"Hey, Bao Bao?"

"Yeah, big bro?"

Next to a campfire in the middle of a forest enshrouded in the darkness of night, two brothers were sitting on the grass and reclined against a couple logs. The black cat Mao Mao had carefully repositioned his green cape over his body for a bit of warmth with the fire as he watched the vibrant starry sky above in youthful wonder. Next to him, the cream-furred dog Bao Bao had just taken a seat in front of the log next to his own, gleefully about to help himself to a cooked fish on a skewer.

"I've been wondering for a long time, and it's been bugging me, but…was 'Bao Bao' always your name?"

Bao Bao stopped short of taking a bite of his cooked fish and turned to his older brother quizzically. "Huh? Why would you ask that?"

"Well, it's just that it sounds like my name, just with a 'b' instead of an 'm', you know what I mean?" Mao Mao laughed a little nervously from witnessing his little brother's startled reaction. "It sounds too much like me and our family name for it to be a coincidence."

Bao Bao's eyes widened as he understood, their expression returning to their default state of joviality. "Ooohh, okay then." Before he spoke further, he hurriedly sunk his teeth into his fish and chewed for a bit before swallowing, though he shortly had to hang his tongue out and fan it with his paw due to the suddenness of the heat. "Well, to start, I didn't have a name when I was born."

Mao Mao gasped at what he heard, but Bao Bao continued. "It was actually papa who named me. It was kinda funny actually…"

Shin Mao had just stopped at a random small town on his way home, allowing for the little puppy in his hands to get a break from the noticeably long journey ever since leaving behind his old home village. After getting some food together and a place to take in the relaxing view, Shin Mao thought it a good time to try and further break the ice with the puppy he had just taken in as his new child.

"So, little guy, I don't think I told you my name." He lifted one of his armored hands to the puppy as though to prompt a handshake while his other hand was placed on his own chest to indicate to the puppy who he was. "I'm Shin Mao, head of the heroic Mao family, and your soon-to-be dad."

The puppy was a little too mesmerized by the beautiful landscape to pay full attention, but he did turn his head to face Shin Mao when he heard him finish talking. "Some more?" he vocalized with a lisp through his big teeth.

Shin Mao raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Some…more? Oh, you were saying my name! It's 'Shin Mao', boy."

The puppy laughed. "Sumo!"

Shin Mao was part-ways flabbergasted and other-ways amused at the puppy's attempt. "Shin. Mao. It's only two words."

Seeing the armored cat's quizzical look and speech only made the puppy act even sillier. "Shoe Moo!" he cheered.

Shin Mao gestured with both his hands held parallel of each other. "Shin," he punctuated further, moving his hands in synch from one side to another, "Mao."

"Bao!" the puppy explained. "Bao bao!"

Shin Mao let out a little chuckle and turned away with his head in one of his hands. "Okay, we'll have to work on your talking later." Though he turned to the side to whisper to no one but himself, "Thought you would've been gabbier before I showed up…" He then crouched down onto his hands so that he was closer to eye level with the puppy, though considering his large size, it looked like he was bending down to get a closer look at something positively tiny. "Well, now that I've told you who I am, what's your name, little fella?"

The puppy, unsure of what exactly the bigger cat was asking from him, pointed with one of his puffy paws towards his own chest.

"Yeah you," Shin Mao affirmed, "Your name – who are you? What do I call you?"

The puppy seemed nervous as he remained silent, still unsure how to answer his guardian's questions. He seemed like he was confused, but also understood enough that he was looking for an answer in his head.

"Don't you have a name?" Shin Mao gently pressed.

The puppy still stared, unsure of what Shin Mao wanted from him. But it took a few seconds for him to understand that the cat was asking him a question of whether or not he had 'that', so he shook his head.

Shin Mao seemed mildly surprised. "Hm, well that's not what I expected." He relaxed his shoulders. "Okay then. Well, since we're going to be dad and son anyway, I might as well start with the basics. How about I give you a name?"

The puppy was still unsure what Shin Mao was telling him, so he opted to just nodded his head rapidly while facing him with a guile smile.

"Alright, let's see…" Shin Mao rubbed his chin, "How about 'Inu', 'Inu Mao' for a perfect fit?"

The puppy looked at him with no expression on his face. "Bao?"

Shin Mao slumped. "Okay, I guess that one's not subtle enough. How about 'Gyu Mao' then? Actually, never mind. That name's already taken…Uh, 'Phil Mao'?"

The puppy spread his legs to put his front paws on the grass between them. "Bao…" he vocalized in contemplation.

"Oh okay, I know," Shin Mao snapped his fingers. "Let's go with 'Tao Mao'!"

The puppy inched closer to the armored cat on all fours. "Bao bao?"

"No," Shin Mao gently corrected. "Tao Mao – it rhymes and sticks with our family's theme." He leaned down even closer to the puppy. "Tao – Mao," he slowly and carefully repeated, gesturing to the puppy to say the name with him. He looked the puppy directly in the eye, which signaled the latter to do the same. "Tao."

"Bao," the puppy repeated after him.

Shin Mao shook his head. "Tao. T – ao."

"Bao," the puppy repeated again.

Shin Mao decided he'd just skip to the next part of the name. "Mao," he said, "That's our last name. Mao."

"Bao," the puppy said yet again, sounding a little more mischievous this time around.

"No, we're not 'Bao', we're 'Mao'," Shin Mao corrected the puppy, determined to teach him something right. He made sure to say it again much more slowly. "M – ao. Mao."

"Bao!" the puppy laughed, lifting himself up to affectionately put both his paws on Shin Mao's cheeks. "Bao bao bao bao!"

Shin Mao was officially at a loss. "Bao bao bao, is that all you can say?" he sighed with a sweat. "That might as well be your name…" At that same moment, a lightbulb lit up in his head with a ding. "Wait! That's it!" He turned his attention back down to the puppy who was staring up at him wide-eyed. "How about this: Bao Bao."

The puppy tilted his head to the side. "Bao Bao?"

"Yeah boy," Shin Mao confirmed to him, "Bao Bao Mao. It's simple and cute – fitting for a little dog like yourself. Plus, that's all you've been saying, so in a way, you win."

The puppy's face lit up, crying out happily while drumming his paws on Shin Mao's chest. "Bao Bao! Bao Bao!" he exclaimed with his tongue hanging from his smiling mouth, his top front teeth exposed.

"Okay then, 'Bao Bao' it is," Shin Mao sighed in relief, "finally…" He looked to see the puppy, newly christened 'Bao Bao', motion both of his paws towards his chest.

"Bao Bao!" said a jovial Bao Bao, having a moment to identify himself to his adoptive father a second time.

"Yeah, Bao Bao! Right you are!" Shin Mao reciprocated. His eyebrows danced as he got a little mischievous with the peachy-cream puppy. "How now, Bao Bao?"

Bao Bao giggled, not knowing what Shin Mao said but thought it sounded funny anyhow.

"For real?" Mao Mao exclaimed.

Bao Bao nodded without hesitation, feeling a little proud about it. "Yup. That's how it came up." He scrubbed away at the dirt and grass next to him to make a small hole, putting the remaining bones of the fish he finished eating before pushing the dirt back in again.

Mao Mao couldn't help but give a little suppressed laugh. "That's how papa came up with your name? It kinda makes me think about when he gave me my name!"

"Really?" Bao Bao got curious, getting on his fours and crawling towards his big brother. "Did he call you 'Mao Mao' because you kept saying 'mao' again and again?"

Mao Mao was caught off guard by how Bao Bao rushed over to him and got really close as he asked such a personal question. "Well…it's a lot more complicated than that," he giggled under a bit of pressure. "It's a long story." Mao Mao felt his nervousness increase when his eyes were locked with Bao Bao's, whose eyes were scanning him intensely for any sort of clues.

"Okay," Bao Bao said nonchalantly, taking his stare of his brother and resuming his reclining over his log, resting his head over his paws. Mao Mao wondered to himself how exactly his younger brother could have switched from inquisitiveness to relaxed indifference so quickly. But his mind went right back to work when he heard Bao Bao speak further, "Well, I'm sure I'll get the truth from you in time. Once we find and get a look in that 'locket of bar-fella-gone', I'll have your secret pretty soon."

"It's 'Amulet of Borflagon', Bao Bao," Mao Mao corrected him, "and no way are you just gonna look in it. I'm calling dibs on it first!"

"I already said first that I'm gonna look in it," Bao Bao refuted, "can't call dibs after that."

"Oh yeah?" Mao Mao playfully challenged, sitting up and facing Bao Bao with his arms lifted and his chest puffed forward.

"What'cha gonna do?" Bao Bao taunted just as playfully.

That prompted Mao Mao to pounce forward and land right on top of Bao Bao, the bodies of both cat and dog now entangled in each other's limbs as they rolled around the campsite, their laughter decorating the nighttime forest air as they wrestled for the dominant right of a competitive brother.