Fall of the Packs: Void

Chapter Six

Minerva sneezed and shook her head, attempting to blink water out of her eyes. She much preferred her short coat to the mounds of fur that covered dogs from other packs, but it did her no favors when it was raining. It felt like the water was seeping through to her bones and sending a chill through her whole body.

It was midday--not that you could tell through the cloud cover--and Minerva was with a patrol to the Wind Pack border, as usual. She hardly felt it was necessary on a day like this, but, unlike her mother, she wasn't going to question her alpha.

"You know," said Tinder, come up beside her while similarly flicking droplets from his ears, "for dogs that live in the forest, I feel like we spend more time out here than under the trees."

Minerva gave a small huff of amusement in response. "No kidding. The western border is going to be neglected at this point."

"No one's neglecting anything," Chloe said sharply, interrupting the conversation. "Thanks to all of you we're very evenly spread now."

She was referring to all of the new trainees; in the past months the pups had finally begun to age into their new roles, including Gannon and Jas. Minerva had come to realize that she had much preferred it when she and Tinder were the only defender trainees. Between her cousins and Cypress, who had also chosen that position, there were five of them, and that was a bit much for her taste.

"Why are we out here again?" Cypress asked, his tone being just short of a whine.

"Because Draco sent us out here," Chloe answered, her voice retaining its cold tone. "We have to remain vigilant against Wind Pack. And also, this is good practice. A defender can't let a little rain hinder them."

Cypress grumbled and turned away. Gannon and Jas did not appear to be bothered by the weather--they were still full of enough excitement and energy about their new rules to not complain, although Gannon didn't remain entirely silent.

"Is there any point in marking the border when the rain is just going to wash the scent away?" he asked.

"It stays longer than you would think," Chloe said. "And regardless, as I said before, your father sent us out here and we follow orders. The point of this excursion is discipline, so reflect on that for a while."

Gannon at least appeared to obey, and Minerva looked out again across the meadow, towards the rest of Wind Pack's territory. She wondered whether or not they had bothered to venture out into the rain. From what she had seen and heard of them, they did not have such obedience to their alpha as Night Pack did.

"Say what you like about my big head," Tinder said, his voice low, "but the rain certainly runs off of it better than yours."

Minerva snorted. "Well, excuse me for inheriting my father's face. I didn't have much say in that."

"It's not exactly a bad thing. Your father was a great dog. Just not the best equipped for rain."

"Look!" Jas called suddenly. "I think I see Wind-dogs!"

Everyone's heads snapped up to look in the direction that Jas was staring. As Minerva narrowed her eyes she could see some shapes through the rain, coming their way.

"I've had it with you mutts!" came a snarling voice from one of them, a tall brown frame. "For the last time, get out!"

"This is our territory now," Chloe challenged in response. "We have more right to be here than you do."

"Not when you stole it," growled a different voice, coming from a much smaller, black and white shape. "None of you can even hunt out here."

"We'll be the judge of that," Chloe said. "Move along."

There was an indiscernible grumble from the tall brown dog and then with a jerk of his head, the Wind-dogs attacked.

Minerva collided with a Border Collie, who looked not much older than herself. She was fast, however, and Minerva struggled to keep her footing on the slippery ground. After receiving many bites from the collie's sharp teeth, Minerva managed to slam her paw into her assailant's side and knock her to the ground. Wasting no time, Minerva tackled her, ripping out tufts of her black and white fur in retaliation. Yelping, the collie managed to scramble free and race away. Whether or not she was in full retreat or merely escaping long enough to catch her breath, Minerva did not know and did not bother to find out. She turned back to see how her packmates were faring--especially her cousins, who had yet to be in a real battle.

They were teaming up against the tall brown dog, a Briard, and doing admirably for their inexperience. Tinder was battling with a white Aidi and Chloe was going up against a corgi, the smallest dog of the group. Minerva didn't find Cypress before her attention was caught by a yelp from Jas. The Briard had gained the advantage and Gannon was on the ground, winded. He was bearing down on Jas, now, but Minerva quickly charged into his side, knocking him away. "Pick on someone your own size," she growled.

"I didn't know we were fighting honorably now," the Briard retorted, before scrambling back to his paws and renewing his assault. Minerva felt him grab ahold of her ear and she retaliated by thwacking her head against his. He let go with a grunt of pain and Minerva reared up on her hind paws before slamming him into the ground.

"Chloe!"

Tinder's exclamation caught her attention and she turned to see that the corgi was standing over Chloe, who lay on the ground, coughing. Blood was running down the corgi's face but she appeared to have been victorious. "Don't bring so many trainees next time," she growled.

Minerva saw Cypress for the first time since the fight had started and called to him, "Get her out of here! Gannon, Jas, all of you get back now!"

She had barely finished speaking when the Briard took advantage of her momentary distraction and shot back up from the ground, knocking her away and reversing the situation so that he was pinning her. To her relief, however, she saw out of the corner of her eye that the younger trainees were obeying her, while Tinder covered them.

"You've lost," growled the Briard. "Leave now before anyone else ends up like her."

Minerva glowered up at him in response but she understood that under the circumstances there were no other options. She slowly relaxed so that he would step off of her and stood up, exchanging a glance with Tinder. He nodded and they slowly backed off in the direction the trainees had gone, back towards the woods. The Wind-dogs simply watched them go, saying nothing more.

They soon caught up with the others, who had stopped a short distance past the edge of the trees. They had laid Chloe on the ground and she was lying concerningly still, her fur streaked with blood.

"How is she?" Tinder asked breathlessly.

Gannon slowly shook his head. "It's not good."

"Well, can we get her back to Sundae and Geo?" Tinder pressed. "They might be able to help."

"I think it's too late for that," Minerva said quietly. "With the rain and all... she lost too much blood."

Tinder's eyes widened in despair. "Cypress, I'm so sorry," he murmured.

The young dog was simply staring at his mother's body, looking dazed. He said nothing in response. They all stood in silence for a few moments, with nothing but the sound of the rain hitting the treetops, until Minerva shook her head to clear it. "We still have to get her back and tell everyone what happened. I'll carry her."

She carefully took hold of Chloe's scruff and led the way back to the overhang. No one said anything on the trip back. Gannon and Jas had both looked overwhelmed and Minerva reflected that this was not a very pleasant experience for their first battle. But no battle really was pleasant to begin with. Someone always got hurt and Minerva couldn't help but feel that both sides always had regrets.