Ryia awoke to the sound of hundreds of screaming voices. Her body registered two things instantly. She was in a place with no light. She was kneeling down with her hands on the ground, naked on what felt like another person, 'The girl who fell.' she realized. Her left side was already pressed against what felt like a stone wall. Somebody stepped on her right hand in the pitch black darkness. She cried out, her voice lost among the cacophony. She pulled her hand toward her body, tripping the person who had stepped on her. The person fell onto Ryia, crushing her breasts against her ribs, and flailed around as the mass of voices surged close by. She again wrapped her arms around the other girl and tried to shield her. People all around pushed and shoved, voices frantic with blind panic. Ryia could only hope she and the unnamed girl beneath her survived whatever was happening.

Ryia had not expected to wake up at all. Everybody 'knew' that being caught in The Event was lethal. It had appeared a month before it had come to India. The Event was a hurricane like storm, but it did things far more terrible than a normal hurricane ever could. It had first hit the Eastern coast of the United States where it had vaporized nearly eight hundred people. Since that tragedy, every nation in the world had been tracking the killer storm. The problem was that it disappeared then reappeared at random times, always just off the coast of a country. The United States had been the first country hit, but it was far from the last. The Event had disappeared then reappeared just off the coast of South America where it had killed even more people. After it hit South America, it disappeared again only to reappear just to the North of India. Scientists were puzzled as to why The Event behaved in such a way. Ryia's mind did not have the chance to dwell on the thought though. People surged in her direction and pushed her left side forcefully into the rough wall she was already touching. Ryia screamed and tried to push the people off her. The press was so bad that she couldn't breathe, another person's body was pushed up against her so hard that she could not take a breath, even through her open mouth. In desperation, she bit down as hard as she could on the flesh suffocating her.

A man's voice screamed in fear and pain, but the pressure did not lessen. Ryia bit down again and again, tasting coppery blood in her mouth, her body crying out for air and her mind fearing for the injured girl beneath her. The pressure finally let off and Ryia gulped down breath after breath of air, gasping and panting.

She suddenly saw stars as a fleshy appendage struck her face. She covered her head with her arms and curled up into a little ball, screaming for the person to stop.

* * *

Diamond Tooth was the highest ranking Guard Dog in Gem Fount. He was a sturdy Diamond Dog with tough, corded muscles and keen senses. He was calm and intelligent, by Diamond Dog standards. He thought about the repercussions of his actions and what repercussions the repercussions could have. He saw the world as dominoes poised to fall by the effect of any action. He could see the waves of cause and effect and the longer term effects on others. What truly made him stand out though was the fact that he loved. He loved his City/State, he loved his Guard Dogs, and he loved all Diamond Dogs who dwelt within the massive subterranean cavern of his home.

If a puppy got lost in the tunnels before they were collapsed, he would lead the search party himself. If two Dogs got into a physical altercation, which was a frequent occurrence, he would step in and break it up himself. He was not the sort to give orders then sit back and expect results. He was the 'take charge and lead from the front' type. He rarely had to train his Guard Dogs because he was the example for them to follow and emulate. He would often ask them questions on how to handle a situation. He did not train his Guard Dogs, he groomed them to replace himself. His biggest wish and goal was to retire and to then have the Guard Dogs be able to operate individually and independently without a commanding Dog managing their every move. A saying had sprung up during his time as commanding officer: 'What Would Diamond Do'. His parents had high hopes for him when he was born, naming a Diamond Dog puppy Diamond had been an arrogant and unpopular decision. Diamond Tooth had many difficulties growing up with the name, but his difficulties had made him a stern leader and a stalwart Guard Dog.

He was not perfect by any means, he had made plenty of mistakes. He had once tried to separate a bitch and a dog who were fighting and barking in the open streets. He had been new to the Guard Dogs and thought he knew better than his commander, who had told him to ignore the spectacle. The two combatants had both turned on him. He later found out that they had a habit of fighting in the streets and that their neighbors often bet on who would win the fights. The couple were harmless, unless you tried to break them up, then YOU became their target. Diamond had learned from the experience and had also ensured that his Guard Dogs learned the same so they would not have to make the same mistake.

Diamond Tooth plodded along his predetermined patrol route with two other Guard Dogs. His command always divided up into groups of three for their patrols and with new Guard Dogs as often as possible. His predecessor had always kept the groups the same for cohesion; Diamond Tooth worked differently. His belief was that if Guard Dogs always worked with random partners, they would be much more acclimated to communicating and coordinating with unfamiliar Guards, which in turn would facilitate each individual being more self sufficient if divided and more willing to do their part when called for. Set partners ensured that a single Dog would become the dominant one, the leader, while Diamond Tooth's 'mixed pack' idea gave all the Guard Dogs a chance to learn how to lead since a new team lead was selected every night. It forced flexibility and required the Guard Dogs to think on the go.

"Hey Tooth," one of Diamond Tooth's partners addressed, "Do you hear something?"

Diamond Tooth always preferred to be called by his second name and his Guard Dogs were more than happy to comply. The one who had addressed him was Carrion Hound. Carrion Hound, or just Carri as he preferred to be called, had the most keen ears of the Patrol Pack. He was a mature dog of eighty-four years but was still in his prime, since Diamond Dogs tended to live even longer than Ponies. Their longer lives lead them to also propagate faster and more frequently than Ponies. Then again the Diamond Dogs needed a higher birth rate because of the mortality rate of their lives. While Diamond Dogs COULD live longer than Ponies, that did not mean that they often did. Disease, famine, violent conflict, and their lack of medicinal knowledge meant that most Diamond Dogs did not live past seventy and those who did were to be treated with respect and listened to. Which lead to the reason why Diamond Tooth immediately stopped walking and perked up his ears when the older dog spoke.

Diamond Tooth closed his eyes and began singling and and tuning out all other sounds. The voices of other Diamond Dogs slowly became background noise. The tromp and scrape of claws against stone faded away into oblivion. The yapping of puppies and their laughter quieted down to a whisper. There, in the background of the city was the sound. Diamond Tooth strained his ears to clarify the sound, 'Voices?' His eyes snapped open, "Voices." He said quietly. His perked ears twitched and rotated like a pair of satellite antennas, trying to home in on the direction of the sound.

A new smell suddenly filled his nose. It stunk powerfully of fear and sweat. The scent nearly overpowered every other smell. Diamond Dogs did not normally smell anything like that, 'We smell of good, clean dirt and soil and meat. This scent... smells like... I don't know what. Still, puppies do tend to wander into the old tunnels.'

Wasting not a moment, Diamond Tooth raised his bronze whistle to his lips and blew a series of three quick chirps. He gave a two second pause before emitting another trio of chirping whistles. He repeated the sound for a full minute before he stopped. His Guard Dogs came running as though their tails were on fire. Tooth had long before established the codes for whistles. Three quick chirps with two seconds in between meant that the one blowing the whistle needed backup as soon as possible for an emergency.

Less than five minutes after Tooth finished blowing on his whistle, his entire command was present. It was an excellent response time, however he did not have time to congratulate his Guard Dogs the way they deserved, "There is a noise coming from one of the tunnels on the Eastern side of the city. Maybe some puppies got lost in a tunnel. I need three runners to report back to Governor Scar Nose and five more to accompany my Patrol Pack to investigate. This could be puppies or it could be something different. I will send runners as I can spare them. The rest of you return to your patrols, but be ready to come if you hear the whistle."

Three Guard Dogs took off toward Governor Scar Nose's home without being selected. Five more raised their paws into the air as volunteers. Diamond Tooth smiled inside, 'My Guard Dogs are the best in the world. There's nothing we can't handle.'

He had no idea exactly how much testing his Guard Dogs would have to endure soon.

Author's Note

Chapter 1 done guys! Please enjoy and let me know if I missed any typos.