MANN TAKING OVER/ BUDNEY

  Morning came and Refitwa stretched her cramped wings. She guessed she was almost at Ruvellentia by now. She had been travelling for about three days now. She knew she could get there in about half-a-days flight from Silent Plateau but she was enjoying the warm breezes and the freedom of the wind beneath her wings.
  Ruvellentia used to be her home, but now had become a ghost city. The horrible weapon that Mann created wiped all the Reflected Wolvians out except for her. She did not know of any other survives.
  The stream trickling through the open under the canopy was delightful to listen to, but she knew she must be moving on. More creatures looked at her awestruck. She acknowledged them all with a kind smile and swished her tail before taking flight again. She flew above the canopy again, so she could look out for any signs of her home.
  It took her a few more hours of her enjoyable flight to find her home. It was easy to find than expected because there was a large cloud of smoke rising up from it. This worried her. What was going on? She flew closer to the canopy as not to be seen. She had the sun behind her which would make anything trying to look at her impossible, but she was very cautious anyway. She felt her heart starting to race, something she hadn't felt in a long time. Closer and closer she flew. She could feel herself starting to tremble and panic. She wondered why she was so afraid of smoke, but she sub-consciously knew the answer.
  There stood a large hole where the canopy protecting her home used to be. Over the edge of one of the trees she could peer down without being seen by whatever was below. A loud gasp of horror escaped from her. As she had looked below she saw none other than the reason why her race was almost extinct. Mann was burning the foliage and around Ruvellentia. It was smoking like crazy and Refitwa could hear the screaming pain of it all, she didn't want such horrible things to happen to her home. Some of the Mann's had begun building their own structure and digging holes for foundation. It looked so horrible and out of place.
  Refitwa sat in the old tall tree, panting from shock and listening to the trees sad sobs of being scared it would be next to burn. What more could Mann do here, she thought? The things that had been created by Mann had already destroyed her kind. What else did they want? Was it all the lush resources that were around Ruvellentia? Or had they simply come back to finish what they had started?
  Whatever it was it baffled and frightened Refitwa. It had frightened her so much that she had leapt back into the air and set a new course for the Meadow of the Reflected, which she hoped hadn't discovered also, to consult with the other spirits of Wolvians and decide what could be done against Manns actions. She flew hard and long, taking most of the day to get there. Her mind was full of fear racing with panic. She knew she could not stand against Mann alone, not if they ever brought out that horrible weapon again that they had made many years ago.

  "Oh shut up will ya!" cried out Rossmend at Budney. Budney had insisted that he should come with them to see what Mann was up to. Icalave had threatened him that if he caused any trouble or if it was a trick to get them ambushed by other Shadow Wolves that he would kill him in the most horrid way he could think of. Budney had promised that he was different from most Shadow Wolvians but Arssneq had whispered in Icalaves ear, "they all turn out the same in the end."
  Budney was always hyper-active, as they found out. His parents were ashamed of his constant bubbliness and had always beaten him. He was always being put down by the other pups as well and so he ran away.
  Budney had described this to Rossmend in great lengthy detail.
  "Why did we ever bother brining him with us? I want to tear iff his little head and shove it up his..." Rossmend was cut off. Icalave had frozen in front of them. He was in the stance that was used for the beginnings of a fight.  His fur stood on end and his blue markings faintly glowed.
  "What is it?" Arssneq came trotting up beside Icalave.
  "I smell something... something rotten. It's strange. I can't get my nose on it." He sniffed around in the air. "It's coming from over there I think." Icalave gestured towards the river. Something was bobbing up and down in it in the current. "Bring it in and see if we can identify it." Arssneq and Rossmend, to his relief, dived in and swam out to the bobbing object. Budney came quietly up to Icalaves side and sat there. Budney was to in awestruck and frightened to ask what was going on. The other two brought the object up to the rivers banks.
  "Dear Lord that river tastes and smell fowl. How am I supposed to get this stench and taste out of my fur now?" But nobody was listening to Arssneq's complaints.
  "What is it?" repeated Rossmend, staring dumbfounded at the motionless thing. Icalave sniffed it.
  "That's definitely what I smelt." Budney stayed up on shore, a terrible fear had crossed his face. It was white before anyone noticed. Arssneq was the first to notice.
  "What's wrong with him? Doesn't he usually attack us with his silly questions when we find something?" He questioned. Budney had indeed bombarded them with questions every time they discovered something.
  "I don't' need to ask questions. Because I already know what that is." The others looked at him, their eyes filled with curiosity and fear.
  "what is it?" Rossmend said it for the third time. This time the question was directed at Budney and was answered.
  "It's... a Mann." Budney pronounced each of the words so slowly that the last word came as a shock to them.
  They all backed off away from the Mann's body, snarling and growling.
  "Why do Manns smell so fowl?" asked Arssneq, slowly backing away like the others, but also keeping a watchful eye on it.
  "Because it's dead," replied Budney. Arssneq looked at him with surprise with all his knowledge. They loosened their tension a little but all were still cautious. They didn't want the Mann to spring up and start attacking them unaware.
  "How do you know its dead?" snapped Rossmend at Budney. Budney smugly trotted down towards the body.
  "Because it has a wound here," he pointed at a large gash between what looked like the Mann's two shoulders on the back. The others were slightly embarrassed that they had missed this, "and here." Budney rolled the Mann's body over. It was an horrible sight on the Mann's front. There was a large tear from the Manns mouth all the way down to between its hind legs. But that wasn't all. The Mann's belly side  looked like it had been rotting in the water for weeks. It gave a nasty fowl stench that Icalave guessed that must have been what he'd smelt.
  Budney's face was turning an awful shade of green. The others could even tell under all his shaggy black fur. The smug smile had been wiped of his young face and been replaced with something like a revolted shock.
  "Get him away from here!" Icalave shouted at Rossmend. With only the power of the command, Rossmend picked up Budney by the scruff of his neck and took him away from the disgusting sight.
  "What does this mean then?" Arssneq asked," Is Mann fighting amongst themselves or is it an act of gaining power over others? Murder." Arssneq looked over to Icalave, a puzzled expression was on his face.
  You are wise in your words Arssneq, but unfortunately this is another reason why we must continue on our investigation,"Icalave looked down to the South as he spoke," our list of reasons is growing. I only wanted to find out why Shamrok River had hideous bubbles. But now I want to know why the Southern sky grows more brown, why only this Mann is dead, and if possible, what the two Wind Wolves were doing so far North." Rossmend came panting back just as Icalave finished saying this.
  "He will be fine for now, unfortunately," Rossmend whispered the last word to himself.
  "Good, we have already wasted enough time pondering. The day grows short and we still have a lot of ground to cover. Gather up Budney and we shall leave." Icalave was determined to get moving. Arssneq went to grab Budney this time because Rossmend had protested over having enough of his bubbliness. Arssneq came with Budney at his heals looking much better than before. Then they all set off south once more, the sun moving further and further into the west.