Flashback (Before the fight)
The cats and dogs had yet to make a decision.
They stayed behind the roots when the fighting was still ongoing because the sound of it made their instincts scream that stepping in would be the same as asking to be killed, and because the goblins had already cut their numbers nearly in half overnight.
No one wanted to be the next one dragged off screaming into the dark.
So they waited.
It wasn't a clean wait either. There was nothing disciplined about it. The dogs paced and sniffed along the wall, claws scraping against bark and dirt, circling back again and again as if movement itself would stop their fear from catching up to them.
Some pressed their noses against the roots, inhaling deeply, trying to make sense of the scents bleeding through from the other side. Others sat, then stood, then sat again, tails stiff, ears twitching at every distant sound.
