The Battle Begins Quotes

“Get some sleep, pup,' the Chihuahua told him. 'After your first match, you already grabbed the attention of the fans. Tomorrow you must win their hearts.”
― Devon Hughes, The Battle Begins

“Special or not,” said the medic, “after that second bite . . .” He shook his head in disbelief as he dabbed the rotten skin on Castor’s paw with disinfectant. “He’s lucky he didn’t lose that leg.”
― Devon Hughes, Unnaturals: The Battle Begins: An Epic Sci-Fi Adventure About a Mutt's Fight for Survival and Freedom for Kids

“I’m . . .” Castor’s talons flexed against the sand. “They’re calling me the Underdog. But I’m not even a dog anymore,” he said, lifting and shrugging his awkward wings pointedly. “No,” Pookie agreed. “What you are is a heap on the floor.”
― Devon Hughes, Unnaturals: The Battle Begins: An Epic Sci-Fi Adventure About a Mutt's Fight for Survival and Freedom for Kids

“am Rainner, a dragon from the island of Komodo, where my family has ruled for centuries. I am the nephew of the Hellion, a fearsome fighter in the Dome. And I am your king!” “Hilarious,” the horned horse said dryly. “Well, Your Highness, my name is Moss. Some king you are to get kidnapped and dragged here just like your uncle.”
― Devon Hughes, Unnaturals: The Battle Begins: An Epic Sci-Fi Adventure About a Mutt's Fight for Survival and Freedom for Kids

“There was a fat rope that could talk;”
― Devon Hughes, Unnaturals: The Battle Begins: An Epic Sci-Fi Adventure About a Mutt's Fight for Survival and Freedom for Kids

“I follow the rules and grovel like an omega, and the Whistlers hurt me. I stand up for what I believe in and break the rules, and the Whistlers hurt me. If I do what they want, I hurt others.” He was walking faster now, huffing with agitation. “What else is there?”
― Devon Hughes, Unnaturals: The Battle Begins: An Epic Sci-Fi Adventure About a Mutt's Fight for Survival and Freedom for Kids

“But despite the pain, despite the collar at his neck and the high walls around him, for the first time since he’d been captured, Castor felt free.”
― Devon Hughes, Unnaturals: The Battle Begins: An Epic Sci-Fi Adventure About a Mutt's Fight for Survival and Freedom for Kids

“Fine,” Castor sighed. With his chin still resting on his paws, he mumbled, “I’m ‘Castor German Shepherd, Descendent of the Mexican Wolf and Third Dog of the Trash Mountain Pack on the Southside of Lion’s Head.”
― Devon Hughes, Unnaturals: The Battle Begins: An Epic Sci-Fi Adventure About a Mutt's Fight for Survival and Freedom for Kids

“I’d prefer that you not use that slur,” the mini—the creature—scolded. “You may call me ‘Pookie the Poisonous, Unnatural First-class Canis Atrax, Undefeated Chihuahua Warrior of the Streets, the Whistlers, and the Arena.’ Or you can just call me Pookie.”
― Devon Hughes, Unnaturals: The Battle Begins: An Epic Sci-Fi Adventure About a Mutt's Fight for Survival and Freedom for Kids

“Mom will never let me skate again,” he said dejectedly, slumping into the seat. “Sure she will.” Pete hit a button that locked them onto a cable track and then typed in their parents’ address at the Eris Escape Tower, floor 247. “Do you know how long it took me to convince her to let me come to the Skypark the first time?” Marcus asked as they started to glide down the cables. “She wanted me to wear a gas mask, even though the park’s enclosed in glass, and then she finally agreed only if I wore zinc sunscreen and an insane amount of padding.”
― Devon Hughes, Unnaturals: The Battle Begins: An Epic Sci-Fi Adventure About a Mutt's Fight for Survival and Freedom for Kids

“He was only allowed to watch four of the sixteen fights each season, because his stepdad, Bruce the Brutal, worried about “overexposure to violence.” That was totally uncool, considering he was eleven years old—only fifteen months away from being a teenager!—”
― Devon Hughes, Unnaturals: The Battle Begins: An Epic Sci-Fi Adventure About a Mutt's Fight for Survival and Freedom for Kids

“As Castor hovered in the air over the bleachers clutching the snake, he didn’t feel majestic or fearsome. His wings were tired, his body was shuddering with toxic poison, and he felt like he’d lost more in this match than he’d gained.”
― Devon Hughes, Unnaturals: The Battle Begins: An Epic Sci-Fi Adventure About a Mutt's Fight for Survival and Freedom for Kids

“. “It was nothing.” “Good, then. Are you ready?” “To . . . go back to sleep?”
― Devon Hughes, Unnaturals: The Battle Begins: An Epic Sci-Fi Adventure About a Mutt's Fight for Survival and Freedom for Kids

“takes guts to break the rules like that, especially in a match,” Moss said gruffly. “It’s stupid, mind you, but it takes guts.”
― Devon Hughes, Unnaturals: The Battle Begins: An Epic Sci-Fi Adventure About a Mutt's Fight for Survival and Freedom for Kids

“You want so badly to be with your hero.” Moss studied Enza for a long moment, his jaw slowly working the cud. “Do you even know why Laringo isn’t in here with us?” “He’s superior and deserves to be pampered,” Enza fired back. But the other animals were watching Moss intently, waiting for an answer. They’d all been wondering, but no one had dared to ask. The veteran stepped out from behind the trough so that he could address all of them. “The handlers trained Laringo so well, pushed him so hard, brainwashed him so completely, that now he doesn’t just fight on command—fighting is who he is. He’s kept apart from us because he’d slash into you at the slop. Claw you through the cells. Sting you in your sleep.”
― Devon Hughes, Unnaturals: The Battle Begins: An Epic Sci-Fi Adventure About a Mutt's Fight for Survival and Freedom for Kids

“Mmm, mmm, the sweet stench of animal BO.”
― Devon Hughes, Unnaturals: The Battle Begins: An Epic Sci-Fi Adventure About a Mutt's Fight for Survival and Freedom for Kids

“It’s not like Marcus didn’t get why she worried. After their dad died from radiation exposure in the Greenplains, they were all pretty freaked. She wanted to keep her boys close. But there was close, and then there was claustrophobic.”
― Devon Hughes, Unnaturals: The Battle Begins: An Epic Sci-Fi Adventure About a Mutt's Fight for Survival and Freedom for Kids

“Look, give Mom a break, okay? She’s just a little protective is all.” “Understatement of the century!”
― Devon Hughes, Unnaturals: The Battle Begins: An Epic Sci-Fi Adventure About a Mutt's Fight for Survival and Freedom for Kids

“In here, fear is what keeps you alive.”
― Devon Hughes, Unnaturals: The Battle Begins: An Epic Sci-Fi Adventure About a Mutt's Fight for Survival and Freedom for Kids

“You can eat first, and then I’ll eat.” He fluttered his huge ears hopefully. But Rainner wasn’t swayed. “Kings don’t share,”
― Devon Hughes, Unnaturals: The Battle Begins: An Epic Sci-Fi Adventure About a Mutt's Fight for Survival and Freedom for Kids

“In this place, we fight alone. Some of us were born to conquer.” He flicked his forked tongue at Castor through the bars of his cage. “And others are destined to fall.”
― Devon Hughes, Unnaturals: The Battle Begins: An Epic Sci-Fi Adventure About a Mutt's Fight for Survival and Freedom for Kids

“Humans are fond of cages.” Deja peeked out over her coiled body. “It makes them les-s-s afraid.”
― Devon Hughes, Unnaturals: The Battle Begins: An Epic Sci-Fi Adventure About a Mutt's Fight for Survival and Freedom for Kids

“This is where it starts—where it always starts: you peer out over your long nose and see green. It brushes against your outer coat and tickles the smooth skin of your belly. It blankets the ground beneath your paws. In place of the endless stone boxes the men built, giant green trunks rise up around you. You sit on your hindquarters but still can’t quite tilt your head back far enough to see their leafy tops. This isn’t your home. There’s no way you could’ve been here before. But somehow, it feels familiar. And there is something else you recognize. . . . Meat. Your whole body seems to shout the word at once. Fur bristles along your spine. Your muzzle twitches and saliva drips from your jowls. You feel the smooth sharpness of your tearing teeth. It has been so long. Where is the meat? Your ears stand upright, the fine hairs taking in everything. You hear the crisp snap of a small branch, then the whisper of fur brushing against leaves. You think you can even hear the trill of a heartbeat. More than anything, though, you can smell the creature, hidden in the shadows, between the darker shades of green. It smells like fear and food, like everything you love about the chase. It smells like life. Out of the corner of your vision, you sense motion. You spring forward from your back legs, and the animal bolts, a tawny blur. It’s not like the rodents you’re used to. This is bigger. It bounds instead of skitters, leaps instead of burrows. It’s all speed and grace, and you love the energy it takes to chase after it. Your pack is with you suddenly—brothers and sisters and second cousins, alphas and omegas. As you tear through the forest, head nodding and eyes watering, they trail in lines behind you, and you know without looking that your tail is streaming out like a flag. With the blood pumping inside your ears, each second sounds like a bark. The creature is faster than you are, but it’s losing steam. You’re panting but not tired. You run and run and run, watching the spindly legs flick through the underbrush ahead of you. You were made for this. There’s a flick of white, a flash of a hoof. You drive harder, your nails churning up cool dirt. The pack fans out and starts to close in, herding your prey closer and closer. It’s slowing. You’re gaining. It stumbles, and you dive. You open your jaws. You sink in your teeth. You savor.”
― Devon Hughes, Unnaturals: The Battle Begins: An Epic Sci-Fi Adventure About a Mutt's Fight for Survival and Freedom for Kids

“There’s a reason he’s not among us, Castor remembered Moss saying. He’ll murder us over breakfast.”
― Devon Hughes, Unnaturals: The Battle Begins: An Epic Sci-Fi Adventure About a Mutt's Fight for Survival and Freedom for Kids

“Get some sleep, pup," the Chihuahua told him. "After your first match, you already grabbed the attention of the fans. Tomorrow you must win their hearts.”
― Devon Hughes, The Battle Begins