09-11-2021, 03:46 AM
(This post was last modified: 09-13-2021, 11:01 PM by Tesla. Edited 1 time in total.)
Canadian Wolf in London
Pre Draft
Zephyr has paced all day. He has been nervously waiting for the draft to begin. He had hardly even chewed the couch. Now there are now 2 couches because his human has a new one delivered every couple days. It was easier than trying to get Zephyr to stop chewing it. How could Zephyr even think about chewing couches at a time like this. When his entire football career is about to be determined. What if no one takes him. If he goes undrafted that will surely be the end of his football career. Zephyr decides to go for a run to calm his mind. Zephyr puts his collar on. It has his ID and some spending money incase he decides to stop for anything. He has to obey leash laws so he attaches a leash to the collar. This seems pointless to him, but the law is the law. Zephyr takes the elevator to the ground floor of his Vancouver condo. Its pretty empty now as most other residence moved out when they found out a wolf had free reign of the place. Zephyr starts off down the street at a medium speed. Football training has made him faster than he ever was before. Its about 3 miles from the condo complex to the forest and he makes the trip in record time. Despite not eating Zephyr feels his nerves pushing him to go faster. Once in the forest Zephyr removes his collar and leash. Hanging them on a tree branch for his return trip. Zephyr runs through the woods admiring his increased speed, agility and strength. Wolves use these attributes every day in the wild but not like in football. Chasing prey that tends to be slower than you doesn’t push you to be faster. Trees don’t move to block your path. Deer don’t knock you to the ground or wrestle you for a ball. After a run and brief swim to cool down Zephyr heads home. Sometimes he hunts while in the woods but today he decides to just eat something in the fridge. Zephyr has his own fridge at home he can keep hunts in. that way he doesn’t have to hunt every day. Fresh meat is the best but sometimes you just don’t want to put the collar on to go eat. By the look of the sky it was about mid-day. The draft was at 5:00 human time. Well Vancouver human time. Humans have different times all over which seems strange but humans are strange. Zephyr stopped by a local market to pickup his favorite drink, gravy. He also got his human some Reese’s human snacks so he doesn’t have to look at that sad begging face while he watches the draft. Zephyr puts his items on the counter and as usual has to put the money down and push it to the human. It always takes the human a minuet to take the money and give Zephyr change. Zephyr licks the change up and puts it in his collar pouch. Then puts the items in his collar bag. Once he gets home Zephyr sits on the newest couch and gets ready for the draft. He waits for his human to sit and stay before giving him his treat. Then the time finally arrives. The draft begins.
Draft
The London Royals are up with the first draft pick. Zephyr knows he is not going first overall so this won’t be him. It looks like its Doc Fireball. London needs defensive pieces so that makes sense. Now up is Norfolk Seawolves. Zephyr could go here but he thinks it unlikely. Norfolk was good to him but they wouldn’t pass up the chance to draft McHits. They do take Mrs “Stacks” McHits. They had to keep their locker room mom. That was a given. Next up is Bondi Beach Buccaneers. Zephyr remembers the Buccaneers showing him around when he visited. Being on a pirate ship seems cool but zephyr was made for land. They take Lenard Graft. Kansas City Coyotes is up next. When Zephyr went down to Kansas City for scouting they had a good time. Zephyr was out on the town and there was lots to do. Zephyr would fit in well there he thought. But the Coyotes pick Dakota Grossman instead. Its still early Zephyr thought. There is plenty of time. Portland Pythons are on the clock. Portland is pretty close to Vancouver so that wouldn’t be far from home. Plus Portland has lots of forests for hunting and running. The Pythons Select Pasta the Turtle. Getting out drafted by a turtle hurt. Zephyr can’t believe the turtle outshined him. What does a turtle have that Zephyr doesn’t? Moving on to the Dallas Birddogs. The Birddogs seemed nice and Zephyr would fit right in with a dog style atmosphere. The Birddogs pick John Riggins. Tijuana is up next and Zephyr remembers his trip there. When Zephyr went down there for scouting he thought it was to hot. Zephyr has to much fur for the climate but he did enjoy getting to put a mask on a Luchador some people. Zephyr isn’t sure if Luchador can be used as a verb but he is going to anyway. The Luchador pick LaDamien Beck. Zephyr was expecting Beck to be 1st OA so seeing him fall this far made Zephyr feel better about not being picked yet. Last pick of the first round is Minnesota Grey Ducks. The Grey Ducks were nice and they just recently changed their logo. It looks pretty cool. Plus grey is kinda Zephyrs color and its in his name. The Grey Ducks take Tobias Worthington III. With that round one was over and Zephyr hasn’t been drafted yet. His human offers him assurances that there is plenty of draft to go. Zephyr can’t help but notice the chocolate all over his humans face and hands. How does he make such a mess every time he gets a treat. Zephyr didn’t even realize he had already finished his gravy while watching. He prepares himself for round 2.
Opening up in round 2 is once again the London Royals. Zephyr toured London while scouting and wanted to meet the queen but I guess that’s not something you can just do. Either way London has lots of areas for Zephyr to run and hunt. It could be a good fit. Then it happens. They post a name on the screen and he sees it. “With the first pick in the second round the London Royals select Zephyr GreyWolf.” And Zephyr goes wild. His human goes wild. They both go wild. Zephyr lets out a howl and his human grabs him in a hug. Zephyr takes this opportunity to clean his face of chocolate before it gets in his fur. The chocolate on his hands is already in Zephyrs fur and he will have to take care of that later. Zephyr phone lights up. Other draftees sending congratulations and old friends from Norfolk wishing him well. His new team was also reaching out to him already and Zephyr couldn’t be happier. Zephyr spent the rest of the draft in an excited almost blur. He almost couldn’t believe this was real. He saw Beeg Beeg Yoshi go to Kansas City in the second round as well. In round 3 London picked up Rocky Rhoads. Zephyr was excited to have a dog for a teammate but hopes he negotiated for his own water dish because Zephyr isn’t about to share a water dish. Unless he asks. Dallas Fort-Worth also went to Kansas City in the 3rd round. Zephyr remembers him from his prospect bowl team. Fenrir Greyback went to the Pythons in the 3rd round. The Pythons have a turtle and a werewolf. They are going to be Dangerous this season. Minnesota took Franklin Turtle as the last pick in the third round. At least they broke up the turtles. That could have been a dangerous duo. Round 4 started off with London getting Deshawn Penne. Zephyr can’t believe we got the pasta king on our team now. If he plays anything like he did in the prospect bowl the pasta-bilities are endless. Zephyr hopes to train with Deshawn as part of his daily rotini. Zephyr expects its going to cost London a pretty penne to sign such an enriching player…ok ill stop. Round 5 London picks up Sam Toucan. Zephyr remembers how hard it was to catch Sam in the prospect bowl. Despite his scent being distinctly fruit smelling. Sam is a fast quarterback. The other team is going to have to follow more than their nose if they want to sack him. Round 6 London picks up Quiet Drab. His silence is his weapon. Zephyr couldn’t help but read his name as Quiet Dab. Round 7 London picks up Dominic Ricci. Sounds like Dominic has some connections, and you want to get in good with a family like that. Round 8 London picks up Activia Dannon. Smart choice getting someone with that kind of branding this late in the draft. And that should help the team boost morale on a regular basis. Lastly in round 9 London picks up Ebenezer Splooge. Uhhh Zephyr decided not to comment or think about this last pick. He is pasta the point of no return. But he did think the running back might come in handy from time to time.
Meeting the Team
Time sure does fly and next thing you know preseason is starting soon. Zephyr is preparing for his trip to London. He saved up for doing interviews and TV gigs so he could afford a nice flat close to the stadium but not to far from some hunting grounds. It’s a nice flat but really Zephyr doesn’t need much. A place to store food and a couch to chew and he is happy. He also needed a TV so he can watch the Air bud documentaries he likes. Zephyr’s human cries and hugs him. His human will be playing in Vancouver. He promises to come visit as often as he can. Zephyr is going to miss his human. Zephyr wishes he could bring him, but he knows his human needs a lot of room to skate and play hockey. It just wouldn’t be healthy to coop him up in a flat all day with no hockey to play. Zephyr leaves his home behind to venture out into the world. He doesn’t know when or if he will be back. His human gives him a farewell gift. It’s the box set of Air Bud signed by the dog. Zephyr held back tears until this moment but lets out a howl of sorrow as he says goodbye to his human. With that Zephyr sets out. The Royals sent a plane for him, so Zephyr didn’t have to try and deal with flying commercial. Wolves on planes didn’t sound like it would go over well. Once he arrived in London, he took a few days to settle in before the first day of practice.
The first day of practice was here. Zephyr was ready to meet his teammates for the first time nose to nose. The Royals agreed to Zephyr’s request for a personal groomer, so Zephyr was up early to get trimmed and brushed. He had to look his best to meet his teammates. Once grooming was done Zephyr puts on his Royals collar and makes sure to have his paperwork and some spending money. Then he was off to practice. Zephyr could run most anywhere he needed to go in the city. London is a huge city but luckily Zephyr doesn’t need to go far. Zephyr arrives at the Royals stadium for practice and shows the security guard his access badge. The guard take a few seconds to study the badge and lets Zephyr in. once inside Zephyr meets Luciddreams and Sebster. These guys seem to be in charge. They talk to Zephyr about the draft. How glad they are to have him on the team and proceed to show him to the locker room. Zephyr walks into the locker room and the introductions begin. First is wide receiver Władysław II Jagiełło. Zephyr remembers him from his draft class. Next up is Quite Drab a corner back also from Zephyr’s draft class. In the corner not paying attention is Ebenezer Splooge. Zephyr doesn’t need an introduction there. Zephyr is excited to meet Rocky Rhoads. After a quick sniff introduction they are ready to run around but Zephyr realizes he is still meeting people and tries to be professional. They both sit down for now. They will have plenty of time to run during practice. Dominic Ricci offers a hand to shake. Zephyr taught his human how to shake so he shakes Dominic’s hand. Dominic’s Italian accent means Zephyr only understands about every 4th word but he gets the general idea that he is happy to be on defense with him and will ensure kneecaps are broken when needed for the team. Activia Dannon introduces himself. Fresh out of Virginia Tech and son of the Dannon CEO he found his place at wide receiver. Looks like he also brought lots of various Dannon products for the team. He is a good teammate in Zephyr’s eyes. Deshawn Penne gives Zephyr a nod. Having played in the prospect bowl together they don’t need a formal introduction. Doc Fireball introduces himself, as a defensive end he will be sharing a line with Zephyr. They hit it off pretty quickly over a shot of whiskey and Zephyr knows this will be a good defensive pairing. In flies Toucan Sam to get suited up. They met at the prospect bowl but didn’t interact to much as they were on different teams. They express their mutual respect and excitement to be on the same team. Sam is much happier with the wolf not trying to catch him this time. Billy Doornob finishes lacing up his shoes and walks over. He is the returning kicker from last season. Zephyr tried to remember the returning players achievements last season. Zephyr congratulates Billy on his 9 field goals last season. That’s about all Zephyr actually remembers. That and Billy is number 69. Nice. Jet King the returning safety gives Zephyr a hello while walking to the field. Zephyr will have to try and catch up with him for a better conversation later. Lennay Kekua seems excited to meet Zephyr. They will be sharing a line this season. Lennay is the returning defensive tackle and Zephyr is the new one. Zephyr quickly noted that Lennay had 45 tackles and forced 2 fumbles last season. Lennay waves it off. He doesn’t need to be impressed with his own stats and is ready to make new ones with Zephyr at his side. What a cool teammate. Justa Nuisance comes up and talks to Zephyr and Lennay. Justa is a defensive end from last season. He sported 36 tackles and 2 sacks. Justa makes a joke about Lennay trying to replace him on the line with Zephyr. They all laugh. There is plenty of room for everyone on the line…isn’t there? The two defensemen head to the field but Zephyr has more teammates to meet. Donkey Johnson walks over. Donkey is the returning tight end for the team. Zephyr admires his 333 receiving yards last season and Donkey hopes that some new blood will help bring that number up. Thomas Hollands joins them and Zephyr remembers him for the TV. He was in that super popular movie with Robert Downey Jr., Dolittle. Thomas informs Zephyr that he is actually the twin of Tom Holland. Everyone is silent for a minuet until Zephyr brings up Thomas’s 4 receiving touchdowns form last season. Thomas acknowledges that he is superior in every way to his brother and walks toward the field. Not knowing what to do Donkey just follows him. Deluxe Pogger comes up next. Deluxe is the returning running back with 100 rushing yards last season. He doesn’t seem to happy with only 100 rushing yards but Zephyr tries to remain positive about what this season can hold. As deluxe walks away in walks Anya Mind. Anya is a returning line backer and one of the few female football players in the league. Zephyr quickly acknowledges her 90 tackles, 3 sacks, and interception from last season. Anya isn’t here to be the best female player she is here to be the best player. Zephyr respects that and is excited to be on defense with determined player like Anya. Anya heads to the field and Cedric Wilkins II makes himself known. Cedric is the returning corner back from last season. He had 54 tackles and an interception last season. Cedric isn’t impressed with flashy numbers. He is a ball player. A humble boy from humble beginnings playing the game he loves. Cedric promotes teamwork and a real family feeling on the team. As Cedric goes to close his locker door to head out onto the field Zephyr sees an old photograph that appears to be Cedric and an older man. Cedric is much younger in the photo. Cedric tells Zephyr when they get a little more time he will tell Zephyr about his pops and Zephyr is excited to learn more. Zephyrs own father was never around. He either found another pack or was hunted long before Zephyr was old enough to remember him. A veteran player approached Zephyr and introduced himself as Ripoff CheeseBrand. Zephyr thought wow the Ripoff CheeseBrand. Season 30 safety here for another season. His last season was great with 47 tackles and 2 interceptions as a safety. Ripoff is looking to do even better this season. He is only getting better. Ripoff heads to the field as Electric Squirrel comes over. Squirrel greets Zephyr and says he was a season 30 running back but due to injury he wasn’t able to play last season. He still isn’t sure if he can play this season but comes to practice and does what he can to support the team. Bradley Welch comes over and offers to help Squirrel to the field. Squirrel says he is ok and can make it. Bradley stays and talks with Zephyr. Zephyr definitely knows Bradley Welch. 1,300 receiving yards and 8 receiving touchdowns. Bradley was a huge part of Londons offense last year. Getting to play with him for a season is exciting and Zephyr can’t wait to see him in action in person. Bradley heads to the field and Jack R comes over with Savior Hawkins to introduce themselves. Jack ushed 525 yards last season and Savior had 69 tackles, nice, and 6 interceptions. These guys got to hang around for another season and show the new players how its done. Zephyr is glad to have consistent teammates to help round out the team. Brent Suzuki pushes Jack and Savior out of the way. Its his turn to meet the new player. Brent is also a season 30 veteran in the wide receiver position. 1040 receiving yards and 5 receiving touchdowns means he was close to beating out Bradley. Brent is determined to beat out Bradley this season for receiving yards and to get some of the new receivers on the board. In walks Kiara Tenoh and Brent tells her to meet the newbie. She is a returning running back from season 30 and another female player in the league. Zephyr thinks she must be fast with 541 rushing yards and 3 rushing touchdowns last season. Kiara seems nice and gives Zephyr gentil pats and reminds him he has to pull his weight around here. She spoke softly but also with direct intent. London is looking to have an upward season and everyone better show up. With that she casually walks out onto the field. Leaving Zephyr slightly stunned. Two players are left in the locker room first Dustin Parmelee the primary quarterback. Dustin is a season 30 returning player that put up a respectable 4102 passing yards and 21 passing touchdowns last season. Dustin won’t be on the field with Zephyr but hopes they can still work well together this season to build the team. Lastly is the Legend herself Rainbow Dash. Rainbow is a season 28 kicker returning for another season. Rainbow primarily is the teams punter. Punting 3429 yards last season. She has taken a few field goal kicks as well making 2/3 last season. She is a great player to get to be on the field with and Zephyr can’t wait to see her kick the ball. Its an art for when she is kicking.
After meeting the players Zephyr suits up. Equipment is expensive but Zephyr got the best available. Custom made for a wolf and ready to roll. Zephyr is excited to see his game side water dish installed and ready on the field. He tastes the water and it tastes like water. It also flows in a 3-layer cascading waterfall. This is an absolute win in Zephyr’s eyes. Practice was fun. It was serious for the first half and then some people moved around as needed to fill roles. Zephyr never put much thought into defensive tackle. It was defense and it got to tackle. But he got to play some defensive end and linebacker at practice. He also played some offensive roles like doing some runs with Rocky and trying a few catches. Zephyr isn’t good at catching or running the ball. Its not a mouth eye coordination thing its more of a how much pressure the ball can take before exploding thing. After popping 3 balls in 4 plays Zephyr was over that. Once practice was over Luciddreams wanted to talk with Zephyr. They talked about how practice went and whether Zephyr was committed to defensive tackle. They will need to sign a few Bodies out There or bot’s to fill in some open spaces. Young walk on players that aren’t ready for draft but fill a need for the team. Zephyr remembered seeing them at practice. They looked like empty shells of humans just standing on the sidelines waiting to be given a role to play mediocrely. If there job is just to fill time and space they do that part pretty well. Before signing these players Luciddreams wanted to make sure the new players were happy with their role. Zephyr brings up that he had never played as a linebacker before and really enjoyed it. After a long conversation Zephyr decides to commit to it. He is now a linebacker. Zephyr is glad he found out he wanted to be a linebacker before the season had started. The speed and agility of linebacker seems to fit Zephyr even better than defensive tackle did. Maximizing his strengths while ignoring his main weakness which of course is not having apposable thumbs. The announcement is made to the team and Zephyr is greeted with cheers from his teammates. The team rallies behind their new linebacker. If every practice goes like this then Zephyr is in for one hell of a year. After practice Zephyr runs home. He is starting to feel the days training as he runs. Zephyr has leftover hunt in the cooler in his flat which is good because he might not be able to catch anything after his long day of practice. Zephyr calls his human to tell him about his first day of practice. The talk for a while before Zephyr has to call it a night. He needs rest if he is going to do this again tomorrow. Zephyr climbs onto his couch. He will have to remember to order a new one soon as they don’t last long. As Zephyr drifts of to sleep he thinks about what his first DSFL game will be like. The sound of tackles and players colliding with the ground dance in his head as he drifts off to sleep.
(4000 words)
Pre Draft
Zephyr has paced all day. He has been nervously waiting for the draft to begin. He had hardly even chewed the couch. Now there are now 2 couches because his human has a new one delivered every couple days. It was easier than trying to get Zephyr to stop chewing it. How could Zephyr even think about chewing couches at a time like this. When his entire football career is about to be determined. What if no one takes him. If he goes undrafted that will surely be the end of his football career. Zephyr decides to go for a run to calm his mind. Zephyr puts his collar on. It has his ID and some spending money incase he decides to stop for anything. He has to obey leash laws so he attaches a leash to the collar. This seems pointless to him, but the law is the law. Zephyr takes the elevator to the ground floor of his Vancouver condo. Its pretty empty now as most other residence moved out when they found out a wolf had free reign of the place. Zephyr starts off down the street at a medium speed. Football training has made him faster than he ever was before. Its about 3 miles from the condo complex to the forest and he makes the trip in record time. Despite not eating Zephyr feels his nerves pushing him to go faster. Once in the forest Zephyr removes his collar and leash. Hanging them on a tree branch for his return trip. Zephyr runs through the woods admiring his increased speed, agility and strength. Wolves use these attributes every day in the wild but not like in football. Chasing prey that tends to be slower than you doesn’t push you to be faster. Trees don’t move to block your path. Deer don’t knock you to the ground or wrestle you for a ball. After a run and brief swim to cool down Zephyr heads home. Sometimes he hunts while in the woods but today he decides to just eat something in the fridge. Zephyr has his own fridge at home he can keep hunts in. that way he doesn’t have to hunt every day. Fresh meat is the best but sometimes you just don’t want to put the collar on to go eat. By the look of the sky it was about mid-day. The draft was at 5:00 human time. Well Vancouver human time. Humans have different times all over which seems strange but humans are strange. Zephyr stopped by a local market to pickup his favorite drink, gravy. He also got his human some Reese’s human snacks so he doesn’t have to look at that sad begging face while he watches the draft. Zephyr puts his items on the counter and as usual has to put the money down and push it to the human. It always takes the human a minuet to take the money and give Zephyr change. Zephyr licks the change up and puts it in his collar pouch. Then puts the items in his collar bag. Once he gets home Zephyr sits on the newest couch and gets ready for the draft. He waits for his human to sit and stay before giving him his treat. Then the time finally arrives. The draft begins.
Draft
The London Royals are up with the first draft pick. Zephyr knows he is not going first overall so this won’t be him. It looks like its Doc Fireball. London needs defensive pieces so that makes sense. Now up is Norfolk Seawolves. Zephyr could go here but he thinks it unlikely. Norfolk was good to him but they wouldn’t pass up the chance to draft McHits. They do take Mrs “Stacks” McHits. They had to keep their locker room mom. That was a given. Next up is Bondi Beach Buccaneers. Zephyr remembers the Buccaneers showing him around when he visited. Being on a pirate ship seems cool but zephyr was made for land. They take Lenard Graft. Kansas City Coyotes is up next. When Zephyr went down to Kansas City for scouting they had a good time. Zephyr was out on the town and there was lots to do. Zephyr would fit in well there he thought. But the Coyotes pick Dakota Grossman instead. Its still early Zephyr thought. There is plenty of time. Portland Pythons are on the clock. Portland is pretty close to Vancouver so that wouldn’t be far from home. Plus Portland has lots of forests for hunting and running. The Pythons Select Pasta the Turtle. Getting out drafted by a turtle hurt. Zephyr can’t believe the turtle outshined him. What does a turtle have that Zephyr doesn’t? Moving on to the Dallas Birddogs. The Birddogs seemed nice and Zephyr would fit right in with a dog style atmosphere. The Birddogs pick John Riggins. Tijuana is up next and Zephyr remembers his trip there. When Zephyr went down there for scouting he thought it was to hot. Zephyr has to much fur for the climate but he did enjoy getting to put a mask on a Luchador some people. Zephyr isn’t sure if Luchador can be used as a verb but he is going to anyway. The Luchador pick LaDamien Beck. Zephyr was expecting Beck to be 1st OA so seeing him fall this far made Zephyr feel better about not being picked yet. Last pick of the first round is Minnesota Grey Ducks. The Grey Ducks were nice and they just recently changed their logo. It looks pretty cool. Plus grey is kinda Zephyrs color and its in his name. The Grey Ducks take Tobias Worthington III. With that round one was over and Zephyr hasn’t been drafted yet. His human offers him assurances that there is plenty of draft to go. Zephyr can’t help but notice the chocolate all over his humans face and hands. How does he make such a mess every time he gets a treat. Zephyr didn’t even realize he had already finished his gravy while watching. He prepares himself for round 2.
Opening up in round 2 is once again the London Royals. Zephyr toured London while scouting and wanted to meet the queen but I guess that’s not something you can just do. Either way London has lots of areas for Zephyr to run and hunt. It could be a good fit. Then it happens. They post a name on the screen and he sees it. “With the first pick in the second round the London Royals select Zephyr GreyWolf.” And Zephyr goes wild. His human goes wild. They both go wild. Zephyr lets out a howl and his human grabs him in a hug. Zephyr takes this opportunity to clean his face of chocolate before it gets in his fur. The chocolate on his hands is already in Zephyrs fur and he will have to take care of that later. Zephyr phone lights up. Other draftees sending congratulations and old friends from Norfolk wishing him well. His new team was also reaching out to him already and Zephyr couldn’t be happier. Zephyr spent the rest of the draft in an excited almost blur. He almost couldn’t believe this was real. He saw Beeg Beeg Yoshi go to Kansas City in the second round as well. In round 3 London picked up Rocky Rhoads. Zephyr was excited to have a dog for a teammate but hopes he negotiated for his own water dish because Zephyr isn’t about to share a water dish. Unless he asks. Dallas Fort-Worth also went to Kansas City in the 3rd round. Zephyr remembers him from his prospect bowl team. Fenrir Greyback went to the Pythons in the 3rd round. The Pythons have a turtle and a werewolf. They are going to be Dangerous this season. Minnesota took Franklin Turtle as the last pick in the third round. At least they broke up the turtles. That could have been a dangerous duo. Round 4 started off with London getting Deshawn Penne. Zephyr can’t believe we got the pasta king on our team now. If he plays anything like he did in the prospect bowl the pasta-bilities are endless. Zephyr hopes to train with Deshawn as part of his daily rotini. Zephyr expects its going to cost London a pretty penne to sign such an enriching player…ok ill stop. Round 5 London picks up Sam Toucan. Zephyr remembers how hard it was to catch Sam in the prospect bowl. Despite his scent being distinctly fruit smelling. Sam is a fast quarterback. The other team is going to have to follow more than their nose if they want to sack him. Round 6 London picks up Quiet Drab. His silence is his weapon. Zephyr couldn’t help but read his name as Quiet Dab. Round 7 London picks up Dominic Ricci. Sounds like Dominic has some connections, and you want to get in good with a family like that. Round 8 London picks up Activia Dannon. Smart choice getting someone with that kind of branding this late in the draft. And that should help the team boost morale on a regular basis. Lastly in round 9 London picks up Ebenezer Splooge. Uhhh Zephyr decided not to comment or think about this last pick. He is pasta the point of no return. But he did think the running back might come in handy from time to time.
Meeting the Team
Time sure does fly and next thing you know preseason is starting soon. Zephyr is preparing for his trip to London. He saved up for doing interviews and TV gigs so he could afford a nice flat close to the stadium but not to far from some hunting grounds. It’s a nice flat but really Zephyr doesn’t need much. A place to store food and a couch to chew and he is happy. He also needed a TV so he can watch the Air bud documentaries he likes. Zephyr’s human cries and hugs him. His human will be playing in Vancouver. He promises to come visit as often as he can. Zephyr is going to miss his human. Zephyr wishes he could bring him, but he knows his human needs a lot of room to skate and play hockey. It just wouldn’t be healthy to coop him up in a flat all day with no hockey to play. Zephyr leaves his home behind to venture out into the world. He doesn’t know when or if he will be back. His human gives him a farewell gift. It’s the box set of Air Bud signed by the dog. Zephyr held back tears until this moment but lets out a howl of sorrow as he says goodbye to his human. With that Zephyr sets out. The Royals sent a plane for him, so Zephyr didn’t have to try and deal with flying commercial. Wolves on planes didn’t sound like it would go over well. Once he arrived in London, he took a few days to settle in before the first day of practice.
The first day of practice was here. Zephyr was ready to meet his teammates for the first time nose to nose. The Royals agreed to Zephyr’s request for a personal groomer, so Zephyr was up early to get trimmed and brushed. He had to look his best to meet his teammates. Once grooming was done Zephyr puts on his Royals collar and makes sure to have his paperwork and some spending money. Then he was off to practice. Zephyr could run most anywhere he needed to go in the city. London is a huge city but luckily Zephyr doesn’t need to go far. Zephyr arrives at the Royals stadium for practice and shows the security guard his access badge. The guard take a few seconds to study the badge and lets Zephyr in. once inside Zephyr meets Luciddreams and Sebster. These guys seem to be in charge. They talk to Zephyr about the draft. How glad they are to have him on the team and proceed to show him to the locker room. Zephyr walks into the locker room and the introductions begin. First is wide receiver Władysław II Jagiełło. Zephyr remembers him from his draft class. Next up is Quite Drab a corner back also from Zephyr’s draft class. In the corner not paying attention is Ebenezer Splooge. Zephyr doesn’t need an introduction there. Zephyr is excited to meet Rocky Rhoads. After a quick sniff introduction they are ready to run around but Zephyr realizes he is still meeting people and tries to be professional. They both sit down for now. They will have plenty of time to run during practice. Dominic Ricci offers a hand to shake. Zephyr taught his human how to shake so he shakes Dominic’s hand. Dominic’s Italian accent means Zephyr only understands about every 4th word but he gets the general idea that he is happy to be on defense with him and will ensure kneecaps are broken when needed for the team. Activia Dannon introduces himself. Fresh out of Virginia Tech and son of the Dannon CEO he found his place at wide receiver. Looks like he also brought lots of various Dannon products for the team. He is a good teammate in Zephyr’s eyes. Deshawn Penne gives Zephyr a nod. Having played in the prospect bowl together they don’t need a formal introduction. Doc Fireball introduces himself, as a defensive end he will be sharing a line with Zephyr. They hit it off pretty quickly over a shot of whiskey and Zephyr knows this will be a good defensive pairing. In flies Toucan Sam to get suited up. They met at the prospect bowl but didn’t interact to much as they were on different teams. They express their mutual respect and excitement to be on the same team. Sam is much happier with the wolf not trying to catch him this time. Billy Doornob finishes lacing up his shoes and walks over. He is the returning kicker from last season. Zephyr tried to remember the returning players achievements last season. Zephyr congratulates Billy on his 9 field goals last season. That’s about all Zephyr actually remembers. That and Billy is number 69. Nice. Jet King the returning safety gives Zephyr a hello while walking to the field. Zephyr will have to try and catch up with him for a better conversation later. Lennay Kekua seems excited to meet Zephyr. They will be sharing a line this season. Lennay is the returning defensive tackle and Zephyr is the new one. Zephyr quickly noted that Lennay had 45 tackles and forced 2 fumbles last season. Lennay waves it off. He doesn’t need to be impressed with his own stats and is ready to make new ones with Zephyr at his side. What a cool teammate. Justa Nuisance comes up and talks to Zephyr and Lennay. Justa is a defensive end from last season. He sported 36 tackles and 2 sacks. Justa makes a joke about Lennay trying to replace him on the line with Zephyr. They all laugh. There is plenty of room for everyone on the line…isn’t there? The two defensemen head to the field but Zephyr has more teammates to meet. Donkey Johnson walks over. Donkey is the returning tight end for the team. Zephyr admires his 333 receiving yards last season and Donkey hopes that some new blood will help bring that number up. Thomas Hollands joins them and Zephyr remembers him for the TV. He was in that super popular movie with Robert Downey Jr., Dolittle. Thomas informs Zephyr that he is actually the twin of Tom Holland. Everyone is silent for a minuet until Zephyr brings up Thomas’s 4 receiving touchdowns form last season. Thomas acknowledges that he is superior in every way to his brother and walks toward the field. Not knowing what to do Donkey just follows him. Deluxe Pogger comes up next. Deluxe is the returning running back with 100 rushing yards last season. He doesn’t seem to happy with only 100 rushing yards but Zephyr tries to remain positive about what this season can hold. As deluxe walks away in walks Anya Mind. Anya is a returning line backer and one of the few female football players in the league. Zephyr quickly acknowledges her 90 tackles, 3 sacks, and interception from last season. Anya isn’t here to be the best female player she is here to be the best player. Zephyr respects that and is excited to be on defense with determined player like Anya. Anya heads to the field and Cedric Wilkins II makes himself known. Cedric is the returning corner back from last season. He had 54 tackles and an interception last season. Cedric isn’t impressed with flashy numbers. He is a ball player. A humble boy from humble beginnings playing the game he loves. Cedric promotes teamwork and a real family feeling on the team. As Cedric goes to close his locker door to head out onto the field Zephyr sees an old photograph that appears to be Cedric and an older man. Cedric is much younger in the photo. Cedric tells Zephyr when they get a little more time he will tell Zephyr about his pops and Zephyr is excited to learn more. Zephyrs own father was never around. He either found another pack or was hunted long before Zephyr was old enough to remember him. A veteran player approached Zephyr and introduced himself as Ripoff CheeseBrand. Zephyr thought wow the Ripoff CheeseBrand. Season 30 safety here for another season. His last season was great with 47 tackles and 2 interceptions as a safety. Ripoff is looking to do even better this season. He is only getting better. Ripoff heads to the field as Electric Squirrel comes over. Squirrel greets Zephyr and says he was a season 30 running back but due to injury he wasn’t able to play last season. He still isn’t sure if he can play this season but comes to practice and does what he can to support the team. Bradley Welch comes over and offers to help Squirrel to the field. Squirrel says he is ok and can make it. Bradley stays and talks with Zephyr. Zephyr definitely knows Bradley Welch. 1,300 receiving yards and 8 receiving touchdowns. Bradley was a huge part of Londons offense last year. Getting to play with him for a season is exciting and Zephyr can’t wait to see him in action in person. Bradley heads to the field and Jack R comes over with Savior Hawkins to introduce themselves. Jack ushed 525 yards last season and Savior had 69 tackles, nice, and 6 interceptions. These guys got to hang around for another season and show the new players how its done. Zephyr is glad to have consistent teammates to help round out the team. Brent Suzuki pushes Jack and Savior out of the way. Its his turn to meet the new player. Brent is also a season 30 veteran in the wide receiver position. 1040 receiving yards and 5 receiving touchdowns means he was close to beating out Bradley. Brent is determined to beat out Bradley this season for receiving yards and to get some of the new receivers on the board. In walks Kiara Tenoh and Brent tells her to meet the newbie. She is a returning running back from season 30 and another female player in the league. Zephyr thinks she must be fast with 541 rushing yards and 3 rushing touchdowns last season. Kiara seems nice and gives Zephyr gentil pats and reminds him he has to pull his weight around here. She spoke softly but also with direct intent. London is looking to have an upward season and everyone better show up. With that she casually walks out onto the field. Leaving Zephyr slightly stunned. Two players are left in the locker room first Dustin Parmelee the primary quarterback. Dustin is a season 30 returning player that put up a respectable 4102 passing yards and 21 passing touchdowns last season. Dustin won’t be on the field with Zephyr but hopes they can still work well together this season to build the team. Lastly is the Legend herself Rainbow Dash. Rainbow is a season 28 kicker returning for another season. Rainbow primarily is the teams punter. Punting 3429 yards last season. She has taken a few field goal kicks as well making 2/3 last season. She is a great player to get to be on the field with and Zephyr can’t wait to see her kick the ball. Its an art for when she is kicking.
After meeting the players Zephyr suits up. Equipment is expensive but Zephyr got the best available. Custom made for a wolf and ready to roll. Zephyr is excited to see his game side water dish installed and ready on the field. He tastes the water and it tastes like water. It also flows in a 3-layer cascading waterfall. This is an absolute win in Zephyr’s eyes. Practice was fun. It was serious for the first half and then some people moved around as needed to fill roles. Zephyr never put much thought into defensive tackle. It was defense and it got to tackle. But he got to play some defensive end and linebacker at practice. He also played some offensive roles like doing some runs with Rocky and trying a few catches. Zephyr isn’t good at catching or running the ball. Its not a mouth eye coordination thing its more of a how much pressure the ball can take before exploding thing. After popping 3 balls in 4 plays Zephyr was over that. Once practice was over Luciddreams wanted to talk with Zephyr. They talked about how practice went and whether Zephyr was committed to defensive tackle. They will need to sign a few Bodies out There or bot’s to fill in some open spaces. Young walk on players that aren’t ready for draft but fill a need for the team. Zephyr remembered seeing them at practice. They looked like empty shells of humans just standing on the sidelines waiting to be given a role to play mediocrely. If there job is just to fill time and space they do that part pretty well. Before signing these players Luciddreams wanted to make sure the new players were happy with their role. Zephyr brings up that he had never played as a linebacker before and really enjoyed it. After a long conversation Zephyr decides to commit to it. He is now a linebacker. Zephyr is glad he found out he wanted to be a linebacker before the season had started. The speed and agility of linebacker seems to fit Zephyr even better than defensive tackle did. Maximizing his strengths while ignoring his main weakness which of course is not having apposable thumbs. The announcement is made to the team and Zephyr is greeted with cheers from his teammates. The team rallies behind their new linebacker. If every practice goes like this then Zephyr is in for one hell of a year. After practice Zephyr runs home. He is starting to feel the days training as he runs. Zephyr has leftover hunt in the cooler in his flat which is good because he might not be able to catch anything after his long day of practice. Zephyr calls his human to tell him about his first day of practice. The talk for a while before Zephyr has to call it a night. He needs rest if he is going to do this again tomorrow. Zephyr climbs onto his couch. He will have to remember to order a new one soon as they don’t last long. As Zephyr drifts of to sleep he thinks about what his first DSFL game will be like. The sound of tackles and players colliding with the ground dance in his head as he drifts off to sleep.
(4000 words)