Rabbit in the Wolfpack

By Kimberly Lai (12) and Charlotte Ling (11)

A July 2024 Monthly Story Challenge Winner

Chapter One: The Goblins

At this very moment, Amory Olson realized that being pummeled by punches traveling at a speed of forty-five miles per hour was not his favorite activity. Yet, that was exactly what was happening. He was being beaten up by another goblin who was the same age as him, but a foot taller and much more muscular. Amory was smaller than the typical goblin, but still five and a half feet tall, with dark skin, almost resembling a dwarf.

As a young goblin from the Granite Territory, Amory was required to endure eight hours of grueling battle boot camp each day. This lasted for two weeks every July. This rigorous training was designed to identify the most skilled young goblins for recruitment into the esteemed Granite Army. Being selected for the army was a significant honor in their town, although it was not guaranteed for everyone. However, there were exceptional cases. Like Damon.

Young Amory, who was only ten years old, was the only goblin at his training academy who didn't have high hopes for the battle camp. All the other goblins his age were convinced that it would turn them into the greatest goblin fighters in history or make them legendary.

Just the other day, his friend Orvar told him that he was going to live up to the great, amazing fighter legacy of his grandpa after he finished the camp and got into the army. Every young goblin had the dream of attending battle camp and being invited to the military. 

But, Amory was nothing like them. The others got into fights at the academy. Amory tried to be as kind and gentle as possible when he wasn’t being yelled at to toughen up. The others were giddy to start camp. Amory… wasn’t. Nevertheless, there he was, standing in the gravel battle training grounds under the beating sun, being yelled at to get up and fight like a man… goblin. 

“C’mon Olson!” Coach shouted, ignoring the fact that Amory was being crushed by punches coming at him like bullets. 

Amory was now about to be knocked over by his very tall opponent.

“Toughen up and be more like Damon!”.  

Damon was Amory’s older brother who was skilled enough to be picked for the army and was a fearless leader who led his troop to many victories. Amory was expected to live up to his brother's standards. But where was Amory now? 

Pinned to the ground by his very own classmate.

~

It was dark when Amory arrived at his house, the camp ended when the sun had set. Even before he entered his own house, he knew what he would say when his father asked how camp went: Oh, it was great! Even though I am small, short, and puny, I still have hope and determination to get into the army! 

Not. But of course, he wouldn't tell his proud father that he had no interest or skill in fighting.

Before he twisted the doorknob he heard a rustling in the opposite direction: the woods. 

His woods. 

The woods where he hid as a small child after he had gotten beaten up by his classmate. 

The woods where he would go when he was sad. 

The woods that made him feel safe and alright. 

Temptation won him over, and Amory took off running towards the woods. Partly because of the rustling, but he also really needed the peacefulness of the woods at that moment. As he ran through the trees, long dark shadows of the redwood trees cast over his face. He heard rustling again and followed the strange noise. When he came to the source of the rustling noise, the first things he saw in the darkness were two eyes. Soft, scared, brown eyes. And furry, black, rounded ears. Amory realized what was happening.

He was staring into the eyes of a black bear cub. 

Chapter Two: The Woods

“He’s stuck in the bushes,” a young, frightened voice said behind Amory. It seemed to belong to a child goblin.

“Who are you?” Amory asked, startled. 

Amory turned around and faced a cute little four-year-old goblin with bright green eyes just like his. 

The goblin child didn’t answer his question.

“I’m scared,” the goblin child said instead.

“Don’t be” Amory said, trying to sound calm, even though he was very fearful himself, “I think the bear’s also scared”.

“What are we going to do with Berry?” the child pointed a little finger toward the bear cub.

“I don’t know”.

The goblin child stared at the bear for a long time.

“I don’t want to hurt him,” the child said.

“What is your name?” Amory whispered

“Moby,” he said quietly.

“Why are you here?” Amory asked calmly.

“I felt sad, so I walked into the woods and found Berry here”.

Amory nodded.

Moby continued, “I never met him before, but I promise he is nice. He’s stuck in that bush, so I don’t want to leave him here, helpless. I’m going to free him.”.

Moby hesitated for a moment but eventually took a small step towards the bear, his hands trembling with fear. Amory, feeling a mix of concern and disbelief, was on the verge of yelling at Moby to stop and abandon it. It was too risky. However, rather than following his instinct, Amory too found himself edging forward, mirroring Moby's movements. Together, they cautiously advanced toward Berry, who fixed them with a steady gaze and began to rustle in the undergrowth, desperately trying to break free.

But, when Amory and Moby finally reached the bush, instead of biting or clawing them, the bear just looked at them helplessly. Amory and Moby worked together to untangle the branches that had become stuck to Berry's back leg. It was a slow and complicated process, but the bear remained calm, seeming to understand that they meant no harm. After they freed the bear from the branches, it slowly walked away. Before disappearing into the trees, it looked back at Amory and Moby as if to thank them. After a long moment, Amory and Moby walked out of the woods and back towards the village.

“Moby” Amory said “you were really brave back there”.

"Thanks, you were too. But would I be really brave if I was also extremely scared to death?" Moby said.

"I wouldn’t have collected the courage to help save that bear if you hadn’t gone first. I was also really, really scared,” Amory said.

That was when Amory realized something. All of the heroes in the dusty old history books and scrolls were likely frightened more than Amory or Moby were when trying to save the bear. Amory knew that Damon was scared when he led the army to many victories.

Bravery might not be the absence of fear.

Bravery was deciding that even though you are scared, what you were doing might just be more important than that.

Amory felt very proud.

Amory held hands with Moby as if they were best friends and they both walked out of the woods.

Not his woods.

Their woods.

Chapter Three: The Return

That morning, Amory Olson woke up feeling particularly good and happy. 

Until he opened his eyes and realized that he didn’t feel happy anymore. Because today was his second day of battle camp. Ugh.

After the trauma of the first day, he was not looking forward to it. He trudged into the kitchen for breakfast and ate four loaves of fresh bread. He thought about how he would survive the day of boot camp without being yelled at. It was also unlikely that he would make it through the day without getting at least five scratches, scrapes, bruises, cuts, and other injuries.

Suddenly, while Amory was eating, the front door swung open. 

In the doorway, stood a tall, muscular, athletic male goblin wearing a big, sage green, fitted, camo uniform. 

 He was scratched all over his face and body, but when he saw Amory, his eyes lit up.

“Damon!” Amory ran over and hugged his brother. 

“Amory!” Damon grinned and squeezed him tight, “I missed you!”.

“Why are you back from the army? I’m really glad you’re back, but…”

Then, Amory noticed the gray cast on his wrist and the crutches that supported his injured leg.

“I got hurt in the last battle” Damon frowned.

A huge war had been going on for two years, and it was still going. Amory had already suspected that the enemy had the potential of causing harm to the village. But now, the enemy had managed to injure Damon, who was one of the Granite Army’s most valuable fighters. 

He was also Amory’s only brother.

“I’m okay though,” Damon said, but he flinched as he took a step into the house.

Amory ran and got him an ice pack, and a thermos of water.

As Damon settled onto the couch and iced his leg, he told Amory about the craziest things that had happened for the past four months that he had been away. Amory listened intently. Damon told him that he had been on the battlefield for months after months. Amory felt more scared with each sentence Damon said about the frightening battles he endured. One of those days, Damon could have died a horrible death without anyone around to say goodbye. After one last horrifying war story, Amory and Damon stayed silent for a while. 

“I’m glad that you’re home”, Amory said “I missed you”.

Amory found himself telling Damon about all the bad situations he had gotten into at boot camp. They were stories he wouldn’t dare to tell anyone else.

Amory told Damon stories about him being harshly yelled at by the councilors, and being charged ferociously by his fellow camp-mates.

Amory nearly broke into tears once he finished telling a story of being laughed at by everyone at camp, but wanted to stay strong in front of Damon. Damon understood and told Amory to keep on training, practice hard, and be kind. 

“Amory, you are kind and gentle, and don’t change yourself just for others.” 

Amory smiled and hugged Damon for a while.

Then he realized…

“Oh no! I’m late for camp!” Amory jumped up and grabbed his bag.

“Bye lil’ bro” Damon said with a happy grin.

Amory walked through the front door, satisfied despite having to endure a whole new day of torture, also known as battle camp. Damon was back!

However, he would get in trouble for being late. 

And he had no regrets.

Chapter Four: The Bootcamp

“Olson! Come here for a second” Councillor Callan called to Amory near the end of the day of boot camp.

 Amory was practicing his technique for protecting himself with a barbed club. And so far, he was failing miserably, so he is glad to have an excuse to take a break.

“Is it true that Damon is back?” Callan asked excitedly, “I’ve heard rumors that he came back! He is the bravest fighter ever!”.

Callan was an eighteen year old goblin who was one year from potentially being in the army. 

If you wanted to be in the army, when you turned eighteen, there would be tryouts to get into the army.

Tryouts had not started yet, but Callan was extremely skilled. Everyone knew that he would ace the tryout, and fight alongside Damon in the army.

“Yeah, he’s back,” Amory said.

“Wait- why is he back?” Callan asked, “Did Damon end the war by punching the enemy with his huge, buff muscles?”. Callan mimicked throwing powerful punches into the air, and flexing his biceps afterwards.

“Callan, no,” Amory said, 

Amory felt like he was trying to console a little kid, even though Callan was years older and more skilled.

Unfortunately, that was when Amory realized that many other goblins at the camp were eavesdropping on their conversation. They began to swarm Amory with questions about Damon.

“He’s back?!!”

“What happened?”

“Did he end the whole war?”

“I cannot wait to meet him!”

“We should spy on him from outside his house!”

More goblins stopped training, and started asking questions, but the coaches and counselors didn’t seem to mind. In fact they seemed interested, which greatly annoyed Amory. He began to feel a pounding migraine settle into his temple. That happened a lot when he got stressed. All of the campers started talking over each other to learn more about Damon’s homecoming, causing Amory to panic. Amory didn’t answer any of their questions, partly because he couldn’t understand what they were saying over all the voices, but mostly because it was just too much for him.

So he ran. Running was the one athletic thing that Amory could do. And he was actually fast.

He ran away from the swarm of students and towards the gate, and out of the battle camp.

But before he got to the gate, something darted through the gate, into the battle camp, very fast.

It was not a goblin, for sure.

It was some sort of creature.

A very brown, furry creature.

It was the bear cub he had saved with Moby in the woods.

Berry.

Seconds later, a swarm of palace guards ran in after Berry, holding spears.

One of the guards yelled: “Attack!”.

All of them surrounded Berry.

Then it all clicked in Amory’s head. 

Amory knew that the village had been trying to capture a bear for many weeks. But what Amory had not known was that the bear they were trying to capture was Berry. And, Berry didn't get stuck in that bush by accident. Village hunters had trapped him there, and left him to starve and die.

As the guards surrounded Berry, Amory felt a jolt of anger and fear. 

He would not let them hurt Berry.

Suddenly, Berry started biting and clawing the guards, something that Amory had never seen him do before. 

Why hadn't Berry done that to Amory and Moby?

“Amory, you are kind and gentle,” Damon’s voice echoed in his head.

And he finally understood how he would make Berry calm down.

And he was the only one who could.

Well, him and another gentle person.

Amory ran to the little kids area, where Moby was sitting in the corner, while the other kids were playing tag.

“Moby!” Amory shouted to him, “Come quick!”

Moby looked at Amory with a confused look, but jumped up quickly and ran to him.

They both ran back to where Berry was being surrounded, while Amory explained everything about what was happening to Berry.

“We have to help!” Amory

“I have a plan”, Moby said.

Moby seemed scared out of his mind, but took a deep breath and put on his brave face.

So Amory did the same.

Chapter Five: The Prince

Amory felt like he was having a panic attack as the guards closed in on Berry. 

But Moby just smiled knowingly. 

“What is this plan of yours?” Amory whispered urgently “Are you sure it's going to work?”.

Moby didn't answer, he just watched the guards taunt Berry.

Then, one of the guards pulled out a gun. Amory screamed inside his head. The guard aimed the gun at Berry, who was curled up in the ball in the center of the swarm of guards, and got ready to shoot…

3… 2… 

Suddenly, Moby jumped onto Berry's back and shielded him from being shot.

Everyone gasped.

Amory watched horrified, knowing that the guard was going to pull the trigger of the gun, anyway. However, instead of shooting, the guard lowered his gun.

“Would you kindly please move out of the way, Your Highness?” the guard asked, politely, bowing.

Your Highness???

Why was the guard addressing Moby as Your Highness?

Only royalty got called that name.

Unless...

Wait, was he King Cyrus's grandson?

As in, Prince Moby?

Amory had known that the king's grandson was named Moby.

But he had never suspected that Moby would actually be that Moby.

After all, he had met Moby in the woods, trying to free a bear.

“Your Highness, can you please not interfere with this, and move over there?” the guard asked a second time. But Moby wouldn't budge.

Instead?

He stuck his little tongue out at the guards.

The guards tried all sorts of polite ways to get him off of the bear, but Moby ignored them. The guards started to get frustrated. After 5 minutes of asking nicely, bribery, and threatening to tell his dad (Prince Nathan), they started to get frustrated. 

So, two of the guards picked him up, and carried him away back towards the palace where he lived. 

As they carried him away he started wriggling in their arms, and shouting.

“No, don't hurt him! Please!”.

But, it was no use. They were going to hurt Berry anyway without Moby.

If Amory didn’t do something.

But, he was going to save that bear. Not that he wasn't scared. In fact, he felt like running home and screaming into his pillow. 

But then Berry would be killed.

He could not let that happen. But now he knew what to do, he just needed to gather some courage.

He could not jump on the bear like Moby had done. They would definitely shoot him anyway because he wasn't royalty.

He had to be gentle.

More goblins from the village came to spectate the scene when they heard that the bear had been caught. Villagers gathered around to watch the guards shoot the bear.

One of the guards started to pull out their gun.

Now. He took a deep breath.

“STOP!” Amory yelled at the top of his lungs.

Everyone including the guards gasped. Everyone's eyes were on him.

Amory faced the guards, shakily.

“Um… While you've been trying to capture this bear for these past few weeks, all you have done is be aggressive and mean to him. So he acted the same way back. Could you maybe try being gentle?”.

The guards look at each other with annoyed expressions.

“You really think that is going to work?” one guard asked. The others burst out laughing.

“This bear has been attacking us because we were disrupting his peace. You guys literally chased him out here while he wasn't doing anything bad” Amory said, getting frustrated, “What did he ever do to you?”.

“Well he keeps biting our armor, it's pure silver!” one guard said.

“He never caused any real problems! You guys just found him in the woods, concluded he was dangerous, and spent two weeks trying to catch him! So his instinct is to fight back for his life!”, Amory said, tears in his eyes, “please don’t kill him”.

“Kid, we're goblins. We’re not gentle. Get out of here”, a guard said and the crowd murmured in agreement.

“But what is the use of being so ferocious to something that never hurt you in the first place?”, Amory asked. The guards have no comeback for that.

Amory continued, “What you are doing is cruel and useless. I'm Damon's younger brother, and… I know he would agree.”

Everyone gasped. 

Suddenly, Damon stepped out of the crowd, in his crutches. 

Amory’s jaw dropped.

“Yeah, I do agree,” Damon said.

Amory hugged his brother. 

Damon whispered in his ear, “I'm proud of you”.

One of the guards sighed.

“Fine, if you think we should be gentle to the bear, then why don't you do it? You can be the guinea pig.” the guard said in a gruff voice, “If the bear doesn't attack you, then we'll let it live”.

The guards moved away from the bear.

Damon hobbled as fast as he could towards the guards on his crutches.

“No! Please, don’t make him do it, that’s my little brother! He will get-” Damon got cut off by Amory.

“Damon. It’s okay”.

Amory tried to wipe away all the fear from his mind like a dry-erase marker from a whiteboard.

“Amory. Don’t do it!”.

“I can do this” Amory took a deep breath.

Chapter Five: The Brave One

Amory took a few steps towards the bear.

1… 2… 3…

He stopped for a moment and prayed that Berry wouldn't attack him.

He hadn’t attacked him when he and Moby had freed him from the bush.

But, a bunch of people had just tried to kill him, so it might be what would happen.

4… 5… 6… 7… 8…

Just five more steps than he would be right next to Berry.

Berry stared at Amory intently with his muddy brown eyes.

8…9…10…11…

He was one step away. Everyone held their breath.

He looked into Berry's eyes and saw fear. They felt the same way.

Then, the fear in Berry’s eyes changed to trust. And so did he.

So, Amory took the one step and he was right next to Berry. He sat down next to him and started stroking his thick brown fur. It felt silky and soft, calming him.

Everyone stared, awestruck.

One of the guards said “Wait… what?”. 

Another guard muttered, “That isn't what was supposed to happen. What are we going to tell King Cyrus!?”.

“Here he comes now!”

A fancy looking carriage led by two horses drove into the training grounds. A tall, slim, athletic elderly man stepped out of the carriage. 

King Cyrus.

Everyone bowed including Amory.

“Your Majesty, we are incredibly sorry about the situation right now, you see-” one of the guards got interrupted.

“I know exactly what happened,” the king said calmly.

“How?”, asked Amory curiously. He got up from where he was stroking Berry.

“I have my sources” the king gave Amory a tiny smile.

“Am I in trouble?” Amory asked.

“It depends” King Cyrus said, “You argued and fought with our most prestigious palace guards. You interfered with their goal to follow my orders. And that should earn you a big punishment.”

Amory hung his head. The crowd murmured to each other.

The king continued on, “However, you have discovered a way to tame this bear. That is something that we have already failed to accomplish-”

“Your Majesty, the bear was already tame, it was just fighting back to survive-”

“Please no interrupting,” the king shushed him, “Anyway, you have found a way to tame this bear. You have also displayed deep courage. Both you and Moby were braver than anyone else here today. Excellent job. That should earn you a reward. However, because you have earned a punishment and a reward, you will get neither.”

“Yes, Your Majesty”

The king patted Amory’s head and said “Good job, you take after your brother”.

Damon, who stood beside Amory, grinned.

King Cyrus gave Amory a tiny smile and left in his fancy carriage. Everyone cheered. 

Suddenly, Counselor Callan ran up to Damon and asked for an autograph and talked about how brave and cool he was. Everyone else followed Counselor Callan and soon, Damon was swarmed with a huge group of goblins asking for autographs.

While Damon was being swarmed for autographs, Amory decided to walk over to Berry, who was curled up on the floor staring into space. He sat down on the floor with him and stroked his thick fur. And, before he knew it, both of them had fallen fast asleep.

In the morning, Amory found himself in his very own bed. Damon had probably carried him home when he fell asleep at the training grounds. Suddenly, Damon came into his room and sat on his bed. 

“Guess what?” Damon said, smiling.

“What?”

“King Cyrus has a little gift for you, and he left it downstairs”.

Amory got out of his bed and walked downstairs with Damon. When he came downstairs, the first things he saw were two eyes. Soft, brown eyes. And furry, black, rounded ears. Amory realized what was happening.

He was staring into the eyes of a very familiar black bear cub. 

The End