Chapter 26- Sabrina's FOOLISH decisions

Somewhere else

Another Dalmatian and first-litter child of Milo and Ellie wandered about another street of Rio. This Dalmatian was one of Milo and Ellie's daughters and had midnight blue eyes, the same or similar colour to Luke, Hauyne and Quaoar's plumage or that of Eustace, the youngest son and chick of Aurora and Zephyr which was an unusual shade of blue for a Spix macaw. However, this dog was not at all happy and was wandering the streets like a stray dog, having run away from her home. She still had her collar and tag around her neck but she didn't care. All she wanted to do was get away from her home as things there had NOT been great at all. This Dalmatian was Sabrina and she was at her lowest.

Sabrina had been purchased from Brendan and his family by a family that lived in another part of Rio and on a low income but had enough income to properly care for a dog such as food, a place to sleep and a place where they could go to the toilet indoors. They were a loving family despite their financial setbacks but Sabrina had not been very contented with this basic life, despite her owners having barely enough to get by on their basic necessities. Sabrina and her family lived among a community of other families who were wealthier, and their pets, most of them being dogs and cats, being more pampered compared to Sabrina's basic life. Sabrina wanted a rich family like the other city pets, especially dogs around her and that was one of the reasons why she had become bitter and one of the lesser reasons as well. Due to Sabrina and her family being on a low income and basic necessities compared to everyone else, the family, which was a family of four consisting of a mother and a father, both on low-paid jobs, and a son and daughter, was looked down on by the richer families and were ostracised with the son and daughter being bullied at the local school by the other richer kids. This pride and bullying was projected onto the pampered dogs and cats of those families and they treated Sabrina the same way their owners treated hers. This treatment stoked the fires of Sabrina's jealousy of these pampered city pets and it made her even more embittered. Family walks out were no different either and sometimes, Sabrina came under the attack from some of Rafael and Eva's marauding toucan gangs whenever they visited Tijuca Forest and the Blu Bird Sanctuary. However, only recently, Sabrina's owners with the mother's name being Gabrielle, the father being called Juan and their son and daughter called Chris and Carla (coincidentally sharing the name with Blu and Jewel's oldest daughter and chick) respectively, had become faced with worsening financial troubles.

Juan had lost his job the other day, having been landed into trouble by a seductive female co-worker who tried to seduce him and tried to get him to cheat on his wife Gabriella only for him to refuse. That spiteful co-worker then landed the poor man into serious trouble by accusing him of assault and had the boss fire him. With half of the income gone, the family had begun to seriously struggle with Gabriella's job as the only source of income now until the father could find another job. Juan had tried to seek justice for his unreasonable firing due to the co-worker's inappropriate behaviour towards him but without success. Worst of all, the co-worker had gossiped about Juan to the other rich neighbours, describing him as a nasty person to say the least and that exacerbated the poor family's outcast status. They were practically near the precipice of collapse as a result and the bullying of Chris and Carla at their school and of Sabrina from the other city cats and dogs only intensified. Additionally, the financial worries and frustrations had caused a rift to form between Sabrina and her owners. When she tried to get their attention, they often harshly rebuked her and told her to go away. Over time, the flames of bitterness grew within Sabrina and she eventually left the house to go on a short walk. However, she was chased by a gang of city dogs and cats who threw abuse at her, both in the forms of trash and words and had chased her out of the neighbourhood. Then Sabrina had another run-in with Carlos and his gang and they scoffed at her state and attacked her, driving Sabrina to where she was now. Now Sabrina had resigned herself to the status of a stray dog and does NOT want to go back to her house and owners, and certainly not the horrible neighbours and their harassing pets whom she had grown tired of COMPLETELY now. In fact, she would rather be a stray dog that lived on the streets than be the pet of a family ravaged by bullying from wealthier families and financial issues. Sabrina had finally snapped completely and was now a bad-tempered dog who absolutely REFUSED to let anyone near her. Furthermore, she sometimes took out her anger, frustration and bitterness on any feral bird such as pigeons that came her way, especially those who had the audacity to mock her. At one point, Sabrina had exploded and with her jaws had seized the tail feathers of one of the pigeons when it poked fun at her being a low-down street dog, that mocking being strongly reminiscent of the bullying she got from the dogs and cats from her wealthier neighbours. The pigeon had managed to escape with its life but Sabrina had ripped out some of its tail feathers. She had NEVER done such a deed to a feral pigeon or seagull, even those that mocked her when she used to live with Milo, Ellie and her siblings but now, due to the bitterness and resentment that boiled within Sabrina due to her aforementioned and discussed circumstances, it was a different story. She was indeed a completely different dog than she had been before being sold to her current owners. Bitterly, the Dalmatian moved on and approached a bin, also called a trash can and began to rummage through it for any scraps of food. Pieces of wrapping and paper flew out of the bin and drifted away with the breeze as Sabrina continued her scavenging.

However, she was about to cross paths with a group of nomadic animals whom her own father had unfortunate ties with before he left them to become Matthew, Brendan and May's breeding dog and Ellie's mate.

While Sabrina continued picking out scraps of food from the trash can, not too far away, a pack of certain dogs continued their journey with two certain birds. They had fled the alley completely after narrowly escaping getting spotted by those men and had hid elsewhere where they had their revenge plan discussion. Now they were moving on, ready to put their plan into action. Brutus had settled on sending Vecna the swan on a search flight for Milo and his family's house and once he had found said place, he will return and lead Brutus and his pack and Nigel there where they will then hide and wait for the opportunity to infiltrate the house and seize Milo's mate Ellie and any puppies he had, but they HAD to wait for the right time first. Maybe when Milo is taken for a walk by one of his owners, or at night as suggested by Nigel, but the cockatoo's suggestion of a nighttime attack seemed like a better option for everyone will be asleep in that house and so be unaware of any possible intruders entering the house, especially any puppies present. For the first time in a while, Nigel had been praised by the dogs for this idea and Brutus certainly liked it and decided that that will be the kidnapping move. Then after discussing their plans, the group moved on and were on their way now, looking for another place to hide, like a makeshift base, where Vecna will be sent on his search flight.

"Okay, once Vecna brings back his report of where Milo's house is," Brutus continued to explain to the dogs and Nigel, the hideous swan lumbering along nearby and making some of the smaller pack members such as Tom the Dachshund feel uncomfortable and intimidated, "We're gonna have him lead us there and once we arrive, we will be hiding until it is nighttime. Once nightfall comes and everyone in that house including Milo and his family have gone to bed, THAT'S when we strike."

"We could attack at the midnight hour," said Nigel sadistically, "'Cos it's MORE EVIL."

"Oh, you and your evil stuff, flightless mass of tatty feathers," grumbled Paws.

"You honestly sound like a pantomime villain," added Otis. Nigel shot these two dogs a glare before walking on.

"No, we'll attack after sundown, IF everyone has gone to bed in that house," said Brutus, "The last thing I want is ANY of us getting spotted and our cover blown."

"Not good for some of us especially Nigel and V ecna," said Adriana.

"Finally, a dog who truly cares about me," grumbled Nigel in a cynical voice.

"Yeah, but your eating habits and love of violence makes us TOTALLY ill, kakapo with a crest," said Bryony repulsively.

"What did you just call me, black and white fleabag!?" snapped Nigel, "I hope you're not mocking my flightlessness, are ya!?"

Bryony just turned away and pretended she hadn't heard to Nigel's UTMOST frustration. The Border collie sometimes wished that the cockatoo had NEVER joined the pack in the first place and wished he was out right now. Sourly, Nigel walked on.

The group continued on, Brutus continuing to discuss the plans with his pack. As they continued, Hopper and Jackie the identical twin brown and white spaniel brothers looked up and stopped the group.

"Guys, look, a Dalmatian over there," said the former.

"I think it's him," said the latter. Brutus looked up and saw a white dog with black spots near a knocked-over trash can, its contents spilled onto the pavement or sidewalk and eating some food scraps. Immediately, the Doberman leader commanded everyone to dive behind a lamppost and they did. Nigel was dragged there by Paws when he wouldn't move. Then the dogs, Vecna and Nigel looked out to examine the spotted dog, clearly a Dalmatian, as it continued eating some food scraps to take in its details properly.

"It's clearly a Dalmatian and it looks VERY bitter and downcast," said Byrony in a low voice. Then a spiteful smile formed on Adriana the Labrador's muzzle.

"Maybe his owners didn't want him anymore and have thrown him out and his now a street dog?" she crooned mockingly and with rotten hope that the thought.

"I hope so, Adriana," said the Great Dane grunt. However, Otis examined the features of the Dalmatian closely.

"Um, guys, I hate to break it to you and I'm sorry for vanquishing your hopes but I don't think that's Milo," the black and white spaniel said, "Look at that Dalmatian's facial features," he pointed a front paw at the spotted dog as he said this.

The other dogs, Nigel and Vecna did as Otis continued, "Milo is male and has brown eyes, but that Dalmatian appears to be female and has very dark blue eyes."

The others gazed at the Dalmatian carefully and they also saw that the dog was female and had a different eye colour to Milo. The features of her eyes clearly indicated that she was NOT Milo at all. This realisation dowsed the hopes of Adriana and the Great Dane grunt and their faces fell. Then Brutus narrowed his eyes at the female Dalmatian as she finished an apple core, being mindful of any seeds present for she appeared to know that apple seeds can be toxic.

"What if she could be one of Milo's daughters," the Doberman said in a low voice, "But has grown up and has left her parents' side."

"How do you know she could be one of Milo's daughters, Brutus?" asked Paws.

"She does NOT look related to Milo whatsoever," added Bryony. Brutus, however, remained adamant in his deduction about the female Dalmatian in front of the group. Then an idea entered his head.

"Let's go out and meet her," said he at which his underlings shot him a "WHAT!?" look. Brutus turned to Nigel and Vecna and said, "You two stay behind for the time being with some of our pack members."

A sour glare flared on Nigel's face and Vecna breathed an angry sigh and the cockatoo and the swan reluctantly obeyed while Brutus and some of his pack members, among them Bryony and Otis, prepared to make their move. Brutus had concocted an idea for this Dalmatian based on his deductions.

"We need to play it nice when we introduce ourselves to her and befriend her, and also make up a story about ourselves as her father will have told her and any siblings she may have had about us and his background as a smugglers' dog to cover our TRUE intentions," the Doberman told his selected pack members, "Maybe she can help us find Milo's house but we have to earn her trust first."

"B-but I thought Vecna the swan was going to do that," said the Chihuahua.

"There's been a change of plans," said Brutus, "Now let's get ready to meet that Dalmatian and befriend her. Have any of you got any of that meat we cadged from that butcher stall saved from our previous meal?"

Bryony and Otis answered this question by producing a slab of it to Brutus' delight.

"Excellent," said the Doberman, "Let that be a gift to that unhappy-looking Dalmatian when we meet her."

With that, the group prepared to step out in front of the female Dalmatian which was Sabrina (who was indeed one of Milo's daughters as Brutus had correctly deduced).

Sabrina glared bitterly at the trash can she had knocked over in her attempt to scavenge for any scraps of food from within it, her stomach rumbling, clearly indicating that the morsels of scraps she had managed to find were NOT satisfactory. Embittered, the miserable Dalmatian prepared to move on when suddenly, a voice caught her attention.

"Hey, young Dalmatian, I can see you've been struggling to find enough scraps to completely fill your stomach. Here, this slab of meat will do the job," a lump of red flesh appeared and landed in front of Sabrina to her surprise. Sabrina looked up and gazed at the one who threw her the meat lump and to her further surprise; it was a hulking black Doberman and he was flanked by a number of other dogs of various breeds. One of them was a black and white border collie and these dogs gazed at Sabrina with sympathetic looks. Sabrina, staring at the group of dogs for a few seconds, then dug into the slab of meat.

"That's it, eat up," said the Doberman, Brutus in a soft but stern voice, "It is never good to go wandering round with an empty stomach."

"Indeed," said the collie, Bryony, "it doesn't half bother you."

"And you get weaker the longer you go without food," put in a Chihuahua. Sabrina continued eating the meat slab until she had eaten her fill. However, there was enough meat to fully satisfy her hunger. After this, she gazed up at the dogs.

"Thanks," she said, "I have to move on now."

She was about to walk on but Brutus got up and rushed to the front of her, stopping her in her tracks.

"Wait a minute, young lass," said he, "Before you go anywhere, I have a few questions to ask. What are you doing out here on the streets on your own anyway? They're not really a safe place to be."

"Especially since you still have a collar with an identification tag around your neck," said another dog, Otis the black and white spaniel.

"Plus there are many dangers that could be lurking in every nook and cranny in the streets," put in Adriana, a brown Labrador. The other dogs with Brutus murmured in agreement and the Doberman looked on with that same look and nodded. Sabrina glared at the group of strangers, wary of them. Her parents Milo and Ellie had told Sabrina and her nine siblings when they had been puppies about stranger danger, be it humans or other animals, and how they should ALWAYS be VERY careful of them as they never know what dangers they might be hiding. They could pose as friendly characters but that friendliness may just be a mere facade to hide their true intentions such as kidnap. She formed a sentence to say as an answer to Brutus' initial question.

"Whoever you dogs are, I'm NOT in the mood to talk so get lost and leave me alone," she grumbled and with that, she changed direction and was about to walk that way but Brutus once again darted to the front of her and blocked her path to stop her.

"Please, young lass, we're VERY concerned for your safety," said Brutus as his accompanying minions came around him. From their hiding place, the other dogs and also Vecna and Nigel watched on.

"She sure is reluctant, isn't she?" grumbled the cockatoo but the Great Dane told him to shut up in a hushed voice, making Nigel bitterly flinch. A titter escaped Vecna's beak and the group resumed watching the scene as Brutus and his chosen comrades continued to talk to Sabrina.

"How have you ended up on the streets anyway?" asked Bryony, "Have you been thrown out or something?"

"It does sometimes happen when owners don't want their dogs anymore," added Otis.

"Or you could have just run away yourself," said the Chihuahua. Brutus nodded to these possibilities in agreement.

"Go away," snapped Sabrina moodily, "I told you lot I'm NOT in the mood."

"We can't," said Brutus, "We've become involved now," he paused before continuing, "I believe you've become an outcast, am I right?"

"Well, if that is so, then so are we," said Bryony.

"We're in the same kennel as you," said the Chihuahua. Sabrina shot the group a surprised look.

"Really?" she asked.

"We too had owners but we have become no longer wanted and just chucked out of our homes. We're among the unfortunate dogs to face that as Otis here said," said Brutus with a nod to the spaniel who nodded in agreement. He was obviously lying to cover up the true nature of his group as being former smugglers' dogs, his wariness of Sabrina being one of Milo's daughters clearly present. However, he still mentioned the name of one of his 'friends' (who were actually some of his underlings).

"And since then," added Bryony, "we have banded together to survive as a pack of street dogs as on our own, we're too vulnerable and helpless."

"Maybe you can join us?" asked Otis.

"After all," said another dog, a female poodle who is unnamed, "Like we've said, wandering about the streets alone is dangerous."

Then Brutus extended a paw as an offer to Sabrina, hoping that she would take it. Sabrina gazed at the smiling Doberman as he held his paw out. Behind the hulking dog, the other dogs also smiled with hope. Then a sigh left her mouth and she sat down near Brutus and gazed out into the cityscape of Rio, the glistening sea clearly visible in the western horizon.

"I suppose I can since, as you've said, being alone on the streets makes me more vulnerable to the dangers..." she said with acceptance to the gladness of the dogs. After all, Sabrina did not want to go back to her neighbourhood and face her bullies and the worsening financial circumstances of her owners. She would rather be with a pack of street dogs than in there and this pack of dogs seemed friendly enough. She then began to open up to them as Brutus and company came and sat round her as she also had no-one else to talk to. For the first time since she ran away from her home, she began to let someone in.

"I live with a family of four humans: parents with two children. The name of the mother is Gabrielle and the father is Juan and their son and daughter are named Chris and Carla respectively. We live in a neighbourhood in which everyone else is richer and able to afford better luxuries than us. While everyone else is richer, we live on a low income with just enough to get by. Because we are poor compared to the other neighbours who are rich, our neighbours looked down on us and picked on us. I kept facing bullying from the dogs and cats from those richer families and I longed for my family to be rich like them. I envied the luxuries the other dogs and cats had but since my family was so poor, they couldn't afford such for me. Then things took a turn for the worse when Juan lost his job due to some stupid female co-worker who tried to get him to cheat on his wife and got him into trouble, and half of our income disappeared. My owners began to shun me when I wanted attention and that was the last bone and I left my house. Then my rich neighbours' dogs and cats decided to take the opportunity to rub their wealthy lifestyle in my face by picking on me and that drove me away to where I am now. In short, I decided to leave and NEVER return there again..."

"It's horrible to hear all that," said Brutus with sympathy, "Life can be SO bite-y at times can't it?"

"Especially when injustice wins such as in the situation you just described regarding your owners," put in Bryony. Sabrina just breathed another sad sigh and lowered her head and ears further.

"Do you think your parents and any possible siblings you have, have a better life than you?" asked Bryony.

"Just like your neighbours and their dogs and cats who treated you badly because you are poor compared to them," said Otis.

"I'm a grown dog now," replied Sabrina, "I'm old enough to leave my parents' side and I'm supposed to be the dog of that family I just described to you," then Sabrina's bitterness then began to show itself in her voice as it began to break, "Oh... o... oh, how I WISH I was like my nine brothers and sisters who have gone to families that are FAR happier than the one I was sold to. Sunspot, one of my brothers for example, is now the dog of Tulio and his family. He has a LOT going for him. He has a girlfriend, a club he has set up himself... he is loved by the former human companion of Blu..." the moment the name of the macaw he despised MOST came out of Sabrina's mouth in her description, Nigel released a LOUD rancorous hiss.

"I wouldn't be surprised if THAT dog is like my MOST detested NEMESIS..." he began but Hopper and Jackie hissed at him to shut up. Nigel sourly obeyed and continued watching Brutus and his chosen comrades as they continued to 'befriend' Sabrina and eventually recruit her into their pack. Sabrina continued. "You know that saying, 'the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence'. Well, THAT in particular applies to me and my skinflint owners..." Sabrina paused to sniffle as she said this, "I am SO jealous of Sunspot and that he had been chosen by Tulio and his family to be their dog and NOT me. I wish I was chosen by Tulio instead of him. However, Dad has always told me to be content with my life, especially since my family loves me but I despise my owners. They're NOT rich like our neighbours; they don't pamper me as much as the neighbours that have dogs and cats do and all we have for necessities are the basics which PALE in comparison to the luxuries our neighbours have."

"That's what some of us have suffered," said Brutus with sympathy. However, this sympathy was fake as he was using this to disguising his true intentions. He was trying to take advantage of Sabrina's misery in an attempt to get her to join his pack so that she could help him find her father's house so that he and his pack and carry out their revenge. Then Brutus held out his paw once again.

"Like I've said, you can join our pack," said he, "We have much in common so you are welcome to be a new addition to our group."

"We'll be your friends and help you to survive," said the poodle.

"But we do have a favour to ask of you... um... what is your name?"

"It's Sabrina," said Sabrina, her trust in this pack beginning to grow. However, she should know better but because she was so miserable and downcast and any sense she had about stranger danger had been eclipsed by her bitterness and lack of care.

"Well, Sabrina," continued Bryony, "we are on our way to somewhere and we would like your help. We'll explain on the way but first, we must move on. We shall be your new family and pack."

Sabrina gazed up at Brutus and the pack and thought for a few seconds. After thinking, she relented.

"Okay, I'll go with you as I've nowhere else to go anyway," she said, gladness welling within her. This ignited joy within Brutus and the pack but it was not joy in the context of true friendship. It was joy in the context of their manipulation of this poor Dalmatian and daughter of Milo and Ellie being put in motion. Brutus smiled and led Sabrina back to the rest of his pack's hiding place so that Sabrina can meet the other pack members. However, when the Dalmatian saw Nigel and Vecna, she suddenly became extremely wary but the two birds immediately posed as a friendly duo with Nigel lying that he had become a better cockatoo and had learned his lessons about messing with 'pretty birds' while Vecna lied that he was a lost swan that the dogs had found and had taken in. Vecna even pulled Nigel into a 'friendly' hug to further conceal their true nature. Nigel, though he despised the swan, formed a mock smile on his beak to add to the facade. Brutus then explained to Sabrina that Nigel as completely changed his ways and is a nicer cockatoo, pretending to agree with the rotten bird. Nigel then extended a tattered wing to Sabrina to shake her paw ion a greeting. Sabrina slowly accepted this and uneasily shook the wing. Then suddenly, the group had to move on when some humans appeared. Immediately, they did, taking Sabrina with them. As they went, Sabrina continued to lower her guard against the dogs and also the cockatoo and the swan, convinced that they were kind and caring and had changed their ways but she should have had second thoughts.

What she was doing was a BIG, BIG mistake as these dogs used to be friends with her father when he was a puppy before he eventually turned against them and became Matthew, Brendan and May's pet and breeding dog. In essence, Sabrina was beginning to betray her family... and her friends.