Pack Leader

Author's note: This story is a stand-alone continuation of "The cat from another world" and "The Vulami Mating Ritual".

I stumbled out of the wreckage. My head was throbbing. The brightness from the sun stung in my eyes. My brain went into survivalist mode, remembering the training I'd been through at the Academy. Forget what's not important, focus on the here and now. Focus on the immediate problems, solve them one by one. Adapt. Overcome.

Point one: I was alive. Check for wounds or trauma, make sure I stay that way. Doing a quick check of my extremities, my body seemed fine. Bruised, tender everywhere, but there were no signs of internal bleeding. I could stand, even walk, albeit with difficulty. I sat on a rock for a minute, just trying to breathe. That was another piece of good news; there was oxygen enough. I seemed to recall somebody shouting that they were aiming for the nearest class 8 planet when we were going down. They must have aimed right.

Point two: check for other survivors. Did that. There were none. I looked back at the twisted remains of the shuttle. Commander Li sat strapped in his chair with what was clearly a broken neck, and no vitals. His co-pilot had done an amazing job getting the shuttle down here, but he was also killed in the impact. The rookie assigned to our group had been too slow to strap in, and had been thrown around the cabin like a rag doll during our rapid descent. Just me, then. No idea how I managed that; by all accounts, I should be dead, like the others. The craft looked like it had been thrown clean through a mountain. Still, here I was.

Point three: supplies. I went back to the wreckage and started rummaging through the crates mounted to the internal walls. I had water and some rations. Maybe a few days' worth. Okay, that's good, I thought. Maybe it could last long enough to be rescued. Surely, somebody would send a search party soon. I also had my pack of standard gear, so I could build a rudimentary shelter. Get out of this hot sun. Couldn't find a working radio anywhere, though. Dammit.

Point four: where the fuck was I? Looking around, it looked like a craggy desert. Red and brown, some plants in the distance... Could it be Corelus? One of those rocks the Alliance had fought the Terali over? Harsh environment, hot sun ... might be. It was near the disputed border, after all. I held my aching head, trying to remember the briefings from the past week. Disputed border territory... three habitable planets undergoing survey... one of them had sentient life... I couldn't remember what that was about, but I remembered somebody saying that as long as the planets were disputed, we couldn't start a full colonization.

Yeah, they were "disputed", all right. Fucking Terali had started shooting us up as soon as the shuttles entered the zone. I wondered what had become of the others, if they had managed to get back to the cruiser or if they had all been destroyed. Maybe they didn't have a pilot as good as ours, or maybe they had gotten lucky... Maybe there was still a battle raging in the skies above, maybe not... The marine in me kicked in and forced me to let go of it - there was nothing I could do about any of that right now anyway.

I got to work building the shelter, thinking about my options. Should I stay with the shuttle or try to get to those trees in the distance? If there was plant life, there was a chance of finding water. Possibly food. However, if a rescue party managed to get down here, staying with the shuttle would be the best bet. I decided to stay for the time being and go exploring later. For now, a bit of water, some food ... and rest. I rolled out a mat and inflated the foam, taking shelter next to the ruined shuttle and tried to get some sleep.

I woke to a weird sound. A huffing, like intermittent wind, just ... weirder. As I opened my eyes, the sound came closer, and I suddenly became aware of a presence. I was not alone. It was dark and I couldn't see clearly, but there was a large shadow moving towards me. It came closer and closer, and then I realized what the sound was. It was the sound of an animal sniffing me out, approaching as it caught my scent.

I tried to move as silently as possible, but as soon as I sat up, the animal spotted me. It didn't attack immediately, and I was not going to provoke it, but I fished out my knife and got ready to defend myself if I needed to. I was trying to make out the shape of the creature, but it was too dark to see clearly. All I could see was that it was big and furry, and that it had a long tail. It moved silently around me, clearly observing.

"Shoo." I said, trying to send it away. Maybe I could scare it off, I thought. Then I heard growling.

"Grrrrr..."

"Shoo! Go away!" I repeated, but it wasn't going anywhere.

"Chars. Hewwas. Rrrrr..." it growled.

I was beginning to prepare myself mentally for a fight to the death, when I suddenly felt something move behind me. Then I was knocked unconscious.

I woke the next morning - at least I think it was morning, it was hard to tell, but at least it wasn't dark anymore. I looked around and saw that I was in some kind of tent. Well, calling it a tent was generous; it looked more like a big sheet of cloth just draped over some sticks pounded into the ground. But it definitely looked like somebody made it - not just a cave or clearing inhabited by animals. It was big, about fifty feet across. When I looked up, I could see several shapes moving around, and I heard voices. So... they could talk... and they could make things? That would make them sentient.

They were big, four-legged creatures with red-brown fur and pointy ears. They had long, bushy tails and long snouts. When one of them yawned, I could see long rows of sharp teeth in its maw. At first I thought they moved only on four legs, but then I noticed several of them walking around on two, seemingly just as easy. It seemed they could choose whether to act as bipeds or quadrupeds. All in all, they reminded me of a mixture between dogs and cats.

"Database. Identify."

I whispered to my wrist-mounted scanner, which I suddenly realized wasn't there. Nor were my clothes, they had all been removed and I was completely naked, lying on a fur mat. The computer voice replied from a bundle nearby.

"Specify entry."

I looked around to see if any of them had seen me move. If they had, they didn't seem to care - they kept moving around without bothering to check on me. I turned over on the floor and reached for the little pile of clothes that had been thrown into a corner. Just managing to fish out the little computer from the bundle, I then aimed it at one of the creatures and repeated:

"Identify species."

"Species ID 124-7D. Temporary designation: Coreli. Traits: clan-based hierarchy. Aggressive."

That was all I had time for before some of them started looking at me. They didn't look pleased. One of them came rushing over on all fours, taking the computer off me and throwing it back into the corner. It shook its head and looked at me. Then it spoke in a hushed whisper:

"Not."

I guessed it was a female - she was quite small compared to some of the bigger creatures nearby, and the voice was lighter than the dark growling of the big, muscular ones.

"Hey..." I tried. "Do you speak? Can you understand me?"

"Yes..."

"Where am I? What's going on?"

"You slave. Or food. Chief decide. Obey if you want survive."

She spoke faster and faster as she neared the end of her sentence, as if sensing that she needed to wrap it up. Then she quickly moved to the side, bowing down and moving away from the approaching chieftain. She wasn't quick enough, though, and he kicked her aside as he came towards me.

"RRRR.... Rrrraass... quiet!" he growled, baring his teeth and showing me four sharp canines, before giving me a kick with one of his powerful hind legs.

Okay, don't mess with that one, I thought as he turned and walked away, posturing for the others. I rubbed the spot where he kicked me. It actually hurt - a throbbing pain that grew steadily as seconds ticked by. These creatures were strong. Good intel, that. The female one was still around, though, sneaking up behind me on all fours, trying to stay out of the way of... well, seemingly everybody.

"Why do you speak my language?" I whispered to her as I lay back down on the little fur mat. "Have you met others like me before?"

"Yes. Others. They come. They talk. We learn. They leave."

Survey missions. Had to be. Some kind of contact must have been made in the time available before the Terali had entered the sector and laid claim to it. Why didn't anybody tell us about these things before we went near these places? Then again, maybe they had - there had been a zillion briefings lately, most of which I'd slept through. Anyway, there must have been quite a bit of contact if these Coreli had been able to learn this much.

I took a moment to look around some more. There were about a dozen Coreli inside the tent - the males somewhat bigger than humans, standing some 7-8 feet tall when up on their hind legs. Most of them were smaller, though, and I guessed those were either females or young ones. The female who had talked to me was a diminutive one, maybe 4-5 feet tall, although it was difficult to tell since she kept her belly to the ground as much as possible.

Time passed and nothing really happened. I started to get hungry and wondered if I could ask for food, but then my stomach started growling and the little female heard it from her spot a few feet away.

"You wait..." she whispered. "I find."

She snuck off silently and quickly came back with a handful of something. I didn't know what it was, but I was starving and it smelled like fresh seafood, so I took it and wolfed it down before I could think too much about it.

"Thank you." I whispered to my little friend, who promptly made herself scarce again.

A while later, it was beginning to get a bit chilly. I hadn't been feeling the cold so far, because the climate was warm enough to walk around without clothes, but now the sun was apparently setting. Days were short in this place, I thought, and I wondered how long I had actually been here. That bump on my head was still aching, could it be messing with my sense of time? I took the fur I was lying on and pulled it around me, curled up into a little ball and tried to sleep again. If I was going to make it through whatever fate awaited me, I'd need to be rested.

I was roused by the female from earlier. She was prodding me with her nose and paws, trying to wake me without making noise.

"You wake... wake... danger..."

"Wha... what's going on?" I muttered, sleepily.

"Feast. Males have feast. Will go hunt. They hunt you for sport after. You run. Go now, maybe start before they ready."

Right. That's a bad situation to be in. Those big dog-cat things about to gang up on me and tear me to pieces. Once again my training kicked in, preventing me from panicking and focusing on what was important. They did indeed seem to have some kind of feast, eating and cheering, some of them dancing around fires outside the tent.

"Where is my ship? Where they found me?"

"That way." she answered and pointed her paw to the right from the entrance. "Follow river, pass trees, then go to rocks."

"Thank you." I said and snuck out of the tent while the Coreli were busy.

I found the river quickly, it was right by their camp. I ran along it as fast as I could without tripping in the dark, and soon enough I came to some kind of forest. The plants looked weird, unlike anything I'd seen before, but they were definitely plants. I needed to go past them, she said. So I did, following the river until the forest was behind me. Then I spotted a craggy hill that looked very familiar. It was beginning to dawn, and I could see the outline of the big rock our shuttle had hit before smashing into the ground. I started running up the hill, feeling more and more sure that I could make it there before any of the Coreli hunters found me.

No such luck. I heard howling and snarling behind me and increased the pace, but to no avail. These things were fast. Once they had picked up my trail, they were on me in minutes. I tried my best to fight them off with a stick I found on the ground, but they swarmed me and threw themselves on top of me until I was pinned underneath them.

"So this is how I die, then." I thought, but once again I was wrong.

They dragged me back to their camp, half carrying me, half making me walk and pushing me to the ground whenever they thought I didn't go fast enough. Or whenever they felt like it. I was getting really fed up with this. If they were going to kill me, couldn't they just get it over with? No, apparently not. They seemed to want to play with their prey before killing it.

As we made it back to camp, the sun was once again rising and the fires were still lit, Coreli dancing and howling all around as the hunting party brought back their quarry. I could see now that their camp was located in a shallow ravine with rocky hills on both sides. They had made several of those primitive tents along the walls, effectively creating their own little caves that provided shelter from the sun. It would have been nice, had it not been for the fact that I was dragged back here.

They left me in the middle of the camp, sitting on the dusty ground while they continued to run around, howling and celebrating. If I tried to stand up, some of the males would come jumping over and kick me back to the ground. Some would do that even if I stayed down. Eventually, I'd had enough.

"Hey! Flea bag!" I yelled at the big one who had graced me with the presence of his foot yesterday. "If you're going to kill me, get it over with! I'm right here! Come and get it!"

The camp went quiet for a second, then the Coreli started making a sound I could only assume was laughter. The males were nudging and pushing each other, rolling on the ground and jumping around like playful dogs. The biggest one of the bunch took a step towards me and smiled, showing his whole array of teeth.

"I kill you. When I want." he said gleefully, growling and snarling, causing much laughter from his fellows as he turned back to them.

Fuck this guy. I wasn't gonna take this. If I was going to die, I'd go out fighting, and on my terms, not his. Seriously, fuck this guy.

"You'll do it now." I said, causing him to turn back to face me. "Kill me, or I'll kill you."

That was all it took. The database had described these creatures as "aggressive", and boy, was it on point. One provocation and he flipped out. He gave a loud howl into the air, causing the males around him to join in. Then he started growling and came running at me.

I rolled to the side, avoiding him as he leaped past me. He turned quickly, though, and bounced at me so fast I couldn't duck away. I was thrown to the ground, and for a second I thought that was it. Apparently, though, he wasn't done 'playing' with his 'prey'. He jumped around on all fours, snarling and howling, causing the others to cheer and howl along with him.

As I stood up, I found a rock on the ground - about twice the size of my fist, just big enough to hold in my hand. I picked it up; an improvised weapon is better than none. Once again, the big furry beast lunged at me, and this time... I hit back.

I got lucky. Just as he smashed into me, my rock made contact with his head. I ended up on my back with him on top of me, but I quickly pulled myself away from under his body and stood up. He remained on the ground, motionless.

I roared. The sound of my voice echoed in the canyon. It was so loud, my throat immediately felt sore. Still, it felt good. Primal. Like all the aggression built up inside me had to come out, and found release in a mighty bellow from the depths of my lungs. All the frustration of having gotten stuck here, then taken prisoner by these furry beasts and treated like a toy for their amusement ... I'd had enough.

I yelled again, and started kicking the body of my fallen enemy. He didn't move. As I grabbed his furry back and turned him over, I could see that his skull was cracked. I had scored a direct hit.

"Yeah, that's right, you piece of shit! That's what you get!" I yelled at him and kicked the lifeless body again.

I took a breath, feeling the taste of blood in my mouth. Everything else around me had gone quiet. I looked around. The tribe had been watching the events unfold. Now they all stood frozen in place, seemingly shocked at what had just happened.

"Anybody else?!" I shouted and held up the rock in my hand. "Come on, then! Come and get me, I'll kill you all!"

None of them came at me. Even the big males seemed to cower as I took a step towards them. Suddenly, some of the females started to move. Some of them ran away. They seemed to start rounding up the young ones, shooing them away as if to spare them the sight of bloodshed. Some started yelping, sounding desperate and panicky. The one who had helped me earlier then came towards me, moving carefully as if to avoid provoking me.

"No more fight... can come with me?" she said, and I dropped the rock to show her I agreed.

She came over to support my weight, although I didn't understand why she thought I'd need her help ... until I saw my shoulder, that is. That's where the big guy's claws had swiped across. Blood was still seeping from the wound. I was so full of rage and adrenaline that I hadn't felt it before. It didn't look too deep, but that would need fixing. I allowed my new friend to help me walk towards one of the tents. The biggest one in the camp, looked like.

As we came in, two Coreli were feverishly preparing something in there, carrying things around and tidying up. Lots of furs were laid in a pile and they directed me towards it.

"Ready for you." one said as I was put on the bed of furs.

"Lie here, I help your wound?" my friendly female said, and I agreed.

"Yes, do that."

I wasn't sure what they could do about wounds like these, but I was curious to find out. As it turned out, they seemed to have lots of experience healing simple gashes - probably needed in a group like this, where they'd be biting and scratching each other all the time. A kind of bandage was put on my shoulder, and some kind of sticky liquid smeared on top of it. At first, it stung a bit. Then it started to feel better, taking the pain away like a local anesthetic.

They gave me a wooden bowl containing some kind of liquid.

"Drink. It help. Heal and sleep." the female said, holding it up to my lips.

Not having drunk anything for a long while, I swallowed all of it in seconds. It tasted like a sweet nectar, maybe with something alcoholic added to the mix. Or was it stronger than that? I was already starting to feel drowsy, almost dizzy. Then there was the running, the fighting, the crash - it had all worn me out. The furs under me felt very comfortable, as if I was sinking into an ocean of furry animals.

"What is your name?" I asked the female who had been so attentive to me.

"Greuwil." she said, timidly.

Her voice echoed in my head as I drifted off to sleep...

I woke up some time later, surrounded by warm bodies, all curled up on the pile of furs around me. It felt so comfortable, I almost didn't feel like getting up, except that I really needed to pee. I extricated myself from the soft bed and went outside the tent. Not seeing any particularly suitable place, I just went to the side of the entrance and peed on the rocky wall there. Everything was still quiet out there. It looked like the sun was rising - a very early morning. Had I slept a whole day? How long was even a day on this rock?

I went back inside and looked around for my clothes but didn't see them anywhere. The tent was quiet, all the Coreli inside sleeping peacefully. Not seeing anything better to do, I went back to the soft bed and lay back down. As I did so, the furry bodies around me shifted, causing us all to snuggle up together in one big pile. It very quickly started to feel warm and soft and safe... so I fell asleep again.