The Law of Tooth and Claw

Prologue

Once upon a time, there were two creatures. The one with two pointed ears and a pointed muzzle holding many rows of pointed teeth was named Tooth. The one with a shorter muzzle that held deadly fangs, rounded ears, and claws sharper than a fine blade was named Claw.  The two beings were best friends: they played together, hunted together, slept in the same den, and defended each other in battle. No other creature could recount seeing one without the other as they did everything together, separating only to make dirt or to work together in a hunt. 

One day, while Claw was seeking a private spot to make dirt, he spotted a strange creature. Her scarlet, orange, and gold feathers made her as enchanting as a conflagration. Her voice was like the whispering wind, the groaning trees, and the babbling brook all harmonizing in a song of the forest. Her dancing mimicked that of the flames in a hungry wildfire. Claw was smitten by her beauty and approached her as in a trance, with his need to make dirt forgotten.  Unfortunately, Claw stepped on a dry leaf, disturbing the flaming creature’s magical dance.  As it was her nature, she flew in a startled clash of feathers. Having realized that the noise came from a benign and handsome creature, she lowered herself onto a low branch and sang to the muscly bundle of orange and black striped fur.

“My thunderous hunter, you have disturbed my dance of prayer for love. As is the custom for asking favors from Mother, I cannot dance again until next season. I have wanted another creature to call my love for many seasons, but you have ruined my chance for love this season. How shall you pay for your rudeness?”

Claw’s normally stentorian voice became as smooth as the son of Mother Nature, “Ask Mother never again for I will be your love. Will you--”

“I accept, my love, my beautiful hunter. My name is Plume. What is yours?”

“Dear precious Plume, my name is Claw.”

“That is a dangerous name for a dangerous warrior. Will you leave your post to be my guardian and my love?”

“Yes, I will follow my treasure till the day we die. I pledge my undying loyalty to you.”

From that day on, Claw played with Plume, hunted with Plume, slept in the same tree as Plume did, and defended Plume in battle.  Tooth, worried for his friend, searched for him throughout the lands, and, after many seasons of sleepless nights and rumbling bellies, he caught Claw’s woodsy scent mingled with the sickening scent of smoke. What he saw was not the singed body of his friend, but a large bonfire, an enflamed phoenix, and the four long fangs of Claw. A thunderous roar filled the air and the song of life began. The fire, the phoenix, and the song sung only near a birthing or a hatching meant one thing, the phoenix’s chicks are hatching. And the only male guarding the nest would be the father of the chicks, Claw.

Infuriated with betrayal, Tooth confronted Claw, “How could you leave me, your best friend, your brother! I have searched far and wide for you; I have gone without much food or sleep, all to assure your safety, and this is how you repay me? You ran away with a female!”

“This female has a name, you mangy mutt! She is the gorgeous and majestic Plume, my love. You will not take another step closer and threaten our children.”

“Those ugly blind things singed from the fire? I can’t believe that my brother would desert me for love. You are no brother of mine; you are the enemy.”

Tooth lunged into battle against his former friend, but he did not aim for Claw. Claw’s strong but heavy body could not catch Tooth’s lightweight frame. Tooth landed on the smoldering remains of the hatching nest, and with a couple swift bites, beheaded the helpless offspring.  Claw, blinded with rage, unsheathed his deadly claws and swiped at Tooth, taking out a chunk of gray fur and bloody flesh. The two began fighting furiously, tangling into an indistinguishable ball of orange, black, and gray fur. Biting and scratching, neither side seemed to be backing down, until Claw’s hind claws positioned themselves under the soft belly of Tooth, dug in, and sliced through.  Tooth backed away in a few seconds of pain, but soon recovered as his healing power was superior to most other creatures.  Plume cried for Claw; her tears landed on his wounds and undid the damage done by Tooth’s needle-like teeth. Wolf and tiger charged again, aiming for the vulnerable neck, Tooth with his long, sharp muzzle and Claw with his razor sharp teeth.

“STOP!” cried a stern female voice.

Everything went still. The trees did not bend, the wind did not blow, and the brook did not bubble. Tooth’s muzzle stopped a hair away from Claw’s neck, and Claw’s talons from Tooth’s throat. From nowhere came the same stern voice.

“Thou shalt not kill each other. Thou art the first of thy kind. Thou shalt live and reproduce for now as thy progeny will fight each other unprovoked and unconditionally as arch enemies. Thy descendants and followers shalt heed the Law of Tooth and Claw.”

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If you thought that this story is somehow related to Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton, I am sorry. I do not mean to steal the author's ideas.