Orion, the yellow Chia, stood in the baked dirt field that seemed to stretch
forever. The sun bleat on his aching back, but he continued to work at the hardened
soil, his pick in his sweaty paws. Several other Chias of all shapes and sizes
and colours, old and young, scattered the field and weakly picking the soil.
Orion took three deep breaths and nearly collapsed. He leaned on his pick and
tried his hardest to keep conscious. A red Lupe with a helmet on and a fire
whip in his paws glared at Orion.
"Get back to work, slave! OR I'LL HAVE YOUR HEAD FOR IT!" The Lupe whipped
Orion in the back and he winced in pain. Orion screamed in pain. He was young
and wasn't used to this harshness by the evil Lupes making him and the rest
of his clan work for hours.
Sweat made his face seem shiny, and a small amount of blood emerged from the
mark where the Lupe cracked his whip on him. He groaned and got back to work,
trying his hardest not to collapse. Inhale, exhale... inhale, exhale...
he thought to himself until the pain went away. Every breath counted.
***
It was that very scream that made Griffin L. Kingsley, the young, male fire
Lupe, Chia Protector, suddenly stopped in mid-walk. His forepaw was raised halfway
as he froze in position, his tail stuck straight out and his ears cupped forward.
Griffin has dedicated his life to protecting Chias, and will do nearly anything
to save them in any way. He had his khaki cowboy hat with the pull-string upon
his head and his red bandana tied around his neck so the knot of it rested right
were his chest and neck met.
Griffin cocked an ear one way and sniffed in the air. "Something's up," he
whispered to himself in a low voice. "And it sounds like trouble...." He cautiously
padded through the forest of dead trees, staying low to the ground and not making
a single noise.
Suddenly, Griffin heard a yell and he got up, jolting his head around. Immediately
he felt something ram into his hind-leg, and he looked down, eyes bulging, muscles
tense. What was it? A monster? A DEMON??
"I love you, Uncle Griffin!!"
Griffin relaxed at seeing his cousin, a little green Wocky cub clutched to
his leg. She liked to call him Uncle for some reason, even though they were
cousins.
"Indiana!" Griffin said, looking at his cousin. "What are you doing here??
I'm on a mission and--" Griffin stopped and sighed.
"Well, I saw you going so I followed you!! Oh, and Larie wanted to come, too,
so she's coming. This will be so much fun, I LOVE CAMPING!!" Indiana said excitedly
as Griffin's steed, a yellow creature half-Lenny half-raptor. Larie raised her
brow and gave Griffin the you-can't-be-serious look on her face.
Griffin sighed. "I'm not camping," he said. "You were supposed to stay with
Valerie for the weekend, weren't you? I'm busy now, and I need to be very quiet...evil
Lupes, just like all other Lupes, have very, very, very good hearing. You must
stay qui--"
"UNCLE GRIFFIN WHASSAT???" Indiana screamed and pointed to something. Griffin
sighed again and looked in the direction she was pointing.
"Indiana, Indiana, Indiana...you know that that's just a giant evil skunk Lupe
with a club and net in his paws..." Griffin jolted up. "AHH!! A GIANT EVIL SKUNK
LUPE WITH A CLUB AND NET IN HIS PAWS!!"
Griffin held Indiana by the neck in his jaws very softly and started running.
Larie soon followed after them, her two strong back feet hitting the sand-like
dirt ground, her neck bowed for speed. Griffin galloped speedily as Indiana
winced and feared the worst. Larie caught up to Griffin, and, while still running,
got on her back. He set Indiana down as she clutched Larie's neck.
"Hang on, Indy!" Griffin said, grabbing his attack fork from his pouch. He
raised it high and signaled Larie to turn around. Surely enough, the skunk Lupe
stood, twice as tall as Griffin. He laughed to himself and glared at him.
"CHARGE!" Griffin shouted to Larie. She ran at top speed towards the Lupe as
Griffin rammed his attack fork the Lupe's way. The Lupe grabbed the end of the
attack fork and tossed Griffin off of Larie's back. He landed with a thud and
groaned as he got up.
Griffin snapped-to and snatched his attack fork. He snarled and slammed it
above the Lupe's head, but the Lupe grabbed the end of it right before it touched
him. He tossed the attack fork in one direction and dropped his club and net.
"No more weapon-play..." The Lupe said. "Talon and tooth now," he grunted.
Griffin wasn't going to obey his rules. The Lupe was twice as strong and as
big as him. Indiana panicked on Larie's back. She was young, but still training
at only level five so far.
The Lupe charged at Griffin and bit his neck. Griffin yelped in pain and tried
to get him off, but it was no use. Indiana panicked even more and grabbed Griffin's
Hypno Helmet with trembling paws and tossed it at the Lupe. It hit the Lupe
right in the center of the forehead, his eyes bulged, he let go of Griffin's
neck, and was stiff as a board before falling over, not moving a muscle. The
Lupe was frozen. Wow.
To be continued... | 
