Weed Meets Toboe
#6 of Weed's Life
Weed ran into the dark without seeing who was coming thinking that it may have been the Malamute coming back and in his rushed preemptive he was not prepared to meet a year old pup head on.
The two crashed into one another and the rolled into a ball of fur and muscle on the grass until Weed ended on top of the other canine. Or at least he guessed it was a canine as the Akita grounded himself and looked up from his spinning headache to see a dirty brown muzzle looking back at him with a confused expression.
"Wh...who are you?" Weed got himself off of the other dog(?) and then sat down nearby to stare at the other
The auburn colored canine(?) jumped up from its position on its back and then shook the debris from his fur before looking at the Akita pup. A faint jingle could be heard through the night and Weed looked to see something silvery shining in the light of the moon on the canine's ankle.
"My name's Toboe! Who are you?" the canine gave a swift bark and then wagged his tail with excitement that infected Weed and made him shave his own curled appendage
"My name's Weed. What are you doing out here?" Weed cocked his head to stare at the other and then the Akita male took a real closer look at the dog standing in front of him
Everything about the other sent Weed's senses ablaze as he noticed the features of the canine. For instances his muzzle was more elongated than any dog's he had seen, his paws were bigger even though he was about the same age as himself, and his eyes were golden with a small rim of brown circling the insides of the canine's orbs.
Not only those things but just the general feel of the auburn dog was...wrong for some reason. His smell was subtler and yet it had the sharp tang of human surrounding it. Like the year old pup had been saturated with the scent of humans until his own scent was permanently mixed with the human odor.
"Oh I'm just looking for a friend of mine. He's supposed to be somewhere in the city but I lost him and forgot where we were supposed to meet up at. This place is just so big and all the smells made me confused so I just decided to search for him on my own." the pride in the Toboe's voice was unmistakable even to Weed
"Whose your friend?" Weed asked while looking around the area to see if someone would pop out instantly to answer him
"Oh he's...hey is that Mel? Mel!" Toboe rushed passed Weed and left a trail of dust in his wake
Once over the prone figure of the golden Retriever Toboe bent down and licked the pup on his face making blue eyes look up at him cautiously. As recognition swam through Mel's brain he barked and then tackled the auburn canine to the ground in a mock fight.
"Toboe! Your okay, I thought that 'they' had caught you! Mel said to his friend while wrestling with the other
"No way! 'He' taught me how to fight back and I bit on of those guys and then ran of while he was taking care of himself. The other tried to catch me but I made him slip over his feet and then hid out until they were gone!" Weed was confused as he had been totally left out of the conversation
"What are you two talking about? You know him Mel?" Weed's questions came to mind in a backwards order but he wanted to know more about the current conversation than get confirmation about Mel's and the other canine's friendship seeing as the golden pup was acting friendly towards Toboe
"Yeah Toboe helped me steal some food for everyone back in the warehouses." Toboe ducked his head in embarrassment as he recalled meeting the small retriever that day and watching his failed attempts to try to take a bunch of sausage links from the local butcher. Unable to help himself Toboe had bit the man on his butt and caused the largely muscled human to chase him through the streets forgetting about Mel
Long story short Toboe had gained a new friend as well many other playmates in the pups back at the docks and a special place in Mel's mind.
"So another thief makes his way into our little circle, eh?" the voice of another made the pup's jump and the hackles on Toboe's scruff bunch up and his fangs slip from his maw
"Easy kid! We're not going to hurt you right Smith?" the voice's owner walked from the darkness of the surrounding bushes to reveal a green furred and black spotted canine alongside a monochrome colored adult spaniel
"Hey GB! Smith! Are you okay? What happed to the other guy?" Weed rushed over to his guardians and yipped at them while jumping up and down energetically as all puppies do when wanting attention
"Now, now Weed...settled down and tell us who you're friend is and then we can all talk civically." Smith, the universal voice of reason calmly exclaimed while looking at the wolf pup still growling at himself and GB
Unlike the other Smith had been around long enough to know a wolf when he saw one and casually glanced to his companion to see if he had made the connection.
GB looked at his two toned furred friend and then nodded his head to Toboe and then stared at Smith.
Silenced passed between the two for a moment while Weed looked between the two confusedly. When a nod from Smith made GB sit down on his haunches and then yawn into the night sky Toboe loss his angry face, as 'he' liked to call it and then cocked his own auburn head to the side in confusion.
"It's okay little one, we have no interest in causing you any harm but aren't you far from home?" Smith asked in that double worded way adults do when they mean to ask something without outright saying so
"...I..." Toboe ducked his head and lowered his eyes while his tail tucked under his flank and his pointed ears flattened themselves
"It's okay. Why don't we all start at the beginning and then move on from there." with that Smith began his interrogation/conversation with the pups well until the moon set below the horizon and the first rays of light of morning rained down from the cloudless sky
Gathering information had always been a strong suit with the French Spaniel and it made him essential to Gin and his comrades in the Ohu Mountains. As the oldest of the group talked and listened he found out about Mel and the other pups being held in the warehouse district of the city, Toboe's friend while telling Weed, Mel, and Toboe that the Malamute had been taken care of.
After the pups had laid down to rest up for the morning Smith and GB talked and the two older canines decided what to do about their journey. Truthfully Smith was having much more fun than he had originally planned when he had been assigned this mission by Gin and it took his mind of the coming punishment he was going to be awarded upon his return to the Ohu Mountains.
Sighing the monochrome spaniel made plans with GB to free up the other pups being held by the now dead malamute's companions and then return to the original mission of escorting Weed to his father. From that point what was going to be would be and everything else would be handled from then on.
The only thing was the presence of the wolf pup; this child was no runt and could care for himself and his friend sounded to be the same way...this Tsume. The questions of why wolves would come into a human city perplexed Smith to no end as he knew that their habitats were far from places where man ruled.
Could it have been that the rumors were true, the ones that said that something was happening to the lush lands to force their wild cousins to integrate themselves into the world of man. It wasn't like wolves were much different from dogs in a true since other than they held themselves with much more pride to their ancestry of living from the land and protecting it from humans at all costs.
The stories he had heard from Gin and some of the other dogs about wolves being able to hide themselves amongst humans without notice had always intrigued Smith but he assumed that they were nothing more than wild tales spun for pups but with a wolf pup feet away from him sleeping alongside Weed and Mel Smith wondered...
Shaking his head the black and white furred dog smirked to himself and his overactive imagination and berated himself for letting it get out of control.
More than likely the little wolf had followed this other wolf into the city and had just gotten lost. That had to have been all there was to it...because there was no chance that wolves could live side by side with humans and not be known...
Laughing quietly the oldest canine yawned and settled himself down right side of GB and the warmth that the other provided for him. When he nuzzled into the English Setter's neck fur and then sighed as he was lulled to sleep by the even breathing from his companion.
Wolves living with humans indeed...
Written By Shaesullivan Requested by me Toboe was added by him