Colours galore along the walls, Elena detailed her earliest memories of her childhood relationship with her mother. Puppies playing and laughter filled the colourful room with sweet sounds of joy. In the back was a fully grown Canine, seeming to be the caretaker of all of the puppies, too busy watching a small Television behind her desk to oversee all the puppies.
There was nothing really to be worried about for the puppies or look over their shoulders for anything they might be doing, it was an easy job, that is if you can deal with the noise. However, in corner of the room were 3 Puppies, Different breeds but the same interest as they were playing out some sort of Bank Robbery Scenario, with a Familiar female black furred German shepherd as the police officer.
"Drop the moneys or I will shoot"
"Never, I'll sell all this money and buy all the candies I want, Mwhahahahaahaha!" He said holding a banana in one pass as he hid behind another pup, presumed to be his hostage and a small bag right behind him filled miscellaneous items, like toys cars and building blocks used as the currency in the robbery.
"Bang Bang Bang, I got you" Elena said as she flicked her paws in a fast motion at the 'Robber', indicating he had been hit, however childhood imagination wasn't so simple. "Nuh uh, you missed" He said still standing his ground. "No, I didn't, I got you"
"That's unfair"
"Can we play something else?" the 'hostage' asked as he separated his grip from his kidnapper. "B-But we were just getting to the best part" He stated as at the front door and the only door of the room, 3 significant knocks were heard, grabbing the attention of the Adult Canine who was meant to keep charge.
Suddenly after hearing the knocks, she immediately jumped over her desk , tripping over and falling to the ground before picking herself up quickly and racing to the door. Dusting herself off speedily as she reached out and pulled open the door, letting inside a full grown Female German Shepherd, fully black fur just like Elena.
All the pups stopped what they were doing to look at the Visitor, mostly blank faces with no expression, quickly going back to whatever, they were doing before, unlike Elena, she looked on with a bit of sorrow instead. The Appearance of the Black German Shepherd on the other hand was quite flamboyant and extravagant.
Large Sunglasses, Tight Pearls around her paws and Loose Pearls around her neck that looked tucked in because of her fur, aside from accessories and jewelry, her fur itself was groomed to perfection with the fur having a single brush pattern from front to back.
"Hello Mommy" Elena hopped as her tail wagged gleefully, fast approaching her mother who in response gave a bit of a disgusted look. "Elena, What have I told you about calling me that, It is not Formal" She sternly stated. Elena as of result stopped in her tracks and moved her gaze down to the ground with her ears flopped downwards.
"Sorry Mother, I was playing Cops and Robbers with my friends, I saved the day again" Elena said excitedly, almost fully regaining her happiest a few seconds ago before again being shot down by her own mother.
"Goodness, Elena it is very un-lady like to pursue such nasty things, we will talk more about this on the way back home" She said walking her daughter out the door and after out the building, to a luxury Limousine, standing by was Canine usher standing at attention in the hot sun, as both the German Shepherd pup and mother approached, opening the Limousine door for them, as most likely was his job.
Not a single word was uttered as was expected, "Home" was all that the Mother of Elena said to the Usher as he closed the door and made his way around the vehicle to the driver's side. "Momm- Mother, can we stop for Ice Cream pleeeeeease?" The pup pleaded with all her might.
"Ice cream ruins your image Sweetie" She claimed, raising the built in Mirror front of her to examine her own looks whilst simultaneously striking down yet again her pup's quest for fun and childhood enjoyment of tasty treats.
"Elena sweetie, You have to start early when it comes to doing things more sophisticated like your mother, Do you not want to be a stunning beacon of beauty for your future husband?" She asked, making the pup cringe within hearing such things.
"Ewwww Mother, Boys are gross"
"Ah I remember thinking that when I was your age, Give it a few years, You'll understand what I mean" She replied, pulling out a small comb from a small compartment near her, already brushing her fur as Elena leaned against the window across from her.
"Elena Darling, be sure to tell your father that mother will be going to a party with the Mayor later" She basically ordered, obedience was to be expected up front instead of rebellion. "Ooo A Party, Can I come?" She asked with excitement in her voice once again.
"No, This is grown up party, I want to give the impression that I am a Fabulous Hound married with a Multi-Millionaire, Not a Mother" She said so sternly placing her comb back In the small compartment as she retrieved a small handheld fan, giving herself cool breeze.
Elena slouched over as the Limousine came to slow halt, Elena eyed outside the window to see a Tall Building. She had already seen it a million times, so there was nothing special as she hopped out, not even waiting for the Driver to open the door for her as the daughter of an important person.
"Woah Woah Woah, your parents are Rich?"
"Yeah, Well, mostly my Father" She said hovering her paw over the control flame that came from the Lantern. "Founder and CEO of a Big Tech Company, Fancy AI and Weapons Enhancement and stuff, Stuff that sells for Millions when advertised to the right people" She claimed.
"And your mother?" Valkyrie questioned. "Just married him for his money" Elena clarified, giving a cold look at the Grey Saluki, letting Valkyrie roll her eyes as if she had never heard the cliché of marrying a man for his money.
"Pfft, Golddiggers, Typical" Valkyrie spat out. "I don't know to this day how my dad put up with her, I guess it was just to keep me happy" She said.
"But you don't like…hate your dad though, right?" Valkyrie scooted over closer to Elena, thinking maybe the parental issues were on both sides. "He wasnt exactly there for me when he needed to be, but he definitely tried to put a smile on my face anytime he saw me sad"
"Daddy Daddy!" Elena busted straight into her Father's Office with a colourful card in her paws, jumping with joy as she saw her father, also a Black German Shepherd pacing around his office with a phone to his ear, locked in an argument over work matters.
The German shepherd simply looked over at his daughter only to give her a silent gesture to lower her voice, Elena stood still and brought down her ears in same. "No, I was looking for a 40 million deal, not a 5 million one, I have to invest for what I pay for, so I better be getting 40 million dollars worth of what I get" he said lowering the phone from his ears and hanging up.
Walking back over to his desk as she almost slammed his personal phone on his desk, rubbing his eyes in a show of fatigue and exhaustion.
"I swear if you want something done right, got to do it yourself" he said raising his head back up at his daughter. "Elena, you can't walk into Daddy's office like that, I was in middle of a call"
"Sorry Daddy, I made you this at School" Elena said as she held out the small card covered in glitter and patches of other different colours, Her Father being as curious as he gently taking the Card and opening it up, seeing a very poorly drawn sketch of Him and Elena with wide smiles.
"This really does make my day Elena, Thank you Sweet Heart, But I don't see Mother in this picture though" He said looking up at Elena, all for her to just give an awkward glare back. "Mommy doesn't like fun stuff, she's mean a lot of the time"
She said with her paws crossed and her muzzle pouted. All her father did give back a similar look, seeing the absence of the mother figure in the colourful card and hearing firsthand of how Elena felt about her mother, really brought a question out of the Father.
"Elena, do you love your mother?" He asked, letting the pup answer the tough question that a lot of people in normal families would have no problem giving an undoubtably yes. However, for Elena, she just shook her head from side to side, if a hard no. "Do you love mommy?" Elena asked back with a tilt in her head. Making the Male German Shepherd sitting at his Office Chair to be completely stunned, slowly folding the poorly made card and sliding it into one of his desk drawers. "No….No I don't, Elena, I need to tell you something very important and very very very secret, you cannot tell Mommy about this, Don't even mention it to her" He said, pleading with his Daughter to uphold the silence he begged for.
Elena nodded in response as her Father got up from his chair and walked over to a bookshelf, tossing books out of the way to reveal a decent sized safe. Punching in the combination until the Safe itself made a sci-fi sound initiating that it was no unlocked, pulling it open and reaching into the grab a very large book, almost as big as a Phone Book.
He blew the dust of the old volume as particles sprinkled across the room, sitting down on the floor and encouraging his daughter to do the same.
"B-But Mother says sitting on the floor isn't proper" Elena pointed, even though he mother wasn't in the room, her rules just burrowed in her brain to stay.
"Its okay, You don't have to worry about that, Sit right here next to me, I want to show you something" Her Father said motioning for Elena to sitting right beside him on the ground in the middle of his Office.
As Elena scooted over, She looked over into the Large Book's pages to see it was a Photo Album of German Shepherds just like her and her Father. Black German Shepherds as family positions with one or two or three pups all in each picture, having surnames and year dates below the pictures themselves. "What's this Daddy?" She asked.
"Elena, There's a Tradition that- "
"What's a Tradition?"
"Just something people do, Now listen, There is a Tradition that goes back many years, very long ago, A 'Group' of Dogs like us formed groups that had an idea to make sure Dogs like us in the future would live a planned life" He said.
"What does that mean?"
"Elena you're too young to understand what I am trying to tell you, but I will only tell you this for now, Your entire future is not up to you, its up to a group of people very rich like me that hold a lot of power, I just hope someday in the future you'll understand what I mean" He as he stood from the floor suddenly hear the steps from the hallway. Urging his daughter to lift herself up quickly.
"Oh no, your mother is here, Remember Elena, do not mention this at all, do you understand me?" He asked nervously as he shoved the large old book right back into the safe as he simultaneously pleaded with the German Shepherd pup to stay silent on the matter. Packing the books upon the shelf the one and only came through the Office Door, peeking her head in which made both Elena and her father stop dead in their tracks.
"Elena, Your Music Tutor is here" She coldly said, looking down at her Daughter only to look back at her Husband was just seen looking at Books to try and hide himself. "Can Daddy come and-"Elena asked before her mother growled ever so viciously.
"Call him Father, How many times do I have to tell you these things?!" Elena quivered as the threatening sounding waved through the room, Elena looked back at her father to see him suddenly step in between. "Hey, don't speak to our daughter like that, let her call me whatever she wants" he said as Elena hid behind her father's leg as cover.
Her Mother's response however, shocked both as what followed was pure silence as her growl faded away. "Elena…Living Room, now. Your Father and I need to have a chat" She said, ordering the pup to leave her Father's side and walk right past her all the way to the Living Room for her Tutoring.
As she paced through the hallway, she heard the Office Door slowly closing as calm talking from inside the Office turned to direct shouting and arguing with tore a whole in Elena's puppy heart.
"Dang, I never thought it was like that, I'm so sorry you had to go through all of that, even when you were a pup" Valkyrie stated, rubbing a solo paw against Elena's back as the German Shepherd fought back tears forming in her eyes. "I-Its okay, I just felt trapped when I was a pup, like I had no where to go and no one talk to, I wouldn't expect you to understand, you probably had a good family and good friends with no stupid tradition to make you force you to do anything"
"Well, you're right, my family and friends weren't really out of the ordinary, but there was a point in my life when I felt trapped and had no one to turn to" Valkyrie said as Elena looked over to her a bit surprised. "Before I met Chase, When I was kidnapped by a Mexican Cartel and forces to be a prisoner in a Bunker underground. I waited for months for a savior and in came Skye, she was just someone I felt like I could connect with at the time, someone to keep me from stopping and instead move forward when I felt like all hope was lost" She proclaimed.
"Chase told me about that, it must have been tough living like that"
"Yeah, it took week for me to fully get over it"
"Lemme guess, Hours of Therapy"
"Y-Yeah, how'd you know?" Valkyrie looked at the German Shepherd with a shocked face, only for Elena give back a bit of a smirk with her eyes shiny from the push back of tears. "Lets me honest here, paying a Stranger with a Degree to listen to us vent our problems, Money well spent" She said nudging the Saluki as she rubbed her eyes of any remaining tears.
"I guess so, so what was your Father talking about a 'Group of Dogs like us'? Valkyrie asked only for Elena to give back a sigh first off before laying it all on her. "It's a cult"
"What?!"
"Yup, you heard me right, A Cult of Black German Shepherds with Wealth and Power that believe Pureness of their Breed and Absolutely superiority over everyone else in Society"
"They've always held the same rules ever since they were founded in the 17th century. No Mix Breeding, No Revolution against the High Council and every Dog must fulfill their roles as given" Elena said with such a stern face.
"What roles?"
"Girls be pretty, and Boys do all the work basically" She replied with a more chill attitude leaving Valkyrie a bit more perplexed.
"Ummm…Those roles don't really sound cultish to me, sound more like Traditional Roles"
"Did I mention the blood rituals?"
"Alright yup, very cultist now that you mention that" Valkyrie stated looking back at the German Shepherd with an awkward face. "And no, they don't kill people and drink their blood, They just rub pigs blood mixed with water on their fur"
"Still disgusting"
"Agreed" Elena stated laying back on her as the warm glow from the lantern continued to spread across the room. "Hey, do you hear that?" Valkyrie suddenly asked motioning over to Elena as the German Shepherd just looked around her, just to hear nothing.
"No, What?"
"The Rain…It stopped" Valkyrie exclaimed, now that she mentioned it, Elena perked up listening closer to no longer hear the hard rain and roaring thunder outside, Both of them shot up and raced back to the door, pounding on the door once again and shouting out. "HELP WE'RE TRAPPED IN HERE!" They both said, suddenly hearing slow steps on the floor outside the door and seeing the doorknob twist.
Finally, The Door opening and Skye being on the other side. "Umm…What were you two doing in- "Skye asked before receiving a bear hug from both Elena and Valkyrie, squeezing the life out of her as Tracker came into view just behind her, hold a mug of morning brew.
"Huh, I knew I heard something" he said, taking a sip from his cup of coffee. "Where you two down there the whole night?" Skye asked as the Canine released their grip on her. "Yup, and I guess you can say Elena and I are best buds now" Valkyrie claimed throwing her paw around the German Shepherd as both gave a best friend smile.
"Well I'm glad you two sorted everything out, You two must be hungry. Elena, Wanna help me whip up some pancakes?" Skye asked as Elena yawned out from her long night, be still eager to give a helping hand. "Count me in" she said, looking back at Valkyrie however and motion for her to follow.
"Hey Val, Wanna help with the Batter?"
"You bet" she said, as both of them giggled their way to the cookery, cracking jokes and sharing a few laughs, that basements was thought to hold a lot of questions, but it really held a solution to their newfound friendship.