"What are we gonna do about him?"
"Realistically I don't know, but it's best we keep him rested... well until something comes up about him either being lost... or missing"
Voices could be heard circling through Shane's mind as he remained unconscious but still breathing and his eyes showed nothing other than darkness due to him being asleep. However his moment of resting would come to an end, when he quickly awakened, his eyes now opened seemingly wide as Shane saw he had slept on a orange, looking couch and was no longer in the alleyway he stayed in previously but instead a nicely decorated living room while he started to breathe heavily, getting a feel of the perfectly temperature room. "Where am I?" Shane asks himself.
Last night
It was now midnight once again and within the Heeler household, a red cattle dog named Chill was standing with her smartphone placed alongside her ear as she's been in a conversation with her fellow family member. "Relatively speaking Trixie. This does sound like the time when you eat all my chips, so I agree with Stripe that it's time to get off the lemonade well you can-" Chill was speaking on the phone, however her conversation would end when see heard the front door being kicked opened and saw it was Bandit who stood there holding what to her as something large wrapped around in a blanket.
"Honey, I need your assistance!" Bandit shouted to which Chill's eyes suddenly widened, by the sight and how urgent he sounded. "We'll talk later" Chill immediately hung up the phone and looked at Bandit. "What's happening? And what is that?" Chill asked him. "I'll tell you in sec. Let me lay him on the couch" Bandit responds as he went around to the other side of the couch and laid the mysterious thing down but while doing so he unfolded the blanket revealing to his wife a human being.
"Is that a human, a human kid no less. Who is this Bandit?!" Chill freaked out, demanding questions of her own on why her husband brought a human in the house. "Don't be mad at me, but I have a reason for doing this" Bandit said trying to explain himself. But as he was about to, he and his wife then heard some noise coming from upstairs and noticed looking down was there kids, Bluey and Bingo.
"Mum, Dad. What are you doing?" Their oldest daughter, Bluey asked them to which Chill and Bandit both looked at each other trying to find a way to explain all this to their daughters. "Oh nothing sweetie. Just go back sleep you and Bingo ok?" Chill told her daughters, they then both nodded and went back to rooms as Bandit then looked at her and sighed.
"Look, I was driving home from work and I saw this kid walking down the street, I thought nothing of it until I noticed he was lumping only to then go into an alleyway. I parked in that same alley and found him sleeping in a cardboard box using newspapers as blankets! I decided to pick him up, put him in my car and take him home so he would be safer" Bandit confessed to his wife, who in return facepalmed.
"Bandit. You can't just bring some random kid here, what if his parents are looking for him?" Chill asked him back which Bandit knew was right but continued to explain more. "I couldn't leave him there, Chill. Yes you're certainly right that I shouldn't have brought here, but look at him" Bandit said as Chill looked at the human, asleep and with a bruise on his left leg.
"He was out there... alone with possibly no way to defend himself, especially with his leg injury. I felt that me leaving him like that would be cruel on my behalf, he doesn't deserve it and I want to help him the best I can, the best we can" Bandit explains as he then holds his wife's hand to which she did the same. "I promise I'll find whoever or wherever he belongs to and take him there safe and sound however it's best he stays" Bandit adds to which Chill has a moment of thought as the room becomes silent for a bit before Chill breaks the silence.
"Yeah but... Sighs... alright he'll stay, go grab some gel medicine and bandage tape from the cabinet, we shall talk to him tomorrow morning however we both need to keep an eye on him. Hopefully when he wakes up we'll get some more answers" Chill told her husband as he nodded and went into the kitchen to grab said items, Chill then looked back at the human. Her expression became both concerned and worried about who this kid could possibly be.
Present day
Returning to the present day, Shane was now back to laying on the couch as his mind tried to piece together what had happened last night and where he ended up now. "Aw this is not what I had in mind. I know I wanted to get out of the orphanage and all find Scarlet but somehow I ended up here... why that?" Shane wondered to himself while staring at the ceiling. Eventually he got bored of this and got up to stretch his arms.
"Anyways. I should get up and look around, maybe somebody's home to give me an explanation" Shane suggested to himself, he then proceeded to get off the couch as he noticed his left leg had bandage tape wrapped around it but what was more interesting to him is that it felt perfectly normal compared to it feeling like crap last night. "Huh whoever lives here seems to have taken care of my leg, looking at it more firmly though I might have just pulled a muscle" He came to a conclusion.
The human saw on a lounge chair his shoes and backpack which he went putting his shoes on before opening his bag where he found his phone, however it was dead when he tried to turn it on. "Dang so much for that. Seems like it's time to be Detective Shane! I guess" Shane told himself, placing his phone in his pocket and proceeded to take a tour around the house.
He looked around downstairs, every nook and cranny for a good few minutes until he made his way upstairs where he opened the first door, he saw and took a peek inside noticing nothing special, just a normal bedroom with a balcony as he shrugged before shutting it. Other than that he opened the next doors to no avail only finding a bathroom, closet and another closet.
However opening the another door this time, he found something that caught his eye, a larger bedroom with two bedrooms on the same side but separated as he walked in found decorations and lights around the room's wall including lots of toys that were on the floor, this made Shane suspect that this was obviously a child's bedroom but more likely belonging to two kids.
"Woah this is some room" Shane admired, all of that would be put aside though when Shane looked straight ahead and saw their balcony to which he walked onto. The area was beautiful in his eyes, having a full view of both the backyard of the house and the surrounding city of Brisbane from as he then sighed in relaxation.
"I'm not in Brisbane anymore" Shane says to himself. Clueless to him however was a young bipedal dog with orange fur who seems to resemble a red heeler as they walked by but stopped when they saw the sight of Shane. "Nah, it seems more like I'm on the outskirts or something," Shane added. "AHHHHH! Dad!" Suddenly the human heard yelling behind him as he turned and saw the young red heeler who ran off.
"Hey wait a second. I'm not gonna hurt you" Shane said when he felt his stomach began to rumble, instantly knowing he hasn't eaten anything today. "Eh my stomach" Shane grunted while putting his arms around his stomach. "I suppose I should go eat something" He said looking back at the door and saw that he didn't receive a response back from the red heeler.
Meanwhile, Shane was back downstairs and found himself in the kitchen as he searched through different cabinets for whatever to snack on, but nothing solved his cravings. Until his eyes locked onto the refrigerator. "Um let's see what's in here" Shane commented, opening the fridge to find a good amount of drinks and food as he grabbed some deli meat before eating half of it.
"You're finally awake" Somebody then said with a masculine voice which made Shane stop and jump in fear, hearing another person in room as he turned and saw leaning against the counter an older blue heeler dog, his fur being mostly blue with a bit of light blue and tan with the main part being his face which had black fur around resembling a mask. And finally he was spiking a mullet haircut with some gray stripes around his black fur.
"Uh- I'm sorry, I didn't know someone was here. I was just hungry- please don't hurt me!" Shane uttered in panic, putting the deli meat back in the fridge before putting his hands up in defiance. "Hurt you? Nah Mate, why would I do something like that? I did save you after all" He said to the human, trying to calm the situation down but this only made Shane losted hearing the last part of what he said.
"Saved me? How so?" Shane wondered, confused by what he meant by saving him. "Wait, you don't remember? Ah what am I saying of course you don't remember, you were asleep when I brought you here" They said. Noting the human didn't remember anything about what had happened last night. "Hold on, slow down... let me process this, you found me in the alleyway and so you brought me to your house? Why?" Shane asked the blue heeler.
"Well like I told my wife, I was driving home from work last night and I saw you walking down the street with your leg lumping, before you went into an alleyway. I parked my car and found you sleeping in a cardboard box using newspapers as blankets so I decided to pick you up, put you in my car and took you home so you would be safer" The blue heeler explains as his proposed wife and kids suddenly came into the room.
"Bandit. I heard from Bingo, the human had woken up and... oh hello?" His wife uttered which made Shane widen hearing the name Bandit as he looked more closely at him and realized that he was strikingly similar to the person who he saw on Scarlet's phone and in Brandy's picture to which he started to question by wondering. "Bandit? Like the famous archaeologist, Bandit Heeler?" Shane asks. "Uh yeah. And this is my wife, Chill and my kids Bluey and Bingo, do you know us by any chance?" Bandit asked him back but as he did, they all then had a voice who was coming into the room as well.
"Hey family. I have returned from... Shane?!" A familiar voice shouted, Shane saw them fully as they came in. It was Brandy, the same woman he saw in the gas station which led to his suspicions to be correct; he was in the same house as the Brisbane celebrity.
"Wait Brandy, you know him?" Chill asked her sister while Shane was left stunned by where he ended up as the kitchen started to get more hectic with both Bandit and Chill wanting questions from Brandy who answered her sister's question with a "Uh- I- Um" She tries to explain but then. "Hold it. Time out for a second!" Suddenly they all heard Shane shout before walking over to the three of them and getting in the middle to add his part to the conversation. "Can we all just sit and chill out for one moment please?!" Shane says before adding more to his sentence. "Yes I know Brandy and I can explain everything" Shane told all of them to which Bandit, Chill, and Brandy only stared at each other.
An hour later
"Woah. Mate that's a lot to process all together" Bandit replied as the four were sitting at the dinner table, now caught up with his current
predicament/situation.
"So putting this in the correct order... you're 16 years old, you came from Vancouver, British Columbia within Canada, coming down here to see your grandparents which didn't go as planned and led you to an orphanage. Where you met this girl that you went sneaking out with to the same gas station my sister just so happens to be at and would eventually miss this girl due to her leaving but actually running away from the orphanage, so you concocted a plan with a fellow orphan to escape to go looking for her which lead to you being the only one who actually left and somehow all of this... is to find that very same girl and give her back a ping she lost that very night?!" Chill asked, only explaining practically half of what Shane told them to which he just awkwardly smiled.
"Yeah... crazy story am I right?" Shane responded, having an awkward tone of voice while Chill just facepalmed. "Look, maybe the orphanage has a search flier on him, we just need to know which one and we can solve this misunderstanding," Brandy said. joining the discussion.
"Perhaps. But the case still remains, it's gonna be a while to find it and clear it So..." Bandit said before turning to face his wife, his expression looking serious. "Chill. I think He's going to have to live with us for the time being" Bandit stated which shocked the entire room including their Bluey and Bingo who were watching from behind a door.
"Wait- Bandit I... I'm not sure about this. Don't get me wrong it's not that he's a teenager with parents or that there isn't anywhere for him to sleep, but you know fully well a third kid. One that's especially older is a big commitment. Are you sure you want to go through this?" Chill asked him to which Bandit then grabbed her hand and held onto it before giving his answer.
"Yes. Yes I will, cause like I said last night, I promise I'll find whoever or wherever he belongs to and take him there safe and sound and with yours and now Brandy's help. We can get through anything, I will make sure this kid is treated well. Heck we as parents can teach him a thing or two about these parts. I just want to know if you'll join by my side?" Bandit asks her back.
She thought for a moment, at first she had doubts that this wouldn't work considering they had two kids already, having a three one to take care of would be a challenge and tough at the same time, but seeing that her husband was committed to helping Shane She obliged. "Promise me you'll find the orphanage He came from, and return him Especially to his parents" Chill told Bandit. "I promise sweetie" Bandit rest assured as they both embraced into a hug before separating and Bandit then focused his eyes back onto Shane.
"Well kid. I guess you're staying with us for a while, it's going to be tough and slightly chaotic mostly with my kids... but through all of it you'll mostly get used to" Bandit informed the human while getting up from his chair, walking over Shane and kneeling down to get on his level as he then told Shane his final words. "Shane McKinley... I shall welcome you to the family. Champ"
Human of the Wild
A/N: And there you have it! The Chapter is completely. Which means the first arc is officially completed. Like I said previously this has been a fun road to write this story and this first arc, now it's onto the second arc. I can't wait to show you all what I have in store, The next chapter and first one to the second arc is coming soon. Thank you all for supporting and liking the story and I hope you enjoyed it cause don't worry the story Isn't over just yet.