The grey brute padded heavily into Down Town, his sides heaved as he carried the burden of a child. He wasn't used to such 'weight' on his back, and he still staggered a bit. His dial turned to the boy behind him. Hold On He thought for the hundreth time.

---

They Dubbed me: Shadow

They Molded me: Brute

My Blood is of the: Grey Wolf

My pools are Dyed: Yellow

My Pelt is Hued: Dark brown-grey

I Belong to: No Pack

My Heart Belongs to: No One

My Injuries: Crushed Paw, Broken Leg, Dislocated Leg-healing

The ivory wolfess followed beside Shadow, rubbing her fur against the human being. Her pelt was wet with frozen ice. This ice was once the water that Frostfur swam in to bring the child back up. Wild Wolves-saving humans? It was true for Shadow and Frostfur, and they were often called 'pets' by other bloodthirsty wolves that wanted to kill these humans. But what if...what if in the next generation, the wolves would not be hated by humans, they would be left alone and given freedom to roam wherever they pleased. What if. Was this really what the two wolves were working at? Not to be hated by the humans? Would their names be spoken on the tounges of so many wolves later on? Or would they be killed because of their doings before that? Frostfur could only wonder...

---

They Dubbed me: Frostfur

They Molded me: Fae

My Blood is of the: Arctic Wolf

My pools are Dyed: Sapphire

My Pelt is Hued: Ivory

I Belong to: ???

My Heart Belongs to: No One

The child was shivering uncontrollably at this point, though the wolves' efforts had kept him alive till now. He was too cold and too stunned to realize at first that they had brought him back to town. All he could think of was holding onto Shadow and not falling off.

As the wolves entered town, it wasn't long before their presence was noticed. A minivan slowed down as it passed by the duo. The driver did a double-take as he saw two wolves, one bearing a human child on it's back, padding along. His first reaction was to think that these were big huskies or malamutes of some sort of wolvish-looking dogs whom were pets of the boys. But as he took a moment to digest what was being seen, he saw the ice on Frostfur, and that the boy had on only a thin shirt and pants that looked half-frozen. Indeed, he could see now that the boy's hair was frozen in clumps, and that his face was pale and blue-tinted.

One thought led to another before the driver came to the conclusion that this boy must have been out in the cold when these two canines found him. Getting out of the van, he began to walk towards the wolves, as he finally realized they were indeed wolves, not dogs. "Hey there, are you alright?" The man called out to the boy, unsure about getting near the wolves.

The boy was slipping towards unconsciousness as hypothermia set in more, and the man's words weren't heard.

Close enough to see just how pallid the boy was, the man inched forward more, crouching down slightly to look less threatening to the wolves. He whistled and clicked his fingers, trying to get them to come to him....

Shadow's body lowered and her leaned toward Frostfur, making the boy's hand slide onto her frame. His heart pounded as he approached the human. He hoped this human would be friendly. If he wasn't, it would make the 'saving' a lot more difficult-which might cost the young boy his life. Shadow got only inches away from the human, turning his dial to look at the boy.

---

The white fae's body moved closer to Shadow to catch the boy. Seeing his coming unconsciousness, she desperately licked the human's face.

A dark being crept along the allies near the group of human and wolves. After a moment the darkness seemed to dissapear. The human was distracted. As Shadow approached; the mans attention would be on that wolf: Perfect.

A single orb twitched as he waited for the mans full attention to turn toward Shadow and the other human boy, and without warning, without a sound, the 200lb brute launched from his hiding spot with a good speed, jumping into the air with gaping jaws that would try and tear apart the humans neck. His goal was to break the neck before the human could even comprehend what was going on.

Shadow's pools carries his dial to the brute's hiding place. His nares caught the new brute's scent. The grey wolf sighed. Why did a wolf or dog always interfere? Couldn't it just be easy? Shadow growled and set down the boy slowly, sure that Frostfur would take him now. With a surge of energy, the grey wolf hurled himself at the attacking Vicious, snarling and barking. He aimed for the other wolf's neck, wanting to destroy the wolf as soon as possible. He didn't know who he was, and he didn't care. But maybe if he had known, he might have been a bit more careful...

---

The wolfess gently picked the boy up as he fell, her sapphire eyes focused on the boy instead of the action that Shadow was creating. She hoped Shadow would be alright...alright. But, he did have battles like this before. Frostfur wasn't as worried about him as she was about the boy. She turned her dial to lick his face as she had done many times before. The wolfess walked to the man, trying to lick his hand. She wanted to make sure that he knew that she meant no harm.

Shadow approached on Vicious’ missing eye, but his sensitive ears caught the sound of clacking claws as the beast made his way to defend the human. Pathetic! Vicious rounded his jaws upon the brute quickly, taping the ground only gain strength and then pushed all 200 lbs back onto the gray wolf. If his jaws didn’t make the brute go down, it would be the weight and strength the legendary wolf exerted from his body. “You are fowl scum to be returning prey to their mothers. You wouldn’t send a little fawn back to its doe would you? It’s an opportunity of food, what makes a two legged any different from our four legged prey?” His words were cold, not loud, just a devilish whisper scraping across an invisible black board. His teeth would fasten to the wolf if he found a good chunk of flesh. Vicious knew how to fight, this “Pathetic as a dog” would lose to him even if he tried.

His vacant socket twitched for a moment. As his blood began to pulse, the scar littered body danced as a half missing tail thrashed violently behind him.

The man was just reaching out to offer Frostfur a timid pat on the head when Shadow suddenly lunged for an unseen foe. Turning about in surprise, he saw as the two wolves collided. While the intentions of Shadow and Frostfur had been a bit uncertain to the man at first, the intentions of Vicious were blatently obvious. In one quick motion, the human snatched up the limp kid and dashed back to his vehicle, dumping the youngster in the passenger seat and cranking the heating up. The wolves had saved two lives; the kid's and his own, while Vicious had attempted a kill on him.

Punching the gas, the man sped away from the scene as he dialed the local pound and some hunter friends he knew. Then it was off to the hospital to save the kid.

Shadow went down, thrashing and snarling, his ivories trying to sink down into any of the flesh that covered his opponent. His legs shot up, trying to hit Vicious's more tender stomach.

Shadow rolled his eyes. Did he really need this now? Shadow didn't even want to fight. He just wanted the humans to trust him. The brute's words were not even noticed, but Shadow was used to what everyone said. Pet. Honestly, he didn't care.

---

Frostfur was relieved that the man had taken the boy. Her iced fur was melting, making her ivory pelt wet and spiky. She sighed, exhausted, but her pools were soon directed to Shadow. if he didn't break free, she would come after him...

Vicious felt the bodies hit the ground and he knew the battle was his. That is, if the frosted fea did not intrude on the spar. "You let my human kill get away, by this you choose to sacrifice yourself!" Jaws whipped down around the others neck and forehead area. The half blind wolf bit viciously at the skin. Though he would not hold. As the wolf kicked up Vicious' fangs snapped at his fore paws. Trying to grab one in h is mouth.

He bearly winced at the pain of the wolf scraching his belly, then placed his own large paw against the stomach of his foe. Shadow would do little more than slightly break skin, Vicious pushed all his weight onto that single foot to injure the insides of the brute.

As the battle continued, a howl arose from the Ruins. Vicious didn't even turn to see what it was. Whether he registered it or not was not portrayed onto his features. He continued mercilessly with his fight.

Jack led Min downtown, wanting to show her that this place was fun after all. That is, until he saw the other canines. It looks like the wolves need help. He thought. He watched for a while, trying to make sense of who was good and who was bad. He had figured out that the pair of wolves were good, and the other was bad. He ran to Shadow and Frostfur's aid. "I'm going to help you, whether you like it or not." He said, and prepared for a fight.

Min followed Jack. "Where are you taking me?" She said, but still followed him. "This is getting--" She stopped when she saw the fighting wolves. What are you doing?! You have no pack, you're going to die!" She snapped. She stood at a distance, watching the fight, hoping that her longtime friend was stronger than he appeared.

Shadow's paws tried to evade Vicious' mouth, but in the process, one's flesh was ripped, dying his whole leg with crimson blood. The brute tried to wriggle out from under Vicious's paw that was placed on his belly. He snapped continuosly at Vicious, trying to get a hold of whatever he could.

The brute was relieved to see another coming to help. He nodded to his words without saying a thing.

This was getting out of hand. She bolted to Shadow as the dog did. Who needed fair? With three against one, the attacking wolf might back off. Her sapphire pools held flaming anger. She aimed to ram Vicious from the left into his side. Her pas hit the ground, kicking up mud and clods of dirt.

"I don't like fighting...But I want to help my friend." Min butted in, even though she had the feeling it would be the last thing she ever did. She stood much taller than the wolves, but could make an easy meal for them. If it ever got too dangerous, she could bolt on her long, thin legs.

Vicious was strong, not stupid. Sincetive ears caught the vibrations of the two that were coming after them. He had succeeded in one thing, injuring the wolf who helped the humans. Before either could catch him he lept into the air and turned to face the four. Single orb glowing in hatred. "My my, how weak can one be." He laughed and pointed to Min with a quivering smile "To have prey, one you are suppose to eat, helping you. HAH this is great, If you are human saviors, you will run into me many a time. But for now, I must take my leave." And with that he turned and darted away. Heading for his daughter to help.

Jack chuckled. "Sooo...You're afraid of us? Good job, Min. You made your predator fear you! Of course, the wolves were here first and did most of the work." He looked at Shadow and Frostfur and introduced himself. "Hi. I'm Jack, and the tall one is Min."

the dainty little african canine had been wandering her new digs for quite awhile, hoping to run into anyone- anything, really. joli wasn't exactly sure what a 'down town' was, but she might as well give it a look-see, right? her long legs carried her quickly down the side of the road, her piercing hazel eyes surveying the surrounding landscape with awe. whoa! she'd never seen anything like this...

suddenly, the little canine's ears twitched uneasily, she halted. what was that? she saw a gathering of what seemed to be mostly wolves, along with an antelope of sorts, and... what?! her pretty little eyes widened as she caught sight of a another canine, who resembled herself! joli blinked, trying to decide whether she was hallucinating or there was really another! finally, she decided to go closer, slowly. as she neared the group, she caught the tail-end of vicious's threats, and she shivered. the litte dog made a mental note to never run into that nasty white wolf... he seemed like trouble. she allowed her eyes to dart over the two wolves, antelope, and fellow african wild dog. she had gotten there just in time to hear the introductions of Jack, the dog, and Min, the antelope.

hoping desperately that she wasn't butting in, the shy little joli nodded slightly at jack's introduction, and gave a soft yip of greeting. I-I do hope I'm not intruding. I'm Joli. she said softly, glancing at the ground before letting her gaze rise to look at each canine standing before her (and min too, of course!)

Jack's head turned when he heard a voice from behind. To his surprise, the owner of the voice looked like him, only feminine. "Hi, Joli. I'm Jack." He said, wagging his tail. "It's a pleasure to meet you. It's always a pleasure to meet somebody of one's own kind!" Happiness was in his voice, and he almost howled out of joy several times. "Oh! The gerenuk is Min. I've known her for a long time. We escaped together, along with some oryxes and a bird." He sat down and flicked his oversized ears.

a cheerful wag of her white-tipped tail signaling Joli's carefully contained excitement at meeting another african. her pretty hazel eyes were lucid, and at his happy greeting, she couldn't help but smile. It's a pleasure to meet you as well. the little dog said softly. And you too, Min! Joli said, the cheerful smile still distorting her lovely features. The lithe little canine watched as Jack sat down, and she did the same, leaning back on her haunches. Large ears swiveled towards him, she tilted her head slightly. Escaped? From where? she inquired curiously, so very excited to have found another african wild dog! she wouldn't have to simply settle for wolves!

Min seemed uneasy. She had known Jack all her life, and she knew that he wouldn't eat her. But she just now met this dog and didn't know if she liked the taste of gerenuk. But she wanted to be kind. "H-Hi Joli" Her fear could be seen in her eyes and heard in her words.

Jack scratched the side of his face with his hind leg. "We escaped from the nearby zoo. It's not uncommon to see us here." He said, then looked up at Min. He sensed her fear. He looked back at Joli. "It'll take Min a while to get used to you. Like any animal, she's scared of her predators. He gave Min a reassuring glance. "Neither of us are going to eat you." He said, then looked back at Joli. "So what would you like to do?"

Joli sensed Min's anxiety, and she took a step back, as though to signal that the gerenuk had nothing to fear from her. Hello Min she said softly, giving the timid antelope a gentle nod.

turning her attention to jack, joli listened as he explained their escapdes. The zoo? How fascinating! she said, her quiet little voice quite excited. the dainty canine allowed her hazel eyes to follow jack's gaze, to min, her large ears pricked. I-I understand. she said, nodding, a friendly smile resting lightly on her lips. as jack asked his question, joli pondered her options. I don't know. What about you? I-I'm just glad I met you. she said.

Min calmed down, but was still slightly unsure of her natural predator. "Well, it's quite cold here." She said. "I might go back to the domes soon."

Jack nodded to Min, then faced Joli again. "We could hunt, we could explore..." His mouth opened wide as he yawned. "I've heard that cow meat tastes quite good. We could hunt some cows at the ranch, if you want to. But we'll have to watch out for the guard dogs." His mouth watered when he spoke of the big fat cows.

joli had to agree with min. it was quite chilly, and she was about to suggest they seek a warmer climate when jack came up with his brilliant idea. joli couldn't hold back her own yawn at first, scrunching up her delicate features. ears pricked, she nodded in agreement once her little jaws clacked together again. Mmm... cow meat. I'm up for it! Guard dogs- I'm sure we can handle 'em. the african said with a little chuckle. she stood up, stretching her long legs out and shaking herself off. joli had to agree, cows were definitely delicious.

Min nodded. "I will be off to the domes now. I will see you later." She said, then walked away.

"Okay. Bye then" Replied Jack. He then looked back at Joli. "Let's go hunt some cows!" He said excitedly. "I can take you there. It's just a little ways away." He walked to the cow pasture.