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Shh carefully extracted himself from Mo-Mo’s unconscious yet ironclad cuddle grip, the runt faintly whining but curling up to continue sleeping all the same. There was no reason to wake her; Mo-Mo had always tagged along with Shh, even before he’d literally saved her life. He had to believe that whatever his plan was, she’d be eager and willing to follow along.

Unfortunately, even that level of diehard support got him precisely nowhere with the rest of the pack when it came from the runt. It probably hurt his chances a bit, frankly. The rest of the mongrels didn’t think highly enough of Mo-Mo to realize she was not in fact dead, let alone enough to give her opinion an ounce of consideration.

So yeah. Not exactly a big ‘get’.

No, if Shh wanted his final gambit for the pack’s future to succeed, he needed to secure some real heavy-hitting support. Some undeniable moral high ground. And to mongrels, that meant one thing: getting someone as Big or Bigger than him to nod along with all the things he had to say.

Might as well go for the most valuable prize first. Luckily, Shh was a master of persuasion.

Gert narrowed her eyes at the sight of Shh slowly scooting towards her on his butt, humming nonchalantly and cleverly keeping his eyes locked elsewhere.

This was good. This was going well. Something else, clearly not Shh, prompted a sigh from the big female, and a moment later she was looming over the smaller mongrel.

“What do you want, Shh.”

Shh gulped, his totally casual humming fading away as his mind raced. Actual interaction didn’t start until Phase Six of his Amazingly Big She-Won’t-Get-Mad Approach Scoot.

Still, even perfect plans could run into snags; Yip-Yap proved that.

He sheepishly rose to his feet, wringing his paws together as he tried to jump ahead to his perfect crafted greeting. This was tougher for him than he’d hoped it would be. Like, he was pretty sure Gert was a friend?

But she’d always made Shh feel super nervous, even when their lives weren’t on the line. She was bigger than him, bigger and better and she’d made him eat a lot of dirt over the years. It was tough not to just tuck tail when in the presence of such obvious pup perfection.

Still. Best to just get on with it. Master of Persuasion.

“Oh, h-hey Gert! What’s, um, up? What’s been up?”

Flawless. She’s been totally put at ease by this perfectly crafted chit-chat. Shh was the best at this.

Gert’s eyes narrowed even further. “Watching Yip-Yap die. Me almost dying, too.”

Shit Shh was the worst at this! Master of Persuasion?! Friggin’....bluh.

Shh somehow managed to keep stumbling forward, even though he was now convinced Gert would be shortly forcing him to eat dirt.

"O-oh, right, um, m-me too? I remember that happening, I was there too, so I, ah, saw when, you know, it-"

“What. Do you want. Shh.”

This was just awful. “Um, w-well it's sort of about that? About dying? Er, I don't....I don't wanna die."

The big female simply stared at Shh for an unbearable moment, the mongrel’s chest clenching as the phantom taste of inevitable dirt filled his mouth. The beating of his own heart was so loud in his own ears that he nearly missed Gert’s eventual reply.

“...I don’t, too.”

Oh wow, could this still work somehow?! Shh’s nearly-tucked tail perked up into a tense but excited medium-high wag as he leaned in, intent on making the most of this opening.

“Y-yeah, I know, right?! Dying would be the worst! And, and you know…” He leaned in conspiratorially, Gert barely inclining her head forward in response, ”I don’t think Hi-Hi’s plan is gonna work. I don’t, um, think it’s a very Big plan.”

Gert sniffed. “He’s Bigger than you.”

“I know, I know,” Shh raised his paws in placation, ”I know he’s Big. I just don’t think his plan is Big.”

“I don’t get it.”

Shh didn’t entirely get it himself. “W-well, you’re Bigger than him, right? Shouldn’t we do whatever your plan is?”

Gert sniffed again. “I don’t have a plan.”

This would have been the perfect moment for Shh to boldly match Gert’s gaze, his back straight and ears unfolded. So Gert would finally see that even if she was technically looking down at him, they were really eye to eye.

Partners. Maybe equals, even.

She had size, he had smarts, and together? They could give the pack a new future.

But this had already been a trying night, and such a display of bravado proved to be one hurdle too many. So instead, the mongrel tapped his claws together, averted his eyes, and just hoped he’d managed to keep at least some of the whimper out of his voice.

“Um, then, maybe I could tell you my plan? And if you like it, you could…tell the others that? And maybe they’ll think it’s a Big plan?”

He didn’t need to look up to confirm that he’d failed. His Biggest Plan was already dead, and soon all of them would be too. Shh had already started to turn away, his tail tucking in finality, when the big female spoke up.

“Why’d you take so long to get back?”

Shh blinked, his head tilting sharply to one side. “Huh?”

Gert simply continued to stare at him, her features as inscrutable as ever. “When we all ran. I was near you when Yip-Yap died. Why’d you take so long to get back?”

It took tilting his head back to the other side before Shh decided to just take the question at face value. “Because I…stopped to help Mo-Mo?”

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“Oh. She was stuck?” Shh nodded and Gert’s eyes sharpened. “You were dumb. You should both be dead.”

This was so weird. Was she mad they’d survived? Shh didn’t think so, but even still he was completely baffled by where this was going.

“Um. Yeah? I agree?”

"Yeah.” Making sense of the combination of scents and body language roiling off of Gert was more than than Shh could decipher, but for some reason it completely un-tucked his tail. “I do like Mo-Mo, though.”

“Me too?” Shh’s ears perked up as Gert’s own pair slightly flattened, the big female grumbling something under her breath. “Huh? What’s that?”

“Nothing, I said nothing.” Gert scowled furiously, her ears shooting forward aggressively. “I didn’t say I liked anyone else.”

Shh didn’t need to know what was going on here. All he needed to do was recognize what this ultimately was: an opening.

And he knew exactly the secret weapon to bring to bear against his already off-balance packmate. “If you help with my plan, I’ll give you that big stick I found with the pointy rock tied onto it.”

Gert’s scowl didn’t change, but the way her tail immediately shot up into a completely unsubtle wag was impossible to miss. Shh scampered back to his cubby, in such a rush to present the big female with his offered prize that he nearly tripped over its length as he dragged it back. He dropped to one knee, presenting the stick and pointy rock with all the ceremony it deserved.

“Pretty great, right?”

“Yeah.” Gert took the makeshift weapon with reverent paws, the stick easily as tall as she was. She gave the pointy rock tied to its end a little poke, wonder in her normally glaring eyes, too awestruck to remember her previous annoyance or attempt to hide her growing grin. “Okay.”

Shh’s ears shot up. “Really? You mean it?! Don’t you want to hear what the plan is first?”

“Nah.” Gert hefted her new stick and pointy rock firmly. “S’your plan, so it’s smart.”

She took a few experimental swings, deep satisfaction registering across her usually severe features. Then, an eye narrowed at Shh. “I’ll get to smash stuff though, right?”

“Oh yeah. For sure. Lotta smashing.”

“Good.” She tried out another big overhead swing. “Go away now. I want to be alone with the stick.”

Shh’s enthusiastic farewell was wasted on Gert, the big female completely ensconced in a world that only involved her, her new stick, and an endless supply of things for the two of them to bash together.

Whew. It was a bit touch and go there for a moment, but Shh was beyond to moon to have started the Biggest Plan with an absolute win. With Gert at his side, he had no doubt that nearly all of the others would at least hear him out. With one notable exception, at least.

Unfortunately, that exception had just finished declaring himself the new Boss. Tricky.

Still, there was a proper way to do this stuff. Even if Shh had never liked Hi-Hi and even if Shh seriously doubted the other mongrel’s ability to find a future for his pack, he was technically the leader. If Shh had a problem, and took it to the full pack before bringing it up to the Boss? It simply wasn’t how mongrels did things.

Like it or not, Shh had to give Hi-Hi a chance.

It was somewhat convenient, then, that the mongrel in question grabbed Shh roughly by the shoulder as he wandered back towards his cubby, irritation unmistakable in his scent.

“You’re already making trouble? You troublemaker?!”

Shh stiffened at the sudden confrontation, his ears flattening as Hi-Hi glowered at him. How was his plan already found out?! Did becoming Boss give you mind powers or something? His mind fumbling desperately, Shh attempted to recover…

“Huh? What’d I-”

“Shut up already!” Shh’s had to swallow his response as Hi-Hi roughly pressed his paw to the other mongrel’s lips, “Why do you never shut up, Shh? Talk talk talk, that’s all you ever do. Sheesh! I mean, sheesh!”

Hi-Hi glared at Shh for a moment, then moved his paw off his packmate’s mouth by an inch. “Say that you talk too much.”

“I don’t think I-”

“Ugh you’re the worst. Say that you’re the worst.”

Shh’s stare went flat, locking onto Hi-Hi’s as his ears started to push forward. “I’m the worst.”

Hi-Hi stared back at Shh for a long moment, wheels visibly turning in his head as he attempted to decide whether that response was sincere, or mocking. At length, predictably, he opted for the interpretation that was flattering to him.

“Good. So you know, at least. That’s who you are, straight down to the ground.” He pulled his paw away from Shh’s mouth, but didn’t release his shoulder. “So why are you so bad, huh? Why are you messing up stuff for everyone?”

Whatever. Shh was about to go defend his plan to Hi-Hi anyway. As annoying as this confrontation was, at least it saved him a bit of time.

“I’m not messing up anything. I think this’ll be good for us.”

“What? Ha! Ha-Ha!” Hi-Hi threw back his head and laughed, scornful and deeply performative, before squinting a cutting eye at Shh. “She’s never been good for us, Shh. She’s the worst! Say that she’s the worst.”

He quickly held up a paw. “Wait. Um, say she’s the worst, but also that you’re the second worst.”

Shh could only blink. “What? Who’re you-”

“Oh don’t play dumb, you dum-dum.” Hi-Hi poked Shh hard in the shoulder. “I mean Mo-Mo! Why’d you save that useless runt?!”

Wait. So Hi-Hi hadn’t figured out Shh’s plan? He was….wait, what was he mad about?! “You’re…angry that I saved Mo-Mo?”

“Uh, yeah? Obviously? Why’d you do that?”

“She’s our packmate.”

“Ha!” Hi-Hi blew out a scornful raspberry. “Sure she is. Useless little runt. She would have been way more useful dead! Don’t you know that if there’s less than ten mongrels around, the zone pops a bunch more?”

That was true. But…was Hi-Hi really suggesting what it sounded like he was suggesting? Shh was so struck by the thought that he found his mouth responding before his emotions could catch up.

“There’d still be eleven of us, though. That’s more than ten, still.”

“You think I don’t know that? I’m the Boss; if you know something I know it too, only bigger and better and way way bigger. Obviously we’d have to get rid of the next couple smallest, too.” Hi-Hi must have seen something in Shh’s gaze at that, because he huffed and rolled his eyes. “I don’t mean you, stupid. You’re not that small. It’s Half Tail and Blep. And then some others, maybe, but we’ll talk about that later.”

Shh stared directly into Hi-Hi’s eyes, his ears pricked fully forward and his tail completely vertical. “I like Half Tail and Blep.”

Hi-Hi stared right back, cold as ice. “I don’t care what you think.”

With a firm twist of his shoulder, Shh dislodged himself from Hi-Hi’s grip. “I’m going to sleep. Tomorrow’s gonna be a big day.”

Once more, Hi-Hi opted to interpret this reaction in the way that flattered him the most.

"That’s right. You gotta be rested and stuff for my Bigger Plan. Just do what I say and shut up a bit more, Shh, and you’ll be fine, probably. Maybe you’re a bit Bigger than I thought.” His teeth flashed threateningly. “Or maybe you’re a bit Smaller. We’ll see how well you do what I say, yeah?”

Something in the grunt Shh gave in reply must have sounded close to an affirmative, because Hi-Hi twisted around to swagger back to his cubby at the back of the cave. For his part, it was all Shh could do to stomp back to where Mo-Mo was still snoozing and flounce down in a cold rage, his whole body trembling in anger even as the little fluff ball cuddled into him.

So that was how Hi-Hi wanted to run things, was it? That was how Hi-Hi saw his duty to protect his packmates? Huh. Interesting.

Whelp. Hi-Hi had his chance. Now Shh could do this the way he wanted. Good.