chapter 4 (name suggestions?)

      The next day I woke up and got us both water, then basked in the sun for a few minutes. Soon you'll be able to do this, too. I grabbed my bag and the bottles of water, drenching one of my shirts. I walked up to the wolf and said. "Don't eat me."

     I had decided to take a chance.

     I stood beside him and poured an entire bottle of water over his neck, clearing away most of the blood so I could get a better look. During his fight the grotesque collar had been partially torn out of it. It makes my job easier but it must hurt like hell. After I had gotten a good look I kneeled down and got a pair of scissors from my bag.

     "I'm gonna cut the wires and pull them out." I told him. Like he could understand me. "Now hold still." I slipped the scissors under the wire as gently as I could then closed them hard. the wire cut and he growled, but didn't stop. I made another cut, then pulled the inch long piece of wire out of his skin. I tried to be quick about it and he whipped his head around and snapped his jaws a few inches in front of my face. As he slowly lowered his head, and the rest of his body to the ground, i dropped the wire and said, "One down, fifty more to go."

      I took a couple breaks to get water and rest my hands. It hurt holding those tiny scissors for so long. He must be in some serious agony. I thought. Even though he hadn't snapped at me again, he would still growl and bear his teeth when I got to the stubborn pieces.

     And that's how I spent my day.

     After all of the wire was out, I decided to wait till morning to take the chain off his neck. His temper was getting shorter and shorter. I didn't think he could take much more. So after we woke, I got us both water and basked in the sun. After a while i got up and walked back to where he was sitting and gazing at nothing.

     "The moment of truth." I said walking up to him. After going over it over and over in my head, I had figured that the best way to take the collar off was to just simply pull it over his head. It would come off fast and that would be easiest for me, but that would also put me in closer to his massive jaws which I was not too happy about. I walked up to him and he looked at me solemnly with his strange eyes, like he knew what was coming and how much it was going to suck.

      I tried not to shake as I reached around his head, grabbing the chain with nervous fingers. "Up'n at 'em." i muttered as I lifted it and pulled it over his head. At first i didn't think it would work, then he stepped back and....he was free. We stood and stared at each other for a moment, then he practically tackled me in his rush to get out of the cave. I sat up, slightly dazed.

     "Damn it." I said putting my hand up to my head. "You could've at least warned me!" I yelled after him. I was mad. Not just because he had given me my fourth head wound in the past week, but because he had left. I knew it was stupid to think, to hope, that he would stay but i couldn't help it.  "Stupid ungrateful mutt." I growled as I stood up.

    I put my scissors in my bag and kicked the rags into a dirty pile. They were sloppy wet and leaked pale pink from his blood. "you welcome." I said slightly sarcastically toward the front of the cave.

I waited a few minutes, secretly hoping that he would come back up as i was slowly gathering up my stuff. Dusting off my bags and checking that everything was there. Quit being so petty. he's a wild animal, not pet. I thought glumly.

      I grabbed my bags and bottles and headed down to the crick to refill them. I packed them in my bag and rinsed off my face in the water. It raised goose bumps on my skin and numbed my fingers. Closing my eyes i listened to the sounds of nature. the birds in the trees, the sounds of bugs and wind and the gurgle of the stream. I looked up and saw a giant pair of red flecked eyes looking back at me.

      "Well, hello."

      He just stared at me as I thought. If you eat me now I will haunt you for the rest of your miserable life, backstabber. He lowered his head and started drinking. "And here I thought you had left." I said to him in an amused voice. I sat back and watched him.
   His fur was dripping, but not with blood. He had rinsed himself off in the crick and  he looked a lot better for it. The only downside was that the water made his hair sick to him which in turn, made it easier to see his ribs. He really needed a good meal. My stomach growled.
"But then again, so do I." I mused aloud. He looked up at me curiously, water dripping from his muscle. I laughed.
    And so began our awkward friendship.