What was left of the fearsome pack of bears barrelled past the Redwood trees, splattering bits of ice and snow everywhere as they pounded the ground. As the last one limped through, whining and blinking furiously, it stopped and sniffed the air suspiciously for a moment, then padded after its friends.<br/><br/>A few minutes later, a figure burst out of what appeared to be a small mound of snow.<br/><br/>“Pfffgh!” Dex spat snow and bits of dirt out of his mouth, wiping his tongue on his already-quite-filthy sleeve in an attempt to scrape off the thin layer of soil. The arid, slightly sour taste that filled his mouth instead wasn’t really any better, but anything was preferable to dirt. Lying face-down on the snow, that brought back bad memories. Wipe it away, wipe it away.<br/><br/>As he brushed ice off his everything, shaking his head vigorously like a wet dog, he vacantly stared at the bear tracks stamped in the ground. Play dead, that was the thing to do with bears. Stand still, stay silent. Yes. That was a rule. Possibly not the one for bears, but it was a good rule nevertheless. He knew it was a good rule, because it could be neatly shortened into “the four Es-es.” Everyone knew that every good rule should be shortened into some catchy phrase. Clunky rules like “Remove safety pin before use”? RSPBU? Nah, it’d never catch on.<br/><br/>A soft yip made him turn around- a young wolf loped into view, yellow eyes glinting against grey fur. It shouldn’t be possible for a wolf to look disgruntled, but this one managed it well enough. “Ah, Minion!” Dex crouched over and patted the wolf with a slightly-wet hand. “What did you do to those bears, Minion? What did I tell you? Fighting is bad! Sharing is caring! Now however will we bring peace and pros-perry-tea to all?” Minion reluctantly licked the moist glove. He knew this scrawny human was technically his master, but some part of his brain wondered if masters were supposed to be so incompetent. Shouldn’t the top dog be the stronger, the wiser, the faster of the two? He felt cheated somehow- this vision of stupidity before him seemed like a personal affront-<br/>Any further thoughts of rebellion were quickly cut short by the sudden increase in petting. There was no use resisting- he rolled over, furiously wagging his tail.<br/><br/>After his hands had warmed enough, Dex stood up, studied at the bear-prints yet again, and then promptly began to trace their path at a brisk trot. The best way to avoid bears was to be where they weren't, right? Therefore, the logical thing to do was to move in the opposite direction, which, presumably, was bear-less. “Come, Minion, mustn’t linger, mustn’t dally. Puttering around makes Jack a bored boy…”<br/><br/>Minion watched the muttering figure amble out of sight, then followed.