Hiearchy

The year is 2053…

Mankind is overrun by cruel and vicious animals. Animals who are born into the cold, harsh world, being taught as soon as they come out of their mother's womb to kill and hunt.

Animals who would rather lead in a pack than be on their own. Not for their safety of course, but because strength is in numbers and no other species of animals know this more than the Wolves. A species once taken for granted and was nearly hunted to extinction now being the primary species of the world, out ranking human beings as being top of the food chain. As the years went on, Wolves started to become more aware of our tactics. Knowledgeable to our ways of combat and stealth. They were watching…listening…waiting for just the right moment to attack. And they did. By God, did they. But it wasn't a full frontal attack on the world. No. They were much smarter than that. Smaller in numbers, they knew…they knew that taking a damning strike to humanity was not going to be simple. So they started small. Small enough to where their newfound knowledge could be tested and their methods of retaliation can be dealt out swiftly. Small, like a village. Where the people were nice and hospitable to one another. Where they look at each other with kindness in their eyes and warmth in their hearts, as expected from any neighbouring society whose people have known each other possibly since birth. It was night. The wind blew hard and the snow from the freezing winter started to pour down, covering the trees in a fresh white coat that would make a ball of cotton blush. As the villagers began to enter their homes, the tactical beasts waited for the last lit lantern of the town to be snuffed out. With the storming blizzard getting stronger as the night goes on, an unexpected foil to the wolves' plans unfolds as one of the huntsmen is out and about. He is going into the forest, looking for wood to throw into the fire pit to keep him and his loved ones warm. The man wanders deeper into the wilderness to find the best wood to chop with his axe. His axe, forged from the strongest steel with a wooden shaft made from the firmest and toughest of oak. Simply put, this axe could cut just about anything. So, the man is determined to put it to good use on a fine piece of wood that he considers to be worthy of his time and strength of his axe. He continues to walk until he finally stumbles across a tree that is massive in size, grand in its stature. At last, the man has found a significant reason to put his axe to use. He gets to cutting, swinging his axe back and forth, striking the nape of the tree with all of his force, making quite the dent considering the overgrown sapling’s bulking size. Not before long, the man has cut through the nape, making the tree, whose size was remarkable, seem rather a bit underwhelming. As the tree made its slow descent to the ground, its weight caused it to have an almost booming sound; like the asteroid which fell down to Earth all those years ago, wiping away the existence of another previous species of animal whose ravenous nature almost pales in comparison to the one of our cunning beasts. The tree slams into the ground, causing a mild shockwave to shake the ground and a sound so loud, the wolves could hear it from a distance. With that, the Wolves knew they did not have much time. The huntsman was about to head back to the cabin before he heard a snap. Holding a lantern, he slowly swayed it from side to side, looking into the darkness for a threat he had yet to realise was on the rise. But with nothing in his sight, he blows out the final lantern, prompting the Wolves to strike. The incursion was about to begin. As they began to take over, they came across a house with a disturbing sight. To mere humans, it seems like nothing out of the ordinary, but to the Wolves, seemed like a cruel punishment. Almost humiliating. Which is exactly what the wolves felt when in their spree, they found a wolf chained up outside of one of the cabins. The wolves first looked confused as to why one of their own was appearing to be guarding one of the houses of those they had considered to be the enemy. The lead wolf stepped up to the chained up canine, who quickly jumped out and began to growl at the pack leader. The lead wolf comes to a halt, but continues to walk towards the imprisoned hound. They continue to growl, that is until the pack leader is standing right in front of them. If not for their intimidating presence and appearance, their eyes would surely scare any being who was unfortunate enough to come into their gaze, which is just what happens here. The pack leader stares down into the hound’s eyes, almost as if it was the grim reaper himself looking inside to see one’s damned soul before sending them off to the Great Beyond. Now afraid, the hound begins to whimper, their eyes flop down and they get into a submissive lying position. The pack leader looks at the chains bounding the canine and without much force or effort, they break the chains with their teeth, setting free their imprisoned comrade. Shocked but grateful, the hound bows down to their dark saviour, and from there on out swears their undying loyalty to the pack leader, which they will soon realize came at a horrifying price. What happens next is the unthinkable…as proof of that undying loyalty came in the form of committing an act so atrocious, it would make even the most cretinous cretin cringe.