New Life in a Cruel World

You have heard of the packs of the Wandering Forest. This is a story about one of the dogs who has lived there. But it begins far, far away, in a cave in a forest. The wind howls outside, and the snow is hard as hail. It is in this weather that a silver husky lays on her side, snarling in pain as she gives birth to her pups. However, her mate isn't there. He never was. He was hunting, as always. He cared for survival much more than intimacy.

He finally appeared in the cave entrance after the birth finished, a skinny, half-frozen rabbit in his jaws. "It's all I could find in this weather," he said apologetically, shaking his coat out. Then, his eyes widened as he saw the four tiny bundles at the she-dog's stomach. "Frost, you had your puppies!"

"Oh, I'm so glad you finally noticed, Thorn," Frost said sarcastically. Thorn ignored it and padded closer, giving the little ones a tentative sniff. "They look strong. They'll make good fighters."

Is that all you care about? Frost wanted to snap, but she held her tongue. "The red one, the patched one, and the silver one are boys, and the white one is a girl. Do you want to name them?"

"You can call the other two whatever you want, but I think we should call the patched one Slash and the red one Blood," Thorn answered.

Frost stared at the black husky, shocked. "But those names are so... so cruel!"

"So, maybe they are." Thorn shrugged. "It's a cruel world we live in, and you know it. We can't shield them from it."

Frost flattened her ears and said something under her breath. "Fine," she relented. "They will have those names."

"Good." Thorn nodded curtly. "Now, what about the other two?"

"I was thinking of Snow for the girl, and Ice for the boy," Frost replied. "Do you approve?"

"They're fine names." Thorn pushed the scrawny rabbit towards his mate. "You should eat."

Frost flicked her tail. "I'm not hungry."

"Then do it for the puppies," Thorn said, turning away. "I'm going to get some sleep." He padded over to the other side of the cave and curled up, his back to the squall outside.

Frost sighed and took a bite of the rabbit, forcing down the cold, stringy meat. I'm sorry, she told her puppies silently. I wish you didn't have to live this life, but you do. Good luck.

Yes, good luck was something her pups would need very much.

~

Ice dropped into a crouch and jumped on top of Snow, wagging his small tail. She squealed and battered at his face and until he stepped off of her, but then Blood jumped in. The two scuffled until Blood pinned Snow and sank his teeth into her ear.

"Ouch!" Snow wailed, clawing Blood's shoulder in retaliation.

"Blood! Snow! Stop that this instant!" Frost bounded across the cave and knocked Blood off of his sister. "How many times have I told you, no rough play!"

"No, Frost, it's fine." Ice spun around to see his father standing in the entrance. "It's good practice."

Frost bristled. "There's no need for them to hurt each other," she snapped.

Blood sniffed Snow's ear. "It's not that deep," he said helpfully. "And she didn't hurt me."

"See?" Thorn barked.

"All the same, I don't want them playing like that," Frost insisted. "It wasn't deep now, but what about later?"

"They have to learn," Thorn growled, giving Frost a sharp look.

Frost glowered back at him. "They have plenty of time for that."

Ice flattened his ears. He didn't like it when his parents argued. He glanced at Blood and Snow, who looked rather guilty. He suspected it was because they felt that they had made Frost and Thorn fight. He padded over and brushed his shoulder against Blood's, then licked Snow's ear to comfort them. Slash had watched the whole thing silently. He was very quiet and gentle, the smallest of the litter, and rather the opposite of his name.

"How do they expect us to play if all they do is argue about how we're supposed to do it?" Blood muttered.

"We could play tag instead," Snow suggested.

"Tag's boring." Blood flopped over and scratched lazily at his neck. "I like wrestling much better."

"We could wrestle gently," Ice barked. "Then maybe both Mother and Father would be happy."

"Well, all right." Blood stood up and looked at Slash. "C'mon, Slash, come and play." Slash came over reluctantly and Blood gave him what he considered a gentle tap on the side of the head, but nevertheless it sent Slash spinning away in a heap of black-and-white fur. He shakily stood back up and swatted at Blood, but the large red pup easily evaded the blow.

Frost and Thorn's argument had dissolved into glares and they now glanced at their once-more playing puppies. "I'm going to patrol," Thorn said abruptly. "But I want to take the pups out tomorrow."

"They're barely three months old!" Frost said, sounding shocked. "There's still deep snow out there!"

"It's time they saw the territory," Thorn replied, in a tone that signified that the discussion was over. Frost huffed and growled something under her breath, then turned around and stomped to the back of the cave.

Ice hated it when his mother was upset, but he was still excited about going to see the territory. He shared an enthused glance with Snow, and then looked over at Blood and Slash. Slash was sitting slumped over, breathing hard, while Blood was staring at him with a slightly confused look on his face. He shrugged and turned to Ice and Snow. "Seeing the territory--awesome!" he yipped. "I wonder if we'll see a Midnight Pack dog." His eyes gleamed.

Ice shuddered. Midnight Pack bordered them all around, and was constantly encroaching on their hunting grounds. Thorn described them as ruthless, unscrupulous dogs who would kill any of them at the flick of a tail. Slash had been terrified, but Blood seemed fascinated by the tales. Ice was just confused. How could any dog enjoy killing?

"I--I hope we don't," Slash said fearfully. "F-father said they eat pups in the morning!"

"Yes, and they especially like black-and-white ones," Blood teased.

Slash let out a squeak of terror, but Snow shouldered Blood roughly. "Don't listen to him," she said to Slash. He still looked scared, but Blood flicked him with his tail. "Oh, come on, Slash, it was just a joke. We'll be fine. If we do meet a Midnight Pack dog, I'll fight it off." He kneaded the ground with his paws eagerly.

"Don't say such things." The pups turned to see Frost. "If you got ambushed by some Midnight Pack dogs, not even your father could help you." Slash's eyes grew round with fear, but Frost continued. "If you do, though, run as fast as you can back to the cave. If they surround you..." She trailed off and turned away, but she muttered something under her breath. Ice couldn't make it out, but it sounded something like, "Khazan help you."

Ice tilted his head, giving Snow an uneasy glance. Snow returned his glance with a look that said, "I'm sure we'll be fine."

If they had known what would happen, they would have never left the cave.

~

"Keep your eyes open," Thorn instructed. "You need to know your territory inside out. In order to do that, you must observe. A leaf doesn't rustle here without me knowing about it."

Ice stared up at his father, intrigued. The four puppies were trudging through the forest, taking in every word Thorn said. "Are we going to learn how to hunt?" Snow asked.

Thorn chuckled. "No, not now. It takes a very experienced hunter to catch anything in the snow, and you're no bigger than rabbits yourselves. Now's the time to learn how to conceal yourself. That's easy for you, Snow, since you blend in, and Ice does too. You'll have a harder time when the forest is green, but we'll talk about camouflage later. Now, practice walking softly. Put your paws down gently, so the snow doesn't crunch."

Ice did so, concentrating hard. It was easy, thankfully, since he was light enough to not make much of a dent in the snow.

Thorn suddenly stiffened, flaring his nostrils. "Midnight Pack," he snarled. "Get back to the cave, now!"

Ice spun around and floundered through the snow, seeing Snow and Blood on either side of him. "Wait!" he yelped, skidding to a stop. "Where's Slash?" He spun around, looking for his little brother, but he couldn't see him anywhere.

"I'll find Slash," Thorn snapped, shoving Ice from behind. "Now move!"

Ice struggled forward, clumps of snow matting his belly fur. He could still see Blood and his sister, but Slash was still nowhere to be seen.

Thorn suddenly shot forward and leaped over the three puppies. "You filthy mutt!" he roared, hurtling toward a blurry shape that Ice couldn't make out from the flakes getting caught in his eyelashes.

He skidded to a stop and saw a Belgian Malinois standing over a small, black patched body. Ice felt his stomach flip. It was Slash.

Thorn had cannoned into the dog and sent it flying away in a spray of snow. Blood padded forward slowly and tentatively touched his nose to Slash's fur. He jerked his head back, his ice-blue eyes wide. "He's so cold!" he exclaimed.

Ice and Snow came to Blood's side. Slash's brown eyes were dull and frost fringed his nose and ears. Ice suddenly realized how cold he was himself. "He... he froze to death," he whispered, horror creeping into his tone. "And... we might, too."

Thorn was thrashing around the Malinois, clearly thinking he was responsible for Slash's death. "Scum-eating, rat-faced fleabag!" he spat. "Killing a defenseless pup!"

The Malinois snarled and shoved Thorn off. "Idiot!" he growled. "I found the little mutt like that. He froze, can't you see?"

Thorn curled his lip. "I don't believe you. It's just the kind of lie a dirty mongrel like you would make."

"Oh? Go and check the body yourself," the Malinois sneered. "Maybe next time you won't bring weak puppies out into the snow."

Thorn's eyes blazed. "Get out before I shred you," he snarled, poison in his tone. "Get. Out."

The Malinois hesitated, but finally growled and ran off, vanishing into the forest.

Ice felt sick. Sick and cold. His legs buckled and he stumbled, his eyes closing halfway. He was faintly aware of being scooped up and carried off. But there was one thing he was fully aware of. It was a cruel world. A cruel, cruel world.

And he had yet to find out just how cruel the world could be.