Running To The End
This story was inspired by the author, Wolfdude and his series, "A New Life" and takes place in that universe. I highly recommend dropping over to his page and giving it a read. :)
It's been three months since Jacob managed to escape his village when the wolves attacked it. Three long stress full months of running though the dense forests. Three months a running with the wolves in hot pursuit. The humans' body screamed for him to stop, the fire in his limbs from the strain almost too much to bare...Almost. Under normal circumstance, to achieve such a feat would have been impossible, but his but the fact that the wolves where never more than a few miles behind and his fear of becoming a slave is what drove him on, as it would with anyone else. The only times he ever stopped was for food, rest, and to relieve himself. But that was only when he was sure the wolves where far enough away.
His face was a torrent of sweat as he ran, the sun unforgiving, even with the aid of the trees. He stopped for just a moment to catch his breath and wipe the sweat from his brow, before continuing on. On this particular day, he was running faster than normal. The wolves where close enough that he could hear them in the distance, yelling to each other that they see him and that they almost got him. He looked back, only every now and then to the wolves dashing back and forth to dodge trees and bushes. The sight intensified his fear, making his blood run colder and forcing his legs to move faster. Unfortunatly for him, that no longer mattered.
To his horror, a large wall of rock emerged from the trees forcing him to stop. He looked back to see the smirks on the wolves faces before he turned back towards the wall. He desperately tried to climb it, but each time, bits of it would break of or he wouldn't be able to get a good grip. As he made another attempt he froze. There was a sudden silence all around him. The birds didn't chirp, the leaves didn't rustle in the wind, and the sounds of footfalls had stopped. Jacob slowly turned, his body shaking in terror as gazed back at the six large wolves as they stood there, smug smirks etched on all of their faces. He looked back at the rock wall and came to a realization. Not only did the various other species of anthros loath his kind, but it would seem, nature, the earth itself, felt the same way. The human turned back to his captors and pressed himself firmly against the rock, wanting to get as much space as he could between him and his would be captors. Then, one of the wolves spoke, presumably the leader.
"Now now, that's far enough. There's no where left you can go. You might as well, give up and come peacefully."
Jacob looked to his left and right contemplating making a break for it, but at this distance, his pursuers would surely intercept him before he could get very far. It was then he noticed that same wolf begin to inch closer. In response he pulled out his only weapon. A hunting knife that he took with him when he and a few others went to look for deer. For just a moment, he remembered past memories of his life that was suddenly taken away from him. More specifically, the times he spent on hunting trips. He could remember how slowly they walked through the forest searching deer. He could remember how everything would seem to freeze when they finally found one grazing. He could remember how they silently inched closer, and he could remember how his idle Kyo, with bow and arrow in hand, quickly bring the creature down. Those thoughts only played through his mind for a second before he was brought back to the present.
After revealing the knife, the wolves responded with weapons of their own, ready to strike at the small human should he try to fight. Four of them had vicious looking swords while the other two carried spears, each no doubt able to use them with expertise.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you. It's useless. We'll drop you before you can even get a swing in, so drop the knife and come quietly."
Jacob couldn't help but think that the wolf was right. He doubted that he'd be able to kill one, let alone six. But what was he supposed to do? He couldn't run and he couldn't fight. There was only one more solution. One more option for escape. And he had no choice but to take it. The human suddenly spun the blade and aimed it at his chest. But to his surprise, the leader suddenly spoke, the tension in his voice clear as day.
"Come on, you don't want to do that. Just put the knife down." The human couldn't understand why he would try to stop him, but he pushed his confusion to the side as he spoke.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't!" said Jacob, his voice trembling.
"Because it's not worth it, that's why."
"Of course it's worth it! It's better than becoming a slave!"
"Being a slave isn't as bad as you think." The human was stunned by what the wolf said.
"Isn't as bad!? Not having an identity? Not having your independence? A lifetime of servitude, pain and abuse!? And you tell me that's not bad!?" he yelled, his voice chocking as his tears began to roll down his face.
"If you do as you're told, then it's not bad." The wolf said calmly, trying to diffuse the situation. The tears continued to fall down the humans face as the knife rose over his head. He then sobbed.
"I can't take that chance." With that he gritted his teeth and was about to plunge the knife downward, but he suddenly found it ripped from his hands. He looked down to see the knife on the ground, a strand of leather wrap tightly around it. He followed the leather to see that it led to the wolf he had been talking to. In a matter of split seconds, he had managed to pull out a whip and use it to yank the knife away from the young human before he could make the fatal blow.
Felling completely dejected and numb, Jacob fell to his knees. He couldn't believe it was over. How could this happen? What did this have to happen? He looked up through his tear filled eyes to see the wolves begin to close in on him, most of them had put away their weapons, but a couple where more cautious and still had them trained on him. He noticed that one of the wolves who carried a spear was one of the few who took such precautions. And as his eyes fell on the sharp pointed blade of the spear, he suddenly thought that maybe his escape wasn't as impossible as he thought. As quickly as he could, he sprung up and charged at the wolf holding the long weapon. More specifically, he charged at the weapon itself. If he couldn't use his knife, then maybe a spear will offer him his escape.
So what's going to happen next? Will he succed or will he fail? We will never know, because I don't really intened on continuing this. XD Yes, that's mean I know, but that's how it is. I'd like to thank wolfdude for writing such a great story and I hope you guys enjoyed this short little story.
And, as for my story The Squall, I'm thinking about starting something new after the next chapter. I think the reason why I can't get the urge to write is that I've been a little burnt out on it and I need to write something different. Hence this. XD But as I said before, I will finish it.