Heart of the Wild (2.0)

Chapter 6

Four Years Later
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     Branch walked through the forest on all fours, smiling wide as he looked around at his pack, finally spotting his best friend, Terk.

"Terk! Hey, Terk!" Branch barked, running over to his friend with a smile.

She looked over at him, smiling at the sight of her friend approaching.

"Hey, Branch," she greeted.
"You wanna wrestle?" Branch asked, beginning to playfully wrestle with Terk, biting gently at her ears.

The Cuddle Pup laughed, fighting back, until a voice interrupted.

"Come on Terk! Step on it!" another Cuddle Pup called over, a group of them running off towards the lake not far away from their home. "Last one there's a stink bug!" "Yeah... and the first one's gotta eat it!" Terk yelled back with a laugh, climbing out from underneath Branch, as she began to run after them.

"Wait Terk! Wait!" Branch called, chasing after her. "Can I come?"

Terk stopped for a moment, looking back at him.

"Well... I mean..." she started, not knowing how to tell him she didn't want him to come.

     Don't get her wrong... she liked Branch. He was her best friend, but this group of Cuddle Pups... she really wanted to be friends with them, and Branch... well... he could be a bit embarrassing at times, since he was so different from everyone else.

"I... I mean..." Terk continued. She looked at Branch, who was sitting in front of her, the biggest smile on his face, as he wagged his nonexistent tail, his tongue flopping out of his mouth with joy.

"Y... yeah..." she finally answered. "You could come... if you could keep up." Branch cocked his head, looking at her, as she continued, smiling innocently. "But you know... you can't really keep up." Branch frowned, his ears dropping a bit.
"Oh..." he said softly.

"Wait up guys! Wait up!" Terk yelled, quickly leaving Branch to follow the rest of the Cuddle Pups. "I'm coming!"

Branch sighed, watching after her, and then smiled, gaining a determined look on his face, as he quickly took off after them.

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"Stop hitting yourself! Stop hitting yourself! Stop hitting yourself!" one of the Cuddle Pups laughed, making one of his friends punch himself in the face over and over, as the three of them waited for Terk to arrive.

"The fu-un has arri-ived!" Terk sang, jumping out of the bushes, before taking a bow. "Thank you... thank you very much. "

"What took you so long?" the oldest member of the group asked, scratching behind his ear with his foot.

"I had a little pest-control problem..." Terk said, feeling a bit embarrassed. "But don't worry about it. It's all taken care of..."

Before she could fully finish her sentence, Branch pounced out of the bush behind them, accidentally crashing into her, sending them both falling down into a short tumble.