Dog On A Rope

8 - Surprise!

Laika grumbled, "How are we going to get over this wall? It's not like we can just call someone to let us in." Before her was a huge wooden wall protecting Veal Tribe from trespasser such as herself. Although, she did not admit that she was a trespasser. She was still a part of veal tribe, after all. It was still her home, wasn't it?

"You mean, you don't know?" Afore said quietly, feigning shock. "You've never heard of digging?"

"Oh, give it a rest already!" But Afore could not help but hear Laika's small chuckle at his words, and he smiled in response.

The two quickly and quietly got to work with their claws and paws, scraping at the frozen forest floor until a small incline had been made. They dug, and dug, and dug, lining their forelegs with mud and dirt and bits of tree and leaf and grass. The dirt flew behind them in small pebbles and landed in piles. By the time some moonlight peaked from beneath the wooden posts of the wall, the two were heavily exhausted, panting heavily, shoulders burning from strong movement. Still, there was a ways to go, and they continued with their repetitive work. Dig, dig, dig.

Soon enough, a large mount of damp dirt had piled behind the two, and there was gap large enough beneath the wide rustic wall that they could squeeze beneath it and break into Veal Tribe. Laika found crawling through the hole they'd made to be an easy task, barely getting her stomach on the dirt; the wolf, however, who was much larger than she, had a very difficult time, and it ended up so that Laika had to use the rope to her advantage and tug on his neck to help him out.

"You need to loose some weight," Laika had remarked after Afore had finally escaped from the shallow tunnel. His pelt was smeared with brown dirt, especially along his stomach, and he shook it out in an attempt to stay a little cleaner. It didn't work very well. Nonetheless, his paws were still filthy from digging, dirt crusted between the pads of his toes and under his nails. Laika's were the same.

"You need to gain some weight," Afore said back with a scowl, "Then maybe you wouldn't be so cold in the winters."

"I'd be too slow, then. Like you. And much less agile, much less sneaky."

Afore protested, "I'm agile and sneaky!"

Laika eyed him, eyebrow raised and one ear cocked, "Oh, really? You're agile? And sneaky?"

He lifted his snout a little, "Why, yes. I'm very sneaky, and agile, too."

"Okay. So prove it."

Afore tilted his head, "Prove it how?"

"Be the first to sneak in to my hut, and do it successfully."

He smirked, "Deal. I'll prove it to you, easy-peasy."

Laika chuckled a little, "We'll see. Don't get too ahead of yourself." They still spoke quietly and with caution, but somehow, in one another's presence, they had grown a bit more comfortable and a bit less afraid. For once, Afore was confident that someone else had his back. He relied on Laika, whether he meant to or not, and it gave him an odd sense of comfort. He had never felt that way before. He had never relied on another before. Suddenly, he felt a lot more like a pack wolf than a lone wolf. He felt a lot more right.

Laika was experiencing something similar, although she had relied on others plenty of times during hunts and chases and patrols. But with Afore, she didn't simply rely on him; she actually trusted him, and that was a new feeling for her, as well.

Every step was stiff and quiet, every movement slowed and delayed with precision and delicacy. Here in the tribe, there were no leaves littering the ground to make loud crunching sounds; instead, every single light pawstep was well muffled by powdery dirt. The dirt here had been walked on over a thousand times, preventing any grass from growing along the mainly used paths of the tribe. Any weeds that sprouted in the spring along the dirt and gravel paths were pulled up by the dogs that lived there.