Sharpened [ On Hold Indefinitely ]

Prologue

A small sheet of light creeps into the Greenhouse Arena, causing the artificial plants to flash in my eyes. The lazy serum in the grass causes me to feel woozy, but I shake my head and scurry away. The floor of the huge arena seems to be lifeless, though I know there are other wolves hidden in the foliage.

I creep along the soft grass and slowly make my way to a discreet bush. I sit inside, waiting for others to mistakenly walk past.

Suddenly, my ears perk up as I hear a small rustling in the rose bush just a few feet away. The stupid creature must have been pricked by a few thorns, or maybe they are just oblivious to what is going on.

I ready myself for they pounce, hoping I can make it without clumsily crashing to the ground. Just then, a creature sails through the air and lands on the rose bush. There is a small yelp, probably made by the victim.

Perfect, I think. I crawl slowly through the underbrush, but at the last second decide to leave the prickly rose bush to the wolves inside it.

I am about to find a patch of non-lazy grass to lie down in, when I hear the gong. The test is over.

The group of Countless glide into the arena and the freeze takes over. Now I will know what happened. I small boywolf is dismissed, then another. The Countless make their way to me, but then pass by. I sigh. Maybe they'll come back.

The wolf who had pounced on the rose bush is dismissed next, but the victim is ignored. Ha. Serves them right for hiding in a rose bush.

After even more wolves are dismissed, I begin to worry. It looks as though the Countless are about to leave. Shaking my gray fur, I attempt to attract their attention. But it is no use. The group slowly walks out of the arena and the heavy door closes loudly.

So this is it. I'm done.

Suddenly, a small voice sounds right next to me, and I jump back, unsheathing my claws. I narrow my eyes when I see that it is a young girlwolf, one who must just be beginning her testing.

"Do you know what they are going to do to us?" She asks meekly. She looks so terrified that I almost feel sorry for her. Almost.

I decide to have a little fun.

"Well, first, they rip off every one of your claws," I say. I can already see her eyes widening in terror. "Then, they cut off your tail and you ears....slowly. Then they rip all the fur on your stomach."

The girl gives a little yelp, and I smirk. All newbies can be easily deceived.

"When are they coming to take us away?" She asks. That is just the question that I was asking my self.

I shrug at the girl.

Right then, the concrete does to the arena open again, and a group of differently dressed Countless stroll in. They look so calm, even though they are about to sharpen us. I tremble, but I try not to show the other girl.

I decide to be friendly. Kind of. "What's your name?" I question.

She stares up at me with huge gray eyes that are almost scary. After a few minutes of silence, she opens her mouth. "Darky."

I widen my eyes. Darky is a name that isn't usually used. I extend my hand to her. "Hi, I'm Timber." I try to smile, but it probably looks forced. "Oh, and they don't really do all those terrible things," I say, just to make sure she understood, those I see her exhale in relief.

I smirk, but inside I am thinking: they do worse.