Blanket Dog & The Two Loners

Chapter 4 - Animal

Well that could have been more pleasant. It seems as if Dust is drifting away in his own little world a lot now. All of that ‘outing’ he was spaced out, lacking to tell me certain things about the environment until I asked about it (thankfully somebody is paying attention…). Still, I'm wondering what’s on his mind. It’s as if he doesn’t trust me anymore, that’s if he even did to begin with. All this is making me sketched out. At first, all he wants is for me to come with him, stay with him, so he can protect me. Now, he doesn’t even want to tell me what’s bothering him? How can I trust him if I know he isn’t plotting to kill me in my sleep one night? Although, I feel, if he wanted to do that he probably would have already.

Still doesn’t explain his actions at the moment. He’s muttering to himself, going the wrong way, stepping on my paws when we’re walking, it’s as if he’s not even here! It’s outrageous! No… I can’t get mad… Maybe he just doesn’t want to talk about it because it’s too personal? It’s kind of hypocritical for me to get mad at him for not sharing, especially since I wont muster a word about the dream mom and dad sent me. For now, I’ll just have to deal with it.

“Dust, mind telling me what this is?” I stopped thinking to myself for a second, and kneeled down next to a stream. It was big enough for me to get my whole paws wet. “It’s slimy… Gross…” I stuck my tongue out in disgust. For the first time all day, I swore I heard a snicker. 

“That’s a snail. Ya ain’t seen one before?” Dust sat down next to me, picking it up and pulling it out of its shell. I turned my head and groaned in disgust as he slurped it up. “They’re pretty good if I do say so myself.”

“You’re nasty…” I grumbled with a faint smile, only making him let out a hearty chuckle.

“Why thank you, I try.” Dust threw the shell back into the stream and looked up into the sky. Curious as to what he was looking at, I glanced up as well. It was about midday, but there were a good amount of clouds making it not so hot. That and the chill, mild breeze. Hopefully whatever was bugging him let loose, I like him much better with a smile.

The sun in the sky was a foot away from the moon, at least. Something about it felt wrong, like that wasn’t supposed to be that way. I could tell Dust felt it too, because his rounded, fluffy ears pulled back. 

“What does it mean..?” I muttered, my own ears shrinking back as the sky slightly turned a little purple. Whatever it was, the slight change was enough for Dust to stand up sharply. 

“I’ve heard of it, I’ve read the tales, I’ve seen the signs… But now?” What? Dust turned tail and started to run back to the den. The force of the air he created was enough to send me falling back on my butt. I shook my head and narrowed my eyes, standing up and running after his crazy ass.

“Dust, wait, what do you mean by the tales and the signs??! DUST?!?” He takes a sharp turn and dives into the safety of the den a few seconds before I do. When I get in the den, I see him tearing through book pages, reading out loud with the determined look on his face to find a certain page. As if he let his book close on the good part while reading. 

“I’ve HEARD about the Twilight sky during the middle of the day. Something's NOT right about this..!” Dust panics, dropping the current book he was sifting through. He’s shaking, and he is shaking bad. I walk up to him, gently putting a paw on his shoulder. Even that was too much for him, because he jumped and his head shot over to me. A soft gasp left my mouth when I saw the look in his eyes. He’s seen this before… He’s been through a storm, and it was a storm just like mine. It ruined his life, I can see it. 

“Something, SOME O N E, will come out of the next storm to take a victim to the King of Drakai, as a sacrifice to the demon lord. She’s looking for the one in the prophecy, to end it so nobody can defeat him! She is his rightful servant, and he is her King.” Dust ranted, finally stopping on a page in a book. It has scribbled pictures of wolves being murdered all over it, drawn with what looks like old dried blood. In the center is a wolf on its hind legs, horns protruding from the back of its head. It’s got a crimson gaze, and horrifying features. 

“What does this have to do with us, Dust??” I panic slightly, and he drops the book on the table. He reads for a few seconds before turning to me to answer my question.

“It means if that dog gets killed, we’re all doomed to a milenia of darkness and evil. We’re all as good as dead.” His tone was flat, and his face expressionless. I could tell, just from gazing at him, the seriousness of this issue. The Twilight Skies are a sign, a sign of the end of the world. I hope this dog can really save us all… Wait… Dust knew about the prophecy?

“Wait… You know the prophecy, too?” Dust turned away for a second, before his ears perked and he shot his gaze back to me. 

“Yes, how do you know it?” 

“I-it was in my dream last night…” 

“That’s why you didn’t fess up… Well,” a large sigh erupted from Dust’s mouth, “it’s good you know it. I assume you don’t know the bad guys, but you’ll learn. I'm not in the mood, nor do we have the time to discuss them right now. We need to find the She-Wolf.” I shook my head in surprise.

“Isn’t that her, right there on that page? Why do you want to FIND her??” As preposterous as it sounded, I could kind of get a guess as to why Dust wanted to find this ‘She-Wolf’. Maybe to try and stop her from killing the chosen prophecy dog, but if she’s so important to the King, wouldn’t she be super strong? And if she’s super strong, shouldn’t she be hard to defeat?

Dust sighed for probably the third time in 2 minutes, “If we find her, we can either convince her to change her ways (good luck with that) or we kill her before she kills us and the prophecy dog.” Well that was blunt. It’s a way to put that, I guess.

“Whatever we do, we need to try and change her mind. Maybe she doesn’t want to be evil? What if she’s being forced by the King? And what if-” Im cut off by a very ticked off grunt from Dust.

“Changing her mind would be near impossible. She wants power, it’s all she cares about. She doesn’t have feelings, and she has no repercussions for her actions. She will not spare you, and she won't listen to you.” He put a claw to my chest to prove his point. Almost a film of fire in his eyes, Dust hated this wolf.

“You talk as if you know her…” I mutter, rolling my eyes and turning my head away from the cheetah. What I did struck a vein, because he pulled back as if he was shocked, then growled as if I pissed him off. 

Clearly it was a mistake to talk back, because the fur on his back arched up and Dust bared his teeth. “YOU should hold your tongue. YOU haven’t met her, and YOU don’t know who she is. SHE is an unforgiving DEMON FREAK who deserves to die!”

“Nobody deserves to die!”

“YOU DON’T KNOW HER LIKE I DO!”

“BUT NEITHER DO YOU-”

“I KNOW MORE ABOUT HER THAN YOU EVER COULD!”

“HOW?!? TELL ME, BECAUSE YOU’VE BEEN DOING NOTHING BUT KEEPING SECRETS SINCE WE ME-”

“SHUT UP! SHUT. UP! YOU DON’T KNOW HER, YOU DON’T KNOW ME, AND YOU DON’T DESERVE TO! STOP PUSHING IT SO MUCH, I'M FINE AND I AM PERFECTLY HAPPY ABOUT MY PAST. JUST GET OUT OF MY DEN AND LEAVE ME ALONE. GOOD LUCK, KID.”

I shrank back, putting my paws over my head as he raised his larger one. I swear he would have hit me if I didn’t scramble out from under his so much larger body. I rushed to the den entrance, taking one quick look back as his strong and scary looking frame before turning back and running out into the purple day. Tears fell like waterfalls from my eyes as I ran. No turning back, no looking back. Would he have hit me? Would he have killed me? Is it my fault?

I slid down a tree, and put my face into my hands, tears still spilling from my eyes down my face. It’s nearly sundown, and I'm lost. I'm back where I started. Alone. No caretaker, no friends, and certainly no hope. I used to be so optimistic, but I just can’t muster enough courage to even smile right now. I knew I couldn’t trust him, Dust, something about him was just…

Troubled.

Taking a few moments to catch my breath and calm down, I rub my face with my hands to get rid of the wet tears that remained. Looking up towards the crystal clear amethyst sky, I sniff to myself. Why did it have to be this way? Why did this have to happen? Everything was going so well… Is this my fault? Even if it isn’t, I feel so bad about it. I feel like if I didn’t show up, none of this would have happened. Yet, if the sky was a natural occurrence of this ‘she-wolf’ appearing. Then that can’t be my fault. No, I just pushed Dust over the edge. Now I'm on my own again, all because of my ignorance. 

What is this feeling? Why do I feel so… Not positive? Negative energy is all I feel. This isn’t me, but I believe I'm upset. No, not just upset, I think I’m angry. I’m… I’m angry..! I’m furious! I can’t believe he almost attacked me over that stupid little argument!

My claws unsheathe and I grip the roots of the tree. My eyes clamp shut, and I grumble as my head fuzzes. It’s hard to keep it upright, and slowly my anger bubbles away, but it’s replaced with rising rage instead. 

“I can help you….” A voice mutters, but I can’t open my eyes to look around for the source of it.

“You won’t find me around. I'm inside you. Call me… Torano.” I groan again, letting my head fall back against the tree. It hurts, I’ve got a headache and my chest feels heavy. I finally open my eyes, but everything is blurry. I can’t focus no matter how hard I try. They sound like me, but deeper.

“That’s because I am you. I'm your stronger self.” And apparently it can hear my thoughts… Stronger self, what does that mean? All of a sudden, a loud thud ran in my head, and I was knocked forward from the pain. Clutching the ground under my paws, I shudder my first verbal response.

“W-what are you..?”

“Like I said, I’m you, but in your head,” the voice continues after answering my question, “and I believe you’re in a pickle right now. I can help you.” Torano wasn’t wrong, I still didn’t know how to survive on my own, and I probably would end up getting in trouble later. Yet, they just sounded so-sketchy-I don’t know, maybe I’m being too rash.

“How will you help me?”

“I’ll give you a little extra strength, some wisdom, that’s all. I just need you to let me in…” Now I really don’t like this. Just shaking my head made whatever this voice is growl darkly.

“LISTEN- Ahem - Doesn’t Dust abandoning you make you so mad?” Wha- What does this have to do with..? “I can tell you’re super upset with what happened. Dust gave you this promise, then just snatched it back, right?”

“Yeah, I guess I'm pretty mad about it… But that’s not-” The voice cackled and I swore I saw a ghostly version of me prance past my body on the ground.

“Doesn’t it just make you so mad that he almost hit you?”

“It does! But-”

“Let me help you! I can get rid of your anger, make you peaceful with nature once again.” Their offer almost sounded like an order. Just after they finished their ‘offering’ my head started to pound again. I held my head with my hands desperately, shutting my eyes tightly and curling up into a ball. The world felt like it was shaking, the pain ended up getting so bad I nearly screamed. Whatever this was, it was trying to take over my body. What really scared me was that it was winning.

No matter how hard I cried, screamed, grabbed at the ground, there was no stopping the demon in my head. My head pulled back as I scream-howled into the air. Transparent green wave-like things flowing out of my eyes had just appeared as I was knocked unconscious.

Now that I have control over the little brat’s body, time to do some destruction… “Hahaha… HAhahaha!  AHAHAHAHAHAH!!” Pushing this puny body off the ground, I let out the loudest evil cackle I could manage with her stupid voice. My sharp emerald green eyes darted around at the surroundings, before ultimately glancing up at the Twilight Skies. This stupid dog doesn’t even know how important she is, which works on my behalf and the King’s. Now, to find that dumb wolf, so she can kill this body and set me free for the King.

I pushed the body forward, but after taking one step I glanced down at her shoulders. What the absolute f**k is she wearing? I push it off the shoulders, and let the huge thing drape off her. It was a freaking blanket?! Seriously, kids, I hate them. Turning away from the dumb blanket, I growl with a sharp smirk taking the next few steps before sprinting off. I knew just where she’d be, where ZERO would be. 

Zero was the most loyal pupil of the King’s. She’d do everything and anything just for a tiny praise from him. She’s strong, stubborn, hard willed, and even a little - maybe very - hot headed. Definitely the King’s second in command, since he doesn’t have a son. I swear, that indiscreet wolf almost murdered a guy in public because he mildly insulted the King. His name was Dirt, if I remember… Which I don’t, because I didn’t give a s**t then and I still don’t now!

I wonder if that King Cheetah will come after us. I know he’s got a troubled soul, he walks around as if he’s lost his life and has nothing better to do with it. Which he doesn’t, because I’ve heard what happened to his wife and daughter all those years ago when this war started. 

It was a bright sunrise, the two big cats were sleeping in their den comfortably while their daughter slept next to them. Their daughter, a King Cheetah and Transvaal Lioness hybrid (I say it was an abomination). As the young ones always do, the young hybrid awoke first. She pricked her ears as she lifted her head up, yawning softly before rolling off the bed. 

“Oof!” The tiny hybrid meowed, laying flat on the ground for a bit before stretching and standing up. She ran towards the den entrance as her parents grumbled and groaned and woke up slower than she did. The bright sun shone over her face and fur as she peeked outside the den. Being only a few years old, around 10, she’s already been out and about a few times now. Yet the outdoors still excited her, and that was just her spirit, her optimistic personality shining like the sun is this morning.

“Wait for us, dear…” The lioness mewed as she yawned loudly, making her husband yawn right after her. She flicked an ear as she leaned up and licked the top of her still slightly sleeping husband’s head. “Get up, it’s my turn to take her out this morning.” The cheetah groaned before doing the same as his daughter, and rolled off the bed. Hitting the ground with a deeper oof than his daughter. 

The lioness laughed softly, “no wonder where she gets it from.” Instead of rolling off the bed, she crawled off into a standing position only to stretch before continuing.

“Savannah, you messed up the chain.” The Cheetah wined a little as he flipped himself over and stood up properly. His tail swished a little as he stepped up to the lioness, rubbing his head against her shoulder. 

“Sorry, heh, did you want me to crush you again?” Savannah smiled gently, but her reminder made the Cheetah laugh awkwardly. “That’s what I thought. Go on, Dust, your daughter is waiting.” The lioness turned and walked somewhere else in the den, probably to the storage to grab some food for them when they came back.

“Eh- hey, she’s your daughter too!” Dust purred before turning and prancing over to his daughter, who was waiting so patiently at the edge of the den. He slowed down a few paws when the sun hit his face. Standing next to the small hybrid, he looked down at his daughter before licking the top of her head, making her laugh. 

“Daddy, stop, not now..! Hehe!” She pawed at him, stopping when she pushed his face away. The brightest smile on her face, so bright it could rival the sun's glow. 

“Now, Leah, today our morning walk will be short. We’ve got plans for later today, so we won't go far. You hear?” Dust tilted his head slightly while explaining to Leah why they’d be taking the short route, and Leah nodded in understanding. 

“You’ve got it, Daddy!” She beamed, jumping up and curling her tail high. Her ears pricked as she ran out, making Dust mew in surprise before running to keep up with her. 

After an hour, the two returned to the den. However approaching it, Dust pulled his ears back. Something wasn’t right, he could feel it. The sky had turned this purple color not too long before they got back, but he had thought nothing of it then. Slowly, a familiar scent poured into his nose. The scent of blood. In surprise he ran forward toward the den, making Leah yip in response and try to keep up. Although he was so much faster than her.

Sprinting into the den, Dust gasped while tears formed in his eyes. There, in the center of the den, laid who used to be his wife, Savannah. Now ripped open, guts spread all over the den. The furniture was knocked over, and the cabinets and boxes of food and other items had been ransacked. Dust sat down and let his tears fall on Savannah’s lifeless husk of a body, before he jumped up in shock when hearing a tiny scream. That was Leah. 

Dust dashed out the den as quickly as he could, only to find a large body holding his poor Leah in it’s mammoth like paws. When the beast turned it’s head over to Dust, it clamped it’s jaws on the hybrid’s neck and bit down with unimaginable force. Leah let out one last scream, a plea of mercy, before going limp as the wolf monster ripped her head clean off. 

Without thinking, Dust ran forward and jumped at the monster. However, she was prepared, because she threw the body of his daughter at Dust, making him stop and fall down from the impact of it hitting him. He put his paw on the chest of his dead daughter, and glared up and the now smirking demon. 

“Who the f**k are you..?”

“Glad you asked, I'm Zero. I'm sure you’ve heard of me somewhere.” 

Dust’s eyes widened slightly. She was the demon who almost decapitated him when the King invaded. He started to bare his teeth again, and quickly whipped into a glare again. In a final fit of desperation, he stood up and ran at Zero once again, jumping up into the air with his claws extended. 

With one swift movement, Zero ripped her claw up and straight across Dust’s face, right across his left eye. Of course, with this sly maneuver, Dust also managed to grab onto Zero’s back. But since he was sliced in the face, his grip lost power and strength, making it easy for Zero to just pull him off. She dug her claws into his back and ripped him off her, throwing him to the ground. Dust laid there, glaring up with one eye at Zero. He didn’t bother trying to make another move, let alone even stand up. That’s when Zero cackled and turned on her heel, walking off toward the moon. When she poofed into a cloud of black, the twilight sky blinked white before turning back to a normal early morning sky. The black cloud faded away, revealing nothing there. She’d teleported away, probably to report back to her King. Dust had laid there, and he didn’t bother getting up for hours. He just held his daughter’s decapitated body close to him, and cried.

That’s what I remember being told, at least. It was a pretty good story, I loved hearing how they all almost died. Would have been funnier if Zero had killed Dust, but alas, that didn’t happen. Any who, time to find the suck-up wolf.