"Oh, she was just telling me how excited she is to start training!" the pale male quickly answered. "Right?"

Laika flicked an ear. "Eh, yes, I was saying that."

Heinz narrowed his eyes and flicked an ear. "Well, fine then. But no more conversation. Remember what I said about discipline?"

"Yes, Heinz," Laika said calmly.

"Very good then. Now we're going to start by testing what you know about the Clan rankings. You all know Saedin, our glorious leader, and his second-in-command..."

Laika already wasn't listening anymore, distracted by the pale pup who was prodding with a single claw at a pebble which was lodged in the ground of the training clearing.

"What're you doing?" Laika's voice was quiet but thorough.

"Let's see if he can see this one coming," the pale pup replied before grabbing a hold of the pebble and, to Laika's horror, throwing it straight at Heinz. The cougar let out a sneer of frustration as it hit him square in the forehead. "Who threw that?" His tail started to lash in frustration. He scanned the youngsters in front of him with squinting eyes.

"It wasn't me!" a young lynx at the end of the line of youngsters meowed.

"It was them!" said a cougar cub who sat on the other side of the pale pup.

"Not me!" Laika bayed.

"Not me, either!" the pale pup growled.

"So all of you are innocent?" Heinz grumbled. "I think it was one of you two." He stepped in front of Laika and the other pup. "Care to tell me who it was?"

The young male's amber eyes met hers, as if to dare her to rat him out. Well, I'm no snitch! She kept her jaws clamped shut.

"Was it you?" he turned to the other pup. He said nothing as well.

"Well then, since the two of you are apparently both innocent despite clearly one of you being the culprit, you can both go on prey pile cleanup duty after today's lesson is over."

"What?" Laika bayed. "No!" The idea of having to clean up the remnants of prey other animals had eaten disgusted her.

"What, yes!" Heinz growled. "Now I don't want any more interruptions after now." He continued his lecture on Clan rankings, while Laika shot the pup a look that could kill. He awkwardly grinned at her. "Sorry," he whispered, though Laika thought it sounded rather disingenuous.

***

They stayed after class and started their duty, under the watchful eye of a lupine Clan guard, who sat a little distance away. The sun was already starting to set and Laika wanted to go to sleep, but she knew she'd be here for a while.

The pale pup worked beside her in silence, seemingly not all that bothered by his punishment. Finally, he broke the silence. "So, care to tell me your name?"

Laika's eyes rounded before frowning. "Why would I give you my name? It's thanks to you I'm stuck here and not curled up in my nest!"

"To get to know you? Why else?"

He sat up and dropped a bone from between his jaws. He wiped his muzzle, which was dirty and stained with dried blood from the prey remnants. "I suppose we got off on the wrong paw. My name is Buzz. Care to give me yours?" he grinned awkwardly.

Laika rolled her eyes at him and sat down as well. "Fine. I'm Laika."

"Are you from around here?" Buzz questioned. "I don't think I've seen you around before."

Laika thought back to her father's grisly death and the loss of her mother and Daniel. She shook her head, not wanting to let the dark memories take over. "No, I'm not," she said curtly. "I used to be a Lone One."

Buzz's eyes widened. "Really? But from what I've heard Lone Ones rarely, if ever, willingly join the Clan!"

"Well, I did," Laika replied. It's not like I had much of a choice.

"Hey!" the voice of the guard made them both look up. "Keep working! No breaks until I say you're done!"

Laika shook her fur in annoyance and continued piling up dirty old bones. "That's so cool! I've always wondered what life outside the Clan is like!" Buzz said excitedly while picking up his task where he left off.

"You're Clanborn, I take it?"

"Yeah. Life here is fine, don't get me wrong. I mean, we probably have it much better here than all those poor Lone Ones and pack wolves out there. But I'd still love to explore outside Clan territory sometime."

Laika carefully eyed the guard, before whispering, "Maybe we could try and sneak out together sometime." The conversation had somewhat eased her tensions around Buzz. He seemed decent enough, albeit a troublemaker.

"Maybe." Buzz suddenly seemed to hesitate. "I mean, it's something I'd like to do, but I'm quite honestly scared to do it. If they ever were to find out... Going beyond Clan ground is forbidden, especially for wolves our age."

"You didn't seem to mind breaking the rules before," Laika said teasingly.

"That's because it was Heinz we were dealing with. He just asked for it."

"Silence!" The guard sneered.

Laika swallowed and continued to work in silence, as did Buzz. Finally, the duo were dismissed when the sun had totally set.

"Perhaps I'll see you again soon?" Buzz said carefully.

Laika shook out her fur, ready to wash it and forget this dreadful task had ever been given to her. "Um. Yeah. Maybe."

***
Many years had passed, and Laika had grown up. She had been ranked as a mid-ranked wolf by the Clan and had eventually taken Buzz for her mate. She'd whelped one litter of pups, a male named Rou and a female named Jewel.

Nowadays though, Laika felt she was getting on in her years. She'd gained some scars on her face and her ears had lost their rigidness, being semi-floppy instead. Her hair was an unkempt mess, not to say she cared about properly maintaining it.

Laika was currently resting at the clearing of the Third District. Being considered an elder now, she was relieved of her tasks. She spent most of her days alone or with her daughter, who looked after her.

It was sunrise and the dawn of a new day as Laika was awoken by Jewel, who had grown into a fine young she-wolf with a gray-and-brown coat. Laika looked at her daughter, and saw that her orange-amber eyes looked worried.

"Jewel? What is it?" Laika rasped.

"Mom, I don't know how to say this. But...it's Rou."

Laika instantly sat up. "What's wrong with my son?" she demanded, before falling over from her frailty and shock.

"Well, I don't know if something's wrong, per se, but...I've received news he joined a battle squad to go after the Deformed Demon. I'm worried about him."

Laika had heard many stories about the Deformed Demon, supposedly the most notorious of all the Lone One assassins the Clan had ever employed. The thought of Rou going after him worried her immensely.

Jewel sat down. "Maybe we should go to the Main Base and see how he's doing? If you can handle such a journey," she quickly added.

Laika frowned. "I'm old, not helpless. We leave at once!"

Jewel nodded.

***

The duo arrived at the Main Base at dusk of the next day. Laika felt embarrassed about how slow she was in her old age, but she knew she couldn't go any faster. Still, anxiety tugged on her belly and got worse with the moment. She knew Rou was battle-hungry and could be rash. If he made one wrong move around the Demon, it could mean his death.

Neither Rou or the rest of the battle patrol could be seen at the Main Base when the duo arrived, so Laika instead lapped some water from a brook and tried to ease her mind. She tried to block out the many animals surrounding her. Jewel stayed close to her, but she fidgeted constantly and seemed just as scared for Rou as Laika was.

Finally, the battle squad emerged onto the clearing, led by Silkey, a cougar who was the Clan's second-in-command. To Laika's relief, Rou was among them. One of his ears was ragged and bloody, but otherwise he seemed okay.