Maud looked shocked, and One-eye whimpered when he saw her point at him and shout, "But, he isn't part of our group! Fricks always mean bad luck! You might as well put a bear with us!"

Jera, the instructor, growled deeply, and Maud stopped talking. However, she glared at One-eye, who was shivering, with malice. Diggs joined her, while Arall just stared at the instructor.

"Don't come too close to us, Frick," Diggs managed to whisper without Jera hearing.

One-eye, near crying, tried to interject. "I can't help it that I'm..."

Jera interrupted his plea for justice.

"Now that you all have gathered in groups, it's time for instructions. Instructions on how you Lone One trash should behave around other members of the Clan, when you are allowed to eat, whose orders you should and shouldn't follow, et cetera, et cetera. But before that all starts, I have to tell you about our history."

She was quiet for a second, to ensure that she had the pups' full attention.

"Good. Trainers, you can all go. I will divide the groups among you tomorrow. Alright, pups, is there anyone of you who knows how our Clan came to be?"

One-eye was still near crying because of Maud's and Diggs' awful remarks, but, without even thinking about it, he stood up and raised his tail. By the time he realized that he had done this, he instantly sat down, staring at the ground.

But everyone was already looking at him, most of them with not too-friendly expressions. Jera was included.

She grinned. "Ah, Arrow told me about you. The hunchback pup who was so difficult that she even had to take your eye. Your name was One-eye, right? Yes, it is. It is obvious." She spoke the words "hunchback pup" with the biggest loathing.

One-eye, tears dripping down his cheeks, wanted to sink into the ground. Everyone was staring at him. And they're all seeing my hump and deformed front paw...

"Don't try to squash yourself into the ground! Tell me what you know about the history of Saedin's Clan!" Jera ordered.

It's no use trying to disobey them. They might even take out your other eye... One-eye raised his ears and tail a slight bit, though he was still crying.

"Uhm...Arrow...Arrow told me something about that...Saedin wolf. A-apparently there were many wars between packs and s-some other animals on the mountain, s-so Saedin stood up and united them," he sobbed.

"See? That wasn't so hard, now, was it, One-eye? Yes, he is right. But let me get into detail. Have you heard of the Great Zoo Breakout?"

One-eye let out a small wail of grief, and started to push himself to the cave ground again.

Maud blew a raspberry. "Stop hunching like that. You're only making looking yourself look worse," she whispered, causing Diggs to chuckle.

Then, Dawn got up again, tail in the air. She looked a little more certain than at first.

Jera nodded contently. "You know about it?"

Dawn raised her chin, though her prickling neck fur showed that she wasn't all that comfortable. She spoke with her strange accent.

"My parents told me about it. In the Humanplace in the valley, there was a zoo. And...I believe it was...thirteen years ago, when many animals broke out because these things called electric fences weren't on.

"Some of them where Panged by humans, and others died because they couldn't sustain themselves in the Alpine wilderness. But some other animals did manage to survive. Like the pumas, red wolves, and even some of these monstrous bears!

"The Humans, when they saw animals that functioned pretty well in these mountains, decided to leave them. They, however, did not notice the wars going on between them.

"I'm not certain, but I think that this sudden population growth on the mountain is what caused those wars between the animals."

One-eye looked down at his paws. He had heard something about the Great Zoo Breakout when he was a pup, but never knew this much.

The instructor sounded relieved. "I knew not all of you Lone Ones would be useless. You are a clever pup, Dawn. Yes, it is indeed the Great Zoo Breakout that caused the arguments between the animals on the mountain.

"Many of them had died in the wars. It wasn't until Saedin, son of a dog and a red wolf, stepped up, that those fights stopped. At first he only convinced a few wolf packs to with him and to form a bigger Clan. Who also joined early on were one cougar and her mate. That was Arrow and her mate, Brad.

"Later, more animals joined. Foxes, runaway dogs, more wolves, lynxes, and some other catamounts. Saedin even had the courage to ask a bear to join our group. But, bears are bears. Stupid, clumsy animals. No one can communicate with them. We were eventually forced to chase the bear of our now-combined territory."

Dawn, who had just sat down for a second, got up again.

"Yes, Dawn?"

"But...how does Saedin manage to arrange all of this? I mean, I know that Arrow is his second-in-command, and that he has a few close advisers of his own...but how does he manage to keep this huge territory together? It almost covers the entire mountain! That must be so much work!"

Jera continued, but One-eye barely listened anymore.

"Another good question. Indeed, it is hard work to organize all of this.

"Saedin rarely stays in one spot. He's almost always on the travel through his territory, to check how his subjects are doing. If there is a conflict between some of them, he'll come to them personally to find a compromise.

"Although they are not the real leaders of the Clan, Arrow Jones does a lot of organizing over here, in the Main Base of our territory: The centre.

"And, of course, his close advisors also help Saedin out a lot, too."

Dawn nodded and sat down again. "Oh, okay. I understand."

"Any other questions?"

One-eye looked up, trying to pay attention. But, in his mind, he constantly relived the awful moment where everyone had stared at him as if he was some kind of monster. Who am I kidding? I am...

"Good. You are all dismissed. You can go wherever you want, as long as you stay in the clearing. And don't bother animals that aren't your trainers or fellow trainees. You all have the lowest ranks of the entire Clan. In case you want some food, you can ask the one guarding the prey-stock.

"Also, I recommend trying to get to know one another a bit better. You'll be stuck in this group until your assassin training is finished, so you might as well try to get along. I know Lone Ones aren't the most social of animals, but just try, for Saedin's sake, alright?"

The instructor barked as a sign that the meeting was over, and the pups left the cave.

One-eye went last. He saw all of them spread over the clearing. Maybe I can go and check on some other groups? Just because my team doesn't want me...maybe another one does? Maybe we could trade members or something?

He sighed. No...they don't. They all looked at me the same way when I got up. He blinked away a tear, sobbed once more, and then looked for his group. He heard Arall speak as he approached them.

"Eh...what was your name again? I got Maud's, and the name of the deformed one is self-explanatory, but I didn't catch yours."

Diggs looked a big agitated. "It's Diggs. Now...what are we supposed to do exactly? Should we just stay here in this boring clearing? There are only animals of the Clan around here, and I won't talk to them!"

"I guess so. Maybe we could get some food? I'm starving, honestly!" was Maud's input.

"Yeah, me, too! I haven't eaten since Arrow took me away from my grandparents! Are you coming, too, Arall?"

One-eye looked up. The thought of food made him feel a slight bit better. He'd only been fed half-rotten scraps in his prison. Here, he surely must be able to get something slightly proper at least.

Then, he noticed that the three wolves had left without him. He called after them. "H...hey! I'm hungry, too!"

He bolted after them, stumbling because of his legs that were still painful from his week being caught in the den, but Maud pushed him away as soon as he reached them. Ouch!

She snarled. "Now let me make one thing clear, Frick! Don't speak to us, don't look at us, and don't even act like you are in our group! You may be put with me, Diggs, and Arall, but we're not going to let you ruin us!"

One-eye felt the tears come back. What am I doing wrong? Is it really just my hump and my paw? "But I just want to—" he whimpered.

Diggs joined Maud. "Just stay away from us, you arch-backed, two clawed mess! You're not a wolf! Just...go!"

One-eye was crying again. Be more assertive, you stupid mutt! He mentally swore at himself while he lay there, whimpering, in front of the wolves' feet.

Arall approached Maud. "Come on. Let's just go get some food. It's not worth wasting our time on him."

Maud nodded, and Diggs turned his back on the deformed pup, as well. They left him and reached the food pile.

One-eye looked at them, biting his lip, then lay his head between his front paws, wailing. I just want my Mommy...