Wolves of a Desecrated Earth (Dark Huntress and Julie)

[Carl]

"Look if you dogs want my help in hiding and surviving here for a while then we can't stay put for long," Bilkiba grunted, "Where's the other girl?"

He looked around, not sure how to help them if they had to find someone now. It wasn't like that human was down and out, not for sure. He could come back, and in greater numbers. They needed to disappear and quickly. He stood listening for a while, his ears perked, but he didn't hear the human any more. Maybe he should ditch them now. It almost seemed a shame at this point though. He decided to give them a choice in the matter. So he spoke again, more calmly.

"Look, I know this city, and it seems you lot aren't really familiar with city life.. so if you want my help til you figure it out, then, I'll give you some pointers and a place to stay out of the weather and out of sight," he said in a gentler tone than he'd used with any other living creature for a long time.

---

Shining blue eyes peered out of the dumpster at what appeared to be a lone she-wolf. The wolfess would have been beautiful, aside from an injury and her dirty coat. She still didn't look too bad. She was moving slowly, though apparently with determination, and had a bit of carrion with her. After hearing the howl near here, Gerard had debated whether or not coming to aid the ones in trouble was a good idea or not. Being not full-blooded meant the wolves might not be too keen on accepting help from this one. But Gerard had finally decided that helping was the thing to do and poked up out of the dumpster, only to see this she-wolf. Males must have run the trouble off, but an injured girl out all alone was never a good thing.

"Hey, do you need some help finding anyone?" a male voice said loud enough to get the wolfess' attention as the motley coloured mutt emerged from the dumpster completely and landed on the cold stone behind the girl, hoping not to have scared her much.

[Dark Huntress]

Eyulf shrugged. "Sure, we could use some help. I mean, we are the most clueful canines around," he glanced at his brother and friend.

"Hey! Speak for your self," Tala snorted with a toss of her bloodred tuft. "Now lets find Ona and get the heck outta here!"

"Get Ona? Where is she?" Marrok's deep voice suddenly sounding nearly scared Tala out of her wits and caused her to whirl around. Fäol scratched at the ground.

"I made her hide so she'd be safe, but we gotta go and get her and get the heck outta here before someone sees us and tries to make a multi-wolf fur throw rug for their living room!" He turned to Bilkibo, "She was back by the fire escape."

*£*

Ona stiffened, then turned to give the strange mutt a sharp look. "I'm fine," she replied. "My pack out to be along any minute now." She gritted her teeth as warm blood trickled down her pale fur from the broken scab on her wound. She looked up at her companion. "Yeah, I'm clumsy, okay?" He tone was a little sharp as she felt the need to defend herself from any pity that could be coming.

[Carl]

"Hey settle down, I don't mean you any harm," the stranger told her, "I just thought you might not want to be alone out here until then. There's things besides humans out here that could attack too, and most of the wild dogs travel in packs... not that you're a wild dog, mind you, and it would be hypocritical of me to use it as an insult besides."

The motley coloured wolf bowed and twirled a paw around in introduction, "I go by Gerard, and unlike some loners I don't mind company. However, I won't intrude if you'd rather be left alone." The voice had softened considerably, not that it had been rough in the first place, and impure blood stood, head cocked to the side, trying to gauge the girl's reaction. Maybe it hadn't been the best idea to pose as the "knight in shining armor."

---

Bilkiba watched and listened to the others until Fäol addressed him again.

"Alright, it's this way," the white wolf said, trotting away at a moderate pace. He didn't expect them to remember the layout of the city after such a quick and short run, though for all he knew they had been here for a while without him knowing. He shrugged, it didn't matter. He'd already hung around them and helped them once, so he kind of had to continue doing that for now. He shook his head. Constantly thinking about that was pointless. It was done. He'd just have to hope this pack wasn't as bad as the others he'd dealt with, and maybe, just maybe, they'd go home at the end of winter. Assuming they had a home to go back to, he reminded himself grimly.

What if they were like he had been? What if they'd been driven from their home and this was their only escape? In that case, it would be downright cruel of him to refuse them help and ask them to leave. After all, his lack of assistance had turned him more bitter than he'd already been after what he'd lost. No one else needed to become like him.

[Dark Huntress]

Ona shifted her paws. "Sorry," she apologized. "I'm kinda testy, didn't mean to snap. And thanks for being concerned, I guess I'd feel a little more comfortable if you stuck around. It's nice to have someone to have your back." She shrugged then stood and retrieved the only thing she had to show for the day out from her hiding place. "And it's nice to meet you, Gerard. I'm Una."

She hesitantly looked at her pack's dinner then up at her new aquaintance. "It's my pack's dinner...," she felt a little guilty, keeping her paw on the fowl. "Soooo, yeah..."

[Carl]

"That's quite alright," he replied, "I understand. Besides, I had a bite not long ago, I won't take your food." The mutt trotted over closer to her, sniffing the air and looking around. From the sounds, it seemed safe to assume that the others, as it was evident that two others had been here, had led away a human, protecting the female. Typical male gesture. Also very stupid. If the males leave the female alone "for her protection," then that leaves her, well alone. Especially for a wounded female, this could go south quickly, and in fact, for all they, or she knew, this motley mutt could be a serious threat.

"Your friends went this way," he said, indicating the direction with his nose, "Do you want to go after them? Truth be told, I'm somewhat new to this town myself, and I don't really know where they might have gone, but using the old sniffer we should be able to track 'em down."

---

Bilkiba stepped out of an alley that was a shortcut back to where they'd left the she-wolf. They'd gone a roundabout way with many turns and twists, all the better to lose a pursuer, and he had been able to easily wrap around to this other exit back onto the street that the chase had begun on. As he emerged from between the buildings, he saw the she-wolf, to his relief. To his dismay, however, she was accompanied by a wolf, though he used the term loosely, whom he'd observed from the roofs on past occasions.

He bounded over, snarling at the motley coloured mutt, his fangs flashing in the brief moment that they were in the line of a streetlamp's rays. At the sight of the painted white wolf, the other backed up, with a look of surprise upon its face, but quickly planted its paws and narrowed its eyes, holding its ground.

"I know what you are," the white wolf growled, turning to the wolfess beside them, "Is he bothering you?" The dingy wolf didn't really like these new comers, but what he liked even less were wild dogs. They had caused this persecution of wolves, and it was they who had terrorized the humans to this point. And he knew that the creature before him was impure, and hardly fit to be called a wolf. It was one of them, and that was detestable, for they had caused all of his pain, and all of his loss.

[Dark Huntress]

"Sure," Ona smiled then turned to see her pack. A little alarmed as Bilkibo's anger she glanced at Gerard. "No, he was keeping me company till you guys came back. He's really nice," Ona said defensively. Fäol stepped forward, inbetween her and te other two males, a little afraid she'd dive in if or when a fight started.

"Who are you?" He asked, green eyes narrowed and bulky body tensed as if to pounce if the wrong answer was given.

"Eesh, guys!" Ona stepped around Fäol. "Give the guy a break, y'all left me alone-" she silenced Fäol as he started to interrupt "-sure to protect me, but he was just keeping me company! And who cares if he isn't really one of us! He doesn't look much different, he doesn't act different at all, and-," she stopped suddenly, unable to finish. "I think someone is coming," she said in a hushed tone.

Instinctively, she back up into the shadows, the wolves around her doing the same.

[Carl]

As she was talking, Bilkiba started talking over her.

"He's one of them, a wild dog. One of the ones that got us wolves into this mess where we have to hide!"

The mutt's bright blue eyes shone with anger and hurt, not that this was unexpected, and retaliated in a calm and low voice, "Excuse you, but the ones who got us into this mess are long dead. Besides, I'm more wolf than dog." This was always how wolves reacted to meeting someone impure, it was disheartening and infuriating.

When Ona said she thought someone was coming, and the wolves darted into the shadows, Gerard stood in place for a moment, glancing back and forth before darting back to the dumpster and scampering inside. He wasn't an idiot. He knew those wolves didn't want him close to them, and if this was some kind of threat, he knew they'd all be caught on account of their griping over his presence.

"Only cares about himself," Bilkiba muttered, being taken aback immediately by the realization that the same was true of himself. There were really no signs that this... wolf was any worse than any of the rest of them. Despite that, he'd be damned if he'd forgive packs and wild dogs on the same day. It just wasn't going to happen. Not that he had forgiven packs... had he? He had, clearly, he was huddling in the shadows with one that he'd already assisted twice. He shook his head. What a day.

Safely tucked away in the dumpster, Gerard pushed the lid up just enough to peer out so that he could see whatever, or whoever, it was that was coming. He sure wouldn't be able to smell them for all of this.

[Dark Huntress]

Ona peered out of the shadows, despite Fäol tugging on her tail with his teeth. A small sigh of relief escaped her as she saw it was only a large, well-fattened raccoon, going to raid the dumpster. She couldn't help but lick her chops hungrily. She hoped Gerard would catch it, it seemed a waste that something so fat would just continue foraging while they scrimped and starved. Thinking ahead, she stepped to guard one of the only escape routes, in case it came back towards her.

Unable to contain herself as the little creature nosed around outside the dumpster, she crept forward until she was only a few steps away, fortunately the wind was blowing against her. Unfortunately, however, the smell it gave off was quite pungent. She stifled a gag, it was even too much for a canine like herself, then froze as the raccoon regarded her with beady eyes. It made a little squeaky noise and continued curiously examining the trash that littered the ground. Finally, it move within reaching distance of Ona, who immediately sprang forward and caught it beneath her front paws. It struggled for a moment before she dispatched it with a quick tear of his throat.

She turned to Bilikibo. "I guess it wasn't scared enough," she said, referring to their meeting earlier.

[Carl]

[ooc: So sorry I have taken so long, I got super distracted.]

"Puh," the white wolf snorted, "You got lucky. Now if you lot have enough scraps thrown together, we need to scram before any more humans show up. There aren't any kind or decent ones in this whole damned city."

As he'd spoken, the mutt had slipped back out of the dumpster and shook his head to get off some trash. "I know a place," he said suddenly, "A place big enough for all of us, and out of sight from the humans. There's plenty of rats there, too."

Bilkiba started to protest, wanting to go back to his home and to be away from that mutt, but he realized that on the other hand, he didn't want any of these strangers in his home, so reluctantly nodded to Gerard.

"Show us the way," he said.

"Now I'm good enough, eh?" the motley coloured canine asked, almost smugly, "I'm worthless trash until I have something you want, is that it?"

Bilkiba lunged at him, stopping just before the other creature, his bared fangs not far from his neck, "I don't need your help and I don't need your attitude. I know this town like the back of my paw and I know all the perfect places for a lone wolf to hide. I chose to let you help us because I'm trying to cooperate with all of you so we don't draw unnecessary attention, so watch your mouth."

"Whoa, take it easy. You're not in charge anyway, I take it, since you say 'lone wolf' and 'trying to cooperate with all of you.' That means you have no say over what this pack does, doesn't it?" the mutt asked.

Bilkiba just growled and backed away a little bit, deciding to remain quiet for now. He wondered why he didn't just leave them with the dog. They didn't need his help if they had someone else's, and he didn't want to try and sleep surrounded by others anyway. He just wanted to be alone. No, that wasn't accurate either. He looked up into the weak rays of street lights and into the murky sky above that hid the clouds. He felt ashamed. He'd become so cruel and bitter, and he wasn't the same wolf he'd once been. He wasn't the wolf she had loved. He cast his eyes down at his paws. He missed her, and his heart ached, but she'd be disappointed in him for treating every other canine like he was better than them. Like they'd personally hurt him. He felt like an ass, and knew he wasn't acting right. The dingy wolf let out a sigh.

"No I don't have any say. I'm only helping them because they're new," he said in a pathetic little voice.

"Who is the leader then, and what shall the pack do? Should I take you guys to that place?" Gerard asked the collection of wolves.

[Dark Huntress]

The four wolves instantly turned to look at Marrok. Only Ona answered. "Marrok is out Alpha." Marrok shrugged and shook his ragged black fur.

"Will you please lead the way," he replied to Gerard. "And thank-you." His thanks were directed to both Bilkibo and Getard. Ona shrugged and flashed Gerard a grin.

"Lead the way, mutt," her nickname was not at all unkindly meant.

Fäol rolled his eyes at her and stood back towards Bilkibo. "I think she'd follow a human if it did something nice for her. I'm almost a little jealous." He followed the rest of the pack and the mutt as they moved through the streets.

Tala moved to the pack of the group. "Don't try to sneak off," she warned Bilkibo, "'Cuz I know you're thinking about it!"