Lonewolf: The Hell You Say

CHAPTER 1

Author's note:  A special thanks to @Wolphin5 for allowing me into his universe, borrowing a couple of characters, and assisting with portions that deal with his characters. And thanks to MaxD01. I mentioned this general storyline to him before he died, years ago. He told me to "go for it" lol. Well, I hope I can finish it...

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 THE LONEWOLF: THE HELL YOU SAY...

The 18-wheeler slowed and exited into the rest area. It followed the signs to the vehicles with trailers side, eased to a stop in a parking spot and with a hiss of released air, set the brakes. It was an impressive vehicle, a shiny, extra-large sleeper truck, with a custom looking trailer. The driver, inside, shifted to his right, stood up bent over a little, and stepped back towards the oversized sleeper and stood upright, stretching. The big dog on the bed stretched and stood, before hopping down to the floor and pushing against the driver's leg, nearly unbalancing him. "Dangit, you doofus head... Stop trying to kill me", he laughed as he scratched and rubbed her ears.

"You ready for a stretch and a break, Rose?" Rose wagged her tail viciously and whacked his legs several times. "OUCH!! Come on, man.... Watch that rebar you got for a tail... Alright, alright, let's go." He slid back up to the front, to the passenger's side this time, popping open the door and dropping to the ground. The 70 lbs. Pitbull hopping out beside him, and then sitting, waited for him to close the door. As the man shut the door, Rose woofed at him. He looked at her, and then reopened the door, reaching in and retrieved a long straight walking stick, reshutting the door. "Heel," he commanded, and then started towards the pet area that led towards some open woods, with Rose at his side.

They passed through to the  pet area and saw that it was an open shot into the woods. "Looks like a nice spot for a hike, Rose.... Let's go see what we can see..." They followed the trail for a few minutes. The man looked around, and not seeing anyone, plus remembering how few vehicles were in either side of the rest area, said "Go, break time." Rose took off like a shot and started investigating everything she could smell and see. Rose trotted from tree to tree, sniffing everything, occasionally looking back to be sure she could still see her protectee. She was a large Red Nose pitty, with a vaguely rose shaped splash of white on her chest. She had been professionally trained as a personal security dog. They had been together for about six months now, and Rose had formed a good rapport with the man who had bought her.

They wandered down the trail for about 45 minutes, they had gotten a fair distance from the truck. The man was keeping a casual eye on Rose as he strolled and walked with his stick. It wasn't one of those "professional" style, skinny carbon fiber walking sticks, it appeared to be just a tree branch that had been turned on a lathe and lacquered to nice reddish color. It had darker stained leather wrapped around the top 18 inches for gripping it, and another section of leather, roughly in the middle. The whole thing was about five feet long.

Reaching a clearing that was pretty good sized, Rose sniffed the perimeter and then softly woofed at the man. "Yeah, yeah... I know, practice, practice, practice...", the man responded. Then, after looking around, he moved through the grass to roughly the center of the clearing and took a stance, raising the walking stick like it was almost a short staff. He started spinning the short staff around himself slowly, at first, and then started moving and stepping into what appeared to be a kata of his own making. As he slowly sped up, he transitioned from staff work to something that more resembled a sword form. It wasn't smooth. If you knew what to look for, you could see that he was still learning. It would still scare the bejeezus out of some would be thief, if they were not a fighter.

Rose trotted around the outside of the clearing, sniffing, and investigating everything. Then satisfied it was safe, laid down on the upwind side and watched the man practice. After a few minutes the wind shifted slightly, and Rose growled, rising to a low ready, and moving to between the man and the new dangerous scent on the air. The man heard her growl, and stopped his practice, turning to see what had her upset. He saw nothing but remembering his training with the company he got her from, knew not to dismiss her signals. Then he heard loud crashing through the trees and brush, approaching them at a rapid pace. It got louder and louder as he adjusted the grip on his stick to appear like a batter that has choked up on a bat to a ridiculous degree, his right hand at the bottom of the leather wrapping, and his left just below that on the bare wood.