Foreword

Hello! You may know me as EgxHB from the TASVideos forums. To all my fellow TASers, I present my January surprise!

This story is a fanfic which I wrote during November-December 2014. In fact, this is not my first story - I have been writing ADGTH fics since November 2013, but this is the first which I have decided to release from the confines of my hard drive.

If you're not familiar with the franchise it's based on, don't worry; I believe that this story can be enjoyed by anyone, not just ADGTH fans.

For now, I've uploaded the Prologue and the first Chapter in one part. There are 7 Chapters in all, as well as the Prologue and Epilogue. I am planning to upload the remaining chapters according to the following schedule:

Jan 11: Ch. 2 + 3

Jan 18: Ch. 4 + 5

Jan 25: Ch. 6

Jan 31: Ch. 7 + Epilogue

Well, then! Without further ado, let us begin!

Prologue

A Hilltop Villa, Somewhere in California...

"Now, now," said the adult dog. "It's past your bedtime, you three. Time to switch off the TV."

Claire Bryne was a Belgian Malinois. She had never had any puppies of her own - but alas, here she was, caring for a set of Golden Retriever triplets she had only known for one week.

Claire's recent life had been rather turbulent - only one year previously, she had been seriously injured in a freak shooting accident.

Five days after that, her wounds had finally got the better of her... and she had, tragically, passed away.

However, another five months after she had joined the Angels in Heaven, an Archangel named Annabelle had recognised her as a dog of the highest benevolence. Claire, along with a group of fellow Angels, had been assigned the dangerous task of protecting a vulnerable orphan child from the forces of evil.

In recognition of her outstanding effort in this mission, Annabelle had granted her the title of Guardian Angel - one of an elite group of heavenly agents whose duty it was to guard scores of unfortunate children - both humans and puppies - in times of crisis.

As Claire pressed the power button on the television screen, the three little pups curled up on the rug in front of the fireplace. Their names were Harold, Arnold, and Donald - the cutest yellow dogs you ever did see, to paraphrase the (perhaps slightly popular) catchphrase. Claire stepped over to them, and lay down by them as she gently licked their furs in order to calm them down and help them to sleep...

... But, one of the triplets had something to say.

"Claire? Hey, Claire."

"What is it, Arnold?"

"I'm thirsty..."

The mildly annoyed Malinois sighed, as she got him to his feet. "Come on. Let's get you some water."

Claire slowly led him out of the room, and into the kitchen.

"Here we are. Hand on a sec."

Once she had made her way to the sink, she used her mouth to pick up a small metal water-bowl, and reared up on to her hind legs. She then used her front paws to support herself, as she filled the bowl with water from the tap, before passing it back down to Arnold.

"Thanks, Claire," he said, once he had taken the first sip. "You're the best!"

"Thank you."

While this was being done, however, the other puppies had been left on their own - and they had already started to catch some winks...

Even though Harold was sleeping, his senses were still very much active. Suddenly, his young nose detected a very unusual smell. He opened his eyes, rose to his feet, and nudged his brother on the shoulder.

"What is it, bro?" said Donald.

"Can you smell that?"

"Smell what?"

Then, both of them looked towards the fireplace. They could see that the flames were starting to grow outwards from the bed of coals, at an alarming rate...

"What's going on, bro?" the confused Donald continued.

"I have no idea, but it doesn't look safe. Get back!"

After that, something mysterious started to emerge from the fire. It cackled in an awful voice, as it summoned a large ring of green flames to surround the terrified pups.

"What have we here?" the voice spoke. "Aah - a fresh pair of Goldens - too easy!"

"Yaaaaaargh!" screamed Harold and Donald at the same time. "It's the Boogey-dog!"

The 'Boogey-dog' walked out on to the rug to confront them.

"Come here, my pretties," she said, in a witch's voice. The puppies tried to run away, but the heat from the ring of fire kept them from escaping - even though they were young, their reflexes forced them to back away from the flames, to prevent them from getting seriously burnt...

When Claire and Arnold finally came back from the kitchen, they could sense that all was not well. As Claire approached the rug, she noticed that the fireplace was no longer roaring, and that the floor was covered in black scorch marks.

"My brothers!" said Arnold. "Harold! Donald! Where are you guys...?"

Claire fell silent; she simply looked down at the floor, with a depressed look on her face.

"Claire? ...Claire? What's wrong?"

"Stay here, Arnold. I have to go."

Claire walked into the next room, and positioned herself in front of the large mirror which adorned the back wall. She placed her paw on the glass, and gave a sharp bark. The glass then became covered in sparkling stars, and the image of a pink dog appeared.

"Good evening, Miss Bryne," said the image. "Is there a problem?"

"Yes, Ms. Annabelle."

"What is it?"

Claire sniffed deeply, and tried to hold back the tears as she gave her response:

"Two of the puppies have disappeared... this is all my fault."

Annabelle closed her eyes, and shook her head in disbelief. Half of a minute passed before she continued the conversation.

"Article Four of the Guardian Convention. I wish for you to recite it."

"'A Guardian Angel must never leave their charge, or charges, unattended, except where they are able to leave them with someone in whom they have absolute trust.'"

"Good. Now, why did you break the Convention?"

"I only went to get one of the pups a drink, Ms. Annabelle. I was only gone for two minutes."

"Not acceptable, Miss Bryne. Two minutes is more than enough time for a demon to strike. Consider this to be an official warning - if anything like this happens again, you will lose your title of Guardian Angel."

Annabelle then held up a roll of parchment, and used a golden quill to write something on it. Once she had finished, she spoke again:

"I'm going to send another Guardian to take charge of the remaining pup. You are to meet him at the front door tomorrow morning. Understood?"

"Understood."

After that, Annabelle's image disappeared from the mirror. Claire went back to take Arnold upstairs, and that was where they stayed until the following morning.

Chapter 1: Long Haul

KNOCK, KNOCK.

"Coming," said Claire, as she crept over to the door with Arnold in tow. She opened the dog-flap, and crawled out into the cold, early-morning air.

"Good morning, Ma'am," said the male German Shepherd cross who was now standing on the porch of the luxurious villa. "Do you have the puppy with you?"

"He's right here," she replied, as Arnold came through the flap after her.

"Aww," said the Shepherd, who, almost immediately, became infatuated with the little Golden Retriever. "Isn't he a cutie?"

He then picked Arnold up by the scruff of the neck.

"Goodbye," said Claire, as her colleague turned to carry the puppy down the steps. "Take good care of him."

"Don't worry, Ma'am, I will. Besides, I've got a long flight ahead of me."

As he walked down the hill, through the winter mist, the Malinois slowly waved good-bye to the one remaining golden puppy.

Perhaps it would be appropriate to give you some back-story here: The mother of Arnold and his brothers had fallen ill, and, due to no longer being able to care for her offspring, she had had to give them up for adoption. The one who had adopted them, was the wealthy owner of the villa. Unfortunately, the owner had no other dog of his own to be a mother or father figure to them, so Claire had been sent in to take this role.

"where are we going, Charlie?"

Charlie and Arnold were now sitting on the back seat of a taxi-cab. As Charlie was looking out of the side window, the puppy had been repeating this same question over and over.

"It's a surprise, kid," he finally replied. "I don't want to spoil it. Besides, we're almost there - it's only a few more miles to go."

"Oh, goody. I can't wait."

Five minutes later, the taxi pulled up into the drop-off area of a large airport.

"Here you are," said the driver, as he opened the door for Charlie.

"Thank you," the Shepherd replied, as he stepped out of the car, and gave the driver his fare. The driver, being a human, had been slightly surprised that his passenger was, in fact, a dog, but he accepted the money anyway.

Charlie then walked away, with Arnold tucked under his arm, and a rucksack on his back. He walked over to the shelter at the front of the airport building, where he met another two dogs. These were Itchy, the male brown Dachshund, and Sasha, the female Irish Setter.

"Hey, guys," said Charlie. "Well, a guy and a gal, at least. How's it going?"

"It's been going great," Itchy replied. "You ready for the flight?"

"I've got my rucksack, so yeah, I guess. Also, there's someone I'd like to introduce you to."

Charlie then held up the puppy for the other dogs to see, and they smiled at him in adoration.

"Oh, my gosh," said Sasha. "Who's this, then?"

"This is Arnold," said Charlie. "He's a Golden Retriever puppy. Wanna give him a hug?"

"Yes, please!" said Sasha and Itchy at the same time.

Charlie passed Arnold over, and Sasha cradled him in her arms, before letting Itchy have a turn.

"He's adorable..." she said quietly. "Please tell me we're taking him with us?"

Charlie nodded, and Sasha giggled, smiling happily.

Three hours later, the three adult dogs, and the one puppy, were seated on a large airliner that was now flying eastward over the neighbouring state of Nevada. Sasha was in the leftmost seat in the row, by the window, with Arnold sitting on her lap. Charlie was next to her in the left middle seat, and Itchy was immediately to his right.

"So," said Sasha to Charlie, "are you looking forward to the vacation?"

"Yeah," he replied. "It seems like we haven't been on one in ages - what with me being a G.A. and all that jazz."

"Where are we going?" Arnold asked. Today, this sentence appeared to be his favourite question.

"We're flying to somewhere very special, little guy," Sasha replied. "A place where I used to live - a very long time ago."

"Are we there yet?"

"No, not yet. Not for another... um... let's just say, it's going to take a very long time to get there."

Late that night, after the adults had been spending several hours trying to keep Arnold entertained, the plane finally touched down at an airport in New York - however, this was not their destination; this was just a stop-over. By this time, Arnold was very much asleep, and Sasha was having to carry him around everywhere.

The four dogs spent the night in the airport lounge, until, in the early morning, it was time for them to catch the plane again for the second leg of their flight.

After another twelve hours of flying, the airliner touched down again. The group swiftly entered the airport, picked up their luggage from the conveyor belts, and started to make their way to the taxi area.

Arnold, who had been resting for the last few hours of the flight, was now opening up his eyes again.

"Yawn... Where are we?"

"Have a little guess," said Sasha.

"Are we in... France?"

"Nope."

"... Germany?"

"No, no, Arnold. Look up - at the sign."

She then pointed towards a sign which was hanging from the ceiling. It read:

"WELCOME TO IRELAND.

Céad Míle Fáilte - One Hundred Thousand Welcomes."

"My gosh," Arnold yawned. "This looks a lot different from America..."

Once they had all taken the taxi to the hotel, the dogs checked in to their rooms, before going to the downstairs lounge.

"It's going to be Arnold's bedtime soon," said Sasha. "How long are we going to be here, Charlie?"

"Not very long," he replied. "We'll just have something to drink, and then we'll take him up."

To drink, Charlie and Itchy had a small glass of beer each, whereas Sasha had opted for a glass of red wine.

Once they had finished, Charlie and Sasha took Arnold up to their room, while Itchy stayed back in the lounge.

To keep Arnold warm, Charlie took a spare pillow from the bed, and a small towel from the bathroom, and placed them on the floor to make a little bed. He tucked the puppy in, making sure he was comfortable, before he and Sasha got into their bed, and switched off the light.