A few days passed, and Coriander was very pleased with her progress. She was learning about new herbs and remedies every day, and she even helped Grace heal Kye's cold. She was growing worried about Sadie, however; the gentle she-dog had been uncharacteristically depressed and lethargic lately. Coriander supposed it could just be that she was grieving, but it just seemed so strange...

She was sitting in the healer's den one afternoon, organizing herbs and going over their names and uses in her head, when Tassel suddenly burst into the hollow, her eyes wide and her sides heaving. "Night Pack!" she barked frantically. "We--we caught them red-pawed, hunting on our territory!"

The few dogs left in the hollow jumped to their paws, fur bristling. "Where are the others?" Gabriel demanded. "Did they attack?"

"Compass went to challenge them," Tassel responded, still panting heavily. "Feather sent me to tell you. She said to get reinforcements... in case there was trouble."

Gabriel nodded shortly. "Eleazar, Dakota, come with me. I don't like to leave the hollow unguarded like this, but it may be necessary."

Eleazar and Dakota nodded and followed Gabriel and Tassel out of the hollow, running towards Night Pack territory.

Coriander looked around, seeing that the only dogs left in the hollow were herself, Grace, Sadie, Geneva, Minette, Mississippi, Splash, the pups, and Xander, the omega. They would be vulnerable if they were attacked, with only one defender, but nothing was likely to happen.

"Night Pack has made their move then," Grace barked, padding into the healer's den and shaking her head. "This could be bad. We'll need to have moss and water ready to treat wounds. Could you take this and run down to the lake?"

Coriander nodded and grabbed as much moss as she could carry, then exited the hollow. She bounded down to the lake and began to soak the moss, glancing in the direction of Night Pack. She hoped things wouldn't get too ugly, but she knew that Night Pack could fight like demons when they were provoked. Even their hunters were skilled fighters.

She was tempted to run over to the border and see what was happening, but she didn't want Grace to think that something had happened to her. So she finished soaking the moss and carried it back.

Coriander loped back into the hollow, her jaw aching and her chest fur wet. She dropped the moss inside the healer's den, where Grace had prepared some herbs for treating wounds. "Thank you," she said to Coriander as she entered. "I've got aloe, calendula, and echinacea for poultices, and plenty of moss. I'm glad I made that extra trip to the forest yesterday."

Coriander nodded. "Is there anything else that needs to be done?"

Grace shook her head. "No. Now we just have to wait."

Thankfully, they did not have to wait very long. Gabriel and the others returned, bloody and battered, but they were all alive. "How did it go?" Mississippi asked, rising to greet them as they entered.

Gabriel didn't answer at first, nudging the dogs with worse wounds towards the healer's den. Finally, he spoke. "Night Pack has taken some of our territory."

A ripple of shock passed through the dogs. "What?" Geneva gasped. "You mean they were stealing our prey all along? Pawnee lied?"

"It seems that way," Gabriel said lowly. "I suppose he was not as trustworthy as I thought."

Coriander was going to listen to more of the details of the battle but Grace gave her a nudge. "Coriander. We have dogs to take care of."

"Oh, of course. Sorry." Coriander quickly turned her focus to the injured dogs. The news about the battle could come later. "What do you want me to do first?"

"Compass has a nasty wound on his leg," Grace replied as she grabbed her supplies. "Take some dry moss and apply pressure to stop the bleeding. Then take the wet moss and rinse the wound, and apply a poultice of echinacea and calendula."

Coriander nodded and turned to Compass, who had laid down and stuck out his hind leg. The Australian Cattle Dog didn't seem to be hurt too badly other than his leg, nothing but a few scratches and patches of missing fur. Coriander took some dry moss and pressed it against the bite wound.

Compass let out a grunt of pain. "Merciful Hunter Dog," he growled. "That Night Pack mutt must have taken a chunk out of me."

"It could be worse," Coriander barked, unsure of what else to say. "Why don't you tell me about the battle, to take your mind off the pain?"

"Hmm." Compass curled his lip. "Tassel, Feather, and I were patrolling the border, renewing the scent-marks, when we spotted those blasted Night Pack dogs up ahead. They were openly hunting on our land. Feather sent Tassel to tell Gabriel, and I went to confront them. They didn't deny it, but how could they, caught out in the open like that? Well, there were three of them and two of us, but we couldn't just let them get away with it. Feather and I attacked. It wasn't long before Gabriel and them arrived, but Night Pack must have sent for reinforcements too. They outnumbered us, but Gabriel was able to get everyone to stop long enough to talk to the beta, Draco."

"Pawnee wasn't there?" Coriander asked, removing the blood-soaked moss and replacing it with a fresh bundle.

Compass groaned slightly before replying. "No. Gabriel demanded an explanation and Draco said they were claiming the land for Night Pack, and that if we knew what was good for us then we would leave. I could tell Gabriel didn't want to surrender the land, but, as you can see, Dakota got it pretty bad."

Coriander glanced over to where Grace was treating the corgi; her own sister, in fact. The better part of her flank was covered in blood, and she was breathing hard with her eyes closed. Coriander winced and turned back to her patient, hoping she'd be all right.

Compass sighed heavily. "Well, anyway, we left. The humiliation hurts almost more than their teeth."

"Well, I know Gabriel won't just let them take it like that," Coriander said, taking off the moss and picking up the wet clump. "I know he'll take it back."

Compass nodded, flinching as Coriander began to rinse his wound. "Thanks," he said, nodding towards his leg. "How long till it heals?"

"I'm not sure," Coriander admitted. "You'll have to ask Grace. It probably won't take more than a couple of weeks, though." She finished rinsing his wound and began to chew up the calendula and echinacea into a poultice, which she applied to his wound. She slicked down his speckled red fur to cover the wound and backed up, pleased with how well she had done. Still, she would need to check with Grace to make sure she did it all right.

"Grace?" she called. "Do you have a moment? I need you to check Compass' wound."

Grace looked up from treating Dakota, her brow furrowed. "Oh, yes, I'll be there in a moment." She frowned, looking down at her patient, then called, "Xander! I need your help for a moment."

Xander, a black and white Border Collie-Australian Cattle Dog cross, looked over from where he was lying across the hollow. "What?" he asked lazily.

Coriander growled slightly at the omega. Xander wasn't omega because he was rebellious, or because he had done something wrong, or because he had a disability. He was just flat out lazy. He had hardly tried when he trained to be a defender, and had utterly flunked his final test. He didn't seem to want to improve at all, so Hazel, the former alpha, had had no other option but to make him omega.

"I need you to come over here and hold this moss on Dakota's wound," Grace said. "It won't take very long."

Xander gave an exaggerated sigh and ambled over, placing his paws on the moss. Dakota whimpered slightly.

"Don't move, and don't press down too hard. Don't let it slip either," Grace ordered, before turning to Compass. She inspected the dressing on his wound and gave a satisfied nod. "Very good, Coriander. Take a look at Eleazar; his leg is hurt too. See if it's broken or if it's just a sprain."

Coriander nodded and walked over to the brown Briard, who was sitting close by, favoring his left foreleg. "I stepped in a hole chasing one of those filthy Night Pack dogs," he growled. "Stupid mistake. Probably put there by those Earth Pack runts."

"It must really hurt," Coriander commented, placing her paw on it gently. The joint above his paw felt warm and it was swollen, but it didn't feel like how Grace had described a broken bone. "It's a sprain," she called to Grace.

"Good," Grace replied. "Give him some echinacea and get some stiff grass and a stick to brace it with. I'm almost done with Dakota; I'll be over to help you in a second."

Coriander picked up the remaining echinacea that she hadn't used on Compass and dropped it in front of Eleazar. "Eat some of that; it should help with the pain."

Eleazar nodded and lapped up the pink flowers. Coriander slipped back inside the healer's den and fetched the stiff grass and a stick that had been saved. She returned and waited for Grace to finish.

The fawn Corgi padded over, shaking her head. "I think she'll be all right, but she'll have a couple nasty scars, that's for sure." She sighed, but then turned her attention to Eleazar. "Okay, Coriander, hold the stick against his leg and I'll bind it up. Hold your leg stiff and still, Eleazar."

Eleazar complied, and Coriander carefully held the stick in place. With careful working of her paws and teeth, Grace tightly bound the grass around the stick so that Eleazar's leg remained straight. The healer stepped back, scrutinized her work, then nodded. "Get lots of rest, but take some time to exercise it. It should heal in a couple of weeks."

"All right, thanks, Grace," Eleazar woofed, standing up. Just as he finished speaking, the hunting party of Harbor, Picasso, Hannah, and Atlantic returned, carrying a young deer and a pigeon with them. They were understandably surprised and Gabriel briefly explained the situation to them. It wasn't long before all the other dogs who had been hunting and patrolling arrived as well, and Gabriel called for them all to gather as the pack normally would before a meal.

"As most of you know," the Kelpie began, "Night Pack made an open move on our territory today. They made no secret of their presence and claimed they were taking some of our land for themselves. This clearly shows that they were the ones stealing prey earlier, which means that Pawnee lied to me, on his honor as an alpha. This is a serious offense against the Hunter Dog and I am going to bring it up at the next Hunter's Moon."

"Are we going to fight them again?" asked Lightning, his dark eyes narrowed.

Gabriel hesitated before replying. "I have not decided yet. I am going to discuss it with the senior pack members. But first, we'll eat."

Remiel said the prayer and the packmates began to take their shares of the food. Coriander was walking up to get a chunk of meat when Ranger suddenly charged up beside her. "Get the pigeon, Coriander!" he yipped. "I'll share it with you."

Coriander frowned. "Where's your mother? Don't you want to share it with her?"

Ranger shook his head. "No. She said she wasn't hungry, that I should eat with you. She went to go get a drink. She's always thirsty." Without saying anything else, he wriggled past the other dogs, grabbing the pigeon without waiting for Coriander.

The tri-color Sheltie stayed back, worry settling in her stomach. It seemed like Sadie hadn't eaten a decent meal in days. She only seemed to nibble, at best. Something was definitely wrong. She would have to ask Grace about it.

Ranger came back, tripping over the pigeon's legs and his own paws. "Can I have the wings?" he asked, his voice muffled by the bird's feathers.

Coriander snorted, shaking her head. "Sure you can, you greedy little badger. I get the breast, though."

Ranger grinned at her and pranced off to their normal eating area. Coriander smiled, pushing away her worry for Sadie, and followed him.

AYY I FINISHED A CHAPTER IN A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME YEAH! Are you proud of me? :D
Heh, anyway, I know not a lot of stuff happened in this chapter, but the advancements are coming soon... I just have to slog through all this boring stuff first. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed in spite of the boringness, thanks for reading, and don't forget to vote and comment!