Sven
Legacy Name: Sven

Story

As you read along, when you see a musical note in between breaks of paragraphs, clicking on it will link you to a song that fits the upcoming scene. It's optional, but definitely consider giving it a listen!

The streets of Centropolis at night were always aglow. If one wanted to escape the bright lights and even the noise, there were many alleyways to choose from that invited darkness and stillness. One in particular was dark but stillness was optional.

"Gyahh!" screamed a cream colored Kumos pup. "Mom! Sven pulled my tail too hard again!"

An adult female dusk Kumos looked up tiredly from the cardboard box she called home. The cream colored pup was pinned by another pup, one that was dark colored and slightly bigger.

"Oh yeah? Then why are you laughing still, Teba?!" called the dark pup as he tickled the cream colored pup's armpits, forcing the smaller pup to break out into laughter. Teba tried to wiggle away in spite of the laughter.

"No fair Sven! That's cheating!" he giggled, and Sven continued his tickle tackle. The female Kumos, named Astra, sighed peacefully, and lay her head back down. Her sons, they were the lone survivors of her recent litter. Two other pups did not make it, so Sven and Teba were all she had left in this world. Having been a show Kumos most of her life, she found herself lost and abandoned when her owner had found no more use for her after losing too many shows in a row. The streets of Centropolis were rough on her, and though she found a helpful male to guide her initially, he too ultimately left her behind for a prettier dame. But he left not just her behind, but the pups she was carrying too. It was the three of them against the world.

"Okay, okay! Lemme up!" Teba pushed his brother off of him and scurried back over to the box. Sven trailed behind, pouncing him once more and they tumbled into their sleepy mother. The boys laughed heartily, while Astra silently ignored the rough-housing. Let them play while they still can, she thought to herself and soon, the boys calmed down long enough to fall asleep.

The next morning arrived with lains chirping above the cardboard box, singing from the clotheslines. Annoyed by the sound, Sven grabbed a random tin can and threw it as high in the air as he could.

"Quit it! We're up already noisy birds!" He quickly learned what went up must come down and the tin can hit him in the head on its return. Teba laughed as he stretched out, watching Sven rub his now sore head.

"That's no way to stop them cheeky birds. You gotta bark loudly at them instead!" Teba suggested, and yipped as loud as he could to the clothesline. The lains stopped in their singing, looked at the cream colored pup with disdain, but flew away nonetheless.

"See? You gotta think smarter, brother," Teba gloated cheerfully. Sven pounced on him, gently tugging at Teba's ear. The smaller pup laughed and laughed, knowing he bested his brother at something for once.

"Settle down, you two. Remember, if you make too much noise, you'll bring the man catcher," Astra wearily stepped out of her cardboard box to greet the day. She was very emaciated, but she had to provide for her sons as best she could. Sven and Teba stopped in their play.

"What's a man catcher?" Sven asked. Teba nodded in agreement.

"Man catchers are men who catch strays like us. You must never go near them," she warned the pair. The brothers looked at other in confusion.

"But why would they want to catch us?" Teba pondered. Astra reached out her paw, beckoning her sons to her for an embrace. They obliged.

"To separate us. So remember, your bond as brothers is powerful. Always stay together," Astra reminded her sons. "Now, shall we check the cans this morning to see what the pizza lady threw out last night while we slept?" The pups licked their chops greedily. The local pizza shop was ran by a woman who was always more than happy to throw out anything unsold, and made sure Astra and her pups would find it. But it was getting tougher for her business, the health inspector had seen the stray Kumos family living behind the shop and deducted points on the regular. She herself couldn't adopt the family, as she was allergic to them. And she had noticed how thin Astra had been getting. Perhaps, the human considered, it might be time to get them help.

The weeks passed, and soon, Astra could no longer walk. She could barely stand. Sven and Teba tried their best to bring her food, but soon she was turning it away, begging them to eat it instead. Time was running out, Sven could sense it, but didn't want Teba to worry. It was a rainy summer afternoon, when Sven coaxed his brother away from their mother's side long enough to share with him a plan.

"We need to find mom help. It's up to us to find someone who can help take care of her," Sven explained. Teba looked over to the box sadly, his mother's tail was the only part of her sticking outside of it. He looked back to Sven.

"Alright, what do we do?"

"The pizza lady. Let's go around front and start barking to get her attention. And then we'll lead her back to Mom, and she can help," Sven suggested. He honestly did not know if his plan would work, they had never interacted with humans before. But, the pizza lady always provided them food. Surely she would help them. Teba nodded and together, the brothers left the alleyway, stepping out of it for the first time ever on their own.

The streets were bustling with cars and walking people. It was easy to get swept up in a crowd of humans walking by, so Sven and Teba didn't dawdle. They found a glass door painted with a picture of a pizza, and they were certain this was the place. They started barking and howling, scratching at the door, trying anything to get the storefront's attention.

The door opened, and a patron shooed the pups away. "Go on, scram! Ugh, I can't believe the lady running this place allows these varmints to hang near her shop!"

Sven and Teba couldn't understand this person, and barked harder at her, growling. Another patron appeared at the door, this time a man with a rolled up magazine. He swatted at the pups, and they jumped back before he could land a strike.

"It's about time something was done with these strays. I'm calling the health inspector," he grumbled and pulled out his phone. Sven and Teba eyed the man curiously before suddenly, another person's hand closed the flip phone shut. The boys wagged their tails happily. It was the pizza lady herself!

"I know these strays, their mother isn't doing good. I hate to do this to them, but I know someone will gladly take them in if I contact the adoption agency. I'll make the call," and she stared at the pups pitifully. They saw she was sad, but didn't understand why. The pizza lady then stepped back inside and closed the door.

Sven let out a hmph of frustration. "She was supposed to help us! What gives?" he grumbled.

"Maybe she's busy, she's got all those other humans to feed first. Come on, let's go back to mom. I don't really feel comfortable out here with all these people," Teba nudged his brother's shoulder in the direction of their alley. Sven conceeded, and they returned to the safety and quiet of their alleyway.

As soon as they approached the cardboard box though, Teba froze. He sniffed the air. something was wrong.

"Sven, Mom!!" Teba cried out as he rushed over to the box. Sven followed quickly, startled by his brother's reaction. Inside the box, though, he discovered what was wrong. Their mother's breathing was shallow and slow, her eyes closed. She was still warm though.

"Mom, wake up!" Sven shook their mother, trying to stir her but to no avail. Teba grabbed her ear, tugging on it, hoping that would wake her up, but again, it was futile.

"What do we do?? We really need the pizza lady's help now!" Teba shouted at Sven, but the dark furred pup had no idea what to do. Then, out of nowhere, he felt something loop around his neck and pulled him out of the box. He frantically looked around and saw a largely built man had snared him with a pole. Sven tried to bite the pole but the loop tightened even more. Teba cowered next to their mother when the man reached in and grabbed the cream colored pup by the scruff. Both pups wrestled to try and get away but the man was simply too strong for them. As they were taken to the entrance of the alley, to be placed inside a white van, Teba and Sven swore they heard their mother one last time.

"Always...stay...together."

The pups were loaded into a crate and before the man slid the door shut, they saw her, the pizza lady, approach.

"Will you find them good homes?" she asked the man. He shrugged indifferently.

"Hopefully. The mother's done for though," was all he said and slid the van door shut. Soon, they were off to a local impound facility, their mother left behind for death.

The facility the boys were taken to was a holding place for strays to be either loaded the following day to be brought to the Adoption Center in Delphi Beach for adoption, or to be put down if they were seen as too aggressive.

The van door opened and Sven growled as hard as he could at the man that took them away from their mother. Teba hid behind his brother, shaking with fear. The man brought out the catch pole again and carefully fed the loop through the cage to snare Sven again. Another person was there to help.

"Take this one to 'the row', simply too aggressive to be adopted out. The other one can go into holding to be loaded up for Delphi beach tomorrow, he's docile enough," the man told his attending helper, and handed Sven over. The helper scruffed Sven and undid the catch pole, carrying him away to another room, while the larger man grabbed Teba and took him in a different direction. Sven wriggled in the grasp of this human but could not get free. He was then tossed into a new cage, in a cold empty dark room. It smelled of fear. Meanwhile Teba was gently placed into a run-in that housed other canines. He immediately retreated for a corner and hid away from the world. Soon, the facility's lights went out, and the sounds of other strays quieted down around them. Teba wished with all his might to be with his brother again.

"Teba!"

He needed to hear his voice again.

"Teba!!"

The cream Kumos pup looked around confusedly. He could hear Sven but where was it coming from?

"Teba, listen, it's me. Can you hear me?"

Sven's voice echoed in Teba's head. He concentrated while closing his eyes.

"Yes, I hear you, Sven. How are you doing that?"

"I don't know, I just started calling for you and you heard me. Listen, I'm in a really cold room. It doesn't smell good. It smells like death. We need to get out of here, first thing in the morning."

"But how? The humans locked us in here, brother."

"Don't worry, I'll think of something. Just please, keep talking to me, Teba."

The bond between the brothers was beyond something that could be explained naturally. Whether it was from the fear of their situation, or the love they had for each other, all they knew and realized was that they still had each other, even now when they could not see one another. They talked telepathically all night, calming each other down and formulating a plan of escape.

By dawn, Sven had it all figured out. Now they waited for the chance.

Sven lay in his cage, silent as could be, watching the human that threw him in here yesterday putz around the room. The man was emptying the trash bin, then he was neatly arranging syringes on a metal table. The tubes were filled with a pink liquid. The man looked over to Sven in the cage, and the pup continued to lay there quietly, not moving an inch.

"Hey little buddy, have I got a special treat for you today," the man said as he approached the cage and unlatched it.

And like lightning, Sven had lunged forward, biting the man's hand right as he reached to grab the pup, and the man shrieked, retracting his hand. In that moment, Sven bolted from the cage, dropping to the floor and raced down the hall.

During that time, a lady had approached the run in where Teba was placed, and as soon as she opened the door, Teba dashed between her legs and made a break for it. It was a perfect scenario for the brothers, as they found each other quickly and embraced.

"I thought I was going to lose you, Sven," Teba wailed. Sven comforted his brother.

But soon the man appeared looking for Sven, and they had no time to waste.

"Come on!" yelled Sven as they sprinted away, turning down another hallway. They crossed through multiple unoccupied rooms and once they were in another hallway, a security guard was walking by.

"Stop them!" hollered the man pursuing them from behind. The guard bent down to grab either pup but they were too nimble and dodged him on each side. They continued their run around the facility, turning down another hallway and they could see an automatic door up ahead. They were almost to freedom! But then, Sven found himself captured by human hands, another worker who had been nearby and alerted to the escape.

"Gotcha," she said tauntingly as Sven scrambled to escape, but luckily, Teba was there to bite the woman's foot, prompting her to let go of Sven in surprise.

"Nice one, Teba!" Sven thanked him as they both made their way for the automatic door. As soon as they were in range, it opened and they made it outside, to the fresh city air once more. They got to the sidewalk, then paused briefly at the road that lay before them. Sven jumped into the road first, yelling, "Come on!" once more, and Teba hesitantly ran after his brother. They cleared the road barely in time, as a traveling car nearly caught Teba by the leg, but he was just fast enough to dodge it in time. They didn't look back from where they escaped, just kept running as long as their lungs would hold out. Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity, they slowed their pace and stopped at a street corner.

"Where do we go from here?" Teba panted to his brother. Sven was panting heavily too, but immediately back on his feet, searching around, sniffing the air.

"Anywhere we want. But we stay away from humans, you got it?"

"Got it."

Once they caught their breaths, they spent the rest of the day on the move, trying to find somewhere safe to take up shelter. The city was large, and soon they found themselves in the western part of the city. Trash littered the streets, windows were boarded up. It was still bustling but quieter. The pups found what looked to be an empty car park, nothing but junked useless cars piled up on each other. They found an old boxy-looking yellow car that had its windows busted out, but the interior was made of soft suede leather. They jumped in and curled up on the floor of the station wagon, their legs tired from so much running, their hearts comforted by each other's presence though. They were safe now. They were together.

The boys seldom left the safety of the rusted yellow car for the first day and night, but soon hunger forced them to venture out and carefully explore the area. Old junked cars were everywhere, but so were oil drums that smelled of recent fires. Sven cautiously tipped over a full garbage can and began to dig through its contents, looking for something edible, while Teba sniffed around. His nose caught the whiff of a human, an old lady from what he could tell. He found another vehicle, a red pickup truck, that looked as though it were inhabited, as the windows were blocked out with blankets. A shopping cart sat outside the car, filled with all sorts of trinkets and clothes. He sniffed curiously.

"Hey I found some apple cores and an old hamburger, come and eat," Sven telepathically reached out to him. Teba quietly left the truck and went back to his brother's location.

"Find anything?" Sven asked as he munched on an apple core. Teba shook his head, lying for once.

Later on, as the day carried on, while the brothers slept in the yellow station wagon, Teba heard the sound of a squeaky wheel. He carefully made sure not to wake his brother and peeked his head out the window. The old lady he smelled earlier was walking towards the city streets with her squeaky cart. She had a smile on her face as she ambled on with a slight limp. Her hair was grey and unkempt, and she smelled of fish, but she looked like she was kind. Still, she was a human, and Teba returned to his nap.

The days followed by unceremoniously, mostly the brothers sleeping and digging through the trash when they were hungry, but they were content. Teba watched every day as the old lady walked by them with her cart, usually once the sun was up, disappearing for hours until near dark when she would return. Her cart was always full of things, but sometimes he saw she had fresh food tucked away at the bottom of the cart. Fresh food...how was she getting fresh food, Teba wondered. His curiosity for this human did not go unnoticed by Sven.

"Hey, humans are a no. You can't trust her," he warned Teba one evening while they relaxed inside their car. Sven was chewing on a discarded chicken bone, eyeing his brother suspiciously as Teba casually watched the old lady return, and he could smell she had a fresh roasted chicken in the cart. This was too much for Teba to bear.

"Come on, there's something about her that's interesting. Don't you want to know how she's always getting free good food? Surely that chicken she's got in her cart beats your bone any day," Teba swatted the chicken bone out of his brother's mouth. Sven glared.

"Ugh, I swear, you're too nosey. Fine, you win. I'm tired of eating garbage anyways," Sven surrendered. The brothers hopped out of the window and Teba led the way to the red pickup truck. The lady was sitting on a folding chair, enjoying her cooked chicken. The chair had seen better days, but it was sturdy enough. Teba whimpered to catch her attention, and he approached submissively with his tail tucked between his legs and head low.

"Oh, you poor things. You're so little for your ages. Come here, Gran will fatten you up. I can't eat this chicken all by myself anyways," the old lady held out a drumstick, full of roasted meat. The smell was tantalizing. Sven held his ground, but even he was wavering to the offer. Teba looked back at his brother and wagged his tail anxiously, asking silently for permission. Sven sighed and approached as well now. Teba took the offered drumstick from Gran's hand and devoured it. Sven took half of a breast for himself. The three cleaned the chicken, stripping it of its meat til there was nothing but bones.

"Poor dears, don't think Gran didn't see you sleeping in that yellow station wagon. You have nowhere to go like me," the lady patted Teba gently on the head. He wagged his tail happily. Sven chewed on the leftover bones, glancing at Gran warily, but content nonetheless. "We'll keep each other warm if we stay together. You need not worry, Gran will show you the ways."

Summer was beginning to wane in Centropolis, but the lessons Gran promised to teach the boys began. They followed alongside her deep into the center of the city, traveling through the subway system by foot. Once in downtown, Gran would set up her cart on the corner, with a holey umbrella to provide some shade, and she would pull out a game table that she set on the ground. The game table had three little cups on it.

"This is called Three Monte Shuffle. You see, puppies, you take a pea like this," she held up a tiny green pea for them to see, " and put it under one of the cups. Then you shuffle them around." And she demonstrated by shuffling the cups.

"Now, where's the pea? Come on little cream pup, show me where it is," Gran encouraged Teba. He studied the cups but whined in uncertainty.

"It's the left cup," Sven telepathically said. Teba trusted his brother as always, and nosed the left cup. Gran lifted it and sure enough, there was the pea.

"Good puppy!! Alright, let's try again," and she hid the pea and shuffled the cups once more. Soon Teba caught onto the game fast, with Sven to back him up with confirmation.

As people walked by, they were impressed by the intelligence of the pups. Someone gave a quarter out of pity. As the day wore on, soon the the quarters were adding up, and the game attracted a small crowd of onlookers. Sven and Teba took turns at the game, and no matter how difficult Gran tried to make it, the pups kept up with the pea under the cup. She started getting sneaky, hiding the pea in her hand, shuffling the cups and asking Sven where the pea was. He'd point to her hand and she'd reveal it to the crowd of people, who then clapped and praised Sven for being such a clever pup. Soon the coins turned into dollar bills, and by dusk, they had enough money to buy a family meal from a local restaurant.

Teba and Sven made out like bandits hanging with Gran. Every day was a new game or tactic to learn. They watched as Gran dropped her wallet and pretended to have trouble bending down to pick it up. A kind young man in a suit helped her retrieve it, and as she got to talking with the stranger, she sneakily lifted a 5 dollar bill out of his pocket when he was distracted. The boys were shocked Gran would do something so underhanded, but soon they were in on the schemes too. When the unsuspecting target wasn't looking, Teba would grab their wallet, fish out a few dollars and then Sven would casually sneak in to hand it back to the victim, with Gran exclaiming, "Oh, you dropped your wallet! Don't forget it."

The more time they spent with Gran, the more they began to understand her. She had been a widow forced onto the streets after losing her house to the bank. With nowhere else to go, she had to figure out how to make it on her own. But it was a lonely life on the streets, and though she had persevered through it with a smile on her face every day, it had been hard having nobody there for comfort or warmth. At least until she had Sven and Teba, who brought her so much joy, and the same for them.

Late summer turned to autumn and the boys were growing up fast into adults. Gran began to cough a little more than usual, and one day she didn't feel too good to go downtown. The boys didn't mind, they were able to handle things on their own. Without Gran, the boys learned how to steal food from humans instead. They'd find a truck unloading somewhere in the city, scout it out for food, and steal what they could. Once they managed to slip away with a whole pumpkin pie to bring back to Gran, but not without stuffing their faces with the apple and cherry pies that were there in the truck first.

By November though, Gran was feeling worse. She wheezed with every breath and soon the coughing escalated to where she was spitting blood into a napkin. Teba nuzzled her comfortingly, but Gran waved it off.

"This is nothing, I'll be right as rain once the warmer weather comes back around, you'll see," she promised Teba with a hug. Sven slept at her feet, worried, but saying nothing as usual.

Winter came in wet and cold, the kind of cold that chills you right to the bone. Gran seldom got out of her truck bed now. It was on the boys to provide for her. The damp raw cold air threatened to freeze out the boys, but they were fully grown now, with thick winter coats to keep them warm. As Gran's condition worsened, Sven and Teba soon took turns staying with her to keep her warm, while the other would go out and try to steal food. But it was getting harder. The truckers in the city became wiser to the thieving wolves and began to close their truck doors behind them during deliveries. The people in the city overall grew less kind and generous during the holiday rush season.

One snowy dawn, just before the sun broke, Sven nudged Teba awake. He was sleeping over Gran's feet, trying to keep that part of her warm. He stirred and yawned.

"What?"

"I need your help today. This working independently shit isn't getting us anywhere. You and I are a team. We can pull off more heists when you're at my side," Sven tried to persuade his brother. Teba glanced to Gran's sleeping figure. She wheezily breathed in and out. Teba shook his head.

"We can't leave Gran by herself. It's too cold for her," Teba argued back. Sven narrowed his eyes.

"And she won't get better if we don't work together to get her some good warm food. Now come on, if we work hard, we'll get back to her sooner," Sven coaxed Teba, putting his paw on his brother's shoulder reassuringly. Teba frowned, but agreed; together, they could succeed in getting more to help Gran. The boys set out for the day, determined to bring back as much good warm food as they could.

In downtown, a Christmas parade was taking place. There were tons of vendors around, offering hot cocoa and warm soup. The air smelled of incoming snow, and soon, the clouds let loose, covering the city in a light blanket of white. All day, Sven and Teba scouted the city vendors, looking for free handouts to feed themselves first; then by nightfall, they switched tactics and stole what food they could as everyone was distracted by the floats of the parade crawling slowly down the main road. The very last item they swiped was at an abandoned hot cocoa stand, its human out towards the street handing out free cocoas to cheerful children. The boys managed to swipe a thermos filled with hot cocoa. It was perfectly warm to the touch, and Teba carried it in his mouth while Sven carried a bag filled with food in his mouth. They left downtown and traversed back to the western edge of town, back to Gran.

Once they got back to the junkyard though, they were met with an unusual sight. Police cars with red and blue lights flashing all around. An ambulance sat nearby, also with its lights on. Lots of random stragglers looking on, as police taped off the junkyard in yellow caution tape. The boys set their goods to the side and peered in. What was going on?

They saw the paramedics were standing over a stretcher, near a familiar red truck. Teba nearly ran in, but Sven grabbed him and held him back. Together, they watched the scene unfold before their eyes. Nearby, a police officer was taking a statement from another homeless person.

"Yeah, I was walking by, and saw this lady on the ground, and her lips were blue. I knew that's bad so I called you guys. I don't know who she is though!" he described to the officer, raising his hands up defensively, innocently. "Whoever she was, she looked like a nice lady."

The paramedics carefully lifted Gran's lifeless body and placed her on the stretcher. They then covered her with a white blanket and began to wheel her away to the ambulance. The crowd began to dissipate around them, but the boys remained. This was still their home. Teba whimpered as they loaded Gran onto the ambulance, desperate to go with her.

"We couldn't have done anything Teba. Had we tried asking humans for help again, they would have only taken her away from us, and sent us back to that awful place. Maybe it's better this way," Sven comforted his brother, rubbing his shoulder. Teba felt tears roll down his face, but he silently agreed.

A year since Gran's death passed by quickly, and the brothers were the kings of the Centropolis streets. All they learned from Gran continued, as they grew more bold and determined to stay alive. They began to harass and steal from other weaker strays. By the following spring though, something changed on the streets. Teba was the one to notice.

"Sven, have you noticed less and less other strays around lately? The pair of Felis that live down Maple street are gone, and they've been there for as long as we've lived in this area," Teba voiced his concern to Sven. The dark colored wolf sneezed, and rubbed his nose. The blooming flowers and trees agitated his allergies.

"Ehh, who cares, those cats were already pretty old," Sven waved it off dismissively. He resumed cleaning himself, while Teba paced uncomfortably. They still maintained their presence in the old car junkyard, and hid their provisions all over the yard to keep it safe from other thieving strays.

"But if more strays disappear...who will we steal from?" Teba proposed. Sven paused and considered this.

"What about that rival pack further in the badlands, think near that abandoned warehouse? They're a huge pack of strays. We just target them and don't get caught by their guards," Sven suggested, sitting up now. Teba's concerned expression remained though.

"Come on, we need to investigate what's going on. Something isn't right. Let's check out the corner of Blythe and Arrow. Harley the Ruffie usually sees and hears all." And with that, Teba jogged out of the junkyard, before breaking into a run. Sven grumbled and ran after his brother.

Once at the street corner, they sniffed around for Harley's scent. It was faint, but still there. They followed it 3 blocks down from the corner and found the common Ruffie snoozing on a stoop. He was mangy looking, not in the best of health either. Sven shook the Ruffie, rousing him from his nap.

"Aye man, what you want?" Harley yawned. "Was up all night with the ladies, so buzz off man." He tried to close his eyes to go back to sleep.

"Harley, you know this strip really well, all the strays that live around here. Have you noticed anyone gone missing as of late?" Teba poked at his side, til it annoyed Harley enough for the Ruffie to sit up finally.

"Yeah, the one dame I've been with, she says her sister was gone suddenly one day. Went out to farmer's market and never came back. This whole block be getting emptier by the day. Rumor has it, at least from what I heard from Freddie, there's man catchers behind it, but they're not the typical ones we've seen. These are guys wearing all white fancy coats. I don't know who they are, but steer clear of them if you see'em. Now let a brother get some shuteye, will ya?" and Harley turned around and laid back down, signaling he was done talking with the boys. They frowned and began to leave, when Harley spoke up once more.

"There's a new fancy building in downtown that popped up a few months ago. It looks like some kind of hospital place. And now all these strays start disappearing just after that building comes up? Me thinking there's a connection. So be careful if you go downtown."

Harley said no more after that, as Sven and Teba looked at each other anxiously.

The brothers were walking back to their junkyard, and thought about Harley's hypothesis, about the new building in downtown and its supposed connection to the strays disappearing. They hadn't been to downtown in ages, not since Gran died.

"Sven, do you think what Harley said is true? Do you think this new building could be why everyone's gone missing?" Teba contemplated. Sven barked a laugh.

"Heh, Harley's about as reliable as a wet towel. The dude's old as snot and still thinks he's quite the stud with the ladies. It sounds ridiculous," Sven argued. Teba slowed his pace.

"But brother, think about it. If strays are being targeted by this new building, these new kind of man catchers, we need to consider..." Teba trailed off. Sven stopped and looked at him suspiciously.

"What are you getting at, Teba?"

Teba pinned his ears back nervously. "We need to leave then. It's clearly not safe for us anymore."

"And go where, exactly? We've got it good here! We know how to survive here! So what if a bunch of weak ass punks are getting snatched by man catchers, we're not like them. If any man catcher even tries to snare me again, they've got another thing coming," Sven snarled and began to walk away. Teba quickly blocked him off.

"Sven, we know nothing about this building or who these man catchers are. It could be bad, something even worse than the pound. If we leave--"

"Then we lose everything we've gained. We're not leaving, we stay and fight, end of story," Sven tried to shove past Teba, irritation growing. Teba held his ground though.

"We've already lost so much. We lost Gran. If you hadn't made me leave that night, she'd still be with us! She would have protected us from these man catchers in white!" Teba yelled, neck fur bristling and his tail was raised high. Sven stood up taller, also beginning to bristle.

"So that's what this is? It's my fault Gran's dead? Because she was dying anyways, Teba! When will you get that through your thick head?!" he snarled, lips flared to show his fangs. Teba cowered initially but rose back up to challenge Sven.

"Yeah, it IS your fault. We could have stayed with her or gone for help, and--"

"And I told you we don't trust humans!"

"You trusted HER!"

"She was a rare exception. No one else out there is like Gran, and we're never going to get help from some stranger ever again, because they don't exist, Teba. They're dead, just like her. But if you're so hellbent in believing good humans or anyone exists out there away from the city, then GO! Go find them yourself and live a cushy life with them. I won't. I'll live or die by these streets, with or without you!" Sven barked angrily, and took off to cross the street, while Teba remained in place.

Teba considered everything, he could turn his back now and flee. But, he recalled their mother's last words to them. Always stay together.

"Brother wait!" Teba called out and ran out into the street. A car horn blared suddenly, tires screeching across pavement and Teba looked to his left, and before he could react, he was struck by the vehicle. He skidded across the road from the impact, yelping in pain.

Sven had turned his head in response to Teba calling after him, and saw everything. The car. Teba being hit. Teba now lying there in the street, motionless.

"TEBA!!" Sven screamed and rushed to his injured brother's side. The injuries were grim. The cream colored Kumos' back left leg was mangled, broken in several places. Part of the bone was sticking out of the wound.

"Hang in there, it's going to be okay, I'm here. Shit, I'm sorry Teba. please, stay with me!" Sven pleaded to him. Teba came to, then began to yell in pain. He clutched his head in agony. There were voices...too many voices...

What just happened?
Did you see that wolf?
Oh man that's a bad injury...
Someone call animal control!

In the shock of it all, Teba's mind was flooded with the voices of the developing crowd of humans around them. The humans inched closer to the pair, and Sven snarled at them.

"Keep away from us!" he growled and the sight of his sharp teeth kept the humans back. "Teba, what's wrong?"

"Sven make the voices stop! I can hear their thoughts!! Just make it stop!" Teba's heart raced, and he felt panic as he struggled to breathe normally. Was he dying?

Hey Frank, those strays...
Yeah, looks like a good opportunity, come on.

Sven continued to snarl at the crowd of people, keeping them at bay, until two men in white long coats approached. They held their hands up defensively.

"Easy there fellas, we just want to help. We can fix your buddy's leg there in no time. Easy..." the one man named Frank cautiously inched forward. Sven was prepared to lunge if he didn't back off in a few seconds. He stopped though, when he felt Teba's paw touch his flank.

"Don't. Let them help us." Sven heard Teba's thoughts and looked him in the eyes. He saw uncertainty and fear in Teba's face. The cream colored wolf then closed his eyes and the world around him darkened as he slipped unconscious.

"Teba! Wake up!" Sven barked at him, when the man in the white coat grabbed him and held him by the scruff of his neck. The other man carefully picked up Teba.

"Fear not, everyone, we are members of a new veterinary school on the other side of town. We will help these poor pups recover and provide them with care. Our mission is to help clear the streets of these helpless strays, and make advances in our practice to better serve the community's pets. Thank you," Frank reassured the crowd of people, who all breathed a sigh of relief. His grip tightened hard on Sven's neck, twisting the fur slightly and Sven felt helpless, the will to fight leaving his body. He had to do as Teba said though, even if he hated it. These men, they smelled wrong, like they were hiding a sinister secret. And now, Sven and Teba were caught up in it.

They arrived at the new veterinary school in downtown. It was a pristine white building, with many blacked out windows on the exterior. Inside, it smelled of chemicals and fear. Many locked rooms and hallways required key cards to be opened, and several people were moving about the building. Some wore blue coats, most wore white coats. The humans took the boys to a room with many cages. Sven was locked into a large cage by himself, while the people in white coats carried Teba over to a metal table in the same room. Sven watched as the humans muttered something, he couldn't quite make anything out though. It was hard to hear anything through the plexiglass door of his cell.

They hooked Teba up to various machines, one to provide oxygen to him and another to monitor his heart rate. One human, a man who was middle aged and balding, spoke loud enough for Sven to hear.

"We need to remove the leg. This patient has the potential to go on for biomechanical limb replacement in the future. Amputate below the knee."

Sven watched in horror as the humans worked on his brother, as they wrapped Teba's injured back leg completely, before cutting it off, placing the amputated damaged limb in a bucket. The fresh wound bled, and the white coats bandaged it tightly with gauze to stop the bleeding. Once they were done, they monitored Teba's vitals and gave him a shot of reversal medicine. They carried him over to Sven's cage and placed him inside with his brother, who shrunk back in fear, worried they were going to cut him up next. But the humans were done with their operation, and cleaned up their equipment, and left the room, turning off the lights and locking the door behind them. All was silent.

Sven nudged his brother gently, trying to wake him. The dark colored wolf shuddered nervously at the sight of his brother's partially amputated leg. Up close, it looked bad. Blood seeped through the bandages. Teba opened his eyes slowly.

"Brother...." he whispered. Sven licked his brother's face comfortingly. Teba shifted his back left knee, and felt something was different.

"Teba, they took your leg. They said something about limb replacement, hell if I know what that means."

Teba stared at the floor tiredly, as the effects of the anesthesia began to wane.

"I'm not sure either. I'm sorry though, Sven. I heard their thoughts before they brought us here, and well...there was no escaping them, Sven. We had to surrender. I weighed the possibility of what they would do for me, for my injuries. I had to be selfish, and that meant dragging you into hell with me," he explained. Sven didn't even know what to say.

"You could hear their thoughts? I thought only we could hear each other."

"I can't explain it, but it was like I could suddenly hear so many voices of the humans around us. It scared me. But perhaps this is just an evolution of this power."

Teba lay his head down, needing to sleep off the remaining anesthesia. Sven curled up around him. His thoughts drifted back to the time they were impounded, how alone and frightening it was then. At least right now, they were with each other.

"Either way, now we need to find a way out of here," Sven murmured, his breathing slowing down finally, eyes drooping.

"I know. And we will," Teba hummed, and soon, they drifted off to sleep.

The following day, the torture began. The whitecoats took Sven away, leaving Teba alone for hours on end. Sven was muzzled and restrained, but he fought back as hard as he could. Then, a needle poked him, and he felt a burning warm sensation overwhelm his muscles and senses. He grew sluggish and limp, no longer able to combat the whitecoats. He lay there on the cold metal table, as they began to build a profile of him.

"This one's definitely got nice muscle tone compared to his friend. Do you think he'd make a good candidate for the downstairs project?" one whitecoat lady proposed as she ran her hand along Sven's body, checking his muscle tone. Another scientist was removing urine via syringe, and scoffed at the idea his colleague proposed.

"We've got enough aggressive psychopaths down there, we don't need another for sure," he disagreed. "But, this one will certainly be perfect for swim trials. Once he's given sedation reversal and comes to enough, send him to the pool to observe his first swim," he instructed to the woman.

"Yes sir, will do, Dr. Beaty," she confirmed.

Once they finished retrieving samples of fluids from Sven, and tattooed the number '321' on the inside of his ear, they injected reversal and put him back in the cell with Teba. The cream wolf had new bandages around his back left knee, but still blood seeped through. His ear had been tattooed with its own number, '320'.

"Sven, what did they do to you? Do you know?" Teba nosed his brother in the shoulder, sniffing him all over. Sven lay there, drool pouring out of his mouth as he started to wake up from sedation.

"No idea, they gabe me someting, to make me drowdy," he slurred his words. He had an awful bitter taste in his mouth. He slowly sat up, still dizzy but recovering fast. Too fast, as within the hour, Sven was taken away again, this time to a room that held a huge glass tank. It was the size of a normal swimming pool, and filled only halfway with water. The scientists unmuzzled Sven and pushed him into the water, then started a stopwatch. Sven panicked, and tried to find a way to escape, but the water level was too low and the walls too high. No matter how hard he tried to get his footing on the glass, he'd slip back in. He swam around for as long as he could, before his muscles became too tired to continue. Water sloshed over his face, and he found himself drifting under the water, drowning. He was convinced this was how he was going to die, but then he was pulled out of the water by a catchpole. His lungs struggled as he spluttered and coughed for air to return.

"Remarkable! 3 minutes, and 49 seconds before drowning. That's a fantastic baseline to work from, please schedule for a repeat test tomorrow for #321," Dr. Beaty had been present again, timing Sven's trial. The other whitecoats were working hard to expel the water from Sven's lungs, tubing him to extract it. He felt like he was choking but was too weakened to fight it.

It was late in the day, and the whitecoats returned Sven once more to Teba. Dinner had been provided for both, but the food tasted awful to Teba. It was some kind of congealed slop that smelled like meat but tasted like corn. Sven rested, uninterested in dinner, trying to recover his strength.

"The water..." he started to say, his voice rough from having a tube shoved down his throat. "They made me swim. Couldn't get out. They kept me in there til I could no longer stay above the surface," he described to Teba. The cream Kumos shuddered in fear.

"Why are they doing this?" Teba questioned nervously. He lay down next to Sven, trying to comfort him. Sven shook his head with uncertainty, his vocal chords too sore to continue.

The weeks continued to pass as various tests were conducted on the boys. Sven continued daily swim trials, his time of staying afloat improving. Once Teba's leg had healed enough, the whitecoats began to take measurements in preparation for a biomechanical leg replacement. But Teba was also subjected to various experiments. They sprayed various spots on his body with different chemicals, testing for effectiveness in killing fleas, but the chemicals were so harsh it caused skin sores to develop. Both were restrained to cots, and felt a scalpel penetrate their skin, multiple cuts were made of varying degrees of depth. The humans then would squeeze different liquids into the wounds, and it felt like their inflicted wounds were on fire. They howled in agony as the whitecoats noted which coagulant agent sample worked the fastest in stopping the bleeding. The boys learned to stomach the gross congealed food when they could; some days they were injected with so many different serums, it made them sick to their stomach, the nausea crippling them for days.

"There's no end in sight," Teba said to Sven late one night, as he picked at a scab on his arm. The latest flea spray experiment caused a sore so severe, that he had been given a shot of antibiotics to clear infection. The injection site was an ugly wound from the constant use. Sven was sitting at the cell door, staring out into nothingness. He seemed out of it as usual, another long swim, another drowning, another rescue. He closed his eyes and sighed.

"The only end for us is when they get bored enough or run out of things to do to us. Keep strong Teba. We have to," Sven murmured. Earlier, when they led him down the hall to the swim tank, his nose had picked up the scent of death and fire coming from a vent they had passed. It read 'INCINERATOR'. It had recently been lit that morning. Sven knew what it meant.

"We're not going down without a fight. I won't let you give up," he turned his head to give Teba a fierce look of determination. The cream kumos weakly smiled, but feeling the drain of the daily experiments sapping whatever strength and willpower he had left.

"Dr. Beaty," a blue coat researcher stopped the doctor in the hall the next morning. She tugged on her shirt sleeve, trying to hide a bright blue flame-like tattoo she had inked on her bicep. The man was handed a notepad and he flipped through the pages. The numbers, images and graphs were intriguing.

"Your subject #320 has unusual readings from his MRIs. Different parts of the brain that are normally dormant are lit up, as you can see here," she explained to the doctor, as she pointed out everything with a pen. Dr. Beaty hummed with excitement.

"Interesting...thank you, I will consider cranial electroodes later this week. I'll order another MRI of #320 today," Dr. Beaty handed the notepad back to the blue coat and she nodded, before disappearing back to her office to crunch more math and test results. Dr. Beaty wondered if #320 could have unlocked some kind of psychic ability in the communication center of his brain. He was determined to find out, even if it meant progressing to vivisection.

Meanwhile, Sven and Teba waited for another day of suffering to start. Breakfast was running late, a bit unusual, but they appreciated the delay. Suddenly, the fire alarm in the room began to flash white and a bell sounded. And like magic, the doors to every cage and cell, as well as the normally locked wooden door for the room, sprung and held open.

"What the hell?!" Teba sat up and held his ears in discomfort. Sven shook his head and pushed his brother through the opening.

"GO! I don't know what's going on but let's go!!" Sven barked out, and the brothers, along with several other test subjects, beelined for the hallway. It was a confusing mess out in the halls, people were running around along with various test subjects. Some whitecoats were trying to wrangle the loose test subjects, others were trying to push on the automatic doors, trying to get them to shut but to no avail.

"Follow the exit signs!" Teba yelled from behind Sven, trying to keep up. His brother had gotten faster from all the swimming he did daily. As they ran past scientists and other workers, Teba heard a walkie-talkie radio's staticy voice say, "We need backup down here! Subject #279's going on a rampage, destroying equipment! We need the fire department called ASAP, the bastard caused a fire to break out."

A fire, that explained the chaos. The building had been rigged in its design, unbeknownst to everyone who worked there, to open all the doors in an emergency. That decision had extended to the test subjects' cages as well. With this good fortune, Sven and Teba knew this was their dash to freedom. They followed the exit signs and soon were back out on the city street, a breath of fresh air from the sterility of the research facility. Emergency sirens sounded from down the road, approaching the facility. The brothers simply ran, unsure of where they were going, but knew they had to get as far away as they could. After so many blocks, they turned down into an alley to catch their breaths.

"Insane..." panted Teba. He was severely out of shape, and his missing back leg had made it harder to run now. Sven panted heavily, sliding his back down the stone wall of an apartment, the coolness of the stone felt great. The smell of trash was a welcomed scent to his nose.

"Yeah, whatever that was about, we're in luck. We're free," Sven breathed in relief. They rested in the dark alleyway for hours, watching as traffic sped by. They had forgotten the noise of the city, the dirt and grime under their paws, and observed as the sun began to set, how beautiful the sky was as it turned orange, then soon to purple, then to dark blue as night set in.

The boys picked through the trashcan, savoring the delicious remains of half-eaten burgers and fries. This was better than that garbage they had been given every day in the lab. They ate til they were stuffed silly. They curled up in a corner with each other, hidden by bags of trash. One bag had been ripped, and its contents were spilling out, mostly made of paper.

"We've got to get out of here. We need to go as far away as we can," Teba broke the silence. His voice wavered with a sense of urgency. Sven yawned, and rubbed Teba's back, trying to get him to relax.

"We will. We'll run as far as we can so the whitecoats never find us. But we don't know what's out there. It scares me, the unknown. What if there's something worse than whitecoats?" Sven felt his own worry creep in. A breeze flowed through the alley, disturbing some of the paper trash littered around. A flyer stuck itself to Teba's side, and he went to crumple it up and toss it, when he read the flyer's contents.

"Then we need to arm ourselves, Sven," was all the cream Kumos said, as he studied the flyer intently. Sven looked over to it and read the contents as well, intrigued.

"MILLIONAIRE CENTER'S ANNUAL SUMMER SALE! Many wears and weapons discounted at hot deals! Sale begins August 24th, at 10am. Don't miss this exciting sale!" the flyer read, and had pictures of a sword and shield in one corner. It was stamped with today's date on it, August 16th. They had one week before the sale, one week to plan the ultimate heist that could lead them to endless freedom.

It was theirs for the taking, or die trying.