Chapter 4

    Apollo flailed under the older dog’s weight, could this be Cometstorm again, he wondered. Out of the side of his eye, he saw razor sharp fangs on the dog and realized it was not Cometstorm. Apollo could hear the sound of many other Moon 狗 emerging from the golden prairie grass, at least five of them. He flailed some 更多 but knew it was hopeless.
    Just then, a loud bark was heard and 更多 狗 trampled through the golden prairie 草 of Moon territory. Apollo could smell blood from them, oh no, are these the injured troops that were fighting my group, he wondered? Apollo sniffed the air, no, he realized, they are my group! The Storm 狗 began charging back on their territory, beaten and bloody. Immediately, the Moon 狗 let out yelps as the Storm 狗 leaped on them and bit down on their necks.
    Then Apollo noticed Crowfur grab the dog that had pinned Apollo down’s scruff and toss it in the air, as if it was as light weighted as a feather. “Are 你 alright” Crowfur demanded, Apollo nodded and slowly rose to his paws. He gazed at the last few Moon 狗 disappearing in the long golden prairie grass.
    He noticed one of them was Cometstorm. As soon as the last dog appeared from sight, Razorthorn turned to his group. His amber eyes were full of fury and his fangs were bared in a snarl. “They were lucky this time” he sneered, “but 下一个 sunset, well 显示 them who the better pack is!” The group looked worriedly from one dog to another. Then Hawktalon stepped up, “Razorthorn, there was enough fighting done, don’t 你 think? Everyone’s exhausted and we already 迷失 one of our pack mates in this battle” Hawktalon pointed out. Apollo gazed around worriedly, who we lost, he wondered, he hoped it wasn’t his mother, Lunadapple. Then he spotted her, Lunadapple’s pelt was smudged in her blood and she was breathing hard, from exhaustion but she was okay.
    “Starspots was a small price to pay” Razorthorn snarled at Hawktalon. Apollo gazed at his paws sadly, he never knew Starspots very well but what he did know was that she was a close follower of Razorthorn and Razorthorn didn’t even seem to care that she was dead!
    Then Razorthorn turned and headed back towards the camp, the rest of the group followed. Lunadapple limped over to Apollo, “Starspots will be missed” she 说 solemnly, “You know, she was there at your birth.” Apollo looked at his mother, “really” he asked? Lunadapple nodded, “yes, Starspots and” Lunadapple froze for a couple heartbeats, “and Whitetail” Lunadapple explained, “Whitetail and Starspots are, I mean, were both my sisters, they both swore that they would never reveal you.” Apollo tiled his head to one side, “what happened to Whitetail?” Lunadapple sadly looked down at her paws, “she was one of the first victims of Razorthorn’s death streak. Every since he became leader 更多 狗 have died then in twenty years! He’s a strong and proud leader but I think we need 更多 than that, we need a leader who will think of the safety of others, and will think wisely before rushing off in battle.” Apollo nodded, he agreed, he wasn’t so fond of Razorthorn either.
    As they continued to walk the path towards camp, Apollo noticed that his mother was in pain from her injuries. He wanted to distract her mind from the pain. “Is there anything else 你 didn’t tell me about my birth, like, did I have any littermates?” Apollo asked. Lunadapple turned her gaze to him. “Yes, in fact 你 did, they were both girls.”
    “Well what happened to them?” Apollo asked, almost afraid of what the answer would be. “When I took 你 away from the pack, to be with Darkspots, everything seemed fine but when I returned, they were dead. Razorthorn had killed them, he 说 that if the group were to have any new pups, they would be his pups and since he’s my brother………..” Lunadapple trailed off. Apollo pitied her; it must have been hard to lose his sisters. Lunadapple took a deep breath, “this was when the killing began being careful Apollo. Since your different, I mean white, there are no doubts in my mind that Razorthorn will pull something and try to get 你 exiled, 或者 put of the pack. “If he tries to pull anything then I’ll be ready.” Apollo promised. Lunadapple still seemed uncertain, “be careful” she repeated “you never know what Razorthorn is planning to do, until it’s done.”
    As they arrived back at camp, Apollo noticed Berrystripe emerge from the cave. His ears shot down against his head, and his bulging eyes were unreadable as he watched Apollo enter with the rest of the group.
    Apollo saw Razorfang walk immediately towards Berrystripe, his fangs were bared in a snarl and Apollo knew that this wouldn’t be pretty. “I told 你 and Apollo to remain in camp until we got back” Razorfang snarled at Berrystripe. Berrystripe took a few paces back but as he did Razorfang kept walking closer and closer towards him. “With all due respect Razorfang, I-I didn’t know we weren’t a-allowed to leave camp” Berrystripe defended himself, although his words came out in a whimper.
    Razorfang growled at Berrystripe then sliced his claws across Berrystripe’s cheek. Berrystripe let out a cry of pain then dropped his head to his paws, his breathing was hard and his legs were shaking but to Apollo’s surprise he slowly lifted his head and stared into Razorfang’s eyes. Razorfang smiled evilly at Berrystripe, “that’s better” Razorfang growled, then with the rest of his dignity walked away.
    Apollo pitied Berrystripe, it wasn’t Berrystripe’s fault that Apollo left camp, the poor male didn’t deserve such brutal treatment, but then again, Apollo stared around at his beaten and bloody pack mates, they all seemed to have the same scars as he did, even if they were unseen 由 the naked eye.
    As the group went back in the cave for the night, Apollo turned his attention to Berrystripe. Berrystripe was sitting hunched over a small puddle, dimly staring at his reflection.
    Apollo walked over to Berrystripe, who didn’t even seem to notice Apollo, Berrystripe seemed too lost, in his own thoughts. As Apollo got closer, Berrystripe twitched his ears and glanced at Apollo, who stopped in his tracks as their eyes met. What is that, Apollo wondered as he gazed into Berrystripe’s sad gaze, guilt, fear, sadness, betrayal, how can all those emotions come from this? Apollo’s eyes widened as he realized that Berrystripe must be hiding something, and it seemed to be bothering him.
    Apollo sat down besides Berrystripe, “what’s wrong” he asked. Berrystripe turned away but remained silent. Apollo sighed, “You know 你 can tell me anything” Apollo promised, his ears were flapped against his head, and his blue eyes were full of pity. There were a few heartbeats of silence then Berrystripe turned back to him, “no” he said, although Apollo could hardly hear him. Then Berrystripe stood and went back in the cave.
    Apollo remained where he was for a few heartbeats, watching the last tip of Berrystripe’s tail disappear in the darkness of the cave.
    The 下一个 morning, Apollo woke up and stretched, he flexed his long bone-hard claws as he did. Then Apollo realized that the sun hadn’t woken up yet, he yawned and walked out of the cave. The stars seemed to dance in the night sky, and the trees seemed to be whispering though the wind.
    Apollo padded out of camp and into the night, he wondered if he could prove his loyalty 由 night hunting. So he looked around and tried to find something to eat. Apollo sniffed the air and scented a bird; he smiled in triumph and began stalking towards it. He dropped his whole body to the ground then slowly loosened his muscles and hunched his legs. Then, as soon as the bird looked down and made a dash towards it, he trampled through the undergrowth and then leaped for the bird as it began to fly through the air. He almost had it in his jaws but then another dog leaped out of the opposite bush, obviously going after the same bird, and both males collided into each other. They both fell to the ground with a heavy thump, 由 the time Apollo was able to stand; the bird was already flying off into the distance, squawking an alarm call.
    Apollo growled at the other dog then noticed that it was Berrystripe. “Berrystripe” Apollo exclaimed, “What on earth are 你 doing outside on this night?” Apollo asked. Berrystripe stood and shook scrapes of dirt from his pelt; Apollo took a couple steps back to avoid being splattered. “I guess I could ask 你 the same thing” Berrystripe growled.
    Apollo’s ears piped up as he realized that he and Berrystripe were alone, no one could hear them, which meant this might be his chance to ask Berrystripe what he’s been hiding.
    “So Berrystripe” he began, “is there anything on your mind?” Berrystripe turned to Apollo his amber eyes full of curiosity and amusement. “Your sure change the subject quick” Berrystripe joked, “but anyway, yes there is in fact.” Apollo tilted his white ears towards Berrystripe. “Where were you?” Berrystripe asked, “Yesterday, I mean, when I got in trouble because 你 left camp?” Apollo’s ears dropped, this was not what he wanted to talk about.
    “I went to the dried up river” Apollo admitted, “the one that borders us to Moon.” Berrystripe nodded slowly, his eyes filled with curiosity. “Why” he asked. Apollo bit his lip, while turning his gaze behind him and folding his ears against his head. Should he really tell Berrystripe the real reason for being there? “Well, I-I just wanted to learn 更多 about the battle, 你 know, the one where our old leader, Thistletail died?” What Apollo 说 wasn’t entirely a lie, some of it was true.
    Berrystripe’s eyes widened in amazement, but soon were replaced 由 disbelief. “Well if 你 want to learn so much about the battle then why don’t 你 ask someone?” Berrystripe suggested. “I tried” Apollo admitted, “but I want to learn more!” Berrystripe rolled his eyes, “well if you’re so interested in the battle then why don’t 你 steal a member of Moon?” Berrystripe 说 sarcastically, “I bet if 你 were able to take one hostage and not let it go until it told 你 what 你 wanted to knew then 你 would find out a lot!” Berrystripe sarcastically suggested then laughed.
    “That’s a great idea!”Apollo realized out loud, but Berrystripe snorted in disbelief. Apollo knew that Berrystripe didn’t think he could do it, but Apollo was going to prove him wrong.
    Then Apollo ran towards Moon territory, Berrystripe watched him go, his ears twitching in amusement.

    As Apollo walked through the long prairie grass, many scents wafted around him. Most were from the 狗 of Moon, although he could also smell much prey, including the large huffed ones like buffalo, warthog, and antelope. Moon seemed to have a buffet right in there, own territory!
    Apollo kept low to the ground as he stalked through the long grass. Dawn had hit and lit up the sky, Apollo was grateful that the suns reflection on the yellow 草 would hide his 涂层, 外套 much better than the darkness.
    Soon he began to scent another dog; it was a female who had the scent of Moon, on her. Apollo dropped closer to the ground as the prairie 草 began to rustle, a large buffalo darted out followed 由 a dog from Moon, Apollo was about to race after it but then another one appeared on its tail, and then another. Apollo watched in disbelief, as two 更多 charged pat his hiding spot without even noticing him, he stood from his hiding place and watched as the buffalo was chased 由 the five dogs, then just as it seemed the buffalo would escape, it ran into a trap, two 更多 狗 leaped on it as it charged past where they had been waiting in ambush, the dug there fangs into both sides of its neck. Soon the five 狗 caught up, their breaths heaving, and finished the buffalo off.
    Apollo had never seen so many 狗 in his life! Then two 更多 狗 emerged and also shared the kill, every one of the 狗 smelled of Moon. Then after a couple heartbeats of eating they dragged their kill away, Apollo guessed they were taking it back to their camp.
    Then a female dog appeared from the undergrowth, her nose was lifted in the air as she was walking towards him. Apollo knew she had to be one of the hunters that helped catch the buffalo; she must have picked up his scent! Then as she almost reached his hiding place he lunged at her. The female screeched in surprise but held her ground, and didn’t try to run.
    The pair tussled on the ground for a few heartbeats, snapping at each other and raking their claws down each other’s sides. Apollo purposely tried to kick the breath out of her, so she wouldn’t be able to yowl to her pack mates for backup. After a couple of heartbeats of tussling, Apollo used his bigger strength and pinned her to the ground.
    The female sneered under his weight, and flailed but her efforts were useless. She was flopped down on her stomach while Apollo covered her whole back with his body, keeping his jaws raped around the back of her neck, in case she would try something. “Intruder” she grasped, “how dare 你 trespass in our territory and then brutally attack me!” She spat.
    Apollo didn’t answer, he just kept his jaws around the back of her neck then he slowly got off of her but kept his jaws wrapped around the back of her neck. As soon as she was free, she tried to make a dash away, but as she did, Apollo started to dig his fangs into her neck, she screeched in pain. “Let me go” she growled. Although the female barley tried to get free, if she tried to tug away, he would dig his fangs deeper in her neck, and if she didn’t even try then she would be his prisoner. “There’s just no way I can win this small battle is there?” The female snarled at Apollo.
    Apollo remained silent as he began to heed her away from Moon territory and back to his own. I did it, Apollo realized; I’ve captured a Moon prisoner!