Interesting idea... I think Lorn will end up being a sort of advisor.:D

I think Lorn is probably smart enough to act as some kind of advisor... although he's probably too modest to accept a formal position! Like the other hybrids, Lorn has yet to accept a formal position. In fact, the only positions so far are the Alphas and Betas. I originally thought of having an Omega character who was like, the weakest of the pack... but I don't think intellegent species would discriminate in that way.

So far I've written chapters 1 to 20. I put in a small epilogue at the end of chapter 20... but I'm hoping I will continue with this story further. I think I've done a good job of setting up Silpher and his pack as characters... But I think next time, I'll introduce each character one by one, and go into more detail about their personalities.

= * = * =

Chapter 15: Wet Spell

Dogol and Karn were dripping wet, they kept towards the back of the pack to make sure they didn’t get ambushed. Karn was shaking, to try and get the water off his body. Tulia recoiled slightly, “Hey Karn! You splashed me!”. Karn looked a bit concerned, “Oh, um… sorry miss, didn’t mean ter”. Tulia smiled, “It’s okay. Be sure to dry yourself off so that you don’t get a cold or anything”. Karn nodded, he was about to make a move, but Tulia said, “But don’t shake again please, at least… not so close to me, okay?”. Karn nodded, “Oh, alright then”.

Eventually everyone was dry and Lorn was formulating a plan for food. Magnus raised his hand, a small orange glow was eminating from his hand. Suddenly he spotted something, “Hey guys, come look at this!”. He moved his hand so that the hybrids could see more clearly. Dogol shifted uneasily, “That’s a Scrab nest… that means they’ll be back”. Lorn frowned, “In that case we’ll have to prepare a defensive plan. Everyone get ready for action”.

A short while later, three Scrabs made their way into the nest. Thankfully the rain managed to hide the scent of the hybrids, so an ambush was easy.

They waited until the Scrabs were right inside the cave. Lorn made a clicking sound from his mouth. The Scrabs looked confused, but the hybrids knew this was the signal. Inna and Tulia both ran behind the Scrabs while they were distracted, kicking two of them and punching a third. They ran to the other side of the cave, leading the Scrabs over to where the rest of the team were.

One of the Scrabs tried to find the other hybrids, the other two chased the females. As one Scrab came across the corner, Karn raised a fist and smacked it hard in the head. He proceeded to beat it up with his fists, being too quick for the Scrab to react fast enough for a counter-attack. The other Scrab saw this and backed away. Lorn and Bron stepped out of the shadows, Bron grabbed the Scrab’s body while Lorn kicked the Scrab’s legs. The Scrab howled in pain and hit the floor. Bron continued to subdue it.

The other Scrab managed to find where Tulia and Inna were. The Scrab charged but Inna was ready and smacked it across the face. The Scrab hobbled back, and went after Tulia. She wasn’t expecting this so she could only block half of the attack, the Scrab managed to scrape his beak against her back, leaving a thin open wound on her body. Inna ran up to the Scrab and kicked it in the face with her mechanical pants. The Scrab’s head made a sickening crunch, falling to the ground. Inna walked over to Tulia, “You okay?”. Tulia smiled, “Well, I’m not too bad… Let’s go find the others”. Tulia held a hand against her back, trying to keep the wound closed while they found the others.

Ooo... A fight is always interesting.:D

I can't disagree with you there. Nothing like a good bit of fighting to get the blood pumping :)

= * = * =

Chapter 16: Rising Sun

Ulric nudged Silpher, "Hey man, wake up". Silpher was half-asleep, "Oh, you awake Ulric?". He was about to engage in some small-talk, but Ulric looked concerned, "What's up?". Ulric moved towards the entrance to the hut, looking outside, "There's something out there, might be Scrabs or something else". Silpher was fully awake now, "Come on, let's go and see what's out there".

Silpher and Ulric silently exited the hut, looking around nearby for any sign of an enemy. Silpher sniffed the air, his senses were overwhelmed. "Ulric, there's a lot of animals nearby... I can't pick out a clear scent". Ulric sniffed the air, "Yeah, I smell the same thing... but there is one smell quite close by... a... Scrab?". Suddenly howls could be heard from the West side of the camp. The howls woke up the rest of the hybrids. Lara, Riley, Bitsy and Hemm joined the group. Lara looked concerned, "Guys, don't tell me that sound was...", Silpher nodded, "Scrabs, at least one of them. Come on, we need to think of something quick".

A few minutes later, the hybrids were in the huts. Each hybrid was looking out of the gap in the material, waiting for the Scrab to appear. When the Scrab did appear, they waited until it got close enough to one of the tents. As the Scrab came closer to one of the tents, Lara leapt out and punched the Scrab hard on the face, she ran off to hide. The Scrab, suddenly aware that there were possible sources of food howled again, and tried to follow Lara. As the Scrab started running, Hemm and Riley jumped out from another hut and knocked the Scrab down with a double shoulder-barge. Hemm grabbed the Scrab's mouth while Riley kicked the Scrab hard in the chest. The Scrab gave up the struggle and lay limply on the floor. Suddenly a reply howl was heard nearby, as one more Scrab came towards them, Ulric and Silpher jumped out of their hut and attacked the Scrab. The Scrab managed to slash at Silpher's arm and cut into his skin. Ulric retaliated by kicking the Scrab full force, it fell down... appearing to have broken one of its ribs. Silpher walked up to the Scrab and finished it off.

Lara walked up to Silpher, "Are we... safe here?". Ulric nodded, "Well, we're more safe now that two Scrabs are out of action, but there does appear to be a larger number of animals in this area... we should consider moving tomorrow and finding a more quiet location". Bitsy walked up to Silpher, "Are you going to be alright with that wound?". Silpher nodded, "Can you put something on it?". Bitsy walked over to him, "Sure". She rubbed a cleaning liquid into his wound, and checked it. "Well, seems to only be a light cut, you should be okay". Silpher smiled, "That's good to know, thanks".

The next morning, they decided to move to a new location which was less crowded. Silpher's wound was healing quickly, by the time they reached their new place, it was almost back to normal. Ulric nodded, "Okay, it's getting close to lunchtime, let's stop here for now". Ulric, Lara and Hemm went to do some hunting. Silpher was helping Riley and Bitsy with putting up the huts and setting up a campfire. Once that was done, Silpher headed to hunt with the others.

Hemm was busy trying to get behind an Elum, while Ulric and Lara had picked out a Scrab on it's own. Silpher walked up to where Ulric was, raising a hand to let Ulric know he was there. Ulric nodded and ushered him forward. Suddenly the Scrab heard something, and ran in Hemm's direction. Ulric was shocked and yelled out, "Hemm, look out! Scrab!". Hemm had only just spotted the Scrab which was headed his way, he tried to move out of the way, but his arm was hit by the Scrab's torso. Hemm yelled and hit the floor. He kicked the Scrab away, as Silpher and Ulric came to help.

Scrabs seem a good deal less powerful now... Abe gets mown down in a second by them... Oh well.:D I still stand by my veiw on this fan-fic.

I can understand why you say that, if you look at Abe's Oddysee and Exoddus, most enemies can kill you in one hit (even bats!), but if you look at Munch's Oddysee, Scrabs are still strong physically, but they can't one-hit-kill someone. In fact, I managed to kill a Scrab with 15 scrubs beating it to death with only their hands!

I see Scrabs as being about as strong as a Lion. Don't forget, not only are the Slig-Scrab hybrids more powerful than normal Sligs, they have METAL LEGS! Can you imagine a Lion getting kicked in the head with a metal leg?! That would hurt a lot and probably break a bone or two!

= * = * =

Chapter 17: Doubts

Ulric looked down at Hemm’s arm, it looked as if it was injured internally… a black bruise developing over the skin. Silpher walked up to Hemm, bringing a small white cloth with him, “Come on, We’ll put a bandage on it. We’ll try and get some food on the way back”. Hemm winced as he lay down on his side, he wasn’t used to getting injured and he didn’t like it at all.

Ulric walked up to him, handing him a chunk of meat. “As Alpha, it’s my duty to make sure that everyone gets to eat their share. You’re injured, so you can have some of mine”. Hemm thanked him, “But Ulric, you need to eat as well. After all, if you are the Alpha you need to eat just as much as everyone else, if not more”. Ulric smiled, “Don’t worry about it, I’ll get some more food later on”. Silpher finished his meat and stood up, "Come on then, let’s go back to the others".

Lara and Riley were talking to each other about the other hybrids. Lara sighed, "I'm starting to miss the guys already, especially Lorn". Riley nodded, "It's hard being away from the people you care about the most. I think that Bron's probably doing alright. Lorn will know what to do as well, he's pretty smart as far as hybrids go". Lara smiled, "You're right... Come on, let's go help Bitsy". Bitsy was busy making some medical herbs by mixing some of the local wild weeds and flowers. She was happy to see Riley and Lara. "Can you fetch me some more of this plant?", she held up a yellow flower, "It's a Custek, you should find it near the water". Lara nodded, "Okay, I'll go and get you some".

Silpher, Ulric and Hemm made their way back to the camp. Hemm was visibly struggling to walk. Bitsy looked up, "Hey Hemm are you alright?". Hemm looked at her, "Well I've been better... but I should be fine". Bitsy walked up to him and examined the wound on his arm. "Well at least you don't need a splint. Let me rub some cream onto it". Hemm lay down as Bitsy grabbed a bottle with some medical cream. Silpher looked at Riley, "Where's Lara?". Riley turned to look at Silpher, "She's out getting some plants near the river". Silpher crossed his arms, "We need to try and stick together more now, I think we've learned that walking around on your own is dangerous... I'll tell Lara when she gets back". Ulric nodded, "I'm tired... I'm going to go rest in my hut for a while. Wake me up when it's supper time and I'll go get us some more food". Ulric headed into his hut to rest. Lara came back and gave the flowers to Bitsy, before going to talk to Riley.

Bitsy walked towards Silpher, "Ulric seems tired today". Silpher nodded, "He's pushing himself quite hard to make sure he's being a good leader to us... but sometimes I think he tries to hard". Silpher shifted his feet uneasily, "I'm starting to think our group is a bit worse off compared to the other group. They've got Karn, Lorn, the two top females and one extra member. I guess this means we can pair off more easily though". Bitsy nodded, "Oh well, Lorn has some good ideas sometimes... I guess he could be right about learning to work better as a team". Silpher sighed, "Come on, I'll help you make the medicine". She smiled and nodded, they walked towards the campfire.

An hour later, Silpher and Bitsy had finished making the medical supplies. Bitsy was counting, "Let's see that'll be about twenty rations, I think that'll last us a while". Silpher nodded, "I'll go see if Ulric is feeling better". As Silpher put his head in the door of the hut, he could hear Ulric's light snoring. "Hmmm, guess he's still resting. I'll go hunting with Lara". Silpher walked up to Lara, "Want to go hunting?". Lara nodded, "I've been bored stiff here, let's go".

I find it sickening how people hunt for the sport of it. If you could even call it a sport.:D

I see scrabs as something more like a juvenile Great White. Deadly, but could be worse.:D

And approximatley three chapters and a epilogue of fun.:D

Most animals are protected by conservation laws, except vermin and maybe a few other animals. If you look at Lions and Wolves, they mainly hunt to survive in order to get food to live from, but I'm sure they probably have 'fun' doing that as well.

I'd probably compare Paramites to Wolves, since they aren't deadly on their own, but if theres more than one you're in trouble :D

When I've finished my university work and exams, I plan on writing a few more fanfics. I've also been talking to some friends about some Oddworld Flash Game ideas... so anything is possible!

= * = * =

Chapter 18: Hunting Problems

Silpher and Lara went to find some food. They spotted some Paramites nearby. There were only about four or five of them. The hybrids walked silently up to some Paramites and then attacked. Two of the paramites fell to the ground, the others hissed and ran forward but Silpher and Lara kicked them, they remained on the ground. "Come on, let's take these back to camp". Silpher and Lara dragged two Paramites each, Lara saw one small Paramite stood nearby, shivering and looking at Silpher with a confused expression. Silpher looked back at the young Paramite, with a sad expression. He walked back to camp, a cold feeling in his heart.

Meanwhile, the other pack were having more serious problems. Lorn and Karn had been looking for some food, but they had problems trying to catch their prey. The Paramites were too close to the main nest for them to make a successful attack. They walked a bit further. Karn spotted some Elums, "Over there! Elums!". Lorn looked towards where Karn had pointed. "Ah, no good... Look at the landscape around them... it's way too flat and bare for any ambush attack". Karn shrugged, "You're right, so what now?". Lorn sighed, "We need to go back to camp and think of something else".

Bron and Dogol were surprised to see Lorn and Karn empty-handed. Bron looked at Lorn, "Is everything alright?". Lorn nodded, "We're fine, but hunting is going to be a problem in this area. There aren't any small packs we can pick on... We'll have to come up with another plan to get food". The group remained quiet for a while, Tulia raised her hand. "Perhaps I can gather some fruit from nearby, just in case we can't get any meat?". Lorn nodded, "That's a good idea... You'd better take Dogol with you in case you see a Scrab".

As Tulia and Dogol walked away, the rest of the group were still trying to come up with a plan. Bron walked forward, "Can we spread out and find alternative food sources?". Magnus agreed, "We need to find some other food sources, let's split up in pairs and look for some".

Lorn and Bron walked along the river, trying to find some animals nearby which were drinking the water. They walked for a few minutes, but couldn't see any animals at all. Lorn shook his head, "Something's wrong, why are there no animals anywhere nearby?". Bron shrugged, "Come on, let's go back".

Magnus and Inna were looking in some dense woodlands, trying to see any animals nearby. They managed to find another Paramite nest, but this one was still quite densely populated. Magnus looked towards Inna, "What if I set fire to a few of them? To confuse them a bit?". Inna nodded, "That might work, try it". Magnus held out his arm in front of him, unleashing a ball of fire towards the Paramite nest. The Paramites began hissing and running around, trying to get away from the nest as it started to burn. Inna looked towards Magnus, "Alright it's working, let's go". Inna managed to knock one of the Paramites to the ground. Magnus found two other Paramites and used his fire to subdue them. Inna kicked another Paramite, she dragged the two bodies over to Magnus. "Okay, let's go back to camp with this". Magnus nodded and headed back to camp.

Karn was keeping a lookout around the camp. He spotted a bee-hive a few minutes walk away from the camp. He walked up to the hive and wondered, "What would Lorn do?". He looked around for something to use, he saw a large rock nearby. He threw the rock at the hive. Knowing that the bees would begin swarming, he ran towards the river and dived in. The bees went around the surrounding area to try and find what attacked their hive, but they couldn't go into the water. Eventually they flew away into the distance to find a new nest. Karn went out of the water, and went to the hive. He had managed to hit part of the hive, but there was another section which was relatively intact. He picked up the honey and headed back to camp.

The hybrids were reunited. Tulia and Dogol came back to camp with lots of berries and a few wild plants. Karn placed the honey he found on the wooden table. Magnus and Inna placed the meat onto the table as well. Lorn smiled, "We have hunted successfully despite the harsh conditions nearby, I think we've done a good job today". The hybrids nodded and began eating their food. Bron had a concerned look on his face, "I still don't get why there were no animals near the water... anyone have any ideas?". They all shook their heads, Lorn looked at Bron, "Maybe the animals could sense the storm on the way? Anyway, let's eat this and recover our strength".

Yes... Be glad for conservation.

Well... We'll never know will we?

Well then. I'll have to read them all:D Argh! I can't say anything that hasn't already been said! That translates to "good".

Here's a question for you Oddey, which is your favorite female hybrid? :D

= * = * =

Chapter 19: Stormy Skies

Riley and Bitsy were getting nervous. They didn't like the weather when it was stormy, Hemm stood up, "Come on, it's only a bit of rain. Let's not get too worried here". Hemm walked up to Riley and put a hand on her shoulder, Riley nudged her head against his hand, in a manner of appreciation. Bitsy was getting annoyed, "We're not going to be able to hunt properly when the weather is like this".

Lara and Silpher were talking, Lara sighed, "Lorn would help a lot if he was here... but he isn't so we have to think of a plan". Silpher nodded, "Let's try and think of something useful". Ulric walked up to them, "What about those Paramites to the East?". Silpher shrugged, "Oh well, guess we'll have to hunt something today... Coming Lara?". Lara nodded, "Alright, let's go then".

The ground was slippery but thankfully everyone managed to keep their footing. Silpher's left leg slipped into a puddle, but he pulled it out quickly. "We need to hurry before the rain gets worse". They found some Paramites grazing, Lara walked up to one of them and kicked it in the head. Silpher and Ulric ran towards the other two Paramites. Silpher grabbed one and threw it against a tree, Ulric threw another down at the ground. The Paramites hissed, but were quickly finished off by the hybrids. The Paramites were not very large, but at the moment this was all they could find. They headed back to their camp to share the food.

Silpher looked at the sky, "I hope you're alright, Tulia". He sighed and continued walking. Ulric was missing Inna as well, although she got on his nerves sometimes, she was there for him when he needed her the most. Riley and Bitsy were talking to each other and making jokes. Bitsy was laughing heavily. Riley continued her joke, "So, a Glukkon, a Slig and a Mudokon walk into a bar...".

Hemm noticed the other hybrids coming back. "Oh hey, Silpher, you got some food?". Silpher nodded, "Here". He chucked a large piece of meat towards Hemm, Hemm wobbled slightly as he caught the massive lump of meat. "Nice!". After the hybrids were finished eating, they started talking about how long they had before they had to meet up with the other hybrids. "It's been a few days now, only a few more left to go".

As the hybrids woke up next morning, they noticed a slight problem. There were several new rivers created by the storm last night. Now they would have to rely on more senses in order to find the other hybrids. Silpher and Ulric could pick up the other team's scent, so they lead their group that way.

Lorn's group had gotten soaked during the night, their huts weren't build to stand that amount of rainfall. After everyone dried off, they started heading back the way they came, but they ended up having the same problem that Silpher's group had. Lorn sighed, "We'll have to track their scent and look for signs". Lorn looked at the sky and sniffed, "This way". He managed to lead the group towards the fresh scent.

Chapter 20: Reunion

Bron was talking to Inna and Tulia, he found that he could talk to the females a bit more readily than the males. His shyness was still apparent though, because whenever he was asked a question, he would blush heavily and shrug. Karn and Dogol were getting on quite well. Dogol who was bad at fighting learned a couple of useful tips from Karn. In exchange, Dogol helped Karn learn about talking to the female hybrids more easily. Lorn and Magnus were fairly quiet when they talked, they often talked about Magnus' fire ability and how it could be used in an effective way. Lorn was still confused as to why Magnus suddenly discovered this hidden talent. Magnus was just as confused as everyone else, stating that he didn't know he had the power in the first place.

Ulric and Silpher stuck together like brothers. They were both strong so their personalities definately matched each other well. Silpher would often take the first step, wheras Ulric would often think before he acted. Ulric came up with quite a few ideas with regards to hunting and leadership decisions. Silpher's sense of smell and overall skill made him a valuable asset to the team. Riley and Bitsy stuck with each other a lot, talking to each other and making jokes. They would talk about the male hybrids quite a bit. Hemm talked to the girls a bit, but he kept to himself a lot of the time. He was often a bit too cocky for his own good, making bold statements he had no possibility of backing up.

Silpher smiled, "Tulia... I'll see you again soon". He was walking around and sniffing the ground eagerly. He caught Lorn's scent, "This way!". He yelled towards the other hybrids. It wasn't long before Lorn saw evidence that Silpher had been past this area, he could see a couple of hut pegs and the telltale signs that a camp was set up the night before.

Lorn and Silpher both walked over a hill at the same time and spotted each other. They waved to each other and came closer. It wasn't long before the whole group was reunited once more. Lorn smiled and crossed his arms, "I see your team has performed brilliantly!". Silpher shrugged, "Not as well as we hoped, that storm made things difficult". Lorn chuckled, "Oh well, you can tell me all about it on the way back to camp".

Tulia ran up to Silpher, "I missed you a lot!". She hugged him and put her snout against his chest. Silpher was taken aback, "Whoa, It's nice to see you back as well!". The rest of the female hybrids walked up to their respective male counterparts and started talking. Lorn smiled, "Back to normal, eh? Come on, I want to hear what you've been up to these past few days!". Ulric chuckled, "Fine, Where to begin...".

Silpher was smiling, he was back with Tulia and Lorn, his favorite two hybrids on Oddworld. He lay his back on the damp grass, gave a stretch and a yawn, lying down to hear what Ulric and Lorn had to say. He closed on eye and lazily lay down with his arms folded. Not bad, he thought to himself, I should do this more often.

Ending

After only two weeks of living life in the wild, the hybrids had learned many lessons.
Companionship, Inner Strength, Leadership, Social Skills and Independence.

They hoped that there would be a time of peace and harmony with nature.

= * = * =

Thank you for reading. It's been a pleasure writing this fanfiction and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

Silpher's Pack will return! Possibly in May/June 2008?

I look forward to that day.

I'd have to say... Tulia or possibly Bitsy.:D

Hmmm. I like. I like alot...

I've started writing Tulia's Pack. I should be posting chapters in few days time :D Glad you all like it so far!

I love this man but i'm stupid you are a slig right

I am 100% human! Silpher is a 50:50 Slig/Scrab mix, as are all the other hybrids in this story.

wow, y is there a human on oddworld?

I am human, this is an odd world but it is not "oddworld". Now THAT is deep!