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Heroes and Villains by 12 as SonicHowler Originally published February 25, 2007

Ice was everywhere. Snow fell in torrents upon the entire city and the mountains surrounding it. The smell of ice-cold death just managed to pass the noses of the figures struggling through the snow before being blown away with the gusts of wind. Whimpers and cries were heard behind them.

"Push! Don't give up!"

"Forward! Headstrong! Forward! Intensity!"

Ears flattened, teeth gritted, the canine team trudged up the steep mountain. They were harnessed and pulling a heavy contraption behind them. To the eye, it looked like a very large box securely fastened and tied onto a pair of sleds, but in reality, it was so much more than that.

"Push! Almost there!"

"Forward! Integrity! Forward! All the way!"

A lantern hung inside the large box in which a female husky lay panting. "Ohh... I don't know... how much more of this... I can take..." she whimpered.

The handsome face of her mate appeared before her, and a warm paw grasped hers. "You can do it, Syria! I'm here for you. I checked with the team. We're almost at the medical center, okay?"

"Rejan... what of the wolves?"

The friendly old face of her neighbor appeared to answer for Syria's mate. "We don't know, but we can't focus on that. We must get up this mountain, and you mustn't give up. You're almost there."

"Oh... oh... here comes another one.... This is it!"

Rejan gritted his teeth and let out a howl as his paw was suddenly squeezed harder than it would have been had a building fallen on it. Syria's scream of agony was heard by the weary huskies as they diligently pulled the sled up the mountain, continuing their chant.

"Forward! Headstrong! Forward! Intensity! Forward! Integrity! Forward! All the way!"

"Push! Come on!"

The top of the mountain was only feet away! The team pressed on amid the loud cries in the box behind them. Panting, grunting, exhausted beyond belief and freezing cold, the leader of the team, Laitan, stretched out a paw, reaching for the top of the mountain. The chanting had stopped behind him as each team member watched with bated breath, trying to get just a little higher up on the steep incline so that Laitan could reach the top. Laitan reached higher and higher, his fingertips millimeters shy of the pawhold....

A sudden boost from the rest of the team did the trick. Laitan pulled himself up, straining forward one more time, allowing the first pair of huskies to pull themselves up, and then the next, and the next, until the whole team including the box and sled were on level ground. The worn-out team lay panting on the ground, but they could not stop there. Syria was very close and needed attention right away. They started leaping to their footpaws, but a threatening growl froze them in their tracks.

"Hello, you silly little half-breeds." A wolf stood in front of them, a pistol in his right paw. "You're in big trouble."

Laitan stared. The wolves weren't supposed to be on this side of the mountain! He just_knew_ they'd do something like this if they caught wind of them! He had no time to wait around. He had a whole pack of huskies and malamutes behind him, and this was just one wolf. There were sure to be others, but they weren't in front of him now! With a snarl, Laitan lurched forward. The wolf was bowled over as footpaws trampled over him. He gave a groan of pain, but was forced to dodge out of the way as the box and sled skidded right over his head. With a whimper, he sharply blew the whistle that was around his neck.

The team flew right through the double doors of the care center, then turned and locked them tight. Abandoning their harnesses, two huskies went to guard the doors as the rest opened up the box right there in the lobby. Rejan came out, whimpering and holding his paw, leaving the team to take care of Syria. She was crying out in pain. This was the big moment. Sickened, most of the team turned their heads, but Laitan and Tinver, the old neighbor husky that was helping out inside the box, did not. Laitan knelt down, facing her, his paws between her legs as doctors and nurses rushed over. They didn't bother to intervene.

"Almost there, Syria," said Tinver comfortingly.

"I see the head!" cried Laitan. "You're doing great!" Rejan came back despite his injured paw, wanting to be there for his mate.

Suddenly, there was banging on the double doors.

"Oh, no!" cried one of the guard huskies. "The wolves!"

"Security!" The staff of the care center got into action, as did the rest of the huskies. The huskies held doors shut while the staff made sure all their patients would be secure should the wolves break in. Laitan, Tinver, and Rejan stayed with Syria.

All of a sudden, every sound inside the care center ceased as the magical sound of an infant husky crying for the first time rent the air. Rejan gave a smile as Laitan picked up his first pup.

"Your first little boy," Laitan said to Rejan with a smile, giving the whimpering infant to a doctor that had been supervising. The doctor sponged him off and gave him to his new father. Rejan cradled the newborn, feeling himself melting as he stared at the wiggling, adorable bit of life in his arms.

That wasn't all. There were more pups to come! Syria was loaded onto a stretcher and put in a room to continue her labor as Rejan went to have his injured paw treated. The wolves found that they weren't going to gain entry that way, and had apparently retreated. The huskies were safe for the moment.

Meanwhile, the huskies were having a meeting. The doctors had treated any bruises or lacerations they had received on their journey up the mountain, and given them some food and refreshments. They sipped happily on boxes of juice and slurped down hot Cream of Wheat.

"Okay," began one of them, called Rexton. "The wolves know we're here, and we can't exactly leave yet. What we need is a series of plans for every possible event that may happen."

Very few members of the team were listening intently. Some of them were resting or had gone to get some more food. Others were just not interested.

"Come on, guys! This is important!" Rexton reprimanded.

"But Rex," groaned Dayger, who was resting. "We're exhausted!"

"Yeah? Well what if the wolves come in and kill you? You'll be sleeping_forever!_"

"Well if some furs would stop messin' around!" called Terrollo, staring purposefully across the room.

The dog that spoke was referring to Dougie and Buck, two troublesome, twin male huskies who were play-fighting in the corner. After a moment, they stopped and looked over just enough to see the glare that came from the team members that were paying attention to what Rexton was saying..

"Wha? Oof!" grunted Buck as Dougie growled playfully and tackled him again. He grinned and rolled over, pinning his brother down onto the carpet

"Oh, for crying out loud," muttered a husky called Mystren. "This is important! Will you guys act your age and pay attention?"

Buck let Dougie up, and the two sat still, ears perked to catch the group's every word. However, seconds later, the two started shoving each other playfully, and that quickly resumed their wrestling match.

"Ugh, this is pointless," muttered Rexton. "If you want to get our plans settled, come with me; we'll go to the dining room. If you wanna stay here and not know what to do when an emergency happens, just... be guards or something."

Two of the eight huskies currently present left with Rexton. Mystren joined them in the dining room, making them four in number. The five huskies left lounging or recuperating or kissing in the lobby conversed quietly with each other or threw pillows at Buck and Dougie in an effort to quell their playful growls.

For myriad years, the wolves and the huskies of Firfeld country had been warring with each other. It had started during a time of great poverty. Two wolves and two huskies had a plan to get themselves and their families out of their own predicaments: save enough money one year to get them through the next, and during that year of no food expenses, save even more, and more the next year, and so forth. The four canines and their families saved and saved and saved for years until they finally got enough money to give them a full year of no food expenses. There was much celebration, but the very day before they were going to buy some of the food, every penny of the money was stolen. In their ill tempers and senses of loss, the wolves and the huskies blamed each other. The two wolves blamed the huskies, putting them down as idiots, as half-bred morons. The huskies also blamed the wolves, classifying them as greedy hogs that believed they could do anything just because they were full wolves. The feud quickly became a war, which had been fought until decades later. Trentbriar, named after the two huskies, Trenton Waltfern and Brian Coy, contained many different kinds of furs, all of which were despised by the wolves. They took the huskies' points of view and denied entry to any wolf. The wolves on the other side of the mountain took up Danford, named after Daniel Peterson and Stanford Willis, the two wolves. Like Trentbriar, many different kinds of furs lived there, but they all took the side of the wolves.

Rejan stared at the three bundles, two of which were nursing in their mother's arms. It had been some hours since they had arrived at the care center. He was completely exhausted. Being bounced around in a box while trying to help deliver a baby had_not_ been fun. He looked down at his heavily-bandaged paw. It was worth getting a sprained paw to get these pups. He picked up that firstborn again and looked down at him. His eyes were closed, but his little paws reached up as his dad put his own damaged paw close.

"You really ruined our fun, didn't ya, little one?" Rejan mused. "Recreational sledding became a life-or-death situation for us all."

The little pup only gave a few whimpers as he gripped onto his father's finger, which was poking out of the bandaging. "You guys are my future now," Rejan whispered.

Syria watched her mate as the two pups in her arms nursed. She lay her head back on the pillow as she reflected upon the events of the day.

She had been eating breakfast that morning. Rejan had walked in and cringed at the sight of cereal topped with pickles.

"Wow, your cravings get stranger every day," he had muttered.

"Ha! I'd like to see _you_try being pregnant sometime, buddy!" she retorted playfully.

"Heh, alright, alright. C'mon, finish up your gruel. I've got a fun day planned for us!"

"Oh? What's that?"

"Well, I've got my old sprinting team together and we're gonna go sledding on Split Mountain!"

"Split Mountain?!" cried Syria. "Won't the wolves come for us?"

"Of course not! As long as we're on our side of the mountain, they shouldn't bother us."

She smiled. "It was great of you to give up that team to take care of me, Rejan."

Her mate smiled back at her and gave her a wink. "I know. Now come on, let's go have some fun!"

Happily, she forgot the cereal and pickles and went to get ready. Rejan drove for nearly four hours to the base of the mountain, where his friends were waiting for them. Tinver, her old friend and neighbor, was also there, but he was only gathering wood from the trees that were some distance away.

"Hey!" said Laitan, one member of the team. "We brought the sleds, some rope, and some wood and tools in case we need to make repairs."

Rejan grinned. "You guys think of everything, huh? Alright, let's have some fun!"

They all were having a blast sledding, with Rejan there to patiently help his mate on and off their sled. Hours of fun passed by until hungry stomachs began to growl.

"Sounds like it's time for lunch!" Syria said. As she went to the car to get some food, she had begun to feel strange. It was when she had picked up the cooler that her water broke. Heart pounding, she quickly made her way back to Rejan.

"Baby," she said, "it's... time...."

Seeing the wide-eyed expression on Rejan's face had been pretty funny. Still, she was very proud of how calm he was. "Two weeks early! Wow! Alright, we need to call your doctor and head for the hospital."

Mystren, one of Rejan's friends, spoke up. "How'll you do that? The hospital's more than four hours away from here!"

Again came that wide-eyed expression, and now she could see the panic start to form in his eyes.

"Oh, no... four hours.... This is _not_good...."

"Calm down!" said Laitan. "There's a care center at the top of Split Mountain. They'll help."

Rejan nodded. "Yes, but the trail is closed because of the snow! A car'll never make it up all that slippery ground at an incline!"

The team looked from Syria to the sleds and supplies in their SUV as an idea dawned upon them.

Everyone sprang into action as the team hurriedly constructed a huge box from all the wood they brought and fastened it to two of the sleds. They lined it with the pillows they had brought along in case someone would want to take a nap, and tied the rope into a set of harnesses. Tinver had come to see what all the commotion was, and within minutes after, all of them had set up the mountain. It was usually a one-hour drive at a slow speed, but the team knew a shortcut that would get them to the top at the same speed. They began up the mountain at a good sprint, but the steepness of the mountain quickly increased, and on top of that, a huge storm blew in. The rest of the story led to how things were now.

Syria sighed, cuddling the nursing pups close. "Alright, little ones, that's enough for now!" she said. Rejan smiled and sat in the chair next to her as she buttoned her gown again.

"We have to name them," she said. "We can't call them 'little ones' forever!"

Rejan nodded. "True. But what shall we call them?"

"Hmm...." She studied her pups carefully as they cooed and whimpered softly in her arms. She soon nodded to the puppy on the right with a smile. "I think I want to call this one Timba, for all the woods we went through. Ooh, and the other should be... Yama, for the mountain we were on!"

Rejan chuckled. "Always interested in Japanese, huh? Alright." He looked down at the puppy in his arms--the first puppy. He smiled at it as it wriggled and yawned, still clutching its father's finger. "This one's different. I'm going to name him after something less cold. Something to look forward to. Like the shining dew that falls on the grass during the warmer weather, and makes every morning, every sunrise so much more beautiful." He thought for a minute, then smiled. "Dewey. It means 'beloved' and fits that description perfectly."

Syria grinned. "It's cute."

All of a sudden, there was the sound of an explosion, and the entire building shook. Timba and Yama began to wail, and there were sounds of shouting and screaming from furs outside the room. Rejan's heart pounded. He had no clue what was going on, but he huddled close to his wife, cradling Dewey gently in his arms. Strangely, this puppy didn't cry a bit.

Only two minutes passed before the door to their room burst open. Syria gave a terrified scream as a tall wolf stepped in. He was dressed in a black trench coat and had an emotionless scowl on his face. He held a machine gun in his paws, aiming it at the frightened huskies.

"Get up," he said coldly. "And bring your whelps too."

Tears running down her face, Syria painfully got out of the bed, holding Timba and Yama gently. Trembling, Rejan tried to reason with the cold-hearted wolf.

"Please," he pleaded. "This building is supposed to be a no-fighting zone where everyone can heal! I'm begging you, please, don't hurt us, and especially these pups. They were just bo--"

"Quiet!" demanded the wolf. "Get moving,now!"

Quickly, the two joined what seemed to be a line of hostage patients. Rejan's friends were nowhere in sight.

The bomb had flown through the window and gone off right in the lobby. Each member of the team, including Tinver, lay dead on the floor amid the debris from the building and the bodies of some of the care center staff.

Except for Laitan!

The husky had many cuts and bruises, but no sprains or broken bones. He growled and painfully pushed himself to his footpaws, gawking at the damage and the carnage that lay before his eyes.

There was no time to mourn. He had seen the leader of the wolf gang before his brief loss of consciousness. He_had_to get to him.

"Get along, there! Outside! Now! Not you, you're a wolf. Get back to your bed. Move it, Trentbriar furs, move it!"

The sounds of the wolves rang through the untouched part of the building. Laitan quickly pretended to join the line of unfortunates as they were led outside by the wolves' cruel leader. After a quick scan of the line, Laitan spotted Rejan and Syria. When the wolves weren't looking, he dashed forward and stopped behind Rejan.

"Guys," he whispered. "Come."

Quickly, he yanked them into an open room, just as the head of a wolf turned. "No talking!" the wolf yelled. Suddenly, there was a gunshot and a yelp and an array of whimpers and muttering. "Keep moving!"

Laitan felt his heart sink to his trembling footpaws. Someone had just died. "What did you name them?" he asked Rejan and Syria.

"This is Dewey, and those two are Timba and Yama."

Laitan nodded. "Come on," he said, taking Dewey gently from Rejan. "Let's go." Quickly and skillfully, he opened the window, kicked out the screen panel behind it, leapt through, and began to help his companions and their newborn puppies through. It seemed to be working, and Laitan's heart rose again--until he heard the clearing of a throat behind him.

It was the wolves' leader.

The cruel wolf yanked the couple through and picked up the two wailing pups. Dewey remained silent. Quickly, Laitan hid him in his thick coat, setting him safely in the harness that he had thankfully never removed. He turned around slowly.

"Please!" begged Syria. "Don't hurt my ba--"

"Shut up!" yelled the wolf. He dealt her a hard blow with the butt of his weapon.

"Hey!" yelled Rejan. He looked as if he were about to fight, but any hopes of that working out were shattered as he too was bludgeoned by the heavy gun. He fell senseless to the ground next to his mate. Laitan was outraged.

"Let go of Timba and Yama, wolf," he snarled.

"Only if I'm hanging over a cliff, dog," replied the wolf. "Now turn and join that line, or these four will be so full of bullets you'll need a crane to get them into their graves."

Quietly, not wanting anything to happen to his friends, Laitan turned and joined the line, stroking Dewey gently through his coat. However, as he turned, the sound of a machine gun going off directly behind him made him freeze in his tracks. He turned slowly. Rejan and Syria lay there motionless with what could have been hundreds of bullet holes in their lifeless bodies. The wolf smirked and gently blew off the end of his gun.

"Now get back in line, and I mean now!" he spat. Laitan didn't move. An uncontrollable rage began to build inside him. Before the wolf could do anything, Laitan had him by the scruff of his neck. In a quick movement, he snatched the gun from the wolf's paws and let out a loud, long yell as he began clubbing him over the head with it repeatedly. The wolf soon began shouting, "I surrender!" but that didn't stop Laitan. Yelling like mad and beating the wolf into oblivion seemed to be the only things he was capable of at the moment.

Finally, he seemed satisfied. The wolf lay bleeding and panting at his footpaws, barely able to move. He ripped off the wolf's jacket, picked up the pups, wrapped them snugly inside it, and lay them in the snow before he turned around, wielding the gun at the rest of the wolves.

"DOWN ON THE GROUND! NOW!" he commanded. The wolves did as Laitan ordered without question. One of them began to point.

"L... L... L-Lo--"

"QUIET!"

Suddenly, the faint sound of wailing pups reached Laitan's ears. He whirled around, only to see the wolves' leader running off at full speed, leaving a trail of blood behind him--and carrying Timba and Yama. Immediately, Laitan turned and began dashing off after him, but a bullet from one of the other wolves' pistols brought him down. He quickly put his elbows down to keep himself from falling on top of Dewey. Suddenly, there were roaring engines, sirens, and flashing lights. Pain and darkness overcame him. Laitan knew no more.

He opened his eyes to find himself in a strange bed. Wherever he was now, it smelled like a hospital. He sat up painfully. It_was_ a hospital. The TV was on over his bed, showing a helicopter's view of the scene he last remembered to the tune of a reporter's voice.

"We're here at the peak of Split Mountain, where it looks like a massacre was about to take place! A bomb went off four hours ago in the Split Mountain Care Center here at the top, killing everybody in the lobby. The victims say that they were all held at gunpoint, and rumor has it that they would have been shoved off of a cliff if it weren't for the heroic actions of a husky identified as Laitan Somerson. Somerson was shot in the side at the scene, and was rushed to the Trentbriar hospital along with a newborn husky puppy. The puppy has not yet been identified.

"The wolf who was said by his now-in-custody cohorts to be the leader of the gang that attacked the care center is Logan Bryant, a former soldier in the Danford army. It was reported by the victims that he ran away from the scene just before the authorities' arrival carrying_two more_ puppies. Bryant has been apprehended by Danford police, but as for the puppies, police are still on the search. Danford officials have offered a formal apology for Bryant's actions and assured us that this incident is in no way associated with our current altercation with them."

Tears streamed from Laitan's eyes. Not only had his friends been killed, but two of their puppies had been kidnapped, and probably killed as well by now! This was the worst thing that had ever happened to him. He sank back in bed, turning off the TV, his paws covering his eyes as he wept.

Meanwhile, a fifteen-year-old, Logan Bryant's son, held two puppies in his arms and snickered. "Thank you, Dad, for my two new sons!"

To Be Continued...