Chapter 2

Chapter 2: FROSTY

Frosty is a PitWolf pup Claudes father rescued after a group of heroes

accompanying his father in a Tangent killed Frosty's family/pack and left

him to die. Claudes father Gil snuck the pup out of the Tangent and brought

him home to Claude where he was healed and has lived in the forest that

surrounds their cabin ever since. The only remnants of Frosty's tragic past is

a ring of missing hair around his back leg where he was caught in a snare.

****

Pit-Wolves are descendants of wolves that wandered into open Tangents

and integrated themselves into the battle hungry lives of whatever species

resided in said Tangent, whether it be Orcs, Goblins, Kobolds etc. This

resulted in the wolf species reproducing with any canid creatures that were

native to the tangents, creating a remodeled hybrid suited for survival in the

new chaotic zones appearing on earth. Pit-Wolves come in a variety of

colors and sizes but on average they're around 260-300 lbs as adults and

what isn't solid muscle is iron-like dense bone,(so dense in fact that they

cannot swim, only sink.)

*****

"Frosty, what's the matter with you? I almost had a heart-attack you

bonehead." Claude explained, knowing there was a good chance the pup would sneak attack him again tommorow morning anyway.

Frosty replied by sitting and raising his right paw in an attempt to shake

Claudes hand, which is how Frosty usually greets him in the mornings.

Claude got up and dusted himself off removing sticks, dirt and other

debris. He went over to Frosty and gladly shook his oversized paw which

he swore felt heavier every day. After he shook with Frosty he connected

his head to the muscle bound pups in a show of affection taking in his

natural wild scent of pine, wet fur and blood.

After Claude got his usual greetings with Frosty over with he continued

the rest of his forest run now accompanied by an overgrown pit-wolf pup.

Once Claude completed his run through the forest he headed back to the

cabin where the workout equipment his father got him was. It was nothing

luxurious or anything like what was at the C.S Academy, but for Claude it

was more than enough, "I really don't know where I'd be without you all.",

he said while eyeing his weights and equipment with excitement.

Once he filled a bowl of water for Frosty, Claude began his usual

morning workout of 50 squats, 10 pull ups, 10 push ups and 25 strict

muscle ups.

"Twenty three....tweeenty four....tweeenty five". Finishing the 25 muscle

ups concluded Claudes early morning workout. After a short while he

realized he didn't feel the need to lie on the ground and catch his breath and

his arms and legs didn't feel as if they would explode, Instead he felt a light

refreshing sting in his muscles..they felt alive. "I know you see the progress Frostyyyyy!!", Claude said in an energetic

tone. After he didn't hear any movements or huffs of acknowledgment he

realized he was talking to himself and felt a little red with embarrassment,

"Well goodbye to you too, damn."

Claude headed inside the cabin and looked at the clock above the front

door and realized he had 30 minutes before he needed to leave for the

academy. He looked around the living room of the cabin taking in its homey

essence, the living room had shiny dark wood floors and in one corner

stood a sturdy metal desk right below a bay style window, the metal desk

was riddled with his fathers notes and hand drawn depictions of the

Tangents, some looked like real life nightmares while others just looked like

serene snowy biomes. Claude couldn't wait to explore them.

Claudes daydreaming was interrupted by a familiar smell that made a

small earthquake erupt in his stomach..."CHICKEN!", Claude looked

deeper into the cabin where the dining room sat and saw on the oak wood

round table there was a steaming plate of chicken with rice and a whole lot

of spinach. Claudes favorite meal, all he could do was silently praise the

chef who made it, "Dad...you are a HERO!"

After a few minutes of eating Claude noticed a piece of paper, a note

from his father next to his plate, it read, "hey kid, I had to leave for work

early today but I'll be back tommorow. Also, I saw your armor....it looks

like Orc excrement! So, I left some coppers for you to get a new leather set,

have a good day at the academy and kick some ass!" Claude ran over the last line again in his head, "have a good day at the

academy....what is that a joke?"