Junn The Ark

The approach to the winter home was hidden from prying eyes, but was well known to the hunters who traveled it. Not that they could ever have lost their way home, the location of the kennel was imprinted on their minds from birth.

Not even the oldest of the pack know what the kennel had been before the ancestors found it. The buildings had been long abandoned, but had become the packs' home over generations. Perhaps that was part of the problem with the pack, it had settled down and become civilized.

The Alpha, Junn's uncle Nicul, kept his harem in the largest and sturdiest building in the complex, and the rest of the pack fought over the remaining outbuildings. Living in buildings, even just during the winter months, wasn't natural and Junn wasn't satisfied. It was time for a change. Nicul hadn't led the pack out hunting at all during the winter season just past. Junn's brothers and cousins all knew that Nicul was far past his prime.

The hunt had been successful, the hundredth time that Junn had lead his brothers, sisters and cousins out into wilds. The prey had been easily taken, as it had been since the early days of Junn leading the hunting pack.

It was time for the pack to leave the kennel for the summer wanderings, and so a special meal was in order. The cubs, born earlier this spring, were old enough to join the hunting pack and needed to be brought into adult society. The hunting pack had been successful in bringing down a small group of humans, three had died and been dressed out in the field, while the other three were still alive. They were bound to carry poles; gagged and hooded so as to keep them quite and docile.

The hunting pack came to the front steps of the kennel and started up the stairs when Junn called out, "No, leave the food here." The cousins seemed surprised, but Junn's brothers immediately knew what Junns' order meant. The brothers starting arking into the kennel and the cousins quickly added their voices.

The carrying poles with the food were dropped at the base of the entrance steps, and the hunters moved out to form a ring around the sunning-clearing. The cubs boiled out from the kennel, obviously excited by the noise, but not certain what was going on. They knew that the ceremony was planned for the evening, but this new development was unexpected.

Junn paced back and forth near the food, watching the entrance to the kennel. His father was the first adult to hurry out from the kennel, but he did not approach Junn; he took his place in the growing ring of the family that surrounded the sunning-clearing. He was obviously nervous, but kept his eyes down, and did not look at Junn.

Junn's mother and aunts came next, followed by the other elders. They also spread out around the circle, joining their sons and daughters. Many of them looked at Junn, but most kept their eyes averted. The arking stopped as Nicul stepped out of the kennel.

"Junn." Nicul said sternly, "I told you to bring the food to us in the kennel. Do so now."

Junn looks around the circle made up by his family; his brothers, sisters and cousins from the hunting pack, and his aunts and uncles and the little ones all watch the unfolding events silently. It is not too late to back down, the ceremonial 'Arking has not yet begun.

Junn stops pacing and turns toward his uncle. A deep rumbling growl escapes his throat as he spreads his lips to bare his teeth. "A time of change is needed and I am the one who should lead the pack from now on."

Nicul makes no response for a moment, and then speaks softly, an obvious sign of weakness, "You are a mere pup, you are not ready to challenge for leadership of the pack. You can leave now and perhaps be forgiven in the fall."

"No, you are a weak old dog. Do the pack a favor and die!" The ceremonial challenge has been given, and accepted, and so the pack joins in:

'Ark!

'Ark!

'Ark!

Junn's mind reaches out and grasps a large rock from behind Nicul, and flings it toward the back of the Alpha's head as Junn's hands ready his knives, and his body sinks into a fighting posture.

'Ark!

'Ark!

'Ark!

Nicul doesn't even move, but his mind reaches out and grasps the rock as it flies toward his head, stopping it immediately. Nicul shakes his head sadly, and the rock crumbles into pieces. "Is that your best effort? How have you been so successful as a hunter over the last season?"

'Ark!

'Ark!

'Ark!

Junn, shaken by the show of power necessary to crush the rock, rushes forward with his daggers ready. He strikes swiftly, and Nicul takes the blow without flinching. Junn growls at his success before Nicul responds with an open handed blow to the chest. As Junn falls, he sees his dagger on the ground and realizes that he was disarmed before he even struck at the Alpha.

'Ark!

'Ark!

'Ark!

With a growing feeling of panic, Junn rises to his feet as Nicul walks down the steps toward him. "I am disappointed in you, Junn. I should have known better than to let your father make you." Nicul slaps his hands together in front of himself, and Junn is smashed by a telekinetic blast. "You were a promising pup. Unfortunate."

'Ark!

'Ark!

'Ark!

Nicul continues to batter Junn with his telekinesis, battering the young pup further into the ground each time he lashes out.

'Ark!

'Ark!

'Ark!

Nicul shakes his head, "Such a waste. Leave and never come back." Nicul's telekinetic grip on Junns' throat tightens until Junn ceases to struggle, and Nicul tosses him aside.

'ARK!

===

Sometime later Junn awakens, his body bruised and battered. He has been dragged a short distance from the kennel, and dropped onto the ground. As his fogged mind takes stock of his situation, he realizes that someone has been kind to him, he has his weapons, and the private items that he kept in the kennel. Who took such pity on him? His father, or one of his hunting pack mates? Did they think so little of him? That he couldn't survive on his own without their help?

Glancing in the direction of the kennel, the thought occurs to him "They will starve. None of those pups know how to hunt, and without me the pack would have starved last winter."

Junn gathers his belongings and studies each of them. Shaking his head he thinks to himself, "How could I have been so unprepared?"

As Junn picks up his pack he groans with the pain of his battered body. As Junn turns to leave, he pauses and turns back to face toward the kennel. He shouts to be heard by all, "You will all remember this day when you are starving! The old dog cannot remember how to hunt, much less how to lead one. You will beg for me to return!"

Junn leaves the area of the Kennel, and limps toward the ancient road he knows of in the hills. He knows better than to try to follow the road out in the flatlands. That road is no better than a death trap. He has hunted along it often enough to know that his pack, their pack, was not the worst of the predators to travel along that road.

Although the physical injuries he received from Nicul's beating slow Junn's movements considerably, his emotions are giving Junn a lot of concern. He thinks, "How can I have let myself fall into that easy of a trap. Nicul hasn't hunted in years, how could he have bested me so easily?"

Traveling through the woods Junn keeps his senses as keen as possible, trying to avoid the really dangerous predators. He uses his coloration and natural camouflage to hide among the brush and trees in order to avoid having to fight more than absolutely necessary.

The first day alone in the woods Junn catches a small squirreloid to satisfy his hunger. Somehow knowing that he has no-where to return to makes this trip much more demanding than his maturity test four years earlier. Surviving in the woods for two days isn't so hard, but surviving alone forever seems like a daunting task.

Early on the second day in the woods, Junn stalks another small squirreloid. From his position behind a fallen log, Junn easily crossbows the small animal. As Junn leaps forward to scoop up his prey, his injuries slow him and his foot slips and catches in a split in the log, pitching Junn off and twisting his leg painfully.

Junn struggles against the pain, attempting to right himself and release his foot from it's twisted position. The pain is intense, and because of how he fell, he cannot stand. Junn struggles for a few minutes, and then stops to rest and assess his situation. It is then that he hears someone approaching.

It is a small group of travelers, two of the hated humans, and a cat. Last week Junn would have considered them to be prey for his pack, but today they are something else entirely. Perhaps they are Junn's saviors, or perhaps they are Junn's ending..