Natural Selection

12

Selena

Selena and Amadi were frozen. They hadn't expected a dog to be able to find them this quick. The dog kept starring at them with, Selena noticed, an unnaturally blue pair of eyes. Selena taped the dog on the nose with her paw. "Hello kitty cats." He said pleasantly with a smile on his face, startling the two Rangers.

Amadi looked at Selena. "What is wrong with him?" Selena smiled, suppressing a chuckle. "He's stoned out of his mind. He's gone. He wont be back to reality for a long time." Amadi cocked her head. "On what?" She asked. "A berry they call Sapphire. It produces intense hallucinations and turns the eyes blue."

Amadi was about to ask another question when the dog interrupted her by throwing up all over the bush in front of them, catching Amadi in the stream. She stopped herself from yelling in outrage while Selena chuckled to herself. 

"Come on, focus!" Amadi whispered harshly. They got their heads back to their current task, abducting Lockjaw. The two felines sat and waited for the dog to wander off. Eventually, he caught sight of something the berry created and left, running after it. 

The two scouted the area for another few minutes, trying to spot openings within the camp. The bottom of the canyon wasn't completely bare how some others are. There were many areas where brush still ruled as well as small groups of trees scattered throughout. That created enough cover for them to be able to move about.

Selena pointed out that the closest groups of dogs were distracted by some fight and gathered around the two dogs locked in combat, eager to see action and bloodshed. Many of the dogs from other groups were running to join them.

The two seized their chance and sprinted towards a group of trees. Sitting about a quarter of the way to Lockjaw's hut, they were able to see who was fighting.. Lockjaw and a younger male were standing opposite of each other in an arena, the walls of which were made of cheering dogs. 

"Looks like the younger one is challenging Lockjaw for dominance." Amadi said. Selena looked at her. "How would you know?" She asked. "Lions do it all the time. Why did you think only one in eight male lions live to adulthood?"

The two stayed in their cover until they found another opening. By the time they did, almost all of the dogs had gathered around the two, making it easy for them to hop from cover to cover until they reached the shack. There they waited for lockjaw.

Lycos

From atop his perch, he could see everything going on down below. The dogs gathered around their fires, talking to the other members of their cliques, Lockjaw doing his rounds through the camp, and the two big cats getting as close as they could without being spotted.

Lycos watched Lockjaw, studying him, looking for any weakness he could use in case he might have to fight him in the future. He was so focused on the bandit leader that he almost didn't notice the dog walking to where Selena and Amadi were concealed. 

He jumped when he saw the dog. What if they get caught?  He thought to himself. The whole mission could be compromised and we might lose two of our best Rangers. He was a little bit worried but he trusted that they would do what they needed to.

The dog saw them and Lycos thought that he was going to alert the rest of the bandits but he just stood there. After a few moments, he started running after something and leaving the cats by themselves. Lycos was thoroughly confused.

A commotion caught his eye on down the canyon a ways. Two dogs were deadlocked, staring at each other intensely while other dogs gathered around them to watch the pending fight. Lycos saw the lock and chain hanging from the neck of the one closest to him, and identified him as Lockjaw.

He glanced back to Selena and Amadi but they were gone. He searched the cover between where they were and the shack lockjaw uses as his home and caught them heading inside. Now they just had to wait for Lockjaw. 

"I, Vice, challenge Lockjaw for his position as Alpha!" the challenger bellowed. He was a large Doberman Pincer, Rottweiler mix. The surrounding crowd was full of excitement and noise. "Aw, piss off Vice. I don't have time for this." Was his response. "Then make time! I've had it with your way of running us! This challenge is happening right here, right now!" 

"Have it your way then. Mutt." He added at the end for extra emphases. The crowd roared. Vice charged at Lockjaw while he just stretched out his back. As soon as Vice reached Lockjaw, he tried to take a shot at his neck, just above the chain he always wheres. 

Lockjaw saw the move coming and rolled out of he way dodging the attack effortlessly. He went in for an attack of his own, ducking his head and upper body in order to get under Vice. 

He through the slightly larger dog into the air breaking a leg upon landing. As Vice struggled to get up Lockjaw walked up beside him. "Next time, make sure you have what it takes to beat your aging father." He bellowed. The crowd went berserk.