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 Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 1:58 pm
 Artair was a little anxious to be out on his own for the first time. Since his unusual birthing, Artair had always been in the presence of one of his fathers or one of his brothers or sisters, never completely alone. But today, he decided he was old enough to go exploring without one of his family having him tag along at their heels. He wanted to give them a rest from the poor dumb dog who didn't know how to speak very well, while his brothers and sisters could practically sing without jumbling up their words.
It made him a little depressed, but he did try. Really. Just... not often. There wasn't much to talk about anyway, he didn't see the point in wasting words!
His exploration had taken Artair from the junkyard and to the dog park in the city. He snuck in as carefully as he could, hiding behind a bush and looking around. All the people and their dogs looked so alien to him, as a stray who rarely saw dogs with owners. What a silly concept, walking around strutting with a leash tied to your neck! Oh, wait, were they wearing necklaces?
Artair frowned, scrunching his nose up. He thought only humans wore silly things like necklaces. That was so weird... Curiosity overpowering the young pup, Artair left the safety of his bush and started walking around, paying more attention to the dogs around him then where he was walking. It was fascinating.
He couldn't wait to tell Meabh about this! ...Er. Well, show her, anyway.
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Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 2:23 pm
 Raz hated big families. Living with four siblings meant she didn't exactly get a lot fo special attention. Not to mention that fact that she was the middle child. Dead middle. It seemed that, at most tie, she was just there. Wall flower till the end. The invisdible shadow.
But no. Today was her day. Her chance for fun. The others were sleeping. She had been awake when the master had whistled, leashes in hand, ready for a walk. And so, it was she alone who had come to the dog park today. She skipped, her hind legs reaching farther off the ground than her front, ending in a ball as the master's feet, the leash wrapped around her torso. The master gave that soft laugh that she always did when one of the puppies did something odd.
But soon as Razi had been untangled she heard the quiet snip of the leash unclipping from her collar. She tilted her head upward, rearing back to paw at the master's hand once. And she was off.
There were mostly puppies in this pen. Or smaller dogs. The bigs ones were on the other side of the fence, she could see. She shied away from that side of the field. They were even bigger than Daddy! Razi bounced off, toward the group of older puppies who were chasing each other. She almost didn't see the Westie suddenly appear on her left. "Woah! Where'd you come from?" She wagged her tail once or twice good naturedly, her mouth open in a amused grin.
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Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 2:36 pm
The young Westie hadn't expected to be noticed by anyone. Despite his pale coloring, Artair tried blending into the shadows as much as he could to observe. He was a weird puppy, after all. And no matter what you were, if it was weird, it was to be feared until proven otherwise. So when a dark puppy suddenly spoke to him, actually looked at him and talked... Artair was kind of stunned speechless.
Well he was speechless to begin with, but you know what I mean.
Artair frowned at the question, and nodded back towards the bushes. He'd come from the bushes, of course. Where else would he come from? Unless she meant something else, but he was more keen to go with simple answers. Philosophical answers were for those who actually spoke. He frowned a little at her, stepping back uneasily, and looked around. She had a collar, but where was her owner? He looked back at her, and lowered his eyes to the collar.
They were so weird looking, collars.
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Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 3:07 pm
Razi cocked her head slightly to the right in confusion when she noticed the smaller puppy's almost shocked expression darken to a frown then moved in a small directional nod. Oh, right. The bushes. She wanted to smack herself in the face. This is was the only place, in the whole dog park, that he fence was covered. In bushes. She was seriously blind or something. Razi dropped her rump to the grass, grinning, tail still beating out a soft rhythm. But her grin soon froze on her face.
Wait. If he had come from the bushes... then he didn't have an owner? But that meant he was stray. Right? She lifted up one paw in front of her defensively. "You're not supposed to be in here..." She warned, a flash of anger flew across her face before she softened again.
She had heard stories about strays. They could be mean. Heartless. But what did her siblings know? They hadn't been out of the house much, like herself. And there were no strays around where she lived. At least, not that she had seen. And besides, this puppy didn't seem so evil. Slowly, she lowered her paw back to the floor. "I'm Razi." Then she noticed the other puppys interest in her collar. She shook her shoulders a little, letting the small charm jingle. "I'm here with the master. All by myself." SHe couldn't mask the pride her her voice. Her siblings were so missing out.
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Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2009 2:31 pm
Artair watched Razi, frowning a little, and tilted his head at her. She looked so happy to be here under the thumb of some silly Human. Clearly she never knew freedom on the streets, that's why she looked so silly and happy. Who liked being locked up anyway, right? Right! Artair shrugged it off quietly, watching her grin slowly mold into something else. And just like that, she figured it out. That Artair was a stray.
He winced at her flashing anger, stepping back quickly enough to send himself stumbling over his own paws. He huffed silently, straightening up after he got his footing again, and eyed Razi suspiciously. Was she going to rat him out, was that it? Send him off to the pound? He was too young to go to the pound! His dads would freak out! For a brief instant, panic flashed acrossed his eyes, but it was gone just as quickly as it came. He could outrun some stupid old dog catcher.
But the puppy who called herself Razi didn't seem to be hostile anymore. Not dangerous. After all, she was only a pet, right? What harm could come from her? His attention was drawn back to the collar. Moreso, to the jingling charm. He stepped forward, sniffing at it curiously. The other collars he saw didn't have those on it, what was it's purpose? Was it so she couldn't get lost? But that wasn't very loud... A bell'd probably be better. At the mention of the Master, Artair quickly looked around, jumping back towards the bushes. Humans were bad! They'd get him thrown in the pound!
Funnily enough, he didn't think of that before coming to the park.
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Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2009 3:00 pm
Razi immediately bit her lip when she saw the fear on the other puppy's face as he fell over. "I'm sorry!" She blurted. She hadn't meant to frighten him. If anything, he had frightened her! "Don't worry. I'm not like that." She shook her head wth a small huff. As if. She wouldn't be the one to get anyone in trouble. Unless it was one of her siblings. They deserved it then. Heh heh.
She swelled with pride again when he took interest in her collar. She loved it. It made her feel wanted, like she belonged somewhere. She shook herself a little again, giggling at the soft jingling sound. But that was when she noticed the silence. Sure, the puppies she had been heading towards in the first place were barking and growling. Her master, as well as the other masters, was talking in the low rumbling voices so unlike the anything she had ever heard.
There was noise. Behind her. All around. But in front of her, there was silence. Razi frowned, peering closely towards the other puppy. It was then she noticed that he hadn't yet spoken a word. She tilted her head to one side in confusion. But before she could say anything, the puppy receded instantly into the bush. She pushed her head into the greeness, gigling softly. "The master won't hurt you. Between you and me, they aren't that smart. There are so many dogs here, everyone just assumes that each one belongs to someone else." Razi grinned.
"Just as long you leave before everyone else does. Cause you might stick out then." She shrugged unworriedly before remembering what she had thought about before. "Hey...can you talk?" She shuffled her paws in front of her a little. She had a thing for directness. No filter. Daddy had warned that it might get her in trouble one day. And now, she was already regretting her words.
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Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2009 3:49 pm
Artair eyed Razi after her blurted apology, frowning a little. She was a weird puppy. Meabh never apologized for scaring him. She just told him to stop looking like such a fraidy cat. He wasn't a fraidy cat, though. No, he was a brave westie-long hair hybrid puppy who lived in a junkyard with rough dogs and everything. Artair wasn't afraid of some puppy. Even if she could get him into trouble. No sir, not Artair.
...well maybe he was a little afraid. But not of her!
Artair hadn't expected Razi to go following him into the bushes, and scooted back a little, wrinkling his face at her. The bush was only so big, even if they were puppies. She was invading his bubble, omg. He tilted his head at her, frowning. She looked kind of silly, poking her head into a bush. But what if the Master came over and tried pulling her out and saw him? Her head was bound to leave a big ol' hole in the bush! He scooted back a little more, scoffing a little. Humans weren't smart, of course. Meabh taught him all about that.
But they were still troublesome.
He nodded a little anyway, frowning. That was probably true, if he hung around a human long enough someone'd think it was his owner and just leave him alone, maybe. But her advice was sound. Get out before everyone else and he'd be safe. And hey, if he got good enough at it, he could come back here all the time and play with all the other puppies! Her question made his thinking stop dead, making him stare blankly at her. Talk? Like... talk? Well, Artair could communicate. Did that count?
He started to nod, then stopped, screwing his face up in thought. Talking meant words and just because his siblings could understand him didn't mean he talked... So he shook his head. No, he didn't talk. He tried once or twice but it never really worked. It was easier to let everyone else figure out what he was saying. Besides, charades were fun!
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