Post by ♪Lαb♫ on Aug 16, 2010 20:32:57 GMT -6
xD I have more!
Chapter 8
It had been a few weeks since Zal found Oakoa, and now they were so close one would think they were truly full brothers. They were always together, they hunted together, explored together, and shared a den. This afternoon they were out exploring again. Just wandering through the woods. Zal felt truly happy for once. It was like Oakoa had come in as a younger brother and mended everything. He took Shina's place and took away the bitterness from Toka's departure. It all worked out.
They were pretty deep in the forest now, just running around and having fun. The kind of childish fun Zal should have had months ago. Jumping over logs, ducking underneath branches, goofy around, tackling each other, and all that other fun stuff. Suddenly Oakoa had an idea. “Let's play hide-n-seek!” he joyfully shouted. Zal nodded in agreement.
“I'll count, you hide!” He sat and turned his head to a tree. Closing his eyes he started to count till he heard a scream. Jumping up he opened his eyes and dashed toward to sound. “Oakoa! Oakoa! What is it?” He skidded to a halt, almost knocking over the frozen Oakoa. Noticing a huge shadow he slowly looked up to see a giant bear standing in front of them. “Woah...” Was all he could get out. The bear was about three, maybe four, times Zal's size. It was snarling, ready to attack. He looked behind it and saw a den. Oakoa had probably tried to hid there, of course till he found its occupant.
“Oakoa,” he whispered. “Slowly back away.” He took a few steps back himself. But that did no good. It just caused the bear to snarl louder and take a few steps forward. Zal glanced over to see Oakoa meet his eyes, the poor wolf was panicked. He needed to fix this now. Gathering all the courage he could Zal loudly growled. “Get. Away. Now,” he snarled. The bear looked him over and opened his mouth, making a weird gurgling sound. He suspected it was the creatures way of laughing, of course this made Zal angry. How dare the bear laugh at him! He took a challenging step forward and growled louder. The bear copied his movement. He also took a step forward and snarled even louder.
This meant a challenge, and a challenge meant a fight. Zal started to circle, the bear turned with him. Always keeping his front to the wolf, never his back. Smart. If the bear had been smaller this would be no problem, but this bear was huge. That annoyed him. At the moment a battle strategy was not in his mind. But he needed one soon. This stalling would only last a little while. The bear lunging at him proved his point. Zal jumped to the side, but the bear did manage to nick his pelt. The claw mark hurt like crap, but Zal had learned to deal with pain. Physical and mental. He let it bleed and focused on staying alive.
Suddenly he got an idea. It wasn't a great one but it may work. He circled the bear again. Yelling words at him to get him to lunge. It worked. The bear gave a loud roar and charged at him, it leaped in the air, hoping to land on Zal. But Zal was quick. He jumped quickly to the side, avoiding the large bear. The second the bear landed its back was to Zal, it was the moment he needed. He lunged and grabbed hold of the bear neck. But it wasn't easy. The bear shook and almost flung him off. But the determined Zal hung on. He started to gnaw at the bears neck, but the dang thing had really thick fur. It wasn't easy. So using his back legs to keep him on he dug and ripped at the bears neck. It moaned and groaned as the blood started to pour out. He grinned as his victim slowed his swinging down. It made holding on much easier. But he didn't stop attacking its neck. Eventually the bear lost enough blood and fell the ground. Zal grinned again and leaped to the ground.
“Oakoa! You can come out. The bear is gone.” Oakoa slowly came out from the cave. Seeing the bear his eyes widened.
“Woah! You did this?” He said amazed.
“Yes. Yes I did,” he said proudly. Then jokingly he added, “The mighty bear slayer had defeated the enemy!”
Oakoa smiled and bowed mockingly. “Oh mighty bear slayer I am grateful to thee!” Then they both fell over laughing.
Chapter 9
It was sunset. Night was just beginning. The wind didn't blow and a sound couldn't be heard. Only a few days had passed since Zal had slain the bear. Because of that Oakoa had mockingly referred to him as 'Bear-Slayer'. Zal just blew it all of as a joke. It hadn't been extremely difficult he told Oakoa, no he wasn't really scared. Of course he had been though. But the whole brave act was still in effect. So far Oakoa believed every word of it, that was all quit wonderful to Zal. It made him look bigger and better. Who didn't want that?
Zal awoke to the sound of footsteps outside. He groggily opened his eyes and thought nothing of it. Oakoa had probably just woke before him, that happened often. But when he turned his head Oakoa was gently snoring the night away. Weird. Maybe it was just a chipmunk or mouse. That was also normal. Just some small prey running around. But then the paw steps were bigger. Really big. But not as big as a bear Zal thought. Soon his curiosity grabbed hold of him and he looked outside of the den. What he saw made his whole body go numb.
Standing outside of his den were many large wolves. Thirteen maybe fourteen giant ones. They didn't look threatening now, but he sensed their attitudes could easily change. A stirring noise behind told him that Oakoa had woke to. A “Woah,” from the younger wolf told him that he wasn't the only one seeing the strangers. The largest one turned his head toward them. He was snowy white with many battle scars. He had an air of authority, Zal could sense he was in charge. His eyes met the others. It was like the other could read him, his mind, his thoughts, everything. Then the large wolf smiled.
“Hello. I am sorry to barge in like this.” Another wolf joined him at his side. This one was also larger than the rest. He had a white pelt with black arrow markings. His hair was spiked and his eyes were cold. “I am Scar. I am the leader of a group of wolves called the Fang's. This is my second in command. Spike.” Zal and Oakoa scooted closer together. Their hair raised, a snarl on each of their faces. The name stung Zal's mind. Fang's. He knew from Oakoa that these wolves had killed his mother. And he wanted revenge, from his body posture he could tell Oakoa felt the same way.
Scar laughed and make a clucking sound with his tongue. “Tsk tsk. You don't have to act like that. We come in peace.” He grinned to reval large and pointed teeth. “I'm guessing you have heard some unpleasant things about us. They don't have to be true you know. We come with an offer Bear-Slayer.” Zal tensed. They were talking about him. They had heard about the bear also.
“What offer,” he growled in response. They made him nervous. He didn't know what they were capable of. All he knew was they weren't afraid to kill. They had done it to both of their mothers. His father just escaped both times. Scar's smile got bigger. He was getting somewhere.
“We would like you to join us.” Seeing the look on Zal' face he added, “Let me explain. The Fang's are a tight nit group of wolves. We're like brothers. We watch out for each other. If you join us you would be in a family again. You could be happy.”
“I am happy,” Zal growled. “And I am not going anywhere without Oakoa.”
“Well then Oakoa can join too,” Scar reasoned. “You could both join. It would be like having siblings again.” Zal knew that was aimed at him. He lowered his head. “It would be like having a father again.” This time the words were thrown at them both. “I see you both have had tragic pasts. We could help fix that.” Zal's eyes filled with rage.
“No thanks to you! Our pasts are like this because of you!” He was fuming now. They killed his mother. They tried to force him into joining them. They caused this. Scar shook his head. The sorry act.
“You see we never planned any of that. It didn't happen the way you think either. Toka was causing trouble for us. He was trying to get rid of us. So we offered him a spot. To see how we felt. But of course he refused. He was still determined in trying to kill us all. Your mothers were part of this scheme too. It may not seem like it to you. You two were very young. But what I say is true. We were only protecting each other. Like we brothers are supposed to. Please try to understand. We meant no harm.”
Zal' eyes softened. He felt like he understood them. And as much as he had to hate it, their parents gaining up on the Fang's made sense. He turned to Oakoa. He wanted to join them. To have a family again. Oakoa's eyes widened when he saw the look on Zal's face. Urgently he whispered.
“Zal you can't actually be thinking about joining. Remember you mother! She wasn't a murder was she? I know mine wasn't. As much as I hate Toka he wasn't a killer either. Trust me. Don't join. I refuse to.” Zal shook his head and cleared his mind. Oakoa was right. These were just a bunch of murderous creeps out to get them because they thought they had potential. They were lying and he could tell now.
“No!” he shouted. “I will never join you!” Scar sighed.
“Just like your father. Refusing. It's a pity we have to do this. You had so much strength and courage. You could have been legendary. Oh well.” He motioned with his tail. “Get them.”
Chapter 10
Suddenly all of those giant wolves looked even more ferocious. They all charged at Oakoa and Zal. “Oakoa stay by me! I'll protect you!” He panicked now. They had to get away. The wolves were almost on them. Zal braced himself for the fight of his life, theere was no escape. As soon as the first wolf reached them he flung himself on the attacker. He bit and clawed as hard as he could. But everything he did the wolf delivered back. They were born fighters. Large and muscular with big teeth and huge paws. He heard yelps behind him and jumped off of the wolf. Oakoa! He shoved himself past the others. They grabbed and him and scared his pelt. He felt his blood flow out of him and onto the ground, staining it red. But his focus was not on his pain, it was on the cries ocoming from his friend.
Surging up all of his strength he burst through the circle of furious wolves and rushed to Oakoa's side. His friends shoulder was slit open, blood poured out. Pain filled Oakoa's eyes. Pain also filled Zal's, he couldn't bear to see his friend like this. He turned around looking for the wolf that did this. His gaze stopped on a large dark gray wolf. His pelt had red stripes and a blue raccoon mask that covered his cold eyes. His paws were red from blood. Oakoa's blood. Zal rushed up to him and threw all of his weight on the evil wolf. He thrust him down and clawed with all of might. His mouth revealed a threatening snarl. He was determined to make this wolves life hell for hurting his friend. Zal's victim just laughed as blood flowed from cuts Zal made. This wolf was mad Zal decided. He put a long claw to the wolf's neck, he could kill him now. The wolf wasn't going to stop him. His eyes were full of cold laughter. He couldn't do it. Zal knew it. He was furious but he wasn't going to be like them. He wasn't a killer. He leaped away and circled Oakoa, acting like a protective shield. “Don't. Touch. Him.” His words were followed by another cry of pain from Oakoa. Zal winced, it hurt him just as much as it hurt Oakoa.
Scar stepped down from a boulder, Zal guessed he had stood there the whole time watching the battle. This just made his hate for them all even higher. Scar had just sat and watched Oakoa almost die! For fun! These guys were sick. He shook his head in disgust. “I don't think he has learned his lesson yet,” Scar said. His voice was icy as he looked his followers over. “Continue.” He stepped back up and sat on his rock. The Fang's pressed closer, Zal stepped closer to Oakoa. If they were to harm his friend they would have to get through him first. He snarled threatening. They all grinned and pressed closer. Suddenly Spike made his move and thrust past Zal to Oakoa. They all jumped at Zal. He was shoved at nipped at. He tried to run to Oakoa. His pained cries echoed over the screeching of the Fang's. Zal yelled in protest, he desperately tried to push through them. But his efforts were followed by blows to his head and nips at his pelt. More cries filled the air. “NO!” Zal tried to get past but his efforts were useless. The last thing he remembered was one more cry of pain. Then every went black.
Zal groaned and opened his eyes. He was lying on the ground, his head hurt like crap and his body was sore. Every time he tried to move a sudden fire would rush up his body and make him wince. He tried to remember what happened. All he could think of was Oakoa, his cries and yelps. “Oakoa,” he groaned. “Oakoa!” His cries became more rushed and panicked. He forced himself to his legs, ignoring the pain screaming at him. He had to find Oakoa! He wobbled on his weak legs and tried to walk around. His first attempt sent him falling back to the ground. But he forced himself back to his feet. He took a week step followed by another. His desperateness filled him with strength. His steps became bigger and more confident. He wandered around the clearing, searching for any evidence of his friend's whereabouts.
All Zal could find was blood stained ground and tufts of fur. He was about to scream with frustration until he saw a red figure in the distance. He tried to run to it, but it was more like an awkward jog. When he finally reached the figure he had to sit down and ignore the pain. Oakoa's body lay on ground torn and bloody. He winced at the sight. In his friends throat was a single fang. Zal lowered his head and let a tear roll down his face and hit the ground. Another weight landed on his shoulders. He had let this happen. This was because of him. If only he had fought harder. If only he had stayed closer to Oakoa. All the if-onlys filled his head. He knew deep down he couldn't have prevented this. The battle was unfair, thirteen large wolves against two smaller ones. They didn't stand a chance. But one big question bothered Zal. Why didn't they kill him? The Fang's could have given Zal the same fate as Oakoa. But they didn't. Was it to fill him with the pain of loosing Oakoa? Maybe. He didn't doubt it. Did they have plans for him? Zal didn't know. All he knew was that he was alone again. And his name had more meaning then ever before.
Chapter 11
Zal awoke to bright sunlight burning his pelt. He groaned again and raised his head. His eyes filled with tears as he saw Oakoa. He had to do something about his friends body. An idea filled his head. Gently he stood. He was stiff but the pain wasn't as great as before. Gently he grabbed Oakoa's scruff and pulled him across the ground. This felt wrong. It was like dragging a deers carcass to his den. But he had to get over it. This was for Oakoa's own good. Soon he neared a river. The cold water gently rolled down the riverbed twisting and churning. It would be peaceful Zal thought. He carefully set his friends body in the river. His eyes clouded as the body floated down with the current. “Rest in peace my friend,” he whispered. He watched it till it was out of sight. Another set of tears rolled down his face.
Zal sat down and thought. He had lost everything. His mother, his siblings, his father, and now his closest friend. What did he have left? What was his life for? He would never love anything again. He knew that. The pain of loosing it would be to great. He knew he couldn't bear anything like this ever again. It would mentally tear him apart. Zal vowed to himself then and there that he would ignore this. He would try his best to forget his past. If he didn't it would kill him. He would live his life alone, no friends or anybody. He couldn't take anymore pain.
He stood and tried to walk. But his legs failed him again. Zal decided to rest there for the night, for a few nights even. He needed to rest and let his wounds heal. He could drink the rivers water, and a few days without food wouldn't kill him. Right? If he needed he could get some small prey. But he knew that it would be at least a month or two before he could hunt anything large like a deer or moose. His pelt would also be scared for life. Battle scars. Zal couldn't help himself, he grinned. He was like a warrior. His grin failed him. A warrior had downsides. Oh well. At least others would respect him.
Another day passed of Zal sitting there beside the river. All he could was sleep, drink, and think. He thought a lot. Lots of it were the happy times he shared with Oakoa. Like the time he fell in the river trying to catch the fish, how Oakoa had fell over laughing when he reappeared with seaweed on his head. How Oakoa had found that strange spiky creature and went to sniff it. And how he got one of its quills in his nose and yelped really loud. Zal had to gently pull the spike out of his nose. He grinned thinking about how Oakoa had never gone near of of those creatures again. His grin failed him again. Those times were gone. Just like Oakoa. He remembered his promise to himself and shut those thoughts out. No past. No memories. Not now.
But those thoughts had made Zal realize something. He didn't want to live alone. Not in the woods without sight of any other wolf. He wanted to live side by side with other living creatures. Even though he knew they would never be like Oakoa. He had changed. He didn't want friends, no, he wanted companions. Zal thought hard again, he had heard of these four clans that lived deep in the forest. It was a story that Oakoa had told him. He would check that out. Maybe one would except him. But it would never be the same. A clan couldn't replace those he had lost.
Chapter 8
It had been a few weeks since Zal found Oakoa, and now they were so close one would think they were truly full brothers. They were always together, they hunted together, explored together, and shared a den. This afternoon they were out exploring again. Just wandering through the woods. Zal felt truly happy for once. It was like Oakoa had come in as a younger brother and mended everything. He took Shina's place and took away the bitterness from Toka's departure. It all worked out.
They were pretty deep in the forest now, just running around and having fun. The kind of childish fun Zal should have had months ago. Jumping over logs, ducking underneath branches, goofy around, tackling each other, and all that other fun stuff. Suddenly Oakoa had an idea. “Let's play hide-n-seek!” he joyfully shouted. Zal nodded in agreement.
“I'll count, you hide!” He sat and turned his head to a tree. Closing his eyes he started to count till he heard a scream. Jumping up he opened his eyes and dashed toward to sound. “Oakoa! Oakoa! What is it?” He skidded to a halt, almost knocking over the frozen Oakoa. Noticing a huge shadow he slowly looked up to see a giant bear standing in front of them. “Woah...” Was all he could get out. The bear was about three, maybe four, times Zal's size. It was snarling, ready to attack. He looked behind it and saw a den. Oakoa had probably tried to hid there, of course till he found its occupant.
“Oakoa,” he whispered. “Slowly back away.” He took a few steps back himself. But that did no good. It just caused the bear to snarl louder and take a few steps forward. Zal glanced over to see Oakoa meet his eyes, the poor wolf was panicked. He needed to fix this now. Gathering all the courage he could Zal loudly growled. “Get. Away. Now,” he snarled. The bear looked him over and opened his mouth, making a weird gurgling sound. He suspected it was the creatures way of laughing, of course this made Zal angry. How dare the bear laugh at him! He took a challenging step forward and growled louder. The bear copied his movement. He also took a step forward and snarled even louder.
This meant a challenge, and a challenge meant a fight. Zal started to circle, the bear turned with him. Always keeping his front to the wolf, never his back. Smart. If the bear had been smaller this would be no problem, but this bear was huge. That annoyed him. At the moment a battle strategy was not in his mind. But he needed one soon. This stalling would only last a little while. The bear lunging at him proved his point. Zal jumped to the side, but the bear did manage to nick his pelt. The claw mark hurt like crap, but Zal had learned to deal with pain. Physical and mental. He let it bleed and focused on staying alive.
Suddenly he got an idea. It wasn't a great one but it may work. He circled the bear again. Yelling words at him to get him to lunge. It worked. The bear gave a loud roar and charged at him, it leaped in the air, hoping to land on Zal. But Zal was quick. He jumped quickly to the side, avoiding the large bear. The second the bear landed its back was to Zal, it was the moment he needed. He lunged and grabbed hold of the bear neck. But it wasn't easy. The bear shook and almost flung him off. But the determined Zal hung on. He started to gnaw at the bears neck, but the dang thing had really thick fur. It wasn't easy. So using his back legs to keep him on he dug and ripped at the bears neck. It moaned and groaned as the blood started to pour out. He grinned as his victim slowed his swinging down. It made holding on much easier. But he didn't stop attacking its neck. Eventually the bear lost enough blood and fell the ground. Zal grinned again and leaped to the ground.
“Oakoa! You can come out. The bear is gone.” Oakoa slowly came out from the cave. Seeing the bear his eyes widened.
“Woah! You did this?” He said amazed.
“Yes. Yes I did,” he said proudly. Then jokingly he added, “The mighty bear slayer had defeated the enemy!”
Oakoa smiled and bowed mockingly. “Oh mighty bear slayer I am grateful to thee!” Then they both fell over laughing.
Chapter 9
It was sunset. Night was just beginning. The wind didn't blow and a sound couldn't be heard. Only a few days had passed since Zal had slain the bear. Because of that Oakoa had mockingly referred to him as 'Bear-Slayer'. Zal just blew it all of as a joke. It hadn't been extremely difficult he told Oakoa, no he wasn't really scared. Of course he had been though. But the whole brave act was still in effect. So far Oakoa believed every word of it, that was all quit wonderful to Zal. It made him look bigger and better. Who didn't want that?
Zal awoke to the sound of footsteps outside. He groggily opened his eyes and thought nothing of it. Oakoa had probably just woke before him, that happened often. But when he turned his head Oakoa was gently snoring the night away. Weird. Maybe it was just a chipmunk or mouse. That was also normal. Just some small prey running around. But then the paw steps were bigger. Really big. But not as big as a bear Zal thought. Soon his curiosity grabbed hold of him and he looked outside of the den. What he saw made his whole body go numb.
Standing outside of his den were many large wolves. Thirteen maybe fourteen giant ones. They didn't look threatening now, but he sensed their attitudes could easily change. A stirring noise behind told him that Oakoa had woke to. A “Woah,” from the younger wolf told him that he wasn't the only one seeing the strangers. The largest one turned his head toward them. He was snowy white with many battle scars. He had an air of authority, Zal could sense he was in charge. His eyes met the others. It was like the other could read him, his mind, his thoughts, everything. Then the large wolf smiled.
“Hello. I am sorry to barge in like this.” Another wolf joined him at his side. This one was also larger than the rest. He had a white pelt with black arrow markings. His hair was spiked and his eyes were cold. “I am Scar. I am the leader of a group of wolves called the Fang's. This is my second in command. Spike.” Zal and Oakoa scooted closer together. Their hair raised, a snarl on each of their faces. The name stung Zal's mind. Fang's. He knew from Oakoa that these wolves had killed his mother. And he wanted revenge, from his body posture he could tell Oakoa felt the same way.
Scar laughed and make a clucking sound with his tongue. “Tsk tsk. You don't have to act like that. We come in peace.” He grinned to reval large and pointed teeth. “I'm guessing you have heard some unpleasant things about us. They don't have to be true you know. We come with an offer Bear-Slayer.” Zal tensed. They were talking about him. They had heard about the bear also.
“What offer,” he growled in response. They made him nervous. He didn't know what they were capable of. All he knew was they weren't afraid to kill. They had done it to both of their mothers. His father just escaped both times. Scar's smile got bigger. He was getting somewhere.
“We would like you to join us.” Seeing the look on Zal' face he added, “Let me explain. The Fang's are a tight nit group of wolves. We're like brothers. We watch out for each other. If you join us you would be in a family again. You could be happy.”
“I am happy,” Zal growled. “And I am not going anywhere without Oakoa.”
“Well then Oakoa can join too,” Scar reasoned. “You could both join. It would be like having siblings again.” Zal knew that was aimed at him. He lowered his head. “It would be like having a father again.” This time the words were thrown at them both. “I see you both have had tragic pasts. We could help fix that.” Zal's eyes filled with rage.
“No thanks to you! Our pasts are like this because of you!” He was fuming now. They killed his mother. They tried to force him into joining them. They caused this. Scar shook his head. The sorry act.
“You see we never planned any of that. It didn't happen the way you think either. Toka was causing trouble for us. He was trying to get rid of us. So we offered him a spot. To see how we felt. But of course he refused. He was still determined in trying to kill us all. Your mothers were part of this scheme too. It may not seem like it to you. You two were very young. But what I say is true. We were only protecting each other. Like we brothers are supposed to. Please try to understand. We meant no harm.”
Zal' eyes softened. He felt like he understood them. And as much as he had to hate it, their parents gaining up on the Fang's made sense. He turned to Oakoa. He wanted to join them. To have a family again. Oakoa's eyes widened when he saw the look on Zal's face. Urgently he whispered.
“Zal you can't actually be thinking about joining. Remember you mother! She wasn't a murder was she? I know mine wasn't. As much as I hate Toka he wasn't a killer either. Trust me. Don't join. I refuse to.” Zal shook his head and cleared his mind. Oakoa was right. These were just a bunch of murderous creeps out to get them because they thought they had potential. They were lying and he could tell now.
“No!” he shouted. “I will never join you!” Scar sighed.
“Just like your father. Refusing. It's a pity we have to do this. You had so much strength and courage. You could have been legendary. Oh well.” He motioned with his tail. “Get them.”
Chapter 10
Suddenly all of those giant wolves looked even more ferocious. They all charged at Oakoa and Zal. “Oakoa stay by me! I'll protect you!” He panicked now. They had to get away. The wolves were almost on them. Zal braced himself for the fight of his life, theere was no escape. As soon as the first wolf reached them he flung himself on the attacker. He bit and clawed as hard as he could. But everything he did the wolf delivered back. They were born fighters. Large and muscular with big teeth and huge paws. He heard yelps behind him and jumped off of the wolf. Oakoa! He shoved himself past the others. They grabbed and him and scared his pelt. He felt his blood flow out of him and onto the ground, staining it red. But his focus was not on his pain, it was on the cries ocoming from his friend.
Surging up all of his strength he burst through the circle of furious wolves and rushed to Oakoa's side. His friends shoulder was slit open, blood poured out. Pain filled Oakoa's eyes. Pain also filled Zal's, he couldn't bear to see his friend like this. He turned around looking for the wolf that did this. His gaze stopped on a large dark gray wolf. His pelt had red stripes and a blue raccoon mask that covered his cold eyes. His paws were red from blood. Oakoa's blood. Zal rushed up to him and threw all of his weight on the evil wolf. He thrust him down and clawed with all of might. His mouth revealed a threatening snarl. He was determined to make this wolves life hell for hurting his friend. Zal's victim just laughed as blood flowed from cuts Zal made. This wolf was mad Zal decided. He put a long claw to the wolf's neck, he could kill him now. The wolf wasn't going to stop him. His eyes were full of cold laughter. He couldn't do it. Zal knew it. He was furious but he wasn't going to be like them. He wasn't a killer. He leaped away and circled Oakoa, acting like a protective shield. “Don't. Touch. Him.” His words were followed by another cry of pain from Oakoa. Zal winced, it hurt him just as much as it hurt Oakoa.
Scar stepped down from a boulder, Zal guessed he had stood there the whole time watching the battle. This just made his hate for them all even higher. Scar had just sat and watched Oakoa almost die! For fun! These guys were sick. He shook his head in disgust. “I don't think he has learned his lesson yet,” Scar said. His voice was icy as he looked his followers over. “Continue.” He stepped back up and sat on his rock. The Fang's pressed closer, Zal stepped closer to Oakoa. If they were to harm his friend they would have to get through him first. He snarled threatening. They all grinned and pressed closer. Suddenly Spike made his move and thrust past Zal to Oakoa. They all jumped at Zal. He was shoved at nipped at. He tried to run to Oakoa. His pained cries echoed over the screeching of the Fang's. Zal yelled in protest, he desperately tried to push through them. But his efforts were followed by blows to his head and nips at his pelt. More cries filled the air. “NO!” Zal tried to get past but his efforts were useless. The last thing he remembered was one more cry of pain. Then every went black.
Zal groaned and opened his eyes. He was lying on the ground, his head hurt like crap and his body was sore. Every time he tried to move a sudden fire would rush up his body and make him wince. He tried to remember what happened. All he could think of was Oakoa, his cries and yelps. “Oakoa,” he groaned. “Oakoa!” His cries became more rushed and panicked. He forced himself to his legs, ignoring the pain screaming at him. He had to find Oakoa! He wobbled on his weak legs and tried to walk around. His first attempt sent him falling back to the ground. But he forced himself back to his feet. He took a week step followed by another. His desperateness filled him with strength. His steps became bigger and more confident. He wandered around the clearing, searching for any evidence of his friend's whereabouts.
All Zal could find was blood stained ground and tufts of fur. He was about to scream with frustration until he saw a red figure in the distance. He tried to run to it, but it was more like an awkward jog. When he finally reached the figure he had to sit down and ignore the pain. Oakoa's body lay on ground torn and bloody. He winced at the sight. In his friends throat was a single fang. Zal lowered his head and let a tear roll down his face and hit the ground. Another weight landed on his shoulders. He had let this happen. This was because of him. If only he had fought harder. If only he had stayed closer to Oakoa. All the if-onlys filled his head. He knew deep down he couldn't have prevented this. The battle was unfair, thirteen large wolves against two smaller ones. They didn't stand a chance. But one big question bothered Zal. Why didn't they kill him? The Fang's could have given Zal the same fate as Oakoa. But they didn't. Was it to fill him with the pain of loosing Oakoa? Maybe. He didn't doubt it. Did they have plans for him? Zal didn't know. All he knew was that he was alone again. And his name had more meaning then ever before.
Chapter 11
Zal awoke to bright sunlight burning his pelt. He groaned again and raised his head. His eyes filled with tears as he saw Oakoa. He had to do something about his friends body. An idea filled his head. Gently he stood. He was stiff but the pain wasn't as great as before. Gently he grabbed Oakoa's scruff and pulled him across the ground. This felt wrong. It was like dragging a deers carcass to his den. But he had to get over it. This was for Oakoa's own good. Soon he neared a river. The cold water gently rolled down the riverbed twisting and churning. It would be peaceful Zal thought. He carefully set his friends body in the river. His eyes clouded as the body floated down with the current. “Rest in peace my friend,” he whispered. He watched it till it was out of sight. Another set of tears rolled down his face.
Zal sat down and thought. He had lost everything. His mother, his siblings, his father, and now his closest friend. What did he have left? What was his life for? He would never love anything again. He knew that. The pain of loosing it would be to great. He knew he couldn't bear anything like this ever again. It would mentally tear him apart. Zal vowed to himself then and there that he would ignore this. He would try his best to forget his past. If he didn't it would kill him. He would live his life alone, no friends or anybody. He couldn't take anymore pain.
He stood and tried to walk. But his legs failed him again. Zal decided to rest there for the night, for a few nights even. He needed to rest and let his wounds heal. He could drink the rivers water, and a few days without food wouldn't kill him. Right? If he needed he could get some small prey. But he knew that it would be at least a month or two before he could hunt anything large like a deer or moose. His pelt would also be scared for life. Battle scars. Zal couldn't help himself, he grinned. He was like a warrior. His grin failed him. A warrior had downsides. Oh well. At least others would respect him.
Another day passed of Zal sitting there beside the river. All he could was sleep, drink, and think. He thought a lot. Lots of it were the happy times he shared with Oakoa. Like the time he fell in the river trying to catch the fish, how Oakoa had fell over laughing when he reappeared with seaweed on his head. How Oakoa had found that strange spiky creature and went to sniff it. And how he got one of its quills in his nose and yelped really loud. Zal had to gently pull the spike out of his nose. He grinned thinking about how Oakoa had never gone near of of those creatures again. His grin failed him again. Those times were gone. Just like Oakoa. He remembered his promise to himself and shut those thoughts out. No past. No memories. Not now.
But those thoughts had made Zal realize something. He didn't want to live alone. Not in the woods without sight of any other wolf. He wanted to live side by side with other living creatures. Even though he knew they would never be like Oakoa. He had changed. He didn't want friends, no, he wanted companions. Zal thought hard again, he had heard of these four clans that lived deep in the forest. It was a story that Oakoa had told him. He would check that out. Maybe one would except him. But it would never be the same. A clan couldn't replace those he had lost.