DESPERATION - open; tanglewood capture

[HAMMOND]

[align=center][div style="text-align: justify; width: 60%; font-family: georgial; font-size: 11pt;"]Voices were hazy under the pretense of slumber, rugged body still apart from the staccato up and down movements of his chest. With a splitting head pain Axle was coming through to his senses, yet for some time he chose not to uncover his awakening. The Heeler remembered what happened, he wasn't foolish, someone had tested their luck and things had been going well for him (he believed at least) until the other started messing with his mind. It was a cheap tactic, yet one that the pragmatic canine could not be entirely angry at, for if he had the same blessing from the Gods then he would've abused such powers to ensure his survival too. A dark eye slowly opened, pupil stationary as he let the sights and sounds of gawking creatures envelop his senses. They reeked of a strange scent which he hadn't encountered before, and every part of him began to wonder what value snatching up a solitary canine had to these ferals. Fresh meat had value to everyone at some point, it was up to Axle to figure out what their goal was, but he was cynical that it was anything positive. A tap on his shoulder caused movement within the canine, just a grumpy shift of strong muscles, tensing up completely like a spring about to pop. Help us... don't leave us here... he heard another voice, albeit a similar one, another caress of his shoulder and it was such a grief that it released the male's anger.

A wheeze came from parted black lips, drowning in the attention and vivid memories and only being able to come up for air when the adrenaline kicked in. Ungodly snarlings sound erupted from his maw, with conviction no better than the 'ferals' he'd accused these creatures of being, with all of his energy the tricoloured dog jumped to his feet. Though movements may have seemed sloppier than normal, his face was filled with the same wrath that any captured soul would've emitted, lips curled back and honey coloured eyes whipping up a fury through slit pupils. An incoherent bark escaped Axle, saliva pooling at his jowls as he offered all those present a warning not to get any closer. The heavy feeling around his neck was so familiar that the canine didn't even need to turn around to know what was weighing him down. It was a device that put him on the defensive, ensuring he wasn't a macho man and tried to take everyone down at once, but it didn't mean he'd lie down waiting for a plan to escape.