A Melody of Howls
Chapter 1: Escape & Meetings
A black truck was parked in an alley way in Tokyo. Men were loading boxes and cages on board until they came to the last one. The massive cage took four men to load but unlike the others this one was a wooden box with holes to let what was inside breath. Low growls could be heard from the box that was loaded to the tailgate. Suddenly a sound came from the warehouse and the men hurriedly jumped into the truck and took off Leaving the gate at the back open in their hurry. As they sped around corners the box began to slide forward. Suddenly the swerved and the box flow off the gate and rolled away from the street so as the man looked back he say nothing in the road behind him.
The box came to a stop after slamming into the curb. Its occupant growled again and slammed its heavy body against the damaged box and a short time later the box gave way. The massive beast emerged and walked into the street seemed to be a large dog. Its fur a silvery-white and its eyes a cross of light-purple and eery blue. When the light hit them just right they glowed bluish green. This dog was easily a hundred fifty to two hundred pounds. Large paws with curved black claws held the animal up. It was long and muscular showing traits for long distance running and powerful jumps. Its two inch fangs gleamed as it opened its mouth to pant.
'I am free at last' It thought as it paced the street to try and get the tranquilizer out of its system. This was no ordinary dog once it had been human. A human woman to be exact. She had been fed the same experimental drug Jimmy and Ai had. But with a profound difference. She was born with a genetic oddity and when she had been forced to take the drug it had changed her into the massive dog. It had been lucky timing that the woman who created the drug had been taken away before the transformation was complete so no one alive was aware of her true identity. Her eyes saddened as she thought of the man she had loved, he had cared for her, was kind to her. But she would never see her beloved again. So with a heavy heart she walked into the darkness.
The next morning dawned bright and early Conan and his friends were on their way to the park when they heard something moving through a nearby alley. They heard a man yell at something just as the turned the corner to see a man launch a rock at a large dog. The dog bared its fangs and barked at the man standing its ground. "Stupid mongrel!" The man yelled and the dog lunged forward to snap at air. Ayumi called out. "What are you doing to that dog!" The man turned and raised has arm to strike the child when the dog planted its front feet into his chest and knocked him back. The man rolled into the wall and the dog now stood between him and the kids. 'Fool, I will bite you if you dare raise your hand to a child again in my sight!' She growled at him.
Suddenly the man got up and ran down the alleyway leaving her and the children behind. She turned to the children and felt soothing hands gently scratching her neck and back. Her eyes focused on the boy who was petting her and his blue eyes were framed by his glasses. They were kind eyes yet they were also sad. She licked his cheek and heard him laugh. "Conan why don't you keep the dog, it clearly likes you." Mitsuhiko said. Conan examined the dog and his detective instincts said to take the dog. He searched for a collar or anything to identify it but found nothing but the thick glossy fur. "Yeah its an awesome dog!"Genta agreed. "I'll take it to the Vet on the way to school and see if its been micro-chipped."
As they walked the dog followed easily keeping pace with the four. The vet's office was just around the corner from the school. Conan had the others wait outside as he took the dog in. A kind looking woman sat behind the counter and on seeing the dog enter with the child her eyes widened. "Hello young man what can I do for you." Conan took a breath then spoke. "I found this dog and I want to keep it but I needed to make sure it belonged to no one else. Can you please check for a microchip?" The lady brought out the scanner and scanned the dog all over. "No chip in this beauty. Its a girl young man. Would you still like to keep her? She is probably due for shots to ward off illness and disease." Conan agreed and the dog seemed to roll its eyes and calmly endure the shots and exam that followed. "The dog is 179 lbs, white with blue-ish eyes. She is 83 inches at the shoulder. Appearing to be 2-3 years old. She seems to be a cross between a Great Dane and a German Shepherd." Conan was looking through a breed book and pointed one out to the Vet. "A King Shepherd seems to be around that size but she is bigger then the normal female." He said and the Vet took the book and examined both the image and the dog before her. "Scratch the Great Dane comment, She does indeed look like a King Shepherd but her coat is thinner like a standard Shepherd. Could be a Shepherd cross but I have never seen a White before." The vet pondered. It was decided they would mark her down as a half-blood King Shepherd. Conan wondered how the old man would take to the dog but something about her had him hooked. The nurse took the card he offered with out a glance and asked if he wanted to license the dog.
He agreed and the card was ran through and he signed the receipt before taking the tag from the lady and walking out the dog following. "Its a girl." He said and the others all tried to come up with names but the dog wouldn't even look at them. Conan got a suddenly evil Idea and smiled darkly. "I will name her Kaitou, Like the phantom thief kid." The dog's head turned and her tail wagged. 'Its a fine name, and I always wanted to meet kid.' Kaitou followed Conan into the pet store where he selected a collar and very heavy leash. "You know son that leash has two clips so it can be looped to provide more control of the dog." The clerk said. The leash had a clip by the handle and on the end of the chain to Kaitou it looked like reigns. 'At least its black and silver and not some stupid girly color... I am really starting to like you kid.' She thought amused as he fiddled with the buckle of the collar.
Conan put the first collar back and got the special collar with two opposing rings for the leash to hook onto. Conan hooked each clip to a side and saw the rest of the leash drape over her back in a reign like configuration. He wondered if she would ever let him ride her massive frame. She shoved her head under him and he wound up on her back, he grabbed the leash for balance and she walked around in a circle. "Wow this is awesome!" He said and the dog turned the other way so they were both facing a dog at the end of the aisle who was growling at Kaitou. She remained calm and didn't show her teeth but the owner of the other dog was sliding on the tile towards them Kaitou barked at the other dog and its head snapped back and it lowered its head and tail in submission to the larger female. After picking a few more things and arranging for good quality dog food to be delivered to the office the group departed for the park.
The massive dog watched the kids play ball and hide and seek when Ayumi tagged her she sat still. The girl called for the others to hide and they all scattered the dog sniffed each one of them out before sitting before Conan. "I'll train you to track suspects for me. Welcome to the detective boys Kaitou." The dog wagged her tail and her thoughts were easy. 'So my little detective, you want help tracking down those who do wrong? Ok I am game I like to do my best too.' Kaitou was easy to walk with for Conan, She never pulled or strayed from him but he wondered if the massive dog would obey him. He would have to take her to the park tomorrow and try training with her. When he got to the office he could see the pet store had already delivered his order and Rachel was looking through it. "Conan what is..." She trailed off seeing the massive dog following him. "What a beautiful dog. Conan where did you get him?" The dog huffed and Conan sweat dropped. Rachel was a soft hearted person.
"Its Jimmy's Dog. He got her on a case and wanted me to watch her as he can't take her in his next case. I'm gonna take her to the park tomorrow and find out what she knows and see hoe he's trained her." Rachel apologized to the dog for calling her a boy and together they set up a dog bed in the office and in the house in the living room. As the dog was eating Conan was given dinner and told to get a bath before Richard got home. Conan went and took his bath while Rachel took a brush from the dog stuff and began to brush the massive dog. "So your Jimmy's dog. I didn't even know he got one. Do you miss him? I do. I haven't seen him in so long but he calls me, maybe he'll call more now you here. Are you a detective too?" The young girl asked and the dog turned to look her in the eye. 'Jimmy? There is something going on here. But I will be kind to her she is obvious;y worried about someone. The boy Conan knows something.' The dog reasoned and wagged her tail at the girl. By the time Rachel was finished brushing the dog gleamed.
She quickly cleaned up the fur and washed the brush out when the dog went stock still. A low terrifying growl crawled from her chest and her eyes focused on the front door. Rachel heard steps and a loud voice singing in drunkenness. "Dad wait!" She called but the door had opened and Richard was looking at the massive dog in his living room. "Ah! Hell-hound!" Conan came running out of the bathroom in his towel to see Kaitou lower her crouch between Rachel and Richard. "Kaitou no!"He shouted. The dog snapped out of her stance and turned to him as if waiting for his next order. He quickly went and got some clothes on as Rachel explained the large dog to her father.
"And think of the good luck a dog brings, she'll keep anyone from breaking in and could even be useful on cases." It took awhile and a lot of begging and scraping before Richard would allow the dog to stay. It took Conan telling him that Jimmy would be paying for all the dog's needs while she was there. When the house was dark and the dog curled in the living room alone she thought more about who that Jimmy guy was and what he had to do with the boy Conan. So with that final thought she drifted off to a light sleep.