Calcifer felt a little silly, always hanging around while all the others ran in and out doing cool, important stuff. She hadn't been with these other dogs for very long, but they seemed really nice. Calcifer got to eat after the puppies, as long as they did their work. It seemed decent, to her.
But it got a little dry. Her mother had never taught her to hunt, and she wasn't very scary, so she couldn't do any of the really important jobs. To be honest, they felt a little useless.
So, here she was. They, Calcifer, were going to do something useful and catch something to eat. In all likelihood all she'd be able to find would be some weird rodent, but she wasn't going to complain. Someonewas bound to be impressed that they caught something all alone.
Clumsily, she stalked through the undergrowth. The wild scents of the forest were all foreign and a little overwhelming. But they would definitely find something quickly!
After loudly rustling a bush as she passed it, Calcifer heard a low growl. Mortified, they flailed about, eventually locating the source. A scrawny fox, obviously injured, snarled at her a few feet away.
"Oh, hi, um, I don't want-" they began, but the creature lunged for them. Squealing, she hopped away, but the fox's teeth sunk into her right front leg. Squalling, they tumbled to the floor, kicking fruitlessly at the creature attached to them.
Halim, careful as ever, stepped around the sharp rock that had hitched a ride on a dead carcass and created a less then exciting hazard. Using his huge head, Halim positioned his forehead against a part that wasn't sharp, and lightly rolled it out into the surrounding grass, making sure it wasn't near anywhere used to enter or exit. Once he was satisfied with distance, he panted lightly, clamped his mouth shut, and counted the pups, to make sure none of the little balls of excitement had escaped when his back was turned. They had a habit of running off, bothering dogs who were busy and working, being general overactive pups and general annoyances.
Counting them carefully, and then again after a particular scrappy little guy ran off, he wondered if it was his turn to watch the puppies. No, wait it wasn't his turn, wasn't it the Omegas..... blinking, counting, turning, then turning again, Halim realized he hadn't seen Califcer all morning. Where were they, and how had he not noticed their departure?
Sniffing around the pups, though an unpleasant task since the pups were still learning not to use your living conditions as a toilet, he caught the familiar trail they usually leave. Following it, Halim paused, blinked at the trail leading to the woods, sighed, and got someone to cover the pups. With his mouth hanging open, he marched into the woods following the trail Califcer left, nose to the ground.
Though, it didn't take long for a yelp to pierce the canopy of trees, and Halim hurried to his best impression of a run, small legs and all only caring him to the pace of a light jog. As the yelps and squeals grew louder, Halim found himself in a clearing, a flash of red fur tumbled by. The fox had sunk its teeth into them, and kicked at the fighting mongrel. Running, sorta, Halim opened his mouth, let the humming come forth, and chomped down as hard as he could on the foxes tail.
In her panic, Calcifer didn't hear Halim coming. The fox wouldn't seem to let go of their leg- it hung on, for reasons unknown. She gave up kicking at it and tried to nip its ear. All they got for their efforts was a spiteful dig from the fox's teeth.
They saw was a blur of fur somewhere around the ferocious beast that had suctioned onto their leg.
"Ahh! Not another! Off of me!" She yelped, misunderstanding what was happening. The fox released her with a squeal, turning on Halim. Calcifer darted away, keeping their injured leg pinned to their chest. After realizing she wasn't going to bleed to death, she turned to goggle at her savior. Halim! "Don't let it bite you! It's mean!" They cried.
Halim immediately regretted the decision to bite the fox on the tail, as its tiny body curled back, released Califcer, and grab Halims face, scratching, biting near his eye. Barely missing the eyeball, but creating gashes underneath, Halim shook his huge head, his mouth still clasped and the tail, and with as much force as he could muster, he flung the little creature as far as he could, each claw tearing free and feeling as if he stepped into a rose bush. Landing a couple of feet away from Halim, the fox almost slithered with graceful movement, and turned to the new challenger with a his, the brown hair sticking up on its back as if quills.
Holding his ground, Halim growled, and allowed the little ticking hum to silently follow the growl and reach the foxes ears. At first, it seemed as nothing was going on, the fox not giving away any of his ground, waiting for Halim to rush forward to counterattack. Then, the fox began to twitch, eyes dropping as if it had been running for sometime, its knees beginning to shake under its weight.
Halim had never tested the effects of his condition on others, but he got the impression that the fox was getting drowsy, the longer he held his mouth open.
Hopefully Califcer wasn't getting sleepy to, as expected the fox was going to vomit the more he fought the drowsiness.
Stepping back slowly, the fox almost not noticing, he got a good distance away, and growled to Califcer.
"Run when you hear something hard hit a tree."
With that, he did something he didn't think was a good idea.
Calcifer winced as she saw the fox turn on Halim, feeling his pain. However, they made no move to assist him. The bite on their leg stung and throbbed, although the bleeding had stopped. She didn't really want another.
They shrunk against the bark of a nearby tree as the fox was flung away, not daring to move any more, should they be targeted again. But Halim seemed to have it under control. She watched curiously, pointed ears perked. The fox seemed to be having trouble standing- what was causing it?
Their head felt a little heavy. Suddenly queasy, and less afraid, she hopped a little ways away. The sickness cleared a little.
Halim growled something at them- run? They watched, confused, as he charged away. Unsettled, she went with bounding a good few meters away. Worming under an unhealthy, bedraggled bush, they listened for any telltale noises.