Pounding the gears

He was in a mood again today, still nettled by the betrayal of his family, in particular his uncle. He had seen great potential in the two pups he had met in Ruina but clearly their uncle had other plans for them. A shame really, they were born and bred warriors, and they would be living among a herd of sheep!

He swatted a rotten pear from his path and watched as it exploded against a tree in a splash of sickly-sweet pulp. He shook out his fur and snorted his distaste before he continued to skulk through the orchard. He needed a distraction. The browsing animals seemed a likely candidate for his venting, but he was no hunter and had never killed anything he couldn’t break the neck of with his own might. The promise of red hot meat was alluring, but on his own he stood little chance, in spite of his size.

By chance he glimpsed the red male who seemed far too content simply watching the animals pick their way through the turned fruit rather than chase them. He supposed, if nothing else, a conversation would do to get his mind off his uncle and his half siblings.

“Greetings.” He spoke into the silence, doing little else to announce his presence. It seemed he started every conversation he had now with the same word, what he earned from each interaction however differed greatly.