\n “What the heck is going on?” Daryl said through half open eyes.

\n “Get up dick wad, heh, Nick here says you’re going to be helping us,” The fat otter said raising his voice just a little.

\n “How long did it take you to come up with that? Oh that’s right, you must of borrowed that from Nick because you don’t have a brain” Daryl said in response

\n “Shut up!” a fox yelled glaring at the otter and then at the wolf, extending a hand out onto Jacobs’s shoulder. “Remember, you promised me that you would help us Daryl”

\n “No Nick, I promised to help YOU!” The wolf stated with a long hard stare at the fox as he slowly sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes for a moment. “What time is it?”

\n “Time for you to keep your promise and time for us to get going” The otter said with some irritation.

\n Quietly he set about to put on proper clothing and to grab his things, which were already assembled and safely stored underneath his bed. “Doesn’t hurt to be prepared”, he thought.

\n “Hey Daryl, could you please hurry it up!” The fox said quietly as he looked over at slow moving wolf.

\n “I’m almost done, do you need a guide or what” The wolf said as he donned his backpack. Then standing up he approached the two, who were packing nothing and wearing only a t-shirt and jeans.

\n “So what do you have in there, an extra pair of underwear just incase you piss yourself?” The otter said with a huge smile, glancing over at the fox.

\n “Shut up Jacob” Daryl immediate responded.

\n “Look, lets just get out of here, if were not careful the camp counselors will be on our tails” The fox said, placing a paw on Daryl shoulders. The wolf nodded his head as they sneaked out of the cabin and started heading northeast into the woods under the cover of darkness.

\n Daryl didn’t quite understand why he was doing this. Nick was one of the most popular kids in school and Daryl hated being the outcast, so maybe he could get cool points, or feel like one of the cool kids, he wasn’t quite sure.

\n “So tell me, why are we doing this?” Daryl said after referencing his map and cross checking it with the compass.

\n “Because it would be just awesome, the girls are never going to know what hit them” Nick said with a smile.

\n “Yeah, That’s my bro” Jacob stated raising his voice, grinning wide. They tapped their fists lightly together to which Daryl promptly ignored.

\n “So dumb ass, how long do we have before we rip the girl’s camp apart?” Jacob said as he looked around the woods.

\n “Should I even answer you?” Daryl responded. Jacob began to breathe deeply as Nick placed a paw on Jacobs’s chest.

\n “Daryl please, distance” The fox said using a soft voice.

\n “Not too long, about another five or ten minutes” The wolf said as he pointed his flashlight further into the woods. It was then he heard it, a slight rustling in the distance, something that was not common with wind.

\n “Well that’s going to be a…” Nick began to say.

\n “Shh!” The wolf interrupted as he was doing his best to listen. “I think we need to take a detour, it will only extend the trip about 5 extra minutes I would assume.

\n “But were almost there!” Jacob yelled as he bared teeth at the wolf. “I don’t get it, are you getting scared?”

\n “No I’m not…Well what do you mean by scared” The wolf said in response mimicking the otters actions.

\n “Anyway enough guys, we really shouldn’t be arguing, we’ve wasted enough time…hey wait a minute” Nicks eyes soon diverted to his left as Daryl noticed the focus of his attention.

\n “You hearing it too aren’t you?” The wolf said.

\n “Yeah…sounds like…low growling” The fox responded.

\n “Damn it guys! Are you seriously going to listen to that chicken of a geek?” Jacob said as he continued forward shinning the flashlight ahead of him.

\n “Jacob, wait I wouldn’t…” Daryl began to say has his ears were laid back and tail between his legs.

\n “Screw you, I can take care of myself” The portly otter said as he started to move through some the foliage. Almost immediately and without warning a scream exited from the otter’s mouth. Both Daryl and Nick rushed to but carefully approached the area, which Jacob disappeared from sight. As they peered over the grass and tall vegetation they notice an incline that dropped about ten feet. Jacob was laying flat on his back slightly disoriented.

\n “Jacob, are you all right?” Nick said eyes wide and pupils dilated.

\n “Well I guess he’s alive,” Daryl said as he knelled down to take off his take off his backpack. Opening the bag the wolf began to search for his first aid kit. “I told you, you never know when you’re going to need one of these,” The wolf said.

\n “Oh F…” Was the only thing he heard nick say as he then just turned the opposite direction and ran. The wolf didn’t really like this as he then peered back down at Jacob who was still slightly disoriented. Unfortunately for the otter, a large feral grizzly bear was approaching from behind him, nose in the air.

\n “Well Dang it” The wolf said as he watch the event unfold. Jacob standing up finally heard the movement from behind him and began to turn around. What proceeded out of Jacob mouth was a scream that contained several words that Daryl probably wouldn’t even dare mention around his grandmother. Daryl turned his head slightly as he glanced behind him, yearning to run the other direction. The wolf shook his head and looked back at Jacob, taking a deep sigh. At this point the wolf felt he had no choice and began to do something many would call stupid. He slid down the incline and ran toward the grizzly bear.

\n Now the most sensible thing to do when it comes to a bear attack is to play dead, unfortunately Jacob wasn’t doing much to promote that, and the bear looked hungry. Daryl could only surmises that the creature was foraging for food. So when he reached, the wolf growled and spread his arms and legs out as wide as he could, trying to gain the bears attention. Daryl’s action seemed to have works as the bear’s gaze switched focus on the wolf and it began to stand up.

\n “Run, Stupid, Run” The wolf yelled to the otter. Jacob just looked at the bear and then looked at the wolf as he began to slowly back away. The wolf was doing much the same but in the other direction since he was still trying to make himself the most imposing threat. It was enough. Before too long, Jacob picked up his pace and ran as fast as his feet could carry him, which wasn’t that fast, but it got the job done. Now it was just Daryl and the bear.

\n “What am I going to do now dip wad?” the wolf thought to himself as he stepped back a few paces. He had no other choice but to fall back on his original tactic. Curl up into a ball and make himself a little of a threat as possible. Though after making himself a target, he wondered if that would even work. Daryl didn’t waste any time as he fell onto the ground, closing his eyes he anticipated the claws of the bear. The Bear gave a few loud growls as it decided to get back on all fours and started to move closer to the shaking canine. It wasn’t until then Jacob’s nose caught the scent of something. Laying there curled up into a ball, he realized that he smelled one of the stink bombs. The wolf tried to keep his composure as he heard the bears movements and grunts, but his eyes were filling with tears as he did his best to cope with the scent. Eventually he was so concentrated on trying to ignore the wretched stench that he lost track of the bear. It seemed like an eternity as he sat there and waited but after a minute of coping with the innocuous smell he realized that he didn’t hear the bear at all. The wolf then opened his eyes and carefully got up, noticing the absence of the big hairy monster. He looked on the ground and noticed that one of his stink bomb packets had been smashed open inadvertently by the bear. The wolf could sigh a bit despite the smell and did his best to travel upwind.

\n It had been a few days since the incident and Daryl was doing his best to dry off from his recent swim in the lake when he saw Jacob approach him.

\n “Uhm...Daryl” Jacob said. Daryl looked at him oddly then began to look around.

\n “Okay where are they?” The wolf said half surprised to see no one else with him.

\n “It’s not like that, I just wanted to say…” Jacob said as he spoke up and then paused for a bit. Then he stared directly at the wolf’s face as if he was trying to gain some courage. “I’m sorry.” Daryl just stood there silent. “What you did a few days ago, I never got a chance to tell you thank you. And I’m sorry about how I treated you in the past” The wolf smiled and with his tail wagging and ears perked he extended out his right hand. The otter looked at it and without hesitation completed the handshake. There was nothing said, the look that was exchanged between their faces was enough of a recognition and even though they never truly became friends, they were never enemies.

\n
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