(Wounded)

As Rose walked back to the barge, she was unaware that she was being followed.

She had become hungry on the way back so she decided to find something before heading back.

The shepherd mix managed to find herself a single hamburger. As she was heading back, she thought she could hear the sound of paws behind her.

"You can drop that right now, little missy," a husky voice said from behind her. Rose stops dead in her tracks and cowered down.

She looked over her shoulder in fear, ears dropped down, and eyes widened a bit.

When she saw the dog behind her, she quickly composed herself.

She turned around and stood in front of him, standing her ground. After setting her morsel down in front of her, she glared up at him, ears perked up and tail raised a bit.

"I'm not giving up my hard-earned food to you, buddy. So just leave me alone," she said, growling warningly at him.

When she turned around with her food in her jaws again, she tried walking away.

"Oh, no you don't!" the dog growled, making a leap at her. He knocked her over, knocking the burger out of her jaws.

Rose yelped from the impact of the pavement. The dog walked passed her and picked up the burger and started to walk away.

Rose wasn't about to let this mongrel steal her food that she's worked so hard for.

She gets to her paws and growled at him. "Hey! That's mine!" she bellowed, galloping over to him.

The mixed dog lunged at him and landed on his back, biting down on his neck hide.

"AAGHHH! GET OFF OF ME!" the dog howled, jumping around to get her off of him.

He rammed her into the wall with his back, getting her off of him.

Rose was stunned for a few moments, unable to get up.

"I'm gonna show you who you're messing with, you brat," he scowled, standing over her.

He started to bite her on her neck, back, legs, and was about to bite down on her throat.

However, Rose wasn't going down without a fight. She sunk her fangs into his foreleg, puncturing the skin. Blood ran down his leg, making him release her.

"You... You brat!" he scowled, jaws wide open, fangs and all showing.

Rose stood back up, bleeding from her opened wounds. However, she wasn't going to forfeit this fight.

She stood in a fighting position, baring her teeth, snarling deeply.

She leapt at the bigger dog, latching herself to the side of his neck, sinking her fangs into him, front paws on his shoulders.

This dog felt the strength of mutts' bite force and he felt overwhelmed.

He shook her off and retreated. Rose watched as the bigger dog galloped away, tail tucked between his legs.

When the adrenaline wore off, she suddenly felt weak. She panted heavily, tongue hanging out of her bottom jaw.

Blood dripped onto the pavement below her. She needed to get home, but it'd be hard to in this weather.

It was so cold. Not to mention it was snowing, making things worse.

Her entire body throbbed and she started limping home, eyes closed.

All she heard was the sound of the wind picking up, making her feel weaker.

She didn't have any more fight left in her. She collapsed a few blocks from there, leaving a blood trail behind her.

She laid on her side, head stretched outwards so that she was looking ahead. Her breathing was shallow and her body felt heavy.

'Don't let me die here... please... not like this... I need to go home...' she thought while whimpering.

Before passing out, she thought she could see four figures running towards her. But she couldn't make out who they were.

Then, she passed out just before they reached her.

When she woke up, the first thing she felt was the warmth of the barge and her blankets. She opened her eyes and saw the familiar room of rotting wood and she caught the scent of wet dog.

Lifting her head, she felt relieved that she was finally home...

Looking around, she saw Dodger asleep on Fagin, Einstein was laying inside his makeshift tent, and Rita slept in her makeshift bed.

Rose felt much warmer now thanks to the blankets.

Dodger soon woke up and saw his best friend waking up. "Rose! You're awake!" he barked happily, jumping down from Fagin's lap, which woke him up.

Rita ran over and put her head against Rose's, crying with relief.

Einstein walked over and smiled warmly at his little friend. She was really here... She was home.

Fagin gently picked her up while she was still in the blanket and held the puppy close.

"Thank goodness we found you, girl. Thought we lost ya in the snow out there," Fagin said. Rose puts a paw on his chest and started to lick him. All he did was laugh warmly at this action of affection.

She yawned, letting Fagin know she was tired. Fagin sat back down in his recliner with Rose in his lap. She rested her head and left forepaw on his clothed arm.

Dodger joined along with Rita, creating one big puppy pile on Fagin's lap, which he didn't mind. They were able to keep each other warm that way. Einie joined them as well, but he was too big to get on Fagin's lap; He laid down beside the living chair with a blanket on top of him.

Rose closed her eyes again and smiled, feeling right at home again.

(The Next Morning)

Rose woke up again, still finding her spot on Fagin's warm lap. Dodger and Rita were asleep still too.

Through her bleary eyes, she saw that her friends changed.

All three dogs were more thinner a bit, mostly because of winter. It was always harsh.

Dodger still had the impish look on his face, as if she hadn't seen it in a long time.

She gets up and jumps off of Fagin's lap and stretched her sore limbs.

She felt a bit better after being jumped by that street dog, but otherwise sore. Even though those bites made her bleed, they weren't deep enough to leave scars.

Off at the corner, she saw some left over hotdogs. They looked fresh too.

She went over to them and grabbed a couple with her teeth. When she started to eat it, she didn't realize just how hungry she was.

"Hello there, gorgeous," Dodger said from behind her. Rose perked up when his voice entered her ears. She turned her head and smiled.

"Hey, Dodgie," she said with a smile.

"Hungry, are ya?" Dodger asked. "Yeah, guess I didn't realize that I was until I ate this," Rose said, finishing her food.

"Where'd you go yesterday, Rose? You've been gone awile. Everything okay?" Dodger asked, laying next to her.

"Yeah, had to do some thinking, Dodge. I meant to come back sooner," Rose replied, dropping her ears a bit.

"We thought that you weren't gonna come back. You had Rita scared to death," Dodger said a bit sternly.

Rose closed her eyes, feeling guilty to worrying her friends.

"I'm sorry, Dodge. I didn't mean to," she said. Dodger gave her a nudge on her shoulder.

"No need to worry. You're home now," he said, standing back up.

Rose smiled up at him, her tail wagging on the floor. "Thanks, Dodger. That means a lot. And I thank you for staying with me and keeping me warm," Rose said.

"Not a problem, Rose. You know we got your back. From this day forward, we're always gonna have your back. We're all friends here?" Dodger said.

He then dropped down to a play bow position, wagging his tail.

"How about we play, show me those moves?" Dodger asked, tongue hanging out of his jaws.

"How about we wait until my strength is back, yeah?" she said with a smile.

"Alright, we'll go slow," Dodger insisted. Rose couldn't resist Dodger's offer though.

She stood up and dropped down in front of him, wagging her tail.

They started to play together, but they went carefully since Rose was still recovering.

Rose tackling him and had him underneath her, mouthing his throat.

Dodger gently bit her back, laughing at her. He nudged her with his paws, nuzzling her. She snuggled back and wagged her tail.

She got off of him and the two dogs laid next to each other.

"You gonna be okay now?" Dodger asked.

"Yeah. This is my home. And I wouldn't change it for anything," Rose said, smiling warmly. She knew in her heart that she was in the right place.