Annette looked at Kilian with heavy eyes.

In her sad, tired state, she barely heard his voice. "Hi."

She mustered up the energy to respond. "Hey you."

They looked at each other for a few silent moments, she broke the silence. "I'm gonna miss this place."

His eyes turned remorseful. "Me too. This house was nice, Will and Bill-"

"Whatever happened to those two?" She cut him off with the inquiry, some semblance of energy returning to her voice. "They just said goodbye and went on their way."

He nodded. "Well yeah, but on the train, while you were asleep, we had a little chat..."


"Hey Kilian." Bill's grumbly voice caught his attention. He gave one last look at the sleeping Annette, in particular at the scarring on top of her neck, before lifting himself off to Bill.

He sat in front of the bigger dog. "Yes?"

"Look, I'm not really one for apologies." He cleared his throat and for once his voice wasn't completely grumbly. "I figure that it's the least I could do, seeing as I kinda' dragged both of you," He gestured with his head towards Annette, "into this mess."

Kilian had to stop and take a deep breath, before responding. They had been on the train for around a week now, home was getting closer and closer, they would soon arrive. In that time, he had been too overjoyed at the prospect of getting Annette home safely, to really think about anything else. He should have been mad at Bill and Will. He should have been mad at them for making him feel so guilty, for hurting Annette, for putting the two of them through this nightmarish journey. But he didn't. He didn't feel mad at all. In his mind, they were still friends, best friends who would help each other through anything.

"It's okay." He heard himself respond simply.

Bill frowned. "No, it's not."

"It really is, we're-"

"Bill is right." Will's own grumbly voice cut him off. "It's our fault that you two ended up all the way out here." A rare look of guilt passed over his face. "We were friends." He swallowed hard. "Brothers. And look what we did to you."

"Brothers." The word almost made him want to cry. He looked at both Bill and Will, unsure of what to say. Here were the two dogs he had grown up with, played with everyday, showed them how to survive, when they were hungry and cold. Here were the two dogs who thought of him as their brother. "I forgive you. Both of you."

"Do you mean it?" One of the twin's voices let out the question.

Kilian's voice croaked out. "I'm going back with Annette. We won't ever see each other again." He stared down at his paws. An icy silence filled the atmosphere.

Will's voice broke through it. "We'll miss you Kilian."

He looked up to them both, felt sadness overcome all else. "I'm gonna' miss you too, brothers." The word rolled off of his tongue, before he could help it. He didn't regret saying it though, it earned a smile from Bill and a wicked grin from Will.

They kept each other up well into the night. Brother's in arms.