Silence challenge: "Communication", by Luzula
Title: Communication
Author: Luzula
Characters: Fraser and Dief gen
Rating: G
Length: 1100 words
Summary: Dief wasn't quite like other wolves.
Notes: Thanks to mizface for the helpful beta!
"Perhaps you could do some good and carry your own food," I suggested to the half-grown puppy who bounded ahead of me.
He didn't reply, of course, but he was my only company, and thus the only chance at conversation, however one-sided. My previous partner had transferred out recently. It had been a short-lived enough partnership; I suspected he simply wasn't cut out to serve in a remote outpost. Anyway, I hadn't yet received a new partner, and so Diefenbaker, as I'd named him, was my only companion on this patrol.
I'd found him half starved to death outside his mother's den earlier this summer, the last of his litter. I knew it was foolishness to take him with me-wolves were notoriously unpredictable and difficult to tame compared to dogs, and could easily turn on the hand that gave them food. But his mother had died, and so would he, if I didn't save him. I didn't have it in me to leave him there.
I'd carried him off in my jacket and taken him home. He had a tenacious hold on life, and after a week of good food and a worm treatment, he had been as full of energy as any puppy his age would be.
I shaded my eyes against the morning sun and looked ahead. We were on a routine patrol, and I didn't expect any trouble, but it never hurt to keep one's eyes open. There was no road to the small settlement we were approaching, and patrols were usually flown in, but it was only a little more than a day's hike, after all. I'd volunteered to go on foot, and pretended that I hadn't seen the raised eyebrows from my superior officer. I quite looked forward to some time on my own.
After I'd conducted my business at the settlement, we set off home again-I hoped to hike half the way back and spend the night by a small lake with particularly good fishing. I tipped my hat at a man who passed us, and he tipped his own back, then pulled it down against the sun. Eminently sensible apparel, hats.
Diefenbaker suddenly sat down and stared after the man, who had passed around a bend in the trail. His nose was quivering.
"Smell something?" The puppy stood up again and whuffed, looking up at me. Then he trotted back the way we had come. He stopped again and looked over his shoulder at me.
I was intrigued. "All right, I'm coming."
We turned aside from the trail and climbed up the hillside. To judge from the bent blades of grass I occasionally saw, someone had passed here recently. After about a kilometer, we emerged in a small clearing taken up by some kind of agricultural endeavour.
Diefenbaker sat down and barked proudly, looking up at me for praise.
At the sound, the man we had passed on the trail came out from behind the surprisingly tall and verdant crop. Which, I now saw, consisted of neat rows of Cannabis sativa.
He saw us, turned on the spot and tried to run, but Dief and I caught him easily enough. "I'm afraid you're under arrest," I told him.
He looked wistfully at his plants. "But they're a new breed. See how hardy they are?"
"They do look very healthy, yes. But that doesn't change the fact that they're illegal."
He shook his head. "Just my luck to get caught now, after all this time. See, I crossed the Northern Lights breed with Purple Power, and it's so awesome. Really resistant to fungus, and the yield is high even this far north. Can't wait to get the lab results back on..." He seemed to realize to whom he was talking and fell silent. Then he sighed heavily as he looked at his plants.
Dief jumped up and licked him in the face, but the man only sputtered and wiped at his face. "Keep your dog off me! He's slobbering on my face."
"Wolf, actually. And I think he only meant to console you."
"A wolf? Is that supposed to reassure me?" He backed away from Dief. "How'd you find me, anyway?"
"My wolf smelled you." Then I frowned. "Dief, how on earth did you know to follow that scent?"
Dief tilted his head and angled his ears forward, and I suddenly remembered that we'd confiscated some marijuana from a teenager the other week. "Ah, of course. Good work, Dief."
"Are you talking with him?"
"Well, not as such, no. Wolves don't speak, apart from their body language and some vocalizations such as barks and howls. Now, if you'll just come with me."
***
My superior officer asked me the same question. "How on earth did you find it? Just blind luck?"
"No, sir. My wolf puppy found it."
"So do you think you're Sergeant Preston of the Yukon now?" He laughed.
"Not exactly, no." I kept my face carefully blank.
When I got home, Diefenbaker was obviously of the opinion that he deserved a dinner out of the ordinary. I gave him a share of my venison stew, and he gulped it down quickly, then settled down with a smug, pleased sigh.
I leaned down to scratch the soft skin behind his ears. "You're quite perceptive for a wolf, aren't you?"
He looked up at me. Half-wolf.
"What?" I frowned. The room was silent except for my own voice-Diefenbaker hadn't spoken, of course. That would be impossible. But somehow, the tilt of his head and the expression in his eyes had quite clearly conveyed the sense that he wasn't a wolf, he was a half-wolf. If I hadn't imagined it, that is.
He gazed back at me, his long pink tongue lolling out and just as clearly, he was grinning at me.
"So, are you a wolf on your mother's or your father's side?" I said conversationally.
He didn't dignify that with an answer, and indeed, I could figure it out for myself. I'd seen his mother's den, and it had unmistakably been the den of a wolf. She had probably mated with a dog, although what had happened to them both was anyone's guess.
"Well, I suppose this explains your affinity for human companionship."
Dief yawned and then curled up on the rug. He licked at my hand, and I stroked the fur of his chest, still soft and puppyish. I wondered if I had imagined him saying that he was a half-wolf, and despite what it might imply about my mental health, I found myself wishing that I hadn't.
"Perhaps I do have a partner, after all," I said. "I certainly seem to work better with you than with my previous one."
Dief whined softly, as if in agreement.
Author: Luzula
Characters: Fraser and Dief gen
Rating: G
Length: 1100 words
Summary: Dief wasn't quite like other wolves.
Notes: Thanks to mizface for the helpful beta!
"Perhaps you could do some good and carry your own food," I suggested to the half-grown puppy who bounded ahead of me.
He didn't reply, of course, but he was my only company, and thus the only chance at conversation, however one-sided. My previous partner had transferred out recently. It had been a short-lived enough partnership; I suspected he simply wasn't cut out to serve in a remote outpost. Anyway, I hadn't yet received a new partner, and so Diefenbaker, as I'd named him, was my only companion on this patrol.
I'd found him half starved to death outside his mother's den earlier this summer, the last of his litter. I knew it was foolishness to take him with me-wolves were notoriously unpredictable and difficult to tame compared to dogs, and could easily turn on the hand that gave them food. But his mother had died, and so would he, if I didn't save him. I didn't have it in me to leave him there.
I'd carried him off in my jacket and taken him home. He had a tenacious hold on life, and after a week of good food and a worm treatment, he had been as full of energy as any puppy his age would be.
I shaded my eyes against the morning sun and looked ahead. We were on a routine patrol, and I didn't expect any trouble, but it never hurt to keep one's eyes open. There was no road to the small settlement we were approaching, and patrols were usually flown in, but it was only a little more than a day's hike, after all. I'd volunteered to go on foot, and pretended that I hadn't seen the raised eyebrows from my superior officer. I quite looked forward to some time on my own.
After I'd conducted my business at the settlement, we set off home again-I hoped to hike half the way back and spend the night by a small lake with particularly good fishing. I tipped my hat at a man who passed us, and he tipped his own back, then pulled it down against the sun. Eminently sensible apparel, hats.
Diefenbaker suddenly sat down and stared after the man, who had passed around a bend in the trail. His nose was quivering.
"Smell something?" The puppy stood up again and whuffed, looking up at me. Then he trotted back the way we had come. He stopped again and looked over his shoulder at me.
I was intrigued. "All right, I'm coming."
We turned aside from the trail and climbed up the hillside. To judge from the bent blades of grass I occasionally saw, someone had passed here recently. After about a kilometer, we emerged in a small clearing taken up by some kind of agricultural endeavour.
Diefenbaker sat down and barked proudly, looking up at me for praise.
At the sound, the man we had passed on the trail came out from behind the surprisingly tall and verdant crop. Which, I now saw, consisted of neat rows of Cannabis sativa.
He saw us, turned on the spot and tried to run, but Dief and I caught him easily enough. "I'm afraid you're under arrest," I told him.
He looked wistfully at his plants. "But they're a new breed. See how hardy they are?"
"They do look very healthy, yes. But that doesn't change the fact that they're illegal."
He shook his head. "Just my luck to get caught now, after all this time. See, I crossed the Northern Lights breed with Purple Power, and it's so awesome. Really resistant to fungus, and the yield is high even this far north. Can't wait to get the lab results back on..." He seemed to realize to whom he was talking and fell silent. Then he sighed heavily as he looked at his plants.
Dief jumped up and licked him in the face, but the man only sputtered and wiped at his face. "Keep your dog off me! He's slobbering on my face."
"Wolf, actually. And I think he only meant to console you."
"A wolf? Is that supposed to reassure me?" He backed away from Dief. "How'd you find me, anyway?"
"My wolf smelled you." Then I frowned. "Dief, how on earth did you know to follow that scent?"
Dief tilted his head and angled his ears forward, and I suddenly remembered that we'd confiscated some marijuana from a teenager the other week. "Ah, of course. Good work, Dief."
"Are you talking with him?"
"Well, not as such, no. Wolves don't speak, apart from their body language and some vocalizations such as barks and howls. Now, if you'll just come with me."
***
My superior officer asked me the same question. "How on earth did you find it? Just blind luck?"
"No, sir. My wolf puppy found it."
"So do you think you're Sergeant Preston of the Yukon now?" He laughed.
"Not exactly, no." I kept my face carefully blank.
When I got home, Diefenbaker was obviously of the opinion that he deserved a dinner out of the ordinary. I gave him a share of my venison stew, and he gulped it down quickly, then settled down with a smug, pleased sigh.
I leaned down to scratch the soft skin behind his ears. "You're quite perceptive for a wolf, aren't you?"
He looked up at me. Half-wolf.
"What?" I frowned. The room was silent except for my own voice-Diefenbaker hadn't spoken, of course. That would be impossible. But somehow, the tilt of his head and the expression in his eyes had quite clearly conveyed the sense that he wasn't a wolf, he was a half-wolf. If I hadn't imagined it, that is.
He gazed back at me, his long pink tongue lolling out and just as clearly, he was grinning at me.
"So, are you a wolf on your mother's or your father's side?" I said conversationally.
He didn't dignify that with an answer, and indeed, I could figure it out for myself. I'd seen his mother's den, and it had unmistakably been the den of a wolf. She had probably mated with a dog, although what had happened to them both was anyone's guess.
"Well, I suppose this explains your affinity for human companionship."
Dief yawned and then curled up on the rug. He licked at my hand, and I stroked the fur of his chest, still soft and puppyish. I wondered if I had imagined him saying that he was a half-wolf, and despite what it might imply about my mental health, I found myself wishing that I hadn't.
"Perhaps I do have a partner, after all," I said. "I certainly seem to work better with you than with my previous one."
Dief whined softly, as if in agreement.