Hey guys!

So I decided to do a little something different for this chapter. A frienship (possibly something more) between two Dogs of Cat Town and their encounter with... you'll see.

As usual, I don't own anything.

Enjoy!

"Do you think this might be useful?"

A Husky dog by the name of Jarek held up a flat metal plate that might've belonged to some sort of technology. Truth be told, he didn't know much about tech stuff. He was a warrior, born and raised. He'd prefer battle axes and spears and anything that could cause lots of destruction. Technology was completely foreign to him. Which is why it was a surprise when Dobo asked him and Dahlik – a Doberman who also happened to be a warrior - to go to the junk yard where lots of the technology fell from Avista.

Jarek looked up at the sky and for a moment, he imagined seeing the sky city. Even though it was thousands of feet above in the air and no one could see it, he wondered what it would've been like to live up there. The Birds always say how their city was the most prosperous in their politics and law. Not to mention how they drone on and on about how they are considered the most superior because they can fly and such. Jarek wanted nothing more than punch every single one of them. Or at least snap their beaks. Something along those lines. So long as it meant those stupid Birds would shut up.

But he did have to give them some credit. They had helped built a city that floats in the sky. No amount of engineering a land animal could do can create such a thing. Granted, they had one of the stones the Cat King had on his gauntlet. Even with that, they built a city from scratch. An almost perfect utopia.

Almost.

Jarek turned his attention back to Dahlik, whose back was facing him.

"Sure." Dahlik responded. "I guess."

Jarek frowned at his answer. "You didn't even look at what I was holding."

"Doesn't matter. Just get the stuff that looks useful. The faster we work, the sooner we can leave this place."

Grumbling to himself, Jarek put the metal plate inside his pack and continued searching. When Dobo had asked the two of them to do this assignment, he should've asked further questions. All Dobo said was to find useful technology that can be salvaged. The other Animals at Cat Town were working on reverse engineering many of the technology from Avista to see how much of it could help them out in the long run. And if Jarek thought about it further, Dobo most likely asked them on behalf of the Cat King.

He didn't mind being out here on the outskirts of the City of Dogs. When he and Dahlik arrived a few days ago, he caught up with some old friends and even had a few drinks with them. Remembering the good old days before this mummy thing wanted to wipe them all out. He asked Dahlik if he wanted a drink, in which the Doberman responded with a simple "no" and stepped outside. Jarek always wondered what was up with Dahlik. He preferred to be by himself, which was obvious. When Jarek exited the tavern, he spotted Dahlik leaning against the tavern with one leg probed up against it, staring at the night sky. He was an enigma. Then again, maybe he did like to be alone.

Deciding he wanted to get to know Dahlik better, Jarek went over to the pile of technology the Doberman was scavenging through.

"Need help?" Jarek asked.

Dahlik was silent for a moment before he responded. "Sure."

They pushed away several scraps of metal as well as some other parts they didn't know much about.

"So…" Jarek said breaking the silence. "What do you think will happen?" His question didn't need elaboration because his type of question is asked all the time in Cat Town.

"Don't know." Dahlik tossed a spring coil to the side. "Just waiting to see what Lion-O says."

"The longer he waits to see what that book will do, the more danger it puts all in. I'm starting to think that he doesn't even know what to do."

"I'm sure he's doing his best. The least we could do is help out. We're a community in that town. If one of us falls, then so do the others."

Jarek never thought Dahlik would be so wise with words. Just who is this dog?

"Can I ask you a question?" Jarek asked.

"Go ahead."

"Why did you wait outside the tavern? I did invite you for some drinks."

Dahlik paused in his search but immediately continued. "I don't drink. And I don't like loud places."

That made sense to Jarek. Dahlik didn't seem like the type to be in a crowded area, much less a tavern. It fit well with his quiet persona. In hindsight, Jarek probably should've left the tavern early so Dahlik wouldn't be alone. Maybe ask him if he wanted to go somewhere.

"Sorry." Jarek said out of nowhere. Even he was surprised by saying it.

Dahlik looked up at him. "Pardon?"

"I- I umm… I'm sorry if I wasn't there to keep you company. When I saw you outside the tavern, you seemed a bit sad while staring up at the sky. Like you were lonely or something."

Jarek prayed he didn't say something stupid. This was his single flaw: He'd always said what was on his mind without even giving time to think about what he was going to say. It was like his brain and mouth weren't properly connected.

He didn't say anything mean. At least that's what he thought.

To his surprise, Dahlik let out a soft chuckle while shaking his head.

"Believe it or not, you're not the first person to tell me that. I've kept to myself for the majority of my life. It's better when there aren't that many people crowding my personal space. I don't hate people or anything. They can be a bit annoying sometimes. But if I'm being honest with myself, it does get lonely sometimes. I actually wanted to go in the tavern to talk. Except I got a bit shy and decided not to."

Shy. This Doberman with the grace and skills of a great warrior… was shy. Jarek smiled and patted Dahlik on the back.

"It's alright if you were shy. It can be intimidating going into something without knowing what to do. Try to talk to at least one person you know. That can help you open up a bit."

Jarek went back to searching through the pile. He was glad he got to know Dahlik a bit. Even knowing something small as a personality trait can be the first step into being friends with someone.

"Do you want to go to the tavern tonight?"

Jarek's head whipped to Dahlik, who looked like he was asking a stupid question. "If you want to, I mean. I know you went there last night. I just thought that maybe we could… hang out."

The Dahlik asked the question with his cheeks flushed made him seem… Jarek didn't know what to think. But he was glad that Dahlik was beginning to open up.

"Sure. And we can go to this booth near the back where there isn't too much noise."

Dahlik smiled. "I'd like that."

With that, they both jumped off the pile. Their search for salvageable tech came up short.

"Where else can we look?" Jarek asked.

"I think there were some parts right past the-" Dahlik's answer was cut when Jarek raised his hand to silence him.

"Do you hear that?"

At first, Dahlik didn't hear anything. But after a moment, he did hear something.

It was hard to make out the noise. It sounded like rumbling. Not the kind of stomach rumbling everyone has. This rumbling sounded… ominous. Jarek had never heard such a noise. It vaguely sounded like the air ship Lion-O and his companions would drive around. Except this sounded thunderous. Loud and dangerous.

The noise was getting closer. Whatever it was, it was coming in fast.

"Watch out!"

Jarek didn't have time to process what was going on when Dahlik tackled him to the side. The pile of tech they had previously occupied exploded as something went right through the massive pile. The roaring noise was even closer and even louder, it was almost deafening.

When there wasn't any more tech falling, Jarek and Dahlik looked at what caused the chaos. To say it was hard to describe what caused the explosion was an understatement.

The noise was coming from some sort of transport vehicle. It wasn't like anything the dogs had seen. They'd seen the flying ship at Cat Town, and even simple means of transports like carts ran by herd animals. This one was not like anything they had seen.

For one thing, it had two wheels. One in front and the other in the back. Between the wheels was metal. What looked like pipes of chrome jutted out of the lower part of the metal body. At the top of the front part were these two handles. And someone was sitting on a seat of the machine.

The person kicked their foot forward, hitting a small piece of metal which caused it to come forward. The person stepped off the machine and it would've fallen over had it not been for that small metal thing holding it balanced.

What stood out about this person was that they were wearing all black. From a black leather suit with a grey bodied on the front with knee pads and shoulder pads which had spikes on them. A red scarf was wrapped around the neck and a long part of it was wiping against the wind. They also wore a black helmet that covered the entire head.

Jarek looked over at Dahlik to see what he though. Dahlik mirrored the same expression Jarek had: confusion.

Out of the two of them, Dahlik stepped forward with his hand grasped on his spear. "Who are you? Answer now or else!"

The person didn't answer. Instead, they balled their fists. Jarek noticed that there were brass knuckles.

Not wanting for Dahlik to take on this person alone, Jarek quickly took out his battle axe and held it ready. That didn't intimidate the person at all.

What happened next was a blur.

The person ran up to Dahlik with an insane amount of speed and punched him in the stomach. Dahlik collapsed to the ground, holding on to his stomach coughing violently.

Jarek didn't have enough time to react as the person tackled him with their spiked shoulder. The spikes struck him in the shoulder. Jarek growled in pain as he was pushed to the ground. He gripped his shoulder, trying to stop the flow of blood. The person stood over him, fists ready to pumble him into a bloody pulp.

The person would've hit him had it not been for Dahlik sneaking up behind the person ready to stab them with the spear.

However, the person sensed Dahlik as they side stepped out of the way from the spear and delivered a roundhouse kick to Dahlik's head.

Jarek's blood boiled as he saw Dahlik lose consciousness. He wasn't going to let this person get away with hurting him.

With the strength he had left, he stood and reared back his fist. He hoped this blow would deal a great amount of damage.

Except the person dodged the punch and kicked him in the stomach. Jarek collapsed and coughed violently. He didn't have enough energy to get up and attack. All he could do was be on his knees and cough.

The person removed the bag from his side and went through it. The person pulled out a small piece of technology. They turned it around, closely examining every nook and cranny of it. The person put the piece in her pocket and threw the bag back at Jarek.

The bag spilled out all the stuff Jarek went through. He looked back at the person as they got back on their transport vehicle, kicked back the small metal thing back into the vehicle and twisted one of the handles, causing the same noise he heard earlier. The vehicle then sped off from the junk yard.

When the person was gone, Jarek pulled out a small remote from his pocket and pushed a red button. He put the remote back in his pocket and waited for the air ship to pick them up.

Jarek was used to having his body deal with damage. He was a warrior after all. But he wasn't used to damage like this.

The puma and cleric who were with Lion-O had healed his wounds; the same with Dahlik. The good news is that nothing serious was broken or damaged. They would be back on their feet in no time. But for the time being, they needed to rest.

Lion-O stayed behind to ask them what had happened. They told him about the person that attacked them. When asked what gender the person was, the two were stumped. In response, they said they didn't know. The Cat wasn't too happy about what transpired. Jarek could see his teeth grind in anger. Lion-O told them to get well and left the make shift hospital

Ignoring the rule to rest, Jarek stood from the bed and sat down on the end of Dahlik's bed.

"How you doing?"

Dahlik rubbed his lower jaw. "Could be better. I'm glad my jaw didn't get broken. You?"

"They were able to patch up the holes in my shoulder. Shouldn't take long for them to completely heal."

"Good. Good."

There was a silence between them. Words that begged to be spoken were trapped inside of them.

"We still on for having a drink?" Dahlik asked.

Jarek had almost forgotten about the promise between them. He smiled.

"Sure thing."

I think we all know who the person was with the motorcycle. ;)