The Great Hi-Hi and Shh Debate

The next morning find the survivors of the mongrel pack beaten, bruised, yet still brimming with excitement for what the day would bring. Sure, they'd had some missteps. Most of them were dead! But there was a new big plan, and that was always a reason to be excited! Boss Hi-Hi puffs himself up with pride as the others clap him on the shoulder when they pass by, and jabber out their praise. He always knew he was the biggest; he's probably bigger than Yip-Yap was! By an in...no, by a foot! No wonder last night's plan failed, Yip-Yap was barely three feet tall! Finally this pack will have a truly big leader with a truly impressive pee stream, who will lead them to -

Boss Hi-Hi stops in his tracks as he finds three of his pack mates standing just outside the cave, blocking the entrance.

He immediately decides not to focus on Gert, there are some who'd say the female is bigger than him. Outrageous! And some would say she's stronger than him. Absurd, Unbig!! And fuck, where did she get that huge stick with that amazing pointy rock on it?! He's totally not jealous; his big stick with a pointy rock on it is in his soul. Still, he didn't like meeting her gaze. For very big, very Boss-like reasons. And other the one trying just as hard not to look at him is Mo-Mo, the worthless little fluff ball. Why even bother?

That just leaves the mongrel in the middle who's actually got the sand to try and look his Boss straight in the eye. Of course it's Shh, that jerk always did think he was smarter than everyone, EVEN IF Hi-Hi never once heard him say that. He could smell it on him, even if Shh was always hiding it with smells of loyalty and duty. More like Doody, hahaha! Shh is probably some sort of smell-shifting devil, and there's no reason to give any thought at all to what he seems to be saying. Hi-Hi smirks at that before realizing oh shit, isn't he talking sort of loud? Can the others hear? The brand new Boss whips his head around and notes with a sense of dread that the others have stopped whatever they were doing and are hanging off all of Shh's devil-words.

Hi-Hi decides he better listen, and decide how he's going to undercut it. Fast.

"...and that's why I, um, don't think this is...a very big plan."

You hold your tongue as the other mongrels immediately start to chatter and yelp among themselves. You can't blame them, really. As far as you're aware no one has ever questioned the bigness of a Boss's plan. But you're more convinced now than ever that this is an unbig plan, and that Hi-Hi wouldn't make a very big boss. It's good you're resolved to that fact too, because Hi-Hi is marching up to you right now, his eyes wild.

Gert starts to raise her big stick with a pointy rock, but you shake your head to stop her. A fight would be the traditional way to decide who is biggest, and who gets to make big plans, but you can't convince them that big isn't always best by convincing them you're biggest. Well actually, you probably could. But you don't want to. You're starting to see out the outline of a very big idea, and you've got to follow the scent of it wherever it leads. Right now, it's telling you to try and talk this out.

And so the two of you stand there for quite a long time, Hi-Hi's eyes flaring and his chest puffing out with enraged breath as you meet his challenging gaze as calmly as you can. Which fuck, is actually way calmer than you'd expected. You can hear the others starting to become taken aback that you haven't folded yet, and Hi-Hi must be able to hear them too because he breaks the silence. "Well, what's your big idea then?!"

You take in a breath. This is what you've been waiting for. "Okay. Do you remember a few months back when that little green guy came through?"

There is a questioning murmur through the crowd before a paw shoots up, some mongrel calling out hesitantly. "Um....he was a, uh, goblin? He said? Maybe?"

You quickly nod and point out the now proudly wagging mutt, his pack mates around him congratulating his big memory. "Yes, that guy! Don't you remember what he said he was doing?"

The mongrel's tail starts to slow down as he realizes he doesn't. Better help him out. "He said that he was like us, he was weak and small and guards killed him and his pack mates all the time! And players too!"

The chittering crowd goes quiet at that. None of them had actually seen a player before, and none of them were particularly eager to. Something even stronger than those fortress monsters? But you have, even though you never told anyone. It's the basis of your entire plan, in fact. You go on. "But, but! He said that if he tried really hard, and was smart, he could get stronger!"

The crowd starts chattering again. This is about leveling up, right? You all know about the concept instinctively, gaining experience points to go up in levels. But the only things in this valley are mongrels and fortress monsters, so none of you have ever leveled. Even Yip-Yap had only been a level one Packling, just like the rest of you. Someone calls out. "So, um, if we're level two Packlings, we can kill the fortress monsters?!"

The pack goes wild at that, howling out in excitement as you desperately tried to get their focus again. You should have known they would get off track on this. "Oh, hey! Um! No, no guys. I don't...I don't think that would be enough."

The pack is quiet for a moment, and then someone cautiously calls out. "....Level Three?"

They all start cheering again, and you groan. "Er, no, no....I don't think, um, that Packlings will ever have a chance. We're too...small."

There's a gasp, and you quickly move on before you lose them completely. "But, but! Remember what the goblin said! He didn't say he could just level up, and get stronger! He said that if he got enough experience, he wouldn't just get stronger, he would become something stronger! Don't you remember?"

You are surprised but not at all displeased to hear Mo-Mo speak up at your side. "He said he could become a hobgoblin..."

The little pup squeaks as all the eyes of the pack are suddenly upon her, Hi-Hi looking outraged that she had the nerve to announce her presence at all. She's on the mark though; this is the point of your big plan. "That's it! Mongrels may not be enough, but what about whatever's next? We can't be the only ones out there with just one step! I bet hobmongrels are TOTALLY stronger than those fortress monsters! And that they have a WAY bigger name than hobmongrels! Don't you guys want to find out what that big name is with me and Mo-Mo and Gert?"

The crowd jabbers and barks again, guesses as to that big name calling out as you draw yourself up tall. Did this work? Did you do it?! Your celebration is cut short when Hi-Hi's growl silences the pack, and he slowly addresses you. "This idea is bad. And you're small."

You were so sure you had them, but Hi-Hi's viciously sharp wit has won them over completely. Now they're all laughing and pointing, Gert starting to growl and Mo-Mo trying to shrink as much as she can into your side. You know you're supposed to tuck your tail and weakly laugh, agreeing that you're bad and small. But you don't. You can clearly see for the first time that you're just as tall as Hi-Hi, and even if you weren't it wouldn't matter. You might not be right, but he's definitely wrong.

You step forward and jab a finger into Hi-Hi's chest. "I'm not small! Your brains are small!"

The pack gasps as one, even Gert raising her eyebrows in shock. Hi-Hi is too stunned to do anything, so you don't let up. "I say that I can take over the fortress and kill the monsters with my plan! I bet just me and Gert and Mo-Mo can do it! I bet, um....I bet we can do by when the moon is big again!"

The moon had been big last night, Yip-Yap said it was lucky. You don't disagree either; the fact that any of you survived at all was definitely lucky. Hi-Hi seems to think it's all ridiculous though, as he roars in laughter and is joined in by the rest of the pack. He waves his paws dismissively as he turns around, starting back into the cave. "You're so little and bad! If you wanna waste your time then fine! We'll all have a nice rest and you can run around like a runt, and then when the moon is big again you'll come back here and we'll laugh at you again! And then we'll go pee on the fortress like real mongrels do!" His eyes turn hard. "And then we're gonna pee on you."

The ultimate insult. You almost stumble a bit in spite of yourself; you've been all but thrown out of the pack. But you don't, Mo-Mo is sniffling at your side and Gert looks ready to bash anything that makes a sudden move with her stick and pointy rock. Gotta act big. "Okay. Deal."

Hi-Hi brays in laughter again, and the vines and brush close in front of you to seal off the cave. No going back now. You crouch down to gather Mo-Mo in a hug, the little pup still nervous but noticeably comforted. Gert doesn't seem quite as easy to please. "But there's no way to get experience. Even if there are such things as hobmongrels, we can't ever be them, Shh."

You can't keep the knowing grin from your face, despite all. Almost none of this went as well as you'd hoped, but this part you're still confident in. "Don't worry Gert. Let's go get some fruit."

Your ears know that the big female's response is to lay her ears down and flatly say 'what', but all you can hear right now are the cheers and howls of your future victory. You had a lot of time to think it through last night, and it couldn't be clearer that your situation and the situation of the mongrels on the whole is totally unfair. So why can't you be unfair back?

The world has cheated your pack its whole life, and now you're gonna cheat it back. Even if you don't end up succeeding, this is still gonna be great.