Snare Of The Fowler, parts 2156 - 2159

 2156. They backed away even though certainly they knew full well they had nothing to fear. Entirely protected by their cages Otis had no way to attack them. But, try as they might, they could not get their thoughts in order and come to grips with a situation they had never experienced before.

 2157. For the gladiator dogs, the worst part of it was that it was obvious to them that Otis meant them no harm, and would never dream of being aggressive. All of his dog like behaviors said the same thing. He was only interested in expanding his circle of friends.

 2158. But lets be fair to those gladiator dogs. Otis knew he was terrifying them, but he pretended not to realize it. The truth was however, that he would not have ever harmed a hair of their heads, that is if he could only avoid it. Wolves in the wild will fight almost to the death, but death is a thing they avoid. Senseless killing as practiced in the dog rings was simply an abomination to a rational wolf, and absolutely against engrained universal wolf law laid down centuries ago.

2159. Because the wolf exists as a pack animal, and the death of any wolf decreases the strength of the pack. Fighting, therefore, is never anything but sport, regardless of how it may appear to the naive spectator.