I must be insane for doing this. I already have what, fifteen fics that need completing? And here I am starting another new one. Whew...

Hello, everyone! Flikfreak here again. I was kind of disappointed that in KH1 the Dalmatian puppies didn't get enough love. I didn't mind the side quest at all, mind you (though it was kind of funny to do all those crazy acrobatics in Halloween Town to find some of them), but I still kinda wish they got more of a spotlight (no pun intended)…plus, this gives me more of a chance to practice my written British dialect…and to see how many spot-related puns I can put in here. XD

Ahem. Anyway. This takes place during the first Kingdom Hearts, not the second one.

Summary: Eager to try his own hand at the advanced spells that Donald used so many times, Sora quickly lands himself in hot water when his own attempts misfire. Now the victim of a mass dog-napping, Sora must find his way back home to Merlin to get fixed up, but things aren't as easy as he hopes when Cruela DeVil is on his tail.

Previously known as "Spotted Problems," I give you…

Seeing Spots

By FlikFreak

Chapter One: A Spot of Trouble

Three weeks of grueling workouts. Three weeks of non-stop reading. Three weeks of harsh training. Three weeks of putting up with countless failures and misfires. Three weeks, and Sora felt he was ready to finally test this out. Given the amount of insults and jabs of hostile humor that he got from Donald Duck, the self-proclaimed professional at this, Sora was going to be highly disappointed if this went wrong.

In truth, Sora believed that being the keyblade master should have given him some sort of heightened magic ability. Merlin, however, had informed him that even the most ordinary of people could use magic if taught properly. The capacity for it was in everyone; it was usually talent that determined how good you were. Sora could use plenty of his own spells, of course – both with and without the keyblade's help – but Donald was the one with all of the "cool stuff," as Sora so referred to it.

Though he really just wanted to show Donald up for teasing him so much, Sora's reasoning for learning this involved his time in Hollow Bastion that he spent without the keyblade (As good as Beast was at disposing of heartless, Sora was happy to know that he could help out by pitching in a fireball or two), so Merlin agreed to teach him some advanced magic. As it would turn out, Sora had an interesting knack for the type of magic that Donald often used when they visited places like Atlantica or Halloween Town. The problem, however, was in his aim. Archimedes, Merlin's owl companion, suffered several hours as a mouse at one point, and wasn't too happy as a moose either. Luckily, Merlin managed to avoid Sora's terrible aim and was more than happy to correct his mistakes…but after three weeks, Sora was getting impatient.

Very impatient.

"Am I at least improving?" Sora wailed, flopping onto his rear and barely hearing the keyblade hit the floor with a soft whud. Even his hair seemed exhausted, and was drooping a little.

"Your technique was perfect this time," Merlin replied, repairing the llama-shaped cabinet to its previous appearance. "But your aim was still off."

"At least he didn't hit me this time," Archimedes grumbled.

Sora sighed. "Sorry. Can I try one more time?"

Merlin shook his bed. "No, I believe it would be best if you went and got some sleep, my boy…too much work in one day can affect your performance."

Sulking, the keybearer shoved himself to his feet and staggered out of the practice room, heading out the lower entrance to the cavern near the alley. Just exiting the magician's house seemed to give Sora a sense of relief, and he dismissed the keyblade from his hands.

Leon, whom was practicing in the waterway again, gave his gunblade another swing before glancing over. "Another hard day?" He asked.

"Three weeks," Sora groaned, much in the fashion of something from an old horror movie he had seen long ago. "You'd think my aim would get better by now. How is it that I can hit a bull's eye with a fireball and not with this stuff?"

"Just takes practice, I guess," Leon replied for the sake of replying. "Look, Sora. I know you're tired, but I need you to do me a favor tonight."

Sora nodded. "Sure, what's up?"

"You know that old house past the Alley, right? The one with all those dogs in it?"

Sora knew it well. Then again, how could he not after rescuing all those puppies? "Yeah, what about it?"

Leon glanced away. "Aerith and I are taking Pongo and Perdita on a walk tonight. Yuffie's stuck helping Cid in the shop so she can't keep an eye on the puppies."

"And you want me to watch them in her place; is that it?"

No reply was given. Leon sheathed his sword in his belt and exited the waterway, leaving Sora in an awkward silence. I'll take that as a yes, then.

In spite of the place being called a house, there was no actual bedroom and Sora was left to look for a couch to sleep on. Shortly after Leon and Aerith left with Pongo and Perdita, Sora gathered all of the puppies into a single room to watch television. While Sora didn't know all of the puppies by name, he was still able to keep them under control somehow. The moment he flicked on the television (to some show called Thunderbolt), they all settled down to watch, either sitting in front of the TV, on the couch, on the stool, on the floor, or on top of Sora's lap (although one chose his left shoe as a suitable perch, and another somehow made its way onto his head). Although it was cramped with all of the puppies crowded in one room, Sora made himself comfortable.

Bedtime was another story. Ushering the puppies off to bed was difficult, given the lack of space, and many of them had gathered on the couch, leaving Sora to return to the front room for a place to sleep. Roughly fifteen minutes had passed before anything happened. There was a quiet thump coming from the front door, along with several voices. Sora stretched and stood, making sure not to awaken any of the puppies, and went to investigate.

"…sure they're not comin' back yet?"

"'course I'm sure. We've got plenty of time to pick this here lock and get out with our payload…"

Sora's eyes went wide. Thieves! What're they after?

A sudden idea came to him, and Sora grinned mischievously. Summoning the keyblade in a subtle flash of light, he let a spell tingle at his fingertips. Those burglars were in for a surprise when they broke in.

A few more trembles at the doorknob and Sora saw the culprits for a split second before sending a spell flying in their faces. The moment he did, he swore; as luck would have it, the spell's aim was off again. It swerved to the right, ricocheted off the wall, and then bounced off the lamp next to it before smacking Sora upside the chin and knocking him back, the keyblade to dismissing itself upon landing. Sora's lips were just beginning to form an explicit when his eyelids grew heavy.

The world seemed to spin around him and for a moment Sora felt quite dizzy. He hadn't really been paying attention to which spell he had thrown out; he had simply shouted out the first thing that came to his mind and hurled it at the burglars. He vaguely heard a few remarks and could only watch as the intruders proceeded toward the room filled with puppies. When the dizzying sensation wore off, Sora winced and grunted, attempting to push himself up. Strangely enough, he only seemed to be able to make it up onto his hands and feet, and not just feet alone; and for some odd reason everything seemed…bigger. Oh, no…I didn't shrink myself, did I?

Sora gave up trying to get onto his feet and crawled toward the living room door. Even if he was shorter and smaller, he could still pack a punch. He had done the same with the Trickmaster in Wonderland, after all.

It was only when Sora saw his reflection on the television screen that he realized what was going on. Though the screen itself wasn't exactly the most reflective surface in the universe, Sora could still see why he couldn't stand up on two legs: now, he had four.

Had the situation been dire, Sora would have moaned and sulked, muttering something along the lines of "Why me?" or "Merlin is going to kill me for this!", but he had far more important things to worry about at the moment. The panic brought on by the thieves, his worry for the puppies and his shock at seeing what he had done to himself caused him to yelp, his now-floppy ears jumping a bit.

The thieves entered the front room again from the place where Sora had sent the puppies to bed, both carrying full bags. The fat one and skinny one alike exited, not bothering to close the door behind them, but Sora wouldn't let them get away. Growling, he took off after them at top speed.

A feat which lasted roughly four seconds before the keybearer tripped over his own paws and landed flat on his stomach.

The tall skinny human diverted his attention, laughed and picked Sora up by the ruff of his neck. "Hey, Horace! Looks like we missed one!"

Sora gulped nervously. Uh-oh. Immediately he began to flail about and struggle, but it didn't free him from the man's grip. Any other protest that could have freed him never came to his rescue, as Sora found himself thrown into the trunk of the car and locked in.