SAVAGE: Home

the second chapter of Savage. the team makes its way home and some of the nuances of society are described. A funeral is held for the fallen leader, and then out of the darkness comes a new threat...

SAVAGE

HOME

The sun was just peeking over the trees the next morning when the four wolves returned home. The area was bustling, yet silent; an atmosphere of mourning befitting the death of such a proud and important Wolf. Ike lead his team to the base of the center stone. The stone was a large rock spire that stood out amidst the trees of Haven. It was here that the Wolf leaders lived. He turned to face his exhausted squad , his face betraying his own weariness. He growled

“I'll speak to Felix, otherwise you are dismissed to your own quarters. I expect all of you to be at the funeral on time, to honor the memory of Jedus. We will meet tomorrow at the practice clearing to discuss our issues. Dismissed!”

Bull and Kurt nodded their heads and turned silently towards their homes. Gray walked past his captain and bowed his head, before continuing to his own home, inside the center stone. Gray was the brother of Felix, the king of the wolves; therefore he was the next in line to the throne. His home was a sizable burrow on the middle floor of the stone. The king lived in the top cavern at the peak of center. Below him was the now vacant home of Jedus, as well as four other rooms, each belonging to the other founders of the Wolf Regime.

The funeral would be at dusk, as was common for the funeral of someone as important as Jedus. After it, Jedus' room would become a monument, as had the other rooms of the dead founders. Only Luka survived, her room was the only one to still be called home.

Gray was the son of Tero, the first king, but since he was five years Felix's junior, he was not given the crown. To be fair though, Felix was a good king, who understands the needs of all of his subjects and willing to work with them all. Before their fathers deaths, a few years back, Felix was a capatain of his own squad, and an honored soldier. Gray felt like he had no choice but to work at beating his brother. He had talent, remarkable talent, but he could never quite put it together. That battle on their return trip was proof enough.

Gray reached his burrow quickly, he walked through the halls of the hollow stone, ignoring everyone he saw. His room was spacious, but bare. On the far wall was a circular window, below it lay the bed of leaves he slept upon. On the right side was a trench dug into the ground, filled with freshwater, next to that was a small hole lined with leaves where he put his meals. The smaller animals had agreed to a deal where they would give their criminals and other unwanted animals to the wolves, who placed them in a section of woods set aside for hunting. There was a plump squirrel in the hole, with some berries to the side. Gray could tell he was hungry, his body wanted food desperately, but he could only manage a nibble at the meat, and a sip of water before misery consumed his mind.

“God D****t, I messed up again.” he growled to himself, “Everyone was counting on me to be scout, and … I... I. F**k!”

As that last howl echoed through the halls of his cavern, his mind thought back to the scuffle in the woods. He tried to be a hero, and within a second was made to regret it. Then not only did he fail in the fight, he tried to nurse his wounds mid-combat. Ike and the others had every right to be mad. Gray looked towards the window, the sun was directly above them now, noon. He had some time. He made his way back to the food and finished the meat, he waited a second, then drank some more. He grabbed a branch of berries and shuffled to his bed. Before he knew it, it was sleep time.

When he awoke, the sun was low in the sky, still light, but soon to fade. A large crowd of animals had gathered at the foot of Center, waiting for the procession to start. They lined the path to the burial clearing, sadness clearly expressed in their faces. Gray sipped some more water from the basin, before hurrying to Center's main foyer. The procession had already gathered.

Ready at the front was Felix, who would preside over the procession, then Luka would be behind him. The pallbearers were next, holding Jedas over their shoulders. Gray would come next, being royal. Then would come family/friends. Finally would be the guards who were with him, and the team who was sent to find his killer, Gray's team.

A long drawn out howl came from the clearing, it was time to march. Felix held his head up high and took the first steps, followed closely by Luka. Security wolves were on the sides the whole time. Eventually the whole group was on the street, heading towards Jedus' final resting place. The crowd parted for them, merging into the line of animals.

Darkness started to descend on Haven, the procession continued their march, the crowd formed in as they passed.

When they hit the clearing, the sun was completely set, the animals were still. The body was lowered into a new hole. Then Felix came to the grave, his head held high. The sound he released was a sad below, which was returned by the animals in attendance. Once done he lowered his head, and spoke,

“Jedus was beyond the shadow of a doubt, one of the greatest animals ever to live in this world. His death is not only a darkening shame over all of Haven, but also a rallying cry for all of us. Jedus was the wolf who lead our union to war. His knowledge of Haven, it's inhabitants and their weaknesses helped bring us victory. He was a kind animal, I was honored enough to learn from him as a child, then be groomed for kingship under him when my father lost his life to his wounds of war.” He paused as loud sobs came from the crowd, Tero was always a favorite amongst the denizens of Haven.

“Just as Jedus had us fight for our freedom, so he would have wanted us to fight for our safety , the Fox clan, who have broken their exiles, have continued to attack and defile our sanctuary. Now we have one more reason to press on this new battle, not only for our safety, but for his memory, for all of the founders memories, and so we do not have to loose our fair Luka the same way!” Felix had hit a cord with them, his words ringed in their ears and drew their inner warriors out. But he was careful not to use the word war, still a difficult subject for Haven to accept. He had the crowd in a furvor, angry and sad, emotional, he needed only to quickly finish his speech, let Luka take over.

“ It is our destiny, that now 20 years after the day after the start of our freedom, fueled by the terrorism of our enemies, that we must now secure our power. It is for justice, for revenge, with passion, with vigor, that we end their threat! For Jeuds, may his afterlife be one of paradise.”

The crowd lost it, Felix had played them perferctly. He used the end of his father's most famous speech, the one he gave before the battle that cost him his life, the last of the war. Yet Felix still paid the homage needed to the late Grand-wolf. As the crowd cheered, Felix stepped down, and watched as Luka took her spot, and prepared to deliver her speech.

Gray wasn't listening anymore, he had heard a sound, a slight sound, completely unnoticeable in the fervor. It was out of place, a snarl where there should have been cheering and howling. He looked to his brother, who had also noticed this sound. Felix motioned for Gray to come. Gray stalked over to his brother as Luka stole the hearts of the crowd with her speech, the atmosphere had done a 180 quickly.

Felix and Gray stole away to a small section of the graveyard clearing, no one could hear them from there.

“What happened Gray? I heard your mission was less than fruitful.”

Felix was blunt with his question, it caught Gray off guard.

“I choked, I owe my squad my life, again. Just as I almost cost them theirs.”

“I spoke with Ike, Kurt and Bull as well. They aren't angry, just surprised. You're better than that battle, and I expect far far more from my brother.”

Gray nodded to the King, disgusted at himself. Luka stepped down soon after, the body was lowered into the hole. The gravediggers began to fill it in immediately after words. The crowd soon dispersed. Eventually it was just Felix and Gray in a corner, Luka, Ike, Kurt and Bull standing over the grave. There were of course, a few guards standing by the entrance of the clearing. But that didn’t change anything.

Gray and Felix heard the noise again, louder now, closer. Felix motioned for them to head to the center of the clearing.

He whispered

“ Play it cool, there are foxes nearby, stay near Luka, I'll tell Ike.”

Gray nodded, adrenaline already moving through his body. When they reached the grave site Gray went for Luka. Her appearance surprised him; Luka always wore a strong, knowing face, now there were tears in her eyes. He shook it off as fast as he could, but his curiosity had spiked. Ike's face betrayed his surprise, his eyes widened at the thought of a surprise attack. The message was spread to the other two quickly, and they both tensed up in suspense. Luka could feel the change in atmosphere and looked to Felix. He returned her stare with a gesture to the guards. Her response was to move towards them.

Gray was hip to hip with her, two of the guards broke off with them. Kurt and Bull were behind. Ike walked attentively with Felix as the other two guards joined them. It didn’t take long for their parade to end. A dozen foxes surged out of the forest, with them was a proud looking beast, one that hadn't been seen in Haven for a long time. A large mountain lion was in the middle of them.

“GET HER TO CENTER, NOW!”

The guards formed a diamond around Luka as she bounded down the dark road towards center. Five foxes tried to chase after them, but were intercepted by Kurt and Bull. The other seven formed a semi circle in front of the panther. Ike and Gray stepped in front of Felix, but he would have none of that. One fox stepped out of line, and all hell broke loose.