Canine Calamity

Melitta walked down the stone streets. Fresh meats and new vegetables from the local farms brought him into town that day, though he didn’t have to travel too far considering he lived just within the outer circle of the city. The bustle of other Rexals made keeping to the main road difficult, ending up with Mel taking a side route to make it back to the other side of the merchant laden streets. He took a quick rest against a pillar, bags hanging low in his arms from their weight. While sitting in silence, Mel felt a tug on one of his bags, looking down he saw a small white and tan pup pulling on the bag of meat he had just purchased, bright gold eyes meeting his. “Hey!” The pup yelped and took off with a large steak that it had managed to pull through the hole it’d chewed. Running off towards the local amphitheater. Melitta grabbed his other bags and began a chase of the thieving creature. Weaving in and out of other Rexes while trying to keep sight of the tuft of fur that was gaining distance between them. Mel finally had a clearing to make some headway and caught up to the pup, starting it as he tried to grab for the steak. Both tumbled down the stairs to the amphitheater, comically coming to a rest at the bottom, steak landing on Mel’s head. The pup gave a grr-bark and grabbed the steak once more before tucking away behind another Rexal. This one was tall, grey, and had a mop of curly hair upon his head. He huffed and gave a snap and a click before a large grey wolf appeared, holding the guilty pup by the scruff. The Rexal took the steak from the pup, and offered a gruff, “You really are something,” to the caught thief. “Name’s Brendanus. I see my pup here got up to some serious mischief while I wasn’t looking. I do apologize.” Melitta, standing now, brushed himself off, “Yeah, the little scamp stole my meat I’d bought. Gotta admit though, he certainly does have a nose on him.” “Her, and yes she does. She likes to get into all sorts of trouble. She’s the best retriever of the bunch.” “Oh, is she a hunting pup?” “She’ll be eventually, given she starts behaving a bit better.” Brendanus huffed in annoyance. “M-maybe I could help out a little? It seems you might have your hands full, especially if there’re more like her ha ha” Brendanus finally cracked a small smile, “her litter is certainly a lively bunch, I’ll give them that.” He scratched his chin in silence for a few moments before finally replying, “Sure, I could use some help around here. Since it’s already evening, how about you come back tomorrow?” Melitta nodded, “Tomorrow works fine for me, see you then.” Melitta turned to leave, walking back up the many stairs he’d fallen down. The amphitheater was surprisingly close to his home, so the walk wasn’t too much for his tired body. It was only as he was falling asleep that he realized he’d never gotten his steak back. (Brendanus had given it back to the pup after he’d left the big softie.)

The next morning, Melitta showed up to the amphitheater early. The sun had come up but dew still coated the plants, and the flowers had yet to open their blooms to the rising sun. The town was quiet except for a few citizens heading to work or preparing for the rush that would happen within the next few hours. The amphitheater was a different story, though, and loud barks, howls, and yips could be heard within. Mel came into a scene of Brendanus attempting to get six little puppies to sit in a line, each wandering off in their own directions. The small pup from yesterday made her way over to Melitta’s foot, giving it a sniff before looking up and barking. Mel squatted down to pet the pup, smiling at how she rolled over almost immediately to get her belly rubbed. “Could you bring her over here please?” Brendanus had managed to get four of the puppies to cooperate, holding the last one in his arms. Mel stood, “‘cmon girl, lets get over there.” She yipped and trotted alongside Mel as he walked over. “How old are they, they seem pretty rowdy ha ha.” “Just under a year, usually I can have them trained better than this, but this batch has been…unusually difficult.” The pup in his arms squirmed to be let down. The pup immediately jumped onto its sibling once its paws touched the ground, causing Brendanus to sigh deeply. “I may need more help than I thought…” he muttered to himself. “That one there seems to have taken a liking to you, so you should probably work with her to train her. These three and her are being trained for scouting and hunting purposes. The two boys over there,” he pointed to two pups playing tug-of-war to his right. “They’re being trained for guarding purposes. They’re going to the family in the next town over for their farm. These two, the grey one and light brown one, are going to a couple of hunting buddies. This guy, the all black one, is going to be going to the hunter near the west end. The girl with you over there hasn’t been placed yet, so she’s not really received any specific training yet, but she does know her basics.” Mel nodded as Brendanus rambled about the pups, the thief pup sitting patiently next to him as he absentmindedly petted the top of her head. “Anyways, today we’re taking the 4 out for a scouting training. These two will be hanging back so I have a couple less pups to keep track of.” “I could maybe take watch of her and the black pup if that would help.” Brendanus nodded, “Let me put these boys up and we can head out.”

The pups followed on their leases as they left the city to go into the nearby forest. Brendanus explained the exercise they would be working on that day. Hiding and seeking would be the first activity, then some tracking, before finishing the day out with a small, but very much real hunt. To begin the first part of the training, Brendanus had Melitta hold a handkerchief, then go pretty far away to hide. Each pup was to smell the cloth and then track down where Mel was hiding. The first pup was able to follow the scent most of the way, but then was distracted by a rabbit that rushed from the underbrush. The second pup was the small thief, she did fairly well, but too was distracted midway through the search. She eventually returned to the scent trail and found Mel hiding inside a large, hollowed out log. The third pup did the best and sought out Mel in a very professional way and found him the quickest of the four. Lastly, the all black pup followed the scent all the way to where Melitta was hiding, but just couldn’t figure out where he was hiding. The pup returned to Brendanus with empty paws, but Mel reported that the pup had come very close. The second activity was tracking. Brendanus explained that the pups were to follow the scent of the prey animal, a rabbit in their case, back to the burrow. While they were letting all the pups scent and follow what they were smelling, Brendanus also taught Melitta how to look at the tracks and other small indicators that animals left behind. Melitta took out a small notebook and jotted down what Brendanus taught him along with simple sketches of what each marker and track looked like. While he had some hunting knowledge, Brendanus’s input was very much welcomed. While they walked after the pups, Mel was able to pick Brendanus’s mind about specific topics and learn so much more about the way he trained his pups. The black pup suddenly started yipping, grabbing everyone’s attention. Brendanus kneeled down to look at the tracks that the pup had found. “It looks like we can begin the last part of today’s training.” “Oh, what did he find?” “Elk tracks, and from the looks of it, a fairly decent sized herd. How are you with a bow?” “I have some experience, but when I hunt, I tend to use my blowdarts.” “Well, today’s a good day to learn some more, eh?” Melitta nodded, taking the bow and quiver that Brendanus handed to him. The black pup led the way, the other three following close behind. The black pup hesitated. The path split in front of them. One led towards some thick bushes, the other to tall trees. The grey pup and her sister pulled towards the bushes, the other towards the trees, and the black pup sat down in frustration. Brendanus whispered, “Here you take these two that way and I’ll check this way. We can meet back up here in a few moments if we don’t find anything.” Melitta nodded in agreement and took the two leashes that Brendanus handed to him. The route Mel followed was tough. Bushes on both sides of the small animal path pushed and clung to his fur. The tan girl pushed forward, grey sister just behind her. Then she suddenly stopped, pulling back on the leash. Mel tried to coax her forward, her sister also insistent on continuing forward. She continued to pull back, even going as far as to bite the leash and pull back the way they’d come. “What’s wrong girl?” Mel asked, voice barely audible. A grunt startled them all, sending Melitta’s fur to stand on end. He quickly grabbed the two pups and pulled them underneath his body, huddling down into the bushes. Once they were out of sight, he carefully looked through the branches, movement catching his eye. A large bear trudged through the brush, sniffing and grabbing the berries on nearby bushes. While not necessarily a danger to Mel, it could potentially hurt either of the pups. Melitta quietly backed up along the path they’d come down, stopping at the place that they had started to catch his breath, adrenaline pumping. “Woah, that was scary,” he chuckled. The pups in his arms whined a little, but were both safe and unharmed. Melitta set the two pups down, the grey one laying down to take a rest. The white and tan girl, though, furiously began sniffing the air in the direction that Brendanus had gone, whining softly. She tugged on the leash, pulling Mel towards the other path. He allowed her to lead them, carrying the other pup as to let her continue to rest. The pup began to pull harder as they seemed to approach what she was smelling. Once through the trees, Melitta could see a clearing below from the small hill they stood on. Melitta could also see Brendanus in the brush, bow raised and aimed towards the herd. His two pups lay on the ground off their leashes ready for their next command. Melitta slowly made his way down to join Brendanus, keeping as quiet as he could to not spook the deer that were in front of them. Brendanus gave a soft huff to acknowledge Melitta’s presence, loosing an arrow at a large buck on the far end of the clearing. The arrow grazed the deer’s chest, barely missing its target. The deer scattered, running in different directions into the forest. Brendanus growled in frustration, pulling the hair from his eyes. He took the leashes off of the pups that mel had with him. The four looked to him as he gave the command to search. The tan and white pup ran straight across the field, the other three broke off to the right. “Follow her!” Brendanus shouted as he followed the other three pups. Melitta took off in the direction the pup had run. He used his magic to help muffle the sound of his footsteps as he ran on all fours to catch up to the pup. She wasn’t too far ahead, luckily, and he was able to catch up to her. She led him through the trees, keeping her nose to the air as she followed the scent. They then both caught sight of the buck that Brendanus had shot at, jumping over the fallen log across their path. As if they were in sync, Mel leaned down, to jump the log, and the pup used this to her advantage to leap onto his stooped shoulder to clear the jump of the log, Mel following her leap closely after. The two ran side by side, splitting apart only to herd the deer back to the path for the chase. Mel gave a sharp whistle, sending the pup ahead in a burst of speed as she jumped to grab the hind leg of the deer. The deer fell, Mel drew the bow quickly, and then the hunt was over. Both panting heavily as they caught their breath, the pup coming to sit by Melitta as he rested. He patted her head, “Good girl, you’re a very good pup.” The two returned to the clearing, prized buck in hand. Brendanus waited with his own kill, a large doe that the three others had herded and brought down themselves as a pack. They walked back into town, carrying their game over their shoulders as they let the pups trot along beside them off their leashes. They’d done well that day and Melitta had decided that he wanted to continue to help Brendanus with their training. “You know, that pup there has taken quite a likin’ to ya, since she isn't placed anywhere yet, you could have her once her training is finished as payment for helping me.” “I hadn’t really thought about a payment, but I do really like her. She does seem like she could help very much in my hunts, plus she is a good girl…” Melitta trailed off a little, thinking about what life would be like with a companion. “Yeah, I think I’d really like that.” The two walked most of the way back to the amphitheater in silence, occasionally exchanging words; it had been a long day and both were exhausted. Each pup went to bed after getting their dinner, and Melitta headed home after giving the pups some love. He snuck a couple of meat treats to his new girl, hoping that Brendanus wouldn’t notice. He would be back the next morning, but he wasn’t fully ready to say goodnight. Brendanus chuckled from his position at the door, “She can go home with you too if you’d like, might be good to see how she does at your house.” Fur cleaned, teeth brushed, and ready for bed, Melitta and the pup climbed into bed. They’d both had a long day, and were very tired. The pup curled up at the foot of Mel’s bed, falling into a soft sleep almost right away. Mel followed soon after, ready to continue their training the next morning. “Oh, I should give you a name. Hmmm, how about Athena. I like that, how about you?” The pup gave a small boof of approval before rolling back over to go back to sleep. “Goodnight girl,” Melitta whispered before he too succumbed to sleep.