Guardian Angel (Guardians Of The Galaxy Fanfiction)

Chapter 6: Captured

Ashen pricked her ears. She didn't hear anymore snarling or gunshots. She looked to Somber. "Somber, what do we do," she asked in a hushed tone. She rose to her paws and crept toward the entrance of the den.

"Ashen, no," gasped Somber as he darted forward and sunk his fangs into Ashen's tail and hauled her back to the back of the den. She grunted as she rolled backwards.

Suddenly, a figure appeared at the entrance of the den and it wasn't a wolf. It was a Terran! Ashen ducked backwards in terror and nearly collided with Somber who was trying to push his way out of the back of the den. Darn Fangs had just reinforced the den!

"Hey, we got two over here," called the Terran as he stretched out a hand toward them.

Somber suddenly growled and sunk his teeth into the Terran's finger. The Terran swore and drew back, blood dripping from his finger. "They're fighters," he commented as he kneeled down and crawled into the den. Ashen kept pushing backwards against Somber but she knew it was inevitable. The Terrans had them.

Ashen didn't bother fighting back like her brother did. The Terran grasped her scruff harshly with his hand and then grasped Somber in the other. He withdrew from the den and stood up, holding his two prizes in his grasp.

"Those will do nicely," commented another Terran as he leaned toward Ashen and Ashen had the nerve to wrinkle her nose up in a snarl.

The man who spoke suddenly struck out a hand against her head and she whimpered in pain. "Don't you dare bare those teeth at me, mutt."

'Mutt,' thought Ashen with glazed over eyes in shock. She had never heard that word before and had no idea what it meant.

"Where do you want them," asked the Terran who was holding Ashen and Somber.

"In the crate," answered the mean Terran who had slapped Ashen. "Pup em' together. We'll take em' back to the lab and preform some tests to see if they are suitable for testing."

"Testing," yelped Somber but he knew that the Terrans didn't understand him. The man carried them over to what Ashen thought was a crate. It was a large and dark cave looking thing with strange cold bars at the entrance. Ashen didn't get to take in the outside for long before she was chucked into the crate.

Her muzzle bumped the back of the crate harshly and she yelped. Somber was thrown beside her before the Terran slammed the crate closed. Ashen bounded toward the front of the crate and tried to paw it open. She whimpered when she realized that she couldn't open it. "We're trapped," cried Ashen as he closed his eyes tightly.

Somber bounded toward the entrance and pushed his head against the bars. When he realized they couldn't move he pricked his ears as he saw a figure moving. "Dad," he cried as Ashen blinked her eyes.

Marrow raised his head and padded to the front of the cage. He pressed his muzzle against the bars as he strained to see his pups. "Ashen! Somber!"

"What are they doing with us," cried Ashen as she pushed beside her brother.

Marrow heard the Terrans moving around and dishing out units. He felt a pang in his chest. His pups and him were about to be separated.

"I don't know," Marrow confessed as he looked straight ahead, wanting to memorize every little detail of each of his pups. He wanted to remember the way that Somber's eyes widened a bit when he was surprised or how Ashen's tail lashed when she was insulted. All of the little things he had to remember since he was sure that he might never see his pups again. "But you have to be strong, okay? Never give up!"

"But what will they do with us," yelped Somber as he began to shake in terror. "I don't want to be killed!"

"They won't," vowed Marrow. "If they wanted to kill us they would have done it already. They want us for something else and I'm afraid it's much worse than death."

Ashen wasn't exactly sure what was worse than death but she wasn't about to argue it. "Will we ever see you again," she asked her father as a tear fell from her eye.

Marrow sighed heavily. "I don't know," he confessed as he felt two Terrans grab his crate. He pushed himself against the crate as his pups wailed for him. "I love you!"

"Dad," wailed Ashen as she reared on her hind legs and pushed against the bars as forcefully as she could. They didn't budge. "Dad, come back!" She continued throwing her whole body against the bars in an effort to break them. After a few tries she realized her efforts were in vain. The only thing she accomplished was making her ribs feel like they were broken beneath her pelt. "Dad."

Somber was too much in shock to say anything. His father had always said he would be there to protect him and now he wasn't. Before he could dwell on it for much more the crate was lifted by a Terran.

Ashen fell harshly on her underbelly and groaned. She looked over to her brother, who's muscles were tensing. "It's just us now," Somber barked as he turned to look at his sister.

"But what are we going to do," whimpered Ashen as she lowered her head on her paws.

"I don't know," confessed Somber as he padded over to her and laid beside her. "But we only have each other. It's just you and me." Ashen raised her head and looked to her brother. "We're littermates, Ashen, and that means we'll always have each other's back."

Ashen nodded slowly before the crate was thrust on the back of a large beast with four large round paws. It stank of Terrans but also of a chemical mixture. When the beast came to life it gave a roar that made Ashen sink deeper into her own body. The beast began to roll forward at such an astonishing speed that Ashen nearly lost her breakfast. Somber continued to press against his sister, not liking the high speed either.

Soon rain began to fall, soft at first before it turned to a thunderstorm. Lightning crackled overhead while thunder rumbled in the distance. Ashen had never been a fan of storms but her father had always been there to comfort her when they shook the forest. Now she only had her brother who was as afraid of storms as she was.

In an effort to calm herself she crawled to the back of the crate and curled into a ball. She watched as Somber continued looking out of the cage through the bars. She wanted to will him to sleep beside her but she didn't want to sound like a Whelp. In only one more moon she would be a Training Fang! She would prove to herself that she wasn't afraid of anything and that she could be brave just like her mother and father. It wasn't long before her thoughts of bravery calmed her and allowed her to drift off into a deep sleep.