DISCLAIMER: i do not own any HB original character. I own just the plot and the OCs, though I am still doubtful about Ruddy, he has a kind of life on his own.

This is the new version of a story that obsesses me from my earliest youth. It is also an experiment in estrangement, as the main character has a very strange point of view on the world.
Please review, ladies and gentlemen: I badly need some criticism to improve, even if it is negative. Just review and let me know what you think.

A warning for my readers: there is some graphic violence against an innocent cow in this chapter (animals hunting). If you are particularly sensitive towards animal welfare, feel free not to read it.
Also there is no HB or BPRD characters in this chapter, they will make their appearance in the next. This chapter is just meant to introduce the main character.

Finally, I have a challenge for my readers:
In the next chapters I will introduce quite a lot of OCs, all BPRD staff: agents, secretaries, medical personnel, cooks and so on.
Whoever guesses what/who really is the main character of the story will have the possibility of appearing as a BPRD OC of his choice. Just review and guess, there are a lot of clues distributed along the chapters.
All the readers who guess correctly will make an appearance, not just the first.

Enjoy!

20/10/2008: minor edits, mostly formatting.

The cow was barely twenty meters away, calmly nibbling at a particularly tasty patch of grass.
It was a large, fat cow, one that could sate easily the hunger of the whole pack.
It had not scented them and likely would not.
If all went well, the cow wouldn't sense anything until it was too late.

He had chosen the spot well. He had a great experience in hunting after all.
This land felt almost like home, a vast plain baked by an unmerciful sun, and yet it was different.
At night, the stars would look slightly different, not in the same position as he had seen them last, and the sandy ground was of the wrong color.
At home, in his territory, his reddish fur would make him blend perfectly with his surroundings.
Here the sandy ground was too yellow or brownish and he stood out a lot in contrast.
He had adapted quickly to the differences, however, even if it meant going out mostly at night.
He was a creature of the night, that's sure, but he liked to think at himself as a flawless predator and having to hide wounded his pride a lot.

It was sunset now an the whole pack was hiding behind a mound within striking range of a large, tasty cow.
Seven adult coyotes and three grown-up pups, a total of ten members, himself being the eleventh and oddest of the group. He liked being the eleventh: eleven was the number of chaos, his favorite number.

Longtail, the former alpha of the pack, wagged his famed tail in anticipation.
The strategy was clear: the pack would rush the prey, trying to force it further apart from the herd, Longtail, Squarenose, Brownie and Lightpaw, the fastest pup, would bite at its legs, trying to avoid being kicked,directing its flight, and finally himself and two of the females, Howl-in-the-Wind and Dare-the-Waters would fell it.

The coyotes had odd names, but they suited them well, underlining some aspects of their appearance or personality.
He had always been a solitary, but in time he had grown fond of his companions, though at first he had not had any intentions of joining them.

He was hunting on his own and he carelessly trespassed the boundaries of their territory.
Longtail, their alpha, sensing the presence of a foreign male in his area, felt it was his duty to challenge him for dominance.
The brave coyote followed his tracks with the rest of the pack, thinking he was following one of his kind.
To his credit, he didn't desist even when he knew for sure that the stranger was not a coyote.
Longtail must have thought that, being somewhat canine, he still had to submit to his authority.
It had not been much of a fight. He was slightly bigger than Longtail and much more powerful.
The wise coyote submitted readily.
He was going to turn his back and continue his journey on his own, but the members of the pack insisted that he was alpha now, and had the responsibility of guiding them.
He grudgingly accepted, it was not going to be forever.
Just for some months.
He could endure that much.
He had to acknowledge that, far from enduring, he was enjoying himself. It felt good being alpha-something again after all that time.
The coyotes accepted him readily, treating him like one of them.
He often wondered if they thought him as odd as everybody else always had.
They had even given him a name in their peculiar style.
They called him Ruddy.
He would never admit it loud, but he liked it.

The cow, always concentrated on her meal, turned its back to the waiting predators.
It was the signal: the pack sprinted from the hideout, barking and growling, and circled the prey.
It tried to run away towards the safety of the herd, but the runners managed to steer its flight in a more convenient direction. Lightpaw was doing a hell of a good job, he noticed, frightening the cow by snapping his teeth close to its hide.
It ran like hell.
It was exhilarating to chase it across the plain in the sunset, excitement making the blood run faster into one's veins.
Longtail and Brownie darted in front of the cow, forcing her to change direction, and Squarenose followed her, threatening to bite away its tail.
Ruddy looked at the two females running with him and howled a signal.
They closed up to the cow and prepared to attack. Lightpaw crossed the prey's path again, slowing it and there they stroke, jumping on its back and biting and clawing as hard as possible.
The cow mooed desperately and started shaking violently, trying to throw them down, but they held fast.

A rush of excitement almost overcame him when the cow's sweet blood gushed in his mouth, rich and tasty.
He bit harder and harder on the prey's neck, until his fangs met bone.
He started worrying at the wound, widening and deepening it.
His fangs found the space between two vertebrae and he bit again.
The cow halted abruptly and fell down dead, making him and the females fall from its back.

They had made it again.
He felt so happy and satisfied he wanted to laugh, but he doubted the others would understand, so he did the second best thing.
He threw his head back and howled, and the whole pack responded, their voices merging in one.
After a while enthusiasm subsided, as hunger kicked in.
Being alpha, he had the right to eat first, and he did so, relishing the strong taste of the adrenaline-ridden blood of the prey.
Longtail, being beta, and the two females who helped him fell the prey ate next, then the runners, and finally the others who had risked less in the hunt.

He quietly licked himself clean from the blood, watching the pack eat.
Howl-in-the-Wind lay next to him, doing graciously the same.
The young female looked at him with amber eyes. She communicated to him all her satisfaction for the hunt and her admiration for his plans, managing to subtly convey also a great interest in mating the next appropriate season.
Ruddy widened his scarlet eyes and fidgeted, at a loss about how to react to such a proposal.
Howl-in-the-Wind was strong, fast and ambitious and deserved to be the alpha female of the pack, but he was going to leave soon.
She'd better try with Longtail.
And then there was the problem of pups.
She wasn't going to be happy with the fact that he couldn't give her any.
Sharpears, a female pup with a very keen sense of hearing, relieved him from the uncomfortable situation by barking an alert. Something was approaching.
The coyotes jumped to their feet, ready to react.

Ruddy heard a rumble not exactly like thunder then something whistled past him and dug a hole in the ground.
Some kind of projectile, he thought.
He barked to the pack, ordering a retreat
Then there was a thundering of horse hooves, a rider approaching fast.
The newcomer was a white-skinned man, mounted on a brown, scared, steed.
The man was wearing the weirdest clothes he had ever seen and a ridiculous hat, not unlike that of Hermes, and was carrying a weird staff, made partly of wood and partly of metal.
He didn't think that was a weapon.
Where was the blade? Or could it be some kind of mace or club?

The man saw the remnants of the cow and cursed loudly. "Damn beasts!" he yelled and raised the strange staff level with his eyes.
Longtail howled something about the thunder staff and fled, followed by the others.
Ruddy, decided to remain behind and cover the backs of his companions.
He ran in front of the horse and growled menacingly, the hairs on his back rising in a ridge.
The horse whinniyed, terrified, and reared.
"What the hell is this?" the man yelled, trying to keep control of his mount and raising the staff again.
He directed the end of the strange object towards him and pulled a kind of lever.

It is a weapon.

The intuition flashed through his mind just in time. He jumped away, but still felt a sharp burning pain in his hind right leg.
He howled in pain and unleashed his power, without a second thought.
A spark of bright white light ran through the air towards the rider.
He fell and his mount wisely fled the scene, running as fast as he could.

Limping and bleeding, Ruddy approached the fallen man.
He sniffed cautiously around, catching some unknown scents and looking for vital signs.
Fortunately the bastard was still alive, and probably will wake in a short time.
He had not given him such a big shock, just enough to put him out of combat for a while, even if it was in his right to kill him, after all.
Despite the hurt, he raised his injured leg and pissed on the rider's hat.
Feeling somehow relieved by this nasty act, Ruddy limped towards his pack. His nose told him that they were near and frightened.

Any ideas already about who Ruddy really is?
it is quite difficult now, I know, but do not despair, it will become more clear in the next chapters.

Have you enjoyed it? Please, send any feedback, so I can improve.