Bear Coast

by Sven Grams

  “Don’t you have any male soldiers?” asked Trex to Sara nearby.

  Sara looked over at the group of thirty or so soldiers that were nearby.

  “A few,” replied Sara, thinking of her sister’s crush, the young male wolf officer Atonn, “but most of them are females. Except for times of war, then males are conscripted as reserves.”

  “Are there any wolf males in positions of power?” Trex continued to ask, noticing that all the captains of the ships were female, though most of the crew appeared to be male.

  “Some…” answered Sara, thinking a bit about the question, “my grandfather for one, but mostly they get into that position through marriage.”

  Trex frowned. He had never really appreciated how one-sided Wolf society was. It was nowhere near as apparent down in the lower planes.

  Sara thought about her grandfather. There was a perfect example of how skewed the system was. Technically, her grandmother had clearly outranked the Treasurer Mrs. Litzess before her death. But now that her Grandfather had taken over her Grandmothers duties, he had to share power despite having more responsibilities and experience then Mrs. Litzess.

  The sad truth was that it would simply not have been acceptable to have a male Anthro wolf as lone deputy while the Mayor was away. So Mrs Litzess had taken the post, even if only as a figurehead under the constant advice of her grandfather. Something her Grandfather had accepted without even the slightest of annoyance, showing how ingrained the system was, even with him.

  Trex made sure they were the only ones in earshot.

  “Why?” he asked quietly.

  “Sorry?” asked Sara, coming back to her senses.

  “Why are no males in position of authority?”

  Sara hesitated for a second, not sure how to respond.

  “Females are stronger…” she said, being the most obvious answer.

  Trex didn’t look particularly impressed. Sara grimaced slightly, having not expected to be put on the spot.

  Well, she thought, if Trex really wanted to know, she would tell him… no holding back.

  “Its tradition, that’s just the way things are. Most males are good at doing simple labour or tasks, but they normally don’t have a good grasp of more complex, multiple issues… the bigger picture.”

  Trex looked unimpressed, but Sara pushed on.

  “Anyway, if males do get into power, they get too egocentric and are too easily swayed by a pretty face… most are fairly weak willed and not really trustworthy.”

  Trex crossed his arms.

  “You wanted to know,” said Sara simply.

  “What about lion males, what about your father, he’s not like that,” said Trex, honestly disappointed.

  “Lions are lions,” said Sara, dismissing the example out of hand.

  “As for my father, I said ‘most’ males… not every male. There are a few males in positions of power, just look at my Grandfather.”

  “Surely you can’t believe that,” dismissed Trex, still annoyed.

  Sara hesitated for a second, wondering just how much she believed the socially accepted norm. Sara had had the advantage of being surrounded by very intelligent and strong male figures in her life. But at the end of the day, the wife was the head of the household, that’s just the way things were.

  “Look, I’ll admit that it’s probably a little oversimplified. But seriously, you haven’t met a lot of male wolves. You might change your mind then. As for lions, your race thinks completely differently, there is no comparison to be made there.”

  Trex observed Sara’s expression. The young dark-brown furred female held his gaze steadily, she was not going to back down.

  “Hmmmm,” said Trex, obviously giving in for now. It was suddenly more apparent to Trex that as much as Sara was the same cub he had known all those years ago, she was now also a different Anthro. He was wondering how this apparent paradox would resolve itself, and if he would be happy with the outcome.

  The two small transport skiffs of the Wolf Kingdom were dwarfed by the ocean-going trading vessels from RefugeCross.

  The three trading ships looked similar to caravels here on earth, only slightly wider with less draft, so as to allow them to travel up rivers and near coastlines more safely. Unlike typical historical caravels on earth, Anthro caravels normally had two masts with for and aft triangular rigging instead of square sails, much like a Schooner.

  Trex and Sara climbed up the roped ladder that had been placed on the side of the lead ship.

  All three vessels were drifting close to each other. The fleet was a respectable distance away from the rugged, merciless western coastline with its tall cliffs.

  Sara and Trex arrived on deck to be greeted by a tense atmosphere.

  The Anthro wolf Lieutenant and a few of her officers and soldiers were exchanging glares with the contingent of Lion Empire volunteers. Obviously they had not been expecting each other.

  Between the two hostile groups stood a small island of calm; Shaman Katan, Sergeants Kirra and Brex were greeting Mayor Petrice and Sage Filfia. Nearby stood three very nervous captains; a female wolf, a male wolf, and a male lion.

  “I was not expecting to take on board Wolf Kingdom soldiers,” said the older male wolf Captain hesitantly. He was seemingly embraced that he was leading the expedition, and not his female colleague.

  “Or you Ma’am,” he continued, addressing the elegant grey furred Mayor, “I would have made arrangements.”

  “There is no need for that Captain,” said Mayor Petrice kindly. Her charm and prowess was weaving its normal magic as her long blond hair played in the breeze slightly.

  Trex noticed that Sergeants Brex and Kirra looked only slightly put-out by the awkward situation. No doubt they had been informed that something would happen, but had not been told what it was.

  “Naturally we had some volunteers who wanted to assist in saving the wolf colonists that are stranded,” continued the Mayor, referring to her volunteer force.

  “Wolf colonists? I thought we were going to save some lion colonists,” asked the Anthro lion sea Captain who stood next to the male wolf commodore.

  “And so we are,” said Shaman Katan with a smile.

  “We are off to save both,” added Sage Filfia.

  This generated an inquisitive look from all those present, other then Katan, Filfia and Petrice.

  “I’m afraid that time is of the essence,” interjected Mayor Petrice, “we will discuss matters on route. For now, we should move the wolf volunteers to the second ship.”

  “Yes ma’am,” replied the lead sea Captain, coming to attention in wolf military style.

  The small group broke up slightly to make individual preparations.

  To the side, Trex couldn’t help but notice that all of the sailors looked a lot rougher then the tall, elegant, athletic wolf soldiers. It was also noticeable that the mostly wolf sailors had fur with shades of brown, while the soldiers had more of a grey, either light, or dark.

  In the background, the two lion Sergeants had made their way over to the wolf Lieutenant.

  “I suppose we should introduce ourselves,” said Sergeant Kirra in her normal friendly voice.

  “Yes,” replied the tall, attractive wolf Lieutenant coldly, “I suppose we should. I am Lieutenant Rosso.”

  The Lieutenant extended her hand, it was quite obvious that she was only focused her attention on the slightly taller Kirra.

  “Sergeant Kirra,” stated the tall blond Anthro lion, so used to using her first name that she didn’t bother to introduce herself using her surname.

  After the two had shook hands it looked like the wolf Lieutenant was about to turn away.

  “And I am Sergeant Brex,” said the shorter, burly male Anthro lion, extending his hand, “me and Sergeant Kirra will be leading our volunteers, ‘together’.”

  Brex gave her a cheesy smile, having deliberately emphasized the word together, knowing that it would unsettle his female wolf counterpart.

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nbsp; The Lieutenant noticeably hesitated, looking over the smaller Sergeant disapprovingly before reluctantly offering her hand.

  Sergeant Brex shook her hand heartily, showing a hint of his physical strength.

  Trex and Sara watched on with amusement from the side, waiting to be told where they would be staying.

  Both of the youths couldn’t help but notice the unease of the male wolf crew around the powerful soldiers. The Anthro wolf males from RefugeCross often only wore open vests, and some were even shirtless like their male lion colleagues. This was quickly changing, however, upon the disapproving glare of the female wolf soldiers. The male wolf crew quickly buttoned their vests, or disappeared below deck to reappear moments later with a shirt on.

  As for the female wolf crew, or for the few shirtless lion males, they were contented to exchange smoldering disapproving glares with the wolf soldiers, as they made their way back down to the skiffs to be transported to the other ship.

  Trex couldn’t help but think that this was going to be an eventful journey, regardless of what happened with the bears.

  The fleet sailed through the night on a calm ocean, under the guiding lights of a clear, star filled sky. On the northern horizon, the dark silhouette of a wild coastline gave a constant reminder of how far they were from home.

  All was quiet on the lead ship. A few sailors did their watch as the pilot lights glistened away. A calm and slightly cold autumn breeze moved the fleet forward.

  On the lead ship, between the forecastle and the bowsprit sat Trex and Sara. They were leaning on their bags of belongings and some rope which was neatly stacked while they looked up at the stars.

  Trex was clearly more comfortable now that he had his citizen cloak, staff and pendent returned to him. He had left them with Shaman Katan before returning home from RefugeCross.

  “You sure are happier with your ‘equipment’ back aren’t you?” said Sara causally, one hand behind her head.

  “As Sage Filfia said,” replied Trex, “you wouldn’t be happy to lose your ‘muscle’ now would you.”

  Sara smiled, also thinking back momentarily to the lesson they had been given by her potential Master.

  “When you put it like that…” she said, agreeing.

  “It’s amazing to think of all the stuff that’s happened over the last few months,” said Trex, musing aloud as he looked up at the constellations.

  “I suppose so,” agreed Sara, “though I think you have the better of it, done with school already… you lucky devil.”

  “Possibly,” replied Trex, “but then again, you don’t have to worry about a year of service when you’re done.”

  “Hmmm,” agreed Sara after a moment, “but I actually wanted to join the military after school.”

  The sound of the ships bow cutting through the sea made a soothing rhythm.

  “So how exactly is it going to work if you are taken as Sage Filfia’s Apprentice?” asked Trex, “don’t you have two more years of school?”

  Sara thought for a moment before answering.

  “It sort of works part time, I still have to attend school, but on a limited basis. Sage Filfia takes over some teaching duties as well as what she teaches me separately. In the end, I still have to pass the school exams though.”

  Sara talked openly, happy to review her situation verbally.

  “As well as making sure I can still help at home on the farm during harvest and other important times.”

  “Sounds like a lot of work.”

  “It is,” agreed Sara, sounding a little overwhelmed.

  “Still, with Jammet and Jameen going to Bridgehead as well, at least your time at school will be fun,” suggested Trex.

  Sara smiled, happy at that development.

  “So how exactly did you manage to get this combined with your reserve duties again?” asked Sara suddenly, “I know you said that you were assigned to Shaman Huzzel, but it seems a bit odd that you should go on such a potentially dangerous mission.”

  Sara used Shaman Katan Huzzel’s second name, as was the normal practice within wolf culture.

  “It was for my tracking abilities,” Trex answered.

  Trex hesitated momentarily before continuing, knowing where the conversation was going. He decided to bite the bullet.

  “The ones I’ve learnt from Sharlee since I was young.”

  Sara instinctively froze momentarily, not having heard that name in a very long time. Deciding to ignore her first instinct, Sara reacted as if there was no family history at all.

  “That’s why I’m here as well,” said Sara after a moment, “mum also taught me all she knows about tracking.”

  Trex was mildly surprised about Sara’s lack of a reaction. He decided to push the matter further.

  “Do you know were Sharlee and Sallice got their tracking abilities from?” he asked suddenly, “Sharlee doesn’t like to talk about her past that much.”

  Sara had to pause for a second.

  “My mother either,” she said eventually, her voice a little sad.

  Sara continued.

  “My father told me that there was a legendary tracker that used to volunteer in the orphanage that my mother and her sister grew up in. She apparently taught some of the most gifted orphans, I suppose my mother and my aunt were just lucky.”

  Trex looked over at the wolf next to him, seeing that she was looking into the distance.

  “Yeah, I suppose a lot in life comes down to luck… you just have to make the best of it.”

  Sara didn’t say anything, the two just sitting there for a while.

  A distant light suddenly appeared from direction of the forecastle, it got closer until the light appeared over the railing, shining down onto the two. Both Sara and Trex had to shield their eyes with their hands momentarily.

  “Oh, sorry, we didn’t know anyone else was up here” said the kind voice of Sergeant Kirra.

  “Looks like we weren’t the only ones with this idea,” said Sergeant Brex, his tone loaded with innuendo, though it was too thick to pick out what type of innuendo.

  The two lion officers were leaning over the railing looking down at the two youths. The lantern was between them on the wide railing.

  “We were just looking at the stars,” said Trex casually.

  “As long as that was all you were doing,” said the burly Sergeant with a smirk.

  “Brex!” scorned his blond companion.

  Sara looked annoyed and Trex looked honestly baffled, a little naively.

  “I’m just saying,” said the shorter Sergeant, “we could have another Felx and Petrice on our hands.”

  “Stop it already with that old story,” said Kirra, not hiding her annoyance.

  “Wait, what story?” interrupted Trex. His interest was instantly peaked by the mention of his guardian. Trex didn’t know that much about his guardian’s past, Captain Felx usually being reluctant to go into details.

  Sara was about to make a snide comment but was held back by Trex’s instant enthusiasm.

  “The boy wants to know,” said Brex defensively, indicating with his two hands.

  Kirra rolled her eyes in resignation.

  “Well…” started Brekiz, obviously relishing the opportunity to tell the story again. The Sergeants voice lowered, to make sure that only the four of them heard what he was about to say.

  “… As you may or may not know, Captain Felx was involved in the great battle of Trogger Pass. Back then, he was just a reservist, but even at that time he was a superb fighter. Anyway, his unit was sent to locate an ancient mechanism used to cause avalanches on one of the nearby heights.”

  “Cause avalanches?” questioned Sara.

  “Trogger pass is the main old trading route between your Kingdom and our Empire,” answered Kirra, “they build these avalanche triggers to clear the path in winter so traders could travel safely.”

  “Anyway,” continued Brex, “The idea was to use an avalanche if the other side was starting to win, or if the
opportunity presented itself, and of course to stop the enemy from doing the same thing. Problem was, the wolves had the same idea.”

  Trex and Sara both listened with interest, both having naturally heard of the battle of Trogger Pass, but not quite this version.

  “As it turns out, two opposing small units met up with each other just near one of the machines. Well… naturally a desperate fight ensued as both sides assumed the other was up to no good.”

  Brex took a pause for effect.

  Both Trex and Sara knew of all of the legends and unsavory events which supposedly happened in the largest, and bloodiest, battle in history.

  Brex continued.

  “Between the chaos of fighting up there on the thin mountain paths, and the chaos of what was happening back down on the battlefield, both groups thought that their side was losing, so both desperately tried to activate the mechanism, despite knowing what it would mean.”

  “What it would mean?” questioned Trex.

  “It was late autumn,” answered Kirra on behalf of Brex again, “You don’t activate avalanches without careful calculation that late in the year, because the snow and rockslides could block the way back down for the activators themselves.”

  “Anyway,” continued Brex, “Captain Felx bravely raced up the slope on his own and activated the duel triggers, saving his retreating unit from the attacking wolf unit… and he thought… the Imperial army.”

  “Both armies having actually begun to retreat to lick their wounds at this stage,” added Kirra matter-of-factly, leaning her head on one hand, “so there was luckily no-one there when the avalanche came down.”

  Brex gave his companion an annoyed side glare. He was not enjoying her blandly stated factual inputs, which were destroying his narrative.

  “So, cut off from heading back west and apparently all alone with winter approaching, Captain Felx had no option but to head east, down a track that lead him right into the great jungle.”

  Trex and Sara knew that the vast tropical jungles west of the great mountains were scattered with savage independent wolf and lion tribes and kingdoms, all under their own authority, and very hostile to each other, and outsiders, regardless of race.