Solo One of the Dogs, part I

[Chaja]

41st of spring
not quite afternoon, not quite evening

They had been excited, that much she knew. Though the scents were a bit jumbled, she estimated perhaps four or five. There was no dog blood to indicate a conflict over the corpse, which led Chaja to assume that it had been a street pack. One of them had a faint under-smell of milk, signifying both female and pups. Yes, it had to be a pack. She gave the alley another sniff, to make sure, then set off after the trail.

A small twinge of worry began to gnaw at her. She had been hoping for one, maybe two or three at the most to contend with. If there were as many as she smelled here, however, it would not be a simple matter of chasing them off and taking the food for herself. Five of them would overpower her, no matter how large she was, and she would need to make a take a different approach if she wished to eat tonight. The fish she had eaten the day before had been large, but not a full meal by any means. The hunger that had been tugging at her for the past week had returned, and she needed to find something that would set it to rest once and for all.

The buildings became more and more destitute as she went, the slime slowly being replaced by dust. Then, suddenly, the houses stopped, and the hyena halted in surprise. She gazed out across the sea of tents that had been hiding behind the slums, unsure what to make of it. A dull hum of countless voices emanated from within, every now and then punctuated by a babe’s wail or the sizzle of food being cooked. There was a quiet, tensed aura shrouding the strange mishmash of cloth, but it was also… peaceful, in its own odd way.

A fresh breeze laced with blood shook Chaja from her reverie, and all curious speculation of the strange city of tents vanished from her mind beneath the loud growl of her stomach. She could wonder later, after she’d eaten.

The scent was much stronger now, and as her excitement grew, so did her apprehension. She was close now, very close, and was detecting more dogs than the five. Seven, eight, then ten. The hyena snarled out loud in irritation; there was no possibility that she would be able to confront dogs of that number. She ran through the possible routes she could take as she moved, unwilling to let mere speculation interrupt her pursuit of food: it was apparent that, with the sheer numbers she would be taking from, a wily approach would be best. She was a very large creature, large enough to at least startle and intimidate them if she couldn’t fight them.

She heard the pack before she saw them. A few were squabbling over some morsel or another, and she angled towards the sound with a quick, nervous step. Within seconds she saw it, jutting from the earth like a charred, broken bone.

[Chaja]

She imagined that the house had once been just like its rickety and cheap neighbors, but some past fire had beaten it down and left naught but the charred rubble before her. Old planks and plaster lay in the same haphazard pile they had fallen in in the inferno, and now feral dogs wandered through the forest of jagged wood as if they had owned it all along. They moved with the content lethargy of the recently fed; slow, calm and completely unaware of Chaja’s presence. The house was one of the very last traces of the slums, teetering over the line between the houses and the territory of the tents. Still, the tents themselves were unwilling to venture near and gave the house a wide berth, leaving a vast expanse of dust. Five dogs were scattered throughout this no-man’s-land, each harrowing an unmistakable piece of the body. What looked like half of the ribs was being bickered over by two dogs, and it was that hunk of meat that caught her attention. That was the hunk of meat that she resolved would become hers.

Chaja’ nostrils flared, doing their best to inhale every delicious trace of the scent. A piercing cackle rang through the air as she vaulted into a sprint, laughing violently. The two squabbling dogs yipped in surprise, and when the charging hyena let loose a primal snarl they quickly moved to vacate the vicinity. The other three dogs looked up at the sudden commotion, and Chaja barked at them for good measure before setting into her prize.

There was not a great deal of meat left, but she didn’t care. The bones cracked beneath her teeth, and she devoured the spongy marrow and splintered ribs alike. Excited laughter surrounded her feast, almost drowning out the threatening growl until it was almost upon her.

She twisted with a yip and snapped violently, giving pause to the approaching beast. He was larger than the others, though he still didn’t reach Chaja’s height, and he was perfectly aware of the fact. He was the weaker dog in this fight, and so he replaced the distance between them whilst keeping his teeth bared in threat

Chaja kept her stance over the ribs, exposing her own teeth in return. A blind man would be able to tell that this was the leader of this pack, and to attack the one was to attack the many; that would serve as a death sentence. She could not afford a fight so close to weakness, but as the dogs began to gather, her near future began to get grimmer.

[Chaja]

The alpha began to circle while the rest of the pack members held back. He was a gray thing, hide mottled and speckled in such a way as to almost resemble stone and was spattered liberally with copious amounts of scars, one ear was almost chewed away, but his eyes were bright and alert, and his fangs by no means dull.

The five dust-bowl dogs had been joined by the three that had been prowling the wrecked shell of the house, and two more had appeared from… beneath?

The alpha snapped his teeth with a bark, prompting Chaja to rise from her crouch and step over the worried meat protectively. She snarled back and moved as he did, continuing to face him even as he completed a full circle. However, it put her back to the other dogs, and her ears swiveled towards them while her eyes remained fixed upon her aggressor. She snarled again, much more loudly; sandwiched between two hostile forces was not where she wanted to be, and the other dogs were beginning to add their voices to the chorus.

She let loose a haunting laugh, sending the alpha dancing backwards. The hyena hooked one paw around the rack of ribs and spurred it forward, towards the stone-furred dog and away from the others. He retreated farther, and she advanced again. Chaja pushed him back with snarls and barks, until finally he circled once more. The path to the tent city was clear, and Chaja took the ribs in her maw and fled.

Dust churned into the air, raised first by Chaja’s paws and then by those of the twelve dogs at her heels, matched only in speed by the cloud of grit that enshrouded them. It seemed as if every dog in the city had joined to pursue her, and only in hindsight did she perceive just how risky her thievery had been.

Jaws snapped a hair’s-length away from her flank, eliciting a nervous cackle and an increase in pace. The weight of the ribs forced her to lope at an angle, and when her head was weighed down so greatly it was impossible for her to reach her full speed. It was a struggle to keep ahead.

The stone-furred dog appeared on her tent-side, causing her to swerve towards the buildings of the slum. He continued to press her, herding her towards the stoned of Sunberth. The others had begun to fall behind, leaving Chaja and the alpha neck-to-shoulder. He yipped and jostled, trying to force her into the walls so his packmates could gain on her once more.

She threw herself tent-side, pushing him away, and as he regained his balance Chaja wheeled mid-step and plunged down an alley. The dog howled in frustration, then streaked after her. Their chase was not yet done.

[Chaja]

She hadn’t the slightest idea where she was going; Sunberth itself was foreign to her and these streets were completely new. She ducked and wove through alley after alley, the alpha snapping at her heels at every turn. Here, she overturned a decrepit barrel, and he leapt over it. There, she dove under an ancient fence, and he dove smoothly after her. He matched her at every step, overcame every obstacle. He was relentless, and he held one crucial advantage: he was in his own territory.

When she saw the dead end ahead, her hesitation was fractional. A simple misstep, a heartbeat to regain her footing, but it was enough—fangs closed on her hindquarters. Chaja yelped and the ribs fell from her mouth. Her slashed thigh stalled, sending her tumbling to the ground, and the fight had begun.

The alpha all but roared as he vaulted upon her. His teeth sank into the back of her neck, but her bristled mane prevented all but the most superficial of wounds. She heaved herself to her feet, lifting the stone-furred dog from his forefeet. With a cackle she slammed her side against the alley wall, loosening his grip enough to writhe and buck him off. He rolled smoothly to his feet, unshaken, and danced around her as she regained her balance.

She jumped to attack, he jumped to meet her, and the rest of the world fell away.

[Chaja]

They clashed in a whirlwind of teeth, snarls and the piercing laughter of bloodlust.

Red blossomed on her shoulder when she scraped her teeth along his cheek and stole a portion of his right ear. He dove for her throat, but she beat a quick retreat and his fangs did little but graze her chest.

Snap, step, back, evade, snatch a taste of flesh, counter, again. Each scratch and bite was matched and returned in full; he was a tough old thing, and the years he had on her left just one too many bleeding veins. But what he had in experience, she had in size, strength and speed—all greater than any common canine. He tired quicker, and when his steps became just a little slower, she scented opportunity. Chaja dodged a flash of yellow, darted under the attack, clamped her teeth into his scruff and twisted to hoist him clear from the ground. She returned the dog with a crash, forcing out an agonized howl of submission.

The hyena released him and stepped away. He rolled from his back to his stomach, movements slow and pained. Still, he managed to drag himself to his feet and stagger away from the one who had injured him so, and Chaja made no move to pursue. He did not make any move to run, either; their fight had placed him between the dead end and Chaja herself.

The dog snapped in an attempt to dissuade her from coming any nearer. The hyena cocked her head, debating internally whether or not his death was worthwhile. They remained there, watching each other, for what seemed to be an eternity until slowly, very slowly, Chaja relaxed. Her ears rose, her mane flattened and her curled lip descended to veil her teeth once more.

He remained on guard, but his head tilted to the side in wary curiosity. Chaja snorted nonchalantly, then stepped away; her stomach was more hollow than ever, and she didn’t need to waste any more energy on another fight.

She sat down heavily beside the ribs, making no move to get out of the alpha’s way or to back him farther into the corner. She snapped a rib from the rack and split it between her teeth, swallowing both the marrow and the actual splinters of bone. It crunched beneath her onslaught, and when she licked the last of the shards from her teeth she looked up.

The alpha had relaxed visibly and was eyeing Chaja with more wariness than actual hostility. He tensed at her scrutiny, but did not bark or snarl. He could tell that their fight was over, and he had even less desire to resurrect it than she did.

Another rib, and this one even had a bit of flesh on it.

[Chaja]

When she looked up once more to see what the alpha was doing, she was surprised to learn that he had moved closer. His tail was down and his steps were hesitant; the hyena still lay in his way out, and now that she had found food a violent approach would not be a successful one. She turned her head to face the approaching canine.

His head remained low in submission while his ears remained fixed upon Chaja. He was not going to risk a confrontation. Had she been wearing her woman-skin, she would have frowned. With a filling belly and returning strength, simply killing the dog would have been a simple matter, leaving her with one less enemy and another corpse to feed upon that was warmer than the already harrowed ribs. And much bloodier.

On the other hand, however, letting him go would have its own, less-immediate advantaged. She had smelled milk on one of the bitches, which meant pups, and pups meant a den. She had been chased out by at least ten dogs, not counting the alpha before her, so the den was obviously very large. She had seen some dogs come from beneath the house—was that where it was?

If so, Chaja wanted it. She’d come close to death far too many times in her few days in Sunberth, and she did not want to continue surviving alone. If she let the alpha live on good terms, she might be able to avoid that fate altogether. She would even share food if it meant being part of a group.

Chaja stood, making the alpha halt his advance. She was not the best at dog-speak, but seasons as a street-beast had given her a cursory knowledge of their communication. The hyena wagged her tail and pivoted her ears to face forward, doing her best to convey what she assumed was a dog’s equivalent of pleasantry. The canine brightened hopefully, and Chaja danced to the side in response. He yipped, put his chest to the ground and then rolled onto his back in respect. She knew this gesture well enough. The hyena approached the dog slowly, unsurely, making certain that her tail remained in movement. She sniffed the alpha’s neck experimentally, then, at a loss for what else to do, licked his throat and chin.

This seemed to satisfy the dog, who wagged his tail in return and rolled to his feet. Chaja took a step back and regarded the animal with an attempt at a friendly gaze, and he watched her expectantly. Their social parlay was done; it was time for him to be let out.

She stepped away and the dog took off down the alleys; in a moment he had vanished around a corner. She watched the place where the tip of his tail had disappeared, then turned back to her prize.

Until we meet again, then.

- End -

[Orion Michaels]

Grade on Hold Hey, Chaja, before I can grade this thread for you I'll need you to update your ledger to reflect seasonal expenses. When this is done, PM me and I'll get you your grade. Thanks!