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Little hands grasped the rusty bars and pulled with all their might. A tiny voice strained until it was cut short and the hands released, orange flakes stuck to the skin and fell down to the ground like ill leaves on a tainted breeze. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get the bars to bend, to snap, to shrink, or to flatten. He was too tired and too young. Gingerly curling up on the splintered floor of the cage, Valko drew his tail over his body and tried to rest.
13 Nights Earlier
He had been wandering through the mountain forests looking for someone, anyone. He had fallen asleep away from his family yet again, but when he went back for breakfast and a scolding they were all gone. There was no doubt something or someone had come through their territory in the night. He tried all day to pick up a scent trail, but the harder he tried the more he risked getting lost in the woods. He stayed in their den for a couple days, but the food had been raided and stolen, too. Valko was also worried that the smell of what food remained and the lack of his pack’s scent meant another pack or another group of animals would be here soon to claim the territory. He had good stamina, fast feet, and sharp teeth but he was smart, too. He knew he couldn’t fight against any adults or even a couple adolescents. He pulled together a few necessities and followed the only sillage that remained.
Valko walked until nightfall, finding a hollow trunk and crawling inside. The scent he had been following reminded him of one of the other cubs his age, but after the sun had set the trail went cold. He didn’t want to accidentally circle through the mountains, so he decided he’d get some rest and try to think up a plan. As he held his tail and used his bindle as a pillow, he tried to silence the fears in his mind. The mothers of the cubs taught that a calm mind led to sure decisions. Silence enveloped him as he breathed in and out
Silence? In the forest? Now that he thought about it, he was so focused on following scent trails that he couldn’t recall seeing a bird or chipmunk all day. Now that he lay in this tree, he couldn’t hear crickets or owls. The realization sent a deep disturbance through his heart and soul, his ears and tail subconsciously puffing up and out in defense of an invisible threat that was lurking somewhere in the forest.
It must be what took the rest of my family, Valko thought as he hid his face in his tail and tried to go to sleep. Just fall asleep like you did before and maybe when you wake up everyone will be back. It was a wish he told himself over and over again every night since.
Valko perched on the driest spot of a rock in the middle of an ambling river. He had been watching the fish for almost an hour and his stomach growls were becoming incessant. He had spotted the biggest fish he’d seen so far a meter upstream. He poised his hand flat above the water’s surface and as the fish neared the shadow cast by Valko’s hand, he thrust his shoulder down and up. He pulled out the fish and grasped it tightly in both hands as the flopping grew into a frenzy. He turned around to hop back across the rest of the stones and back into the forest, but on the shore was a large brown bear watching him. Valko clutched the fish even tighter, hungrier than he was afraid.
“Th-this is mine! I caught it myself!” Valko told the bear, using all his courage to keep his voice steady. The bear moved to their right and revealed a small pile of fish, a few of which were still flopping. The bear looked to the pile and then to Valko and gestured their snout for Valko to approach. The little wolf boy’s bare feet padded against the stones and then sunk into the layer of fallen evergreen needles as he returned to the soil.
Valko carried as many fish in his arms as he could and let the bear scoop up the rest. They nodded their head toward the woods and began walking on their back legs. Valko followed behind, noting the direction and passage of time by the sun’s rays and shadows that managed to make their way through to the forest floor. After several kilometers, they reached a cave which the bear unhesitatingly lumbered into. Valko stayed outside, setting the fish down and gathering nearby wood to start a small fire pit. While he walked around, Valko noticed the same lack of scent his pack’s den had when he came back to it abandoned. It was so thoroughly devoid of scent, even with this bear still holding down their territory.
Once Valko had a small fire going, he speared the fish and held it over the flames. Valko was about to take a bite of his first real meal in almost a week when the bear came lumbering out of the cave, they used their large paws to out the fire instantly with a pile of dirt. Valko hopped backwards, keeping his fish clean and out of reach in one hand, his legs and other hand bent and defensive, prepared to run if the bear came any closer. The bear stamped down the warm earth and then sat down with a huff.
Tentatively, Valko relaxed and sat down to eat his fish. As he licked his fingers clean he figured out it was either the smoke or the smell of cooked food the bear must have been trying to quell. He hadn’t learned Ursidae yet, but he was hopeful the bear spoke or at least understood Canis.
“Can you understand me?” Valko asked softly, but with confidence.
The bear nodded their head up and down.
“Can you speak Canis? The language I speak?”
The bear shook their head left and right.
Okay. Yes and no questions only. It’s a start. Valko walked closer to the bear, cautiously keeping enough distance so he could jump out of the way should anything cause the bear to panic again, but close enough that Valko wouldn’t have to raise his voice. Now at a volume incapable of being heard from a meter away over the evening wind rustling leaves, Valko began a series of questions. “Did you used to have a family here?” Nod. Okay, the bear is a mom. “Do you know where they went?” Nod. “Do you know who or what took them?” No response up, down, left, nor right. Valko’s tail flicked once, wrapping over his crossed legs. He thought for a minute then resumed, “Can you show me where they went?”
The bear stood up on all four paws, walked south toward the widest expanse of tree trunks and sat down again, looking into the night. As Valko watched the bear, still yet despondent, he was overcome with grief. He approached and sat down beside her, placing one of his small rough hands on the bear’s knee. The bear looked down at the hand and then at Valko’s face. She brushed off Valko’s hand. Valko felt a wave of embarrassment, and for some reason, guilt.
She stood up on all fours again. Valko assumed she was going back to her cave, and he was right, but she was taking him with her. He felt her cold nose against the back of his head, the warmth of her breath, and then her teeth gently catching the neck of his worn shirt. She tugged once and Valko stood on his own hands and feet and scampered into the cave ahead of her. In here Valko could smell three other scents. Her cubs, undoubtedly. They would have to have been living here for three or more years as deeply ingrained as the scents were after who knows how long she had been without them. That struck Valko as odd. He had been taught that the cubs usually leave their dens around that time as the moms are ready to find a new mate to make new cubs. Tonight’s sleep would be less disheartening as he worked over his plan for tomorrow instead of convincing himself to keep going.
Valko had been following the distinct lack of a smell and animal sounds for two days. He was ready for a break when he heard a pained whimper. Hiding his bindle, he got low to the ground and followed the sound, keeping close to tree trunks as he approached. A kilometer further south brought him to some type of cave made out of chopped trees. Outside of it were three cubs, coats thinning and little bodies barely nourished. Each cub was in its own…he wasn’t sure what. They were like baskets, but the dark grey sticks they were built with were too wide to be used to hold fish or sticks and the lids didn’t look like they lifted open, otherwise the cubs would have climbed out of their own volition.
Before Valko could step closer he heard voices. Human voices. His ears perked up, hopeful they were voices of his kin. He held still his tail and kept to the shadows, watching as a tall man in layers of flat, tight clothing stepped out of the wooden cave.
“I still expect you to meet your quota. You’ve got one more bear than we anticipated and they’re all a little older than the litter you acquired several years ago. No excuses on the production of this month’s batch.” The man walked as he talked, never once looking back at the other human he spoke to nor the cubs.
“But sir, keeping the wolves subdued and salivating as well as extracting the bear bile is too much for just me. Please, give me more time or send someone to help me.” Another man stepped out and into Valko’s line of sight. He was much older and wore thick leather clothing as well as gloves. Barely any skin was exposed save his head.
“We pay you well and we keep your location hidden from all with eyes and ears to seek or sniff you out. We will not risk this operation being exposed after decades of success. Meet your quotas or meet your maker.” With that, the man in tight clothing disappeared inside some type of container that lit up and moved away. Valko was transfixed as he watched the container disappear.
Valko’s eyes only moved away from the spot the container had been when the remaining man began to move toward one of the bear cubs. Practically crawling in the dirt, Valko moved closer, making sure he had ample options to hide behind if the man sensed the little wolf’s presence.
“Alright, gallbladder U3, let’s get to work.” The man pulled a small tube from his pocket and removed a clear cover from one end. He held it up to the light and watched a single drop of liquid form on the tip before he quickly pulled one of the cub’s legs out through the grey basket and pierced the little bear’s leg. A nearly identical pained whimper emerged from the cub before it slumped down and remained still. The man looked at something on his wrist and quickly walked back into the wooden cave. Valko wasn’t sure if it was safe to approach the sleeping cub, so he crept around the perimeter of the man’s dwelling instead. Knowing his kin were here somewhere being farmed for their saliva’s rumored transitive properties, Valko tried to suppress his lupine set of ears and tail. The mothers of the pack were just beginning to teach him and the other cubs the importance of hiding their ears and tail if other humans were around, but Valko found his emotions were still too dominant to keep his form fully human for very long.
He had just finished walking the length of the structure when he saw the man again. He had hauled out some type of floppy whitish yellowish material and on top of the not-a-basket was a shiny grey plate with too many utensils.
He’s going to eat the baby bear?! Valko knew humans were bad and that bear cubs were killed by all manner of other predators, but he couldn’t let this bear die when he’d come so far on behalf of its mother.
Valko had a choice to make: attack or deceive. If he attacked, he might get hurt and fail at saving the cubs as well as his own family. If he deceived, he could be found out and fail…they both didn’t seem like good options and while his family had taught him to be honest with one another, they instilled in him the importance of doing anything to survive.
“Excuse me. Mister?” Valko stepped into the afternoon light, eyes wide and presenting himself as purely human. The man was startled and dropped his materials. He turned around, anger and confusion fluctuating on his face. “Um, could you help me?”
The man approached Valko one step at a time, “Help you? With what?”
“I lost my mom. She went that way yesterday but I can’t find her.” Valko pointed North toward the mother bear’s cave. The man followed the direction in which Valko’s little dirt stained hand pointed and covered his mouth with his gloved hand.
“She’s…little boy, what were you and your mother doing all the way out here? Do you live in the woods?” He slowly turned back toward Valko and approached him, no longer angry nor confused. Purely calculating.
Valko hopped back and continued to keep his distance. “She wanted to show me the stars.”
“What bare feet you have. Do you own shoes?”
Fear prickled up Valko’s spine and he felt his lupine ears struggling to stay hidden. “I don’t mind the pines under my feet.”
Another step forward and another pointed question, “Missing any other family members?”
Before Valko could think up an answer, the man lunged forward, throwing his arms out and trying to grasp the little wolf in a violent hug. Valko ducked and lunged in kind, ears and tail fully emerging as his head rammed into the man’s hip.
“Aaah!” Valko heard a soft pop as his head throbbed. While the leather apron was thick, the force of Valko’s skull still managed to do some damage. The man fell onto the ground and grasped his hip, breath heavy and face turning red from pain. Valko shook off his own pain and ran up to the first not-a-basket. “Get away from those cages, you rabid mut!”
Valko looked for any kind of handle or latch but when he found one it was sealed with a lock more complicated than any knots he’d seen his family use to secure bindings and lids. He grabbed it with both hands, turning and twisting it. It was cold, heavy, and solid. As his skin came into contact with it, he felt his blood react–no, something deeper than his blood. He didn’t understand where the feeling was coming from, but he focused on it and as he kept twisting the heavy knot got lighter and thinner until it was one long strand. He let go and it fell straight down into the soft ground, the weight and speed being forceful enough that it stuck up straight.
The man had managed to get up onto his knees by this point, but his face was turning a darker shade of red. “I said leave those damn cages alone. You have no idea the damage you’ll do–you’ll be killing me! If I lose even one of those bears I’m dead!”
“Eat some leaves!” Valko shouted back as he opened the cage’s door and scooped out the groggy cub. He carried it over to the next cage and repeated his ministrations with the next heavy knot. It too fell and this cub was slightly more awake. Valko was thankful they were sleepy. He didn’t know if they knew enough Canis or him to explain that he was friendly and if they didn’t understand they might not be interested in learning.
The last cage’s cub was the most awake and cowered on the opposite side of the opening. Valko was struggling to hold the two cubs and untie this knot with his newfound abilities. He checked on the man, but there were only drag marks in the brush indicating the man had dragged himself elsewhere. Valko reached in and grabbed the cub by their neck scruff and dragged them out. The cubs were all wriggling now and Valko ran on unbalanced feet northward. Something sharp hit him in his back and he almost stumbled. In an attempt to catch himself, he dropped the cubs. Thankfully, they landed on their paws and kept running north.
Valko tried to bark a command to the bear cubs, but he felt dizzy and confused. Suddenly he was on his side, but he was moving. He was being moved backward. Back to the brush. Then up. Up off his feet. But then down. Down into a cage.
The man’s face swam into view. His cheeks were turning purple and his eyes were watering. “You’re something special…definitely worth more than those disgusting runts. Maybe even more than three brats I gave to Viridilus.”
When Valko woke up he was still in the cage. The sound of an owl’s warm hoots woke him. As he looked for the bird, he saw it circle above the encampment once and then disappear into the night. Valko couldn’t sit up in the cage, but he could wriggle and roll enough to get his hand outside of the cage and around the spot he expected another cold knot. Instead, he felt something much lighter. It was like the whitish yellowish floppy material that still sat on the ground at the feet of the cage, but this wasn’t floppy. It was looped around the door latch but held just as strongly.
“Just as I thought. You don’t know anything. You didn’t know what shoes were and you don’t know what plastic is. Can’t believe you knew what a padlock was, to be honest…but I guess if your Evol can manipulate them, you would have to have known.” The man limped close to the cage. His face barely illuminated. “You did a damn number on me. Skull made of metal too? Huh?” He smacked the cage with something and the combination of the strike and the material of the cage caused a series of high pitched noises that hurt all of Valko’s ears. He tried to cover them. As the echoes of the painful noise faded, they were replaced by the man’s laughter. “Yeah. You don’t know anything.” He limped away. Valko’s ears still rang, but he could track the man’s movements. He watched him, studied how he was redistributing his weight, how wide his stride was now.
A calm mind led to sure decisions. He had tried to reshape the cage as he had the padlock, but it wasn’t working. Having gotten a modicum of rest, Valko woke before dawn. He probably only had one chance at this, but he was sure he wanted to try. Taking in a deep breath, Valko let out a howl. He thought of his cub mates, the mothers and aunts, the grandmothers too. He howled long and loud.
The wooden cave’s cover slammed against the exterior as it was shoved open by the man. He had some time of reed that looked like it was made from the same thing as the cage. He shoved a short and squat arrow into the opening and used a stick to force it further down the reed. He stopped his approach toward Valko and held the reed against his shoulder, pulled back a piece on top and as he aimed it at Valko he gave the wolf cub a cruel grin. “Your kin can hear you, but they can’t help you. And that pathetic howl is the last time they’ll hear you, too. Your ride will be here any minute now and–”
Bursting into the clearing and charging right into the man was that mother bear. The man was sent flying out of view. The bear approached Valko and circled the cage.
“Can you open this?” he asked as he pointed at the plastic. The bear approached and gave it a quick sniff before her muzzle started nibbling at the material. A couple dull snaps and she had chewed them off. Valko pushed the door open and climbed out, hugging her and getting a huff in response. She shook her coat and bounded away. Valko began to run after her, but stopped. His family could hear him, but where were they? He thought about everything he had heard from both of the men. He took a step toward the wooden structure but stopped as he heard the man groan and curse. Valko couldn’t throw away the blessing of rescue only to be caught again. He was still a cub himself and couldn’t take on these humans alone. Turning in the direction of the bears instead, he bolted out of the clearing and deeper into the forest. He needed to understand humans better if he was going to deceive them better.