A Misstep
Heya, my dear readers, it is I, Suisen Ōkami. Mister Ōkami hasn’t returned yet, but I did get a new journal. Kurai is surprised that I managed to pull another of these up to use. I don’t quite know where these things come from, but now she’s sniffing around looking for her own journal, presumably just to write the word “Vore” over and over again.
“Suiiiiiiiisen! Pleeeeease!” Kurai wails. “I wanna write stuffs too!”
I’m about to reply, but my thoughts are interrupted. I hear an aggressive howl outside followed by a snarl and a growl. I smell fear mixed with anger. I hear a yelp suddenly, the gnashing of jaws, sharp fangs clamping.
“Awooo-oooo-OOOOO-ooo-ooo!” a coyote howl resounds.
“No!” I exclaim, rising to my feet.
I run outside and find Mister Ōkami locked in battle with the Coywolf! I skid to a halt as my Alpha crunches down on the Coywolf’s throat. No! He’s gonna murder the ambassador! I run in and bite Mister Ōkami roughly on the arm. Startled, he lets go of the Coywolf.
“Ow! Suisen!” Mister Ōkami exclaims. “Why have you attacked me?! I’m defending us from an intruder!”
“That’s an ambassador!” I exclaim.
“Y-yeah…” the Coywolf groans, his eyes rolling up.
“Wha- Oh… Oh no…” Mister Ōkami says, staring at the blood soaked ground.
“He came here earlier asking to speak to you…” I explain. “And I told him to wait.”
“…we can’t have his pack know about this…” Mister Ōkami says. “Help me drag him inside. I found a few other injured wolves as well on patrol.”
I briefly glance at the border patrol. Bread, Moov, Yapper, and Hash have all returned safely. With them are 11 more wolves! They are as follows: 14 year old female with minor injuries. 11 year old male who isn’t injured, but is sticking close to the 14 year old. 5 year old male who looks similar to Cuttoe. 15 year old male with a 1 year old male sticking close. 8 month old female. A nearly dead 2 year old female with another nearly dead 5 year old female. A nearly dead 5 year old male with an 8 month old male and a 6 month old male.
We’re gonna need three more women to volunteer to unbirth these wolves… I wonder if we can save the Coywolf without having to unbirth him… His pack will be worried about him. If only Mister Ōkami wasn’t so rash…
“Yes, Alpha…” I say.
I help drag the broken body into the den. He whimpers weakly, too injured to even lift his head. Vicious hears the commotion and emerges to investigate. She stares at the injured Coywolf, mouth open a bit in surprise.
“My pack… It hurts for me to admit, but…I may have made a misstep,” Mister Ōkami announces.
The others begin murmuring anxiously. Mister Ōkami, who claims to be perfect, has just admitted to making a mistake. Arch lowers her head, whining. The Coywolf is still alive, but barely.
“Frostt!” Mister Ōkami calls out.
“Yes, Alpha?” Frostt asks, appearing from the healing room.
“I need you. Right away,” Mister Ōkami says, looking grave.
Frostt comes to a halt in front of the injured Coywolf. She gasps in surprise. Coyotes are our enemies…and here is one, nearly dead, in need of care. Frostt sniffs the wounds and looks up at our Alpha.
“Why have you brought this coyote here?” Frostt asks.
“He’s an ambassador, apparently. I didn’t realize and nearly killed him. He was lurking around and I feared he was going to eat our pups,” Mister Ōkami says. “So I need you to heal him for me…and hope his entire pack doesn’t come looking for him!”
“I see… You trust I can save him?” Frostt asks.
“Suisen’s up and walking with no sign of having been nearly dead. I believe if you can manage that, you probably can save the ambassador,” Mister Ōkami says.
“Yes, Alpha…” Frostt says, and I bet she’s extremely nervous because she didn’t actually heal me.
“Aside from this incident, border patrol went well and we found 11 more wolves. Three of them are dying, so I’m going to need help with them as well,” Mister Ōkami says.
“Should we unbirth the Coyote?” Yapper asks. “Ya know, because he’s about to die?”
“No. We can’t do that. He wouldn’t remember his pack and then they’d know we nearly killed their ambassador and I am NOT ready to go to war with a bunch of brutes!” Mister Ōkami says.
Ichigo, Edge, and Yapper volunteer to take the other dying wolves and unbirth them. Yapper is a bit young, but she is willing. The other wolves, as it turns out, are Cash the 5 year old who happens to be Cuttoe’s brother, another of Grammy’s kids, a feral named Dora who is the 8 month old, Berry the 14 year old and Seed her 11 year old son, Dough the 15 year old and Arugula his 1 year old son, and two little feral pups named Sprout and Long. Sprout’s big brother is within Yapper now, and Long happens to be the son of that same wolf.
“There are 78 of us now, but we still lack strength…” Mister Ōkami says, mostly to himself. “We need more allies.”
Frostt is licking the bite wounds on the Coywolf’s throat. He’ll die if the bleeding doesn’t stop. Frostt briefly looks me in the eyes and keeps on working. I think Alpha will get a bit too suspicious if we have the unicorn come back and heal the Coywolf so soon. What choice do we have, though?
After some waiting, the hunting patrol returns. Orenji managed to kill a cow without that crazy bull noticing. Burūberī has brought three pigeons. Dilly has a single mouse, but also a pillow she stole.
Cobra caught two partridges. Pip, the last one in the precession, has brought a sheep. Counting any leftovers that didn’t get washed away or contaminated, we have enough food to feed about 41 wolves. Looks like we’ve finally ran out of luck…or have we? If the zebras we caught previously weren’t contaminated, we would have had a lot more food left.
“Orenji, impressive catch. I wish all of you could be as great of hunters as her!” Mister Ōkami says. “But no! You bring a single pitiful mouse and expect me to be happy!”
“And a pillow, Alpha, for you,” Dilly says, bowing low.
“…I guess that’s slightly better…but a pillow does not feed my pack,” Mister Ōkami says.
“Well, there’s plenty of food in the poop room,” Boogerbum remarks.
“SHUT UP!” Mister Ōkami yells and strikes Boogerbum.
Everyone lines up to eat. I feel hopeful at first, but my hopes are crushed pretty quickly today. Not even I get to eat. 52 of us are left without food because Alpha decided to be a pig about it again.
“I wish I could spare more wolves for hunting patrol, but so many of you are pregnant now,” Mister Ōkami says, licking his blood soaked jowls. “Even Suisen hunts better than you guys!”
Tomorrow is another day… I watch Mister Ōkami slink off, his belly impeding his ability to walk. I pad off to check on Umi and Oil. I walk in and find Umi is stable, but Oil’s load has increased, and it was already a large load.
“Are you going to be okay, Oil?” I ask.
“I’m in a lot of pain…” Oil says, panting. “I didn’t quite expect it to hurt this much!”
“I’m sorry…” I say.
There are 11 pregnant wolves now. Once they all give birth, we’re going to see an even bigger increase in our pack size. Maybe by then we’ll be stronger. I give each of my pregnant friends a kiss on the head and retreat.
Morning comes and I awaken. My stomach grumbles, reminding me that I didn’t get to eat last night. Kurai, who was snuggled against me wakes up and stares at my belly. She then stares at me a moment.
“You swallowed Hunger and it’s trying to escape,” Kurai says.
“I what?!” I ask and laugh. “I’ll be fine… I can handle not eating for a bit.”
“My pack! The time has come, once again, to assign you your daily roles. Umi, Ichigo, Viper, Oil, Edge, Jell, Jewel, Springy, Dollop, Yapper, and Grammy, get plenty of rest, remember to stretch, and drink plenty of water. Frostt, continue looking after Moucoy; do NOT let him die! Presha, Ziff, Clementina, Ava, Ellie, Vicious, Bella, Suisen, Gargle, Dilly, Cobra, Burūberī! I need you all on hunting patrol! Bring back lots of food! I’m starving! Border patrol! I need Orenji, Moov, Hill, Ivory, Split, Noise, Crusty, Divide, Rip, Gold, Snoww, Earless, Peppy, Pip, Boogerbum, Toosh, Loop, Lost, Mallow, Argh, and Kurai! Arugula and Berry, you two look after the pups Acorn, Hoop, Kibby, Iddi, Chain, and Pooper. Cash, Dora, Seed, Dough, Sprout, and Long, you have permission to rest today. The rest of you, meaning Hash, Walk, Ressa, Nora, Mouth, Cuttoe, Umami, Cotton Mouth, Arch, Space, Snotty, Wall, Crisp, Banana, Bound, Stubtoe, Pear, Bread, and Awoo, you guys should practice some fighting techniques. We need to prepare in case the coyotes attack us… Okay! That is everyone!” Mister Ōkami announces.
“Alpha, I’m 8 months old, can’t I join the fighting lessons?” Chain asks.
“You wouldn’t be any use as a fighter,” Mister Ōkami says with a scoff.
“What?! But…if you let me train, I could be of use!” Chain whines.
“Your neck is broken. I can’t risk you getting hurt just because you want to learn how to fight. You’re just going to have to deal with being broken,” Mister Ōkami says. “I need a strong army, not defective crooked headed pups.”
“Okay, Alpha…” Chain says, flattening against the ground aside from his crooked head.
“Gee, I feel bad for him… But I’m going on patrol for the first time in forever!” Kurai exclaims.
“I wish I was on border patrol with you…” I say. “It’s VERY dangerous… You come back safely, okay?”
“SUISEN! NO TALKING NICELY TO THE STINKY OMEGA!” Mister Ōkami bellows.
“Sorry, Alpha…” I say, but I’m not actually sorry.
As much as I want to be with my little wolf friend, going hunting gives me yet another chance to talk to Sage. I could use more of her wisdom right about now. Mister Ōkami howls and we head out. The border patrol is headed for the city outskirts again.
“I’m nervous,” Ellie says to me.
“What are the chances that you’ll find tainted meat again? Give it a through sniffing after you kill it. If it smells funny, it’s probably inedible,” I say.
“Yeah, but, I thought I did such a good thing…only to find out I didn’t and then Alpha was so mad at me and you nearly died! It was all my fault!” Ellie says.
“I can’t blame you. I’m sure I would have brought in the zebras as well if they were easy enough for me to kill,” I say.
“I suppose…” Ellie says.
“Good luck! I’m heading down this path…” I say and bound away.
I check to make sure nobody’s is following… There’s no one following me. I think I’d be in so much trouble if Alpha found out about all my secrets. I make my way back to Sage’s house again.
