The Experiment of the Forgotten

Chapter Five

The newly founded small pack of three decided it would be best to set up their temporary territory, planning to stay in it for as long as possible. Whether it be three days, or three weeks. They wandered around a small, made-up perimeter around the cave and waterfall, planning to selfishly claim the main fresh water source for themselves. As they patrolled the area, every so often they would each stretch up onto their hind legs to engrave small marks into the bark of the trees with their hard, black nails. Small pieces of bark floated to the base of the tree as they scraped small pieces off, leaving little bare patches. The purpose of the bare patches was to mark their location. If one of them happened to become isolated while in the forest, they could use them as a kind of landmark, and lead them back to their makeshift camp.

Sounded like a great idea until another dog found out their methods.

Keesha, the only female of the group, personally did not think of their newfound territory as permanent. She had grown used to her nomadic lifestyle, never quite staying in the same place for long due to a few reasons. Sometimes it was just because she would grow bored of one place, but more often than not it was one an area just didn't provide for her anymore or that she had made hostile enemies. Either way, she was not used to staying in one place for long. She wanted to move on already, but she would stay in the cave territory for as long as needed.

Faust on the other hand, thought it was a great idea to make this territory somewhere they would stay for as long as possible, and if it were up to him, he'd probably stay there forever. It was his idea to mark the trees so they could get back, and he spoke like it was theirs already. Clearly he was used to a pack setting, and liked having a home den to settle in. He liked the idea, anyway.

Timber didn't really seem to care what they did. If he did, he didn't bother showing it. He was there to assist always, and would voice his opinion if need be. They hadn't done much talking so far, but they'd grow used to each other eventually. After all, they had to stick together out in this unpredictable environment filled with unpredictable dogs. 

Keesha watched as Timber walked up to one of the extremely tall, dark trees, standing up tall on his hind legs to scrape off the frail bark easily. He quickly finished, stepping back down and turning back towards Faust and Keesha. He shook out his medium-length coat quickly, his brown gaze flickering between the two dogs momentarily.

"That's most of them. Where-" he began, but he was cut off from an abrupt, high-pitched yelp from nearby. He whipped around quickly in the direction of the sound, his ears dark ears angled down towards his skull. Keesha's gaze trailed behind his, intentions of seeing where the sound of pain had come from. Then, quite easily, she saw it.

It was the large mastiff breed from the white place. He had pale, tan fur and dark facial features, with deep brown eyes that appeared almost black, like two empty holes dug into his head. The outlines of his muscles were plainly seen beneath his thin coat, and he was much bigger than all three members of the pack. The mastiff had the smaller dog pinned down under his overpowering weight, the yelping one clearly much smaller in every way, struggling beneath him. The two were fairly concealed, so Keesha couldn't make out much detail about the dog being pinned, but she could see the bright red colour of blood staining dark against long, white chest fur. She could also see the blood on the mastiff's chest and barely visible against his face.

She could hear the faint sound of him speaking to her, and she even heard him laugh once. Not a laugh you would usually hear, though. His was cold, a cruel, taunting laugh. Keesha kept her eyes focused intently on the commotion, her centre of attention only being broken once Timber uttered a few quiet words.

"Should we do something?" he asked, though he showed no signs of actually wanting to be involved.

"No," Keesha and Faust said at the same time.