The Jesters Forest

Chases P.O.V

Apparently I've got to get Chase all set in stone before I can move onto what could be a happy reunion! Unless that's not the way this turns...

My eyes open as the setting sun turns the world to orange. I wake in the middle of the wolf's camp, in what I could only think of as a holding area. The walls surrounding me are only 4 feet over my head, within jumping distance. How stupid could these wolves be? I think as I scan the top of the hole. And then I notice the branches of the black locust tree surrounding all but a 2 foot gap. The sounds of many wolves gathered together meets my sensitive ears, making their voices ring like the town bell. Please make them stop! I think, wrapping my paws around my thumping head. I think it's a concussion, it has to be a concussion...  I give a pitiful whine as a barking laugh nearly makes my ears bleed. "Hard to get away when you're only a dog isn't it?" A gloating voice says from above.

        I turn my head to look at the wolf smiling down at me. He's well kept all things considered, maybe two years older. His gloating voice speaks in the most arrogant form of speech I've heard yet.

        Struggling to my feet, I shoot him a smile. "Hard to beat me in a fair fight as a wolf isn't it?" I say and laugh as his muzzle scrunches in indigestion. "I believe you're mistaken dog." He says, his eyes narrowing. That's right, if I can get him distracted, I can jump up to him and get away! But in my heart I know, I'd never make it past the camp.

        My body is worn out and sore, thirsty and hungry. My head feels like it's about to explode. I can feel blood oozing from the thorns in my paw. Doesn't matter, I can't let them keep me here!

        "No not really. Growing up, I always heard wolves were our ancestors. That dogs were the evolved versions of wolves. And all the dogs I know, all wished we were still woles. "They're honorable" I always heard on the street growing up from the older dogs. Turns out, you're all nothing but a bunch of cowards. You all ganged up on me, where's the honor in that?" I rage, slowly taking a step back from him with each step. If I can just get every inch of distance from this hole...

        "Now hold on a second there mutt, YOU were the one who crossed into our territory! We set boundaries and made them perfectly clear to anyone who came to the forest's edge." He barks, his voice losing some of it's sarcastic edge. I shake my head at him and laugh. "Look pal, I'm going to be real with you a second. How much do you know of the outside world?"

He says nothing, but takes a seat and hangs his paws over the edge. "Not a whole lot actually. Nobody talks about the outside much. People don't come into these woods because of our pack. And those people from the mountain haven't been heard from in a few generations I've been told. Only one who's ever had word with them was Alpha, and he came back the way he was according to Mother."

I querk my head at him and take a seat, my tail slowly swishing. This guy doesn't seem all that bad. "Would you like for me to tell you some?" I yap, my face lighting up into a smile. He looks over his shoulder before turning back to me. "Sure, I mean, they've put me here to guard you, so we have plenty of time."

I laugh lightly, not letting the knowledge of being guarded deter me from a decent mood. "I'm Chase, can I ask what your name is?" He looks at me with a new look, as if finally accepting I'm not an idiot. "My name's Crest." he says after a minute. "Well Crest, what would you like to know?" I ask, letting my fur lie flat. His bark fills with youthful wonderment, "What's your life like?  How did you get into the forest?"

I give a small chuckle, "I fell from the sky, that's how I wound up in this hell hole." I can hear his tail finally start thumping the ground. "No way! How'd that happen?" I take a second before answering, trying to find a good place to start. "It's a long story, let me start from the beginning really..."