Trepidation - Chapter One

A light air rushed over the dunes.  Sand grains swept high into the dusk sky and danced circles in front of the moon.  Waves rippled across the desert lands like a sea of troubled water.  Particles created mists through which the horizon was invisible to the naked eye. 

Appearing like a sudden bolt of lightning sped a creature faster than any eyes could make out.  As it leapt over a dune, landing stealthily on the other side, it waited.  The cheetah could be seen now.  A murky yellow coat, covered in dirty spots.  It’s head swivelled round and three crimson claw marks were spread across it’s nose.  It’s ears pricked.

As quickly as it had come, it was gone.  A blanket of silence once more on the empty landscape. 

“Thunder.  Rose.”  The voice startled the land, and the blanket quickly withdrew into itself.

A large pack of wolves appeared suddenly onto a dune.  At their front stood a large, white male wolf.  His eyes were a crystal blue, and yet alert to all his surroundings.  His tail was up and inline with his back, accurately.  His leadership was clear and every part of him showed a commanding tone.  Beside him, stood two other wolves.  The smallest, a black female with relaxed green eyes, kept her head low as her eyes traced the horizon.  On the other side of the leader was a much larger wolf with light brown fur.  His muscles rippled under his coat with every subtle movement.

“Take it down.”  The leader’s voice was quiet.  He knew he had to go through with it, but he didn’t want to.  His heart and mind believed it to be wrong.

“Are you sure?”  The female, inclined her head upwards ever so slightly.  “There must be a way for us to get out of this, Quill.  I’m sure if we just say to the Consilium that it got away...”

“No, Rose.”  Replied Quill.  “We have to do this.  There is no way for us to get of this.  Besides, if we don’t the Consilium will have my head.”  He bowed his head and then eyed the land again, kneading the ground nervously.

Thunder, the much larger male, shook his head acceptingly and then turned round.  In front of him now, lay the rest of the pack.  They were a mixed bunch of smaller and much larger wolves.  They looked unsettled, worried or maybe just confused, Thunder gave them a nervous glance before composing himself.

“We take it down, Consilium’s orders.”  Thunder called out over them.  A ripple of mutters grew, before deceasing at Thunder’s gaze.  “There is to be no arguments, now come on!”

Thunder turned quickly and raced off into the distance.  The pack sped past Quill and Rose without a second thought.  Quill sighed, his mind distant.

He had always believed in the Consilium, ever since he was young.  He had looked up to them as though they were deities.  But ever since he had signed up, all they had left him with was questions.

The Consilium was a group of wolves made up of four ranks.  There are four Capitis; Meus, Meridian, Ocas and Oriens, they named the lands after themselves.  The Capitis were the wolves who rule over everything else, and they make the decisions.  Under them come the Altiors.  Altiors are wolves who have proven themselves to be worthy.  Below them come the Demittos.  Demittos are just teachers at the Academy, but they are specially chosen.  Lastly are the High or Low Solums, past Heads or Masters.

Quill had always longed to a part of it, to be worthy to join the Consilium in Medius, the central lands.  Yet now, with all the wrong decisions, wrong choices that he had to make, because of the Consilium, he wasn’t too sure.  He didn’t know if being a part of that was really what he wanted anymore.

“You don’t want us to kill it, do you?”

Rose’s question came as a shock to the young Head, and his fur slightly bristled at her voice.  His love for the young Master Tracker had always been clear to him, yet saying anything of the sort was off limits.  The Consilium’s Orders were sometimes a bit undermining.

“Of course not.  How can I take down the last cheetah in Oriens?  It’s wrong.”  Quill shook his head, claws piercing the sand beneath them as he thought over what he would have to do.

“Then don’t.  Tell the Consilium it escaped.  Tell them we tried, but it was just too fast.”

“They won’t believe it.  We have the fastest Tracker known, and she was out run by a cheetah?  No.  It isn’t worth the risk.  Maybe the Consilium have good reasons for it.  Maybe we’re just not seeing the advantages.”

“Or maybe it’s just that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages.”

Quill’s head shot round to Rose.  She had always been one to face consequences head on, and Quill would always stand by her side; but even she had to see that the Consilium mean business, they had always ruled the planet for as long as the Humans had been gone.

A howl erupted on the horizon, and both Quill and Rose froze.  Quill’s muscles tightened slightly and his jaw tensed.  This was it, the moment he had not been looking forward to.

“Come on.”

Racing off the dune and down into the sandy valley, Quill led Rose to the location they were called.  Both stayed silent, waiting anxiously for the moment they would see their destiny.  A destiny in which neither could understand, or would ever want to.

It grew steadily colder as they ran, even though both were running faster than they normally would.  Rose was a Tracker, the fastest wolves alive, but even she could only match Quill’s sped.  Quill was a past Tracker, and a great one at that, but when he was offered a job as a Head, he had to take it.

Eventually, Quill saw the pack.

Most were sitting down, except Thunder, who had his paw resting on a dirty yellow creature.  The cheetah was silent, claw marks streaked across it’s back where the wolves had taken it down.  Thunder was muttering something in it’s ear, teeth bared, when Quill and Rose approached.

“That’s enough, Thunder.  Let it up.”

The Master Seeker did as he was commanded.  Following suit, the cheetah rose as well, standing on shaky legs.

“By the Order of the Consilium, I, Quill, Head of Squad 286, do sacrifice this cheetah for the good of the wolves, and fo...”

“No!  Please!”  The cheetah fell to the ground, paws covering it’s nose.  “Please.  I have a family, young cubs to feed.  Please, have mercy.”

Quill glanced at the rest of his pack.  He could see in each of them that they did not want to do this, no one did.  Even Thunder, who was a menacing tyrant at his best, understood what the cheetah was going through.

“Tell me, cheetah, what is your name?”

“Talisman.  B-But everyone calls me Tali.”  Tali’s head slowly peeped out from under his paws as he watched the Head at work.

“Tali, explain to me why we should have mercy on you?  We, the wolves, have ruled this planet for many years.  We are the strongest, most dominating species.  So, explain why we should allow you to risk that?”

Rose smiled.

“W-Well, I am no threat.  I would not hurt or harm any wolf near me.  I eat as little as possible, so do my cubs.  It is just myself and them, my mate was killed about a month ago.”  Tali’s eyes dropped to the ground for a second, a distant gaze in them.  “I can hunt, I am fast, almost as fast as your Tracker here.”  He signalled to Silver.  “I can help catch food for you, I can...”

“That’s enough.”

Tali’s ears pricked, pure horror sketched across his muzzle as he waited for fate to decide what to do with him.

“Thunder.”  The Master Seeker approached Quill and they exchanged a few quiet words.  Thunder smiled slightly, and soft touch in his eyes as he turned from the Head and towards Tali.

“Come with me, we will find your cubs, and we will take them to Roben.  You will stay with us, Quill’s orders.”  Thunder said,  nudging Tali forward.

Quill said nothing, while a shocked and overwhelmed cheetah was led away by his Master Seeker.  The other wolves all looked perked, they all knew Quill could never sentence another animal to death.

Rose trotted up to Quill.  “That was brave.  Whatever happened to Consilium’s Orders?”

“Sometimes you have to realise that what’s best for one, is not always what’s best for another.”  A lopsided grin spread across his face as he watched Rose.  She had always been able to understand him, and even now she knew what was going through his mind.  “Come!”  He called over the rest of the pack.  “Thunder will join us back in Roben, but for now, let us head back.”

The pack were all happy and hyper now, amazed that they would be joined by not just one cheetah, but a few cubs as well.  Each could not contain their excitement.  Not many wolves would be so excited about the other animals, but those of Squad 286 were easily.  All of them had been influenced by Quill, when they had last faced a young bird, and like then, Quill had not killed it.  It wasn’t in his nature.  The rest of the pack, hence believed this to be the right way in doing things.

After a few minutes of walking through the desert, the pack came across a small village of some sorts.  There were huts, built from wood and straw or in rock crevices.  Many wolves lay outside of them, lying in the cool evening air.

Quill led the pack along the pathways, nodding his head in acknowledgement to each and every wolf they passed.  Everyone knew him; the soft leader, who was not afraid to work and always believed he was right.

“Right.”  He stopped the pack in the center of the village.  “As I’m sure you all know, Wish had her cubs today.”  A wave of remembrance washed over the other wolves.  “So, training is cancelled tonight so we can all visit, but remember...”  He added, as some of the other wolves looked eager to go.  “Marigold, and Thunder, will not want us disturbing them too long.  So, when I say it’s time to leave, I mean it.”

There was a murmur of agreement and the other wolves trotted off into a large hut on one side.  Quill smiled and slowly followed them, Rose by his side.

“You are getting soft, you know that right?”

Quill didn’t reply, but just ducked his head as he entered.  Inside was a large open space.  A few wolves were lying or sitting at the sides, leaves wrapped around forepaws, or medicinal cocktails in front of them ready to drink.

Marigold walked straight up to Quill.  “Quill, I don’t appreciate your Squad disturbing my nursing wolves.”

“It’ll only be for a while, Marigold.  They just want to see Wish.  Plus, Thunder’ll be back soon and you know what he’s like.”  The two exchanged a look of knowing, before Marigold nodded, turning back to another wolf that lay with two scratches across his stomach.

Quill and Rose continued through the hut, until they came to a back room.  Most of the Squad was already in there, although some were hanging around the door.  The young Head and Master Tracker made their way through the wolves and towards Wish.

“Is this part of their training, Quill?”  Wish was a young female with glowing amber eyes and a thin auburn pelt.  She was lying on her side with three cubs suckling hungrily.

“They wish.  So, how are you feeling?”

“Much better, thank-you.  Err...I was going to ask, where is Thunder?”

“I sent him on an errand, he should be back soon.”

“Good, good.”

Beside Wish lay another nursing mother, this one however had only one cub.  Erin was an older cub, but wasn’t yet allowed out of the Nursery.  Right now, she was sitting on her mother, Opal, watching the other wolves.  Silver was near her, and the two would exchange glances, or swipe a paw at each other when they thought no one was looking.

Silver was the youngest wolf part of Squad 286.  Barely an adult, she had left the Academy when she was only one year and eight months.  Then assigned to Quill’s Squad, she could of been misplaced as a cub still if it weren’t for her speed.

“What are you all doing here?!”

Thunder’s voice parted the Squad, and they let him in so he could be near his mate.  Thunder sat behind Wish, eyeing the other wolves around him.

“It’s alright.  They aren’t disturbing us.”  Wish said, licking Thunder’s chest once to calm him down.  It worked, the Master Seeker lowered his head and sniffed cautiously at the newborn cubs.  “They’re beautiful, aren’t they?”

“Yes.”  Was all Thunder could manage.

“Thunder, where is Tali?”  Quill asked, wondering what had happened to the cheetah.

“He-he’s waiting outside.  Didn’t want to come in.”

Quill bowed his head to Wish and turned to leave.  Rose stood up as well.  “No, Rose.  Stay here, it’s fine.”  Rose smiled and nodded, sitting back down.  Quill trotted out.

In most other parts of the world, a cat, or any animal not a wolf, seen around would instantly be killed.  In Roben, however, it was different.  Quill had not just influenced his Squad, but it also seemed like he had changed the whole atmosphere in his village.

Tali was surrounded by female wolves who were all interested in getting to know him.  Quill recognised Vixen, a wolf who was known for gossiping more than the elders.

“Aw...so this is Akili (he’s so cute), and this one’s Hiari (she’s beautiful).  You make a wonderful father.”

“Th-thank-you.”

“Vixen, leave the poor thing alone.”  Quill said, approaching the group.  He sat beside Tali, looking down at the two balls of fur around his forepaws.  “But she is right, they are two amazing cubs.”

Tali grinned wide, as the females wondered off, discussing things amongst themselves.  “S-So, what should I do?”

“Well, I want to make a deal with you.”  Quill began, thinking everything over in his head.

“A-a deal?”

“Yes.  You can stay here, and get protection for not only you, but for your cubs as well, if you will join our Squad as a temporary Tracker.  We will train you to use your speed to your advantage and you will learn our ways and how not to get spotted by any other wolves.  We will guard you and keep you secret from any wolf outside Roben, so you will not be harmed.  If I was you, I would take this deal, for your cubs, of course.”

Tali’s mouth gaped slightly.  “Ye-yes.  Yes, of course.  Thank-you, Quill, you don’t know how much this means to me.  Akili and Hiari will finally have a home, thank-you.”  He bent down snuggled his cubs, cleaning the male between his ears.

“Then come with me.  We have a spare Arx, that used to belong to a friend of mine, you can have that seeing as he won’t be retuning.”  Quill began leading the way through the streets.

“Err...Arx?”  Tali asked, pushing his cubs forward.

“An Arx is a hut of some sorts.  The Consilium named them after the first one was built, they are usually made out of wood or straw, but sometimes we use caves and shape them to our needs.”  Quill looked back to make sure everything was alright, and chuckled to himself when he saw Tali struggling to push both of the cubs forwards.  “Here.”  He turned around and picked up the smallest by her scruff, she fell silent instantly.

Tali smiled.  “Thanks.”  He then picked up the male and continued on.

Quill stopped outside an Arx that looked rather rundown and placed the Hiari on the floor, she ran straight back to her father.  “This is yours now, Tali.  Inside you will find blankets and a crevice that we store food in.  In the center of the village is where the main food is stored, each night you can go there, take some food and bring it back here to store for the next day.  I’ll bring you some leftovers down in a while, so you’ll have something for tomorrow.”

Tali sniffed cautiously at the Arx while Quill talked.  The two cubs were already inside, happily playing around.

“Training begins at sunrise, I expect you up and ready for it.  I will speak with Marigold about getting someone to look after your cubs, but it shouldn’t be a problem.”  Quill continued.  Tali sighed and then turned and smiled widely at Quill.

“Thank-you, you don’t know how much this means to me.”

“No problem.  Goodnight, Tali.”