The Pack

            Our ancestors roamed this land since The Dawn.  We were the rulers, the protectors.  Our justice was feared.  Our mercy offered relief during times of sickness and drought.  Never did we require assistance or favors.  Never did we have to meet with one of the Kept in the middle of the night to arrange food for our kin and safe passage through our land.

            Our land.

            Ours.

            We had always known of the Furless.  Throughout our history, they had taken from our pack as well as the packs of others.  Sometimes, our kin became Kept.  Other times, they were used to replace the fur the Furless were without.  The Furless were unpredictable and impossible to trust.

            When the barrier went up, it was our own poor luck to be stuck on the inside of it with young and elders unable to jump high enough to clear it.  Many discussions took place.  Wait until the young are old enough then kill the elders and escape.  Dig our way beneath the barrier.  Try to trick the largest antlered of the Wild Herd to stampede through.

            Then the elders saw the Kept Herd.  Hideous, fat creatures barely able to stand on their own to eat.  They didn’t migrate.  They followed the same patterns every day.  Their Furless Masters left them alone in the care of a single, barely effective Herd Keeper.  Even the elders could bring one of these grazers down.  And they did.  And they wanted to stay.

            More discussions took place.  Killing the elders came back as an option, but too much infighting brought an end to that option permanently.  Then, one day, the pups started to play with the young of the Kept Herd and a few of the young females started to grow close with the Herd Keeper.

            We were stuck; destined to grow as fat and lazy as the herd that had trapped us here.

            Those of us able to scale the barrier did.  We kept strong, continued to take care of our responsibility to the Wild Herd.  On the advice of the Herd Keeper, we took the remains of the Kept Herd felled and buried them out of sight of the Furless.

            We learned from the Herd Keeper that the Kept Herd did have a purpose for the Furless.  Like us, they used the herds for sustenance.  How, we had no idea.  We never saw the Furless on the Hunt.  They had no claws, had no fangs.  While their herds were fat and slow, they seemed fatter and slower and without pack.

            Curiosity bettered us when we noticed some of the Kept Herd being hidden away inside large caves that proceeded to run away.  After more discussion, those of us able decided to follow.

            It was hard to follow as the caves moved at speeds beyond our capabilities, but it left a foul scent that we were able to track.  When we arrived, we saw how the Furless were able to turn the Kept Herd into their food.  It was disgusting; an embarrassment.  One of the Furless noticed us watching and offered us discarded innards.  Those of us that tried them became sick for days after.

            The Herd Keeper knew what became of his herd, but did not care.  He knew how disgusting the Furless were.  He did not care.  He was as disgusting as they.

            One of the elders grew lax and sloppy, lulled into false security by the very comfortable situation.  We watched the Furless raise the stick and squeeze it, saw the small projectile fly across the field, watched the elder jerk then drop.  His light gray fur turned red as he bled out.  The Furless pointed his stick across the field.  A warning.  Some of us understood.  He took the elder away.  We are still not sure what became of him.  We did not mourn him as we usually mourn our fallen.  There was nothing noble in how he died.

            The Herd Keeper offered us condolences, but it was clear he felt the Furless was right in his actions.  We forbade the young and the females from seeing him.  He grew angry.  Another elder was killed.  We were left with limited choices.

            Those of us able and willing to leave left.  We escaped the barrier and the territory of the Furless.  One by one, the elders were killed as their carrion was found and traced to their poorly dug and hidden dens.  The Herd Keeper was not kind to the females.  Focusing on his duties to the Furless and the Furless themselves left him with little time to take care of them and the pups they created.  He brought the young to the attention of the Furless.  We do not know what became of them, but the females are devastated and the Herd Keeper unconcerned.

            We are much happier on our territory.  It’s smaller now with some overlap with other packs, but we are learning to live with that.  The other option is just too unthinkable.