Obviously, this fan fic may have some major spoilers. So if you're not finished reading TFW, don't read on. Or else.

–scary music plays-

Oh, and this is an oneshot if anybody's wondering, but I can extend it to a twoshot if you like. A threeshot's my maximum, though.

Disclaimer: is JP a short girl with brown hair whose favourite sports are football and soccer? Well, neither am I, but I still don't own Maximum Ride.

Okay. So I was a dog. An eighty-pound Malamute. So what? It is not like I can't think, can't feel, can't fall in love… umm, yeah, about that…

You know what? How about we just get this story on and over with?…

"Come on, Akila," Dr. Papa said softly, clipping on my harness, "let's go meet our new passengers, okay?"

I wagged my white, feathery tail happily. What? I was all for anything that made him happy and that brought interest into the day. It's not very exciting to wander around a tiny sardine can—I mean, boat—and stare at the same grey walls all day.

Dr. Papa led us down to the lowest floor of the boat, the part usually reserved for special guests. I wasn't surprised to find that the guests stayed there; what with the crew and meeting rooms and all, there have been some shortages of extra rooms and storage places. In other words, this boat's crammed full of people, animals, and other things.

Anyway, back to the story.

We went to the open door at the end of the hallway. The shape of the hull of the boat enabled this bottom floor to have great acoustics and I could hear talking, complaining, and even arguing coming from within.

Not everyone can hear all that, you know, especially you with your puny, weak ears. But I can hear practically everything that happened inside and comforted myself with the fact that none of the voices sounded threatening or angry. And before you ask, yes I was nervous meeting the new guests. Wouldn't you be?

Dr. Papa and I entered the room.

The first thought I had when I saw the seven guests was that they were…different.

Their smell was somehow not right, not normal. But not only that, their behavior wasn't anything I've seen before. I've been a guard dog long enough to be able to read body language, and the guests were unnerving.

It's like they were in the middle of committing a crime or something. Their bodies were tense, their faces were wary. Every single one of them seemed to be perpetually on the edge of fight or flight. None of them relaxed for even a second, though they may seem to be the most carefree people in the world.

Well, except for the dog.

The dog was a small Scottish terrier with smooth, shiny black fur, large ears, and eyes that always seemed to be on the verge of excitement. I later found out that his name was Total. Well, his fur gleamed in the light from the windows and his teeth were small, white, and sharp.

Overall, a very handsome dog.

I pushed that thought from my mind. Total wasn't my type—far from it--and furthermore, we were complete opposites.

Other than him, there were others in the room.

There was a tall, slim girl who was always tense, even more so than the others. She seemed to be the leader, judging from the way the others unconsciously oriented themselves around her.

Then there was a dark-haired boy who was around the same age as the first girl. He wore no expression on his face as he impassively scanned over Dr. Papa and I. But even so, he seemed to be minutely aware of everything that went on around him.

Apart from him, there were two other boys, both blond. One was really tall—the tallest of the group—and the other around eight years old. They seemed to be close friends or partners, and were the most relaxed of the bunch.

Then, there were two girls, one around twelve and the other six or seven they were in the corner, sitting on a bunk as if they had been conversing with each other before Dr. Papa and I had entered the room. They seemed to be really good friends, as well.

But even as my eyes picked out all of these details, my mind was still locked upon the image of the scruffy terrier, Total. The interesting one, the handsome one…

Um…ignore that. I'm being stupid.

After a short introduction, Dr. Papa led us out of the room. I trotted beside him, relieved. Now, I can finally stop thinking about him.

Plus, Total was staring at me for the whole time and, frankly, it was driving me insane.

But part of me liked that, enjoyed the attention that he had given me and hoped that maybe, maybe he liked me back.

After all, opposites attract.

Ugh. That was definitely NOT what I was hoping for.

Review anyway?