Things were uneventful for the next three days. Zerinn was slowly beginning to recover from the beating he'd received at the hands of his family members. His bruises slowly began to fade. It was still painful for Zerinn to move about and he refused to leave the house. It was the sound of arguing voices that caused Gadget's slumber to be disturbed that morning. Gadget let out a low moan of displeasure, his eyes slowly opening. His blurry vision picked up two black and white blobs pacing around their makeshift room.

Gadget reached out for his glasses, placing them on the bridge of his muzzle. The blobs slowly came into focus shifting into Zerinn and Kaito. The wolf had seen enough of their body language to realize that both jackals were tense. Their ears pinned against their skulls; their tails twitched in irritation. The usual jovial expression on Kaito's face was gone, replaced with an anxious expression on his face.

"Come on bro! You haven't left this tent in three days!"

"No, I'm not weak, and I'll kill anyone else who thinks I am."

Zerinn turned on his heel storming past Gadget's sleeping bag slowly sinking on his sleeping bag. He turned on his side with an irritated sigh, his tail drooping over the edge of the bed. Zerinn moved on the sleeping bag, letting his head rest on the hard pillow. Gadget stared at the white stripes on Zerinn's back. He shifted his gaze to the small wooden table his broken grappling hook prototype resting on the table. Someday the wolf vowed to repair it.

Gadget sat up on the sleeping bag, his heart pounding in his chest in fear. He was never good at dealing with tense situations. Here was the thing he wasn't sure if staying here was a good idea as he saw the worried expression on Kaito's face. The younger jackal noticed Gadget was awake turning his attention towards the wolf.

"Bro," Kaito said softly. "Do you want to come with us to go get breakfast?."

Zerinn hmphed turning around facing both Gadget and his younger half-sibling. He let out a low sigh, his sides expanding and shrinking with a deep breath. There was a look of resignation in the jackal's mismatched eyes.

"What so I can go out there so they can stare at me? Stare at my oddly shaped ears, my bigger than normal tail? Or better yet gawk at my freakish mismatched eyes and be subjected to even more whispers?"

Gadget saw the small frustrated tears at the corners of Zerinn's eyes. All his hopes that the jackal would've regained some of his confidence vanished in that instant. Siren raised a hand sniffling ever so slightly, wiping away the tears.

"I was born a freak, and I'll die a freak."

"I don't think that your eyes are freakish," Gadget said, approaching Zerinn placing a gentle hand on Zerinn's side feeling the jackal flinch. "I think that they're unique and you're not a freak."

Gadget saw Zerinn's eyes widen slightly in surprise. The Jackal looked at him, judging him before the smile slowly appeared on his face sitting up.

"Heh, that's the first time that anyone's said something nice about my eyes."

The silence fell over the tent the tense mood vanishing. Kaito hurried over burying his head in Zerinn's shoulder, unknowingly resting a hand on one of his bruises. Zerinn's response to the tender touch was a sharp gasp of pain pushing Kaito away. Zerinn gritted his teeth in pain. It was clear that the Jackal was in pain his breaths came out in short gasps, his eyes were half open. Kaito shrank back concern in his eyes, reaching out to place a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"Bro, I didn't mean to hurt you," Kaito said with a whimper. "Please don't be mad at me."

"Zerinn are you okay?" Gadget raced over to where Zerinn was sitting. "Where does it hurt?"

"It's nothing," Zerinn said, wincing slightly. "Sorry for pushing you, Kaito. I'm a little sore right now. Dune kicked me hard a couple of times, as revenge for me nearly biting his ear off."

"I'll be fine," Zerinn said slowly standing up with a forced smile on his face. "Besides sitting around in this tent is boring."

Zerinn got to his feet walking to the door pushing, it open pausing, on the entranceway.

Come on I'm not going to keel over," Zerinn said smiling. "I'm feeling much better now. I don't have all day."

Kaito and Gadget shared a look of concern, but the thing was Zerinn appeared to be in a good mood, and neither Gadget or Kaito wanted to ruin the moment. The small trio left their home with Gadget locking the door. The incident which occurred earlier was soon forgotten. Kaito ran on ahead with his older half-brother not too far behind him.

Maybe it's nothing. Gadget thought to himself. There was a small beacon of hope that if Zerinn was somewhat back to his old self then perhaps things could be looking up for the trio of brothers.

"Hey Gadget the last one to the garbage cans has to lick Dune's dirty feet!"

Kaito's voice carried back to him on the wind as the wolf chuckled breaking into a run chasing after his adoptive brothers. To Gadget it didn't matter if they were jackals and he was a wolf, they treated each other like a family.

The morning air was hot as the small group had much better luck finding their breakfast. The general mood between the three of them was cheerful. Things appeared to be looking up for the trio at last. Their hands clutched several white bundles of food, keeping an eye out for any thieves. Gadget saw Dune's gang of friends roaming the streets looking lost without their leader to direct them.

A flash of gray fur caught his eye as he spied the skinny gray wolf pup rummaging through the bins his light turquoise eyes were beginning to brim over with tears. The strange thing about the wolf pup was, even though he resembled a wolf his skinny frame his tail had the unmistakable shape of a jackal's tail, and a pair of black stripes were on his sides.

Come to think of it the small gray wolf almost bore some resemblance to his late mother and aunt since he seemed to have their exact eye color. Gadget swallowed past the lump forming in his throat. Kaito noticed the small tears reaching out for Gadget's hand, giving him a gentle squeeze of reassurance along with Zerinn lightly placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey Zerinn, do you know who that is?"

Zerinn looked over in the direction his large ears pricked taking in the sight of the strange grey wolf casting one last look over his shoulder at Gadget

"That's Mikhail. A friend of Quartz's and he's a hybrid," Zerinn said. "His mother was a wolf, and his father was a jackal. Both of his parents are dead."

Gadget saw Mikhail look around warily as another jackal pup slowly appeared speaking to him in low tones as the two of them turned around, hurrying back to their home the female jackal pup paused to stop gathering up the edges of her dress to prevent it from getting dirty with sand.

"Wait, who is Quartz?" Gadget asked.

"Oh, that's right. Quartz is a friend of ours along with Nephthys, Ace, Saber, and Flint." Zerinn explained the smile was on his face at the mention of the other young jackal's names.

"Yeah, I think it's time that you met them," Kaito's jovial expression was on his face again his tail wagging ever so slightly. "Saber's quiet, but he's a nice guy. Nephthys she's not a girlie girl. Ace and Flint are twins and Quartz can be bossy, but he's like the big brother to everyone else. We usually meet up with them in the southernmost corners of Saharais."

Gadget had a feeling he should've known that Kaito and Zerinn most likely had friends. Gadget felt his heart beating. He followed the two brothers led down several alleyways. Gadget hurried to keep up with them as his sensitive hearing already was picking up voices coming from a small area as they raced through one more alley coming to a shortstop in the middle of a little oasis a few meters away from the campground.

Three other jackal children were playing by themselves as the only female looked up, a small smile spreading on her face at the sight of Zerinn walking into the area with Kaito and a red wolf she'd never seen before. The other two male jackal children looked up small smiles spreading on their faces.

"Hah! I told you that he would pass the trial Saber!" A jackal pup with a red bandana around his neck crowed with excitement. "Pay up!"

"I hate you." The other pup grumbled passing ten Mobiums into the palm of the other jackal's hands.

"There he is!" Nephthys said playfully punching Zerinn on the shoulder. "Good to see you cleared the trail

The other two jackal pups came over to talk with Zerinn who was in his element speaking to Nephthys a jackal with a red beret on his head listening intently. Kaito frowned noticing that two other jackals weren't there.

"Hey, guys do you know where Ace and Flint are?" Kaito asked.

"Both of them are on a mission for the Jackal Squad with your dad," Quatrz replied in a bored tone of voice. "They won't be back until tomorrow night."

"So, what does the Jackal Squad do?" Gadget asked his curiosity piqued.

"Oh, we're like this protection group," Zerinn answered. "You know, keeping the peace and making sure everyone stays safe. That's why this campground exisits to make sure we're properly prepared to help survive out here in the desert."

Gadget couldn't quite shake the nagging feeling that Kaito wasn't telling the full story. He gathered up the bundles of food, making his way over to the jackals seeing the tallest one pocket the money, which were handed off to him making eye contact with the jackal folding his arms.

"So, then you're the little wolf that I hear that was taken in by Zerinn huh?" The older jackal pup tilted his head slightly the small smile gracing his muzzle in a teasing way.

From the corner of his eye Gadget saw Zerinn speaking with Saber the jackal pausing to adjust his beret on his head. Saber had several white stripes running along his arms and legs. There was an earnest look in the young jackal's eyes his tail wagging slightly.

"Yes, I was, and you're Quartz, right?"

The older jackal pup who looked to be thirteen years old smirked. "Yeah, that's me."

Gadget inwardly breathed a sigh of relief wordlessly passing of the bundle to Quartz who turned on his heel. Unlike the other jackals, Gadget saw the splash of white fur with a pair of gray stripes running along the middle of his back.

"Hey, too much pudding! I like him!"

Zerinn felt his fist clench ever so slightly. Saber began to chuckle ever along with Kaito. Gadget still couldn't shake the feeling that there was a story behind Zerinn's nicknames that the other jackals were teasing him ever so slightly.

"Ah, so this is Zerinn's little wolf roommate," Nephthys said, smiling running an eye over Gadget who shrank back slightly from her examination. "You're even cuter than I thought you would be."

Gadget felt the heat creeping up his muzzle. Never in all his life had he ever been called cute. He saw the small smirk on Nephthys' face. From the first impression that he'd gotten off her dressed up in the sleeveless green vest and the torn dark jeans, Nephthys seemed to be a tough girl one that would punch you in the face first and ask questions later.

"R-really? I've uh, never been called cute before."

Nephthys punched him ever so gently on the shoulder taking a couple of steps away from him flashing him a small smile.

"Heh, I'm not one of those girlie girls. So, don't call me that and we'll get along just fine."

So far Gadget's first impressions of Quartz and Nephthys was that Quartz was the big brother of the group lightly teasing everyone else. Nephthys, on the other hand, was someone he didn't want to cross. That left Saber approaching him slowly removing the beret from the top of his head before he placed it back in its resting place.

"Oh, so I take it that you're Saber? I'm Gadget it's nice to meet you."

"Same here."

Saber reached out shaking Gadget's hand before he dropped it quickly backing away from Gadget keeping an almost wary eye on him. Gadget mentally wondered if he'd done something wrong seeing the brief, fearful expression on Saber's face.

"Hey, uh did I do something wrong? I didn't mean to scare you."

"Sorry I'm not good with strangers, and I need time to get to know you first."

That was the thing. Gadget noticed that Saber hurried back to the other jackals and the rest of the jackal pups were moving of each of them taking a bundle of food setting down the white blankets, making a makeshift picnic blanket as there were a variety of meats and fruits along with some nuts.

Kaito noticed that Gadget was looking over at Saber with worry on his face.

"Hey, don't worry about Saber. He was like that with Zerinn and I at first as well."

Kaito spoke up reassuring Gadget's fears that he had done something to offend the jackal as they sat down to enjoy their breakfast. The warmth of the morning sun felt excellent against their backs there was a comfortable silence while the small group ate their lunch until a familiar voice cut through the air.

"Hey machine lover, think ya can spare us some food?"

Gadget tensed. Zerinn curled his lip. They both got to their feet. Chad, Mara, Aster, and Dune stood there with wicked smiles plastered on their faces eying up the picnic of food. As one the other four jackals got up standing in a line in solidarity with their fists clenched in defiance. Dune's left ear had healed, although it bore several gashes in his ear.

"Wait, how did you get out of jail?" Kaito queried. "I thought that our dad locked you guys up!"

"We had a friend in a high place that felt sorry for us and convinced his dad to let us go," Chad sneered. "Besides you owe us one."

Chad nodded to Mara and Aster making a pass around the line of jackals. In the blink of an eye, Nephthys and Quartz broke formation racing towards the pair, and they landed several punches as Mara lashes out at Nephthys ducking at the last moment tripping up Mara causing her to stumble sending her crashing to the ground.

"You little freak!"

"Heh, coming from you that's a compliment."

Quartz easily had pinned Aster down who struggled to get up. Zerinn allowed a smile to grace his face. Gadget was in awe at how quickly both Quartz and Nephthys had been able to deal with Mara and Aster so efficiently that it left him a little shaken in surprise. They were well trained. Zerinn clenches his fists, taking several steps towards Dune who backed down in fear.

"So, then Dune if you're willing to fight me then maybe I'll damage your other ear to match the left one."

Dune's hand automatically shot to his left ear, his claws gingerly tracing over the tears in it. A scowl formed on his lip. He turned to Chad jerking his head in a silent signal that meant attack.

"Uh, wait you want me to fight these guys? There's no way that I'm taking on a bunch of ninja jackals." Chad trembled in fear. Gadget knew that this was his chance to stand up to Chad. He smirked as Kaito fell into step beside him.

"So you're not going to fight me honestly? Even without a ninja jackal at my side?"

Gadget took several steps forward before he broke into a run landing a swift kick on Chad's shin hearing the maned wolf yelp in pain. He made another lunge for Gadget who tripped him as he placed a foot without hesitation on Chad keeping him pinned down as Kaito crouched down to his level with a grin on his face.

"Why you little machine lover," Chad growled. "One day you'll get what's coming to you."

"I'll happily bite your ear off if you even so hurt Gadget."

Kaito curled his lip bearing his teeth ever so slightly. Chad paled ever so slightly seeing those sharp teeth for the first time. It was clear that Kaito was prepared to fight for his older half-brother along with the rest of the jackals who were loyal to their future leader.

Dune simply snarled. His left ear bore the scars of their last encounter his tail twitched. Dune let out a bellow making a beeline for Zerinn for the younger jackal to duck underneath him tripping him up, then landing on his back pinning his arms to his side.

"So, then Dune you know that you're weaker than I am," Zerinn frowned. "I can kill you to make an example of what happens to those who mess with us. You tried to do the same thing with me."

"Fine all of you idiots fall back! It's not worth it."

At Dune's command Zerinn, Nephthys and Quartz allowed their tormentors to wriggle away out from underneath the jackals. Without any hesitation, Mara and Aster broke into a run as Chad turned to face Gadget making a throat-slitting gesture flattening his ears before he broke into a run. Dune shot one last venomous glare at the small group before he broke into a run trailing behind Chad's group.

"That's it! Runaway, you cowards!" "

Quartz high-fiving Nephthys and Saber. The mood was jubilant, and Gadget found himself, letting out a low sigh of relief. He turned on his heel noticing that Saber, Nephthys, and Quartz were looking at him with something akin to respect in their eyes as the small group headed back to their breakfast. Nephthys and Zerinn passed the latter giving Gadget a gentle pat on the shoulder.

"Hey, you did good kid," Nephthys said smiling. "I can see why Zerinn and Kaito have taken a liking to you."

"Yeah, you're like an honorary member of the squad now," Zerinn said. "Don't worry about Saber. He'll warm up to you the more he gets to know you."

Gadget walked back to the spot to continue their picnic. Despite the jovial mood, he noticed that Zerinn wasn't eating much and it still looked like he was in pain.

I'll have to talk with Kaito about this. Surely after this morning, he must know that there's something wrong with his half-brother. Gadget thought to himself swallowing the piece of chicken down his throat. He couldn't shake the feeling of dread that something was going to go wrong very soon.

The sounds of footsteps echoed against the cobblestones for Chad's group, including Dune, ran around a corner all four of them were panting their hands heavily on their knees as Aster let out a growl. They hated this place. It was far too hot for any of them to be comfortable in this heat. Chad was antsy to leave this place, but he knew that crossing the desert without any water was suicidal.

"You damn idiot! You said nothing about a group of ninja jackals!"

Aster spat on the ground in disgust. Mara said nothing. She slumped her shoulders and the scowl on her face. Mara was in a foul mood. She crossed her arms over her chest.

"Come on Chad, let's blow this dump," Mara snarled pacing back and forth her gaze fell on Dune. "Look Dune, thanks for breaking us out and Cassius exiled me because I failed the dumb trial in the first place."

Mara folded her arms across her chest. She remembered how she'd begged and pleaded with her parents not to send her to the trial, but her pleas had fallen on deaf ears. Mara tried her best to cross the desert in a single night, only to take too long and when the first rays of the morning sun rose over the horizon, Mara barely reached the border of Green Hill. To her dismay, Cassius was already standing informing her that she'd failed her trial and was no longer a member of Saharais.

"Mara and Aster we're leaving."

Dune watched Chad summon Mara and Aster to his side the three of them heading off through the alleyway. Dune hurried after them racing ahead of them holding his arms out to stop them as Chad let out a low growl from the corner of his mouth as Mara and Aster glared at Dune for daring to stand in their way.

"Move it punk. Or do we have to rough you up?"

Dune held his ground looking straight at Chad with amusement in his eyes.

"If you beat me up, I can simply tell my dad on you, and you'll go back to the slammer," Dune grinned. "I have a plan that's going to make all of us happy and leave the machine lover and his friends in tears."

Chad's ears twitched his interest piqued again. Mara and Aster exchanged a look with each other. Deep down Chad was unwilling to let go of the rage he felt towards Gadget. It vexed him to no end that the wolf was happy. No, he wanted Gadget to suffer because he merely was happy now.

"So what did you have in mind?" Chad inquired. "Something painful and humiliating I hope."

Mara and Aster grinned Chad's statement. Dune simply smiled. It had been a good idea to break Chad and his group from out of jail. Sure, it would enrage his father, but Dune was confident that he would be able to wrap his father around his finger. He hadn't failed to notice how close Zerinn and Kaito were. Now if something were to happen to Kaito well, it would bring Zerinn running straight into a carefully planned trap.

"It's simple," Dune said in a quiet voice. "We kidnap Kaito."

Author's note, First of all, I'm sorry that this chapter was late. The last couple of weeks have been crazy, and I didn't get the chance to sit down and work on the next few chapters to both this story and the Illusionary Resistance.

Now time for the shout outs saying thanks to SpiderDom321, Turquoise Triangle, Guest, and SharpDragonKlaw. I have to thank you guys so much for the support you have shown for this story.

So then we've finally got to meet three of the future members of the Jackal Squad and just giving Quartz, Saber and Nehphtys their personality traits were the most fun part of this chapter I had. It was a challenge since in canon they weren't really given much of a personality, so it's mostly headcanon stuff I have on these guys to fill in the blanks.

Also on the note of Zerinn being insecure, it's always been one of my headcanons that Zerinn was insecure a child due to his parents putting him down and calling him weak and having heterochromia didn't help his case because it was likely he was an outcast.

Kaito is protective of those he calls his friends and family. I haven't forgotten about Gadget's grappling hook, and it will play a role later on in the story.

Well, that's all for now. As per usual feel free to leave any suggestions/ thoughts and reviews, and I'll be back with the next chapter hopefully soon.