"Wait" Sora said, he began sniffing the air, "Someone is here" They all turned, immediately spotting the orange tabby kitten. "You were the one that crawled up the hotdog vendors clothes" The kitten slowly stepped forward, ears down,
"Hello," he said, 'I-I was wanting to get some hotdogs too... but that dog attacked me instead"
"Attacked you?" Henry asked. The cat nodded,
"He said we'd work together, and then out of nowhere started chasing me"
"Sounds like you got tricked" Sora said, "This dog seems to be in the way of being devious"
"Then we got to find him!" Drayden suddenly bursted, "First he stole from me, and now I hear he's attacking innocent cats? We got to do something!"
"Drayden, it's too late to go on search for some hotdogs. We are going to stay on the current task" Leaf said, "We'll search for him in the morning"
"But I can still smell him! If we move quickly, we can probably catch up-"
"No" Interrupted Leaf, "We'll help later, I promise" Drayden gave an annoyed grunt and began walking off,
"Fine" he said.
"Sorry Leaf," Henry said, "Drayden is just one of those people who can't stand the sight of others being hurt"
"I understand that, but he needs to not be so reckless. Until further notice, he is still in charge of protecting this world" Drayden started walking past the kitten,
"Hey, wanna tag along?" he asked. The kits ears perked up,
"Y-yeah! My name's Oliver!"
"Drayden, Drayden Blaze" The two began walking.
"The group searches around the city, looking for any means of shelter.
Eventually, they came upon what seemed to be a dark and quiet building. It was near the outskirts of the city. It had already taken the group a good amount of time to finally discover this place. The group stared up at the abandoned apartment building.
"How are we going to get in? The doors are blocked off" Henry said. Leaf looked around, there was a broken window with a well sized hole in it. Leaf began jumping up onto the lower window ledges. He quickly jumped up in quick successions, reaching the broken window. He turned towards the others,
"C'mon" He called. The others all quickly followed and made it up. The room was dark, being only illuminated by the sunlight outside. Which was now was becoming darker due to to it being practically night. Drayden could make out a bathroom near the room's door and a bed, as well as an old couch. Everything was covered in dust and cobwebs hung to the ceiling. Oddly, it was warm. A lone kitchen sat in the corner, opposite of the bathroom. All appliances had been kept.
"This seems... cozy?" Sora began, "What do you think?" He asked Leaf.
"I think... it'll have to do" He said, "It's getting late, everyone okay with it?" Everyone nodded.
"Bark bark!" Han yipped.
Drayden suddenly began smelling something, he raised his nose into the air and began sniffing. It smelled like... something familiar... something with hair... and it was incredibly dirty... but there was something else, something like raw meat, hotdogs! Drayden jerked his head,
"He's here!" Drayden yelled. Everyone stopped and turned towards him, "That dog! He's nearby! I got to go find him!" Drayden looked out the window, he saw a white figure moving down in the street, toward what looked to be a small dock. "I see him! And he's got the hotdogs! Leaf, please we got to go get him! He's right there!" Oliver jumped,
"Yeah! Can we?" he asked. He looked at Leaf.
"Guys, c'mon he's just a dog trying to survive, we-"
"Well I'm hungry" Sora said.
"Yeah, me too!" Henry added, "I think everyone is" Leaf gave a sigh,
"Fine, let's go"
"Yay!" Everyone cheered. Leaf smiled at everyone's enthusiasm.
"Let's go, but we're going to need a plan. I don't intend on hurting anyone"
"Yeah yeah, we'll think of something along the way, let's go!" Drayden jumped down out the window. The others followed quickly. Oliver was the last, before Leaf.
"You going too?" Leaf asked him.
"Of course I am! I want hotdogs too!"
"Alright then, let's go" Leaf nodded.
The group makes their way to a small dock in a secluded area from the noise of the city. They looked around to find a small boat, lit up on the inside.
"He's in that boat, I know he is!" Drayden said, "Alright, here's the plan; Whenever I give the signal, we all go in and attack"
"W-what signal?" Oliver said.
"My bark of course!" Oliver nodded slowly in acknowledgement.
"Hang on now" Leaf said. He stood next to Oliver, "I think Oliver here is a bit too young for any fights. I don't want him to get hurt"
"Hey! I can take on a dog!" Oliver protested. Leaf thought for a moment and smiled,
"Alright then, stick close to me though alright?"
"Ready?" Drayden asked. He snuck closer on top of the boat, Leaf joined him,
"Why are we doing this again?" He asked.
"Because, he stole that man's hotdogs"
"But... you were going to as well" Drayden looked down at his feet,
"Well... I didn't though, so I can't be guilty" Leaf shook his head. They looked down into the top.
Leaf and Drayden looked down below, spotting the familiar dog chatting with a small group of other dogs.
"He has some friends" Drayden warned. They listened closely to their conversation.
"Don't worry about it guys, I got ourselves some dinner for tonight!" The dog threw the string of hotdogs down on the floor, the group began eating quickly.
"Say thanks Dodger!" said a small chihuahua dog, "These are delicious!"
"Yeah, you got another good catch. Was it easy?" Asked an afghan hound.
"Easy?" Dodger raised an eyebrow, "Far from it, there was this... ferocious dog. He wanted the hotdogs too, and after I had so slickly taken them; he began attacking me. But I was able to get him off my trail. He was completely unable to keep up, so I managed to get away"
"Who was it?"
"Just some goofy dog with a red coat"
"Red coat?" Asked the hound.
Drayden looked up,
"So... he wasn't stealing just for himself... but for his friends?"
"Seems so" Leaf agreed.
"Sounds like something you would do Drayden?" Sora asked.
"Yeah... yeah, I would... Leaf, let's g-" the floor collapsed beneath them, and they all fell in. The dogs below them also started yelling in surprise as everyone ran around frantically. Leaf quickly looked around and saw Oliver almost being trampled beneath the others, he quickly ran over and picked him up by the scruff and ran carried him out of the carnage.
"Enough!" Yelled a female voice. Everyone stopped, and looked at the afghan hound who had dark brown fur, "Dodger, we got ourselves some uninvited guest" she said. Dodger came up by her side,
"So we do, what do we do about them gang?" He asked. The unfamiliar dogs turned towards Drayden and them, with looks of aggression.
"Whoa guys, we don't want any trouble." Drayden said, "We only came after him to get a fair cut of the Hot Dogs, that we helped him get" He explained. "But I get it he tricked us for the sake of making sure you guys don't go hungry, I know what that's like, I probably would've done it for my brothers if I was in his place." He explained. The hound looked at Dodger,
"This the dog?" She asked.
"Yeah, it is" Dodger said.
"What's your name?" she asked Drayden.
"D-Drayden... Drayden Blaze" Drayden answered, crouching down in a respectful
manner.
"Sit up" He did as asked, "My, you've got quite the group here... two cats, and three dogs. Quite the interesting group"
"We just want the hotdogs" Oliver blurted out.
"Say Rita," Dodger began, "I remember that cat being there too"
"So you've picked a quarrel with a whole group huh?" Rita said.
"I say let's just shred them up, and eat the cats" the little chihuahua said, baring his teeth in smile at Leaf. Leaf ignored him.
"Settle down Tito, no one is shredding anyone today"
"Yes, I'd rather not have to fight if not necessary" said a grey bulldog.
"So what'd do we do?" Asked an older great dane.
Suddenly, something opened the door to the room. It smelled incredibly bad, it was a man. He was wearing a green long coat over a red sweater.
"Oh this is it pups" he said, he walked in, holding a box of dog treats, "Sykes's payment is due today and we gotta hurry!" Dodger and his friend ignored him as they jumped onto him, tearing at the box. "Hey! Cut that out!" He said laughing. They were now licking him and glad he was home.
*BEEP* *BEEP* They all stopped.
"Oh no!" The guy said in a panicked voice, "He's here! C'mon, let's see what you all got!" He began rummaging through a small chest of what looked to be junk. He picked up and opened a ripped wallet. Pictures fell out, "It's worthless! All of it" He said, depressed. "How are we to ever going to pay Sykes off with... with this?!"
Dodger turned towards Leaf's group,
"You all need to hide! Now!" He told them, "Go over there" He pointed his head over at a pile of boxes. Leaf nodded,
"Let's go" he told the others. They all followed him to cover. Immediately after, the door was forced open by two large dobermans. One wearing a blue collar, the other wearing a red collar.
"Oh h-hey... nice doggies-" The man said, he slowly shuffled around the two dogs and went outside.
The two dobermans turned their attention to Dodger's group. They began to chuckle to themselves, "You guys...miss us?" They asked. They began walking around, sniffing a dogs always do.
"You know Rita, I don't know why you would wanna hang out in a dump like this; When you could be living uptown with a class act, like myself" He leaned over to her.
"Isn't it rather dangerous for one to use their entire vocabulary, in a single sentence?" The bulldog interrupted. Him and Tito started giggling.
"Hey you got somethin to say, fat boy?" The doberman threatened.
"W-w-well I-I..."
"Hey c'mon man! You don't scare me!" Tito challenged, jumping up and down. The older dane had to hold Titos tail to stop him. The doberman laughed,
"Go ahead, let 'im go"
"Back off, Pal!" Drake said jumping out from behind the boxes. "Bullying other Dogs who are less fortunate than you?" He questioned.
"Yeah, How low you do losers go, You just a couple of schoolyard bullies?" Henry added. The two doberman whipped around to the two golden retrievers. Though the two were more husky, the doberman certainly were bigger and most likely stronger. The four stared each other down. Oliver then peaked his head out to look. The red collar doberman saw him,
"Cat!" He called. The two began to dive at the kit. But Henry and Drayden blocked their path. The doberman snarled at them,
"Out of the way, pups" The one in the blue collar growled, "Who are you anyways?"
"None of your business" Drayden spat, "Unless you don't leave right now" In an instance, the doberman were on top of the two. Drayden was powerless against the strength of his attacker. He could feel teeth sink into his scruff.
"Gah!" He cried.
"Incendio!" Henry casted. The doberman both backed off away as the ground caught fire. The small flame disappeared quickly. The doberman, including Dodgers group all looked in shock.
"What... are you..." Asked the doberman. Drayden got up, gasping for air.
"Don't... mess with us" he said. The doberman looked in horror. They shook their heads,
"Fine, but this isn't the last you've seen of us" they said. They began walking out the door, the doberman with the red collar looked at Dodger,
"You don't think your friends have scared us, Dodger. They're nothing but freaks!"
*BEEP* *BEEP*
The doberman began in a sprint outside. Leaving the group alone.
Drayden and Henry were sitting, gasping for air.
"Thanks bro" Drayden said, "I thought I was able to take them... but... I don't know, I just... I didn't have my strength-"
"Because you're just a pup" Sora explained, "You exceedingly strong in your, 'normal' form, but you're just a pup in this world"
"Ugh, another reason why I hate-"
"What was that?!" asked the great dane. The three turned towards the other group of dogs,
"Err..."
"You- were breathing fire?!" Rita exclaimed.
"What... are you?" Tito asked.
"Wait... I've heard of something like this..." Dodger began squinting his eyes at Henry, "You're one of those far off, land dogs right? Yeah, from like, Chine or something, right?"
"Well that's not-" Henry began,
"Yes, that is right! We're from a different region, where all dogs breathe fire!" Sora lied, "We're here on a visit"
"Sora" Drayden whispered, "What are you talking about?"
"Drayden, Henry, remember, we're not allowed to let others know we're from a different worlds"
"He's right" Henry agreed, "We gotta blend in somehow"
"Right, okay" Drayden nodded. Tito walked over and sniffed Henry,
"Wow, dogs that can breathe fire? I never knew!" He sniffed Drayden, "You all do smell a bit funny" Drayden gave a slight growl.
"Yeah... I don't know if I believe that" Rita said as she raised an eyebrow. The door opened up, the man with the green coat came walking in. He looked very upset and terrified. He was also soaking wet.
"Three days..." he sighed. He took off his coat and sat down in the only chair in the room.
"How are we ever going to get the money?" Dodger and his friends began moving and rearranging his position to a more, relaxed, comfortable one. Putting his feet on a foot rest, giving him a blanket, and even giving him a dog treat. All while he rambled on what they're going to do. "That maniac... we can't..." he ate the dog treat. Then realized what the dogs were doing, he looked around at them. Then he smiled, "Thanks guys" The great dane began licking him excitedly. He began laughing, "Hee hee heee! That reminds me, I saw the burnt on those dogs... how did that happen?" Dodger nudged Henry over. The man looked at him, "Haha, you did that did you? Hee hee, that's good. What's your name?"
"Henry" he said, although it was a bark for the man.
"Huh, I think I'll call you, Blue. I'm Fagin" He looked down and noticed Olive, "Ah a kitty!" he picked him up and began petting him, "Never had a cat in the gang before," Then he noticed Leaf, "Never mind two! Well, we can use all the help we can get" He put Oliver down on his lap and began stretching. "Well, time for bed" Fagin said, "We got a big day tomorrow" The great dane pushed a book into his hand, "Ah, no" the dog gave a pouty face, "Alright, fine, who's ready for a story?"
"Wow, usually I'm the one telling Henry stories." Drayden said as they settled down to listen. After Fagin read, most of the dogs and Oliver had fallen asleep. Leaf was lying on a box in the corner of the room. He looked around, Oliver was asleep in Fagin's lap. Drayden and Henry lied next to each other, beside Fagin. And Sora was asleep on the other side. We've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow. Leaf said in his mind, Tomorrow we'll have to start trying to find the light of the world. Make sure they're safe. He contemplated on the plans for the next day, slowly drifting off to sleep. Soon he closed his eyes and blacked out.
