Me: (I know this is a really long note, I'm sorry, but I hope some of you take the time to read it, it does have some important info in it...)Hey you guys and gals! I know, I know I've been gone a long time. I have quite a bit of explaining to do, and I'm not going to make any promises for the future. So, the whole 'away for a month' thing. First, I was away helping plan for holidays. I was actually going to update a few days before Thanksgiving, got a really bad cold, couldn't even sit up... On Thanksgiving, had a bad toothache that made my cold even worse than what it already was... Second thing is, I help raise and take care of chinchillas. So a couple months ago my favorite pair had a litter of three. The oldest girl who is now six and a half weeks at the time I post this broke her little leg. I dunno how many of you know about chins, but just this simple little thing could kill one.. So, I've been spending a lot of my time with her, and making sure she is healthy and still keeping up with her siblings. On top of all that, I did finally get my internet working, but the day I got it working I couldn't get my word program to work... I restarted my computer at least five times, still couldn't get it pull up. Ran my anti-virus (which took all day the next day) and cleaned it out, fixed all the bugs, now it's working fine. Hopefully continues to work. FOR THE FUTURE! Just wanna let you guys and gals know some things. I've been getting really bad migraines when I sit and write for too long, even with the help of my glasses, so I can only write for 10-20 minutes before I have to stop for a couple hours. This just means it's going to take me longer to get anything updated. I'm really sorry to those of you who are used to my old updating schedule. I'm trying as hard as I can. But I won't push myself past my limits. All it does is ruin the story. I've got a few ideas that I'm really excited to get out to all of you (vote on one in YGO in Character) and I've also been working on bringing my old stories back to life. So, I am working and attempting to focus as best I can, but please remember that I do have a life outside of this. I do try to update when I can. Another thing! People keep asking me when I'm going to update some of my stories that are already complete.. Guys, if it says complete on it, I'm not updating those.. I've moved on from those, and maybe I'll make a new story based off some of those ideas, but those are done... Well, I'll let you all get to the chapter, and I'll finish my little spiel at the end. (I'm not doing reviews in this chapter, I sincerely apologize.. Just too tired to mess with it..)
I do not own YGO or anything pertaining to YGO. (Sorry if this chapter seems a bit rushed.) Enjoy~!
CID
Chapter 53
Learning to Love
It took three weeks for Achille to get used to the people that came in and out of the Sennen residence. It took even longer for him to be allowed in the house while Yami was training the puppies. It finally got to the point where they could all be in the house together, and no one fought. And that old saying 'You can't teach an old dog new tricks' did NOT apply to Achille. Every trick Yami taught the pups, Achille paid attention and learned it with them.
Yugi had plenty of entertainment when Yami was home, watching him and all three dogs work on the basics. Akari did end up fired from the vet's office for stealing, but it didn't ruin her chances for a job after the truth was revealed. Achille's papers were given to Yami, and the dog was officially his. Though the dog got along with everyone, he still needed a bit of therapy. He seemed to enjoy his therapy better with the company of Arata – Yuki's pup, and Asuka – Akari's pup. The two young ones cheered up the older hound, and made it easier for him to trust.
Going out on walks still required a muzzle, mostly for younger kids that got curious and wanted to 'pet the pretty puppy'. Fast movement sent his senses haywire, and he'd lash out at whoever got close to him. Yami would scold him for bad behavior, but never punish him, he knew the dog was only acting out due to previous treatment, and he'd do his best to explain that to whoever he lashed out at. Many people understood, but some wouldn't, or just didn't care.
Achille became a father figure to the pups, and the two grew under his watchful eyes, even when he went blind in his left one. Yami was a bit worried about Arata and Achille's relationship when the pup got older, but to his surprise, it was much like Blue and Brutus all over again. The two males laid together, with Asuka on the other side, they played tug-of-war with the rope Yami had gotten for them, and they even played chase.
Arata proved to be the more energetic of the two pups, while Asuka was an amazing listener. She had her moments when she'd get hyped up and want nothing more than someone to throw a tennis ball, but she seemed more cooled than Arata. Much like Yuki and Akari, except, they were opposites. Yuki needed a dog like Arata, to show him it was okay to have fun, and that things didn't have to be serious all the time. And Asuka would keep the usually energetic Akari in check, while still allowing her to have fun sometimes. The two were opposites, but they were matched with the perfect human partner. Yami would have no worries.
At a year old it was time for combat training. Surprisingly, Achille wanted to come along on the trip. Yuki was away for his own training, so Yugi spent a lot of time with the Kaibas while Yami took the three canines a few towns over to a training camp that was no longer used. This would allow the dogs to learn everything they needed to know to keep their masters safe. To help with scent training, Yami had brought along an article of clothing from each person in the house.
The car was silent with the exception of the music from radio. Arata had his head hanging out the window, his tongue and lips flapping in the wind. Asuka lay beside him in the back, appearing sleeping but eyes wide and alert. The canine boss sat in the passenger seat, his eyes going from the passenger window, to the windshield, and occasionally to Yami as well.
"How ya doin', bud?" Yami asked, patting the dog's side.
In response to his master's question he laid his head down on the door, watching the passing scenes. "Good boy" the man chuckled, his hand returning to the steering wheel.
The drive was a long one, but the dogs didn't seem to mind. They each had their own way of entertaining themselves. Achille watching the scenery, Asuka resting while remaining alert, and Arata enjoying the breeze that flapped his ears about.
The two pups had grown into their colors beautifully. Arata was mostly black with a thin brown line acting as a necklace, his paws with the exception of one were sable, and all but the tip of his tail were a light brown, the tip itself being as black as his body. He had a brown patch around his right eye and his left ear was brown as well. His eyes were a bit unusual for a shepherd, but his left one was blue while his right one was a bright brown. Unlike his sister, both of his ears stood straight up, alert even though his playful manner never showed it.
Asuka was an array of beauty. She had a white belly that went up, engulfing her neck then slimming down to a thin line that ran under her chin, and into two separate lines under her eyes. A black saddle with the exception of the small white dots on her shoulder blades, ran down her tail, ending with a white tip. A thin brown layer ran under the black saddle, brown freckles littering her white front paws. Her back paws were black, little white spots covering the left one while the toes on the right one were all that were white. Her left ear flopped over, showing off the three symmetrical white dots in the brown fur. Her right ear was black like most of her face, with the exception of the brown that ran down the middle of her face like a blaze. Her eyes were opposite of her brother's, her right one was blue, while the left one was brown. Though she couldn't blend in like her brother could, she was a natural at being stealthy, so she used it to her advantage.
The canines all sat up, wide awake and alert as the car slowed to a stop. Arata was the first to react, as he bounced across his sister, looking around at all the new things to play on. Asuka didn't seem too thrilled to be used as a trampoline, proving so by shoving her brother to the floor.
"Alright, settle down" Yami chuckled as Achille turned around with a warning growl. "You'll all get a turn to check out the new place." The man got out, going about opening the doors to release the hounds. He let them all run wild, investigating all the new things while he unpacked his own bags.
He walked up the porch steps to the abandoned house, stepping around cautiously in case of weak floorboards. "Seems pretty strong for being left empty for so long" he commented to himself, looking around the mostly empty house. It was a decent sized wooden shack, a couch, coffee table and large screen T.V. Sat in the living room, up the stairs was a bedroom with a king sized pillow top, a large wardrobe, and a smaller T.V. A small nightstand sat up by the headboard of the bed, a lamp sitting on top of it. A few other rooms similar to that one were scattered about the house, seven rooms in total. A bathroom was on each floor of the house, complete with a shower, porcelain toilet, and sink with a white marble top.
The bathroom downstairs had a large circular tub in the place of a shower. The kitchen was much larger than the one in the Sennen household. The cabinets were oak colored with a slight red tint to them, the counter a black marble, the fridge a large stainless steel to match the sink. The stove pulled it all together and even the microwave matched, it's digital clock lighting up green with the current time.
Achille was the first to greet him in the large house, his nails clicking homely across the wooden floor. "Hey there boy, how's it lookin' out there?"
The dog flopped over on his side in response "They wore ya out that bad, huh?" The man walked out the door to see the siblings rough housing through the obstacle course. "Alright you two, get inside. Let's go!"
Arata bit at Asuka before taking off, only for karma to bite him when he ran into the side of the house, missing the door by a mere inch. Asuka walked past him, her nose in the air as she made her way inside. "I swear, you two act more like your owners every day" Yami sighed, shaking his head with a smile as he closed the door behind them.
"Get settled in everyone. The training begins tomorrow. And we won't be going back until the next holiday. Which, by the way, happens to be Christmas. So try to stay warm tonight." He bid them goodnight before making his way up the stairs, stopping at the banister only to give the command to protect, they knew what that meant, as all three heads turned around, ears perked and listening closely. All three looked back at him, their stances relaxing to let him know nothing was about and it was safe to go to sleep. "Good job. Now, rest."
Yami turned, leaving the three of them rest as he himself went to get some sleep. Achille was the first to fall asleep, Arata being soon to follow, his head resting on the older male's back, while his attention was fixated at the door. His ears remained perked, even as he drifted off to sleep, if anything sounded peculiar, he'd be the first to know. Asuka seemed a bit uneasy, but she wasn't very good at getting used to new things. She was constantly on her toes in new places, not resting easily. She stood from her position, walking quietly up the stairs and laying in front of her master's bedroom door. She lay peacefully, but her eyes were constantly scanning the area, ears twitching back and forth, listening closely. She felt her master's energy under the door, it wasn't scared at all. It soothed her racing heart, allowing her to relax and rest easy, so long as she remained close to him.
Me: Alright, so literally took me all weekend just to write this much, I know it's not very long, and I'll try to fix that issue with future chapters. I just wanted to skip past the rest of this, and we'll just get back into the story next chapter. I was going to go into a whole thing with this, but I changed my mind because I've been holding off on this story a lot, and I don't want to put it on pause. I know a lot of you have asked me continuously to update this one, and I'm really sorry it took so long. Again, I've been really super busy. I'll try to update once more before Christmas, hopefully I'll get around to that, but I've got a lot of things going on between now and Christmas. Family dinners, school events, birthdays, etc... I'm just really reaching the point of exhaustion, and that's not the point I wanna be at.. It's currently noon (I was up until 3-4ish working on this chapter), but I really wanted to get this chapter done. For those of you reading AoDM, my A/N isn't going to be as long as this one.. I'll probably just do a short little round up... So, I apologize for my rambling. Also! Go check out Yu-Gi-Oh! In Character, there should be a new chapter up by the time you get to this point, and you can vote on what story you wanna see next. The stories I have available for you have 4-5 chapters done already. There's actually about 4 more I could of put in there, but I decided not to because I haven't decided which way I wanna go with them yet... So, there's that... Anyway, ladies and gents, I hope you all enjoyed, sorry for making my note here so long, and taking up ¾ of the chapter with it, but I really just wanted to keep you all informed without making another whole chapter about it.. So! Until next time ladies and gents! * waves * Goodbye!
