experiences with humans. And those are not good experiences," says Amber.
"Oh. Ok," I say, looking at the snow beneath my big brown paws.
"Well, anyway, Amber is taking the search day off, so she'll guard for me," Larry says to me. "I'll test you."
Amber lopes off into the den under the tree, and Mama nuzzles my head, then turns and runs back into the depths of the forest.
"What is a searcher looking for?" I tentatively ask Larry, watching Mama's reddish gold tail disappear into the underbrush.
"New dens. Just in case. We've been found three times so far. This is our third home."
"Found?"
"By humans. My, you are naive."
"Why do you have to move when they find you?"
Larry looks at me fiercely.
"Because, they will split us up. They will take us to the land of the captive dogs. They might even kill us!"
I am shocked. I can't imagine someone like Master doing that to a dog.
"My Master wouldn't do that," I say firmly.
"You don't have a master here."
"But-"
"Let's test you."
----------------------------------------------
"First test. Hunting!"
We are in a smaller clearing, just through a little bit of underbrush on the side of the main clearing. I look around, perplexed.
"Where is the stuff I hunt?" I inquire.
"Here," Larry grunts, pulling a piece of twine in his teeth. Attached to the end is, well, what looks like a dead animal.
"Ew!" I squeal, disgusted.
Larry goes over to the edge of the tree line. He hunches his stubby red legs, and barks, "Catch it!"
Then he takes off. The animal is bouncing along on the snowy ground. 
I feel something stir within me.
My legs move.
I find myself chasing the animal with an agility I've never experienced before! The animal slows for a second, and in that second, I pounce. It crunches. Larry stops with a jolt.
"Nice job, kid!" He says grudgingly.
I grin, showing all my teeth.
"Now for the other jobs," Larry sighs.
I can't wait!