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Ever since my parents died of a mysterious tentacle-like thing, there was nobody to look after me. I had no other brothers or sisters; there was no other pack I know that I could join and I wasn't really experienced enough to hunt on my own as a lone wolf. My father entrusted Guil to take good care of me and ever since then, he's never left my side. We've always been there for each other even when he had developed amnesia. He was even there to pull the thorn out of my paw when I accidentally fell into a rosebush. Also, he introduced me to grilled cheese sandwiches. My mouth fills up with drool just thinking about them. They are so good that whenever I hear the name or smell them, I can't contain myself.

Anyway, I was just sitting at the door, waiting for him to enter so he could take me to the park. He was taking longer than I thought and I was getting worried. Then, my ears perked up as I was hearing something outside. It was people screaming in fear. I rose up and pressed my paws on the door as I tried to turn the doorknob. It sucks not having opposable thumbs sometimes. Luckily, Varin had rushed by because he heard the screaming as well and opened up the door. We ran outside and saw that people were running away from something. I looked down the path and saw some sort of black sphere. What is that thing? It looked like the shape of an egg. Was something hatching in there? I looked at Varin and he looked at me. We both sighed as he started walking toward it cautiously. As we got closer, the sphere got brighter and it suddenly broke apart. What we saw terrified us.

We saw something rise to its feet slowly. Its body was completely black and there was a strange aura around its body as well. It turned around slowly and it started at us with its purple eyes. Its stare was so...excruciating. It was enough to even strike fear into myself.

"What...what the heck is that thing?" Varin shouted out in fear. I could see him trembling as he took a few steps back. I turned to look behind us as Galena, Gull, and Grazar came to see what the commotion was as well.

"It's...so dark," Galena said as she held her hands up to her mouth.

"Where did he even come from?" Gull asked as he tried to wrap his head around the whole thing.

"Whatever it is, it's scaring everyone," Grazar said with his teeth bared. "It needs to go before someone gets hurt."

I continued to stare at the creature. There was something...familiar about it. It didn't move or anything. It just stared at us. I got a good look at one of its eyes and I saw it. It was crying. Why was it crying? Was it in pain? Then it hit me. I know what, or who, it was.

"Is that you, Guil?" I asked it hesitantly. The others gasped when they heard what I said. "Do you recognize us? W-We're your family..."

I saw it tilt his head and then he crouched down. He charged at us and then he just ran past us and turned to the right. He was gone and out of our sight for now.

"W-Was that really Guil?" Galena asked in confusion.

I slowly nodded at them.

"I could...actually feel it. That was Guil. He...transformed into something. Something horrible that I don't think he can control. He was crying and he needs help."

"Then I will be the one to do just that," Grazar said as he turned around to walk away. "No matter what it takes."

I rushed ahead of him and stepped in his way to stop him.

"Wait!" I shouted at him. "Please, Grazar, I wanna help as well."

"Guil is my responsibility, so I will be the one to help him."

"Dammit, Grazar!" I yelled at him as I cursed for the first time. "I'm sick of tired of that selfishness of yours. I care and love Guil just as much as you do. All of us do and what kind of people would we be if we just stood here and not try to help him while you go out there and possibly get yourself killed?! Stop being so stubborn and let's get Guil back together!" This was the first time I actually stood up to Grazar...and it felt really good.

Grazar looked at me with a nonchalant stare. He didn't seem fazed by what I said to him. To my surprise, he actually started laughing.

"You got guts to talk to me like that, mutt," he said as he smiled at me. "I see no other options here. You can tag along if you choose to."

I didn't say anything else but gave him a smug look. I guess I was supposed to say "Thank you", but I didn't. Varin and the others approached and they said they were in as well.

"You're going after Guil, as well?" I heard someone say behind us. We turned and saw Shadow approaching us along with someone else. The person was wearing a red robe and he had orange hair and an orange beard. I also noticed that he had a crown on his head. Oh my gosh! It was the King of Hawktown!

"Y-Your majesty!" Grazar shouted out. "What are you doing here?"

"It is my duty to protect my people and my village," he started. "Guil is a very special child and we must save him from this horrendous transformation that he has gone through. I am not afraid to put my life on the line."

"Sir, we appreciate you assisting us with trying to help our little brother," Gull said as he bowed down.

"Your father would've done the same."

"Do you know what has happened to him?" Varin asked before I did.

The King started stroking his beard as he had his eyes closed.

"I only heard rumors about this but I think he has been infected with the Malvic virus. The Malvic virus was first discovered by a fox named Dr. Maverick Johnson in 1456. His son was infected with it when he was bitten by a black bug with red eyes. It caused his fur to go from orange to black in a day. At the time, there was no cure so there was no hope to saving his son. The Hawk Warriors had to kill him. It was sad indeed. Many centuries later, the same virus had spread in different villages and many people have fallen to this outcome. Around 60 years ago, a cure was finally created that can counteract the virus. Guil can be saved but we must act fast. The virus remains in this state for about 2 hours. After that, it adapts and it goes stronger, causing the host to become unstable and, literally, turn into a monster."

I whimpered loudly from those last words. Guil's going to turn into a monster? No, I can't let that happen! I already lost my pack. I don't want to lose my best friend as well, especially since he's been reunited with his brothers and sister.

"How can we catch him so he can take the cure?" Varin shouted out. "He's too fast and he's destroying the village!"

"Calm down, Varin," Galena said to him calmly. "We'll think of something."

"How in the world can you be so nonchalant at a time like this?! Our little brother is turning into...whatever that thing is...and he needs our help! We have to think of something and we need to do it now!"

"Will you chill out for a minute?! Geez, you're worse than Grazar when he complains that his steaks aren't well-done."

"Hey, I resent that!" Grazar growled at her when she mentioned his food problems. I could see where he's coming from. Sometimes I don't like my bread on my grilled cheese sandwiches being too brown or else I'll think it's burnt to a crisp.

"What I think we should do first is try to find some of the villagers that are still here and escort them out until we get Guil under control," Gull said as it was his turn to rub his chin even though he did not have a beard.

"Are you insinuating that we will bait Guil into an ambuscade?" The King looked at Gull as it seemed like he was catching on to the plan. Gull nodded as he looked at all of us. Could we really do that? Is there no other way to detain him other than hurting him? Perhaps that bringing him slight harm would do the trick. If it was for Guil, I'll do anything as he would for me.

"If it's the only way to try to get Guil back to normal, then I say we should go with ambushing him," I said with sadness in my voice. I could not think of any other solution to this problem. It had to be done.

Galena seemed to have noticed the uncertainty in my voice as she came over and started rubbing my head and my ears.

"Don't worry, Shang," she said to me. "We will get Guil back. I can promise you that."

I looked up at her as she continued to pet me. I decided to believe her for the time being. Now it was time to put our plan into action.

We took the time to try to find some of the villagers that were still scrambling around the burning village or some that were trapped under some buildings. A good portion of them were fine while some of them were severely wounded but they'll make it. While we were finding the rest of the villagers Gull took the chance to try to find the infected Guil and to lure him out of the village. Once he did, he instructed us to meet him at a training field. I remember Guil talking about that one time when he was living with me and my pack. He said it was when he first turned into a dragon and when he fought Grazar. I sure hope this plan will work so we can get Guil back. If he doesn't come back, who's going to give me belly rubs daily?

Anyway, we managed to get everybody out...everybody that had survived that is. It was then I saw Gull running from Guil through the village. That gave us the cue to head to the area. I just followed Grazar and the others seeing as I was still new to the village. We had ran out to an empty grass field and we waited for Gull to arrive.

"Is everybody ready?" Grazar had asked. We all nodded but I still didn't really like this idea. I don't think anybody did.

We finally saw Gull running toward us and Guil wasn't far behind him. He came to a halt as he saw all of us together standing against him. He hesitated for a moment but then he charged at us, heading toward Varin. Varin rushed out and tried to punch him but Guil just jumped over him and tackled Gull to the ground like it was nothing. Galena leaped up and tried to dive at him. He reached up and grabbed her by her leg and swung her at Varin, causing the both of them to fall onto the ground. The King took a crack at it as he swung his sword at Guil. He retaliated by jumping out of the way and that's when he got hit by one of Grazar's fireballs. He fell limp to the ground but he quickly got back up and charged at Grazar. He tried to swipe his claws at him but Guil was too fast. He instantly jumped and grabbed Grazar by the neck and flipped him over and onto the ground. Shadow rushed in with his sword and delivered some swift swings. Unfortunately Guil was quicker. He had caught the sword with his hands and tossed Shadow against a nearby tree. I then charged at him and gave him a good head-butt to the stomach. That did some damage but not a lot as he grabbed me and tossed me at Grazar. He was much larger so he was able to catch me and sit me back down onto the ground.

The fight continued on but to no avail. Guil was not slowing down and it seemed like he was only getting stronger. Varin had even turned into a dragon to try to even the odds but even that idea was a bust. We were all getting tired and we were all severely injured.

"Damn that virus!" Varin cursed out loud. "It's only a matter of time before it takes over Guil completely. He doesn't even have a scratch on him. What do we do?"

It was only a matter of time before it takes over his body completely? There was something about that statement that we could somehow use to our advantage. It continued to ring in and out of my brain until...

"Varin, that's it!" I shouted out loud.

"What's it?" he asked back to me.

"I want to try something." I was weak in my front paws and hind legs but I could still move. I started to walk toward Guil slowly. As I predicted, he didn't move either. He was watching me to see what I would do. I was going to show him exactly what I would do. I stopped a few feet away from him and looked at him in his purple eyes. "Guil, I know you're still in there! We need you to come back to your senses! Think about what you're doing! Your brothers and sister want to save you from this! The King does, too! And so does Grazar! Especially me. You're way better than this, Guil! This is not the real you! The real you would never succumb to something like this! He would fight until the bitter end and he would never give up!" My voice was sounding shaking as I continued to speak with tears in my eyes. "I want you to fight it, Guil! I want you to fight like you always told me to!"

What I was saying was the truth. Guil is like a role model to me ever since we were growing up together. I was learning a lot from him and I still am to this day. I don't want to lose him; not now and not ever! It seemed to be getting through to him. His facial expression changed as the black aura around his body was fading away slowly. It was working. He was still in there. He can regain control of his body.

I looked over as I heard approaching footsteps. Grazar had stepped up as well. It seemed like he was moved by my speech.

"If you really are Nixon's son, you will overcome this," he started to speak. "You're no quitter, Guil, so don't you dare quit on us now! Not after all the hell you've been through. I'll be damned if I let you fade away from this insignificant virus! You're my rival's son so you better snap out of it, you hear me?!" I can tell that Grazar doesn't express his feelings very well with others especially in public with people around.

"Guil, please come back to us!" I then heard Galena say. "I know we haven't been there for you when you were taken away, but now you're back and I can't bare the thought of losing you again! We are a family and nothing is ever going to change that."

"She's right!" Varin said right after her. "Even in tough times we must stick together. This is one of those times and I'll do anything and everything I can to see that you're alright! We just got you back and we won't let you get taken away again!"

Everybody was confessing all what they felt in their hearts. It was very heartwarming and it even made tears roll down his infected cheeks. He was listening. He could hear us. We were reaching out to him.

"Guil, we all love you very much," Gull said. "As bad as I am at saying how I feel, just know that your brother and sister is correct. We are family and we're in this together!"

I could hear some soft growling coming from Guil. He was still crying and his mouth parted open slightly but he didn't say a word. He then fell onto his knees and clutched his head and started shaking rapidly. I had no idea what was going on. What was happening to him now? Was the virus fully adapting in his body just like the King said it would? Were we too late? It seemed all hope had seemed lost until I hear something.

Please, it had said. You must...attack now. It is...your only chance.

That voice sounded familiar. Was that Guil talking to me just now?

"W-Who said that?" I said softly so no one could hear me.

Do not hesitate no matter what. You must do what is right... Attack now... Please...

_ _ "I-I can't... What if you don't...come back?"

I am willing to accept that... I'd rather die than to hurt the ones that I love and hold dear to me... I can't...hold it back any longer... Do not worry about me. Do it now!

_ _ I sighed to myself. If I really want to save Guil, I have to attack him...even if it means... Well, you know...

I looked up at Grazar with tears still in my eyes.

"Grazar," I said to him in a raspy tone.

He looked at me.

"What is it?" he asked me.

"We... We need to attack him while we have a chance."

"What? There's no telling what will happen! What if he--"

"That's a chance that we're going to have to take! You want to save him don't you?"

"Of course I do, but--"

"But nothing, Grazar! You know as well as I do that we'll do anything for Guil. If you want to save him from this stupid virus, you'll attack him with me!"

He was about to growl at me but he stopped. He stared at me and then he sighed.

"Fine, but you better be right about this!" I know Grazar didn't like the plan but I didn't care about how he felt. We need to get Guil back and the best chance for that is to attack as he told me to.

The both of us then charged at him. First I tackled him to the ground and grabbed his darkened shirt with my teeth and tossed him at Grazar. Grazar then let loose a large purple burst of flame at him and it made impact. He was sent hurdling into the ground like a meteor and he laid there on the ground. We all approached him slowly and we saw that the aura around his body was disappearing fully and the blackness that was covering his body was vanishing. At last, we managed to destroy that hideous transformation. The King approached his body and put his hand on Guil's neck. He closed his eyes but he smiled. He was still alive. Guil was going to be okay! I was so happy. I really could not wait for him to wake up and for him to be himself again. I had my best friend back!