A/N at bottom

June, 1642

"What was that?"

"Huh?"

The trio had met up in their usual spot and were eating lunch. It was Ludwig who had asked the question, which had gone unanswered by the other two.

"Ludwig, I don't hear anything." Matthieu said.

"No, I swear I heard something!" Ludwig responded. Romano deeply sighed.

"Ludwig, are you sure you-"

"Shhh! There it is again! Just listen!"

All three became silent as the sound of a faint whimper made itself known.

"It's... an animal." Matthieu whispered.

"Wow! I wouldn't have guessed that!" Romano mocked with his usual hint of attitude. "Wait, where are you going?"

By this point, Ludwig had stood up and began to walk away.

"I'm following the noise! Are you coming or not!?"

After a moment of hesitation, Matthieu and Romano stood up and followed Ludwig to the source of the noise.

Ludwig came to an abrupt halt, causing Matthieu to crash into his back, and Romano into Matthieu's. Ludwig didn't seem to notice.

"What? What is it?!" Matthieu could barely keep his excitement out of his voice.

"It's... It's a dog." Ludwig spoke.

"Are you kidding me? We walked all the way out here for a dog!?"

"I'm going to go up to it." Ludwig said to himself. The dog in question looked up. It appeared to have several gashes across its back. Ludwig had barely moved 3 steps before he was interrupted.

"Wait." Matthieu said with a sigh. "Maybe one of us should do something first."

"Wha- why?" Questioned Ludwig. Matthieu and Romano looked at the floor before Matthieu attempted to give an answer.

"Well, Ludwig, sometimes you, um, come across as, erm-"

"You can be scary as shit." Romano finished. Ludwig looked taken aback, a look of hurt flashed in his eyes. It was only there for a moment before he covered it up with a serious expression.

"What do you mean?"

"It's not your fault," Matthieu spoke quickly. "You can just be intimidating sometimes. It doesn't really matter."

"Yeah," said Romano. "We just don't want the dog to run away or bite you or something." At this, Ludwig face crumpled slightly. He had always enjoyed the presence of dogs, and the thought of one being scared of him disturbed him greatly. Romano woke him from his thoughts.

"Maybe we should just go."

"No," Ludwig drew in a breath. And then, more quietly, "I don't want people to be scared of me. I don't want this dog to be scared of me."

"Nobody's scared of you. We're sorry if we hurt your feelings earlier." Matthieu, who disliked conflict, spoke up.

Ludwig just shook his head, for he had already made up his mind. He took small steps towards the dog, who watched with curious eyes.

"Hi puppy. It's ok. You don't need to be scared of me. I just want to- DAMN IT!" The German had tripped over a small rock, which had sent him tumbling to the ground, causing the terrified puppy to bolt, blood dripping as he limped away. Matthieu and Romano looked on sympathetically.

"Oh, Ludwig..." Matthieu sighed. Romano remained silent.

"No, it's fine... lets just go back." Ludwig stood up, brushed himself off, and began the walk back to his friends, whom he wouldn't look in the eyes. The rest of the day was spent in near-silence.

Ludwig lay under the night sky, looking up at the stars. The day had taken its toll on him, and he had wanted to spend some time alone. What was wrong with him? Had he always appeared so intimidating? Could he not even touch a dog? A sudden rustling in a nearby bush caused him to snap out of his thought process.

"Hello?" Ludwig called out. "Who's there?!" As the noise drew closer, Ludwig prepared to fight what came out of the bush. However, he was greeted with the sight of two black eyes and a furry face. A small dog, the same dog as before, limped it's way towards Ludwig.

"Hey, you came back!" Ludwig whispered to the dog. The dog responded with a small whimper. Ludwig sit down, letting the dog place it's head on his thigh.

"At least you came back," Ludwig happily sighed.

"I'm not that intimidating, am I? You're such a good doggy." Ludwig stroked the dogs fur, thinking to himself.

"Now, let's see what we can do about your injuries."

Ludwig would still go on to be slightly scary, and definitely prone to yelling. However, he would still go on to love dogs, and he would always count on them to make him happy when he felt upset, because even though people may be put off by him, this dog never would be.

There you go! I come bearing disappointing news. I will be going away for a few weeks with no access to the Internet, so I will not be able to update for a little while. I will continue the weekly chapters when I return, so expect the next chapter on August 12th. As always criticism is greatly appreciated!