In a no-name cove on the coast of California, just outside of Santa Del Mar, a scene was brewing. Down on the sand, a pack of dogs numbering twelve was standing to attention and gathering. Down the side of the cliff, along a small path leading down to the beach itself, a large white dog with a black mark on his forehead was descending at a calm walk.

Internally, he was anything but calm. However, to give that up would be defeat in and of itself. So, he forced himself to be calm. To walk with purpose rather than run or cower. Step after step. Below, he could see the dogs spreading out so when he stepped onto the beach he would be surrounded.

As he set foot on the sand, one of the most important battles for determining the outcome of this world had officially begun. Of course, no one present knew that.

Some part of him had expected to be rushed from all sides right away, but as one of the pack slinked closer to get into position, the leader barked loudly in that direction, and it ceased.

Star made his way to the center of the circle and stopped. He looked at the leader curiously, and then understood. He was a challenger to her authority. She would deal with him.

Well, that made things simple. It was mutual that neither of them wanted the others involved. He met her eyes, and stood as tall as he could. He could feel his hackles rising as he let out a growl, and tried to communicate his intent.

‘I came to settle things.’

She took a few steps forward into the circle. She was a little bigger than him, and he could sense some amount of mana on her. Although, she didn’t seem to have his spark of intellect that he could tell. 

Her fur bristled, gleaming in the light of the setting sun. He saw her take a ready stance, and then she dashed. Fast! She was so fast! He dodged her charge with difficulty, spun and snapped at her. She effortlessly dodged it, and charged again from his side, slamming him hard enough to send him rolling. 

Star found his feet as fast as he could, only to find her stalking a slow circle around him. Why had she not leapt? Then he realized. She was toying with him! Well of course. He was an asset, if she could force him to submit rather than tearing his guts open.

As if he would! Star took the initiative and leapt at her. But his enemy sidestepped the attack with ease. Fine! His next movement was a feint, and when she dodged again he changed course to aim where she would be moving to!

But just as his teeth were about to clamp down on the flesh covering her ribs, the she-dog blurred. She was gone. For a second he lost track of her completely, before she slammed him again from behind! How had she moved so fast?

He hit the sand, rolling again, and found his footing. She was stalking around him again. This was bad. Where she had hit him really hurt. He thought he might be bleeding, even though she hadn’t used her teeth. But he had no time to look right now. If he waited too long, she would be making the first move.

What did he have that she didn’t? She was faster, and larger. How was he supposed to win? What did he have? He was smart, and he could jump high. How could he turn that into a win?

This time when his enemy lunged forward, Star ran. He had an idea. She chased him, gaining on him quickly. Star played the coward, whining and running from her along the outside of their arena. Strange dogs snapped at him as he got close, but didn’t move from their spots. When the demon was right on top of him, practically nipping at his feet, he made his move.

Focusing the energy he’d normally put into a jump, he kicked as much sand as he could directly into her face. He heard the sharp sound of pain as sand went into her eyes, and immediately turned. Let’s see her try to dodge blind! This was it! His chance! This would only work once!

He leapt, throwing himself on top of her, and clamping his teeth down over her scruff. But the second he did, he realized he’d made a mistake. Pain! Sharp pain filled every part of him that was touching her. Her fur was sharp! Like a thousand needles digging into his flesh! He yelped in pain and rolled off of her, trying to shake as many of the needles as he could off of him.

What? How had she done that? He stared as she rubbed at her eyes, shaking her head. The Mana. Of course. The mana was infused into her fur! It was strong! Strong and sharp! How was he supposed to hurt her? More than that, his plan wouldn’t work twice, and she had almost recovered from his last ditch sand attack. Think! Think!

The monster had recovered, and she looked angrier than ever. He knew. This time, she’d be coming at him for real. She lifted her maw to the sky and howled. It echoed through the cove like the demon’s scream it was, and this time it echoed through Star as well. Straight into the depths of his heart and soul, he could feel it ringing through him.

The next charge would be do or die. But how could he win? He had to outmatch her speed with his wit again, in a different way, and on top of that, he might be able to force a surrender if he had his teeth around her throat. But anywhere else wouldn’t work, and even then he’d have to power through the pain. He just couldn’t inflict enough damage on her to win without hurting himself too much in the process.

The orange light of the setting sun had never felt more ominous. Was the sun setting on his life as well? Star braced himself, ready to run. If he could buy himself even another couple seconds to think of a plan, it would be worth it. He had to do this. He had to win. Right now. If he didn’t, his Master–

The she-dog lunged. Star turned and ran again, as fast as he could. Just a little longer. A little longer! He turned towards the shore, and briefly considered diving into the water and hoping he was a better swimmer, when a real plan hit him. The sun setting sun was still a little above the horizon, and he ran straight for it. As he reached the edge of the arena, he leapt, higher than the dog guarding the edge could have known Star could leap! Right over it, and he continued towards the shore. Pushing her pack-mate out of the way cost the leader a second, letting Star get a little more time. And as he reached his destination, in ankle deep sea water, he turned and howled. A challenge. 

A challenge she wasn’t going to let him get away with. He saw her put on her full speed. She was a blur! Black and white with flashes of glacial blue, a whirling flash of teeth and fur! But just before she reached him, he leapt, straight up. Her eyes moved to track him and–

He was backlit by the sun. He could see the moment she realized she wouldn’t be able to track his movements. This was it! His one and only remaining chance! He braced himself for the pain, and landed on her bodily, shoving her to the sand and water beneath them. His teeth found her throat. The enemy’s fur dug into his flesh, drawing blood and stinging. But he forced himself to hold her still.

Because the second half of his plan was only a second behind. A wave hit them. It was only high enough to come up to Star’s chest, but that was enough that the she-beast’s head was fully under the water. He let go of her throat and focused on keeping her down through the pain.

He had this! He could do it! He– He was going to kill her? Wait. Did he want to kill her? No. Not really. But was this the only way? He would do it if it was the only way. If he let her up, could he still force her to submit, if she didn’t right away?

The thrashing under him grew weaker. Star realized he didn’t have the heart for this. Whatever happened, happened. This wasn’t prey. Killing for food was one thing. This was one of his own, and she was responsible for the others. 

Star let off the pressure, and started towards the dry sand. Then, he instantly realized another problem. He wasn’t sure she could make it on her own. By now the water was flowing out, but she didn’t seem to be getting to her feet!

Star turned back, and bit her scruff. Pain filled his mouth, but he bore it. He began pulling. Fortunately, he was more than strong enough and in less than a minute he had her up away from the waves. She was still conscious and moving, but sluggishly. Coughing, and once she was able to move more freely, she vomited. A shame, it was a waste of food given her pack’s current situation.

Star stood over her, prepared to begin the fight anew if she tried anything. But, when she was able to breathe, she showed him her belly.

He had won?

He had won.

He had won!

Star let out a howl of victory. 

But now what? If he simply maintained his territory, wouldn’t this new pack starve? He didn’t want to cause them starvation. 

What could he do? He looked over the pack, now all quite willing to show him their bellies as well. Good. Let it be so. But, he didn’t want to replace the pack leader. How could he communicate this? He would help them, but he would not lead them.

As he was thinking of this, a strange smell caught his attention. Magic? He could smell magic on the wind. And a beast. An idea struck him. He was going to lead them on a hunt. Let him provide for them, and then leave.

---

 

Lily was starting to get really worried. She was still sitting in her driveway, but she had stopped doing magic. The sun had gone down, and Star still wasn’t back. What was she supposed to do? The first time she let him wander off and he just didn’t come back?

Had something happened? Or had he decided he didn’t want to be here? She thought they had been on such good terms. No, no!

Lily shook her head. Star wouldn’t do that. But that left… Either he didn’t think he’d be out so late and was heading back, or something happened.

A while ago, she’d considered that maybe he was lost. Her magic practice had paid off for the day too! She’d figured out how to conjure a glowy ball of light like she had expected a [Light] spell to work. It involved the glyph for light, and one from the pit that seemed to just concentrate whatever it was pointed at. So, she had conjured a rather large orb of light and had it floating above the mansion.

She was really hopeful it would help Star find his way back if he was lost. But she felt helpless to do anything. Even if she knew what direction to leave in, she knew those wild dogs were still out there. The last thing she wanted was to go out looking for Star and end up getting eaten by hungry animals. But could she wait until morning to go looking?

“Star. Where are you? I’m worried. Please come home.”

She’d said as much out loud a hundred times since the sun went down. But this time, something different happened. She heard a loud bark from outside where she could see, and recognized his voice! It came from around the side of the house towards the forest!

She jumped up and ran over there, more relieved than she could express.

“Oh thank goodness! I was worried sick, Mister! I am never ever letting you– oh my god.”

As she turned the corner, she was not prepared for the sight she saw. The first thing she noticed was blood. So much blood. A wave of relief passed over her when she realized it wasn’t from Star. But then she realized what it was from. Half of a full sized bull elk was laid out neatly next to Star. It seemed to have been torn into two pieces? How? Where was the other half? How did Star get it here? Why?

“Oh, what the hell!”

Star barked and wagged his tail.

“What am I supposed to do with this? You know I can’t just… just! Tear into it with my teeth right?”

Star’s tail stopped wagging, but the happy panting face continued staring at her. He tilted it slightly, confused.

“Did you get that for me?”

Star barked, and the tail wagging started again.

“... Can you move it? Er, bring it here?”

She had practiced ‘bring it here’ with him, so she wanted to be sure he understood. She watched in complete awe as he grabbed an antler in his mouth, and pulled. It didn’t move quickly, but it did slide slowly through the grass.

“Okay okay! I get it. Let’s. Um, let’s get it into the backyard. Then maybe I can freeze it with magic until we figure out what to do with it? I can just keep it frozen and give you frozen bits maybe? Ugh, god I don’t want to touch it.”

Star looked offended, and let out a small whine.

“No no. It’s not like that Star! I’m happy! I just. This is just. It’s a lot okay? Thank you. You’re a good boy. But don’t stay out so late next time! You really scared me! I guess you were out getting this? Geez. I’m not short on food to give you, you know?”

He just stared. She met his eyes, and could swear there was even a little more there than when he left. She sighed.

“Alright, let’s get this thing inside the fence at least.”