Mistaken Identity

Ember thought for a moment, unsure of what to say, “I'm not sure why they are here,” she admitted. Ember continued to sulk in the rear of her pen, she wasn't about to budge closer. She made the mistake of sleeping against the gate door yesterday and a smaller individual, who held a sweet substance on some kind of stick, had pulled her fluffy husky-like tail. This had caused her to react in an aggressive manner and a taller version of the small one had kicked Ember's gate until she retreated to the rear.

She laid silently in the back as she licked the area of her tail where hair had been ripped out by the roots. That had been the one and only time she remembers being touched by one of these unique creatures. “I can't tell if they're good or bad. Some seem really cheerful and others are full of anger or gloom... but it is true, they all seem to be looking for something,” Ember whispered.

Yet again, a small two legged creature, had stopped in front of her pen. They were jumping up and down and giving off a curious, excited vibe. Suddenly the small creature shouted, “Wolf! Mum! Wolf!” This caused Ember to perk up her ears in interest and curiosity, she turned to look at the creature, “I don't understand, Oreo... this one knows what I am,” she whined uncomfortably.

A taller two legged creature came by and stood by the shorter one, “we're not at the zoo, sweetie. We are at the dog pound to get you a pet. There are no wolves here, that's just a rust colored, cream husky.”

Ember tilted her head in confusion to the right. This movement had caused the small one to squeal in excitement, "CUTE!" This instantly caused the skittish Ember to pancake to the floor. “No, sweetie, this one seems scared to death. She's unpredictable, let us continue on,” the tall one explained before coxing the smaller one away from Ember's pen.

"What is a zoo? And what is a pet?," she asked Oreo, "and did you hear one say I am a wolf?" Is that what they want?  How did they know I am a wolf... she thought to herself. Ember had ran with a pack of huskies but they had all grown up on the streets themselves. That's why they accepted her so freely as an orphaned pup. She has no knowledge of the word "pet."

Ember quickly stood at attention, "Watch out Oreo! They're headed your way," she warned, as she walked to the front of her gate to try and get a better look from a distance.

Ember couldn't see Oreo directly, but continued to watch the best she could from the poor angle she was at. Her own interest and excitement had increased naturally as Oreo's excitement increased. The dogs around them barked louder and louder. Ember was quickly becoming overly stimulated. She was losing control of her emotions at this point and quickly became an anxious mess.

“Work with THEM? Are you crazy!” she huffed and her heart beat could be felt clear up in her skull. She couldn't tell what was going on but she could see the creatures were getting closer to his pen. This caused her anxieties to increase as her head began to throb.

This was around the time she should have heard Oreo speaking to her, but she was too lost within herself. She began to howl as if calling for pack reinforcement. It was not the sound of a husky. This sound was pure wild and urgent. She was worried they were going to hurt Oreo with how long they stayed at his pen. She could just barely see them reach for his gate.

The howl came without warning and only lasted a few seconds. It was enough to snap herself back into reality. She put her ears tight against her head and looked down with tail held tightly between her legs. Oh, no... She thought to herself. She realized the possible mistake she had made.

Had she put herself at risk? Or worse, put Oreo at risk? He was innocent at this point. Would the creatures even care at all about the intense sound coming from her pen? She waited silently.

Oreo quickly went to the back of the  cage, the anxiety Ember was setting off was at alarming speed. "Calm down, its just an idea. I meant if they can get us both out to look at us, we can escape. If thats not something you are comfortable with, we can come up with something else." Oreo Howled as well, from deep within his throat and let it out with as much soul as he could to try to get any attention from Ember on to him.  

The kid jumped back when they heard the howl and stared at Ember as if she were a shiny new toy. This made Oreo's fur bristle. He went back to the front of the cage and licked the cage before going to the back and laid next to the hole. He put his eye up against it to try to see her. "Hey, look at me Ember, its okay." He softly spoke, to the humans it would sound like a soft whine.


The adults that had backed against the cages across from them, slowly went back to Oreo's cage. The dog catcher grabbed a pole and walked next to the adults. "We have a problem here?" He asked, his voice gruff and his eyes on Ember. 
Oreo ignored the humans as much as he could, keeping his eye on the hole. Occasionally he would stare at the family to keep an eye on them.

"N..No.." The little girl said as she went in front of Ember's cage and knelt down. " I Think I pulled her for or somethin." She said in a innocent voice. Oreo wanted to roll his eyes but wondered why she would stick up for Ember. The other dogs continued barking and howling to the point that was all that could be heard. "QUIET!" The dog catcher yelled. 

Ember's eyes glanced up to meet the dog catcher's eyes. She lowered her body as low as she could, all but low enough to lay  down, and slightly leaned to one side. She kept her ears back and head tilted. She was displaying submission to the dog catcher. Please don't she thought.

While she was being submissive, she wasn't afraid to fight if she had to. She simply hoped it didn't come to that. Plus Ember was trying to calm herself to help prevent from escalating the situation farther.

She heard Oreo telling her that it was okay and that's when she noticed the young creature kneeling in front of her pen.

Ember watched and waited for a moment. She was examining the the girl and wondered what her intentions were. The creature seemed innocent... almost like a young pup. She kept her body and tight, but crawled toward the pen. She let out a whine, trying to indicate to the small creature that she meant her no harm.

“Oreo, there's something unique about this one. I don't like the others,” she said. She thought quitely to herself before continuing, maybe Oreo was right... maybe we can use these creatures to escape, “this one... she is different. You might be right. We might be able to get them to let us out... If I didn't blow it.”

Ember thought back to the dogs that made it out through the better of the two doors. They all behaved differently than those who were left behind with her. Hopefully Oreo was right and I didn't mess up our chances...

"Watch me," Ember whined nervously. Ember cautiously stood up. She wasn't removing her eyes from the small creature, but she also kept looking over to the dog catcher. She hated him with a passion and didn't want any surprises from him.

She then placed her warm body against the chain link fence. Trying to lean into the small creature to no avail with the barrier between them. She let out a comforting whine, again trying to make her understand she meant no harm to her. Perhaps also to help herself stay calm. She slid down the chain link and rolled over, exposing her fluffy belly to the girl. Again she whined.

"I saw the dogs behave like this," she barked at Oreo, in her best mimicked dog-like bark.

Oreo watched Ember and how she reacted to the lil one. He no longer felt like her anxiety was boiling into him. He stood up slowly and Slowly went to the front of the kennel. He kept his tail down and his tongue out. He didn't want to scare the human and was unsure what exactly would. He knew she liked it when his tongue was lolled so he worked with that. Instead of laying against the cage linked fence, he stayed front and center and did his best to make his eyes wide like when he tried to get out of trouble with his parents. They used to say he could get away with anything with that innocent look. 

"I agree, The lil one I am okay with. The parents not so sure. We have to be careful though. I don't trust them and don't want them to grab us as we flee and make a situation rise more than what it should. Whats the plan Ember?"  He asked with small whines and tried to mimick Ember's dog like bark. He put his butt in the air and head and paws down, to show playful.

The parents looked at Oreo with a strong distain in their eyes and he didn't understand why. The child seemed captivated by Ember. Oreo was okay with that though. "I think she likes you" He said as he laid down. He was moving around alot because of his high energy level mixed with curiosity and a small amount of fear.

The bigger ones werent his alpha and he would not comply with them. The dog catcher nodded to them and slowly opened both Oreo's and Embers cages. "Keep an eye on them. I will be right back, I have a phone call to make." The dog catcher growled. He walked out the door that swung open and closed when he left. Oreo noticed how easy it would be to make the escape. he stayed inside the cage, unsure of what to do from here. "What now, Ember?" he whined. 

Ember's throat made an audible gulp, our jaws are stronger than a dog's she thought. "Have you seen a snare?" Ember asked, without waiting for an answer she continued, "they used something like that on the dogs... try not to freak. When the time is right, I think we can bite our way free," she suggested.

Ember wouldn't admit it, but there was something she liked about the small creature, too. "Creature just knows I could eat them, if I wanted to," Ember chuckled as her stomach growled.

"We have to stand down when the material goes around our necks. That's the only way we will make it through that exit," she said uneasily. She knew this was true, she had seen more dogs locked back into their pen when they thrashed around. This made the creatures angry and the dog catcher always said their days were numbered the more as they thrashed.

Ember stood up and held her head in a relaxed position. Her legs remained tense and she'd be ready to spring into action if she needed to. But she wanted to appear welcoming even though she absolutely hated the idea. She didn't know what else they could do. "I don't know what happens on the other side of the exit," Ember warned, "we may have to think on our toes. We have to get the material off our neck and make it to the outdoors. When the time is right we must run and do not stop running!"

She waited for their gates to open.

Oreo was about to ask what a snare was until Ember explained. At least now it had a name.  He nodded and gave a huff to show her he understood. He watched the creatures and looked for the snare while trying to force his anger down remembering the snare. It hadn't hurt him but he definitely didn't approve of it. 

"The only time I noticed one was when they brought me in. I didn't know what it was called until now." He gave a soft chuckle to hide his discomfort. The dog catcher had come back in, grumbling. "These 2 huh?" He asked as he hit Oreo's cage. Oreo forced back a growl and instead tried to concentrate on his breathing. He didn't want to mess this up. Typically anger was not a problem with Oreo. He wasn't used to being caged and he blamed that secretly. 

The women nodded and the man crossed his arms while he waited for the dog catcher to bring them out. Another person came in, with 2 snares. "Okay, lets see if we can get these 2 out of here."  The new one said with a light laugh. "We have a area outside for them to go to , you can follow us.  You can play with them, try to walk them around. All we ask is don't leave with them. Of course one of us will watch just for safety reasons." 

The little one looked up at the one talking, her eyes shiny with excitement. "Will you use those things on them?" She asked. Oreo popped up on his feet while he waited for an answer. The man who was talking shifted on his feet for a moment and eyed the dog catcher before glancing at Oreo an Ember. "I believe so. I am still in training though, so I suspect he can correct me if I am wrong." He eyed the dog catcher and the swallow was noticeable. 

Oreo noticed the trainee's pants were long and dragged on the ground. He had an urge to chew on them. The dog catcher handed the trainee a catch pole as well and the trainee handed the dog catcher a snare. The others stepped back to let them do their job. "If they get aggressive or bite them use the snare. Lets make this quick. I want lunch."  He nodded to the trainee and both made their way towards Oreo and Ember.