*temp trackmom "0" *temp trackbird "0" *temp tracksis "0" *temp fighter "0" *temp wolfstory "0" *temp mombreed "0" *temp space "0" *temp wolfdogsight "0" *temp coyhunt "0" *if (breed = "Wolf") *set age "8 Weeks" *set subbreed2 "Wild" *goto wolfmom *if (breed = "Wolfdog HC") *set age "8 Weeks" *set subbreed2 "Wild" *goto wolfhc *if (breed = "Wolfdog LC") *set age "8 Weeks" *set subbreed2 "Wild" *goto wolflc *if (breed = "Coyote") *set age "8 Weeks" *set subbreed2 "Wild" *goto coyote *if (breed = "Coydog") *set age "8 Weeks" *set subbreed2 "Wild" *goto coydog *label wolfmom *page_break Morning *set age "8 weeks" "Come on little pup, into the den." You see Mother beginning to herd you and your littermates into the small little den that you've known for the past 8 weeks. You happily follow your sister and curl up in the soft nest that mother had made on the dirt floor. *line_break "Can we have a story?" Your voice is high pitched and loud in the quiet darkness of the den. "Can you tell us about the pack?" *line_break "Yes little one. When you are older, about 4 moons, you can meet the rest of the pack. There's Myst and Rowan, our Alpha's. Then there's Striker, one of the beta. You must always listen to them, no matter what. Remember the rule." She settles down with you as she talks, her thick fluffy tail gently laying against you. *line_break "The pack is strong with you, and you are strong with the pack." All three of you speak together, repeating the law passed down from wolf to wolf, pack to pack. *line_break Mother sighs. "But I must tell you now, I think the pack will be leaving soon. Humans have been spotted in the forest. We do live near a city, where the humans live, but they don't often come near us until lately." When your sister ask what a human is, you watch mother curiously. She seems concerned, but not scared; course it's not like she would be scared ever anyway. She was a wolf! Wolves ruled the forest! *line_break "Humans are.....their tall, much taller than us but never as tall as a tree. They walk on two legs and have fur only on their heads, sometimes a few have them on their faces too. They are bare skinned other than that though. They do wear some kind of strange second skin though, maybe to help them from getting cold." She pauses for a moment, thinking. "But you must always be careful if you see one. They can be very dangerous. They have these big black sticks, like tree sablings but hard and shiny. They make a loud noise and spit fire. If you hear that sound and feel pain, it's not often you can survive such a wound. Most humans don't carry those though; they usually have nets or long sticks with some kind of shiny vine that can be made smaller. I've never seen them use those though, so I don't know exactly what they can do to a wolf. I've only heard the stories from other wolves." *line_break You sister lets out a bark. "Humans don't scare me!" To prove her point, she leaps on you and together, you two tear around the den, yipping and leaping on one another until mother stops you. *line_break "Enough, both of you. It's time to sleep. In the morning, I will take you both out. We can go to the stream, the clearing, or we can stay here and practice hunting beetles." With a strong lick on each of your heads, she lays down with you and soon you fall into sleep. *goto wolfmorning *label wolfmorning *page_break Morning "Up up up little ones!" You yawn and wake up to your mothers voice ringing through the den. You sit up and she begins grooming your sleep ruffled fur. Your sister is bouncing around the den, excited for the days outing. When mother is satisfied with your fur, she nudges you and your sister outside. "Now, what are we going to do?" *choice #Stream "Can we go to the stream?" You blink in the bright sunlight and trip over your own paws. You sister yips and runs around, clearly agreeing. *line_break "Of course little one. Follow me, stay close." With that, she begins walking towards the stream that runs nearby and is a good spot for fish. *goto wolfstream #Clearing "Let's go to the clearing! I wanna learn to hunt!" Your sister bounces around, wagging her butt in the air as she prepares to pounce on you; you dodge but stumble over a rock. *line_break Mother chuckles. "Very well, I'll teach you some hunting techniques alright?" You give an excited yip and you bounce after her, your sister on your heels. *goto wolfclearing #Stay Here "Can we just stay here? I wanna hear some stories about humans!" You bark excitedly but your sister gives you a confused look. *line_break "Why would you wanna learn about humans?" Her voice is almost mocking; Mother cuffs her around the ears. *line_break *if (sex = "Male") "Your brother has a good idea actually, as you should know about them in case you ever seen them." *if (sex = "Female") "Your sister has a good idea actually, as you should know about them in case you ever see them." *label wolfstream *line_break *line_break "Alright, now lets get some breakfast first." Mother waits until you and your sister are settled down nicely next to the water and begins watching patiently until after what seems like forever, she plunges her jaws into the water and brings out a fat and tasty trout. Quickly, she chews up the meat and then regurgitates it for you. Happily, you and your sister dig into the pile of steaming fish meat. *line_break *line_break Once full, you lazily roll around in the dirt while your sister runs around chasing beetles. Mother watches for awhile then flicks her ears. "I think we should get back to the den before long little ones." As soon as she stops speaking, a large crack of thunder echoes through the trees and it begins to pour heavily. Quickly, the stream becomes fuller and the ground becomes shiny and slick. *line_break *line_break Your sister bowls into you suddenly. "Lets play in the mud!" How will you respond? *choice #Push Your Sister Into The Mud You growl and push her into the mud, splattering all three of you with flecks of it. Yipping, she leaps on you and fastens her teeth in your ear and begins tugging. *set play %+3 *goto mudfight #Run Around With a loud yip, you push your paws into the mud and chase your sister around in a game of tag. Mother chuckles and watches, amused, as you both fling mud everywhere. *set play %+5 *goto runaround #Hide under An Overhanging Rock You immediently race to where a large rock is sticking up from the ground, creating a nicely sheltered spot next to the bank. It's nice and dry underneath and soon Mother comes to join you. You both watch as your sister continues to run around in the mud, although you wonder if it would have been more fun for you both if you had chosen to play with her. *goto underrock #Run To Mother You run to Mother, who quickly licks you and calls for your sister. She begins leading you both back towards the den. *set fear %+1 *goto runmother *label mudfight *line_break You growl and tear yourself away, your paws slipping in the mud as you try to run away from her. Playfully, you two chase each other, constantly flinging up mud with your paws and slipping around.Soon, both your coats are coated with the sticky stuff and Mother barks for you. You have been playing for awhile, but not as long as she usually lets you. *set play %+10 *line_break "Let's get back to the den little ones! Quickly!" She looks worried, her tail low to the ground and her ears flat. You turn to run to her but slip in the mud and with a sharp yelp, you see Mother running for you but instead of feeling her teeth in your scruff, you feel the cold water washing over your body and soaking your fur as you fall into the now thick and fast moving stream, which has become a river from the intense rain. *goto sweptaway *label runaround *line_break *line_break You and your sister play tag for a good while, but suddenly there's a weird roaring sound from upstream. Mother gets up and lunges for you both, first dragging your sister away from the stream, which has swollen into a river, but as she lunges back for you, a large wave of muddy water slams into you. Your knocked off your paws and thrown into the river. *goto sweptaway *label underrock *line_break *line_break Mother licks the mud from your fur. "How about I tell you a story?" You nod, feeling slightly sleepy from her licking. She thinks for a moment then smiles. "How about the story of dogs and wolves?" When you nod, she sighs. "All dogs come from wolves, but they are very different. Dogs cannot hunt like we do, and they are never as strong, as brave, as fearless, or even as cunning as wolves." You've heard this story many times, but listen intently like always. "Wolves and dogs can look like each other, like huskies do, but dogs can look so different that its easy to tell them apart just from their pelts, colors, or even how their tails are. Wolves are very different, for we usually resemble each other very much. We share the same coats, and sometimes we even have the same colors as each other, but we all look alike. But sometimes, there are wolves who have pups with dogs." *line_break You gasp, making her laugh softly. *line_break "Oh yes, dogs and wolves can be mates, even when their very different than each other. I've met a few of their pups, who are called Wolfdogs by the humans, and their very strange. They never seem to know if they should act like a wolf or a dog." *line_break Your sister comes marching over. "Why would any wolf want to be with a [i]dog[/i]? Dogs are gross." With a sneer, she plops down next to you. *line_break Mother sighs. "I don't know. Your father is a wolf though, and he thinks we should be mean to all dogs. I don't agree, but others in the pack do." She glances at the sky. "Let's go back to the dens and stay dry today." She and your sister walk out but you linger for a minute, thinking of the story. You don't hear the strange roar but notice when Mother runs back for you, fear etched on her face. But before she can reach you, you feel a strong wave of water smash into you, knocking you off your feet and into the stream, which has swollen into a river. Your mother makes a snap for you but misses. *goto sweptaway *label runmother You stay close to her side, your fur plastered to your side from the rain. Your sister follows reluctantly; you know she wanted to play but it's probably to wet for fish, let alone wolves. The rain starts falling harder as you walk, the thunder gets louder. Suddenly, theres a large flash of light and massive clap of thunder than makes your ears ring. *line_break Yipping in fear, you bolt away, not realizing that you left your mothers side. Another crack of thunder drowns out your own yips and any chance at hearing your mother call for you. You blunder blindly through the bushes in fear, not aware of where your heading. You turn and dodge around bushes and trees but suddenly, your paws don't touch the ground. You howl in fear and tumble down a steep embankment. Halfway down the hill, you hit your head on a rock and black out. *goto wolflost *label wolfclearing *line_break *line_break Mother flicks you with her tail as you all enter the nearby clearing. Your sister eagerly follows, while you follow more slowly. You walk for awhile until you emerge in a large round clearing; perfect for learning how to fight or hunt. Mother looks at you both, sweeping her tail behind her. "Now, what would you like to learn first?" *choice #Stalking Practice "I want to practice stalking!" You yip excitedly. You've stalked beetles, but you want to stalk something bigger. *goto stalker #Leaping Practice "Can we practice leaping? Like what you do when you bring down a deer?" You sister steps forward, her head held high. You nod eagerly, agreeing with her, and Mother chuckles as you both flex your paws. *goto leaper #Scenting Practice "Can we practice tracking with smells?" You wag your tail happily. You know Mother can smell something from miles away and want to learn how she does it so well. *goto smeller #Hearing Practice You tip your head, thinking. "Can we track you moving through the bushes? With sound?" You know that wolves can be silent, but you want to be able to hear them better, so things like deer will be easy. *goto hearing #Sight Practice You bounce on your toes. "Can we watch the birds in the trees? If we can see where the birds are, maybe that will make it easier to see rabbits when we start hunting them!" You and your sister look up into the trees, where birds are flitting around from branch to branch, some of them big but most were small and the two pups easily lost sight of them if they went still. *goto sight #Fighting Practice "Let's practice fighting!" You bare your fangs and pounce on your sister, who yips and rolls away. She retaliates by leaping forward and biting your ear hard and tugging. *goto fighter *label stalker Mother nods and walks over. "Alright, how about you practice stalking a stone first? Just to get you started. You must stalk the stone without letting your shadow fall on it, you cannot disturb any other stones, or do anything that would alert the stone to where you are." Placing a large stone in the center of the clearing, Mother has you wait while she scatters leaves, smaller stones, and branches and twigs around the clearing. "These are your obstacles. Go when you're ready." *choice #Through The Leaves You make your way around the pile of leaves, but accidentally step on a thick and crunchy leaf. Mother laughs and calls out. "The stone saw you and fled! Let your sister have a try now." *line_break You stomp back over to your sister, who gives you a comforting lick before she tries going the same way you did and makes the same mistake. *set dex +1 *goto stalkend #Around The Branch You make your way behind the branch and see your Mother give you an approving nod. You duck down and make your way around the end but step on a twig right as you get within pouncing distance. *line_break "Very good, but always remember to watch where you place your paws at all times." You nod and sit down next to your sister, who gives you a lick before following the way you went, and nearly making it to the stone before the wind shifted. *set int +1 *set hunt +1 *goto stalkend #Over the Stones You make your way over the group of stones your Mother scattered, watching your paws with each step. When you get close however, the wind shifts and suddenly its blowing right in your face. Mother calls out, "try scenting the wind next time; there's always a smell in the air or noise in the trees moving that tells you when its about to change. But very good, you almost made it!" *set hear +1 *set smell +1 *line_break You trot back to your sister, who gives you a happy lick, before following the way you took and making it to the stone. *goto stalkend #Around The Clearing You look around, pricking your ears up and eying the obstacles before making your move. You dodge behind the branch just as the wind changes, then dart as quickly as you dare through the scattered stones before hiding behind the pile of leaves. Mother watches with interest as you stop just before disturbing a pebble, but just as the wind shifts you make a leap for the stone. You miss, but if it had been bigger you would have landed on it. *set int +1 *set str +1 *set agi +1 *set dex +1 *set sight +1 *line_break You run back over to your sister and bowl her over in your excitement. Mother laughs. "That was very good, now get off your sister and let her try!" You meekly get off your sister, who gives you a playful shove and tries to copy what you did; she makes it and you two play together for a few minutes before Mother stops you. *set play %+5 *goto stalkend *label stalkend *line_break *line_break "Alright little ones, I think our time here is done." Mother calls out soon, after you practice stalking a bit more. The wind has been getting stronger and fat rain drops have been splashing the ground and soon it begins to pour. Mother gives you each a lick. "Den time, now. It's too wet out here." *line_break *line_break You stay close to her side, your fur plastered to your side from the rain. Your sister follows reluctantly; you know she wanted to practice more but it's probably to wet for fish, let alone wolves. The rain starts falling harder as you walk, the thunder gets louder. Suddenly, theres a large flash of light and massive clap of thunder than makes your ears ring. *line_break Yipping in fear, you bolt away, not realizing that you left your mothers side. Another crack of thunder drowns out your own yips and any chance at hearing your mother call for you. You blunder blindly through the bushes in fear, not aware of where your heading. You turn and dodge around bushes and trees but suddenly, your paws don't touch the ground. You howl in fear and tumble down a steep embankment. Halfway down the hill, you hit your head on a rock and black out. *goto wolflost *label leaper Mother rolls a large stone into the clearing, about halfway between the edges. "Now, I want you both to make a leap from as far as you dare." Walking between the stone and one of the edges, she makes marks along the ground with her claws. "Now, pick a mark one at a time and do your best. Try to land on the stone of you can." *line_break You eye the lines in the dirt, thinking. *choice #The Closest Line You step up to the line closest to the stone and crouch. Narrowing your eyes, you push off the ground as hard as you can. You land well past the stone, flat on the ground. You growl at your sister, who's trying not to laugh, and stomp back over. *line_break Mother gives you an encouraging lick. "That was very good. A bit too much power, but still very good." *set str +1 *set moral %-1 *goto leapdone #The Second Line You walk up to the second line and prepare to leap. Tucking your legs under you hindquarters, you think for a moment then push off. You land just past the stone, but your tail is touching it! With a happy yip, you trot back to your sister. *line_break Mother gives you a lick. "Very good. I saw you thinking about how to leap, and tucking your legs like that was a very good idea." Encouraged, you watch your sister and wait for your next turn. *set int +1 *set agi +1 *goto leapdone #The Third Line You step up to the third line and crouch down. As you bunch up your legs, your sister lets out a large yip. Startled, you make a leap but fall very short and bumping your nose. Your eyes watering, you growl and run at her. Smashing into her side, you fasten your teeth onto her ear as hard as you can and tug. She gives a frightened and pained yip. *line_break Mother cuffs your ears hard, knocking you off and your sister and pushing you on the ground. "Enough! While she should not have made a sound, you must concentrate next time! In a hunt, there will be many other wolves around and many sounds! Now, let your sister have a chance and [i]if I catch you doing that again, you will be stuck in the den for a whole moon![/i]" She snarls and sits down. *line_break Abashed, you cower on the ground. Your sisters ear is bleeding and you can see a slight tear. Giving you a fierce and angry growl, she stalks up to a line to leap. *set int +1 *set moral %-2 *set hear +1 *set hon %-2 *goto leapdone #The Furthest Line You stalk up to the furthest line from the stone and eye it, thinking. You dig your claws into the ground, bunch up your legs, and then push off as hard as you can. When you land, you look around for the stone but cannot see it. You feel something round under your butt and look; there's the stone! You had landed right on top of it! *line_break Feeling satisfied, you walk back over to your sister with your tail up like an Alpha's. For some reason, she crouches down like an omega. Mother chuckles and nudges you both. "You did well, now let your sister try." *set rank %+5 *set play %-2 *set int +2 *goto leapdone #From The Edge' You walk all the way back to the edge of the clearing, a whole 2 wolf lengths! Mother watches with interest and your sister is giving you a bored look. You crouch down just in front of a young sapling and press your paws into the packed dirt. Thinking hard, you push off as hard as you can. When you land, you see the stone a couple tail lengths away in front of you. You had pushed off as hard as you could, but weren't close enough. *line_break You sister smacks you playfully but Mother gives you an approving nod. "That was very good pushing yourself and trying to go from further than you could manage. If you push yourselves like that, there's nothing you won't be able to do." *set str +1 *set int +1 *set agi +1 *goto leapdone *label leapdone *line_break *line_break Mother lets you both take a few turns leaping, but soon the sky grows dark and it begins to pour heavily. Mother calls to your sister, whose currently about to leap, and nudges you in the direction of the den. "It's too wet out here little ones, let's get back to the den." *line_break *line_break You stay close to her side, your fur plastered to your side from the rain. Your sister follows reluctantly; you know she wanted to practice more but it's probably to wet for fish, let alone wolves. The rain starts falling harder as you walk, the thunder gets louder. Suddenly, theres a large flash of light and massive clap of thunder than makes your ears ring. *line_break Yipping in fear, you bolt away, not realizing that you left your mothers side. Another crack of thunder drowns out your own yips and any chance at hearing your mother call for you. You blunder blindly through the bushes in fear, not aware of where your heading. You turn and dodge around bushes and trees but suddenly, your paws don't touch the ground. You howl in fear and tumble down a steep embankment. Halfway down the hill, you hit your head on a rock and black out. *set health %-10 *goto wolflost *label smeller Mother nods. "Alright, interesting decision. I'll roll myself against something to hide my scent, try to find me." With that, she disappears into some bushes. You can hear her for awhile but suddenly, it's silent and Mother's scent fades slowly. You close your eyes and take in a deep breath, drawing in every scent around you. After a moment, you hear your sister do the same. *choice #Behind The Holly Bush "Are you behind the holly bush?" Your voice sounds small but instead of appearing behind the bush, Mother jumps down from the oak tree. *line_break "That was close, but don't forget that if we need to, wolves can climb a very short way into trees, unless there are no low growing branches." She smiles and slips back into the woods, where her scent soon fades so you can try again. *set smell +1 *goto smelldone #Behind The Oak Tree and Sapling "Behind the oak tree next to the sapling?" You sound hopeful; a whiff of her scent blows towards you and she jumps down from a very low branch where she had hidden herself. *line_break "Very good. You didn't think I would be on that branch, but that's ok. Most wolves don't climb into trees, mainly because we can't but also because it's rare to find a low branch. Now, try again." Smiling, she melts back into the forest. *set int +1 *set smell +2 *goto smelldone #Under The Flowering "Under the bush with purple flowers?" You peer into the bush, trying to catch your mother's silvery gray coat past the bright purple flowers. You can smell a faint whiff of her scent near the bush and you know that the flowers could easily hide her. *line_break You hear her paws thud onto the ground and she appears in front of the oak tree and stops next to the sapling. "Impressive. You guessed wrong, but I did walk by the flowers. That was very good to smell my scent near them, since their very strong. Try again." With that, she melts back into the woods. *set smell +3 *goto smelldone #Past The Yew Tree and Ivy "Are you behind the yew tree, hiding behind the ivy?" Ivy doesn't smell strong enough to hide her, but you smell a very small whiff of her from that direction. *line_break There's a sigh as she appears from next to the oak. "No, but I did pass that way, so I will give you a bit of credit. Next time though, try guessing from a place that is more likely to hide my scent." She frowns and disappears so you can try again. *set smell +1 *goto smelldone *label smelldone *line_break *line_break You and your sister take turns guessing, usually guessing wrong, until there's a crack of thunder and rain drops begin hammering the earth. Mother appears from under the flowered bush and trots over. "Den time, now. It's far to wet and even adult wolves have trouble smelling in this kind of rain." The rain was growing heavier by the second and already the clearing was slick with mud. *line_break *line_break You stay close to her side, your fur plastered to your side from the rain. Your sister follows reluctantly; you know she wanted to practice more but it's probably to wet for fish, let alone wolves. The rain starts falling harder as you walk, the thunder gets louder. Suddenly, theres a large flash of light and massive clap of thunder than makes your ears ring. *line_break Yipping in fear, you bolt away, not realizing that you left your mothers side. Another crack of thunder drowns out your own yips and any chance at hearing your mother call for you. You blunder blindly through the bushes in fear, not aware of where your heading. You turn and dodge around bushes and trees but suddenly, your paws don't touch the ground. You howl in fear and tumble down a steep embankment. Halfway down the hill, you hit your head on a rock and black out. *goto wolflost *label hearing Mother nods. "Good choice. How about....tell me how many birds you can hear? Or I can work my way around the outside of the clearing and you tell me which way I went?" *choice #Track Mother "Let's track you!" You bounce on your toes, excited. Tracking her would be much more of a challenge than just birds. *line_break "Alright, I'll take a quick walk around, tell me what you hear me doing when i come back." With that, she sets off at a brisk pace. *goto trackmother #Track Birds Mother nods. "Tell me how many birds you can each hear." Flicking her tail, she settles down and watches you. *goto trackbirds #Track Each Other Your sister speaks up, excited. "Can we track each other? Like tag, but without the playing?" *line_break Mother nods, looking curious. "Of course. You think it would be harder to track each other than something else?" *line_break Your sister nods. "You're bigger than us but we can fit in places you can't. We can pretend the other one is a rabbit." *line_break Mother nods, impressed with your sisters quick thinking. "That's a very good observation and idea." Pointing at your sister with her muzzle, Mother flicks it towards the edge of the clearing. "You hide first. Walk around the edge where I can hear you, do something that might make a small noise, and lets see how your sibling is with guessing what you did." *goto tracksister *label trackmother You strain your ears for awhile, trying your best to hear mother. *rand trackmom 1 3 *if (trackmom = "1") When mother returns and gives you an expectant face, you quickly speak. "You took a short walk through the bushes, I heard you stumble over a stone, your tail brushed a branch, and then you sighed and came back." *line_break Mother sighs. "Not even close. I did take a short walk, but you didn't need to listen for that. I kicked a branch, smacked my tail against a puddle, and shook my head against a bush before coming back. Try again." *set hear +1 *goto trackend *if (trackmom = "2") When mother returns and gives you an expectant face, you quickly speak. "You kicked a branch, stepped in a puddle, walked through some dry leaves, and came back." *line_break Mother nods. "Close, but missing some things. I did kick a branch, but I smacked a puddle with my tail, then I shook my head next to a bush before coming back." *set hear +2 *goto trackend *if (trackmom = "3") When mother returns and gives you an expectant face, you quickly speak. "You kicked a thick branch, splashed in a puddle with your tail I think, and I wanna guess that you shook a bush?" *line_break Mother gives you an approving nod. "Very good. That was excellent! I shook the bush by shaking my head next to it, but everything else was correct!" *set hear +3 *set int +1 *goto trackend *label trackbirds You and your sister strain your ears to their very tips, listening to the birds flitting about in the trees. *rand trackbird 1 3 Mother waits expectantly then breaks the silence after a good while."Now, how many did you hear?" *if (trackbird = "1") "I can hear two woodpeckers in the oak behind us, and some finches in a bush. I think I can hear a bird I don't know the name of getting ready to fly at the top of the tallest oak at the edge of the clearing." Your voice is hesitant, unsure. *line_break Mother shakes her head. "Not even close. There are no woodpeckers nearby, and those are blackbirds in the bush, not finches. There's an owl settling down deeper into their hollow near the middle of the yew, but that's the only large bird nearby. As for that knocking sound, that was a cardinal cracking open a nut. Remember to concentrate." *set hear +1 *set int +1 *goto trackend *if (trackbird = "2") "I think there are two blackbirds behind the bush, probably fighting over a berry. It sounds like a squirrel who dropped his nut, and I'm not sure what bird it is but I think I hear something moving around in a hollow tree." You look at Mother nervously, hoping you were correct. *line_break Mother nods slightly. "Not bad; those blackbirds are fighting over a worm actually. There's an owl in their hollow, probably settling down for the rest of the day after a late night, and that knocking sound is a cardinal cracking open a nut." *set hear +2 *set int +1 *goto trackend *if (trackbird = "3") "There's something in a hollow in the yew, an owl maybe?" You glance at Mother, who nods, clearly surprised. "Two blackbirds are fighting over a worm or a stick behind the bush because they sound close to the ground. And some kind of bird is cracking open an acorn." *line_break Mother smiles, impressed. "I'm surprised you recognized that it was an owl, but yes it was. Their probably settling down for the day after a late night hunting. You are completely correct about the blackbirds, but it's probably a worm. As for the bird with the nut, I know your just guessing at it being an acorn but you are correct; that bird is a cardinal by the way. Very good." You smile back, pleased with yourself while your sister shoots you a jealous look. *set hear +3 *set int +2 *goto trackend *label tracksister Nodding, your sister speeds off into the brush. You listen for a few moments, trying to track her much quieter pawsteps as she runs around. When she comes back, Mother looks at you expectantly. *rand tracksis 1 3 *if (tracksis = "1") You tilt your head, thinking as you speak. "She rolled a few pebbles, crunched a leaf, and bit a large stick til it cracked." *line_break Mother looks at your sister, both curious but also making it obvious she would not let her lie. Your sister shakes her head at you. "I tripped over a big branch, I used my teeth to shake a fallen twig with leaves on it, and then I crunched a really big beetle." *line_break Mother chuckles. "I wondered what could make such a big crunch, but next time concentrate alright?" *set hear +1 *goto trackend *if (tracksis = "2") You tilt your head, thinking. "She tripped over a twig, chewed on another really thick twig, and crunched a few really dry leaves?" You glance at her nervously, but she shakes her head. *line_break "Kind of right. I tripped over a branch, I shook a twig with leaves on it with my teeth, and crunched a really big beetle." Not daring to lie in front of Mother, she scuffs her paws as she speaks. *line_break Mother nods. "That's what I heard, but you didn't do to bad. You almost got it completely right." *set hear +2 *goto trackend *if (tracksis = "3") You tilt your head, thinking. "I think I heard you trip over a branch, I wanna guess you were attacking a twig that still had leaves on it, and was that a beetle or a leaf you bit?" *line_break Your sister huffs, annoyed. "How are you so good at hearing all that? You got everything right! And it was a beetle; it was really good." *line_break Mother laughs softly at you both. "Very good, that was excellent." *set hear +3 *goto trackend *label trackend *line_break *line_break Mother opens her mouth but before she can speak, there's a massive crack of thunder and rain immediately pours down heavily. Mother runs over to you. "Den time, now. You won't be able to hear anything in this storm." She nudges you and begins leading you and your sister back to the den. *line_break You stay close to her side, your fur plastered to your side from the rain. Your sister follows reluctantly; you know she wanted to practice but it's probably to wet for fish, let alone wolves. The rain starts falling harder as you walk, the thunder gets louder. Suddenly, theres a large flash of light and massive clap of thunder than makes your ears ring. *line_break Yipping in fear, you bolt away, not realizing that you left your mothers side. Another crack of thunder drowns out your own yips and any chance at hearing your mother call for you. You blunder blindly through the bushes in fear, not aware of where your heading. You turn and dodge around bushes and trees but suddenly, your paws don't touch the ground. You howl in fear and tumble down a steep embankment. Halfway down the hill, you hit your head on a rock and black out. *goto wolflost *label sight Mother nods. "Tell me how many birds you can see in the trees." *line_break You and your sister gaze up into the trees, watching the small shapes flitting around in the branches. *rand trackbird 1 5 *if (trackbird = "1") After a few moments, your Mother taps you with her tail, wanting an answer. You gulp, knowing you got distracted by all the shadows. "Um...I think I saw three? Maybe four?" The shapes are so small it was hard to keep track. *line_break Mother shakes her head. "No, there were fifteen birds in all, and I'm not including the nest I can see. Try to concentrate." *goto trackend *if (trackbird = "2") After a few moments, your Mother taps you with her tail, wanting an answer. You look at her nervously, knowing you missed some. "Were there six birds? And a nest in tall oak?" *line_break Mother shakes her head. "There was a nest in the tall oak, but there were four others. And there are fifteen birds flying around. Try to concentrate and focus on one at a time until you're sure it's not a bird you already counted." *set sight +1 *goto trackend *if (trackbird = "3") After a few moments, your Mother taps you with her tail, wanting an answer. You resist the urge to glance back at the tree. "Ten birds? And two nest? I think I saw one in the tall oak and one in a maple." *line_break Mother nods. "Not bad, but there are fifteen birds, not ten. And four nest, not two. But not bad." *set sight +2 *goto trackend *if (trackbird = "4") After a few moments, your Mother taps you with her tail, wanting an answer. You look at Mother, feeling slightly confident in your answer. "I saw thirteen birds and three nest. And I think I saw the owl inside their hollow." *line_break Mother nods. "Very good, but your short a few birds and nest. Four nest, and fifteen birds." *set sight +3 *goto trackend *if (trackbird = "5") After a few moments, your Mother taps you with her tail, wanting an answer. Feeling extremely confident, you look her straight in the eye. "Fifteen birds in all, plus four nest. I could also just see the owl sleeping in their hollow." *line_break Mother smiles and nods. "Very well done, you have excellent eyes. Completely perfect, and impressive that you saw that owl; it's a screech owl and sometimes they blend in with their nest." *set sight +5 *set int +1 *goto trackend *label fighter Your sister gives a small growl. Mother gives her a sharp look and walks to the center of the clearing. "Very well. Now, stand next to me, facing each other. Think about how your opponent will move [i]before they move[/i]. That is crucial to any fight; brawn does not always win. You can each make only a few moves to each other, then we take a break." *line_break You face your sister and think about how to attack. Though you're only pups, you both know that even for practice, you'll fight like grown wolves. *label wolfpupfight *line_break You face your sister and think about how to attack next. *choice *disable_reuse *selectable_if (fighter < 3) #Throat You know it's a dirty move to go straight for the throat, but you don't care. *line_break You immediately leap for her throat, your tiny fangs bared. She snarls and smacks you away, making your ears ring. Snarling, you make another leap but she smacks you again, knocking you down and making your ears ring even more. You realize that now you'll have to try something else. *line_break Mother growls softly, disappointed you would try that on your sister. *set moral %-3 *set play %-2 *set fighter +1 *set hon %-10 *goto wolfpupfight *disable_reuse *selectable_if (fighter < 3) #Muzzle The muzzle is sensitive, so it's a good move, but it can be tricky even for grown wolves. *line_break You try to clamp your jaws around her muzzle but she sees this coming and scores her teeth across your nose, making you yip severely in pain. Eyes watering, you think about what you should try instead. *set int +1 *set health %-1 *set fighter +1 *goto wolfpupfight *disable_reuse *selectable_if (fighter < 3) #Shoulders Keeping your eyes on hers, you make to go for her face but dive at the last second and score your teeth across her shoulder. You rip a tiny amount of fur out, but she snarls and sinks her teeth into your back. Howling, you headbutt her shoulder and stagger backwards. You feel a trickle of blood on your spine and bare your fangs. *set health %-1 *set int +1 *set sight +1 *set fighter +1 *goto wolfpupfight *disable_reuse *selectable_if (fighter < 3) #Front Legs You dive for her paws without pausing; you try to bite but she rears up and flattens you, knocking the breath out of you. Scrambling to get up, you make another lunge and this time you manage to bite her paw. You taste her blood as she fastens her teeth in your ear and tugs hard. You let go, panting. Stepping back, you decide to try something else. *set str +1 *set dex+1 *set fighter +1 *goto wolfpupfight *disable_reuse *selectable_if (fighter < 3) #Knock Down You bare your teeth and run forwards, smacking into her as hard as you can. She flies off her feet, but quickly snaps at you. You yip when you feel her teeth connect with your paw and shove her away. She lands on her side and you take advantage and pin her down. Yipping fiercely, she does her best to shove you off and only succeeds when her teeth meet your tail. Howling, you back away to make another move. *set str +3 *set fighter +1 *goto wolfpupfight *disable_reuse *selectable_if (fighter < 3) #Intimidate Instead of making a move to attack, you snarl and bristle every single piece of fur along your spine. You stalk around your sister, bristling and baring your fangs. She copies you, and out of the corner of your eye you see Mother nod. *line_break You know that if you had attacked immediately, it might be more wolf-like and maybe even make for a quicker fight, but you also know that sometimes other wolves will back down if you show them you're serious; if you're lucky, this way you can still show how fierce you are, but you can avoid being hurt. *set rank %+2 *set moral %-1 *set pack %+1 *set int +1 *set play %-3 *set fighter +1 *set hon %+5 *goto wolfpupfight *disable_reuse *selectable_if (fighter < 3) #Tail You leap over her back and bite down hard on her tail. Her pained howl sounds loud in your ear and suddenly you feel her teeth in your leg. Letting go of her tail, you snarl and attempt to bite her muzzle but she swats you across the nose hard. Eyes watering, your growl and think of something else. *set str +1 *set dex +1 *set fighter +1 *goto wolfpupfight *selectable_if (fighter >= 3) #End Practice Mother steps forward, eying both your heaving sides and chest. "Alright, that's enough." She licks you both over for a few moments, cleaning off any blood and dirt. Once she's finished, she sits back and lets you both catch your breaths. *goto trackend *label wolfden *line_break *line_break Mother settles down in a clear spot just outside the den while your sister begins stalking a bright green beetle. You settle down next to her and give her an expectant look. She smiles. "Now, what do you want to hear about? Any story you want? Or let me choose?" *line_break *label wolfdenstories You think hard for a moment. *choice #The Beginning of Wolves "Can you tell us about where wolves come from?" A hundred times you've heard that story, but it's your favorite. *goto story1 #The Beginning of Dogs "Where do dogs come from?" Not a story you remember well, you want to hear it again. Dogs and wolves are alike, but you want to know how they became so different. *goto story2 #Wolves and Humans "Tell us about wolves and humans!" A creature you've only heard stories of, you know that at one point, wolves and humans lived together. *goto story3 #Dogs and Humans "Why did humans chose dogs to live with instead of wolves?" This has always been on your mind and you have never been able to understand why humans would want something like a dog when wolves are so much better. *goto story4 *disable_reuse #Why Wolves Live In Packs "Why do wolves live in packs? Why don't we live by ourselves, like you do here?" You've never seen other wolves before; you're too young to have met any of your mothers packmates but from everything you've heard about them, wolves always live together. *goto story5 #Why Wolves Hunt Deer "Why do we hunt deer? Why can't we hunt something else, like rabbits or birds?" You've never minded the times where Mother went to join a hunt and brought back a chunt of deer meat, which she always ate then regurgitated for you and your sister, but she's always gone for long periods before returning and always covered the den's entrance so you couldn't leave. *goto story6 #Wolves and Coyotes "Why do wolves and coyotes hate each other? Aren't they like us?" Coyotes are neither wolf nor dog, but they live kind of like wolves and from what you've heard, they can act similar and even look somewhat alike. *goto story7 #Mother's Choice "Why don't you chose? You always pick the best stories!" You curl up against her side and tuck yourself under her tail, eager to hear whatever story she picks. *goto story9 *label story1 *line_break Mother smiles. "Well, long before humans and dogs, and even before wolves, the moon shone for no one. She stayed high in the sky, but she was lonely. No one talked to her, no one played with her, and her brother, the sun, wanted to stay away from her cold light so he always awoke when she fell asleep, and went to bed when she woke. For many many years, she would climb into the night sky by herself, she would watch over the land and all the creatures but no matter what she tried, she could never get anyone to talk to her. *line_break "Then one night, a strange creature called out to her. He asked 'Why do you weep into the skies? What trouble could the moon be having?' The moon, who was weeping the stars into the sky, stopped and saw a small creature in the middle of the forest, watching her and waiting for an answer. 'I weep for I have no friends, I weep for my brother who has shunned me, I weep for those who ignore my voice.' He said he would talk to her, for he was alone as well. But alas, his voice was not loud enough for the moon to clearly hear him. She asked, 'If I gave you voice, would you speak to me? If I gave you long legs, would you play with me? I can give you warm fur, so that you never grow cold in my light. I can give you anything you would like, if only you would be my friend.' *line_break "The creature thought then called out, 'I want a voice so that you may always hear me. I want legs so that no matter where you go, I can follow with ease. I wish for fur that will keep me warm, so that in your light I may never grow cold.' The moon, filled with joy, flooded him with light. His legs become long and strong, his fur became thick and turned silver. When he opened his mouth, the most beautiful howl in the world issued forth and the moon would never miss such a sound. When he had changed, he admired his new body and howled with joy. 'Thank you Great Moon! I cannot thank you enough, but I have one more request.' *line_break The moon paused, for she was afraid that he would ask too much of her but asked, 'What would you like? You can now speak to me with ease, you can run after me no matter how far I go, and you shall never freeze! What else could I give you?' He bowed with respect and said, 'Please, make me someone like me, so that we may both play with you and so that when I am in the sun's rays, I will not be lonely without you. We shall both play with you at night and sing you great songs, and during the day we shall have each other and learn more songs to sing and more tales to tell you for when we cannot follow. If you grant me this last request, I shall be your friend forever more and when I grow old, I shall leap into the stars to join you in the night sky forever more!' *line_break "The moon was delighted! Not only would she have more friends, but her new friend would never be lonely! She granted his request, and from these two came the first true wolves. We honor the moon today by howling to her every time she is full, for we know she wants to hear our songs and our stories." Mother licks your head. "We also follow the Great Wolf Constellation, whose nose became the star that never moves, whenever we travel far." As she stops speaking, a fat raindrop splashes on your nose. "Up now, I need to find your sister and get you both in the den." Leaving you a few tail lengths from the den, she races off to fetch your sister, who has wandered out of sight again. *set int +2 *set sight +1 *goto denfire *label story2 *line_break Mother tucks you closer. "Dogs actually came from wolves, long ago. Humans came and stole wolf pups from their dens and raised them to be friendlier than wolves. When these pups had pups of their own, they still looked like wolves but they preferred humans. Each generation was more scared of the wild, scared of the unknown, scared of the ones where their parents came from." *line_break "But didn't they know who we were?" Your voice shakes a bit in disbelief. *line_break Mother shakes her head. "No. The humans always drove wolves away so their pups and grandpups never knew who they really were. All they saw were wild animals who wanted to steal their food or even hurt them. They never realized that their parents and kin were just coming to rescue them." *line_break You sit in silence for a minute, but then ask a question, "Is that why dogs hate us now? Do they think we're just wild animals, only wanting to steal their food and hurt them?" *line_break Mother chuckles. "No, well not entirely. Now, they think we're what represents all the things they fear. The wild, the unknown, the strange and familiar all in one. Plus, now they act how humans act. Humans attack us, so the dogs think they must attack us as well. Sometimes they do it because the humans make them, but very few dogs refuse to attack us, and sometimes they attack us out of instinct, because their ancestors instinctual fear of us. Just remember, if you ever meet a dog, their not always afraid of us because we are mean to them, which I hope you are never mean just to be mean anyway, but they are mean because their instinct tells them to be." Giving you a lick, she stands. "Now, stay here while I fetch your sister." *set int +2 *set like %-5 *set moral %+5 *goto denfire *label story3 Mother licks you, frowning slightly. "Wolves and humans go back a long ways. Back before dogs were created, humans lived wherever they could. Cities did not exist; instead, humans lived in small little groups called tribes. There weren't as many humans back then as compared to today. They feared wolves because wolves would steal the prey the humans needed to hunt for food and furs. The wolves never did this on purpose, and we still do not. If we need prey and we see something or smell something, we must hunt it for we never know when we can get something else." *line_break "But the humans thought we did this to make them starve?" Confused, you can't understand why the humans hated wolves yet. *line_break "I don't know. Maybe. Maybe they thought we did this to spite them, maybe they thought we did this to make them starve and be forced to move elsewhere. Whatever the reason, they hated wolves for stealing their food and tried many times to make us pay. But the worst thing they ever did was steal pups." Mother stroked your body with her tail as she spoke. *line_break "They stole pups?!" You're shocked, very shocked. It was against natures law to steal the babies of any animal! *line_break Mother nodded. "That's right, they stole pups. Right from their mother's den. When they started doing that, it made the wolves so mad they attacked the humans and attempted to steal back their pups. But they failed. The humans protected the pups fiercely, and even killed the wolves if they could. Eventually, the wolf pups they stole were old enough to breed and they made them have pups that did not fear humans from birth like their grandparents." *line_break "But didn't they realize they were all alike?" You tip your head, curious. *line_break Mother shook her head. "No. Or they loved humans so much they didn't care. All they saw were wild animals that their masters hated and wanted to protect their masters to the end. Eventually, with each generation, they changed, becoming dogs. But humans have hated wolves since becuase deep in their minds, all they see are thieves. Thieves for food, for territory, and sometimes for their pups." Smiling, she stands. "Now, I need to find your sister before she gets lost. Stay here little one." *set int +2 *set like %-15 *set moral %-4 *goto denfire *label story4 Mother tips her head. "They didn't get much choice actually. Dogs were born from wolf pups that humans stole from their mothers den. When the first pups were born with humans, they already were not wolves. They had already begun to change. They liked humans better, for they had been raised with them from birth, and were more inclined to listen to them because of that. They accepted the fear that humans had; they feared wolves and even though in the beginning they could have returned to their parents packs, or started their own, they believed they could not survive the wild against wolves and sought humans who made them feel safe." *line_break "But were humans really safer?" You paw the ground, curious. *line_break "Well....in a way. While humans have no claws or teeth or anything wild animals usually have, they were smart. Much smarter than most animals because for one, they could make fire. They could also take sticks, trees, rocks, vines, and all other things found in the forest and use them to make their homes and even weapons." Mother pauses for a moment. "I think dogs thought that if they stayed with humans, humans would protect them like they protect each other. Well, they were half right. Humans used them to help build, they made strange things called sleds that the dogs were tied to and made the dogs run ahead of them, so they would help carry whatever the sled carried. They used dogs to protect their homes as they slept and protect their food they had worked so hard to gather. In return for the dogs protecting them and helping them, the humans gave them shelter, food, strange names, and now they wear strange vines around their necks called collars." *line_break You tip your head. "But why don't dogs feel like the humans are bullies?" *line_break Mother laughs. "Because the dogs get good things for the work they do. Most humans aren't cruel to dogs; in fact, they make sure they have shelter, that they have more food than they could ever need, and they take them to healer's if they get hurt or sick." Licking your head, she gets up. "Now, stay where while I fetch your sister." *set like %-2 *set int +1 *goto denfire *label story5 *line_break Mother sighs. "Well, no one really knows. But I live here by myself because I have you. The other wolves in the pack always leave mothers alone until their pups are old enough to start joining in pack life." She tips her head, thinking. "I think wolves live in packs because when wolves first came to be, it was hard for us to hunt. We could hunt fine by ourselves, but when wolves started having large families it became harder and harder to live off just rabbits and weasels. Wolves must have decided that they needed to work together to hunt bigger prey, such as elk or caribou, so that everyone would have enough to eat. After hunting like that, it probably felt natural that the wolves should live together in large groups. Now, since I can't answer that, you can ask me for another story." *goto wolfdenstories *label story6 *line_break Mother smiles. "Long ago, when wolves first came to be, they hunted rabbits and weasels and all manner of small animals. They didn't hunt large things such as elk, caribou, deer, or bison. But soon after wolves began having trouble feeding their families, they began hunting together. At the same time, deer roamed the forest in search of food and shelter. Unknown to the wolves, they settled in a low valley where the wolves raised their pups." *line_break You gasp and Mother shushes you. *line_break "The wolves came down into the valley, some females heavy with pups, and saw that the deer had taken over their dens and special places they saved for playing and relaxing. Angry, the leader of the wolves, Moon Chaser, demanded to speak with the deers leader. A large buck with massive antlers stepped forward. 'We have claimed this empty valley as our own; you wolves have no place here.' Moon Chaser was mad; for five generations that valley had been wolf whelping dens and a source for peace during the hunger moons. He called out, 'This has been where our mothers rear pups for five generations, the wolves own this valley and no one may steal it. If you wish to claim it, then fight me.' This was how wolves took back what was rightfully theirs, or established leadership, or settled scores. They fought. *line_break "The buck lowered his antlers and accepted the fight. Deer and wolves stepped back and formed a large ring for the fight. Moon Chaser bared his fangs and said, 'The winner's kind shall claim this valley forevermore; the loser's kind shall flee this place. If you win, wolves will respect your kind forevermore and you shall not be punished for stealing our homes. If wolves win, we have the right to hunt you if you shall ever show your faces to us again.' And so they fought. It was a fierce and bloody battle, but in the end Moon Chaser stood tall upon the body of the buck, his fangs gleaming and his fur red. The bucks blood forever stained his fur, and his pups became red in return. But from that day forward, the deer have remembered this fight and give way to wolves, and wolves hunt them in punishment for stealing their homes." *line_break "Wow..." You breathe, in awe that something bigger than wolves would lose to just one. *line_break Chuckling, Mother stands. "Stay here, I must find your sister." *set hunt +1 *set str +1 *set int +1 *goto denfire *label story7 *line_break Mother frowns. "Coyotes usually have no place among our stories. They came from wolves, but they are not wolves. Long ago, when the first wolves had pups, many litters were the same. Ranging from silver to black, they all were the same size and acted the same. They even howled the same. But one pup, Coyote, was different. He was much smaller than his brothers and sisters, and his fur was the color of sunbaked sand. His eyes were more yellow than golen, and he could not howl like his siblings or parents. His siblings all teased him, calling him strange and even going as far as saying he is not a wolf. *line_break "His eyes leaking tears that he could not stop, he ran and ran and ran, wanting to escape the horrible teasing of his family. When he had been running for several days, he collpased on the edge of a cliff. The sun saw him crying and asked, 'Why do you weep little creature?' Coyote called back, 'My brothers and sisters say I am not a wolf! They call me horrible names and why should they not? My coat is not sleek like theirs, and they are much bigger. They can sing to the moon but I cannot.' *line_break "The sun knew of the creatures that his sister had made, but he also knew that no creature should ever be made to cry by anyone, let alone family. He said to Coyote, 'I can change that if you wish. My sister made creatures of her light, so I shall make a creature of mine.' With that, he bathed Coyote in his warm rays and when the light had dimmed, Coyote saw a female that resembled him. Turning to the sun, he called out, 'Why have you done this? I am a runt, a mistake, nothing.' The sun said, 'No you are not. You are a creature of the world, same as the wolves and the fish and the rabbits and the birds. But you are not a wolf, for even though you have been born of them you are not the same. From now one, as the wolves howl to the moon, you shall run in my light with a family that shall never bully you or slander you in any way.' With that, the two Coyotes thanked the sun for his generous and selfless gift and ran in his light from then on." *line_break "But how are they similar?" You ask, confused. *line_break "Coyotes were born of wolves, but they cannot howl like we do. They look similar, yet different in size and they even sound a little like us, but not the same. But they came to be because we were mean to them, and some wolves still are. I do not like them because they have stolen my den in the past, but I would never harm or slander a coyote because we remember what they are. Now, stay here while I fetch your sister. *set moral %+3 *set int +1 *goto denfire *label story9 Mother thinks for a moment. "Alright, I know which one. *rand wolfstory 1 6 *if (wolfstory = "1") I'll tell you about how wolves came to be." *goto story1 *if (wolfstory = "2") I'll tell you about how dogs came to be." *goto story2 *if (wolfstory = "3") I'll tell you about how wolves and humans came to hate each other." *goto story3 *if (wolfstory = "4") I'll tell you about why dogs stay with humans." *goto story4 *if (wolfstory = "5") I'll tell you about why wolves hunt deer." *goto story6 *if (wolfstory = "6") I'll tell you about why wolves and coyotes are so similar yet different." *goto story7 *label denfire *line_break *line_break As you sit there, a giant crack of thunder sets you cowering against the ground in fear. A bright flash of light blinds you and suddenly there's a terrible heat from behind you, accompanied by a strange hissing sound. You turn an see a new sight; strange orange and red colors are rising from your den. Steam, something you've only heard about, is rising from where the rain hits the strange colors. *line_break Mother comes running back. "Quickly, run this way!" Blindly, you follow her. You've never seen fire before, and Mother has only mentioned it once before. Mother nudges you forward as you stumble. "That was fire; it fears rain and it can hurt you. Stay with me and you'll be safe." *line_break *line_break You stay close to her side, your fur plastered to your side from the rain. You sister is walking ahead of you. The rain starts falling harder as you walk, the thunder gets louder. Suddenly, theres a large flash of light and massive clap of thunder that makes your ears ring. *line_break Yipping in fear, you bolt away, not realizing that you left your mothers side. Another crack of thunder drowns out your own yips and any chance at hearing your mother call for you. You blunder blindly through the bushes in fear, not aware of where your heading. You turn and dodge around bushes and trees but suddenly, your paws don't touch the ground. You howl in fear and tumble down a steep embankment. Halfway down the hill, you hit your head on a rock and black out. *goto wolflost *label sweptaway *line_break *line_break Water fills your eyes and ears and slaps your nose. You let out high pitched yelps of fear. You hear large pawsteps over the sound of the river and rain but they quickly fade away and you hear your mothers long heartbroken howl as you are swept downstream towards the city. You try to howl like Mother taught you, but water fills your mouth and when you cough and sputter, it gets harder and harder to breath as more water pours in, which in turn makes it harder to keep your head above the water. Soon, your vision grows dim and becomes black as you pass out, sinking under the surface. *set health 15 *page_break Washed Away You feel the sun beating down on you and you open your eyes to see your laying on the edge of the stream, your fur spiked up and drying in some places, but slick and thick feeling in other. The ground around you is hard and warm from the sun, but the sun is lower in the west than when you left the den yesterday; with a jolt, you realize that at least a whole day has passed since you were last playing with your sister in the den. Painfully and with much effort and falling down, you stand, shaking, and look around. *line_break You have never been this far from the den; that much is obvious because nearby are strange shiny gray things like weird boulders, you can smell something rotten and strange, and the sounds are nothing like you have ever heard before. Honking, screeching worse than owls, and chatter that sounds nothing like the usual growls and yips your used to, as well as more sounds you cannot describe. *set smell +1 *set hear +1 *line_break *line_break There's a sniffing sound suddenly and you hear a low growl coming from behind a bush nearby. As you crouch down in fear, a large black wolf comes stalking towards you; but he doesn't resemble your mother one bit. [i]Maybe this is a dog?[/i] You begin to whine fearfully, which causes him to quiet down and stand straight, his long thin tail straight up. *line_break "Hey there little pup, are you alright?" His voice is deep and thick, nothing like the rough but comforting growl of your mothers voice. He comes closer and sniffs you gently. "Easy pup, I won't hurt you. Looks like you got caught up in that flood." *line_break There's a banging sound suddenly, causing you both to jump. The dog growls deeply and crouches down. "Run pup! It's the pound!" Without any warning, he runs off as three creatures like you've never seen come running towards you and another two run after the dog; all of them are carrying long shiny sticks with vines looped at the ends. You stare, frozen with fear, as they come running for you. *line_break Their tall, almost like trees, with some fur on their heads and a couple have fur on their faces. You can see bare skin but their mostly covered in some kind of strange blue skin. Their running on two legs and as they get closer one reaches out a hairless paw that looks nothing like your own. You have moments to react. *choice #Run Away! You run left, towards the bush, but one of the creatures reaches out and grabs you around the waist, yanking you up. They smell like a male and call out in a strange high pitched voice to the others. Then he makes a strange sound that reminds you of mothers laugh. *goto carrytruck #Escape! You run right, towards the strange shiny gray things, but one of the creatures grabs your waist and lifts you up. They smell like a male and call out in a strange high pitched voice to the others. Making a weird sound that reminds you of mothers laugh, he carries you away. *goto carrytruck #Run In Fear! You start running right towards them in fear, causing them to stop but as you get close, a male reaches out and easily scoops you up by your scruff, causing you to yip. He makes a weird noise that reminds you of mothers laughing and calls out to the others in a strange high pitched voice. *set fear %+2 *goto carrytruck #Freeze! You stand there, frozen, as the creatures slow down and surround you. A male reaches out and grabs you by the scruff, making you yip. He makes a sound that reminds you of mothers laugh and says something to the others in a strange high pitched voice. *goto carrytruck #Stand Your Ground! You stand straight and growl as fierce as you can. The creatures make a weird sound that reminds you of mothers laugh and a male reaches forward, ignoring your growls, and grabs your scruff. He says something to the others in a hgih pitched voice and laughs again. *set vocal %-2 *set moral %-2 *set fear %-10 *goto carrytruck *label carrytruck He carries you back to a large thing that reminds you of a boulder, but with strange round black things alone the bottom. He somehow opens the back and places you in a strange, shiny type of den and closes the front. He says something softly to you, but it doesn't sound friendly, and closes the back. *set like %-5 *goto poundtruck *label wolflost *page_break Lost... *set health 35 You open your eyes and let out a whimper of pain. Your head is throbbing terribly, and as you look around you realize you don't know where you are. *line_break Nearby you see tall, shiny gray things setting against some kind of shiny cobweb wall. There's a foul smell coming from them. You hear the trickle of a stream nearby. Behind you, you see a tall cliff, and above the cliff, you see the sun hanging low in the west; with a jolt, you realize that a whole day must have passed since the storm! You let out a weak whimper, scared. *line_break *line_break There's a sniffing sound suddenly and you hear a low growl coming from behind a bush nearby. As you crouch down in fear, a large black wolf comes stalking towards you; but he doesn't resemble your mother one bit. [i]Maybe this is a dog?[/i] You begin to whine fearfully, which causes him to quiet down and stand straight, his long thin tail straight up. *line_break "Hey there little pup, are you alright?" His voice is deep and thick, nothing like the rough but comforting growl of your mothers voice. He comes closer and sniffs you gently. "Easy pup, I won't hurt you. Looks like you got lost in that storm and fell down here. *line_break There's a banging sound suddenly, causing you both to jump. The dog growls deeply and crouches down. "Run pup! It's the pound!" Without any warning, he runs off as three creatures like you've never seen come running towards you and another two run after the dog; all of them are carrying long shiny sticks with vines looped at the ends. You stare, frozen with fear, as they come running for you. *line_break Their tall, almost like trees, with some fur on their heads and a couple have fur on their faces. You can see bare skin but their mostly covered in some kind of strange blue skin. Their running on two legs and as they get closer one reaches out a hairless paw that looks nothing like your own. You have moments to react. *choice #Run Away! You run left, towards the bush, but one of the creatures reaches out and grabs you around the waist, yanking you up. They smell like a male and call out in a strange high pitched voice to the others. Then he makes a strange sound that reminds you of mothers laugh. *goto poundcaught #Escape! You run right, towards the strange shiny gray things, but one of the creatures grabs your waist and lifts you up. They smell like a male and call out in a strange high pitched voice to the others. Making a weird sound that reminds you of mothers laugh, he carries you away. *goto poundcaught #Run In Fear! You start running right towards them in fear, causing them to stop but as you get close, a male reaches out and easily scoops you up by your scruff, causing you to yip. He makes a weird noise that reminds you of mothers laughing and calls out to the others in a strange high pitched voice. *set fear %+2 *goto poundcaught #Freeze! You stand there, frozen, as the creatures slow down and surround you. A male reaches out and grabs you by the scruff, making you yip. He makes a sound that reminds you of mothers laugh and says something to the others in a strange high pitched voice. *goto poundcaught #Stand Your Ground! You stand straight and growl as fierce as you can. The creatures make a weird sound that reminds you of mothers laugh and a male reaches forward, ignoring your growls, and grabs your scruff. He says something to the others in a hgih pitched voice and laughs again. *set vocal %-2 *set moral %-2 *set fear %-10 *goto poundcaught *label poundcaught He carries you back to a large thing that reminds you of a boulder, but with strange round black things alone the bottom. He somehow opens the back and places you in a strange, shiny type of den and closes the front. He says something softly to you, but it doesn't sound friendly, and closes the back. *set like %-5 *goto poundtruck *label poundtruck *page_break The Pound's Truck... You can hear the male outside talking with the others; you cower in the strange den, letting out little frightened whimpers. Suddenly there's a loud banging sound and you turn to see a tiny little opening behind you, high up. You can see the creatures sitting there and wonder what their doing. *line_break There's a scuffling sound to your left and you look to see a tiny dog, or maybe a puppy, in another den. He's smaller than you, but when he raises his head and see's you, he lets out a barking laugh. "So they caught themselves a pup? You get seperated from your mother?" When you nod, he laughs in a mean way. "Well you're in luck. Humans love pups, no matter where they came from. Maybe you can survive the Shelter then, better than the rest of us..." *line_break You hear murmuring from other dogs; in the darkness you can make out many dens like yours, some of them the same size but many are much bigger. "W-Where am I?" *line_break A large dog near the back calls out. "You're in a van pup. Humans caught you and put you in a cage. Their going to take you to the Shelter; a horrid place for dogs and cats alike. You'll be placed in a bigger cage, maybe with another dog, and every day humans will come look at you until either you go home, or.....well you don't." His voice is gruff and gravely sounding. "But don't worry, pups get picked pretty quickly. Humans love puppies." *line_break *line_break There's a banging sound from where the humans are and suddenly, you feel this "van" moving. Some of the dogs start whining but a human hits the square of light with his fist. *choice #Whine You let out a low whine, crouching low to the floor. The human bangs the square again and you go silent, as do most of the dogs. You didn't understand exactly what the human said, but it may have been "Quiet!" *set vocal %-1 *set int +1 *set like %-2 *goto vancage #Howl You let out a loud puppy howl, startling some of the other dogs. The human hits the square again but you keep howling. The little square opens the human reaches his paw through and smacks it against the van wall where he can reach; it makes a loud banging sound that makes you go silent. You hear the humans as he retracts his hand. "Stupid puppy..." *set vocal %-5 *set int +2 *set like %-5 *goto vancage #Panic Panicking, you race around in your little cage as much as possible, yipping in fear. The other dogs, freaked out by your reaction, start panicking even more. Suddenly, the human opens the little square and sticks his paw through. In it, there's a small roundish shiny thing. When he shakes it though, it makes a loud rattling sound that causes a fresh bout of yipping from you. You race around and suddenly, your cage falls over and smashes against the ground. You smack your head against the side of the cage, making your vision double for a few moments. You hear the humans laugh at this. *line_break *set vocal %-15 *set health %-2 *set like %-8 *set dex +2 *set fear %+10 *goto vancage #Stay Calm You lay there, listening to the others and after a few moments, the human bangs the square again and you think you understand what he said, which may have been "Be quiet!" *set int +3 *set fear %-5 *goto vancage *label vancage *line_break *line_break The van shudders and shakes, making weird banging noises and the crates continue to shift around as it moves. After what seems like several days, the van shudders to a stop and the back end opens up. One by one, the humans take a cage out, or take the dog itself if it's too big to carry, until they finally lift your cage out and set it on a flat surface like you've never seen before. *line_break You see more dogs than you thought were possible. Some are in cages, some are held by humans, a few have vines wrapped around their necks that reach into a humans paws or wrapped around weird things around the enclosed place you're now in. You look around and see more humans than you believed existed walking around. Some are males, some females, and smaller ones that you guess might be pups. Dogs and humans off all different sizes move in and out of strange covered entrances scattered along the walls. *set sight +1 *line_break *line_break You yip in alarm when a human faces peers through the cage at you. They say something softly. Do you focus on the human or keep looking around? *choice #Watch the Human You stare at the human, trying to understand what their saying. You make out a few words. "Cute....what breed... mutt....looks hurt." When they stop speaking, they open the cage and gently pick you up and carry you through one of the entrances. They carry you gently, and you can tell they don't want to hurt you. *line_break *line_break *set int +3 *set like %+2 *goto shelterstart #Watch Other Humans You ignore the human right in front of you and pay more attention to the other humans in the room. They walk around, occasionally petting a dog, speaking to someone else, carrying things, or sometimes taking the dogs elsewhere. As you watch, one of the humans take a dog that looks remarkably like a wolf into a red door. The other dogs all watch as the wolf-dog starts barking and howling but suddenly....silence. You get a strange of foreboding; before you can make even a whimper though, the female in front of you opens the front of the cage and picks you up gently. You wiggle, afraid she was going to take you past the red door, but she holds on tighter and carries you through a white door instead. *line_break *set like %-3 *set listen %-2 *goto shelterstart #Watch the Dogs You watch the dogs sitting and standing around the room. Some of them are young, some are old, and you even see a few cages with cats in them. A couple of the dogs catch your eye and nod encouragingly, while some sneer and bare their fangs. A tiny black cat with startling ice blue eyes looks at you fearfully, their eyes wide and fur bushed out. *achieve first *choice #Bare Your Fangs You bare your fangs at them and while most of the dogs frown, you see a few shaking with silent laughter. The female human in front of you frowns and opens the cage. Gently picking you up, she carries you off. *line_break *set moral %-2 *goto shelterstart #Growl You let out a small growl; though you're little, it sounds loud even in the crowded room. Some of the dogs growl back, but they get sharp words from the human next to them. The female human in front of you opens the cage door and picks you up gently. You notice she's frowning slightly as she carries you off. *line_break *set moral %-3 *set vocal %-1 *goto shelterstart #Give A Curious Stare You watch them all curiously; they return the stare, some of them appear friendly, some do not. The female human in front of you opens the cage and gently picks you up. Smiling, she pets your head in a pleasing way. You close your eyes and lean against her chest, not enjoying the pets but not hating them either. *line_break *set vocal %+2 *set play %+1 *set moral %+1 *goto shelterstart #Ignore Them You ignore their looks; most seem unpreturbed by this but a few give an angry sounding snort. You gaze is cool and you turn to the female human as she opens the cage and gently lifts you up. *line_break *set rank %+2 *goto shelterstart *label shelterstart The human, who smells female, carries you back to a room with a flat surface that reminds you of a big flat rock, only white, clean looking, and it sits on four thin looking twigs on the floor. Placing you on top of the surface, the human gently pokes you in various places. *if (health < 20) The human walks over to some weird flat surfaces along the wall and you see part of the cliff-like wall sticking out of the surface open up! You see lots of weird things but the human closes it and comes back. You feel something sharp and small stab you in the neck; a moment later, you feel very sleepy and pass out. *line_break *line_break When you wake up, you feel better and while not quite rested, you feel like your not as weary as before. The human appears in your vision and smiles in a reassuring way and pats your head. *set health 100 *goto sheltercage *if (health >= 21) and (health <= 99) The human walks over to some weird flat surfaces along the wall and you see part of the cliff-like wall sticking out of the surface open up! You see lots of weird things but the human closes it and comes back. You feel something sharp and small stab you in the neck; then the human rubs a small fluffy ball against some scratches. It stings for a few moments but then begins to feel better. The human pats your head and smiles in a reassuring way. *set health 100 *goto sheltercage *if (health = "100") The human walks over to some weird flat surfaces along the wall and you see part of the cliff-like wall sticking out of the surface open up! You see lots of weird things but the human closes it and comes back. You feel something sharp and small stab you in the neck; the human pats your head and smiles in a reassuring way. *goto sheltercage *label sheltercage The human picks you up and takes you through even more entrances until she stops in front of a large cage with thick, shiny cobweb sides. You see a strange brightly colored thing in the corner, and two small things that remind you of hardened leaves in another. One of the leaves is filled with water, the other is filled with some kind of brown thing that looks like tiny dry meat chunks. *achieve shelter *goto_scene shelter *label wolflc *page_break The Den *rand mombreed 1 4 "Come little ones, into bed." Your brother and sister whine as Mother nudges you to bed. Mother ignores their complaints and herds you all into the soft basket in the corner of the room you've been living in. "Enough, it's bed time now." *line_break "Can you tell us a story?" You sisters little yips pierce the darkness as you all settle down on the soft blanket. *line_break Mother shakes her head. "Not tonight. But I will tell you about something that will be happening soon. You need to be prepared alright?" You lay against her side, beginning to feel uneasy. You brother and sister go still. Mother sighs. "In a few days I'm guessing, you will be taken outside and placed in a pen. It's not a bad thing! Other humans will come and look at you, and in a few weeks when you're old enough, one of them may come back and take you home with them." *line_break "Why would they do that? We want to stay here with you!" You lay your head on her leg and give her a pleading and confused look. *line_break "I don't know. I think their pups leave when their old enough, so maybe they think dogs should do the same. But don't be afraid; I don't think they would send you with humans that would hurt you. But I've heard them talking and I think soon they'll do this with you. I went through this, and so did my littermates." Mother gives each of you a lick. *line_break "Did father go through this?" You immediately regret asking. *line_break Mother cuffs your ears, hard. "Don't ask about your father." Her voice is suddenly harsh. "Now go to sleep." Pointedly, she curls up and closes her eyes, making it clear that she will say no more tonight. Sharing an uneasy look with your siblings, you all curl up and try to sleep. *goto wolflc1 *label wolflc1 *page_break The next couple days are boring. You go outside and play, but after a few days the humans bring you outside and place you in the grass in a large area surrounded by fences. This in itself is strange; usually your allowed the whole backyard but not today. You watch Mother's humans and after a short time, you see more humans come by. You realize that this is what mother warned you about; these strange humans are here to possibly choose to take you home. *label enclosedspace You look around and think about how to get them to notice you. *line_break *choice *disable_reuse *selectable_if (space < 3) #Tackle Your Brother You turn and immediately leap on your brother, knocking him over. For awhile, you two tumble around the enclosed space for awhile before you break apart, panting. Your brother goes over to the water dish, his tail down but looking happy and tired. *set play %+2 *set space +1 *goto enclosedspace *disable_reuse *selectable_if (space < 3) #Tackle Your Sister You turn and immediately leap on your sister, knocking her over. For awhile, you two tumble around the enclosed space for awhile before you break apart, panting. Your sister goes over to the water dish, her tail down but looking happy and tired. *set play %+2 *set space +1 *goto enclosedspace *disable_reuse *selectable_if (space < 3) #Play With Some Toys You run over to the pile of toys that Mother's humans placed on the ground. Footballs, tennis balls, a tube stuffed with peanut butter, you have fun playing with the toys by yourself and you see the humans watching with interest. *set pack %-2 *set vocal %-1 *set play %+2 *set space +1 *goto enclosedspace *disable_reuse *selectable_if (space < 3) #Eat You run over to the bowl of food and shove your face into the hard little pellets. You chow down until your brother butts his way past you for some food. You see him and your sister give you sad and slightly angry looks; you wonder if you should play with them. *set pack %-3 *set space +1 *goto enclosedspace *disable_reuse *selectable_if (space < 1) #Sleep Yawning, you make your way over to the blanket laying on the ground. It's soft and warm from the sunlight and you curl up for a quick nap. *line_break You wake with a start as your siblings roll over you, playing tag. The humans seem disappointed that you didn't play or anything. *set space +2 *goto enclosedspace *disable_reuse *selectable_if (space < 3) #Watch Them You walk around and watch the humans with interest. You notice large shiny things moving by very quickly, you see another dog walking down the street. You watch the humans watching you, and it's obvious they want you to something. You catch a few words but don't know what they mean. "Looks......not a......maybe..." *set int +1 *set sight +1 *set space +1 *goto enclosedspace *disable_reuse *selectable_if (space < 3) #Try To Listen You lay down and try to listen to the humans. Mother can understand what they say; you want to as well and know you just need to listen enough. You catch snips of their words, not understand what they mean though. "Looks like....not a dog… wolf....." *set int +2 *set space +1 *goto enclosedspace *selectable_if (space >= 3) #Day End You watch sadly as the humans begin to leave. No one had picked any of you up, but you saw them talk to Mother's humans and a few of them sounded happy. You see a few who look angry though and wonder what that's all about. Mother's humans bring you back inside and place you in your room with your siblings while they take Mother outside for a walk before they go to bed. *goto wolflc2 *label wolflc2 *set Age "8 Weeks" *if (mombreed = "1") *set str +1 *set int +2 *set vocal %-8 *set tail "Curly Fluffy" *set texture "Thick" *line_break *line_break The next two weeks passes that way. You get taken outside, humans come to look at you, a few even pet you or give you tasty but hard little things that look like bones, sometimes they talk to Mother's humans or each other. After two weeks, a human comes when you're not outside and takes your brother away. *line_break *line_break *line_break "Mom, where is Charlie?" Your sister ask this at bedtime that night. *line_break Mother sighs. "With his new humans little ones. But I'm afraid he's the only one they'll take. They...they think you may not be dogs..." *line_break You look at her, confused. "But what else could we be?" *line_break Mother gives you a sharp but kind look. "Well....you're wolfdogs. It means that your father was a wolf. I'm a dog, a Husky actually. But....but you two look more like him. He might've been a wolfdog himself to be honest...but he looks like a dog but larger and wilder." *line_break You and your sister gasp and stare at her. *line_break Mother sighs. "It was my own fault. I used to sneak out a lot and when I met your father, he told me he was a husky. I was young and foolish, and for the last two years I've been sneaking out to meet him. Eventually, I found out I was pregnant and I haven't seen him since. My humans won't let me out alone and I can no longer sneak out to see him." *line_break "But...but if father's a wolfdog...wouldn't they be happy you found someone to have pups with?" Sister curls up, shivering. *line_break Mother shakes her head. "Never. Humans hate and fear wolfdogs, but only if they look remotely like wolves. Like you two do. I'm afraid that's why no one will pick you. By now, you should have your own humans and your own homes with them. But I heard my humans talking on our walk....and I think their going to send you to the Shelter." When you and your sister look confused, she goes on. "The Shelter is a place for dogs with no humans. It's horrid and scary, but I think I know how you two can avoid that place. *line_break "You need to leave. Tonight. I know how to open the latch on my door to the backyard and while I can't over the fence, you are small enough you can get through the hole in the bottom under the hedge bush." Her eyes gleam with fear and determination. *line_break You exchange a look with your sister then turn to mother. *choice #Leave Tonight "I want to leave tonight. If the humans are going to take us there, I want to live like father does. Or like wolves do. I don't want to go to the Shelter, not if its as bad as you say." *set like %-5 *set fear %+5 *goto leavetonight #Stay Here "I don't want to leave. I don't believe the humans would send us to such a place. I trust them." You give your sister a sad look. "If you want to go, I understand. But I'm staying." *line_break She shakes her head. "I'm leaving. I don't want to take my chances with the humans and that place. I hope I'll see you again some day." *set fear %-5 *goto staytonight *if (mombreed = "2") *set int +1 *set vocal %-4 *set tail "Long Fluffy" *set coat "Short" *line_break *line_break The next two weeks passes that way. You get taken outside, humans come to look at you, a few even pet you or give you tasty but hard little things that look like bones, sometimes they talk to Mother's humans or each other. After two weeks, a human comes when you're not outside and takes your brother away. *line_break *line_break *line_break "Mom, where is Charlie?" Your sister ask this at bedtime that night. *line_break Mother sighs. "With his new humans little ones. But I'm afraid he's the only one they'll take. They...they think you may not be dogs..." *line_break You look at her, confused. "But what else could we be?" *line_break Mother gives you a sharp but kind look. "Well....you're wolfdogs. It means that your father was a wolf. I'm a dog, a German Shepherd actually. But....but you two look more like him. He might've been a wolfdog himself to be honest...but he looks like a dog but larger and wilder." *line_break You and your sister gasp and stare at her. *line_break Mother sighs. "It was my own fault. I used to sneak out a lot and when I met your father, he told me he was a husky. I was young and foolish, and for the last two years I've been sneaking out to meet him. Eventually, I found out I was pregnant and I haven't seen him since. My humans won't let me out alone anymore and I can no longer sneak out to see him." *line_break "But...but if father's a wolfdog...wouldn't they be happy you found someone to have pups with?" Sister curls up, shivering. *line_break Mother shakes her head. "Never. Humans hate and fear wolfdogs, but only if they look remotely like wolves. Like you two do. I'm afraid that's why no one will pick you. By now, you should have your own humans and your own homes with them. But I heard my humans talking on our walk....and I think their going to send you to the Shelter." When you and your sister look confused, she goes on. "The Shelter is a place for dogs with no humans. It's horrid and scary, but I think I know how you two can avoid that place. *line_break "You need to leave. Tonight. I know how to open the latch on my door to the backyard and while I can't over the fence, you are small enough you can get through the hole in the bottom under the hedge bush." Her eyes gleam with fear and determination. *line_break You exchange a look with your sister then turn to mother. *choice #Leave Tonight "I want to leave tonight. If the humans are going to take us there, I want to live like father does. Or like wolves do. I don't want to go to the Shelter, not if its as bad as you say." *set like %-5 *set fear %+5 *goto leavetonight #Stay Here "I don't want to leave. I don't believe the humans would send us to such a place. I trust them." You give your sister a sad look. "If you want to go, I understand. But I'm staying." *line_break She shakes her head. "I'm leaving. I don't want to take my chances with the humans and that place. I hope I'll see you again some day." *set fear %-5 *goto staytonight *if (mombreed = "3") *set str +1 *set vocal %+10 *set tail "Long Fluffy" *set legs "Long Thick" *line_break *line_break The next two weeks passes that way. You get taken outside, humans come to look at you, a few even pet you or give you tasty but hard little things that look like bones, sometimes they talk to Mother's humans or each other. After two weeks, a human comes when you're not outside and takes your brother away. *line_break *line_break *line_break "Mom, where is Charlie?" Your sister ask this at bedtime that night. *line_break Mother sighs. "With his new humans little ones. But I'm afraid he's the only one they'll take. They...they think you may not be dogs..." *line_break You look at her, confused. "But what else could we be?" *line_break Mother gives you a sharp but kind look. "Well....you're wolfdogs. It means that your father was a wolf. I'm a dog, a Malamute actually. But....but you two look more like him. He might've been a wolfdog himself to be honest...but he looks like a dog but larger and wilder." *line_break You and your sister gasp and stare at her. *line_break Mother sighs. "It was my own fault. I used to sneak out a lot and when I met your father, he told me he was a husky. I was young and foolish, and for the last two years I've been sneaking out to meet him. Eventually, I found out I was pregnant and I haven't seen him since. My humans won't let me out alone and I can no longer sneak out to see him." *line_break "But...but if father's a wolfdog...wouldn't they be happy you found someone to have pups with?" Sister curls up, shivering. *line_break Mother shakes her head. "Never. Humans hate and fear wolfdogs, but only if they look remotely like wolves. Like you two do. I'm afraid that's why no one will pick you. By now, you should have your own humans and your own homes with them. But I heard my humans talking on our walk....and I think their going to send you to the Shelter." When you and your sister look confused, she goes on. "The Shelter is a place for dogs with no humans. It's horrid and scary, but I think I know how you two can avoid that place. *line_break "You need to leave. Tonight. I know how to open the latch on my door to the backyard and while I can't over the fence, you are small enough you can get through the hole in the bottom under the hedge bush." Her eyes gleam with fear and determination. *line_break You exchange a look with your sister then turn to mother. *choice #Leave Tonight "I want to leave tonight. If the humans are going to take us there, I want to live like father does. Or like wolves do. I don't want to go to the Shelter, not if its as bad as you say." *set like %-5 *set fear %+5 *goto leavetonight #Stay Here "I don't want to leave. I don't believe the humans would send us to such a place. I trust them." You give your sister a sad look. "If you want to go, I understand. But I'm staying." *line_break She shakes her head. "I'm leaving. I don't want to take my chances with the humans and that place. I hope I'll see you again some day." *set fear %-5 *goto staytonight *if (mombreed = "4") *set int +1 *set moral %+8 *set texture "Smooth" *set muzzle "Boxy" *line_break *line_break The next two weeks passes that way. You get taken outside, humans come to look at you, a few even pet you or give you tasty but hard little things that look like bones, sometimes they talk to Mother's humans or each other. After two weeks, a human comes when you're not outside and takes your brother away. *line_break *line_break *line_break "Mom, where is Charlie?" Your sister ask this at bedtime that night. *line_break Mother sighs. "With his new humans little ones. But I'm afraid he's the only one they'll take. They...they think you may not be dogs..." *line_break You look at her, confused. "But what else could we be?" *line_break Mother gives you a sharp but kind look. "Well....you're wolfdogs. It means that your father was a wolf. I'm a dog, a Black Lab actually. But....but you two look more like him. He might've been a wolfdog himself to be honest...but he looks like a dog but larger and wilder." *line_break You and your sister gasp and stare at her. *line_break Mother sighs. "It was my own fault. I used to sneak out a lot and when I met your father, he told me he was a husky. I was young and foolish, and for the last two years I've been sneaking out to meet him. Eventually, I found out I was pregnant and I haven't seen him since. My humans won't let me out alone and I can no longer sneak out to see him." *line_break "But...but if father's a wolfdog...wouldn't they be happy you found someone to have pups with?" Sister curls up, shivering. *line_break Mother shakes her head. "Never. Humans hate and fear wolfdogs, but only if they look remotely like wolves. Like you two do. I'm afraid that's why no one will pick you. By now, you should have your own humans and your own homes with them. But I heard my humans talking on our walk....and I think their going to send you to the Shelter." When you and your sister look confused, she goes on. "The Shelter is a place for dogs with no humans. It's horrid and scary, but I think I know how you two can avoid that place. *line_break "You need to leave. Tonight. I know how to open the latch on my door to the backyard and while I can't over the fence, you are small enough you can get through the hole in the bottom under the hedge bush." Her eyes gleam with fear and determination. *line_break You exchange a look with your sister then turn to mother. *choice #Leave Tonight "I want to leave tonight. If the humans are going to take us there, I want to live like father does. Or like wolves do. I don't want to go to the Shelter, not if its as bad as you say." *set like %-5 *set fear %+5 *goto leavetonight #Stay Here "I don't want to leave. I don't believe the humans would send us to such a place. I trust them." You give your sister a sad look. "If you want to go, I understand. But I'm staying." *line_break She shakes her head. "I'm leaving. I don't want to take my chances with the humans and that place. I hope I'll see you again some day." *set fear %-5 *goto staytonight *label leavetonight *line_break *line_break Mother nods and nudges open the door to the rest of the house. Quietly, she leads you both to the small door that leads to the backyard. Using her claws, she nudges the a small thing holding the door closed and opens the flap for you. Once outside, she leads you to the big hedge bush the humans are always working on. She leads you around the back and stops at a hole just big enough for you and your sister to squeeze through. Mother gives each of you a lick. "Once outside, head north if you can and look for a dark blue house. Your father liked to hang around there; you can meet him and he can help you or direct you to the wolves. Be safe my little ones." You squeeze through after giving her one last look and wait for your sister before setting off. *line_break *line_break You travel until morning but you feel like you've gone the wrong way. You turn to your sister and you notice thick, black, heavy looking clouds in the sky. Before you can speak though there's a massive crack of thunder and a blinding flash of lightning, followed by a heavy rain that makes it hard to see. Your sister bolts in terror and races off. You run after her but quickly lose her in the heavy rain. You keep running, sure you're close, but suddenly your paws are churning in midair and you feel yourself falling. Howling in fear, you scrabble against the steep slop, trying to catch yourself on anything you can but partway down you hit your head on a rock and black out. *goto wolfdoglost *label wolfdoglost *page_break Lost... *set health 35 You open your eyes and let out a whimper of pain. Your head is throbbing terribly, and as you look around you realize you don't know where you are. *line_break Nearby you see some shiny tall trashbins. There's a foul smell coming from them. You hear the trickle of a stream nearby. Behind you, you see a tall cliff, and above the cliff, you see the sun hanging low in the west; with a jolt, you realize that a whole day must have passed since the storm! You let out a weak whimper, scared. *line_break *line_break There's a sniffing sound suddenly and you hear a low growl coming from behind a bush nearby. As you crouch down in fear, a large black dog comes stalking towards you; you begin to whine fearfully, which causes him to quiet down and stand straight, his long thin tail straight up. *line_break "Hey there little pup, are you alright?" His voice is deep and thick. He comes closer and sniffs you gently. "Easy pup, I won't hurt you. Looks like you got lost in that storm and fell down here. *line_break There's a banging sound suddenly, causing you both to jump. The dog growls deeply and crouches down. "Run pup! It's the pound!" Without any warning, he runs off as three humans come running for you. A few of them are carrying long sticks with some kind of leash or thick string looped at the end. *line_break You have moments to react. *choice #Run Away! You run left, towards the bush, but one of the humans reaches out and grabs you around the waist, yanking you up. They let out a mean sounding laugh and call to the others. *goto poundcaught2 #Escape! You run right, towards trashbins, but one of the humans grabs your waist and lifts you up. They hold you up and call to the others, laughing. *goto poundcaught2 #Run In Fear! You start running right towards them in fear, causing them to stop but as you get close, a male reaches out and easily scoops you up by your scruff, causing you to yip. He laughs and calls to the others. *set fear %+2 *goto poundcaught2 #Freeze! You stand there, frozen, as the humans slow down and surround you. A male reaches out and grabs you by the scruff, making you yip. He laughs and says something to the others. *goto poundcaught2 #Stand Your Ground! You stand straight and growl as fierce as you can. Ignoring your growls, one of the males reach over and grab you by the scruff, making you yip. He laughs and says something to the others. *set vocal %-2 *set moral %-2 *goto poundcaught2 #Stand Still You stand still, not making a sound, as they approach you curiously. One of the males lifts you up and says something to the others; he sounds confused, maybe wondering why you didn't run away. *goto poundcaught2 #Greet Them You run up and give an excited yap, causing them to pause. One of the men reachs down and scoops you up; you lick his hand and yap again. Laughing, he pets you and says something to the others. *set like %+5 *set moral %+2 *set fear %-5 *goto poundcaught2 *label poundcaught2 He carries you back to a large thing that you remember seeing when the other humans came to see you; but this one is gray, with large paws. Opening the back, he shuts you in a small cage and closes the back. He says something to you that you don't understand; it didn't sound friendly though. *set like %-5 *goto poundtruck2 *label poundtruck2 *page_break The Pound's Truck... You can hear the male outside talking with the others; you cower in the cage, letting out little frightened whimpers. Suddenly there's a loud banging sound and you turn to see a tiny window behind you, high up. You can see the humans sitting there and wonder what their doing. *line_break There's a scuffling sound to your left and you look to see a tiny dog, or maybe a puppy, in another cage. He's small, but when he raises his head and see's you, he lets out a barking laugh. "So they caught themselves a pup? You get seperated from your mother?" When you nod, he laughs in a mean way. "Well you're in luck. Humans love pups, no matter where they came from. Maybe you can survive the Shelter then, better than the rest of us..." *line_break You hear murmuring from other dogs; in the darkness you can make out many dens like yours, some of them the same size but many are much bigger. "W-Where am I?" *line_break A large dog near the back calls out. "You're in a van pup. Humans caught you and put you in a cage. Their going to take you to the Shelter; a horrid place for dogs and cata alike. You'll be placed in a bigger cage, maybe with another dog, and every day humans will come look at you until either you go home, or.....well you don't." His voice is gruff and gravely sounding. "But don't worry, pups get picked pretty quickly. Humans love puppies." *line_break *line_break There's a banging sound from where the humans are and suddenly, you feel this "van" moving. Some of the dogs start whining but a human hits the square of light with his fist. *choice #Whine You let out a low whine, crouching low to the floor. The human bangs the window again and you go silent, as do most of the dogs. You didn't understand exactly what the human said, but it may have been "Quiet!" *set vocal %-1 *set int +1 *set like %-2 *goto vancage2 #Howl You let out a loud puppy howl, startling some of the other dogs. The human hits the window again but you keep howling. The window opens and the human reaches his hand through and smacks it against the van wall where he can reach; it makes a loud banging sound that makes you go silent. You hear the humans as he retracts his hand. "Stupid puppy..." *set vocal %-5 *set int +2 *set like %-5 *goto vancage2 #Panic Panicing, you race around in your little cage as much as possible, yipping in fear. The other dogs, freaked out by your reaction, start panicing even more. Suddenly, the human opens the window and sticks his hand through. In it, there's a small labelless can. When he shakes it though, it makes a loud rattling sound that causes a fresh bout of yipping from you. You race around and suddenly, your cage falls over and smashes against the ground. You smack your head against the side of the cage, making your vision double for a few moments. You hear the humans laugh at this. *line_break *set vocal %-15 *set health %-2 *set like %-8 *set dex +2 *set fear %+10 *goto vancage2 #Stay Calm You lay there, listening to the others and after a few moments, the human bangs the window again and you think you understand what he said, which may have been "Be quiet!" *set int +3 *goto vancage2 *label vancage2 *line_break *line_break The van shudders and shakes, making weird banging noises and the crates continue to shift around as it moves. After what seems like several days, the van shudders to a stop and the back end opens up. One by one, the humans take a cage out, or take the dog itself if it's too big to carry, until they finally lift your cage out and set it on a table sitting just above the floor. *line_break You see more dogs than you thought were possible. Some are in cages, some are held by humans, a few have leashes wrapped around their necks that reach into a humans hands or wrapped around weird things around the room. You look around and see more humans than you believed existed walking around. Some are males, some females, and smaller ones that you guess might be pups. Dogs and humans off all different sizes move in and out of the doors scattered along the wall. *set sight +1 *line_break *line_break You yip in alarm when a human faces peers through the cage at you. They say something softly. Do you focus on the human or keep looking around? *choice #Watch the Human You stare at the human, trying to udnerstand what their saying. You make out a few words. "Cute....what breed... mutt....looks hurt." When they stop speaking, they open the cage and gently pick you up and carry you through one of the entrances. They carry you gently, and you can tell they don't want to hurt you. *line_break *line_break *set int +3 *set like %+2 *goto shelterstart2 #Watch Other Humans You ignore the human right in front of you and pay more attention to the other humans in the room. They walk around, occasionally petting a dog, speaking to someone else, carrying things, or sometimes taking the dogs elsewhere. As you watch, one of the humans take a dog that looks remarkably like a wolf into a red door. The other dogs all watch as the wolf-dog starts barking and howling but suddenly....silence. You get a strange of forboding; before you can make even a whimper though, the female in front of you opens the front of the cage and picks you up gently. You wiggle, afraid she was going to take you past the red door, but she holds on tighter and carries you through a white door instead. *line_break *set like %-3 *set listen %-2 *goto shelterstart2 #Watch the Dogs You watch the dogs sitting and standing around the room. Some of them are young, some are old, and you even see a few cages with cats in them. A couple of the dogs catch your eye and nod encouragingly, while some sneer and bare their fangs. *achieve first *choice #Bare Your Fangs You bare your fangs at them and while most of the dogs frown, you see a few shaking with silent laughter. The female human in front of you frowns and opens the cage. Gently picking you up, she carries you off. *line_break *set moral %-2 *goto shelterstart2 #Growl You let out a small growl; though you're little, it sounds loud even in the crowded room. Some of the dogs growl back, but they get sharp words from the human next to them. The female human in front of you opens the cage door and picks you up gently. You notice she's frowning slightly as she carries you off. *line_break *set moral %-3 *set vocal %-1 *goto shelterstart2 #Give A Curious Stare You watch them all curiously; they return the stare, some of them appear friendly, some do not. The female human in front of you opens the cage and gently picks you up. Smiling, she pets your head in a pleasing way. You close your eyes and lean against her chest, not enjoying the pets but not hating them either. *line_break *set vocal %+2 *set play %+1 *set moral %+1 *goto shelterstart2 #Ignore Them You ignore their looks; most seem unperturbed by this but a few give an angry sounding snort. You gaze is cool and you turn to the female human as she opens the cage and gently lifts you up. *line_break *set rank %+2 *goto shelterstart2 *label shelterstart2 The human, who smells female, carries you back to a room with a high up table in the center. Setting you down, she turns to the cabinets against the wall and starts opening drawers. *if (health < 20) The human walks over to a counter along the wall and she opens up a drawer. You see lots of weird things but the human closes it and comes back. You feel something sharp and small stab you in the neck; a moment later, you feel very sleepy and pass out. *line_break *line_break When you wake up, you feel better and while not quite rested, you feel like your not as weary as before. The human appears in your vision and smiles in a reassuring way and pats your head. *set health 100 *goto sheltercage2 *if (health >= 21) and (health <= 99) The human walks over to a counter along the wall and opens a drawer. You see lots of weird things but the human closes it and comes back. You feel something sharp and small stab you in the neck; then the human rubs a small fluffy ball against some scratches. It stings for a few moments but then begins to feel better. The human pats your head and smiles in a reassuring way. *set health 100 *goto sheltercage2 *if (health = "100") The human walks over to a counter and opens up a drawer underneath it. You see lots of weird things but the human closes it and comes back. You feel something sharp and small stab you in the neck; the human pats your head and smiles in a reassuring way. *goto sheltercage2 *label sheltercage2 The human picks you up and takes you through even more doors until she stops in front of a large cage with tall chain walls. You see a brightly colored blanket in the corner, and two small bowls in another. One bowl has food, the other has water. *achieve shelter *goto_scene shelter *label staytonight Giving you a lick, she follows mother out the door. You curl up in the blanket, alone for a moment. You feel uneasy after what Mother said, but what you said is true. You trust the humans and will take your chances. *goto taken4 *label taken4 *page_break Morning Comes Early When you wake, you don't see mother anywhere but you hear her barking and scratching at a door. You bolt up and run towards the sound but suddenly a human appears with a collar like mothers and a long piece of red string that mother called a leash. With a bark of surprise, you turn to run away but the human catches you and clips the collar around your neck. They murmer softly to you, even though you're not smart enough to understand human-speak yet. *set collar "Yes" *line_break *line_break They clip the leash onto your collar and start gently leading you to the front door; you see your mother go through this door daily and you remember going through this door when the humans all watched you and your brother and sister. But this time is different; you've never had a collar on, let alone be attached to a leash. Do you follow the humans or fight back against the leash? *choice #Run ahead You let out an excited bark and start running ahead. Surprised by your sudden lunge, the human doesn't move fast enough and you get choked suddenly. You let out a fury of loud barks, scared. *set health %-5 *line_break The human bends down next, murmuring softly to help you calm down. After a few moments, you feel much calmer and start walking quickly towards the door, excited despite the horrible thing that just happened. *set play %+5 *set vocal %-10 *set like %+2 *set rank %+5 *set listen %+2 *goto car2 #Walk by the humans side You bark and walk side by side with the human as they lead you outside. The collar doesn't feel bad, and you don't think they would put it on you if you didn't actually need it. *set play %-10 *set vocal %-2 *set like %+2 *set listen %+5 *set pack %+5 *goto car2 #Walk slowly behind them Wary of the collar and leash, you walk slowly. The human makes a weird face, showing their teeth but seeming happy that you aren't fighting it. *set vocal %+2 *set listen %+5 *set int +1 *set rank %-5 *goto car2 #Play Dead Scared, you suddenly drop down on your side, limp. The human lets out a gasp and kneels down next to you, poking you gently in a few places. Reassured that you're just scared and not something else, they pick you up gently, murmuring quietly to you. *set vocal %+10 *goto car2 #Growl You growl at the leash, unsure of what it is exactly. The human seems bothered by this but they give a gentle tug, indicating they want you to come with them. Unsure of what this means exactly, you slowly follow the human as they lead you outside. *set vocal %-5 *set listen %-5 *set moral %-2 *set like %-2 *goto car2 #Fight You let a fury of loud barks and snarls, startling the human & making then jump terribly. You bare your fangs at the leash in their hands, then suddenly you lunge for it. The human suddenly sticks a large pole in front of your muzzle, startling you. You step back, growling and baring your fangs. After a moment of staring at the pole, the human moves it behind you, trying to get you to back up through the front door. Reluctantly, you obey. *set like %-20 *set moral %-10 *set vocal %-10 *set listen %-10 *set agi +1 *set sight +1 *set listen %-10 *goto car2 *label car2 *page_break First Car Ride! Once outside, you see a large shiny thing sitting just to the left. The male human you see bring food is waiting by it. As soon as he sees you, he gives you a pet and opens up a hole in the side. Startled, you sniff around but smell nothing out of the ordinary. With a bit of coaxing from the humans, you let them help you jump up into the thing. They close the hole behind you with a large snap and then join you in the thing through two holes in the front, which also close with a snap. After a few moments, the thing starts making a loud sound and shaking terribly. How do you react? *choice #Bark Excitedly You let out a loud volley of excited barks. This is exciting! This is fun! The humans laugh at you in a friendly way. *set play %+5 *set like %+5 *set vocal %-10 *goto petshelter2 #Run Around You let out a quick bark and try your best to run around in the small area. The humans laugh a bit but try to get you to calm down. After a few minutes, you finally lay on a seat, panting, still super excited about this. *set play %+10 *set agi +1 *set spe +1 *set vocal %-5 *goto petshelter2 #Lay Down, Curious Quietly, you sniff the seats and everything else in the area. It's small, with not nearly as much space as you're used to. It smells like your humans, with a faint scent of your mother. You lay down after a few minutes, curious about everything. *set play %-10 *set int +1 *set vocal %+5 *set listen %+5 *goto petshelter2 #Lay Down, Afraid You tuck your tail between your legs, not liking the slightly cramped space. You smell the humans, with a faint smell of mother on the floor. You cast your gaze around warily before laying down. *set sight +1 *set like %-5 *set vocal %+5 *goto petshelter2 #Panic Your heart is beating like crazy in your chest. You don't like this cramped space, it feels much too small! You let out a loud whine, which quickly turns into soft barks of fear. One of the humans reaches back and pats your head, trying to calm you. A few minutes of this and you fall quiet, but still scared. *set vocal %-5 *set like %+2 *set listen %+2 *set fear %+5 *goto petshelter2 #Severely Panic You start barking as loud as you can, your eyes wide. The humans flinch as you begin scrabbling maddly at the walls and windows, your barking getting louder with each bark. One of the humans gets in the back with you, trying to calm you but in your panic you leave a long scratch down their arm. The human yells at you, making you flinch and go silent. Growling at you, the human gets back up front. *set like %-15 *set vocal %-15 *set moral %-2 *set str +1 *set fear %+15 *goto petshelter2 *label petshelter2 *line_break *line_break *line_break The thing keeps shaking. Sometimes it slows down and almost stops, but it doesn't stop shaking for a long time. You watch the windows, seeing more homes, humans, and sometimes other giant or small or medium shiny things like what you're in pass by. Eventually, you fall asleep. *line_break *line_break You wake up to find that the thing has stopped shaking. It's gone silent! You bolt up just as the humans open the hole and grab your leash. They help you get out and lead you up to a large building, where two more humans are waiting. They do not look friendly. *page_break Given Up... Once inside, your humans sit down at a table with the other two and you're tied up to something sticking out of the wall. An older dog, large with brindle fur and long floppy ears, is laying nearby. A thick looking black collar is around his neck. He looks up as you let out a whimper. "Be quiet pup." You jump, not having expected him to speak. He pricks his ears as the humans talk. "Well now, so you're coming to stay here?" *line_break *line_break "W-W-What do you mean?" Your voice shakes. *line_break *line_break "I can understand most human-speak. The humans you came with say that they found you as a stray, a dog sitting on the side of the road. Is that true?" He looks slightly concerned as the humans talk. *line_break *line_break You start barking fearfully at your humans. "That's a lie! You were there when I was born! You gave away all my brothers and sisters! Why are you lying!" You feel tears weeping out of your eyes as you bark. You had no idea this would happen! They are not just giving you up, they are lying about you! *set vocal %-10 *line_break *line_break The older dog huffs when you finally go quiet, the humans having ignored you completely. "So they raised you? And now their lying? Unfortunately this is how humans act a lot pup. I'm sorry they brought you here like this, but you must learn to calm yourself." He looks up as the humans all stand. You watch them shake each other paws and the two humans that brought you, raised you, loved you and mother, and give you food, walk away from you and outside. You don't think you'll ever see them again, and you don't think you want to now. A human comes and gently picks you up, carrying you away from where you came in and takes you back to a den not much smaller than the room where you born. They set you down, give you a pet on the head, then close the door to this little den and walk away. *set like %-25 *page_break The Shelter *achieve shelter *goto_scene shelter *label wolfhc *page_break The Den *set age "8 weeks" "Come on little pup, into the den." You see Mother beginning to herd you and your littermates into the small little den that you've known for the past 8 weeks. You happily follow your sister and curl up in the soft nest that mother had made on the dirt floor. *line_break "Can we have a story?" Your voice is high pitched and loud in the quiet darkness of the den. "Can you tell us about the pack?" *line_break Mother is silent for a moment. "We....we don't have a pack little one. We are loners." *line_break "Why not? Do the wolves not like us?" Your sister sits up, her head tilted to the side. *line_break Mother sighs. "Well....they don't care about you and their mad at me. They...they think I betrayed the pack." Her voice is strangely quiet. *line_break "But why? Did you steal food? Or attack someone?" You yip and leap on your sister, who shoves you away. *line_break Mother shakes her head. "No....they would've driven me away and you wouldn't be here if I had. It's because your father." Immediately you and your sister sit still and watch her. She had only mentioned your father once before, but you had never heard his name or anything about him. "He....he was a wolfdog." *line_break You give your mother a curious stare. "What's a wolfdog? Are they a different kind of wolf?" *line_break Mother looks at you and shakes her head. "In a way. It means one of his parents was a wolf, the other was a dog. But he looked like a wolf and when we met, I never thought he would have that kind of secret. But they found out when...when you were born. Your brother, you won't remember him, he....he looked like a dog and not one bit of him was a wolf. They called me names and forbid me from going near the pack ever again. So we live here, in this little bit of forest, where they can never bother us." Shaking her head, she sighs. "Now, it's time for bed. Try to sleep and tomorrow we can go outside." *line_break You tip your head, curious. *choice #Let It Go Shrugging, you curl up against Mother's side and try to sleep. *goto outsideden #Ask About Your Father "Why don't wolves like you being with father? Is it just because he was half dog? Or was it because he was bad?" *line_break Mother sighs. "Wolves see someone like you or your father as a monster, something against nature. They believe that even though we are very similar and cousins to dogs, we should never mix with them. They think that which ever wolf mated with a dog should not even be called a wolf at all. And when they saw your brother, well....they knew what I had done, even if I didn't realize it myself yet." Shaking her head, she sighs again. "Now, please sleep little one." *line_break You nuzzle against her side and try to sleep. *set pack %-5 *set play %-1 *goto outsideden #Ask About Your Brother "Why isn't brother here anymore?" You don't really remember him, just a vague recollection of scent. *line_break Mother looks away. "He was weak. He...he died before he was three weeks old....but the other wolves of the pack saw him before I could bury his body. He had brown fur that was short, his muzzle was very short compared to yours, and his legs were much shorter." She goes silent and you nuzzle her, silently telling her she doesn't need to go on. Smiling, she nuzzles you back and tucks you in. *set moral %+2 *goto outsideden #Ask About the Pack "Why doesn't the pack want us? Don't we look like wolves? Or do they think since we're part dog that we would want to go live with humans?" *line_break Mother shakes her head. "They think that I went against nature by mating with a dog. Well, even worse since he was a wolfdog. I pleaded with them to allow me back into the pack, since I never realized that I had pups with a wolfdog, but they said I had betrayed them, that I was no longer a wolf." Her voice breaks and you nuzzle her, telling her that she doesn't need to continue without saying a word. Smiling, she tucks you in. *set pack %-10 *set moral %+2 *goto outsideden *label outsideden *page_break Morning *comment goto wolfdogstream after stream choice "Up up up little ones!" You yawn and wake up to your mothers voice ringing through the den. You sit up and she begins grooming your sleep ruffled fur. Your sister is bouncing around the den, excited for the days outing. When mother is satisfied with your fur, she nudges you and your sister outside. "Now, what are we going to do?" *choice #Stream "Can we go to the stream?" You blink in the bright sunlight and trip over your own paws. You sister yips and runs around, clearly agreeing. *line_break "Of course little one. Follow me, stay close." With that, she begins walking towards the stream that runs nearby and is a good spot for fish. *goto wolfdogstream #Clearing "Let's go to the clearing! I wanna learn to hunt!" Your sister bounces around, wagging her butt in the air as she prepares to pounce on you; you dodge but stumble over a rock. *line_break Mother chuckles. "Very well, I'll teach you some hunting techniques alright?" You give an excited yip and you bounce after her, your sister on your heels. *goto wolfdogclearing #Explore "Can we explore the woods? You can teach us about hunting, or smelling things, or anything!" You look excited by the idea of exploring more of your home. You may be loners, but you can still enjoy your home. *goto wolfdogexplore *label wolfdogstream *line_break *line_break "Alright, now lets get some breakfast first." Mother waits until you and your sister are settled down nicely next to the water and begins watching patiently until after what seems like forever, she plunges her jaws into the water and brings out a fat and tasty trout. Quickly, she chews up the meat and then regurgitates it for you. Happily, you and your sister dig into the pile of steaming fish meat. *line_break *line_break Once full, you lazily roll around in the dirt while your sister runs around chasing beetles. Mother watches for awhile then flicks her ears. "I think we should get back to the den before long little ones." As soon as she stops speaking, a large crack of thunder echoes through the trees and it begins to pour heavily. Quickly, the stream becomes fuller and the ground becomes shiny and slick. *line_break *line_break Your sister bowls into you suddenly. "Lets play in the mud!" How will you respond? *choice #Push Your Sister Into The Mud You growl and push her into the mud, splattering all three of you with flecks of it. Yipping, she leaps on you and fastens her teeth in your ear and begins tugging. *set play %+3 *goto mudfight1 #Run Around With a loud yip, you push your paws into the mud and chase your sister around in a game of tag. Mother chuckles and watches, amused, as you both fling mud everywhere. *set play %+5 *goto runaround #Hide under An Overhanging Rock You immediately race to where a large rock is sticking up from the ground, creating a nicely sheltered spot next to the bank. It's nice and dry underneath and soon Mother comes to join you. You both watch as your sister continues to run around in the mud, although you wonder if it would have been more fun for you both if you had chosen to play with her. *goto underrock1 *label mudfight1 You growl and tear yourself away, your paws slipping in the mud as you try to run away from her. Playfully, you two chase each other, constantly flinging up mud with your paws and slipping around.Soon, both your coats are coated with the sticky stuff and Mother barks for you. You have been playing for awhile, but not as long as she usually lets you. *set play %+10 *line_break "Let's get back to the den little ones! Quickly!" She looks worried, her tail low to the ground and her ears flat. You turn to run to her but slip in the mud and with a sharp yelp, you see Mother running for you but instead of feeling her teeth in your scruff, you feel the cold water washing over your body and soaking your fur as you fall into the now thick and fast moving stream, which has become a river from the intense rain. *goto sweptaway1 *label runaround1 *line_break *line_break You and your sister play tag for a good while, but suddenly there's a weird roaring sound from upstream. Mother gets up and lunges for you both, first dragging your sister away from the stream, which has swollen into a river, but as she lunges back for you, a large wave of muddy water slams into you. Your knocked off your paws and thrown into the river. *goto sweptaway1 *label underrock1 *line_break *line_break Mother licks the mud from your fur. "How about I tell you a story?" You nod, feeling slightly sleepy from her licking. She thinks for a moment then smiles. "How about the story of dogs and wolves?" When you nod, she sighs. "All dogs come from wolves, but they are very different. Dogs cannot hunt like we do, and they are never as strong, as brave, as fearless, or even as cunning as wolves." You've heard this story many times, but listen intently like always. "Wolves and dogs can look like each other, like huskies do, but dogs can look so different that its easy to tell them apart just from their pelts, colors, or even how their tails are. Wolves are very different, for we usually resemble each other very much. We share the same coats, and sometimes we even have the same colors as each other, but we all look alike. But sometimes, there are wolves who have pups with dogs." *line_break You gasp, making her laugh softly. *line_break "Oh yes, dogs and wolves can be mates, even when their very different than each other. That's how you came to be. But unlike some wolves, I did not recognize your father for what he was." She grimaces. *line_break Your sister comes marching over. "What did you do when you found out." She pauses. "[i]How[/i] did you find out?" *line_break Mother sighs. "I found out when your brother was born. He had muddy brown fur, a short tail, much shorter than any wolf pups, and his eyes, for the short time they were open, were not blue but a strange blue-green. His fur was short, much short than yours, and it was slightly curly." Shaking her head sadly, she stands up. "I would rather you not ask about him anymore, alright? Let's go back to the dens and stay dry today." She and your sister walk out but you linger for a minute, thinking of the story. You don't hear the strange roar but notice when Mother runs back for you, fear etched on her face. But before she can reach you, you feel a strong wave of water smash into you, knocking you off your feet and into the stream, which has swollen into a river. Your mother makes a snap for you but misses. *goto sweptaway1 *label sweptaway1 *line_break *line_break Water fills your eyes and ears and slaps your nose. You let out high pitched yelps of fear. You hear large pawsteps over the sound of the river and rain but they quickly fade away and you hear your mothers long heartbroken howl as you are swept downstream towards the city. You try to howl like Mother taught you, but water fills your mouth and when you cough and sputter, it gets harder and harder to breath as more water pours in, which in turn makes it harder to keep your head above the water. Soon, your vision grows dim and becomes black as you pass out, sinking under the surface. *set health 15 *page_break Washed Away You feel the sun beating down on you and you open your eyes to see your laying on the edge of the stream, your fur spiked up and drying in some places, but slick and thick feeling in other. The ground around you is hard and warm from the sun, but the sun is lower in the west than when you left the den yesterday; with a jolt, you realize that at least a whole day has passed since you were last playing with your sister in the den. Painfully and with much effort and falling down, you stand, shaking, and look around. *line_break You have never been this far from the den; that much is obvious because nearby are strange shiny gray things like weird boulders, you can smell something rotten and strange, and the sounds are nothing like you have ever heard before. Honking, screeching worse than owls, and chatter that sounds nothing like the usual growls and yips your used to, as well as more sounds you cannot describe. *set smell +1 *set hear +1 *line_break *line_break There's a sniffing sound suddenly and you hear a low growl coming from behind a bush nearby. As you crouch down in fear, a large black wolf comes stalking towards you; but he doesn't resemble your mother one bit. [i]Maybe this is a dog?[/i] You begin to whine fearfully, which causes him to quiet down and stand straight, his long thin tail straight up. *line_break "Hey there little pup, are you alright?" His voice is deep and thick, nothing like the rough but comforting growl of your mothers voice. He comes closer and sniffs you gently. "Easy pup, I won't hurt you. Looks like you got caught up in that flood." *line_break There's a banging sound suddenly, causing you both to jump. The dog growls deeply and crouches down. "Run pup! It's the pound!" Without any warning, he runs off as three creatures like you've never seen come running towards you and another two run after the dog; all of them are carrying long shiny sticks with vines looped at the ends. You stare, frozen with fear, as they come running for you. *line_break Their tall, almost like trees, with some fur on their heads and a couple have fur on their faces. You can see bare skin but their mostly covered in some kind of strange blue skin. Their running on two legs and as they get closer one reaches out a hairless paw that looks nothing like your own. You have moments to react. *choice #Run Away! You run left, towards the bush, but one of the creatures reaches out and grabs you around the waist, yanking you up. They smell like a male and call out in a strange high pitched voice to the others. Then he makes a strange sound that reminds you of mothers laugh. *goto carrytruck1 #Escape! You run right, towards the strange shiny gray things, but one of the creatures grabs your waist and lifts you up. They smell like a male and call out in a strange high pitched voice to the others. Making a weird sound that reminds you of mothers laugh, he carries you away. *set fear %+2 *goto carrytruck1 #Run In Fear! You start running right towards them in fear, causing them to stop but as you get close, a male reaches out and easily scoops you up by your scruff, causing you to yip. He makes a weird noise that reminds you of mothers laughing and calls out to the others in a strange high pitched voice. *goto carrytruck1 #Freeze! You stand there, frozen, as the creatures slow down and surround you. A male reaches out and grabs you by the scruff, making you yip. He makes a sound that reminds you of mothers laugh and says something to the others in a strange high pitched voice. *goto carrytruck1 #Stand Your Ground! You stand straight and growl as fierce as you can. The creatures make a weird sound that reminds you of mothers laugh and a male reaches forward, ignoring your growls, and grabs your scruff. He says something to the others in a hgih pitched voice and laughs again. *set vocal %-2 *set moral %-2 *set fear %-5 *goto carrytruck1 *label carrytruck1 He carries you back to a large thing that reminds you of a boulder, but with strange round black things alone the bottom. He somehow opens the back and places you in a strange, shiny type of den and closes the front. He says something softly to you, but it doesn't sound friendly, and closes the back. *set like %-5 *goto poundtruck1 *label poundcaught1 He carries you back to a large thing that reminds you of a boulder, but with strange round black things alone the bottom. He somehow opens the back and places you in a strange, shiny type of den and closes the front. He says something softly to you, but it doesn't sound friendly, and closes the back. *set like %-5 *goto poundtruck1 *label poundtruck1 *page_break The Pound's Truck... You can hear the male outside talking with the others; you cower in the strange den, letting out little frightened whimpers. Suddenly there's a loud banging sound and you turn to see a tiny little opening behind you, high up. You can see the creatures sitting there and wonder what their doing. *line_break There's a scuffling sound to your left and you look to see a tiny dog, or maybe a puppy, in another den. He's smaller than you, but when he raises his head and see's you, he lets out a barking laugh. "So they caught themselves a pup? You get seperated from your mother?" When you nod, he laughs in a mean way. "Well you're in luck. Humans love pups, no matter where they came from. Maybe you can survive the Shelter then, better than the rest of us..." *line_break You hear murmuring from other dogs; in the darkness you can make out many dens like yours, some of them the same size but many are much bigger. "W-Where am I?" *line_break A large dog near the back calls out. "You're in a van pup. Humans caught you and put you in a cage. Their going to take you to the Shelter; a horrid place for dogs and cata alike. You'll be placed in a bigger cage, maybe with another dog, and every day humans will come look at you until either you go home, or.....well you don't." His voice is gruff and gravely sounding. "But don't worry, pups get picked pretty quickly. Humans love puppies." *line_break *line_break There's a banging sound from where the humans are and suddenly, you feel this "van" moving. Some of the dogs start whining but a human hits the square of light with his fist. *choice #Whine You let out a low whine, crouching low to the floor. The human bangs the square again and you go silent, as do most of the dogs. You didn't understand exactly what the human said, but it may have been "Quiet!" *set vocal %-1 *set int +1 *set like %-2 *goto vancage1 #Howl You let out a loud puppy howl, startling some of the other dogs. The human hits the square again but you keep howling. The little square opens the human reaches his paw through and smacks it against the van wall where he can reach; it makes a loud banging sound that makes you go silent. You hear the humans as he retracts his hand. "Stupid puppy..." *set vocal %-5 *set int +2 *set like %-5 *goto vancage1 #Panic Panicing, you race around in your little cage as much as possible, yipping in fear. The other dogs, freaked out by your reaction, start panicing even more. Suddenly, the human opens the little square and sticks his paw through. In it, there's a small roundish shiny thing. When he shakes it though, it makes a loud rattling sound that causes a fresh bout of yipping from you. You race around and suddenly, your cage falls over and smashes against the ground. You smack your head against the side of the cage, making your vision double for a few moments. You hear the humans laugh at this. *line_break *set vocal %-15 *set health %-2 *set like %-8 *set dex +2 *set fear %+10 *goto vancage1 #Stay Calm You lay there, listening to the others and after a few moments, the human bangs the square again and you think you understand what he said, which may have been "Be quiet!" *set int +3 *goto vancage1 *label vancage1 *line_break *line_break The van shudders and shakes, making weird banging noises and the crates continue to shift around as it moves. After what seems like several days, the van shudders to a stop and the back end opens up. One by one, the humans take a cage out, or take the dog itself if it's too big to carry, until they finally lift your cage out and set it on a flat surface like you've never seen before. *line_break You see more dogs than you thought were possible. Some are in cages, some are held by humans, a few have vines wrapped around their necks that reach into a humans paws or wrapped around weird things around the enclosed place you're now in. You look around and see more humans than you believed existed walking around. Some are males, some females, and smaller ones that you guess might be pups. Dogs and humans off all different sizes move in and out of strange covered entrances scattered along the walls. *set sight +1 *line_break *line_break You yip in alarm when a human faces peers through the cage at you. They say something softly. Do you focus on the human or keep looking around? *choice #Watch the Human You stare at the human, trying to udnerstand what their saying. You make out a few words. "Cute....what breed... mutt....looks hurt." When they stop speaking, they open the cage and gently pick you up and carry you through one of the entrances. They carry you gently, and you can tell they don't want to hurt you. *line_break *line_break *set int +3 *set like %+2 *goto shelterstart1 #Watch Other Humans You ignore the human right in front of you and pay more attention to the other humans in the room. They walk around, occasionally petting a dog, speaking to someone else, carrying things, or sometimes taking the dogs elsewhere. As you watch, one of the humans take a dog that looks remarkably like a wolf into a red door. The other dogs all watch as the wolf-dog starts barking and howling but suddenly....silence. You get a strange of forboding; before you can make even a whimper though, the female in front of you opens the front of the cage and picks you up gently. You wiggle, afraid she was going to take you past the red door, but she holds on tighter and carries you through a white door instead. *line_break *set like %-3 *set listen %-2 *goto shelterstart1 #Watch the Dogs You watch the dogs sitting and standing around the room. Some of them are young, some are old, and you even see a few cages with cats in them. A couple of the dogs catch your eye and nod encouragingly, while some sneer and bare their fangs. A tiny black cat with striking ice blue eyes watches you, eyes wide. *achieve first *choice #Bare Your Fangs You bare your fangs at them and while most of the dogs frown, you see a few shaking with silent laughter. The female human in front of you frowns and opens the cage. Gently picking you up, she carries you off. *line_break *set moral %-2 *goto shelterstart1 #Growl You let out a small growl; though you're little, it sounds loud even in the crowded room. Some of the dogs growl back, but they get sharp words from the human next to them. The female human in front of you opens the cage door and picks you up gently. You notice she's frowning slightly as she carries you off. *line_break *set moral %-3 *set vocal %-1 *goto shelterstart1 #Give A Curious Stare You watch them all curiously; they return the stare, some of them appear friendly, some do not. The female human in front of you opens the cage and gently picks you up. Smiling, she pets your head in a pleasing way. You close your eyes and lean against her chest, not enjoying the pets but not hating them either. *line_break *set vocal %+2 *set play %+1 *set moral %+1 *goto shelterstart1 #Ignore Them You ignore their looks; most seem unpreturbed by this but a few give an angry sounding snort. You gaze is cool and you turn to the female human as she opens the cage and gently lifts you up. *line_break *set rank %+2 *goto shelterstart1 *label shelterstart1 The human, who smells female, carries you back to a room with a flat surface that reminds you of a big flat rock, only white, clean looking, and it sits on four thin looking twigs on the floor. Placing you on top of the surface, the human gently pokes you in various places. *if (health <= "20") The human walks over to some weird flat surfaces along the wall and you see part of the cliff-like wall sticking out of the surface open up! You see lots of weird things but the human closes it and comes back. You feel something sharp and small stab you in the neck; a moment later, you feel very sleepy and pass out. *line_break *line_break When you wake up, you feel better and while not quite rested, you feel like your not as weary as before. The human appears in your vision and smiles in a reassuring way and pats your head. *set health 100 *goto sheltercage1 *if (health >= 21) and (health <= 99) The human walks over to some weird flat surfaces along the wall and you see part of the cliff-like wall sticking out of the surface open up! You see lots of weird things but the human closes it and comes back. You feel something sharp and small stab you in the neck; then the human rubs a small fluffy ball against some scratches. It stings for a few moments but then begins to feel better. The human pats your head and smiles in a reassuring way. *set health 100 *goto sheltercage1 *if (health = "100") The human walks over to some weird flat surfaces along the wall and you see part of the cliff-like wall sticking out of the surface open up! You see lots of weird things but the human closes it and comes back. You feel something sharp and small stab you in the neck; the human pats your head and smiles in a reassuring way. *goto sheltercage1 *label sheltercage1 The human picks you up and takes you through even more entrances until she stops in front of a large cage with thick, shiny cobweb sides. You see a strange brightly colored thing in the corner, and two small things that remind you of hardened leaves in another. One of the leaves is filled with water, the other is filled with some kind of brown thing that looks like tiny dry meat chunks. *achieve shelter *goto_scene shelter *label wolfdogclearing *set age "8 Weeks" *line_break *line_break Mother flicks you with her tail as you all enter the nearby clearing. Your sister eagerly follows, while you follow more slowly. You walk for awhile until you emerge in a large round clearing; perfect for learning how to fight or hunt. Mother looks at you both, sweeping her tail behind her. "Now, what would you like to learn first?" *choice #Stalking Practice "I want to practice stalking!" You yip excitedly. You've stalked beetles, but you want to stalk something bigger. *goto stalker1 #Leaping Practice "Can we practice leaping? Like what you do when you bring down a deer?" You sister steps forward, her head held high. You nod eagerly, agreeing with her, and Mother chuckles as you both flex your paws. *goto leaper1 #Scenting Practice "Can we practice tracking with smells?" You wag your tail happily. You know Mother can smell something from miles away and want to learn how she does it so well. *goto smeller1 #Hearing Practice You tip your head, thinking. "Can we track you moving through the bushes? With sound?" You know that wolves can be silent, but you want to be able to hear them better, so things like deer will be easy. *goto hearing1 #Sight Practice You bounce on your toes. "Can we watch the birds in the trees? If we can see where the birds are, maybe that will make it easier to see rabbits when we start hunting them!" You and your sister look up into the trees, where birds are flitting around from branch to branch, some of them big but most were small and the two pups easily lost sight of them if they went still. *goto sight1 #Fighting Practice "Let's practice fighting!" You bare yor fangs and pounce on your sister, who yips and rolls away. She retaliates by leaping forward and biting your ear hard and tugging. *goto fighter1 *label stalker1 Mother nods and walks over. "Alright, how about you practice stalking a stone first? Just to get you started. You must stalk the stone without letting your shadow fall on it, you cannot disturb any other stones, or do anything that would alert the stone to where you are." Placing a large stone in the center of the clearing, Mother has you wait while she scatters leaves, smaller stones, and branches and twigs around the clearing. "These are your obstacles. Go when you're ready." *choice #Through The Leaves You make your way around the pile of leaves, but accidently step on a thick and crunchy leaf. Mother laughs and calls out. "The stone saw you and fled! Let your sister have a try now." *line_break You stomp back over to your sister, who gives you a comforting lick as she tries going the same way you did and makes the same mistake. *set dex +1 *goto stalkend1 #Around The Branch You make your way behind the branch and see your Mother give you an approving nod. You duck down and make your way around the end but step on a twig right as you get within pouncing distance. *line_break "Very good, but always remember to watch where you place your paws at all times." You nod and sit down next to your sister, who gives you a lick before following the way you went, and nearly making it to the stone before the wind shifted. *set int +1 *set hunt +1 *goto stalkend1 #Over the Stones You make your way over the group of stones your Mother scattered, watching your paws with each step. When you get close however, the wind shifts and suddenly its blowing right in your face. Mother calls out, "try scenting the wind next time; there's always a smell in the air or noise in the trees moving that tells you when its about to change. But very good, you almost made it!" *set hear +1 *set smell +1 *line_break You trot back to your sister, who gives you a happy lick, before following the way you took and making it to the stone. *goto stalkend1 #Around The Clearing You look around, pricking your ears up and eyeing the obstacles before making your move. You dodge behind the branch just as the wind changes, then dart as quickly as you dare through the scattered stones before hiding behind the pile of leaves. Mother watches with interest as you stop just before disturbing a pebble, but just as the wind shifts you make a leap for the stone. You miss, but if it had been bigger you would have landed on it. *set int +1 *set str +1 *set agi +1 *set dex +1 *set sight +1 You run back over to your sister and bowl her over in your excitement. Mother laughs. "That was very good, now get off your sister and let her try!" You meekly get off your sister, who gives you a playful shove and tries to copy what you did; she makes it and you two play together for a few minutes before Mother stops you. *goto stalkend1 *label stalkend1 *line_break *line_break "Alright little ones, I think our time here is done." Mother calls out soon, after you practice stalking a bit more. The wind has been getting stronger and fat rain drops have been splashing the ground and soon it begins to pour. Mother gives you each a lick. "Den time, now. It's too wet out here." *line_break *line_break You stay close to her side, your fur plastered to your side from the rain. Your sister follows reluctantly; you know she wanted to practice more but it's probably to wet for fish, let alone wolves. The rain starts falling harder as you walk, the thunder gets louder. Suddenly, theres a large flash of light and massive clap of thunder than makes your ears ring. *line_break Yipping in fear, you bolt away, not realizing that you left your mothers side. Another crack of thunder drowns out your own yips and any chance at hearing your mother call for you. You blunder blindly through the bushes in fear, not aware of where your heading. You turn and dodge around bushes and trees but suddenly, your paws don't touch the ground. You howl in fear and tumble down a steep embankment. Halfway down the hill, you hit your head on a rock and black out. *goto wolfdoglost1 *label leaper1 Mother rolls a large stone into the clearing, about halfway between the edges. "Now, I want you both to make a leap from as far as you dare." Walking between the stone and one of the edges, she makes marks along the ground with her claws. "Now, pick a mark one at a time and do your best. Try to land on the stone of you can." *line_break You eye the lines in the dirt, thinking. *choice #The Closest Line You step up to the line closest to the stone and crouch. Narrowing your eyes, you push off the ground as hard as you can. You land well past the stone, flat on the ground. You growl at your sister, who's trying not to laugh, and stomp back over. *line_break Mother gives you an encouraging lick. "That was very good. A bit too much power, but still very good." *set str +1 *set moral %-1 *goto leapdone1 #The Second Line You walk up to the second line and prepare to leap. Tucking your legs under you hindquarters, you think for a moment then push off. You land just past the stone, but your tail is touching it! With a happy yip, you trot back to your sister. *line_break Mother gives you a lick. "Very good. I saw you thinking about how to leap, and tucking your legs like that was a very good idea." Encouraged, you watch your sister and wait for your next turn. *set int +1 *set agi +1 *goto leapdone1 #The Third Line You step up to the third line and crouch down. As you bunch up your legs, your sister lets out a large yip. Startled, you make a leap but fall very short and bumping your nose. Your eyes watering, you growl and run at her. Smashing into her side, you fasten your teeth onto her ear as hard as you can and tug. She gives a frightened and pained bark. *line_break Mother cuffs your ears hard, knocking you off and your sister and pushing you on the ground. "Enough! While she should not have made a sound, you must concentrate next time! In a hunt, there will be many other wolves around and many sounds! Now, let your sister have a chance and [i]if I catch you doing that again, you will be stuck in the den for a whole moon![/i] *line_break Abashed, you cower on the ground. Your sisters ear is bleeding and you can see a slight tear. Giving you a fierce and angry growl, she stalks up to a line to leap. *set int +1 *set moral %-2 *set hear +1 *goto leapdone1 #The Furthest Line You stalk up to the furthest line from the stone and eye it, thinking. You dig your claws into the ground, bunch up your legs, and then push off as hard as you can. When you land, you look around for the stone but cannot see it. You feel something round under your butt and look; there's the stone! You had landed right on top of it! *line_break Feeling satisfied, you walk back over to your sister with your tail up like an Alpha's. For some reason, she crouchs down like an omega. Mother chuckles and nudges you both. "You did well, now let your sister try." *set rank %+5 *set play %-2 *set int +2 *goto leapdone1 #From The Edge' You walk all the way back to the edge of the clearing, a whole 2 wolf lengths! Mother watches with interest and your sister is giving you a bored look. You crouch down just in front of a young sapling and press your paws into the packed dirt. Thinking hard, you push off as hard as you can. When you land, you see the stone a couple tail legnths away in front of you. You had pushed off hard enough, but weren't close enough. *line_break You sister smacks you playfully but Mother gives you an approving nod. "That was very good pushing yourself and trying to go from further than you could manage. If you push yourselves like that, there's nothing you won't be able to do." *set str +1 *set int +1 *set agi +1 *goto leapdone1 *label leapdone1 *line_break *line_break Mother lets you both take a few turns leaping, but soon the sky grows dark and it begins to pour heavily. Mother calls to your sister, whose currently about to leap, and nudges you in the direction of the den. "It's too wet out here little ones, let's get back to the den." *line_break *line_break You stay close to her side, your fur plastered to your side from the rain. Your sister follows reluctantly; you know she wanted to practice more but it's probably to wet for fish, let alone wolves. The rain starts falling harder as you walk, the thunder gets louder. Suddenly, theres a large flash of light and massive clap of thunder than makes your ears ring. *line_break Yipping in fear, you bolt away, not realizing that you left your mothers side. Another crack of thunder drowns out your own yips and any chance at hearing your mother call for you. You blunder blindly through the bushes in fear, not aware of where your heading. You turn and dodge around bushes and trees but suddenly, your paws don't touch the ground. You howl in fear and tumble down a steep embankment. Halfway down the hill, you hit your head on a rock and black out. *goto wolfdoglost1 *label smeller1 Mother nods. "Alright, interesting decision. I'll roll myself against something to hide my scent, try to find me." With that, she diappears into some bushes. You can hear her for awhile but suddenly, it's silent and Mother's scent faded slowly. You close your eyes and take in a deep breath, drawing in every scent around you. After a moment, you hear your sister do the same. *choice #Behind The Holly Bush "Are you behind the holly bush?" Your voice sounds small but instead of apearing behind the bush, Mother jumps down from the oak tree. *line_break "That was close, but don't forget that if we need to, wolves can climb a very short way into trees, unless there are no low growing branches." She smiles and slips back into the woods, where her scent soon fades so you can try again. *set smell +1 *goto smelldone1 #Behind The Oak Tree and Sapling "Behind the oak tree next to the sapling?" You sound hopeful; a whiff of her scent blows towards you and she jumps down from a very low branch where she had hidden herself. *line_break "Very good. You didn't think I would be on that branch, but that's ok. Most wolves don't climb into trees, mainly because we can't but also because it's rare to find a low branch. Now, try again." Smiling, she melts back into the forest. *set int +1 *set smell +2 *goto smelldone1 #Under The Flowering "Under the bush with purple flowers?" You peer into the bush, trying to catch your mother's silvery gray coat past the bright purple flowers. You can smell a faint whiff of her scent near the bush and you know that the flowers could easily hide her. *line_break You hear her paws thud onto the ground and she appears in front of the oak tree and stops next to the sapling. "Impressive. You guessed wrong, but I did walk by the flowers. That was very good to smell my scent near them, since their very strong. Try again." With that, she melts back into the woods. *set smell +3 *goto smelldone1 #Past The Yew Tree and Ivy "Are you behind the yew tree, hiding behind the ivy?" Ivy doesn't smell stron enough to hide her, but you smell a very smell whiff of her from that direction. *line_break There's a sigh as she appears from next to the oak. "No, but I did pass that way, so I will give you a bit of credit. Next time though, try guessing from a place that is more likely to hide my scent." She frowns and disappears so you can try again. *set smell +1 *goto smelldone1 *label smelldone1 *line_break *line_break You and your sister take turns guessing, usually guessing wrong, until there's a crack of thunder and rain drops begin hammering the earth. Mother appears from under the flowered bush and trots over. "Den time, now. It's far to wet and even adult wolves have trouble smelling in this kind of rain." The rain was growing heavier by the second and already the clearing was slick with mud. *line_break *line_break You stay close to her side, your fur plastered to your side from the rain. Your sister follows reluctantly; you know she wanted to practice more but it's probably to wet for fish, let alone wolves. The rain starts falling harder as you walk, the thunder gets louder. Suddenly, theres a large flash of light and massive clap of thunder than makes your ears ring. *line_break Yipping in fear, you bolt away, not realizing that you left your mothers side. Another crack of thunder drowns out your own yips and any chance at hearing your mother call for you. You blunder blindly through the bushes in fear, not aware of where your heading. You turn and dodge around bushes and trees but suddenly, your paws don't touch the ground. You howl in fear and tumble down a steep embankment. Halfway down the hill, you hit your head on a rock and black out. *goto wolfdoglost1 *label hearing1 Mother nods. "Good choice. How about....tell me how many birds you can hear? Or I can work my way around the outside of the clearing and you tell me which way I went?" *choice #Track Mother "Let's track you!" You bounce on your toes, excited. Tracking her would be much more of a challenge than just birds. *line_break "Alright, I'll take a quick walk around, tell me what you hear me doing when i come back." With that, she sets off at a brisk pace. *goto trackmother1 #Track Birds Mother nods. "Tell me how many birds you can each hear." Flicking her *goto trackbirds1 #Track Each Other Your sister speaks up, excited. "Can we track each other? Like tag, but without the playing?" *line_break Mother nods, looking curious. "Of course. You think it would be harder to track each other than something else?" *line_break Your sister nods. "You're bigger than us but we can fit places you can't. We can pretend the other one is a rabbit." *line_break Mother nods, impressed with your sisters quick thinking. "That's a very good observation and idea." Pointing at your sister with her muzzle, Mother flicks it towards the edge of the clearing. "You hide first. Walk around the edge where I can hear you, do something that might make a small noise, and lets see how your sibling is with guessing what you did." *goto tracksister1 *label trackmother1 You strain your ears for awhile, trying your best to hear mother. *rand trackmom 1 3 *if (trackmom = "1") When mother returns and gives you an expectant face, you quickly speak. "You took a short walk through the bushes, I heard you stumble over a stone, your tail brushed a branch, and then you sighed and came back. *line_break Mother sighs. "Not even close. I did take a short walk, but you didn't need to listen for that. I kicked a branch, smacked my tail against a puddle, and shook my head against a bush before coming back. Try again." *set hear +1 *goto trackend1 *if (trackmom = "2") When mother returns and gives you an expectant face, you quickly speak. "You kicked a branch, stepped in a puddle, walked through some dry leaves, and came back." *line_break Mother nods. "Close, but missing some things. I did kick a branch, but I smacked a puddle with my tail, then I shook my head next to a bush before coming back." *set hear +2 *goto trackend1 *if (trackmom = "3") When mother returns and gives you an expectant face, you quickly speak. "You kicked a thick branch, splashed in a puddle with your tail I think, and I wanna guess that you shook a bush?" *line_break Mother gives you an approving nod. "Very good. That was excellent! I shook the bush by shaking my head next to it, but everything else was correct!" *set hear +3 *set int +1 *goto trackend1 *label trackbirds1 You and your sister strain your ears to their very tips, listening to the birds flitting about in the trees. *rand trackbird 1 3 Mother waits expectantly then breaks the silence after a good while."Now, how many did you hear?" *if (trackbird = "1") "I can hear two woodpeckers in the oak behind us, and some finches in a bush. I think I can hear a bird I don't know the name of getting ready to fly at the top of the tallest oak at the edge of the clearing." Your voice is hesitent, unsure. *line_break Mother shakes her head. "Not even close. There are no woodpeckers nearby, and those are blackbirds in the bush, not finches. There's an owl settling down deeper into their hollow near the middle of the yew, but that's the only large bird nearby. As for that knocking sound, that was a cardinal cracking open a nut. Remember to concentrate." *set hear +1 *set int +1 *goto trackend1 *if (trackbird = "2") "I think there are two blackbirds behind the bush, probably fighting over a berry. It sounds like a squirrel who dropped his nut, and I'm not sure what bird it is but I think I hear something moving around in a hollow tree." You look at Mother nervously, hoping you were correct. *line_break Mother nods slightly. "Not bad; those blackbirds are fighting over a worm actually. There's an owl in their hollow, probably settling down for the rest of the day after a late night, and that knocking sound is a cardinal cracking open a nut." *set hear +2 *set int +1 *goto trackend1 *if (trackbird = "3") "There's something in a hollow in the yew, an owl maybe?" You glance at Mother, who nods, clearly surprised. "Two blackbirds are fighting over a worm or a stick behind the bush because they sound close to the ground. And some kind of bird is cracking open an acorn." *line_break Mother smiles, impressed. "I'm surprised you recognized that it was an owl, but yes it was. Their probably settling down for the day after a late night hunting. You are comepletely correct about the blackbirds, but it's probably a worm. As for the bird with the nut, I know your just guessing at it being an acorn but you are correct; that bird is a cardinal by the way. Very good." You smile back, pleased with yourself while your sister shoots you a jealous look. *set hear +3 *set int +2 *goto trackend1 *label tracksister1 Nodding, your sister speeds off into the brush. You listen for a few moments, trying to track her much quieter pawsteps as she runs around. When she comes back, Mother looks at you expectantly. *rand tracksis 1 3 *if (tracksis = "1") You tilt your head, thinking as you speak. "She rolled a few pebbles, crunch a leaf, and bit a large stick til it cracked." *line_break Mother looks at your sister, both curious but also making it obvious she would not let her lie. Your sister shakes her head at you. "I tripped over a really branch, I used my teeth to shake a fallen twig with leaves on it, and then I crunched a really big beetle." *line_break Mother chuckles. "I wondered what could make such a big crunch, but next time concentrate alright?" *set hear +1 *goto trackend1 *if (tracksis = "2") You tilt your head, thinking. "She tripped over a twig, chewed on another really thick twig, and crunched a few really dry leaves?" You glance at her nervously, but she shakes her head. *line_break "Kind of right. I tripped over a branch, I shook a twig with leaves on it with my teeth, and crunched a really big beetle." Not daring to lie in front of Mother, she scuffs her paws as she speaks. *line_break Mother nods. "That's what I heard, but you didn't do to bad. You almost got it comepletely right." *set hear +2 *goto trackend1 *if (tracksis = "3") You tilt your head, thinking. "I think I heard you trip over a branch, I wanna guess you were attacking a twig that still had leaves on it, and was that a beetle or a leaf you bit?" *line_break Your sister huffs, annoyed. "How are you so good at hearing all that? You got everything right! And it was a beetle; it was really good." *line_break Mother laughs softly at you both. "Very good, that was excellent." *set hear +3 *goto trackend1 *label trackend1 *line_break *line_break Mother opens her mouth but before she can speak, there's a massive crack of thunder and rain immediately pours down heavily. Mother runs over to you. "Den time, now. You won't be able to hear anything in this storm." She nudges you and begins leading you and your sister back to the den. *line_break You stay close to her side, your fur plastered to your side from the rain. Your sister follows reluctantly; you know she wanted to practice but it's probably to wet for fish, let alone wolves. The rain starts falling harder as you walk, the thunder gets louder. Suddenly, theres a large flash of light and massive clap of thunder than makes your ears ring. *line_break Yipping in fear, you bolt away, not realizing that you left your mothers side. Another crack of thunder drowns out your own yips and any chance at hearing your mother call for you. You blunder blindly through the bushes in fear, not aware of where your heading. You turn and dodge around bushes and trees but suddenly, your paws don't touch the ground. You howl in fear and tumble down a steep embankment. Halfway down the hill, you hit your head on a rock and black out. *goto wolfdoglost1 *label sight1 Mother nods. "Tell me how many birds you can see in the trees." *line_break You and your sister gaze up into the trees, watching the small shapes flitting around in the branches. *rand trackbird 1 5 *if (trackbird = "1") After a few moments, your Mother taps you with her tail, wanting an answer. You gulp, knowing you got distracted by all the shadows. "Um...I think I saw three? Maybe four?" The shapes are so small it was hard to keep track. *line_break Mother shakes her head. "No, there were fifteen birds in all, and I'm not including the nest I can see. Try to concentrate. *goto trackend1 *if (trackbird = "2") After a few moments, your Mother taps you with her tail, wanting an answer. You look at her nervously, knowing you missed some. "Were there six birds? And a nest in tall oak?" *line_break Mother shakes her head. "There was a nest in the tall oak, but there were four others. And there are fifteen birds flying around. Try to concentrate and focus on one at a time until you're sure it's not a bird you already counted." *set sight +1 *goto trackend1 *if (trackbird = "3") After a few moments, your Mother taps you with her tail, wanting an answer. You resist the urge to glance back at the tree. "Ten birds? And two nest? I think I saw one in the tall oak and one in a maple." *line_break Mother nods. "Not bad, but there are fifteen birds, not ten. And four nest, not two. But not bad." *set sight +2 *goto trackend1 *if (trackbird = "4") After a few moments, your Mother taps you with her tail, wanting an answer. You look at Mother, feeling slightly confident in your answer. "I saw thirteen birds and three nest. And I think I saw the owl inside their hollow." *line_break Mother nods. "Very good, but your short a few birds and nest. Four nest, and fifteen birds." *set sight +3 *goto trackend1 *if (trackbird = "5") After a few moments, your Mother taps you with her tail, wanting an answer. Feeling extremely confident, you look her straight in the eye. "Fifteen birds in all, plus four nest. I could also just see the owl sleeping in their hollow." *line_break Mother smiles and nods. "Very well done, you have excellent eyes. Comepletely perfect, and impressive that you saw that owl; it's a screech owl and sometimes they blend in with their nest." *set sight +5 *set int +1 *goto trackend1 *label fighter1 Your sister gives a small growl. Mother gives her a sharp look and walks to the center of the clearing. "Very well. Now, stand next to me, facing each other. Think about how your opponent will move [i]before they move[/i]. That is crucial to any fight; brawn does not always win. You can each make only a few moves to each other, then we take a break." *line_break You face your sister and think about how to attack. Though you're only pups, you both know that even for practice, you'll fight like grown wolves. *label wolfpupfight1 *line_break You face your sister and think about how to attack next. *choice *disable_reuse *selectable_if (fighter < 3) #Throat You know it's a dirty move to go straight for the throat, but you don't care. *line_break You immediatly leap for her throat, your tiny fangs bared. She snarls and smacks you away, making your ears ring. Snarling, you make another leap but she smacks you again, knocking you down and making your ears ring even more. You realize that now, you'll have to try something else. *line_break Mother growls softly, disappointed you would try that on your sister. *set moral %-3 *set play %-2 *set fighter +1 *set fear %-5 *set hon %-10 *goto wolfpupfight1 *disable_reuse *selectable_if (fighter < 3) #Muzzle The muzzle is sensitive, so it's a good move, but it can be tricky even for grown wolves. *line_break You try to clamp your jaws around her muzzle but she sees this coming and scores her teeth across your nose, making you yip severely in pain. Eyes watering, you think about what you should try instead. *set int +1 *set health %-1 *set fighter +1 *goto wolfpupfight1 *disable_reuse *selectable_if (fighter < 3) #Shoulders Keeping your eyes on hers, you make to go for her face but dive at the last second and score your teeth across her shoulder. You rip a tiny amount of fur out, but she snarls and sinks her teeth into your back. Howling, you headbutt her shoulder and stagger backwards. You feel a trickle of blood on your spine and bare your fangs. *set health %-1 *set int +1 *set sight +1 *set fighter +1 *goto wolfpupfight1 *disable_reuse *selectable_if (fighter < 3) #Front Legs You dive for her paws without pausing; you try to bite but she rears up and flattens you, knocking the breath out of you. Scrambling to get up, you make another lunge and this time you manage to bite her paw. You taste her blood as she fastens her teeth in your ear and tugs hard. You let go, panting. Stepping back, you decide to try something else. *set str +1 *set dex +1 *set fighter +1 *goto wolfpupfight1 *disable_reuse *selectable_if (fighter < 3) #Knock Down You bare your teeth and run forwards, smacking into her as hard as you can. She flies off her feet, but quickly snaps at you. You yip when you feel her teeth connect with your paw and shove her away. She lands on her side and you take advantage and pin her down. Yipping fiercely, she does her best to shove you off and only succeeds when her teeth meet your tail. Howling, you back away to make another move. *set str +3 *set fighter +1 *goto wolfpupfight1 *disable_reuse *selectable_if (fighter < 3) #Intimidate Instead of making a move to attack, you snarl and bristle every single piece if fur along your spine. You stalk around your sister, bristling and baring your fangs. She copies you, and out of the corner of your eye you see Mother nod. *line_break You know that if you had attacked immediately, it might be more wolf-like and maybe even make for a quicker fight, but you also know that sometimes other wolves will back down if you show them you're serious; if you're lucky, this way you can still show how fierce you are, but you can avoid being hurt. *set rank %+2 *set moral %-1 *set pack %+1 *set int +1 *set play %-3 *set fighter +1 *goto wolfpupfight1 *disable_reuse *selectable_if (fighter < 3) #Tail You leap over her back and bite down hard on her tail. Her pained howl sounds loud in your ear and suddenly you feel her teeth in your leg. Letting go of her tail, you snarl and attempt to bite her muzzle but she swats you across the nose hard. Eyes watering, your growl and think of something else. *set str +1 *set dex +1 *set fighter +1 *goto wolfpupfight1 *selectable_if (fighter >= 3) #End Practice Mother steps forward, eyeing both your heaving sides and chest. "Alright, that's enough." She licks you both over for a few moments, cleaning off any blood and dirt. Once she's finished, she sits back and lets you both catch your breaths. *goto trackend1 *label wolfdogexplore *line_break Mother chuckles. "Alright, let's head away from the stream. We can try to find something new to see." With that, she sets off at a slow trot; you and your sister follow close behind, sniffing every bush and tree you pass or baring your fangs at a beetle that crosses your path. *line_break *line_break After what seems like forever, Mother leads you to where she says is a cliff, and you see something in the distance that makes you pause. Large, extremely tall things stretch up into the sky in the distance. You can see the sunlight glinting off their sides, as though it was made of water somehow. *line_break Mother notices you staring and looks. "Ah, that's a human city. Humans and dogs live there, with their terrible monsters called "cars" and once you find your way in, its very hard to get out. It's like a maze, with smells that could never be found in the forest and there's no deer. Well, sometimes there is if you stay in the outskirts near the forest, but inside there's nothing but rats and carrion-food." She sneers as she talks, her fangs slightly bared in disgust. *line_break "Why do humans need such tall dens?" Your sister crushes a beetle with her paw as she speaks; you can tell she's not really interested though. *line_break Mother shrugs. "I don't know. Maybe each den can hold an entire family of humans and their dogs. Humans are strange." She sits down and chews on a piece of grass absentmindedly. After a few moments, she shakes her head. "Well, besides the city, what else can you see from here." *line_break *label wolfdogsight1 You think about where to look. *choice *disable_reuse *selectable_if (wolfdogsight < 2) #Look Left You look to your left and see a deer in the distance. It looks towards you and you think you see small horns on its head; you remember Mother telling you once that in the spring, deer lose their antlers and grow new ones. You watch for a few moments. You feel your mouth water suddenly and even though you're young, you feel like if you tried you could catch it. *line_break Mother looks over and smiles. "That's a white tailed deer. Looks like he's growing his antler's back; if I can find any laying on the ground on the way home, you can have them as a treat. I would go after him now but its hard for lone wolves to catch deer by themselves." *set hunt +1 *set int +1 *set wolfdogsight +1 *goto wolfdogsight1 *disable_reuse *selectable_if (wolfdogsight < 2) #Look Right You look to your right and see a shiny, moving strand of blue in the distance. It's hard to see that far but if you really focus, it doesn't seem as blurry. You know that it's the river; you wonder why it looks so full even from here though. *set sight +3 *set wolfdogsight +1 *goto wolfdogsight1 *disable_reuse *selectable_if (wolfdogsight < 2) #Look At The City More You gaze at the city, taking in the tallness of the buildings, the how the light shines off it, and from here you can hear weird honking sounds. There's many sounds coming from there. Honking, screeching, you can hear barking from dogs, you think you might even hear some kind of chattering that could be humans. *set hear +3 *set int +1 *set wolfdogsight +1 *goto wolfdogsight1 *selectable_if (wolfdogsight > 1) #Look Away Finished with looking at the sights, you turn back to mother. "There's so much to see!" *line_break Mother chuckles. "Yes there is little one, and even more than that. The world is wide and vast, and you have hardly seen any of it. Let's start heading back home." Bouncing along behind her, you begin to head home. *goto wolfdogstorm *label wolfdogstorm *line_break *line_break Walking next to Mother, you jump as the sky cracks with thunder. A flash of light startles you and you feel Mother lick you comfortingly. Within moments, it begins pouring heavily. You walk along in silence for awhile, wishing you were back in the den already. You yip when there's a massive crack of thunder and blinding flash of lightning; you bolt off in terror, not aware of where you're heading. You keep running but suddenly your feet only touch air. You howl in terror as you fall down the steep slope below you. You scrabble your paws and try to catch yourself on anything you can but partway down the slope, you hit your head on a rock and black out. *goto wolfdoglost1 *label wolfdoglost1 *page_break Lost... *set health 35 You open your eyes and let out a whimper of pain. Your head is throbbing terribly, and as you look around you realize you don't know where you are. *line_break Nearby you see tall, shiny gray things setting against some kind of shiny cobweb wall. There's a foul smell coming from them. You hear the trickle of a stream nearby. Behind you, you see a tall cliff, and above the cliff, you see the sun hanging low in the west; with a jolt, you realize that a whole day must have passed since the storm! You let out a weak whimper, scared. *line_break *line_break There's a sniffing sound suddenly and you hear a low growl coming from behind a bush nearby. As you crouch down in fear, a large black wolf comes stalking towards you; but he doesn't resemble your mother one bit. [i]Maybe this is a dog?[/i] You begin to whine fearfully, which causes him to quiet down and stand straight, his long thin tail straight up. *line_break "Hey there little pup, are you alright?" His voice is deep and thick, nothing like the rough but comforting growl of your mothers voice. He comes closer and sniffs you gently. "Easy pup, I won't hurt you. Looks like you got lost in that storm and fell down here. *line_break There's a banging sound suddenly, causing you both to jump. The dog growls deeply and crouches down. "Run pup! It's the pound!" Without any warning, he runs off as three creatures like you've never seen come running towards you and another two run after the dog; all of them are carrying long shiny sticks with vines looped at the ends. You stare, frozen with fear, as they come running for you. *line_break Their tall, almost like trees, with some fur on their heads and a couple have fur on their faces. You can see bare skin but their mostly covered in some kind of strange blue skin. Their running on two legs and as they get closer one reaches out a hairless paw that looks nothing like your own. You have moments to react. *choice #Run Away! You run left, towards the bush, but one of the creatures reaches out and grabs you around the waist, yanking you up. They smell like a male and call out in a strange high pitched voice to the others. Then he makes a strange sound that reminds you of mothers laugh. *goto poundcaught1 #Escape! You run right, towards the strange shiny gray things, but one of the creatures grabs your waist and lifts you up. They smell like a male and call out in a strange high pitched voice to the others. Making a weird sound that reminds you of mothers laugh, he carries you away. *goto poundcaught1 #Run In Fear! You start running right towards them in fear, causing them to stop but as you get close, a male reaches out and easily scoops you up by your scruff, causing you to yip. He makes a weird noise that reminds you of mothers laughing and calls out to the others in a strange high pitched voice. *goto poundcaught1 #Freeze! You stand there, frozen, as the creatures slow down and surround you. A male reaches out and grabs you by the scruff, making you yip. He makes a sound that reminds you of mothers laugh and says something to the others in a strange high pitched voice. *goto poundcaught1 #Stand Your Ground! You stand straight and growl as fierce as you can. The creatures make a weird sound that reminds you of mothers laugh and a male reaches forward, ignoring your growls, and grabs your scruff. He says something to the others in a hgih pitched voice and laughs again. *set vocal %-2 *set moral %-2 *set fear %-5 *goto poundcaught4 *label poundcaught4 He carries you back to a large thing that reminds you of a boulder, but with strange round black things alone the bottom. He somehow opens the back and places you in a strange, shiny type of den and closes the front. He says something softly to you, but it doesn't sound friendly, and closes the back. *set like %-5 *goto poundtruck4 *label poundtruck4 *page_break The Pound's Truck... You can hear the male outside talking with the others; you cower in the strange den, letting out little frightened whimpers. Suddenly there's a loud banging sound and you turn to see a tiny little opening behind you, high up. You can see the creatures sitting there and wonder what their doing. *line_break There's a scuffling sound to your left and you look to see a tiny dog, or maybe a puppy, in another den. He's smaller than you, but when he raises his head and see's you, he lets out a barking laugh. "So they caught themselves a pup? You get seperated from your mother?" When you nod, he laughs in a mean way. "Well you're in luck. Humans love pups, no matter where they came from. Maybe you can survive the Shelter then, better than the rest of us..." *line_break You hear murmuring from other dogs; in the darkness you can make out many dens like yours, some of them the same size but many are much bigger. "W-Where am I?" *line_break A large dog near the back calls out. "You're in a van pup. Humans caught you and put you in a cage. Their going to take you to the Shelter; a horrid place for dogs and cata alike. You'll be placed in a bigger cage, maybe with another dog, and every day humans will come look at you until either you go home, or.....well you don't." His voice is gruff and gravely sounding. "But don't worry, pups get picked pretty quickly. Humans love puppies." *line_break *line_break There's a banging sound from where the humans are and suddenly, you feel this "van" moving. Some of the dogs start whining but a human hits the square of light with his fist. *choice #Whine You let out a low whine, crouching low to the floor. The human bangs the square again and you go silent, as do most of the dogs. You didn't understand exactly what the human said, but it may have been "Quiet!" *set vocal %-1 *set int +1 *set like %-2 *goto vancage4 #Howl You let out a loud puppy howl, startling some of the other dogs. The human hits the square again but you keep howling. The little square opens the human reaches his paw through and smacks it against the van wall where he can reach; it makes a loud banging sound that makes you go silent. You hear the humans as he retracts his hand. "Stupid puppy..." *set vocal %-5 *set int +2 *set like %-5 *goto vancage4 #Panic Panicing, you race around in your little cage as much as possible, yipping in fear. The other dogs, freaked out by your reaction, start panicing even more. Suddenly, the human opens the little square and sticks his paw through. In it, there's a small roundish shiny thing. When he shakes it though, it makes a loud rattling sound that causes a fresh bout of yipping from you. You race around and suddenly, your cage falls over and smashes against the ground. You smack your head against the side of the cage, making your vision double for a few moments. You hear the humans laugh at this. *line_break *set vocal %-15 *set health %-2 *set like %-8 *set dex +2 *set fear %+10 *goto vancage4 #Stay Calm You lay there, listening to the others and after a few moments, the human bangs the square again and you think you understand what he said, which may have been "Be quiet!" *set int +3 *goto vancage4 *label vancage4 *line_break *line_break The van shudders and shakes, making weird banging noises and the crates continue to shift around as it moves. After what seems like several days, the van shudders to a stop and the back end opens up. One by one, the humans take a cage out, or take the dog itself if it's too big to carry, until they finally lift your cage out and set it on a flat surface like you've never seen before. *line_break You see more dogs than you thought were possible. Some are in cages, some are held by humans, a few have vines wrapped around their necks that reach into a humans paws or wrapped around weird things around the enclosed place you're now in. You look around and see more humans than you believed existed walking around. Some are males, some females, and smaller ones that you guess might be pups. Dogs and humans off all different sizes move in and out of strange covered entrances scattered along the walls. *set sight +1 *line_break *line_break You yip in alarm when a human faces peers through the cage at you. They say something softly. Do you focus on the human or keep looking around? *choice #Watch the Human You stare at the human, trying to understand what their saying. You make out a few words. "Cute....what breed… mutt....looks hurt." When they stop speaking, they open the cage and gently pick you up and carry you through one of the entrances. They carry you gently, and you can tell they don't want to hurt you. *line_break *line_break *set int +3 *set like %+2 *goto shelterstart4 #Watch Other Humans You ignore the human right in front of you and pay more attention to the other humans in the room. They walk around, occasionally petting a dog, speaking to someone else, carrying things, or sometimes taking the dogs elsewhere. As you watch, one of the humans take a dog that looks remarkably like a wolf into a red door. The other dogs all watch as the wolf-dog starts barking and howling but suddenly....silence. You get a strange of foreboding; before you can make even a whimper though, the female in front of you opens the front of the cage and picks you up gently. You wiggle, afraid she was going to take you past the red door, but she holds on tighter and carries you through a white door instead. *line_break *set like %-3 *set listen %-2 *goto shelterstart4 #Watch the Dogs You watch the dogs sitting and standing around the room. Some of them are young, some are old, and you even see a few cages with cats in them. A couple of the dogs catch your eye and nod encouragingly, while some sneer and bare their fangs. A tiny cat with striking ice blue eyes watches you, eyes wide. *achieve first *choice #Bare Your Fangs You bare your fangs at them and while most of the dogs frown, you see a few shaking with silent laughter. The female human in front of you frowns and opens the cage. Gently picking you up, she carries you off. *line_break *set moral %-2 *goto shelterstart4 #Growl You let out a small growl; though you're little, it sounds loud even in the crowded room. Some of the dogs growl back, but they get sharp words from the human next to them. The female human in front of you opens the cage door and picks you up gently. You notice she's frowning slightly as she carries you off. *line_break *set moral %-3 *set vocal %-1 *goto shelterstart4 #Give A Curious Stare You watch them all curiously; they return the stare, some of them appear friendly, some do not. The female human in front of you opens the cage and gently picks you up. Smiling, she pets your head in a pleasing way. You close your eyes and lean against her chest, not enjoying the pets but not hating them either. *line_break *set vocal %+2 *set play %+1 *set moral %+1 *goto shelterstart4 #Ignore Them You ignore their looks; most seem unperturbed by this but a few give an angry sounding snort. You gaze is cool and you turn to the female human as she opens the cage and gently lifts you up. *line_break *set rank %+2 *goto shelterstart4 *label shelterstart4 The human, who smells female, carries you back to a room with a flat surface that reminds you of a big flat rock, only white, clean looking, and it sits on four thin looking twigs on the floor. Placing you on top of the surface, the human gently pokes you in various places. *if (health < 20) The human walks over to some weird flat surfaces along the wall and you see part of the cliff-like wall sticking out of the surface open up! You see lots of weird things but the human closes it and comes back. You feel something sharp and small stab you in the neck; a moment later, you feel very sleepy and pass out. *line_break *line_break When you wake up, you feel better and while not quite rested, you feel like your not as weary as before. The human appears in your vision and smiles in a reassuring way and pats your head. *set health 100 *goto sheltercage4 *if (health >= 21) and (health <= 99) The human walks over to some weird flat surfaces along the wall and you see part of the cliff-like wall sticking out of the surface open up! You see lots of weird things but the human closes it and comes back. You feel something sharp and small stab you in the neck; then the human rubs a small fluffy ball against some scratches. It stings for a few moments but then begins to feel better. The human pats your head and smiles in a reassuring way. *set health 100 *goto sheltercage4 *if (health = "100") The human walks over to some weird flat surfaces along the wall and you see part of the cliff-like wall sticking out of the surface open up! You see lots of weird things but the human closes it and comes back. You feel something sharp and small stab you in the neck; the human pats your head and smiles in a reassuring way. *goto sheltercage4 *label sheltercage4 The human picks you up and takes you through even more entrances until she stops in front of a large cage with thick, shiny cobweb sides. You see a strange brightly colored thing in the corner, and two small things that remind you of hardened leaves in another. One of the leaves is filled with water, the other is filled with some kind of brown thing that looks like tiny dry meat chunks. *achieve shelter *goto_scene shelter *label coyote *page_break The Burrow *set age "8 weeks" "Into the burrow, that's it." You follow your brothers and sister into the little burrow that has been your home for the past weeks. Mother had just taken you outside for awhile, but the sun began to set and she wanted you all safely tucked into he nest before night fell. Curling herself around all the pups, she perks up when a course of high pitched yips and howls rises. "Sounds like father and his siblings." *line_break "Where is father?" One of your brothers pops his head up. *line_break Mother shakes her head. "He's not far away, but I did send him out to try to find something to eat before bed. Sounds like we may not eat it tonight though." *line_break Your stomach rumbles. "Why can't we go with you and help find food?" *line_break Mother smiles. "You're too little; and I'm afraid the humans would catch you. You're small enough to hide behind a trashbin or under a bush, but sometimes that's where humans look for little pups." She tucks each one of you closer. "Now, go to sleep and maybe we'll wake up to a nice breakfast." *line_break With your stomach growling from a day with little food, you settle down and sleep. *page_break Morning You wake to the smell of something raw and meaty. Turning, you see a large coyote squeezing his way into the burrow. In his jaws hangs a large bird with gray and white feather. Dropping it in front of you, he smiles. "Morning pup. Managed to catch this a few minutes ago. I catch enough for everyone to have some this morning. You can each have a full belly." With yips and barks and general puppiness, you and your siblings scrambled over the pidgeon as Father leaves and brings back a few more chunks of something. You stop when you see something glittering on one of the prey pieces. *choice #Ask "What's that?" You look at it curiously. *line_break When Father see's the glinting, he smiles. "That's a collar. This cat had one on when I came across it this morning and I didn't think to take it off." *line_break "What's it for?" You walk over and sniff it. It smells strange; a weird red vine with a shiny little flat disk hanging off it. *line_break Mother gets up, yawning. "Humans put those on their pets." She glares at Father, who whines and crouches down. "They might come looking for this cat you know....it was stupid to catch it. You should have let it go!" *line_break His tail between his legs, he gives a high pitched whine. "I could hardly ignore it. It's small but really fat and it can feed one of the pups just by itself. I'll ignore the next collared cat I come across, I promise." *line_break With a snort, Mother snatches the carcass up and rips it apart, making sure each pup gets some. You find the taste strange, but not unpleasent. *set int +1 *set humview %-1 *goto afterbreak #Investigate You walk over to the prey and sniff the body. You see a strange red vine with a shiny disk hanging off it; it's wrapped around the prey's neck. *line_break When Father see's you sniffing the vine, he smiles. "That's a collar. This cat had one on when I came across it this morning and I didn't think to take it off." *line_break "What's it for?" It smells strange. You nibble it but it doesn't taste of anything. *line_break Mother gets up, yawning. "Humans put those on their pets." She glares at Father, who whines and crouches down. "They might come looking for this cat you know....it was stupid to catch it. You should have let it go!" *line_break His tail between his legs, he gives a high pitched whine. "I could hardly ignore it. It's small but really fat and it can feed one of the pups just by itself. I'll ignore the next collared cat I come across, I promise." *line_break With a snort, Mother snatches the carcass up and rips it apart, making sure each pup gets some. You find the taste strange, but not unpleasent. *set int +1 *set smell +1 *set humview %+1 *goto afterbreak #Ignore You think about it, but decide to ignore it. It doesn't seem that interesting. You are vaguely aware of Mother getting after Father about it, but immediatly lose all interest when she brings over chunks of something she calls a cat; it a strange but not unpleasent flavor. *goto afterbreak *label afterbreak *line_break *line_break Mother lines you all up once your done eating. "We're going outside; please remember this is a park and sometimes humans show up. What do we do if a human shows up?" *line_break *choice #Run Away "We run away!" You and your siblings course together. *line_break Mother nods. "Very good. Now remember, always hide under bushes, inside hollow spaces where they can't reach you, or run to the burrow." With that said, she leads you outside. *set int +1 *goto coyotepark #Hide "We hide!" You and your siblings course together. *line_break Mother nods. "Very good. Now remember, always hide under bushes, inside hollow spaces where they can't reach you, or run to the burrow." With that said, she leads you outside. *set int +1 *goto coyotepark #Attack "Do we attack them?" You tip your head to the side. Your siblings all stare you; Father gapes at your audacity. *line_break Mother frowns. "No. We never ever attack a human. They are much bigger than us, they have weapons like nets, and they are faster than us even though they can't fit in bushes or in hollow trees. If you see a human, run." With a scathing look in your direction, she leads you all out. *set like %-5 *set moral %-3 *set fear %-5 *set hon %-1 *goto coyotepark #Greet Them "Do we go up and say hi?" Your brothers and sisters laugh for a few moments, til a sharp growl from Father quiets them. *line_break Mother shakes her head, clearly disappointed. "No, we do not go up to humans. Humans do not like coyotes; they think we're mean, or that we're thieves." She shoots Father a pointed look before leading you all outside. *set like %+5 *set moral %+3 *set fear %-2 *goto coyotepark #Ignore Them "Do we ignore them?" You tip your head to the side and your siblings look curious. *line_break Mother glances at your father for a moment. "Well, maybe. If the humans don't see us, we can ignore them. But you must remember to never go near them; if they notice us, we will have to move. Humans don't like us, and they will catch us if they can." Flicking her tail, she leads you all outside. *set int +1 *goto coyotepark *label coyotepark *line_break *line_break Mother leads you to a small shaded corner of the park; you can see the shiny trashbins full of interesting smells, you can smell the pond where you can hear ducks quacking at each other, the sounds of human chatter fill your ears. You shake your head, trying to focus on Mother and Father. *line_break Father steps forward. "Remember to stay within sight of us, and to never go near the humans. The park is unusually full today; I think the humans are gathered for something special. If you see a human, remember 'Run, Hide, Wait'." He turns, gives Mother a lick, and lopes off. Probably looking for more food. *line_break Mother nods at each of you. "If you get lost, wait where you are and don't move unless you need to hide. If I can't see you, I'll come get you." She gives each of you a lick and lays down in the shade, panting. You look at your siblings and think of what to do. *choice #Go To The Pond It's just out of sight of mother, but just barely. You walk towards the pond and walk up to the edge of the water. Getting a drink, you see some ducks near the center. *goto coyotepond #Watch The Humans You smell the humans and can hear their chatter. Curious, you nudge your way under a bush to watch them. *goto watchhumans #Wrestle With Your Siblings You run towards your siblings, eager to play with them. *goto coyotewrestle #Investigate the Trashbins You walk towards the silver trashbins, curious about the strange smells coming from it. *goto coyotetrash #Sleep You yawn and decide to take a nap instead. Walking around, you see a nice sheltered spot under a bush and curl up. *goto coyotesleep #Try To Hunt You sniff the air but notice some beetles and butterflies nearby. You can also smell a tang similar to the meat you had for breakfast. *goto coyotehunt *label coyotepond You walk to the edge, conceled from the humans by a line of bushes. The ducks see you and quack loudly but make no move to leave or approach you. *choice #Watch The Ducks You lay down and watch the ducks, just enjoying the peaceful morning. They quack and swim around the pond; you don't notice the goose though before it's right behind you and honks loudly. You jump up and bolt forwards.....right into the pond. You splash your paws, trying to swim. It's not that deep, but your paws can't touch the bottom. You barely notice the loud barking-yelp sound of Mother until she appears in your vision and pulls you out of the water. *line_break She sets you on the bank and licks your fur dry. "What happened? Did the goose scare you?" She smiles but stops and looks around. She picks you up roughly and shoves you under a bush. You hear the humans, who must have heard you splashing. "Stay here, I'll be back." With that, she runs off. *goto parentsgone #Try To Catch A Duck You walk along the edge of the pond, keeping one eye on the ducks. When you get as close as you can without getting in the water, you position yourself on a protruding root and crouch down. You stay as still as possible until one of the ducks swims closer, their beady eye on you. When their close enough, you leap. *set hunt +1 *set str +1 *line_break You plummet straight into the water, completely missing the duck and misjudging the depth of the water. You're feet are far from the bottom; you flounder around in the water, splashing around loudly, when you feet teeth in your scruff. Mother swims back to shore and sets you down carefully. *line_break Licking you all over, she chuckles. "That was a good try, you got very close but its always better to wait for ducks on land." She stops suddenly, her ears pricked. She grabs you by the scruff and shoves you udner a bush just as you hear the humans getting louder. They must've heard you splashing around. "Stay here, I'll be back." With that, she runs off. *goto parentsgone #Take A Drink You walk down to the edge and dip down for a drink. You look at your reflection; dark sandy fur with brown coloring the tips of your fur. A stray splash of white on your throat stands out, and your eyes are a dark wet dirt brown. You lean down for another drink but are startled by a goose honk from behind. You jump and bolt fowards by instinct to run away. You immediately slip into the water and begin thrashing around. The water is deep enough that your feet don't touch the bottom. *line_break You feel teeth in your scruff suddenly and Mother hauls you out and sets you down on the shore. She chuckles and begins drying your fur by licking it the wrong way. "Did the goose scare you?" When you nod, she nuzzles you. You feel her stop and suddenly, her teeth are in your scruff and she shoves you under a bush. "Stay here, I'll be back." She disappears and you can hear the humans getting louder; they must have heard you splashing around and are coming to investigate. *goto parentsgone *label watchhumans You watch the humans walk around a table, holding some kind of flat thing that reminds you of a flying disk. You wonder if their going to begin throwing it around until you smell some kind of meat being placed on it. Your mouth waters and you feel yourself drooling. It's meat, but it smells scorched and more delicious than anything you can think of. You watch as they load the disk up with more things that smell between good and delicious and you paw the ground as you watch. *set smell +1 *line_break *choice #Go Investigate Carefully You sneak forward carefully, staying under the bushes when you can. The humans don't seem to notice you. You get close to the table and then dash underneath. *set agi +1 *line_break You sniff around, aware of the humans around you, and try to see if any of the delicious smelling food has fallen on the ground. You see some ants, smell some kind of fungus under the table, but don't smell anything super good yet. You do your best to keep out of sight of the humans, thankful their not paying attention to anything that might be under the table. You jump though when something big, meaty and scorched smelling, and a dark brown color lands close to your nose. *line_break You dart forward and grab it in your teeth; dragging it back under the table as you try not to whimper. It's hotter than anything you've ever felt before, scorching your tongue badly. You do your best to eat it though becuase it's the most delicious thing you've ever had. You are just eating the last of it when you hear the humans exclaim in surprise. Finishing off the last bits, you look out and see your Mother looking at you from where you had been watching the humans. She looks mad. Darting towards the humans, who scream, she distracts them long enough for you to run from under the table and under a bush at the edge of the large clearing where the table is. *goto parentsgone #Beg For Some Food Ignoring your Mother's command at leaving the humans alone, you race forward, yipping, towards the humans. They see you coming and none of them back away. A couple look digusted, while most have a polite amusement, and a smaller female smiles and kneels down to meet you. *choice #Greet Her You yip and run up to her, sniffing her hands for food. She uses one hand to gently pet you while the other offers a chunk of scorched smelling meat. You happily take it, chowing down as she watches. As you eat, you hear the small female talking to the others. After you finish, she picks you up gently and carries you off. *set moral %+5 *line_break You squirm around and you see Mother standing in the bushes nearby. Her face is scared, angry, but mostly shock. You whimper, your ears flat, but the human is holding you too tight for you to get free and you know that there's too many humans around for Mother to try to come and get you without most likely getting caught herself. With a last whine from you, the human takes you to a large shiny thing with round black paws; you think it might be a car, because you remember Father describing them once. *line_break The human gets in and holds you while the car begins to rumble and shake. You see the world outside begin to move as it begins to leave the park. *goto carridestop #Growl You growl at her and she freezes for a moment. She places a scorched smelling piece of meat in front of you but doesn't make any moves to touch you yet. You tear at the meat, never having tasted something this delicious in your life. When you're done, she reaches for you but ignores your growls. Holding you gently, she begins to walk away. *line_break You wiggle and squirm but she holds on tighter. You see Mother in the bushes not far off and you can tell she wants to come save you but there's just too many humans. With one last whine from you, the human takes you to a large shiny thing with black paws; you think it might be a car. Once inside, it begins to rumble and shake. You see thw world outside begin to move as it begins to leave the park. *set like %-1 *set moral %-3 *goto carridestop #Beg You run up and sit on your haunches, your front paws in the air. Laughing, the human hands you some meat and gives your head a pat as you devour the most delicious thing you have ever tasted. When you finish it, you yap at her for more; instead, she gently picks you up, smiling as you lick at her hands which are covered something slimy that smells like the meat. *set smell +1 *line_break You hardly notice when walks away, towards a large shiny thing with black paws. The word "car" crosses your mind; you think Father must've mentioned it at some point. Before she gets in, you look around, suddenly remembering Mother after being distracted by the deliciousness you have been licking off the humans hand, and see Mother pawing the ground in fear under a bush. You begin to wiggle but it's too late; the human brings you inside the car, which begins to rumble and shake. You whine and wiggle in their arms as the world outside begins to move and you leave the park. You let out a loud puppy howl, and the human just hugs you. *set like %-2 *set vocal %-1 *goto carridestop #Steal Some Food You let out a little growl of anticipation and slink through the bushes. You manage to get close before you have to stop; there's an open gap between you and the table, and the humans are walking around in it. You see them being careless though with their food. It occasionally drops from their disk, hands, or even mouths. Your mouth waters more as something large drops from a strange red thing on four shiny legs; you can sense heat coming from it even from here. As you watch, a human picks up whatever dropped and throws it towards a trashbin not far away. They turn their backs before it lands, and you take the opportunity to sneak around and investigate whatever they threw. *line_break You make it to where the thing was thrown and are glad you come over. It's meat; the largest chunk you've ever seen. You take in a big whiff and then begin to tear away chunks small enough for you to eat, just like how Mother does. You don't notice the human until you hear a soft sound and turn around; behind you is a small female human, maybe half the size of the others. Your mouth full of food, you hardly have time to react before the female gently picks you up. *line_break She carries you over to the bigger humans, who stop what their doing and talk with her. You try to listen. "Lost.... keep...." while the others say different things "...shelter....know....keep..." After awhile, the female begins carrying you towards a large shiny thing with rouch black paws; a car, you remember Father mentioning them a few times. *line_break You wiggle but she holds you tighter. You look around wildly and see Mother in the bushes. She looks scared, shocked, and maybe a bit angry, but you understand why she's not coming for you; there's too many humans and she doesn't want to risk getting caught. You whine as the human gets inside and the car begins to rumble and shake. The world outside begins to move as you leave the park. *goto carridestop #Turn Away You sniff but decide to turn away. The smells are amazing, but you remember Mother's warning in time and decide to go play with your siblings instead. *goto coyotewrestle *label coyotewrestle They see you coming and scatter; you yelp as one of your brothers fastens his teeth in your ear. The others come back and you're buried in a pile of puppies. You yip and wiggle out of the pile, then turn and leap on someone. The wrestling is between puppies, but it's fierce and you find yourself having a lot of fun. *set play %+3 *set pack %+2 *set str +1 *set dex +2 *line_break Mother watches for a long while, letting you and your siblings play and roughhouse. Slowly, the sun moves across the sky until, when the sun is going lower than sunhigh, she stands and gives a soft but sharp yip. "Scatter, find a bush! Humans are coming!" You can hear the humans now, and it sounds like their getting closer. You pick a bush at random and wedge yourself underneath. Mother watches you all hide until the last pups hiding spot stops quivering, then bolts away as the first human catches sight of her. *goto parentsgone *label coyotetrash You sniff around the bottom, but the smells are all coming from the top. You look around, thinking of how to get up there. *choice #Picnic Table You see a table next to it with a small gap in between them. You run over to a lower part of the table and take a leap; your front paws touch the lower table and you pull yourself up. Scrambling up to the higher part, you look at the bin and take a running start. *line_break You land in something soft and squishy. The bin rocks for a moment, which gives you an idea. You start trying to rock yourself back and forth, until finally, with a resounding crash, the bin topples over. You fall out, covered in scraps of food and who knows what else. Foul, disgusting smells radiate from inside and around you. Your fur feels sticky and messy, but you're glad nothing landed directly on top of you. *set dex +1 *set humview %-5 *goto humsee #Try To Knock It Down You touch it with your paws; it feels cool and the surface is rippled. You push it lightly, but it does not move. You put both paws on it and push harder. You feel it rock very slightly and rear back, striking it with both paws as hard as you can. You do this a few times, until finally, it falls over with a loud crashing noise. You scamper around to where the things inside have fallen and sniff around. As you walk through the stuff, you feel your fur getting sticky and messy. You lick at something that looks like blood but taste both sweet and tangy. *set str +2 *set humview %-15 *goto humsee #Try To Leap Up You take a few steps backwards and look at the bins. After a moment, you start running as fast as you can and make a flying leap towards the top of the bin. It rocks, but does not fall. You take a running leap again and it falls over with a resounding crash. You scamper around and start digging in the stuff that fell out. Sticky substances get stuck to your fur, something that looks like blood but smells strangely sweet and foul coats your paws, and you growl as something large, dry, and looks vaguely like a bird falls on top of you. *set agi +1 *set humview %-30 *goto humsee #Ask Your Siblings For Help You look around and see two of your brothers. "Hey, come help me with this!" They come running over and together, you begin to rock the bin enough until it falls over. Your other brother and sister come running over to investigate; you join them in digging through the trash, curious about all the new and strange smells. Your fur begins to feel sticky and messy as you continue walking in it. *set pack %+5 *set humview %-5 *goto humsee *label humsee You hear the humans suddenly; they must've heard you and now their coming to investigate. Their chatter fills the air and begins to get louder as they get closer. You look up and out of the corner of your eye you see Mother running towards you. Your siblings scatter and dive under bushes. Mother runs towards you and grabs you up, her nose curling at the smells of the trash coating your fur. Shoving you under a bush, she quickly licks as much of the sticky stuff off your fur. "Stay out of trashbins. When they fall, their loud enough to bring any human within earshot running. And now you're all messy." She glances out of the bush. "Stay here, I'll lead them away." *set humview %+5 *goto parentsgone *label coyotesleep *page_break You wake up awhile later and notice your brothers and sister hiding; Mother is running towards you. She dives under the bush with you and licks your head. "There you are! I'm glad I found you. The humans saw me and now their coming. Stay here, I'll lead them away." With another lick, she runs off. You hear the humans voices getting closer and try to wedge yourself under the bush more, painfully aware that you can easily see the sky through its branches above you. *goto parentsgone *label coyotehunt You narrow your eyes and think. *choice #Beetles You see a fat beetle crawling along a bush branch and crouch down. *goto huntbeetles #Butterflies You watch the butterflies and decide that it would be fun to try to catch them. *goto huntbutterflies #Track The Meat Smell You lick your chops and, with your nose to the ground, begin to track the meaty smell coming from nearby. *set smell +1 *goto trackmeat *label huntbeetles You pounce, but the beetle flies off. You scamper after it, occasionally trying to swipe it or bite it. It scurries along, its body shining with a greenish-blue sheen. You don't notice anything strange until you hear a hissing sound. You look up and see a strange black and white creature. Standing on all fours, it lashes its long thin tail back and forth. When you don't back down, it spits at you. *goto accidentcat *label huntbutterflies You follow the butterflies, occasionally leaping for them. You finally catch one, slamming it to the ground. It's orange with black stripes. You're so intent on your prey that you don't notice the strange smell until a black and white creature prowls out from under the bush. It's walking on all fours, its long thin tail is lashing back and forth. It stops and begins to spit and hiss, but when you don't back away it arches its back. *set str +1 *goto accidentcat *label trackmeat You're so intent on keeping your nose fixed on the smell that you are startled by a yowling noise. You look up and see a fat black and white creature. It's standing on all fours, it's long thin tail is lashing back and forth, and it's spitting and growling at you. It arches it's back when you don't back away. *label accidentcat *choice #Fight! With a yip, you run straight at the creature, a cat you think; it hisses and leaps to meet you. *set vocal %-1 *set moral %-2 *set fear %-5 *goto coyotecatfight #Growl! You bare your little fangs and growl as fierce as you can. But the creature, a cat you think, hisses and leaps for you. *set vocal %-1 *goto coyotecatfight #Howl For Mother! You whimper and get ready to howl for Mother but the creature, a cat you think, hisses and leaps for you. *set fear %+2 *goto coyotecatfight #Calmly Back Away... Calmly, without making a sound, you begin to back away. But the creature, a cat you think, hisses and leaps for you. *goto coyotecatfight *label coyotecatfight You meet the cats claws, which score down your muzzle, and growl as deep as you can. You know you can only last so long. *set health %-1 *label catfight *choice *disable_reuse *selectable_if (fighter < 2) #Go For The Legs You attempt to sink your tiny, thorn sharp teeth into the cats leg but the cat shakes you off like a leaf. It swipes at your nose, making you yip in pain as you feel blood begin to well up. *set health %-1 *set fighter +1 *if (fighter >= 2) *goto mothersave *if (fighter < 2) *goto catfight *disable_reuse *selectable_if (fighter < 2) #Go For The Throat You leap for the throat; a nasty and dishonorable move but effective. Plus, you have no quarrel about doing this when you could be fighting for your life. You feel the cats shock as your teeth dig into its surpisingly thick fur. You try to bite down to the throat under the skin, but your not strong enough. With a yowl, the cat smacks you away so hard your ears ring. You feel a trickling sensation over your eyes as you back away. *set str +1 *set int +1 *set health %-1 *set fighter +1 *set fear %-5 *if (fighter >= 2) *goto mothersave *if (fighter < 2) *goto catfight *disable_reuse *selectable_if (fighter < 2) #Go For The Belly Trying to get to the soft underbelly, you try to ram the cat and knock it over but you're far to small. With a hiss, the cat knocks you down and digs its claws into your own belly. With a puppy howl of pain, you roll away. *set int +2 *set health %-3 *set fighter +1 *if (fighter >= 2) *goto mothersave *if (fighter < 2) *goto catfight *disable_reuse *selectable_if (fighter < 2) #Go For The Tail You try to run behind the cat and feel a small bit of satisfaction as you bite down hard on it's tail. With a screech that hurts your ears, the cat claws your back fiercely. You yip and let go. *set int +1 *set health %-1 *set fighter +1 *if (fighter >= 2) *goto mothersave *if (fighter < 2) *goto catfight *selectable_if (fighter >= 2) #Cower In Fear! You decide to not fight back, scared now and bleeding from a few places. You cower under the cats blows, giving out kiyi's of fear and pain. *set fear %+5 *set health %-1 *goto mothersave *selectable_if (fighter >= 2) #Try To Escape! You feel yourself bleeding in several places and decide it's not worth fighting this cat now. Turning tail, you try to escape this hissing menence. *set fear %+5 *goto mothersave *label mothersave *line_break There's a rushing sound and you see Mother leaping through the bushes. She lands in front of the cat and bares her fangs; drool drops from almost every tooth and her eyes look wild. Snapping her jaws quickly, she makes her threat obvious without saying a word. Her jaws gaping, and making cat-like hissing noises herself, she starts to step forward, one paw at a time. *line_break The cat hisses and run off, probably deciding that it would rather live. You hear pawsteps and see Father running towards you. He stumbles to a halt. "What happened?" *line_break *line_break Before Mother can answer, you hear the humans chatter getting louder. Mother shoves you under a thick bush and turns tail just as a small group of humans appears. They point at Mother and Father; a couple of them shriek. One of the humans pulls something small out of its pocket and speaks into it quickly. You cower under the bush as the humans stream past, following your parents; not one of them sees you. *goto parentsgone *label parentsgone You cower under the bushes until the sun is at its highest point. Stepping out from under the bush, you whimper and look around. Mother and Father's smells are very faint, but the humans scent is still fairly fresh. You walk around for awhile, calling out for them or your siblings; no one answer. You sniff again and let out a loud, pained, sad puppy howl. You keep howling for a few moments but a strange rustling stops you. You turn and see a small human; a female, maybe half the size of a full grown human. She smiles at you in a friendly way. *line_break *choice #Growl You growl fiercely as she reaches for you. She frowns and says something somewhat harsh sounding. *set vocal %-1 *set moral %-2 *goto humanpickup #Whimper You let out a whimper as her hands get close to you. She says something softly. *set vocal %-1 *set fear %+1 *goto humanpickup #Bite You growl and snap at her hands when she reaches down; she frowns and says something in a harsh tone. *set like %-3 *set moral %-5 *set fear %-2 *goto humanpickup #Stay Still You stay very still, watching her with wide eyes. She reaches towards you slowly. *goto humanpickup *label humanpickup *line_break The human gently picks you up, speaking softly. They carry you over to where the large humans are and show you to another female who looks very similar to her. After a few moments, the grown up human shakes her head but leads the smaller female to a large stone area; sitting there is a large shiny thing with black paws, which you think is called a car. You vaguely remember Father mentioning them a few times. They both open the sides of the car and get inside, with you sitting in the smaller females lap. You feel the car begin to shake. You feel the female holding you tighter, as if she's afraid you would try to escape her arms. *line_break The car rumbles on for a long time. You see the outside world flash by faster than you thought possible. *label carridestop *page_break When the car finally stops, you're almost asleep. With a jolt, you snap your eyes open wide as the female carries you into a large human building. She stands there, holding you, as more humans walk around. Suddenly she hands you to a different human, and after giving you a little pat she walks off. The human holding you now carries you to a different area and places you in a cage; you know what these are for Mother and Father have told you about them before. You smell something similar to you and your family and look around; you gasp when you see the dogs. *line_break You see more dogs than you thought were possible. Some are in cages, some are held by humans, a few have leashes wrapped around their necks that reach into a humans hands or wrapped around weird things around the room. You look around and see more humans than you believed existed walking around. Some are males, some females, and smaller ones as well. Dogs and humans off all different sizes move in and out of the doors scattered along the walls. *set sight +1 *line_break *line_break You yip in alarm when a human faces peers through the cage at you. They say something softly. Do you focus on the human or keep looking around? *choice #Watch the Human You stare at the human, trying to udnerstand what their saying. You make out a few words. "Cute....what breed... mutt....looks hurt." When they stop speaking, they open the cage and gently pick you up and carry you through one of the entrances. They carry you gently, and you can tell they don't want to hurt you. *line_break *line_break *set int +3 *set like %+2 *goto shelterstart3 #Watch Other Humans You ignore the human right in front of you and pay more attention to the other humans in the room. They walk around, occasionally petting a dog, speaking to someone else, carrying things, or sometimes taking the dogs elsewhere. As you watch, one of the humans take a dog that looks remarkably like a wolf into a red door. The other dogs all watch as the wolf-dog starts barking and howling but suddenly....silence. You get a strange of forboding; before you can make even a whimper though, the female in front of you opens the front of the cage and picks you up gently. You wiggle, afraid she was going to take you past the red door, but she holds on tighter and carries you through a white door instead. *line_break *set like %-3 *set listen %-2 *goto shelterstart3 #Watch the Dogs You watch the dogs sitting and standing around the room. Some of them are young, some are old, and you even see a few cages with cats in them. A couple of the dogs catch your eye and nod encouragingly, while some sneer and bare their fangs. A tiny black cat with striking ice blue eyes stare at you, eyes wide. *achieve first *choice #Bare Your Fangs You bare your fangs at them and while most of the dogs frown, you see a few shaking with silent laughter. The female human in front of you frowns and opens the cage. Gently picking you up, she carries you off. *line_break *set moral %-2 *goto shelterstart3 #Growl You let out a small growl; though you're little, it sounds loud even in the crowded room. Some of the dogs growl back, but they get sharp words from the human next to them. The female human in front of you opens the cage door and picks you up gently. You notice she's frowning slightly as she carries you off. *line_break *set moral %-3 *set vocal %-1 *goto shelterstart3 #Give A Curious Stare You watch them all curiously; they return the stare, some of them appear friendly, some do not. The female human in front of you opens the cage and gently picks you up. Smiling, she pets your head in a pleasing way. You close your eyes and lean against her chest, not enjoying the pets but not hating them either. *line_break *set vocal %+2 *set play %+1 *set moral %+1 *goto shelterstart3 #Ignore Them You ignore their looks; most seem unpreturbed by this but a few give an angry sounding snort. You gaze is cool and you turn to the female human as she opens the cage and gently lifts you up. *line_break *set rank %+2 *goto shelterstart3 *label shelterstart3 The human, who smells female, carries you back to a room with a high up table in the center. Setting you down, she turns to the strange things against the wall and opens some of them up. *if (health <= 20) The human walks over to a thick table like thing against the wall and opens it up. You see lots of weird things but the human closes it and comes back. You feel something sharp and small stab you in the neck; a moment later, you feel very sleepy and pass out. *line_break *line_break When you wake up, you feel better and while not quite rested, you feel like your not as weary as before. The human appears in your vision and smiles in a reassuring way and pats your head. *set health 100 *goto sheltercage3 *if (health >= 21) and (health <= 99) The human walks over to a thick table like thing against the wall and opens it up. You see lots of weird things but the human closes it and comes back. You feel something sharp and small stab you in the neck; then the human rubs a small fluffy ball against some scratches. It stings for a few moments but then begins to feel better. The human pats your head and smiles in a reassuring way. *set health 100 *goto sheltercage3 *if (health = "100") The human walks over to a thick table like thing against the wall and opens it up. You see lots of weird things but the human closes it and comes back. You feel something sharp and small stab you in the neck; the human pats your head and smiles in a reassuring way. *goto sheltercage3 *label sheltercage3 The human picks you up and takes you through even more doors until she stops in front of a large cage with tall chain walls. You see a brightly colored blanket in the corner, and two small hard leaves in the corner. You think they might be called bowls, but you can't remember at the moment. One is filled with water, the other has strange things that remind you of rabbit pellets. *achieve shelter *goto_scene shelter *label coydog *page_break Blanket Nest *set age "8 Weeks" Mother sniffs you over, like she does every night, and begins tucking you and your sister in. Your sister coughs and curls up tighter on the blanket. You watch her, then look at Mother. She looks worried. She catches your eye and smiles. "It's alright, she's just coughing because that draft I can never seem to find." You curl up against the blanket, trying to stay warm. Mother's face creases with worry. She leaves and comes back with another blanket, this one even dirtier than the one your sleeping on, and drags it over you both. "Sleep tight little ones, tomorrow we'll go somewhere where you'll be safe. *line_break "But aren't we safe here?" You look at her, dislodging the blanket a bit. *line_break Mother tucks you back in. "Well....not really. This home belonged to humans a long time ago, but it's abandoned now. That means they no longer live here now. The house is weak, and I only came here to have you and make sure you would be safe until I could move you." *line_break You peer at her from under the blanket. "Why do we not live with humans? They could feed us, and keep us from getting rained on...." The past few days it has been raining hard, and the roof over you has been leaking severely. Mother has moved you both several times in order for you two to not get wetter than you need to, until she finally got you tucked into a tight corner closet which has mercifully stayed dry. *set like %+10 *line_break Mother smiles ruefully. "I lived with humans....a long time ago. But they were mean, and when I found out I was expecting pups....well I tried to hide them but the humans took them away from me. I left after that, and a year later I found out I was expecting pups again, this time with you. I couldn't risk the humans taking my pups again, so I traveled as far as I could and found this place. Luckily, there's mice and squirrels that shelter here as well so we have food, and whoever lived here before left behind plenty of things to make us comfortable." She licks you. "But no more about that; it's time to sleep, we'll see what the storms like in the morning and if it's gone, maybe you can go play for awhile." With that, she tucks herself around you and your sister and is soon asleep. *page_break Morning Morning comes with a crack of thunder but the rain is very light. Mother is already up; you look towards the open doorway in time to see her dragging a large pot in full of water. She drags it to the edge of the blanket bed and looks up. "Here's water, I'm going to go hunt for something. You stay in the house while I'm out, alright?" With a sad glance at your sister, still asleep, she walks off. You wait until she comes back; you can smell her unease as she gets close. A strange dog is with her. *choice #Ask Who He Is "Who is that?" You look at the newcomer; he's gray-brown with splashes of white, his tail is thick and bushy, and his eyes show intelligence. *line_break Mother speaks, but her voice is strained. "This....this is your Father, Kenu. He...he showed up this morning." She looks annoyed, as if she had not expected him. *goto coydogdad #Stay Silent You stay silent, knowing she will introduce him. *line_break When she speaks, she sounds strained. "This....this is your Father, Kenu. He...he showed up this morning." She looks annoyed, as if she had not expected him. *goto coydogdad *label coydogdad *line_break Kenu steps forward. "Don't be afraid. I recognized your mother's scent outside and had to check. When she disappeared weeks ago, I was worried. Now, I can help her protect and raise you." *line_break You see Mother bristle at this. She steps forward. "I only said you could meet them! I did not say you could stay! The humans may not notice me and the pups, but they will surely notice you." She doesn't sound angry exactly, but possibly worried, and maybe scared. *line_break "Um..." You open your mouth and look at them. "Why....why would they notice Father?" *line_break They look at you and Mother sighs. "Because your father is a coyote. Humans can tell a coyote from a dog most of the time, but they won't notice us as easily because I'm a dog and you look more like me." *line_break "What's a coyote?" You look at Father but don't see much of a difference between him and Mother. *line_break Kenu looks at you. "I'm like a dog, but wild. My ancestors never went near humans, and we still don't. We live on our own usually, or sometimes with family, and even though dogs can look very different from each other, coyotes generally look the same. You have my eyes, my tail, and a little bit of coyote coloring, but you mostly resemble your Mother. That may be better though, because humans don't want us around." He looks over at your sister then turns to Mother. "Let me at least hunt for you. Please." Mother looks at him then gives a reluctant nod. He gives her a lick. "I promise, that is all I will do, well that and help protect them if humans show up." *line_break Mother watches him go then turns to you. "I want you to stay inside today, alright? It smells like it might rain some more and last thing I need is for you to get sick too." *page_break "Mother, what are you? Are you a dog? Or like me, half coyote?" The question slips from your muzzle before you can stop it. *line_break *rand mombreed 1 5 *if (mombreed = "1") Mother stops turning to leave and looks at you. "I'm a Cocker Spaniel. Why do you ask?" *set coat "Long" *set tail "Short Fluffy" *set smell +1 *set vocal %-2 *line_break You look at her. "Do dogs normally have pups with coyotes?" *line_break She shakes her head. "No. But I'm different, I loved your Father when we met but.....but I did not stay with him when I realized I was expecting you because of how other dogs and coyotes would have treated us." *line_break "Then why let him stay now?" You tip your head, being unusually serious. *set play %-5 *line_break "Because now....now I have no humans, there are no other dogs or Coyotes around here, and mainly because I could use the help. Taking care of two pups by myself....well it's not the easiest thing in the world." She sighs. "But with your sister sick, I admit I need help and when I saw him this morning, I did not feel the need to drive him away. Now, I'm going to go hunt for awhile, or find something that could help your sister. Stay inside." With that, she turns away, making it clear she will say no more. *if (mombreed = "2") Mother stops turning to leave and looks at you. "I'm a Jack Russel Terrier. Why do you ask?" *set muzzle "Narrow" *set legs "Thin" *set play %+15 *set agi +1 *line_break You look at her. "Do dogs normally have pups with coyotes?" *line_break She shakes her head. "No. But I'm different, I loved your Father when we met but.....but I did not stay with him when I realized I was expecting you because of how other dogs and coyotes would have treated us." *line_break "Then why let him stay now?" You tip your head, being unusually serious. *set play %-5 *line_break "Because now....now I have no humans, there are no other dogs or Coyotes around here, and mainly because I could use the help. Taking care of two pups by myself....well it's not the easiest thing in the world." She sighs. "But with your sister sick, I admit I need help and when I saw him this morning, I did not feel the need to drive him away. Now, I'm going to go hunt for awhile, or find something that could help your sister. Stay inside." With that, she turns away, making it clear she will say no more. *if (mombreed = "3") Mother stops turning to leave and looks at you. "I'm a Beagle. Why do you ask?" *set muzzle "Boxy" *set coat "Medium" *set vocal %-15 *set play %+2 *line_break You look at her. "Do dogs normally have pups with coyotes?" *line_break She shakes her head. "No. But I'm different, I loved your Father when we met but.....but I did not stay with him when I realized I was expecting you because of how other dogs and coyotes would have treated us." *line_break "Then why let him stay now?" You tip your head, being unusually serious. *set play %-5 *line_break "Because now....now I have no humans, there are no other dogs or Coyotes around here, and mainly because I could use the help. Taking care of two pups by myself....well it's not the easiest thing in the world." She sighs. "But with your sister sick, I admit I need help and when I saw him this morning, I did not feel the need to drive him away. Now, I'm going to go hunt for awhile, or find something that could help your sister. Stay inside." With that, she turns away, making it clear she will say no more. *if (mombreed = "4") Mother stops turning to leave and looks at you. "I'm a Foxhound. Why do you ask?" *set tail "Long Thin" *set legs "Thin" *set pack %+7 *set smell +2 *line_break You look at her. "Do dogs normally have pups with coyotes?" *line_break She shakes her head. "No. But I'm different, I loved your Father when we met but.....but I did not stay with him when I realized I was expecting you because of how other dogs and coyotes would have treated us." *line_break "Then why let him stay now?" You tip your head, being unusually serious. *set play %-5 *line_break "Because now....now I have no humans, there are no other dogs or Coyotes around here, and mainly because I could use the help. Taking care of two pups by myself....well it's not the easiest thing in the world." She sighs. "But with your sister sick, I admit I need help and when I saw him this morning, I did not feel the need to drive him away. Now, I'm going to go hunt for awhile, or find something that could help your sister. Stay inside." With that, she turns away, making it clear she will say no more. *if (mombreed = "5") Mother stops turning to leave and looks at you. "I'm a Akita. Why do you ask?" *set size "Medium" *set texture "Dense" *set legs "Long Thick" *set play %-10 *set listen %+10 *line_break You look at her. "Do dogs normally have pups with coyotes?" *line_break She shakes her head. "No. But I'm different, I loved your Father when we met but.....but I did not stay with him when I realized I was expecting you because of how other dogs and coyotes would have treated us." *line_break "Then why let him stay now?" You tip your head, being unusually serious. *set play %-5 *line_break "Because now....now I have no humans, there are no other dogs or Coyotes around here, and mainly because I could use the help. Taking care of two pups by myself....well it's not the easiest thing in the world." She sighs. "But with your sister sick, I admit I need help and when I saw him this morning, I did not feel the need to drive him away. Now, I'm going to go hunt for awhile, or find something that could help your sister. Stay inside." With that, she turns away, making it clear she will say no more. *line_break You nod and she leaves. You think about what to do. *label choosehouse *choice #Stay With Sister You look at your sister and see her awake for once. You crawl over to her and decide to keep her company. *goto sisstay *disable_reuse #Catch Falling Raindrops You walk into one of the rooms, where you know the rain drips the most onto an old, ragged, and soiled rug. *goto raindrops #Hunt for Mice Inside You lick your lips and decide to try to hunt mice in the kitchen. Mother occasionally catches one inside, so maybe it won't be hard for you. *goto huntinside #Try To Sneak Outside You know Mother told you to stay inside, but you want to see what the outsides like. You've seen raindrops fall from the ceiling, and trees through the windows, but other than that there's not much you've seen yourself. Just stuff in the house. *goto sneakoutside *disable_reuse #Explore The House You decide that it would be fun to explore the house better. *goto explorehouse *label sisstay As you lay back down on the blanket, your sister raises her head. She blinks at your with bleary eyes. "Who was that?" *line_break "Mother found our Father....and I guess he wants to help her." You crawl over to her and lay up against her. She's shivering, so you pull a blanket over you both. Just as you do, Mother comes back in. She looks worried. *line_break "We need to move you both, now." She comes over and picks up your sister. With your sisters scruff in her jaws, her voice is muffled. "We saw humans outside, and we think they've seen us. I'm going to move your sister somewhere safe, then come for you. Stay right here." With that, she bolts away. *choice #Follow Her With a small yip, you get up and follow her after a few moments. You don't want to be alone, and you want to stay near her. You run out of the closet and follow her scent to the room with the couch and rug. You turn around though when you hear a strange sound behind you. *set fear %+2 *set pack %+1 *goto coydogfound #Stay Here You huddle down in the blankets and decide that you should stay here. It's not long before you here a noise and peek out. You whimper. *set int +1 *goto coydogfound #Find The Humans You turn around in a circle once, then decide to go find the humans. *goto findhumans #Hide In The House You decide that instead of staying here, where your coat stands out against the bright blue blanket, you'll find somewhere else to hide. *goto hidehouse *label findhumans *line_break *line_break You walk into the hallway and sniff around. A strange smell reaches your nose, but you continue on. Reaching the kitchen, you sniff around for awhile but when you hear a noise, you quickly turn around. *set smell +1 *goto coydogfound *label hidehouse *line_break You dash out of the room, staying as low to the ground as you can, and you make your way to one of the rooms. In it, there's a faded and old rug, you see a couch thats decaying, a low table next to the wall, and another table with a large box with a glass front on it. *label hidehouse2 *choice *disable_reuse *selectable_if (fighter < "2") #Under The Couch You run over to the couch and inspect it. It's old, decaying, and looks like it might fall apart at any moment. There's cloth hanging along the bottom, hidding the underneath. There's space behind it as well, but a foul smell emminates from it. *choice #Hide Elsewhere You back away, not trusting what could be hiding underneath. *set int +1 *set fighter +1 *if (fighter < "2") You run away from it and think of another place. *goto hidehouse2 *if (fighter >= "2") You hear a noise behind you and turn around. *goto coydogfound *finish #Hide Here You use your nose to lift up the cloth covering the bottom. Instantly the stench makes you recoil. It's sweet but rotten, making your hackles raise. You try to peer under the couch but it's too dark. The rank smell is too much for your sensitive nose and you back out, whining. *set smell +2 *set sight +1 *goto coydogfound *disable_reuse *selectable_if (fighter <= "2") #Behind The Couch You run over to the couch and inspect it. It's old, decaying, and looks like it might fall apart at any moment. There's cloth hanging along the bottom, hiding the underneath. There's space behind it as well, but a foul smell emanates from it. *choice #Hide Elsewhere You back away, not trusting the darkness behind it. *set int +1 *set fighter +1 *if (fighter < "2") You run away from it and think of another place. *goto hidehouse2 *if (fighter >= "2") You hear a noise behind you and turn around. *goto coydogfound *finish #Hide Here You walk to the side of the couch and peer into the space behind it. It's dark, and smells like mold, but it might be a good hiding spot. You push your way backwards into the space, your tail tucked between your legs. You feel something sharp stab your paw and you bolt out, yipping. *line_break You hear a noise behind you and turn around. *set health %-2 *goto coydogfound *disable_reuse *selectable_if (fighter < "2") #Under The Coffee Table You run over to the coffee table and inspect it. Rough in places, smooth in others, you can see a gap beneath it and you think there might be some space behind it against the wall. *choice #Hide Elsewhere You look at the space underneath the table and decide it's not worth it. You might fit, but it would be tight and it would mean being squished against the dirty rug. *set int +1 *set fighter +1 *if (fighter < "2") You back away from it and think of another place. *goto hidehouse2 *if (fighter >= "2") You hear a noise behind you and turn around. *goto coydogfound *finish #Hide Here You crouch down and begin to squeeze yourself under the table. The carpet squishes uncomfortably against your belly, and the bottom of the table scrapes against your back, leaving splinters embedding in your fur. You get stuck and begin to whimper. With some working, you finally manage to get yourself free. You can feel your fur filled with splinters and your belly feels nasty and sticky. *line_break You hear a noise behind you and turn around. *set health %-2 *set humview %-5 *goto coydogfound *disable_reuse *selectable_if (fighter < "2") #Behind The Coffee Table You run over to the coffee table and inspect it. Rough in places, smooth in others, you can see a gap beneath it and you think there might be some space behind it against the wall. *choice #Hide Elsewhere You back up when some foul scent hits your nose; it's the foulest thing you have ever smelled, making you gag. *set fighter +1 *if (fighter < "2") You run away from it and think of another place. *goto hidehouse2 *if (fighter >= "2") You hear a noise behind you and turn around. *goto coydogfound *finish #Hide Here You walk around the the back and see a gap between the table and the wall. You can smell something foul but decide to hide there anyway. You start to squeeze yourself between the table and the wall when your paw squishes into something in the dark gap. With a yelp, you pull back; there's something dark red and sticky on your paw and when you try to rub it off on the carpet, it doesn't come off. *line_break You hear a noise behind you and turn around. *set humview %-2 *goto coydogfound *disable_reuse *selectable_if (fighter < "2") #Behind The T.V. You dash over to the thin box with the glass front and try to squeeze behind it. You feel it teeter as you brush against it. *choice #Hide Elsewhere You back up, looking at the box, and decide that if you try to squeeze behind it, it would just fall. *set int +1 *set fighter +1 *if (fighter < "2") You turn away and think of another place to hide. *goto hidehouse2 *if (fighter >= "2") You hear a noise behind you and turn around. *goto coydogfound *finish #Hide Here You keep trying to squeeze behind the thing, but with a crashing noise and glass spinning onto the carpet, it falls. You leap back and a piece of the screen jabs your paw. You yelp in pain. *line_break You hear a noise behind you and turn around. *set health %-5 *goto coydogfound *label coydogfound *line_break *line_break A tall unknown creature is standing in the doorway; tall as a tree, pale, with a little fur on its head, and standing on two legs while two strange paws held a long shiny stick with some kind of loop made of thick string at the end. He stood there a moment, watching you, then makes a move towards you. *choice #Run Away! You run to the side, hoping to get around him. The male reaches out and grabs you around the waist, lifting you up. You whimper as he carries you away. *set fear %+2 *goto coydogcaught #Attack! You bare your teeth and growl as fiercely as you can, then you run at him and try to bite. He just laughs and picks you up. You growl more but he holds you painfully by the scruff away from him and carries you away. *set like %-3 *set moral %-5 *set fear %+3 *goto coydogcaught #Greet Him You walk to him, yipping, and let him pet you. He makes soft sounds then lifts you up and carries you off. *set moral %+5 *set like %+5 *goto coydogcaught *label raindrops You see the rain dripping a lot onto the rug, which smells and squishes under your paws disgustingly. Ignoring it, you look around wonder how to catch the raindrops. *choice #Leap From The Low Table You walk over to the low table and scramble up onto the flat surface. You places your paws carefully on the edge and get ready to spring. As you steady your paws, a few splinters wedge themselves in your pads, making you wince as you jump. You land heavily on the rug, wincing and whimpering as the splinters are driven deeper in your pads. You limp over to the bare floor and gently pull out as many splinters as you can. When you finish, you can still feel a few left but limp back to bed. *set health %-5 *goto surprisedhumans #Leap From The Couch You walk over to the couch and look at it. It's old, dripping with water from the leaks above it, and a foul smell is coming from it. Carefully, you climb up it and stand on one of the raised edges. As you stand there, you hear an ominous creaking sound and leap from the couch. You land on the rug, rolling over a few times, and look at the couch; the arm is bent where you pushed off, and the rank smell coming from it is much more than before you leapt. You cover your nose for a moment and back up on three paws before running out of the room and back to bed. *set smell +2 *set int +1 *set str +1 *set play %-5 *goto surprisedhumans #Stay On The Ground You crouch down, deciding to leap from where you are, and begin to leap around in the raindrops. You get really wet, but your paws get sticky and messy from the rug. After awhile, you stop and lay down on the bare floor, panting. Your paws are strangely sticky and almost black from the sticky stuff on them alone. You shake your fur out after a few moments and decide you're too tired to do anything else and head back to bed. *set humview %-5 *set play %+10 *set dex +1 *goto surprisedhumans #Go Elsewhere You decide it's not worth it after all. The rug feels nasty under your paws, you're afraid the couch wouldn't hold your weight, and the table looks slippery on top in some places and other places look rough and splintery. *goto choosehouse *label huntinside You walk down the hallway to the kitchen, where you think Mother gets the water. You're right; you see a few pots almost comepletely full with water and some raindrops dripping into them, creating small ripples in the water. *label kitchen *choice #Inspect the Hole You walk over to a hole in the wall, just big enough for you to squeeze outside if you wanted. You sniff around it and a faint smell of mouse comes from it. You crouch down and wait awhile. *rand coyhunt 1 4 *if (coyhunt = "1") As you crouch down, a mouse streaks away and you chase after it. You catch it quickly and kill it. Feeling grown up, you devour your very first whole mouse. You can feel it's blood on your muzzle, do you want to clean yourself? *set hunt +1 *set agi +1 *set humview %-5 *choice #Yes You run your tongue over your muzzle, then take your paw and rub your face like a cat. *set humview %+5 Once clean, you decide to head back to bed. *goto surprisedhumans #No You shrug and ignore it, letting it dry on your muzzle, and head back to bed. *goto surprisedhumans *else You growl softly when there's no noise and nothing comes out. *goto misschance #Inspect the Fridge You walk over to the large white thing against the wall; the door is partially open and a rank scent is coming from inside. You carefully use your paw to push the door open a bit more, fearing for your nose if you get too close. Whoever lived here before stored food in here, and whatever was left has been bad for a long time. Green mold and mushy things coat the inside. You crouch down and wait for a bit. *rand coyhunt 1 4 *if (coyhunt = "2") After a few moments, a mouse streak out from inside the big thing and runs past. You dart after it, weaving between the legs of the chairs and table sitting in the kitchen. You finally catch the mouse; feeling grown up, you devour it. This was your first whole mouse! You can feel it's blood on your muzzle, do you want to clean yourself up? *set hunt +1 *set dex +2 *set humview %-5 *choice #Yes You run your tongue over your muzzle, then take your paw and rub your face like a cat. *set humview %+5 Once clean, you decide to head back to bed. *goto surprisedhumans #No You shrug and ignore it, letting it dry on your muzzle, and head back to bed. *goto surprisedhumans *else You growl softly when there's no noise and nothing comes out. *goto misschance #Inspect the Floor Cabinets You walk over to the doors and open spaces under the counters and sink. There are shelves, most of them empty, but a few have old cans and on one shelf, you see a cardboard box. It's bright yellow with something that looks very unappetizing on it. It's round and tan colored. There's a bee, but it doesn't look like a normal bee, with large eyes and strange paws holding some kind of stick. You sniff around, occasionally hearing some kind of scrabbling noise. *rand coyhunt 1 4 *if (coyhunt = "3") As you begin to crouch down, three mice shoot out. You race after two of them, who unwisely decided to stay together, and corner them. Before they can bolt, you crunch one in your jaws and slam a paw down on another. You devour both mice quickly, relishing in the fact that not only did you catch two mice on your own for the first time, these were your first whole mice at all. You can feel a lot of mouse blood on your muzzle and neck, do you want to wash up? *set hunt +2 *set int +1 *set humview %-10 *choice #Yes You run your tongue over your muzzle, then take your paw and rub your face like a cat. *set humview %+5 Once clean, you decide to head back to bed. *goto surprisedhumans #No You shrug and ignore it, letting it dry on your muzzle, and head back to bed. *goto surprisedhumans *else You growl softly when there's no noise and nothing comes out. *goto misschance #Inspect the Pantry You walk over to a big double door on the far side of the kitchen, past the table and chairs. Inside, there's boxes of rotted food and strange smells, both sweet and foul, greet you. You can see boxes piled high, cans sitting on the floor and shelves, jars of black, green, or blue stuff, and who knows what else. It's a very large space and you push your way inside. *set str +1 *set sight +1 *rand coyhunt 1 4 *if (coyhunt = "4") You nose your way past a large box and sneeze as you set off dust; your sneeze disturbs a few mice, who bolt into the kitchen. You race after one, running under the table and through the chair legs. You catch the mouse just before it escapes through the hole in the wall and quickly kill it. Feeling grown up, you devour your first whole mouse. You can feel it's blood on your muzzle, do you want to clean it off? *set hunt +1 *set agi +1 *set dex +1 *set humview %-5 *choice #Yes You run your tongue over your muzzle, then take your paw and rub your face like a cat. *set humview %+5 Once clean, you decide to head back to bed. *goto surprisedhumans #No You shrug and ignore it, letting it dry on your muzzle, and head back to bed. *goto surprisedhumans *else You growl softly when there's no noise and nothing comes out. *goto misschance *disable_reuse #Drink Some Water You walk over to one of the pots and take a drink of water. As you lap up some of the cool water, you hear a scrabbling sound nearby. You look up, water dripping down your chest, and decide its time to hunt. *set hear +1 *goto kitchen *label misschance You sniff around the kitchen some more, but can't find anything to catch. Feeling down, you head out of the kitchen and back to bed. *goto surprisedhumans *label sneakoutside You walk around the house for a short while, looking for a way outside. In the kitchen, you see a hole big enough for you to get out without noticing. *choice #Go Through You walk to the hole and inspect it. There are several jagged parts sticking out, but you think if you're careful, they won't hurt you. *line_break You start to squeeze yourself through the hole but the jagged sides tear into your fur and a few jab your skin. When you try to push through more, one of the jagged sides pokes you in the nose, making you yip in pain. You back out with difficulty, your fur now sticking up in places and full of splinters. You decide this hole's not worth it and head elsewhere. *set health %-20 *set humview %-4 *goto goon #Ignore It You decide to ignore this hole; you could see several jagged pieces sticking out and don't want to get hurt. *goto goon *label goon *line_break *line_break You walk into another room, where the rain is dripping the most. *choice #Catch Raindrops You decide to try to catch the raindrops instead. You won't be going outside, but at least Mother will be happy you stayed inside. *goto raindrops #Explore This Room You decide to explore this room for awhile. There might be a hole behind the old couch or chair, and while you do see a low table, it's completely solid and looks too heavy to move but might be worth climbing. *goto livingroom *label livingroom *line_break *line_break You walk around the living room and think about what to inspect first. You decide to inspect a few things before going outside or checking elsewhere. *label checkroom *choice *disable_reuse *selectable_if (fighter < "2") #Coffee Table You walk over to the low table sitting against the wall and sniff around it. There's a rank, rotting stench coming from between it and the wall, but the space is dark and you can't make out what's behind there. You wouldn't be able to squeeze behind there anyway. *line_break *set sight +1 *set smell +1 *set fighter +1 *if (fighter >= "2") You shrug and decide to leave the room. *goto surprisedhumans *if (fighter < "2") *goto checkroom *disable_reuse *selectable_if (fighter < "2") #Sniff the Rug You sniff at the rug and immediately gag. It's wet from all the rain, but also it feels sticky. You walk along the edge, eying the faded reds and blues. When it was new, it must've been beautiful but now its old and worn and disgusting. You step on the rug itself and your paw makes a squishy sound; you shake your paw in disgust but keep walking along the rug, sniffing it all over. Foul smells reach your nose, but you smell nothing of major interest. *set smell +2 *set humview %-2 *set fighter +1 *if (fighter >= "2") You shrug and decide to leave the room. *goto surprisedhumans *if (fighter < "2") *goto checkroom *disable_reuse *selectable_if (fighter < "2") #Check The Couch You walk over to the decaying couch and sniff around the bottom. A severely foul stench wafts out from underneath, stinging your nose and making your eyes water severely. You back away from the couch, unable to continue exploring it. *set sight -1 *set smell +3 *set fighter +1 *if (fighter >= "2") You shrug and decide to leave the room. *goto surprisedhumans *if (fighter < "2") *goto checkroom *disable_reuse *selectable_if (fighter < "2") #Check TV Stand You walk over to the strange table with a big thin black thing sitting on it. The black thing has glass or something on the front, but the glass-stuff is cracked and missing a few pieces. There are some kind of strings coming out the back; they lead to a spot in the wall, where it looks like they could come out. Caution keeps you from tugging them though; you glance at the black thing and decide staying here isn't worth it, because one tiny little movement against it could knock it over. *set fighter +1 *if (fighter >= "2") You shrug and decide to leave the room. *goto surprisedhumans *if (fighter < "2") *goto checkroom *selectable_if (fighter >= "1") #Leave The Room Having enough of this room, you turn around and begin to walk out. *goto surprisedhumans *label explorehouse You set off through the house, peering around doorways and looking at the rooms. You come across one room with a strange bowl reaching high into the air. There's a large block on the back, and in this room there's a large tub against the back wall. *label bathroom *choice #Look In The Tub You walk over to the big tub; its large, large enough to fit a human. There's some kind of blackish red stain that smells really harsh near a hole at one end, and you see something sticking out of the wall that's leaking drops of water every second. *choice #Investigate the Tap You jump in, barely clearing the top and slip into the tub. Its all slippery and smooth, and there's a long wet spot through the middle, leading to the hole. You wonder if that's a drain; you can remember Mother complaining about them once. You lick at the water; it has a sour, metallic tang to it and it makes your stomach queazy. You jump out of the tub with difficulty and head back to the closet. On the way, your stomach heaves and you vomit in the hallway; that water must have been bad and was clearly not where Mother got that pan of water. *set health %-5 *goto surprisedhumans #Investigate the Stain You leap into the tub, barely clearing the top and slip inside. It's smooth and slippery, and in the center there's a wet spot leading to the hole; you think it might be drain, you remember Mother complaining about it once. You approach the stain and take a small sniff. It's foul and disgusting smelling, but caution keeps you from trying anything else. Water drips on your fur from the thing in the wall; you shake it off, it's making your fur feel slimy. *set smell +1 *set humview %-3 *line_break You jump out of the tub with difficulty and decide to just head back to bed. *goto surprisedhumans #Leave It Alone You shake your head and decide to leave it alone. *goto bathroom #Investigate the High Bowl You walk to the high bowl and sniff around; a slightly foul and watery smell greets you. *set smell +1 *choice #Investigate the Tank You put your paws on the edge of the bowl and heave yourself up. Ignoring the foul smelling water in the bowl, you take a leap to the top of the tank on the back. You let out a yelp as you fall inside; you pull yourself up and out of the disgusting water inside. It's slimy, foul smelling, greenish-black, and you feel yourself about to vomit. *set humview %-25 *set smell +1 *line_break You race out of the bathroom, dripping onto the floor. You stop in the hall to dry heave severely. You see an old blanket that looks mostly dry and rub yourself on it, getting the sliminess off your fur. *set health %-10 *set humview %+5 *goto surprisedhumans #Investigate the Bowl You put your paws on the edge of the bowl and heave yourself up. Once up, you look in the bowl. The water inside is a foul green color, like the color of vomit, and its giving off an extremely bad smell. Your nose stings from it. You decide it's not worth trying to drink it; the smell alone makes you feel sick. *set smell +2 *line_break You jump down and head back to bed. You stop in the hallway to dry heave, the fumes from the bowl still making you feel sick. *set health %-2 *goto surprisedhumans #Leave It Alone You wrinkle your nose and decide to leave it alone. *goto bathroom #Go Elsewhere You wrinkle your nose and decide to do something else. *goto choosehouse *label surprisedhumans *page_break Humans You are almost back to bed when you hear strange voices and a new, strong, and strange smell hits your nose. You look around the corner and gasp. A strange creature is standing in the doorway, a long stick with some kind of shiny loop on the end in it's strange paws. The creature looks just like how Mother described humans. Tall, almost as tall as the doors here, walking on two legs and using their other two legs to grip the stick. *choice #Greet Them You run towards the human, mouth open and tongue hanging out. The human sees you coming and kneels down to meet you. They pick you up gently, rubbing your ears in a pleasing way. He stands up, you still in his arms, and begins to walk away. He makes soft gentle sounds to you; you wonder if not all humans are bad, because he seems very nice. *set like %+10 *goto coydogcaught #Watch Them You stay where you are, not making a move to leave or approach them. You watch as the human walks inside, calling something in a strangely high pitched voice. His stride is long, much longer than a dogs, and he walks with a purpose, clearly searching for something. *line_break As he gets clsoer, you scoot around and flee back the way you came. You hear stomping behind you; he must've heard your paws on the floor! You try to run faster and duck into the bathroom but he catches you around the waist and lifts you up. You bark at him furiously but he ignores you and carries you outside. *set vocal %-10 *set like %-2 *goto coydogcaught #Hide You duck out of sight and make your way to the bed. Maybe you can hide in the blanket. Before you get too far though, you feel strange paws around your middle and you get lifted up. The human holds you in his arms and looks at you. You whimper and he laughs. Turning away, he carries you outside. *goto coydogcaught #Find Mother You turn and quietly dash away, hoping to find Mother. You peek around every corner before dashing into a room or the hallway. Eventually, you smell her scent leading to a window next to a table that stands halfway between it and the floor. *line_break You back up to make a leap for it when strange paws grab you around the middle. You wiggle around, trying to break free, but the human picks you up and starts carrying you away. *goto coydogcaught #Find Father You turn and quietly dash away, hoping to find Father. You peek around every corner before dashing into a room or the hallway. Eventually, you smell his scent leading outside. You don't know him very well, but you have a bad feeling about the human. You crouch in the hole leading outside, but before you can make a move to leave, strange paws grab you around the middle. *line_break The human lifts you up, and his paw grips you tighter when you try to wiggle free. As he carries you away, you hear a scraping noise and as the human turns through a doorway, you catch Father's face in the hole; he looks scared. *goto coydogcaught *label coydogcaught *line_break *line_break He carries you back to a large thing that you recognize as a car, or you think it might be a car. It's bigger, and shaped like a box. You remember Mother telling you about cars once, but she never described one like this. The male opens the back and places you in a cage. He shuts your door and yells at the other dogs inside the car before slamming the doors shut. *set like %-5 *goto coydogcaught2 *label coydogcaught2 *page_break The Pound's Truck... You can hear the male outside talking with the others; you cower in the cage, letting out little frightened whimpers. Suddenly there's a loud banging sound and you turn to see a tiny window behind you, high up. You can see the humans sitting there and wonder what their doing. *line_break There's a scuffling sound to your left and you look to see a tiny dog, or maybe a puppy, in another cage. He's small, but when he raises his head and sees you, he lets out a barking laugh. "So they caught themselves a pup? You get seperated from your mother?" When you nod, he laughs in a mean way. "Well you're in luck. Humans love pups, no matter where they came from. Maybe you can survive the Shelter then, better than the rest of us..." *line_break You hear murmuring from other dogs; in the darkness you can make out many dens like yours, some of them the same size but many are much bigger. "W-Where am I?" *line_break A large dog near the back calls out. "You're in a van pup. Humans caught you and put you in a cage. Their going to take you to the Shelter; a horrid place for dogs and cats alike. You'll be placed in a bigger cage, maybe with another dog, and every day humans will come look at you until either you go home, or.....well you don't." His voice is gruff and gravely sounding. "But don't worry, pups get picked pretty quickly. Humans love puppies." *line_break *line_break There's a banging sound from where the humans are and suddenly, you feel this "van" moving. Some of the dogs start whining but a human hits the square of light with his fist. *choice #Whine You let out a low whine, crouching low to the floor. The human bangs the window again and you go silent, as do most of the dogs. You didn't understand exactly what the human said, but it may have been "Quiet!" *set vocal %-1 *set int +1 *set like %-2 *goto coydogvan #Howl You let out a loud puppy howl, startling some of the other dogs. The human hits the window again but you keep howling. The window opens and the human reaches his hand through and smacks it against the van wall where he can reach; it makes a loud banging sound that makes you go silent. You hear the humans as he retracts his hand. "Stupid puppy..." *set vocal %-5 *set int +2 *set like %-5 *goto coydogvan #Panic Panicking, you race around in your little cage as much as possible, yipping in fear. The other dogs, freaked out by your reaction, start panicking even more. Suddenly, the human opens the window and sticks his hand through. In it, there's a small labelless can. When he shakes it though, it makes a loud rattling sound that causes a fresh bout of yipping from you. You race around and suddenly, your cage falls over and smashes against the ground. You smack your head against the side of the cage, making your vision double for a few moments. You hear the humans laugh at this. *line_break *set vocal %-15 *set health %-2 *set like %-8 *set dex +2 *set fear %+10 *goto coydogvan #Stay Calm You lay there, listening to the others and after a few moments, the human bangs the window again and you think you understand what he said, which may have been "Be quiet!" *set int +3 *goto coydogvan *label coydogvan *line_break *line_break The van shudders and shakes, making weird banging noises and the crates continue to shift around as it moves. After what seems like several days, the van shudders to a stop and the back end opens up. One by one, the humans take a cage out, or take the dog itself if it's too big to carry, until they finally lift your cage out and set it on a table sitting just above the floor. *line_break You see more dogs than you thought were possible. Some are in cages, some are held by humans, a few have leashes wrapped around their necks that reach into a humans hands or wrapped around weird things around the room. You look around and see more humans than you believed existed walking around. Some are males, some females, and smaller ones that you guess might be pups. Dogs and humans off all different sizes move in and out of the doors scattered along the wall. *set sight +1 *line_break *line_break You yip in alarm when a human faces peers through the cage at you. They say something softly. Do you focus on the human or keep looking around? *choice #Watch the Human You stare at the human, trying to udnerstand what their saying. You make out a few words. "Cute....what breed... mutt....looks hurt." When they stop speaking, they open the cage and gently pick you up and carry you through one of the entrances. They carry you gently, and you can tell they don't want to hurt you. *line_break *line_break *set int +3 *set like %+2 *goto coydogshelter #Watch Other Humans You ignore the human right in front of you and pay more attention to the other humans in the room. They walk around, occasionally petting a dog, speaking to someone else, carrying things, or sometimes taking the dogs elsewhere. As you watch, one of the humans take a dog that looks remarkably like a wolf into a red door. The other dogs all watch as the wolf-dog starts barking and howling but suddenly....silence. You get a strange of forboding; before you can make even a whimper though, the female in front of you opens the front of the cage and picks you up gently. You wiggle, afraid she was going to take you past the red door, but she holds on tighter and carries you through a white door instead. *line_break *set like %-3 *set listen %-2 *goto coydogshelter #Watch the Dogs You watch the dogs sitting and standing around the room. Some of them are young, some are old, and you even see a few cages with cats in them. A couple of the dogs catch your eye and nod encouragingly, while some sneer and bare their fangs. A tiny black cat with striking ice blue eyes watches you, eyes wide. *achieve first *choice #Bare Your Fangs You bare your fangs at them and while most of the dogs frown, you see a few shaking with silent laughter. The female human in front of you frowns and opens the cage. Gently picking you up, she carries you off. *line_break *set moral %-2 *goto coydogshelter #Growl You let out a small growl; though you're little, it sounds loud even in the crowded room. Some of the dogs growl back, but they get sharp words from the human next to them. The female human in front of you opens the cage door and picks you up gently. You notice she's frowning slightly as she carries you off. *line_break *set moral %-3 *set vocal %-1 *goto coydogshelter #Give A Curious Stare You watch them all curiously; they return the stare, some of them appear friendly, some do not. The female human in front of you opens the cage and gently picks you up. Smiling, she pets your head in a pleasing way. You close your eyes and lean against her chest, not enjoying the pets but not hating them either. *line_break *set vocal %+2 *set play %+1 *set moral %+1 *goto coydogshelter #Ignore Them You ignore their looks; most seem unpreturbed by this but a few give an angry sounding snort. You gaze is cool and you turn to the female human as she opens the cage and gently lifts you up. *line_break *set rank %+2 *goto coydogshelter *label coydogshelter The human, who smells female, carries you back to a room with a high up table in the center. Setting you down, she turns to the cabinets against the wall and starts opening drawers. *if (health <= 20) The human walks over to a counter along the wall and she opens up a drawer. You see lots of weird things but the human closes it and comes back. You feel something sharp and small stab you in the neck; a moment later, you feel very sleepy and pass out. *line_break *line_break When you wake up, you feel better and while not quite rested, you feel like your not as weary as before. The human appears in your vision and smiles in a reassuring way and pats your head. *set health 100 *goto coycage *if (health >= 21) and (health <= 99) The human walks over to a counter along the wall and opens a drawer. You see lots of weird things but the human closes it and comes back. You feel something sharp and small stab you in the neck; then the human rubs a small fluffy ball against some scratches. It stings for a few moments but then begins to feel better. The human pats your head and smiles in a reassuring way. *set health 100 *goto coycage *if (health = "100") The human walks over to a counter and opens up a drawer underneath it. You see lots of weird things but the human closes it and comes back. You feel something sharp and small stab you in the neck; the human pats your head and smiles in a reassuring way. *goto coycage *label coycage The human picks you up and takes you through even more doors until she stops in front of a large cage with tall chain walls. You see a brightly colored blanket in the corner, and two small bowls in another. One bowl has food, the other has water. *achieve shelter *goto_scene shelter