Warden's Cove

The night was late. Or was it now daytime?

Hard to tell when you didn’t have humans. If that were the case, Fox would’ve hollered until they made him stop. At least, that’s how he figured out the time.

Now? He slept in a trashed apartment room, most likely once the bedroom of a younger human, a female judging by the pink horses with horns scattered around. Never knew exactly what they were, but he had one once. He tore it quickly.

He got the bed first this time. Humans would’ve assigned them had they lived with them. Out here, it was fight for the good spots.

He glanced over at the other grunt he had to challenge: another shepherd. The smaller dog had instead made his perch on the nearby bean bag. There were at least six other dogs with them as well. All grunts.

He stood, shaking his fur, before sitting back down. He was parched, but couldn’t risk losing his spot. Still, he marked it the night before. It would be fine to leave for a while.

Carefully, he made his way to the now empty windowpane, just managing to make his way through without scrapes. Multiple entry points were like that for the nursery, save a few smaller ones.

He landed on cracked tile, scanning the street for any sign of movement. This place hadn’t seen humans in a while. It had also flooded before they found it, which meant what was supposed to be their clearing was now another part of a stream. Prey also visited often. Lieutenant was wise to choose this spot.

Quietly, he made his way to one of the smaller streams near the broken waterspout, bowing his head down to take a sip. His empty eye socket didn’t bother him anymore.

This was his home now. Spent the first two years of his life as a house dog, and he was now, what? Maybe 16 terms now? That makes it two since he joined. Five more and he’d successfully survive his first year out here. Not that it was any trouble to do so.

A sudden rustling nearby forced his ears up in alarm. He calmed down once he realized it was a beetle, but didn’t hesitate to swat it out of the air when it was headed for his face. The smell when he crushed it was rancid.

Afterwards, he trotted back towards his den, noting that a few squirrels had taken advantage of how dark it was. He let them be, he wasn’t hungry at the moment, anyway.

Once he found the den again, he froze. One of his den mates had taken his sleeping spot.

He didn’t hesitate to leap next to them.

“Move, now.”

The other dog, lanky, off white with brown spots and only three paws, growled at him, still half asleep. “No way. This is my spot now.”

“I marked it, so I claimed it for the night.”

“Marking doesn’t mean anything in the den.”

“Get out of my spot.” Fox started baring his teeth at this point. “Or I will drag you off myself.”

The spotted dog snarled, rising, but Fox didn’t brace himself for a fight.

“I think it’s better if you save your coat while you can, Speckle. You’ve been here— an known me— long enough to know that.”

Speckle growled a final time before moving, walking out of the apartment. It was nearing sunrise anyway. They’d all have to wake up regardless, especially since they had to explore and mark what territory belonged to their pack. Hunting grounds were also necessary while the weather was still warm. After all, they had only arrived here a few days prior.

He sneezed, before walking out of the den, noting that a few others had also joined him. From the center of the ruins, a shorter, cream and brown colored dog padded from his own den, long fur tangled in a mess of weeds and mud.

Lieutenant.

The sole leader of the group. For now, at least. The others wondered when he would find the right time to have a mate and his own pups, if he wanted this of course. Either way, it was best to keep up with his rules if they wanted to avoid trouble within the ranks, before anything major happened.

After all, he was meant to be a leader. He used to be one of those war dogs before losing his owner. What did he say was the cause? A mine? Like any of them knew what it was. Whatever it was, the springer compared to being close up to a firework. Those were loud, so he could only imagine what that was like.

Sleeply, Lieutenant shook dirt from his pelt, eyes scanning each dog in turn. Half of his muzzle was still scraped, but he didn’t seem to care anymore. No one did.

“Today, we explore this new terrain. Establish hunting grounds, and challenge any trespassers.”

The old hound padded down afterwards, walking between the others as he usually did. War dog behavior, Fox decided.

“I am aware no one is very acquainted with each other, but this is your new home now. There will be no humans to feed and care for you. If you wish to survive, I recommend you do as I say. Am I clear?”

No one opposed. Taking note of this, Lieutenant continued on.

“Wounds will be inevitable. I suggest you all find something in this wreckage to use for treating them. Afterward, I will assign a sage.”

The other dogs stood quietly, a few licking their chops or yawning.

“You all may be dismissed. If you hunt, or scavenge, bring the rations here. At sunset, we feast.”

Fox yawned. He didn’t mind hunting, but marking their territory was an important thing as well, more than ever since they weren’t doing it just to be petty anymore.

Speckle stood not far from where he was, and another, more burly dog walked past him. The spotted one followed suit. He raced after them.

Speckle froze. “What do you want?”

“Where are you going?”

Speckle growled slowly.

“Hunting. Not with you.”

The burly dog stared at him.

“Let him be. More fangs, larger prey.”

Speckle bowed his head, still bearing his teeth. Fox snorted. “Where do we go first?”

“West. I’ve hunted in parts similar to this before.”

“A hunter, I see.” Fox licked his lips. “Of course. So, we’ll hunt deer.”

Speckle growled low. “We go for the fawns. They’re smaller and weaker.”

The burly dog huffed. “Monster.”

“You just said you hunt deer.”

“Not the young ones. Besides, when the mother finds us, we’d be more than likely dead.”

“Then what do we hunt?”

Burly sniffed the air. “Old ones. Can’t fight as easily. Meat'll be poor, but better than starving.”

The dogs nodded, before following.

It was easier to find the deer than they thought. Burly managed to find a doe, not elderly, but injured. Most likely from a previous predator. The hard part had practically been done for them.

“We’ll be eating well tonight.” Speckle licked his chops with anticipation. “We migh wven end up like those cats on some o the rich humans’ windows.”

“Not yet,” Burly growld lowly. “She’ll still put up a fight. You take the right side, Fox will take the left. We corner, then take our catch.”

The two others trotted towards their posts, while Burly crouched, watching as the deer bent her head down. Fox’s paws trembled slightly as he waited.

Then, Burly shot off, nipping at the doe’s hooves almost instantly. She immediately bellowed out, trotting away from him. Fox and Speckle followed soon afterwards, baking madly. For a dog with three paws, that dalmatian was quick.

Burly launched himself at the doe, near the flank this time, knocking it off balance. Fox joined in, before it kicked him away, bellowing out as it hobbled off.

Fox growled at Burly. “I thought you said this was easy prey!”

“I said it was easy to track!” The large dog snapped. “It can still fight!”

Both dogs froze as something swung the deer off balance, before another brought it down. It was silent for a few seconds before the dog spoke.

“Next time, don’t chase after your prey like it’s a game.”

Fox growled seeing the other dogs; one a rottweiler, the other a bulldog.

“Next time, you keep your fangs to yourself,” Speckle growled. “That was our catch, Ziv.”

“We all eat this either way,” The bulldog was growling slightly now. Her right eye slowly began to glance down, although she was staring dead at them. Ziv only sat there.

“Calm down, Milli. I’m sure they didn’t mean to act like pups,” she teased. “Now, make yourselves useful again, and catch a few rabbits. This won’t be enough for everyone.”

Burly shot a breath of air from his nose. “And you’re sure they are out in this weather?”

The bulldog— Milli, apparently— didn’t stand down, despite the height difference. But, she didn’t start a fight either.

“Its not cold yet, so they’re more than likely filling themselves swole for winter,” Fox mentioned.

Burly huffed. “I di see a small warden of them not too far from here. At least a dozen were large.”

“Well? They’re still there, right?” Speckle was already trotting off. “If they’re fat, then it’s basically the same as them leaping into our jaws.”

The largest dog growled. “You aren’t even going the right way, you idiot. I saw them going north.”

“And you know that way is north, how exactly?”

Fox snarled at the two. “Quit arguing already. Just because something is fat doesn’t mean it can't run.”

“Fine, we’re going.” Speckle sighed. Burly barked after him.

“Wrong way still, you idiot!”

After the sun had started to just dip below the horizon, the three had finally gotten back to the clearing, whatever streetlights were still functioning illuminating their path. For being a few days away from winter, they had a very lucky catch, three squirrels, five rabbits, and even a lost pheasant. Each was pretty fat as well.

“This better not be some sort of sign that a famine’s coming soon.” Burly set down his mouthful of prey next to the doe in the clearing. By now, Ziv and Milli were already resting nearby as if they weren’t in the middle of an abandoned city.

“We smelled smoke that way.” The older dog pointed whatever muzzle she had towards the left. “It could be a train.”

Speckle snorted, his grunt muffled by the fur and feathers of what he was carrying. “What makes that so important?”

“What makes it not? If it’s a train, then someone or something might be riding it.”

“Obviously. What? You haven’t been in a car before?”

Ziv growled low. “No. In fact, that was the first time she ever even saw a vehicle at all this week.”

Speckle sneezed. “Explains why she was all wide eyed seeing those cars a few days ago.”

That earned a snarl from Milli. The dalmatian immediately backed away. Burly huffed. “Quiet. Lieutenant’s coming.”

Sure enough, the older dog padded into the clearing, four others trailing not far behind.

The leader of the group snorted, then nodded looking at the pile. “You all did good. This is the largest catch we’ve ever caught before.”

Speckle stared at one of the other dogs, a husky who looked as if he had rammed into a tree at least 20 times. “And where was Apex?”

“He was helping gather bedding for the nursery, as well as the other dens. You can thank him when you don’t lose your other paws from frostbite.”

Speckle opened his mouth to argue, but simply nodded instead. “And Ichor?”

The group froze, seeing the shepherd himself trot in proudly, a large looking snake clamped in his jaws. He set it down, glaring at the others.

“I caught this from near the river.”

Fox snarled. “Really? That’s all? A snake?”

Ichor growled at him.

“It’s not just a snake. Clearly it’s venomous, see?” The dog nudged the spots where it was brightly colored.

“No one asked you to catch snakes.”

“No one stated that I couldn’t, either.”

Lieutenant stepped between them. “Settle down, both of you.”

He eyed the serpent for a few seconds.

“I must say, this is a very large one. It’s good you caught it before it bit anyone.”

Ichor beamed.

“However, next time you choose to do this, at least bring a rabbit or two with you. Clearly, this isn’t edible .”

Fox snorted triumphantly. The other just growled lowly.

Lieutenant turned towards the other dogs.

“Now, before we eat, I want to finally declare who our sage, scouts, and sergeant.”

“Weird how he uses those words, right?” Speckle huffed. Zip, one of the dogs who had followed Lieutenant into the clearing, immediately gave a soft growl.

“Just pipe down so everyone else can hear.”

The smaller dog next to her, soft and golden, didn’t say anything.

Lieutenant sighed, then nodded towards another husky, who was sitting nearby Apex.

“Keff, I’ve noticed how out of all the dogs in my group, you take the most time to think out situations, not to mention can tell the difference between certain plants even if they are very similar.”

The husky looked up, her paws occasionally padding the ground. Apex was noticeably less discreet with his own anticipation.

“I have decided that you would fit the role of the group’s sage best. Take great pride in this role,”

Keff have a short nod. Apex practically tackled her. Milli smirked with a snort.

“Lovebirds.”

The other husky finally picked herself up again. “Of course. Thank you, Lieutenant.”

The older dog nodded. “Knowing that our previous sage was very good, even with the short time she was with us, I have high expectations for you.

Fox felt something nudge him, and saw Speckle. “Way to make the most jumpy of us have a mental panic attack.”

Fox looked away. “She’ll be fine. She made it 6 terms as a stray, she’ll survive treating wounds.”

Lieutenant’s voice broke the silence again.

“As for scouts, I feel that the choices are very obvious, considering they’re the only pups in the group.”

His gaze shifted towards the pup, who immediately shrank back in response.

“Nari, I’m sure you wouldn’t mind telling your sister that you both are finally of age to train, right?”

Nari didn’t lift her head, but didn’t seem as startled anymore either. The older dog next to her nodded.

“She won’t. I’m sure they’re both proud to earn this role.”

“I’m sure as well, Zip. I also hope this will encourage her to answer for herself instead of needing an emotional crutch. Unfortunately, we won’t always have someone nearby.”

Nari seemed to shrink into herself again, before Zip nudged her.

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of, dear. Lieutenant just wants to make sure you can stand up for yourself when you’re much bigger, that’s all.”

Nari gave a small nod.

“And finally,” Lieutenant sat down, licking his chops— the scraped side. “We will be choosing our sergeant.”

Burly gave an unsatisfied sigh, his gaze flickering towards the prey. Fox couldn’t complain: none of them had the chance to eat yet, and the days before then, the most they ate were month old scraps.

“The dog I choose is one I'm sure will ensure that everything stays in line if I'm not available.”

Ichor’s tail wagged stiffly, clearly looking forward to claiming the role for himself.

Finally, Lieutenant nodded towards the right.

“Ziv, I have decided that you will be sergeant of this group. Take great responsibility with it.”

The rottweiler gave a short nod. “Thank you, Lieutenant.”

“In your absence, Fox will take charge.”

Lieutenant finally stepped down from the high point of the clearing. “Now, I’m sure you are all tired. So, take some prey, and rest up.”

As the old dog padded off, Fox walked towards the doe, sniffing at its leg.

“Are you picking off the deer first?”

He turned around to face Ziv, who was sniffing at one of the rabbits.

“If so, try bringing a good chunk to the nursery. Zip’ll help you.”

The greyhound in question was already picking up the pheasant instead, clearly about to trip with how large it was.

Fox trotted towards her. “Need help?”

Together, they dragged it towards the nursery, more than likely the boiler room of an abandoned complex. Either way, it was warm, with that boiler somehow still going.

Managing their way through an opening in the window, they finally dropped the bird down.

Inside was definitely much warmer compared to outdoors. Along with that, multiple blankets and pillows were scattered around, so their paws never touched the cold concrete under them. If Apex did all this, he could eat as much prey as he wished for a week.

A yellow dog sat a few good feet from the boiler, with Nari and another brown pup resting nearby. Both picked their ears up hearing the other two enter.

“That’s for us?” The older dog asked.

Zip nodded. “Everyone’s sharing this. More than enough meat and bone on it.”

The brown dog sniffed at it. Not like she could see it anyway— apparently the humans said her eyes were wrong, so they just took them to keep her safe. Humans were weird. But, they could be fair occasionally.

“Is that chicken?”

“Pheasant,” Fox huffed. “Wouldn't be surprised if it tasted the same.”

Nori turned her head up to Fox. “Does it?”

He sat down. “Not sure. I never tried it.”

The shiba padded over.

“Well? If you’re so desperate to try it, take a bite.”

Zip sighed, carefully making her way out of the den. “You all tuck in. I'll go grab a bite of that deer if no one’s taking it.”

Fox nodded. The other yellow dog had already settled down to wait for the younger dogs to finish eating, deciding to chew on a torn carrot plush in the meantime.

“Why are you still carrying that thing around? You’re not a pup anymore, Bun.”

Bun picked her head up, looking at Fox. The shepherd seemed to grow tense seeing the object.

“It’s a comfort item. You don’t have one?”

“I shouldn’t have one, because those are toys. You and Burly annoy me with those… things.”

"They're the last thing we have from our old lives.”

Fox stood, shaking his pelt. “There’s a reason they are from your old lives. And they should stay there.”

Bun trotted behind him. “Where you headed?”

“Water.” He paused a few feet from the window. “Lieutenant might try to find someone to mentor the pups. He never offered yet, but I think you should ask about it. It could take some of the stress off of them as well.”

Bun tilted her head. “… alright. Goodnight, Fox.”

He didn't answer before squeezing through the frame.