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So, this story turned out longer than expected..
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Aro ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NiamiThe following story also features [
and please imagine them all with harnesses on, like the first few, and all the same species (dog) ]:
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Kari ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Brute
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Kotch ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Leon
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Montana ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GizmoIt wasn't supposed to go like this.
You were supposed to grow big and strong.
We were supposed to be together.
Forever.
But things change. And they change in the blink of an eye. In the time of one wrong step. Before you know it, your whole life can be wrong. Different. Disastrous. You don't know why you should live. But even though you might feel like that.. Like there's no point to life.. Like nobody will even miss you if you are gone...
Don't give up.Never
give up.The snowstorm hit an hour after we had left. Visibility depleted quickly, and there was no turning back. I was out with my six teammates and my master on a practice run. A big race was coming up, and my master wanted the money. He was so determined... He had won four races before this one, and wanted to win more. He wanted to get his name out there. He wanted to win. And he eventually became blinded by pride and eagerness.
"Keep going!" Master yelled above the howling wind. We hesitated, knowing that not being able to see was dangerous, but he cracked his whip upon our reigns and we began running as quickly as possible. We were cold, and our feet would soon become frostbitten if we did not get out of the snow. Already my feet were aching.
"Are you alright, Aro?" I heard a sweet, mellifluous voice ask. I turned my head to the right, trying to get a glimpse of my mate.
"Yeah, just trying to think warm thoughts." Kari smiled at me then turned her focus back to the path before us. The invisible path.
I was the lead dog for my master's sled team. Behind me was Kari and Brute, followed by Kotch and Leon, and Montana and Gizmo. As I said before, Kari was my mate. Brute was not related to me, but we were good friends, and always competed in a friendly manner. Kotch was probably the friendlies dog on the team; Leon didn't talk much, but he was dedicated. Montana was a nice girl, and I could see her being mates with Kotch - but I never said anything. And Gizmo? Gizmo was my younger brother. We were born five years apart. He was the youngest on the sled team. He always wanted to be the lead dog like me, but he knew that he would have to work his way up.
After a few more minutes of our feet pounding against the freezing precipitation, I barked. My mater needed to let us rest. The rest of the pack barked as well, but our master didn't listen. He pushed us harder instead. The pack's breath created a fog the lingered around us. Something bad would happen. What about poor Gizmo? He was much to young to be running like this. I barked again, this time releasing a small howl afterward.
"Please, let us stop!" I barked. Of course, our master couldn't understand me, because I could not speak Human, and he could not speak Dog. "Please!" I howled.
"Keep going!" Master yelled again. We had all adapted to know that "keep going" meant to not stop, or something like that. My legs glided across the snow, carrying the rest of the pack behind them. My paws had begun to feel numb. And just as I had expected before, disaster struck.
But in a way that I'd never expected.
My paws slid out from under me and my stomach hit the hard ground. I was moving, but I wasn't running. There was a loud cracking noise as my master used his whip again. Or so I thought. The rest of the pack whimpered behind me, losing their footage as well. We were sliding across ice uncontrollably. And even worse, the snowstorm hadn't let up. We were blind on an ice patch. Where did it end? We had no idea. Master yelled behind us, but this time in fear. He heard the cracking as well, and I knew that it wasn't his whip, no matter how hard I tried to persuade myself. The pack whimpered and barked in fear, and even though I was just as scared, I knew we had to get moving. I inhaled deeply, and slowly stood up. The cracking noise continued, and my heart continued to pump quickly. Would we all die here?
No, I wouldn't let this happen...!
My legs moved slowly, one after the other. I pulled with all my strength, trying to drag the rest of the pack with me, but I wasn't strong enough.
"Kari! Brute!" I yelled. "Slowly stand up, and slowly take a few steps! We can do this!" The two followed my orders and proceeded to pass on the message; and soon enough, we were slowly, steadily, making our way across the ice. With every step, I heard the ice crack, and I knew it wouldn't hold out for much longer. The pack grew silent, and focused as hard as they could to step in sync.
"Everyone," I called, "this ice will not last much longer. We must make a run for it." There was a silence, and I hoped it was in agreement. "Ready? ...Run!" I yelled, and soon, the wind was stinging my eyes as we sprinted.
Crack! Crack! The ice threatened us with every meter we moved. I didn't know where the ice would end. But just as the thought crossed my mind that we wouldn't make it, my paw touched solid ground. Dirt covered in snow. My paws, one by one, fell to the dirt floor, sinking into it, the quiet thuds sounding like such sweet serenity to my ears. I let out a howl of relief, but the howl was masked over by a terrible crash. My head shot to the side, but I could not see what had happened. I heard Master scream, and then I heard a splash; and following that, I heard my name.
"Aro! Help!" Gizmo was screaming, thrashing with fear, trying to scramble away from the gap that was now in the ice.
"Giz!" I screamed back, my muscles tightening. I planted my paw in the ground and pulled as hard as I could, and the two behind me frantically did the same. But it didn't work.
"ARO!" I heard one last time, followed by two more splashes. This couldn't be happening. After we finally reached the ground? This was it then. This was our last moments. I heaved forward, but was dragged back two more steps.
Splash! Splash! Kotch and Leon were dragged below.
"NO!" I cried. "Kotch! Leon!" But I was only answered by a quiet gurgling. Then I realized my mate's fate was soon to be closed as well. I heard Kari's claws scraping across the ice.
"Aro," I heard Kari say through clenched teeth. "Please, don't let this be the end of us. I lo-"
Splash! Splash!"Kari! Brute!" I sobbed. My throat burned and my eyes were teared up. Was this the end? My claws were now on the ice, trying to find something to grasp. But there was nothing but a barren ice stage. "NO!" I screamed.
And I was swallowed by the hole.
I thrashed about, trying to escape this torture. I wanted to gasp for breath, but I knew it wouldn't do me any good. So this was it. This is how I would go. I would drown with the rest of my pack, and my selfish master. What had come of him, anyway? And there, just as I had wondered that very though, I saw his figure - his slender, human figure - swim beside me. His head turned to me, and our eyes met. I saw it. I knew it. He had done this to us. He had set this path, this fate, this horrible, tragic fate for us.
And he was going to leave us.
His focus returned to the gap in the ice above, where the light shone threw, and that was the last I saw of him. Master escaped, leaving each and every one of us to die. I bared my teeth, the actions that had just happened reaching my mind. He would pay for this. I reached my head down and managed to get my teeth around the harness that dragged me down. I turned around to get the others, but my lungs burned with the desire to inhale. I made a mental promise to return, and swam as quickly as possible to the surface. I gasped for breath, but only took a few before diving back under. Where did they go?! Where was the pack?! They were sinking much quicker than I had anticipated. I scrambled to swim down. Please, please still be ok... And I, at last, found their shapes. They were sinking as if an anvil were attached to the reigns! I swam harder and faster, as much as I could do, and I reached their bodies. But that's all they were. Soulless bodies. I tried to tell who was who, but I couldn't. And I didn't want to, because I knew that they were all there, slowly sinking to the bottom of a lake, drifting away from me to the center, the deep part. I sobbed and inhaled, and began choking. I turned back up to the surface, towards the monster that had swallowed us, that had destroyed everything I loved. I had drifted as well, and frantically made my way up, up, up...
I coughed, trying to breathe again. And even before I could breathe normally, I sobbed, cried... I pulled my frozen body above the surface, just now focusing on how hold the water had been. I shivered fiercely as my body surfaced. I was wet, and it was so cold... All I could do was, somehow, through my broken heart and aching, freezing bones, drag myself off the ice and under an evergreen. The snow had lightened up a little bit, so I could partially find my way around. I tried to gather myself, gather my thoughts and mind, and my trembling body. I still sobbed, and I could no longer control it. The events that had just occurred should have killed me. I wished it had. I curled up my body as tightly as I could, and tightened my eyes. They stung, as did the rest of my body. Crying, crying... I did this for what felt like an eternity, until I drifted off into a light sleep...
...To be continued, possibly. I do not feel like writing anymore at the moment...
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