SURVIVORS: Finding Hope (Book One)

Chapter: Seven

Trixie leaped at Earth, her jaws extended. Her eyes were filled with fear and hatred.
Earth yelped and shot back, she jolted sideways, avoiding the other's attack. Trixie skidded to a halt and gave chase.
Earth turned around and opened her jaws and Trixie head butted into the brown pup
s shoulder. Knocking the foe of balance.
Forest whimpered and looked at her father dog, who watched his eyes filled with uncertainty and fear.
Earth growled and clamped her jaws onto Trixie's ear, making the opponent yelp and back away. 
Trixie felt blood roll down her face where Earth had bit her. Her heart swelled with hatred and she heard a disturbed voice, rip that stinking mutt apart! The voice echoed as Trixie's eye pupils became large and her paws started shaking.
Earth glared at the other pup, her eyes filled with hate. Trixie snarled leaping at Earth, her claws flexed. Her fur was matted around her ear as blood dripped from her lower jaw onto her chest fur. "Trixie what are you doing!?" Earth barked the hate disappearing and her eyes filling with betrayal and sorrow. The patched pup growled in frustration as she bounded towards the dark brown pup and ramming her head into her chest. A yelp perced the air as Earth tumbled back and into a mossy oak.
Trixie howled in triumph as Earth opened her jaws and blood dripped from her mouth. The brown pups eyes were filled with shock. To her fortune, Lucky stepped in between the to pups, "That's enough! This fight can not go on without Alpha's choice!" The golden mutt growled his tail pointed and his ears perked. Trixie looked up at her Beta, her pupils becoming normal and her jaws gapped. Earth staggered to her paws, crimson dripping from from her chin to the dusty ground.
Forest had disappeared, possibly ran back to camp to alert the pack. The last Trixie had seen her was from the corner of her eye, the golden pup had been huddled behind her father-dog. "Yes Beta." The patched mutt said her ears flattened, You could've ripped her apart. The voice growled in Trixie's head but the pup ignored it and followed her Beta through the forest, Earth padded behind them.
Her mind has been lurking about the feeling she had in her bones when she had lost control. She wasn't even worried about if Alpha would let the fight go on.
Trixie looked back behind her to see Earth looking to her left, her eyes filled with pain. I must have caused a throat problem. She thought her heart swelling. She looked away and back to the path ahead of her.

Once the patrol of dogs reached camp, Trixie felt all eyes turn to her and Earth. She heaved her chest as she lowered her head, avoiding all eye contact. She felt a pelt brush slightly past her but it stopped. The mutt looked up and saw that it was Earth, the brown pup's lower jaw fur was matted with blood. "Sorry." She sighed her voice cracked as she padded past her and beside her Mother-dog who was now standing in front of Lucky.
Trixie's heart tightened in pain at the pups words, "Earth wait!" She barked lightly. Earth was apologizing when it wasn't even her fault. Almost immediately Earth turned and looked Trixie in the eye. To her surprise gasp of fear arose in the pack, which meant they most think Trixie was going to attack her, "You shouldn't be sorry, I should." She whimpered her tail stiff and low. Her mind was set on one goal now, to set this straight. What was the point of fighting Earth if the pack was going to hate her forever. "And I am, I know you have flaws, but not enough to make me 'want' to hurt you or even need to. And trust me I have flaws myself, and I might even have more than all the packs flaws put together."
Earth shook her head, "Naw, you have no more than one flaw." She whimpered her ears perked.
Trixie's ears perked when she heard a voice in the background, "I wonder how long it took for her to put that together." It growled lowly before another dog giggled in reply. Don't worry, you'll claw their pelts off sooner or later. The voice growled deeply. "Don't lie to make me feel good, I'm really sorry." Trixie said, trying to keep a grin upon her face. Though the voice was starting to annoy her. Earth smiled, "I forgive you." She barked happily before putting her nose on Trixie's head. She then turned to face the relieved pack, "The fights off!" She howled before looking at Sweet her eyes gleaming. Alpha nodded raising her tail to signal the pack to dismiss.

That night Trixie headed towards her den when Beta had stopped her. His eyes were filled with sympathy, "Trixie!" He called catching up to the now waiting pup. The golden mutt's scruffy fur was sparkling in the moon light.
Trixie turned tail to her den to face her Beta, "Yes?" She asked her ears perked with curiosity. Every time someone called her name, she had always gotten curious do to the previous events. Her brain had been swirling since the fight with Earth, though it turned out in a good way. Why was she still thinking about it? "Me and Alpha have decided you are ready to become a Watch dog again, and maybe soon a Hunter." Beta said his tail swinging to and fro.
Trixie smiled with glee, her heart swelled with joy and excitement. Before she knew it her tail was swinging faster than her Beta's. "Thank you!" She finally breathed lowering her head. Lucky chuckled as turned away, "Get all the sleep you can, because next sunrise you have to watch over camp." He explained before leaving the pup to head over towards Sweet and Bruno.
The dark ginger and brown fight dog looked annoyed as Alpha kept talking on at him. Which scared Trixie, she felt as if he would attack the swift dog Alpha. Since Trixie didn't really know Bruno, she'd rather not get too close to him.
She turned away and to her den, which was bunched up together with other bushes. The small den's leaves shined in the moon light. She stared at it, remembering how she had first found the den when she was younger. She had been only just a small pup. An adventurous pup. The real Trixie she wanted to know.
She jumped as she felt a furry tail wisp  across her shoulder. She jumped whipping her head around. It was Earth, "Hey you forgot to help me make my own den." She barked her tail wagging. Her brown eyes were filled with hope.
Trixie snorted, "Oh yeah, let's go find you a nice trinket." She said before padding through camp, towards the other edge. Ivy vines hung down into a oak stump, wrapping over it's roots and coiling around it's bark. It had a small crack in it. Serving as an entrance. Earth trotted over to it and sniffed at the crack, "Perfect." She said her head lifting again.
Trixie tilted her head padded to Earth's side and frowning, "Are you sure it's stable, Earth?" She asked, her eye filled with uncertainty.
Earth shrugged her shoulders, "Of course it is." She barked before turning away from the other dog. She crawled through the crack of the giant oak trunk. She soon disappeared into the den.
Trixie sighed before sitting down, waiting for the pup to reappear. She hoped that the den was stable, if not the whole thing would collapse on the young hunter who had claimed it as their den. She just had to have hope.
Hope Is key.
A voice rang in her head as I sudden gust of wind whipped through the air. Which made a shiver go up her spine. She turned around, looking through camp, seeing a shadow disappear into the undergrowth.
Hope is Key? She repeated in her head before figuring it out. Hope was the key to her becoming a great legend like storm, wasn't it. If she could just get enough hope, she be a legacy of the Wild pack.
Hope is Key.