The Journey Around The World, In Order To Save Spring

Old Town Rude

After the run-in with the hairy pachyderms, the trio continued their travel southwards until finally they arrived at their first stop. They reached the small mining town, which bordered the Great Slave Lake. There was no snow there, it seemed. The trio entered the town which was full of houses. Amaruq marvelled at the structures. He had never seen huts made out of wood before. He wondered if they could even be called huts now.

The town itself however, despite having a population of more than a hundred, looked very empty. Amaruq scratched his head, the only part of him with hair. "Where's everybody? Is this one of those 'ghost towns'?". His team were just as confused as he was. He looked to one of the wooden buildings and saw someone close the door abruptly after being caught staring. "Hey, you don't have to be afraid of us. We don't mean any harm," he said gently, but the door didn't budge. He looked back to his team and shrugged.

But when he turned back he saw the wolf open the door again and said, "You shouldn't be outside. Especially people like your kind. Or you'll get in trouble with-!" The wolf gasped before retreating behind the safety of his door again. Now Amaruq was confused. "Get in trouble with who?" He asked. "Why, the Tanning Gang, of course." A male voice answered. He spun himself around to find four wolves wearing hats, bandanas, shirts, coats, jeans and riding boots. Taggak and Atsuguk's fur bristled and their teeth were slightly bared. It seems they didn't like these guys, so Amaruq raised his guard. They didn't look very nice, anyway.

"My, my, my. What do we have here? Three dire wolves. You don't see that everyday," the wolf in the middle said. Probably the leader. "Hah! Look! That one's so bald, it's practically a critter!" Another said. Amaruq blushed at that, though he still looked disgruntled. Was he really that furless? Also, what did that guy mean by dire wolves? As far as Amaruq knew, all wolves were the same. "So what business do dires like you 'ave here? Plannin' to mine our gold? The Gold Rush must be ending wherever you came from," the leader taunted. It was Taggak who spoke up to him, "No. We are merely stopping for supplies. Provisions." "And you think a bunch o' dires like you can just come up here and take our food from us? I'll have you know, this town belongs to the Tanning Gang, that is us. And I, Billy Tanning, am the boss. So why don't you go on and scoot away from here." The leader, Billy, snickered.

Taggak had a stern look on his face, but he still turned away and started to leave. Atsuguk followed him. This didn't seem very fair to Amaruq, though. And he was going to let them know it. "Wait," he said, making the others stop and the opposing gang's smirks drop. "We're not leaving. Not when we didn't even do anything. You think that just because you have power that you can boss other people around? Not if I can help it," Amaruq said humourlessly. There was a moment of silence before Billy laughed. "Fine," he said and the tin can next to Amaruq's feet was suddenly knocked back several metres. In the gang leader's paws was a metal contraption none of the trio have ever seen before, held out at arm's length, pointed at the place the can had been.

"Get ready to eat bullets, son. Tomorrow at high noon. Right here," Billy said before turning away and walking off with his gang. Amaruq was still stunned. Bullets? What were those? And how did that man make the can fly away from afar? He had a feeling he had bitten off more than he could chew.

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That night, they had rented a room in a local hotel for the night. It was the first time any of them had ever been in one. They didn't have money, seeing as they never needed it before, but they sold the skins they had bought for money. It was their original intent anyway. They then discussed their plans for tomorrow. Taggak and Atsuguk agreed that they should work together. That would give them a bigger chance at beating the quartet, but Amaruq was hesitant.

"Did you see the thing that Billy guy used?" He asked them of the weapon wielded by the gang leader. "It could burst through metal like it was nothing. Metal! Our skin and flesh is nowhere near that hard." His words made the other two concerned as well. They thought about it. "Well, what other choice do we have?" The chief's nephew asked. There was no way to avoid it. "I know what we should do," Amaruq realised. It was the only way to make sure at least two-thirds of their group were safe. "Hmm? And what is that?" Atsuguk asked.

"I fight them alone". At Amaruq's words, Taggak and Atsuguk both stiffened. "What? Are you out of your mind!?" The black wolf asked, "No matter what, we are going to fight as well!" "You don't have to. This isn't your fight. I recall you backing down from them earlier," Amaruq said calmly, making Taggak stop pursuing the matter. He had to admit that he did turn his back against them. He sighed. "Fine. We'll do it your way. But don't expect me to be happy about it," he said. Amaruq smiled. Taggak had always been grumpy since they were children. Well, when Amaruq was a child at least. At that time, Taggak was a young teen already.

They then prepared to go to sleep. Seeing as there were only two beds, Atsuguk slept on the strange long cushy furniture. It was like a soft chair, but longer. They all drifted into sleep, though not very soundly.