Damon's POV
Ted and him had finally reached New Coventry. Damon was a little bit puffed out, which was surprising.
"T-Ted?" he huffed, "Can w-we, I dunno, rest for a bit?"
Ted nodded, panting heavily. The two dogs made sure that they were well away from the road before they flopped down, sides heaving.
"You remember what Chester said earlier?" Damon asked, tilting his head to look at his partner-in-'getting along.'
"… Are you going to tell me what he said?"
"Uh, yeah, that thing about 'if you see the other guys, don't think you can't fight them.' What did that mean?" Damon breathed heavily and rolled onto his back.
"He probably meant that if we saw the Greaser Dogs, we didn't have to act friendly…" Ted mumbled, copying Damon.
"Oh." The brown Pointer muttered, rubbing his back against the concrete.
"Damon what the hell are you doing?" he heard Ted snort.
"My back itches like hell, and I can't reach it with paws like these."
He kept on rolling around with his eyes shut. It was a very comfortable action.
Around ten minutes later
Damon opened his eyes and stopped rubbing his back against the ground, just to find out that Ted had fallen asleep.
"Oh you have got to be- Stupid dog." He growled, getting up again. Damon was about to wake him up when he realized that dogs did need a lot of sleep.
Just come back later. He told himself. It's not like anyone's going to attack him while he sleeps.
Damon decided that he wanted to explore New Coventry, seeing as he didn't go there often. He started by crossing a road, but he forgot to look for cars. Damon felt the ground trembled beneath his paws, and without even looking for the car he pelted across the rest of the road, eyes wide. When his paws hit the pavement, he bounced around nervously but nothing else came at him. Shaking his head, Damon continued trotting along the footpath. Everything smelt interesting, even something as simple as the concrete slabs he was walking on. But he didn't have the time to keep on sniffing everything.
Damon crossed another road, this time looking out for cars.
On the other side was a bunch of assorted Greasers.
The Jock-dog tried to ignore them, but the urging in his mind was too great. He stopped walking and stared them down. Normally if he did that they would've backed away by now.
Not this time.
"Aw, cat got ya tongue?" Taunted a red-header Greaser. Damon snarled and lifted his tail.
"What's this guy's problem?" asked Ricky; Damon only knew his name because of the way he once fixed a bike for him. The Pointer barked angrily at them, he didn't know why.
"Shut the heck up!" A black, tall kid shouted, throwing a spanner at Damon. It clanged next to his paw.
What the hell am I doing? He thought, shocked at his actions. Now they think I'm going to attack them.
Damon saw one of the Greasers getting closer.
"Back off!" he growled.
Grrrrrrrrr….
The red-headed kid stopped coming closer and hesitated.
"Come on Vance! Afraid of a puppy are you?" The dark-skinned Greaser teased.
PUPPY?Damon was no puppy!
Vance gave a yelp of surprise as the angry dog launched at him. But Damon wasn't interested in Vance, he wanted to prove to the other guy he wasn't a puppy.
"H- hey look out Norton!" Ricky warned, just in time.
'Norton' stepped out of the way and Damon snapped down on thin air. It was only then that the dog realized Norton was holding a sledge-hammer.
"Oh cr-" he began, cutting off when something heavy smashed into the side of his stomach.
Yelping, he barrel-rolled sideways on instinct and jumped to his paws again. Norton definitely knew how to swing a hammer- Damon was winded badly already.
"Careful dog, you might hurt yourself!" The dark Greaser warned. Damon lowered his head and lunged again, this time aiming for the handle of the hammer.
"What the hell are you doing?" a voice barked from behind him. Damon pattered to his feet and turned around. A thin grey dog was looking at him, eyes wide.
"Hey look out!" She yipped. Damon felt something whack into his hips, sending him flying sideways. He started wondering if he had broken anything yet.
Norton stalked over to him, holding up the sledge-hammer dangerously. Damon shut his eyes and got ready to black out when he felt something nudging him to his paws. Opening his eyes, he saw the grey dog nosing his feet urgently.
"Get up you lazy mutt!" She growled. Norton swung his arms back, ready to hit.
"Run!" The mysterious dog yelped, shoving Damon sideways and pelting across the sidewalk. The hammer hissed past his nose, and he followed.
"Why the heck did you attack Norton for?" The grey dog barked when they had slowed down. Damon was exhausted, and his sides and hips really ached.
"He… called me a puppy!" he puffed back.
"So you attacked him? When he had his HAMMER?"
"Well duh."
The grey dog shook her head sadly, long ears flapping. Damon finally took in her appearance properly; she had greyish brown short fur, pale blue eyes, a stiff tail, and a darker grey stomach.
"… What breed are you?" Damon asked, trying not to sound rude.
"Weimaraner."
"Oh, sounds interesting. What's your name?" he inquired.
"Grey."
Oh how original… Damon thought sarcastically.
"And what do you call yourself?" It was Grey's turn to ask questions.
"Damon West."
"So Damonwest why are you in New Coventry?" The Weimaraner asked.
"I got sent here with my friend Ted."
"Who sent you?"
"A really irritating dog called Chester. He lives in Bullworth academy."
"I know him!" Grey barked, her tail wagging, "he told me about you Damonwest. He says that you used to be a human!"
Damon blinked. How does word get around that fast?
"Yeah, he's telling the truth."
Grey blinked. "You just did one of the things that you're meant to do if you wanna be a human again."
Damon perked up. "What did I do?"
"Stand up to a human. Particularly an armed one. That's real dog-spirit."
… What the heck is she on about?
"Thanks."
"So Grey…" Damon began, "What's your story?"
Grey wagged her tail. "I'm glad you asked, no one's done that before." She looked genuinely happy, which made Damon feel more pleased than he had expected.
"I was born in Blue Skies… the first time I opened my eyes I saw this teenaged boy looking at me. I instantly loved him."
Damon started to wonder what kind of love she was talking about- friendship love, dog love or… full on 'Love Love.'
"It was a while ago now, but I think his name was… Edgar or something. Rough looking teen back then, but I grew on him and he grew on me. His friends treated me well and I became a guard dog to them."
This is interesting. Damon found himself thinking. He had never really found any life-story this fascinating. Maybe it was the fact that Grey was a dog?
"For one and a half years I lived happily with Edgar and his friends." Grey's eyes suddenly misted up.
"… But… suddenly they stopped going to school. They started acting differently, acting tougher. One day I came home from a small walk to realize he had bought a different dog… a massive Doberman complete with massive fangs and a massive spiked-collar."
Damon, for the first time in his life, felt sorry for someone other than Ted and himself.
"The Doberman chased me out of Edgar's caravan, and… the boy who I'd actually trusted didn't even bother looking for me. I still stayed in Blue Skies for a bit more, but every time I walked past Edgar's place he was always playing with the other dog or smashing things up. He wasn't good anymore… he'd rotted completely."
Grey looked up from her paws. "Do I keep telling? You don't look like you caught one word of that."
Damon nodded madly. "Keep going, come on!" He was really interested in Grey's story now.
"Okay. So after a bit I decided to stop trying to be Edgar's dog. I ran away from Blue Skies and arrived here. I've lived here since then- I don't need anyone or anything to take care of me. Life on the streets is better than any life you could have with a stinking human!"
Damon felt a bit put off. Grey realized this, apologizing quickly.
"And here comes the part I hate telling. One day as I was searching through the trash for food, a person came up behind me. Although I couldn't see him, I recognized his scent- it was Edgar. He started to talk softly to me, and I noticed a long scar on his face. It looked like it was made by a dog fang, and I knew which dog did it- the stupid Doberman he replaced me with. I didn't understand everything my old friend was saying, but I knew he wanted me to come back home with him." Grey lowered her head and closed her eyes softly. "I growled at him and ran away, and I haven't seen him since."
Before Damon could say anything or ask any questions, Grey beat him to it.
"So, can I meet Ted now?" Grey asked. He nodded, and then looked around.
"Uhm…" Damon began nervously. "I don't know where we are…"
Grey sighed. "What does he smell like?"
Damon blinked. What the…?
"Um… he smells… like… Ted?" he mumbled.
Grey snorted. "I haven't smelled a 'Ted' before. Where'd you leave him anyway?"
"I don't know, some alley near the entrance of New Coventry." Damon shrugged.
Grey froze. "W-we gotta find him! Now!" she howled, starting to run east.
Damon charged after her. "Why?"
"There's a group of dogs who roam New Coventry! If they see Ted and don't like him, which they won't, they'll try and kill him!"
Damon widened his eyes. "What kind of a punishment is that?"
"A bad one! Come on Damonwest, we need to get to him before they do!" Grey shouted.
Damon started to recognize his surroundings. Good, that meant they were probably close to Ted.
"Hey look out for the car!" He warned, seeing Grey pelt across the road like a mad-woman. The car squealed and swerved to avoid her. Damon admired her skill, but he didn't feel like trying it out. He followed her quickly.
Grey disappeared behind a wall. Damon skidded to a halt, feeling the concrete graze the back of his paws painfully. He panted for a few moments, and was about to run into the alley where Ted was sleeping when he heard a clattering noise, like a trashcan being knocked over. He turned his head and peered into an alleyway next to him.
If it was night time. Damon thought. I wouldn't even be thinking about checking this place out.
A trashcan lid rolled into view. It tempted him to step inside the long alley, and he decided to look around for a bit.
As soon as he took a few paw-steps into the creepy place, Damon heard a sound like someone rummaging through a bag of silverware.
He swung his gaze to the left and saw a bunch of silver trashcans. Something was behind them, making a lot of noise. One of the bins closest to the wall ad been knocked over.
"… Hello?" Damon asked cautiously. He suddenly wished he hadn't spoken.
A huge dog slunk out from behind the bins. He had brown fur with blonde streaks, black eyes, and huge teeth. He bared his fangs at Damon and lifted his tail, the fur on his back fluffing out.
"Oh shit!" Damon swore, swinging his body around and pelting out of the alley. He heard a crash and a loud and angry howl, before the sound of rapid paw steps started to get louder and louder.
Damon didn't know where he was going. He just ran.
