BLUE FELT GREAT. She had not been this healthy for a very long time. Her fur was sleek, and her wounds were healed. Blue was now the strongest, fastest, and smartest dog at the beach.
The half-robot puppy seemed to be doing well in Jenny’s pack, fitting in with new friends. He was named Rover, and Ash became his adoptive mom, caring for his cuts, and cleaning up the infections around the metal parts.
Blue loved to watch Ash with Rover. She was constantly making him little treats of lizard and bird meats to build up his strength. As Blue watched the two together, heads touching, she grieved for little Max and Destiny, and wished she still had both cuddled next to her in her den.
It was almost time for Blue move on. She realized that, in order to defeat Robo and be reunited with Max and Destiny, she would have to leave this peaceful paradise.
Raven was also doing well physically, although he seemed to be more anxious and agitated. One night, Blue stumbled into his den and was stunned to find him crying. He refused to tell her why, only muttering, “We cannot escape our fate.”
On this day, Raven took her out to the beach, acting cold and quiet as he always did. He stopped and hesitated, then nodded to no one in particular. He turned toward Blue, pacing.
“In order to defeat Robo, I will have to train you,” he said quietly. He turned and walked away.
He had already told Jenny—who was somewhat relieved to hear that they would be leaving for a few days. After brief goodbyes, she watched Raven and Blue walk toward the ocean. She had been grateful for their help, but she knew they also brought danger. It would be better for her pack when they left for good.
Blue tilted her head as they walked to the dunes again. I’ve never seen Raven as a fighter…
Raven lifted his head toward the sky, impatiently. “Hurry up, Blue. I want to begin our training tomorrow, and I want to be near the waves.” Raven gave her a sharp glare. His eyes still scared her at times.
“Are you listening to me, Blue?” Raven growled. “We don’t have much time.”
Blue nodded. Although she was in much better shape, the heat was taking its toll, making it hard for her to keep up.
“I must train you to fight unfairly, because if you don’t, the world will use you, distort you, and kill you,” Raven said firmly.
Blue chuckled, breaking the awkward tension. Raven looked insulted, but Blue ignored him.
“Do you know anything about me, Raven?” she growled. “I was raised on the streets and stole food from kids to survive.” Raven shook his head and walked on ahead of her. They walked silently, keeping a distance between them until they saw the sand and waves. Both of them were tired.
Raven suddenly whipped around, curling his lips in fake anger and snarled.
“Attack me,” he said.
Blue was taken aback at this request. She was thirsty and exhausted, but never declined a fight if she knew she could easily win. She sprang toward the weak, old dog.
Surprisingly, Raven dodged out of the way, sending her rolling through the sand. As she flew past him, Raven bit hard into her tail and pulled her off her feet. Blue whipped around. She attempted to lock onto his throat with her teeth, but he was too fast. He slipped around her and used his back leg to hit her in the hip, knocking her off balance. Her annoyance turned into hot anger. She tried to push her feet into the sand so she couldn’t fall. But her feet only kicked the sand up, creating a cloud. She couldn’t see. Blue tried to blindly spring at Raven, but he grabbed her throat and slid her effortlessly across the sand again. Now, she was not only badly beaten, but also exhausted. Her throat was dry and her eyes hurt. She lay there, gasping for breath.
Raven shook his head. “You really are just a punk city mutt,” he said. “You can’t get angry. If you let anger take over, you get clumsy and waste energy. You’re still thinking about yourself. See, real leaders don’t lose their temper in battle because they have to be there for their team, their army, their families.”
Blue quickly got up and looked at him, still not happy about losing.
“You cheated!” she snarled.
“I cheated? What, are you a puppy? And here I thought you were the Chosen One.” Raven raised his eyebrow and turned around, flicking her nose with his tail.
Blue narrowed her eyes and snarled, “Don’t turn your back on me!”
Raven turned halfway and snorted. “What you need to learn, Blue, is to control your anger. Really think about being the servant instead of the master of your destiny,” Raven said. “If you even have a destiny to fulfill, which is questionable at this point.” Blue felt her eyes well up at the insult. “Why are you always so mean?” she asked, trying to keep the hurt out of her voice. “What do you know about destiny? Maybe you’re just a fake.”
Raven shook his head and continued to walk away. The heat waves blurred him into nothing.
Blue sat there alone. At first, she felt sorry for herself. She had been through so much. No one cared about her, and those who did were either dead or missing. She seemed to do nothing but fight recently. Blue started to cry.
But after she stopped, Blue realized that Raven was right; she had led a selfish life. She hadn’t cared about anyone else until Robo’s cruelty forced her into new situations with new friends. She thought about the poor little stray abandoned by his humans she had threatened and mocked for his belief that they would return. She felt ashamed.
She was the one who had been mean; the one who had been bad for no other reason than it made her feel powerful.
Blue grew still.
She decided she would use her new, barely tested powers, for good. Finally, she fell asleep on the beach, at peace.
The next day, Raven stared down at the Husky, who was curled up in the marsh grass. Such a silly dog. How does the future see this mutt as special?
Blue opened one eye, seeing the Great Dane above her.
“Your breath stinks,” she said.
Raven laughed. “Not as much as your fur does. You smell like a dead bird.”
Raven backed up into a fighting position: head down, feet braced. “Let’s try again." He was poised five feet away from her. With a curled lip, he baited her. “Attack me!”
Blue got up, lowered her head and paced around him, studying his posture. She felt her limbs stretch and tingle and she realized this was the sign. My powers are on. She felt lighter, like she could run forever. Raven studied her movements. Blue sprang toward him, baring her teeth. This time, she was not going to let Raven walk away. She felt energy pump through her body, and this time, Raven was barely quick enough to block her. He just managed to spring out of the way, using his back leg to trip her. She fell to the ground, and slowly got up shaking the sand off her head. She spat out sand, frustrated and angry.
Raven trotted up to her.
“You don’t know how to control your powers. Until you do, stop relying on them, Blue,” he snarled. “Your anger is still blocking your good sense.”
It was another long day. She slept alone on the beach again.
The next morning, Raven stood above her again. He didn’t even say good morning. She dutifully trudged after him. He walked up onto a steep, sandy hill. She followed. Raven sat on the edge, and shared his fresh water with Blue, who gulped it down gratefully. He sighed, looked at her, and then looked down on the beach, marsh weeds swaying in the wind.
“Why are you here, Blue?” Raven asked, turning toward her and, for once, meeting her gaze.
Blue was taken aback at this question. “Why do you want to know?”
Raven sighed, “You need a reason to fight against Robo. You just can’t fight out of anger all the time.”
Blue sat still for a moment, studying the marsh down below.
“Obviously, I’m fighting for Max and Destiny, “ she said. But then she grew quiet. Why did she have to face Robo? Freeing Max? Avenging Copper? She’d never cared about other dogs before, certainly not enough to risk her own life. What was it about this battle that made her feel she could not walk away?
The vision. Again, she saw the destruction—the lives lost, the fire, and Robo behind it all. Everything—dogs, humans— everyone suffered. Even Blue, selfish, city mutt Blue, felt like the scientists had given her the power to fight this evil.
“I don’t want dogs and humans to be ripped apart,” she said. “I’m still working through my feelings on this, but I think, although some dogs have bad owners, the good ones don’t deserve death, which is what Robo has planned for them. Most people love their dogs, and, sadly, even their cats. It’s already a messed-up world as it is. If anyone knows that, I do. I don’t want Robo, or anyone else, to make it even worse.” She lowered her voice, and looked down the beach. “Secretly, I think I just want everything to be perfect, and it is so frustrating when it can’t be. I guess I want to fix it so no one else has to,” her voice growing more intense “And then I was given the same powers. I mean, how weird is that? So, maybe it really was meant to be.
Which, I know, sounds crazy when it comes from me, a ‘city mutt’ with no family left. But maybe you’re right. Maybe I am the one who has to bring him down.”
Blue stopped talking, and looked over at Raven. “Did you even listen to anything I said?”
“I know how you feel about dogs and their ‘owners,’” Blue said slowly, and Raven looked at her without emotion. “I know you must have loved your human, Raven.”
Raven looked down, studying his paws, remembering his human with her curly tendrils of gray hair, kind blue eyes, and her wide-brimmed straw hat that she wore in the gardens around their home.
“I also know you must have loved your mother,” Blue said at a whisper, her own mother flashing in her mind. Raven stared at her in understanding, as if he had looked into her past and saw her grief.
Raven cleared his throat, shook off the memories, and bounded down the cliff.
“Come on, Blue.”
Blue followed him. They walked along the coast for about an hour. When they finally stopped, Blue was even more confused. A boulder stood in front of them.
Raven walked by it, and finally spoke, “I want you to move this rock.”
Blue cocked her head to the side. “What?”
Raven closed his eyes in frustration. “You’re a terrible soldier. You don’t ever do what others ask you to do.”
“Well, you didn’t exactly ask,” Blue said under her breath. She could feel Raven glaring at her.
“Okay, okay, hold your leash,” Blue muttered, as she walked toward the rock and forced all of her weight against it.
Nothing. Blue felt her strength drain, and she quickly gave up.
“It’s hard to do something on your own, remember?” Raven said. To Blue, it seemed like he was mocking her.
Raven softened his tone. “Come, get up. Try again, this time I’ll help you.”
Blue rose frustrated. “Fiiiiiinnnnnneeeee.”
She pushed all her weight into the boulder again, which remained unchanged until Raven finally helped her. She felt the rock shift, and she realized that, with Raven’s help, they had moved the rock. Blue sat down, breathing heavily.
“There is power in working together, Blue.”
Blue sighed, “I guess there is.”
“Sweet dreams, Blue. Even Chosen Ones need their rest.”
Blue laughed. “Not much to being the Chosen One when there’s only two of you,” she said.
“Pack members stick together,” Raven responded. “Even when the pack consists of only two.”
He dug a shallow hole in the sand, and curled up into it. With a nod of his nose, he signaled Blue to do the same next to him.
Blue was a little irritated. “Could we please not sleep on the beach?”
Raven closed his eyes. “I’m taking you somewhere tomorrow, and I don’t want to waste time in the morning.”
Blue rolled into her spot, and closed her eyes. Despite her annoyance, she fell instantly asleep.
Blue felt wind rush across her face; her wings were spread wide across the sky. Her beak was bright yellow and reflected the rays of sunlight. She was a falcon, soaring above high rises of Atlanta, feeling powerful and free. As she swooped in and out between the tall buildings, she noticed dozems of dead and injured birds who had fallen to the sidewalk, their necks broken. What was happening? Why were they dying?
Then she looked toward the skyscrapers again. Their walls looked like mirrors, the reflective glass giving a deadly illusion of open space. The birds had made an error in judgement, and had flown directly into the buildings. They had believed they were headed toward freedom, but instead they had flown to their deaths.
She glided to the sidewalk, full of sorrow. As she looked at her reflection in the polished glass, however, she wasn’t a falcon any more. She was a Husky, tall and powerful, with glowing aqua eyes. Around her neck was the glowing orb. Blue picked up a brick in her mouth and threw it at the building. The walls shook and then cracked, shards of glass plummeting to the ground. Reflected in each shard, she saw the red eye of Robo. Blue tried to dodge the pieces, but she could feel them piercing her, blood splattering against her white fur.
Blue heard the wings of thousands above her. She looked up to see flocks of birds flying above her. This time, they didn’t fly toward the deceptive buildings, but toward blue sky. They knew the truth now, and Robo couldn’t hurt them anymore.