~~~Caffeine~~~

When he woke up, Dearest Human was sitting outside and thinking very hard again. The warm sun was shining on his belly, and after a quick round of sniffing, he dozed off again.

Caffeine woke up when he smelled the sneaky dog again. He was still hiding under the faraway trees and not wanting to play, so Caffeine ignored him until he left.

He had lots of good, warm, snuggly naps. Then another trip to the spicy water and his new friend, Croaker, where they had lots of fun playing lick chasing, and then he had another nap.

Much later, after a very long time, he smelled it!

Chicken!

Caffeine was sitting very excited and obedient when Best Human walked out of the trees. Chicken!

"Hi Caff!" Best Human smiled and lifted two huge chicken sticks! "As promised."

He tossed one, and Caffeine gobbled up the tiny snack and stared at the other. Best Human laughed and sat down next to Dearest Human. He pulled small pieces of chicken off the big one and handed them to Caffeine, who ate them happily.

"Hi Stanley." He handed a piece to Caffeine.

"Still going at it?" Another piece.

"We're doing pretty good over there." Bite, good! "Just checking in." Yummy!

"I haven't seen any movement on the undead front. At least, no more than usual. I'm not sure what to expect from them. Did you hurt them enough that they are afraid... or are they just waiting for the right moment?" Chicken!

"You aren't listening to me, are you?" Chicken! "You know, I didn't think dealing with people could be so tiring. After all my talk of preserving humanity and saving as many as we can... Well, I would almost prefer fighting undead at this point instead of dealing with people." Happiness sounds and Chicken!

"But no... I don't really mean that." Bite!

"As tiring as it is, it's rewarding." Chicken!

"Zeke still wants to talk to you, but Eve goes on a tirade and won't let him leave." Yummy!

"I think she is still shaken up from the way they keep going after her brother." Chicken!

"Not that I blame her... That girl took a beating trying to protect him." Sad... and Chicken!

Best Human kept making sounds, but Caffeine ignored him and stared at each piece of Chicken as it leapt into his mouth. Until it was all gone, even the very delicious, crunchy stick...

Caffeine helped Best Human clean his hands and then lay down to stare at the paper bag with Dearest Human's Dinner.

"It feels like too many people just immediately forgot about the danger and the need to cooperate..." Best Human smelled like sad and tired.

"Out of sight, out of mind, I guess." Caffeine gave Best Human a comforting lick. It will be okay, Best Human. Chicken makes everything good!

Best Human stood up. "Good talk, Stanley." He smelled tired and a little hurting. "You too, Caff." Dearest Human was being too loud and hurting him... Caffeine gave him another lick. Dearest Human doesn't mean to hurt you! Sometimes he might step on you or sit on you, but he is always sorry and isn't mean.

"You're a good boy, Caff." Best Human walked away, and Caffeine settled in for the long, hard, and dangerous job of guarding Dearest Human's dinner.

A very long time later, Caffeine had to remind Dearest Human to eat dinner. Of course, Dearest Human was the best and shared his dinner!

Then Caffeine kept away the scary, dark things until the light came back.

"I think I need to let my soul rest today," Dearest Human said words while he gave Caffeine a sunny belly rub.

Then Dearest Human was suddenly quieter. "I'll practice shielding today, so I won't be completely out of it if you want to go run around."

Caffeine yawned and closed his eyes while Dearest Human made his rumbly noises.

His warm, upside down, and sunny nap ended when a new dog came to say hi.

"Fight! Attack! Challenge!" The dog howled.

Caffeine jumped up and looked at the dog. "New friend?"

"A wolf? It seems hostile... but weak. Kinda surprising it would approach... Maybe my shield is working better than I thought?" Dearest Human smelled worried and afraid while he said things, but he calmed down as he pet Caffeine.

"Do you want to go play with him, Caff?" Dearest Human was smiling at him when he said the magic play word.

Caffeine took a few steps and looked back at Dearest Human, who only smiled and waved. "Go play. You're a good boy, and you earned some time off. I'll be fine."

Go Play! Caffeine took off and ran to meet the new friend. "Hi there! Let's be best friends!"

"Challenge! Fight!" The dog growled and charged.

"Chase! Fun!" Caffeine yipped and started running away. "Chase! Chase!"

The dog just missed Caffeine and snapped at his heels with teeth as he went by. Caffeine leaned into a turn and raced past again. "Chase! Fun!"

His new friend growled and charged after him. They sprinted around and around until Caffeine got thirsty and ran to get some water. He ran up to the spicy water and got a quick drink before Croaker could react and start trying to lick him.

"This is Croaker," Caffeine explained to his new friend as he sprinted past. "He likes to play chase with his tongue." He dodged the tongue and chased after the other dog.

"What's your name? I'm Caff Caffeine!" He accidentally bumped into his new friend as he ran past, and the dog tumbled into the grass. Oops.

"I have two names, just like Dearest Human!" He swerved, and the dog raced past him with snapping teeth. "Is your name Chase Friend?"

"I will be the Beast Lord!" the dog snarled as it chased him.

"That sounds like a good name!" Caffeine replied. "Isn't chasing the best, Beast Lord?"

He panted happily as he sprinted away. Chasing really was the best!

~~~Cunning Fang~~~

Cunning Fang lay prone in the scrub bushes, her form still and nearly invisible as she watched the humans in and around their dwelling. The wind brought to her the scents and sounds of the bipeds, and her keen eyes tracked their movements.

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Cunning Fang was not impressed. Many of the humans were weak and scared, their senses dull as they scurried around, oblivious to her presence. There were a few, however, that...

A distant wolf howled, and her ear twitched as she listened. That sounds like... A human had stopped and was looking towards the sound of the howling. His head turned as he scanned the area, and his gaze slowed as it neared her hiding spot.

That one is dangerous, Cunning Fang observed. It had a much better sense of its surroundings, and she was pretty sure that it had felt her eyes on it. The pack leader of the humans. Smart and strong. A good leader.

A shadow next to her darkened and spread wider until a pitch-black wolf rose from it to lie crouched beside her. "Quick Bite is challenging the Beast Lord."

He didn't waste time after delivering the disturbing news and immediately sank back into the shadows. Cunning Fang took one last look at the darker-skinned human that was still carefully scanning the area, and then she slunk away to follow her mate.

She didn't move quickly as the humans were thick in the area, and she did not wish to be discovered. Only once she was further from the humans did her mate rise from the shadows ahead and fall in alongside her as she traveled.

"What of the Beast Lord?" she asked when she had caught up. "You have watched him more. Will he kill Quick Bite?"

"I do not know," he growled, frustrated. "He is as mad as the human he follows around like a tamed pet! I do not know what his intentions are or even what his true strength is. He runs around begging for scraps from the humans like a weak cub, and the next moment he moves faster than my eyes can see."

"He even taunts me by calling out to me when I am hidden beyond the light," he snarled angrily.

It didn't take long until the sounds of Quick Bite snarling and another beast barking filtered through the trees ahead. Cunning Fang slowed and ducked into the underbrush, while Night Shadow fell into the darkness and vanished from sight.

Eventually she was crouched next to her mate, where he hid in the shadows under a tree. "Foolish pup!" she growled as they watched one of their cubs chasing the Beast Lord around the woods.

"Quick Bite is still too impulsive." Her mate agreed. "The Beast Lord only taunts him for now, but what will we do when he tires of the game?"

"No..." Cunning Fang told him quietly as she observed the scene before her in disbelief. "He does not taunt Quick Bite... he is playing."

"What?" Night Shadow was doubtful. "But he is running away and does not bite back."

The duo sprinted near their hiding place, and the Beast Lord looked right at both of them. "Hi, new friends! You can chase too!" His small form blurred suddenly sideways to dodge Quick Bite.

"More chasing is more fun!" The Beast Lord howled happily as he ran further away, Quick Bite still hot on his heels.

Cunning Fang watched them go, stunned and confused. Was the Beast Lord sick, as Night Shadow claimed? He didn't smell of madness, only happiness and excitement. Though Night Shadow was right about him pretending to be weak. Aside from that dodge...

"He indeed behaves like a young pup," she murmured. "But why hide his..."

The Beast Lord slid to a stop when Quick Bite finally grew tired and fell behind. As the small beast lifted his head to howl, a great striped cat leapt from the brush behind him and shot towards his exposed back in a blur.

Cunning Fang had an instant to realize that the cat was a powerful threat that exceeded her own strength. Then it roared, "Die! Worthless..."

Many things happened in the next instant.

A pulse of fear crashed against her senses, and before she could do more than recognize the feeling, it was gone.

Death followed on its heels.

A human appeared in the air above them, the debris of shattered trees floating lazily in the silent stillness between heartbeats as the human immediately started killing them.

The human was not angry with them. It was not afraid. It was only here to remove something that might be a potential threat. Something that had startled it.

She felt the human's fangs sinking into her throat, and there was no chance to fight back. There was no time to run. Only death.

Then, as abruptly as it started, it ended.

Sound rushed back in with a roaring crash of wind and breaking trees, along with the sound of the Beast Lord howling at the human, "Don't hurt Friends! We are Playing!"

Cunning Fang blinked against the rushing wind and struggled to focus past the stinging pain in her throat as she took in the sight of the Beast Lord.

He now towered over her, one paw resting on the cat's head as it thrashed angrily but helplessly beneath him. He is definitely hiding his power. I didn't even see him move...

The human above them was no longer trying to kill them but no longer calm, either. She could now understand why her mate had called him mad. He radiated a cacophony of emotions, the strongest of which were fear and anger, with the anger slowly winning out over the fear as he looked down at the cat and then around at the rest of them.

His glowing gaze of power struck her like a physical blow full of frantic madness. Then his gaze shifted to her side, and the fear shifted further into an angry promise of violence and death.

"Show yourself, now!" Cunning Fang snapped at Night Shadow and dropped to her belly as her mate appeared out of the darkness and lay beside her. She winced at the smell of her own blood and the sting of pain from her neck as she did so.

The human's anger faltered and shifted into surprise, then back into fear and uncertainty. He is like a wounded wolf caught in a trap. Confused and in pain, he snaps at anything that gets close.

"You should not scare Dearest Human." The Beast Lord's growl pulled her attention and the human's gaze back to the cat, who was growling and hissing at the giant beast standing on its head.

"Kill you, dumb..." the cat roared.

Anger surged high, and the Beast Lord suddenly leapt up into the human's arms and started licking his face while whining sadly. The human’s anger faltered under his attention, until the cat stood, the bloody wound on its own neck likely a mirror to her own.

It roared up at the Beast Lord... and immediately slammed face first into the ground with an earth-shaking noise.

The human floated slowly to the ground, anger replacing his fear and sharpening into a killing intent.

He put his feet on the ground and walked towards the striped beast as it struggled back to its feet, snarling and hissing at him the whole time.

"You think I fear you?" The human said something. "Caff is too nice. He wants to be friends with everyone."

He stepped right in front of the roaring cat that was now looming over him and looked up into its face. "Try me." He took another step forward, and the cat stepped back. It looked surprised and tensed up as it opened its mouth to...

Another human sprinted into the small clearing. It was the darker-skinned one—the dangerous one. Even now, his hands and feet glowed with deadly power as his gaze swept the area and settled on the giant cat.

The cat roared at the new human and took a step.

Then the Beast Lord was abruptly in front of the cat, with no sign of his movement to get there. "If you attack Best Human..." the Beast Lord growled as he grew in size. "...then we can't be Friends."

He grew bigger and bigger until he loomed over the cat. "Are you a Not Friend?"

His growl faded away, and even the wind rustling in the trees seemed to pause as the weight of his question settled on the striped cat.

The Beast Lord finally shows his authority, Cunning Fang thought.

It gave up. The cat sat down and then sprawled onto its side in the sunlight, yawning as if it were simply out here enjoying a warm nap in the light.

"So..." The other human slowly relaxed as he glanced around at everyone.

The Beast Lord trotted over to Quick Bite, who lay sprawled in the clearing, either unconscious or pretending to be, and licked him with a whine.

Quick Bite bounced to his feet and yelped as he sprinted to his mother. Pretending.

Cunning Fang huffed at him as he cowered behind her. "Have you come to your senses now, Quick Bite?"

The Beast Lord dashed to his human, who had gone suddenly silent. He had his eyes closed and was no longer radiating any feelings. Though she caught a whiff of his scent. It still carried the bite of anger and fear. The scent changed and shifted as he took the Beast Lord in his arms and stroked his fur while getting a thorough face cleaning.

"I do not think the Beast Lord is a pet," she remarked softly to her mate, who huffed in agreement. "But he seems to have a pet human..."

Cunning Fang had understood enough when the world changed and had known on an instinctual level that she and her pack would have to fight much harder to survive. But along with the new dangers came options and opportunities to become stronger, or faster, as Quick Bite had chosen. Or to gain new incredible abilities like her mate now had. Or to increase her intelligence...

The Beast Lord hadn't chosen knowledge, but power. Pure power that was far beyond her understanding. He had claimed a human, and now he only cared about protecting that human. And his... friends.

The Beast Lord leapt from his human's arms and ran to the other one. He started pawing at the man's legs and whining while trying to sniff his pockets.

The Beast Lord could rule us all. He could force the pack to follow and obey, but he only wants friends. She still wasn't sure what to make of him. He acted like a simple puppy, and yet when it mattered, he faced any threat without fear. Though it wasn’t like he had anything to fear... his power was overwhelming.

It was an easy decision. We will be your friends.

Some of the pack would balk at showing their bellies to this dog, but she didn't care. If any objected too strongly, she would send them to the Beast Lord to play... chasing. They would understand in time.