(I literally came up with the title a few hours before posting lmao I had no idea what to put there before) WOOOH I'm finally posting this despite the first draft not being edited 100%, but at least it's complete so that's somethin. I'm taking big risks with that I know, I just wanted to post this before the year ended gfgdf
I don't want to make the notes too long so I'm just gonna say this is a big project I had in the works for a while, idk I just tought 'haha shaun in leather jacket and Bitzer blush funny' and before I knew I had a whole story related to how things could've been if Shaun wasn't in the farm since the beggining. There's some drawings in my tumblr(soniana-draws, tagged as 'bad-boy-au') and I also talk about it in my insta stories(soniana252), probably I'll doodle a few things while I write this bc it's gonna be a LONG fic and you may need updates even if smol
aand uhh before you read this I'll ask for two things: 1) Remember english isn't my first language so there may be some mistakes (I don't have a beta rip) but I'm doing my best 2) I know you're probably here for the shaunzer and don't worry, there'll be plenty of it! But it would be cool if you read this for the character development and bonding and whole found family trope too, since this story focused a lot into that too.
Well that's all for now, hope you like this story!
oOoOo
Life in the countryside had always been known as a quiet one. No noise everywhere, no constant hustle from the people around, no sight of the so-present chaos in the city; just a nice, relaxed life far away from any trouble.
Bitzer had lived in Mossy Bottom Farm enough to know those were all lies.
Boy, where to start with that? There were the enormous amount of tasks that always had to be done in time every day, his human who loved trying new things that more often than not ended in him having to save the man from the dangerous outcomes of it, and the animals, the ones expected to not do that much by humans, weren't any better. At all.
If the checklist on his paws and the whistle that always hanged around his neck weren't enough proof, Bitzer's usual eye bags could confirm it: life in a farm was tiring if you were the second-in-command since young.
But nothing that a good sheepdog like him had never been able to handle of course. If anything, all the chaos the habitats of the farm always made Bitzer go through had just trained his instincts over the years to be prepared for even the weirdest of events.
That one old lady visiting to talk to the farmer? Not common, but not abnormal either. A small sheep peeking its head from the car parked outside, and it being left in charge of Bitzer for a moment? Uh...surprising, yeah, but preferable to her hitting whoever made her angry with her purse.
The sight the dog got after opening the car's door to let the sheep out the moment both humans went inside the house however, that was something Bitzer had never in his life expected to see.
Standing in two outside the car there it was, a sheep in leather jacket, sunglasses and the wool in his head was slipped back in a rather stylish look. It was a small sheep, more so for not being a lamb anymore, so the oversized coat made him look more cute than cool; but still, even if he wasn't another dog, the way the guy had his hoofs in his pockets, eyes hidden behind those dark glasses as if he had no care in his surroundings, woke a strange need in Bitzer to not look dumb in front of someone like him.
At noticing himself staring a little too much, Bitzer barely shook his head to snap out of it, then coughed on his fist to call the sheep's attention. When the guy turned his head, Bitzer straightened and extended the paw that wasn't occupied by the checklist, giving a quick whuff to present himself as the one in charge.
Brown orbs peeked over the sunglasses to look at the dog, eyes barely widening at the sight of the extended paw. After a moment of hesitation, the guy returned the handshake with a bleat and a soft courtesy smile. Bitzer returned it, then, while he turned to gesture to the field where the sheep had to go, said guest simply turned around to take something out of the car. Arm still extended, the dog had to blink at the brown old bag the sheep clooing the door now had over one of his shoulders. He brought stuff with him? That could only mean...
Despite the uncaring attitude of the peculiar guest, he still ended looking at the field as soon as he turned around. Big, green and full of grass as a farm should have it, nothing out of that world for a sheep like any other. For this one sheep however, it seemed to be that way.
Taking off his sunglasses, the guy slowly walked towards the stone wall to get a closer look at the field, as if he has never seen something that beautiful before. Bitzer's momentary confusion dissipated the moment he followed the guy's gaze. He hadn't caught that it before, with so many things to do lately, but the sun was hitting the grass in a nice way that day, even had butterflies flying around and some flowers showing themselves as the first blooms of spring.
Bitzer didn't notice himself walking over to stand at the guy's side, but he did notice that shine in the sheep's eyes before they were again hidden behind dark glasses at noticing the dog's presence. Bag left aside on the grass and leaning his forearms on the stone surface, still facing the field, the strange guest bleated a relaxed compliment to the place that got Bitzer to waggle his tail and release a flattered chuckle as he rested his paws behind his back. The field always looked pretty after he finished working on it, of course it would leave anyone perplexed.
The ramble about his well-done job escaped Bitzer's tongue before he could stop it, explaining with the help of his checklist what and how he did to make it look that way, only cutting it short when he noticed the blank stare of the guy at his side. Bitzer nearly put a paw over his mouth. Biting back a grimace, the dog pointed at the sheep then at himself while whuffing in a questioning tone — Here he was talking so much and he didn't even know if the sheep spoke dog! Did he?
Everyone in the farm understood each other to some degree. Even with so many animal languages there, years have helped them to learn a thing or two and when that didn't work charades were always a huge help with that. It wasn't that way in all farms of course(perhaps the guy didn't even have a sheepdog before!), so he had to have that in mind. Leaving the checklist aside, Bitzer was about to try charading to communicate better when the sheep in leather bleated a short response, doing a so-so gesture with his hoof.
The change of mood that followed Bitzer couldn't quite describe it. After a pause, the guy looked at him up-and-down suddenly, then smirked for a reason that at that moment the dog didn't get. Resting one of his cheeks on his hoof, the sheep's bleat now sounded with a noticeable interest — Asking for any special reason?
Bitzer could just blink and arch a brow. He needed to know to help him settle there, for what other reason could he be asking...?
Before the sheepdog could answer however, the sound of a pacifier sounding erratically broke the strange atmosphere. Timmy, the lamb of the flock, stood in all-four not far from them in the field, blinking curiously at the stranger sheep. After a moment of staring, the sheep in black smiled and waved at the child with an amused 'hey'.
The lamb's mom didn't take long to check on her child of course, the rest of the flock following suit at seeing there was a new sheep. As to expect, the wooly group narrowed their eyes at the guy, territory matters were common when new animals arrived. But the guest tensing and standing straight, that defiant look in his eyes that showed no good intentions...Bitzer suddenly worried of having to interfere in a fight.
That didn't happen luckily. The twins went to the front of everyone to receive the guy with a handshake on each front hoof, full of enthusiasm as they always were, and with a nod and a smile from Timmy's mom the signs showed the guy was more than welcome to join them. The message seemed to take a moment to get across as the guest simply stood there hesitating though. He was shy perhaps, odd coming from a sheep dressed like that but not impossible either. Bitzer shrugged and grabbed his checklist, not really seeing a reason to delve on that anyways.
The flock walked back to their spots on the grass, and while Bitzer was adding the new sheep to the respective section in his checklist, he suddenly widened his eyes at the object being taken away from his paws. In a second the new sheep scribbled something on the paper then gave it back to the perplexed dog, shooting him a wink before jumping over the wall to join the rest in the field.
Bitzer stood blinking in his place, observing the runaway sheep before looking down at what had been written over his doodle of the small sheep. Just the jacket and sunglasses were there now, a correct addition technically, something that made Bitzer decide to let pass that very rude decision of messing with his neatly organized checklist.
That detail aside, the guy didn't create any trouble, so Bitzer could say he considered Shaun as rather mysterious but overall nice sheep. A non-stressing addition that his life could appreciate.
oOo
Bitzer took that back. The guy was the rudest, most disrespectful and inconsiderate sheep he had ever met.
It was one thing to roll his eyes at Bitzer when he stopped him(and Shirley) from picking veggies from the garden, but using Bitzer's own dogs instincts against him to do it anyways was the lowest blow one could give to the sheepdog.
Bitzer's focus was on his flock, always was, how was he supposed to predict that the apparently quiet sheep would be the one to distract him with a frisbee? How come the flock followed the guy's plan without a drop of hesitation? The betrayal!
Now not only was the vegetable garden almost empty, but the humans could come out at any moment and not a single sheep was in sight. After growling and cursing, Bitzer lost no time in following his nose to where said the sheep could be.
Indeed, the barn's doors were opened to reveal the flock and that one trickster sheep all happily enjoying their mixed veggies meal there. Bitzer could only glare at the nerve the guy had to offer him a carrot.
Blowing his whistle loudly quickly got them all outside and returning the remaining of stolen food, expect the new guy, whom Bitzer had to harshly gesture to the field after the loud noise didn't get more than a confused look from him. Strange that he didn't seem to identify what the whistle was for, but Bitzer was too angry to care about the reason at that moment.
The humans left the house a short moment after. Even though the food had been returned, enough leftovers had escaped the flock's hooves for the farmer to see and Bitzer found himself having to lower his ears at the scold he received. The short glare sent to the one sheep to-blame-for-it-all at his side(who at least had the decency to save Bitzer the task of hiding that jacket and sunglasses in a bush nearby to not get unwanted attention from the humans) was met with an avoiding gaze.
Whatever problem the dog and man had wasn't of the old lady interest. Her focus was on the small sheep only, whose only reaction to the insistent stare behind those glasses, oddly enough as if she wanted to say something, was to awkwardly tuck his head into what he could of his wool. A short pat on his head before turning back to exchange a few more words with the farmer sadly gave Bitzer the confirmation of what he had been suspecting: the troublemaker sheep was going to stay.
With all that done the old lady simply drove away, leaving a new member in the farm and perhaps another source of stress for the sheepdog of said place.
Taking the checklist from Bitzer's paw, the farmer was about to write something on it when he noticed the already-added doodle. He arched a brow, looked at Shaun then chuckled amused, patting his confused dog on the head before returning to the house. Bitzer's smile at the small moment of attention got cut short as he brought back his attention to the returned checklist. Right there, over the doodle of the new sheep, was a word Bitzer had accidentally covered with his thumb earlier. The dog arched a brow as he read: Shaun.
Not a number, not a nickname, but a name the sheep seemed to remember on his own. Not to mention the attire, attitude and how he arrived with the old lady of a people. This sheep was a mystery indeed.
Putting down the checklist Bitzer looked at the sheep at his side, who at seeing no humans near had returned to wear his black attire and fix his hairstyle as if nothing bad had happened. When he noticed the staring, the sheep put his hoofs in his pockets and shoot a relaxed smirk at the dog.
It may sound crazy, but at that moment Bitzer swore he could predict that besides of a mystery, this 'Shaun' guy was going to be another gray hair on his fur very soon.