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Chapter 224 - Interlude: Good Boy
🕑 Added 2025-01-20 21:00:09 +0000 UTCSarah
A riot of noise surrounded her as she walked through the kennel. High-pitched yips of excitement from growing puppies were followed by low rumbling growls of warning from Lulu.
The horses had been rough, but they were nothing compared to the complete workload of keeping track of and an eye on the dozen scoundrels.
Lulu's litter had been... larger than expected. She expected her to stop at four or five, but she continued pushing more out until an even dozen were all nuzzled against her. It was a welcome change. Well, welcome in the fact there were more of the cute fluffballs. Not welcome in the fact there were now over double the things to keep out of trouble than expected.
The job was never-ending as they seemed to thrive on getting into places they weren't supposed to be.
It was enough to wear her out even with her higher endurance and she was near her wit's end.
She considered asking Jonathan to take her through one of the Dungeons for a few levels just so she would have more energy to spare watching but decided against it.
She was already growing fast enough already, she didn't need to go through the Dungeon too. She'd already been warned repeatedly not to rush and focus on things other than level.
"Level isn't everything." Jonathan would lecture. The tone and cadence of it was something she could impersonate in her sleep he said it often enough.
Sarah knew he was right, she'd seen Chris fight and knew that he didn't get his strength from his levels, but it was boring to sit and meditate about Laws!
Even the one for her affinity remained out of reach!
The only easy one to do was Body Refining but they wouldn't let her do that yet. They claimed that she was still too young and her body was still growing.
They aren't my parents. I can do anything I want.
Even though she thought that she didn't make any moves to change her course. Sarah knew they were right but just didn't want to admit it.
She was stuck advancing slowly, not that what she was doing was considered slow. She rose in level faster than nearly everyone else just by taking care of the little ones and doing what she wanted to do anyway.
Even if they were an absolute handful right now.
Lulu did what she could but Sarah hadn't had any time to train her, let alone the pups before she was due. Lulu understood most things already, like not attacking people and no biting, but she didn't know enough to caution the pups into not doing things.
Why would she care that furniture got chewed up by the little ankle biters if she herself didn't know it was bad?
Luckily, Sarah's skills made bathroom training easy enough and the wolves were smart enough to catch on quickly. The innate knowledge to not dirty their home made that process much smoother. The only solace to the whole ordeal.
She had cleaned up after them enough the action had invaded her dreams.
One of the bigger pups from the litter came bounding over excitedly when it noticed she was there but she had to disappoint the little one.
"I don't have any treats this time. I'm sorry." She said while stroking the soft fur.
They were growing nicely. It was nearly enough that she couldn't keep calling them pups anymore. At nearly three months old they were shooting up in weight and size. If they weren't careful, they would knock her down if multiple started jumping on her.
[Inspect Tame] came back with nothing out of the ordinary and everything was still going fine. She was lucky she caught the flees and the worms early or that would've been bad.
She had begged Abigail for help once she found out as she couldn't do anything about it short of picking through their fur by hand for the fleas. Luckily, Connor stayed behind when everyone left and he was able to whip something up.
It smelled horrible and stained her hands green for a week, but it killed off all the fleas. The pellet he gave her worked to flush out the worms as well.
Her body instinctively shivered at the thought. She still remembered the... aftermath of the pellet's effects and it was pure nightmare fuel. It worked to purge the body of the worms but it didn't have to do it in such a grotesque way.
Other than that though, the pups were growing big and strong. They transitioned to solid food well and were weened without any issues. The food was a problem, but Abigail helped.
Sarah wouldn't be able to afford all the meat the beasts were devouring by herself, but Abigail was able to work with the butchers and get the undesirable bits for her to use. Or when the odd wave came with humanoid enemies, they would keep them in a stockpile for her.
Separated, obviously, but with the Cold as it was now, they would keep for months and the wolves didn't care about a little freezer burn.
Her inquiry into the Kennel today was to check on one of the troublemakers. Specifically, one that was doing its best to drive her up a wall. It was the best escape artist of the litter and constantly managed to get out of the Kennel she had built.
People were finding the wayward pup all over the City as it ran around sniffing everything new and would call for her all hour of the day.
Apparently, the play time and walks weren't enough for its adventurous urges.
Where are you, you little bugger.
A flash of white dashed to hide when it saw her coming but that was enough to doom it. She'd caught it trying to escape once again and jumped to pick it up before it could get away.
It was heavy, nearly too much to pick up on her own, but they were still a few months of growing away from that.
"No! How many times do I have to tell you to stop doing that!" She scolded the thing.
In its many escape attempts, the damage it caused was enough to force someone to come fix. Holes dug under the walls needed to be filled in and extra protection added so it didn't happen again.
Holes chewed into the wall or door needed to be replaced.
Somehow even a gap in the ceiling was used one time.
It was like it could sniff out weaknesses in the structure to get through.
Sarah found that the best way to keep the ball of energy contained was to give it some special attention. The others in the litter were content to play around and roughhouse with each other with the walks enough to keep them happy.
This one needed a more personal touch.
What started as her trying everything under the sun to wear the dog out turned into a game of sorts. One that was quite fun when she thought about it.
Picking up her prize for the coming hours, she marched off with it in her hands so it couldn't run away.
You need a name. She thought while looking at the furball trying to get free from her grip. She'd held off on naming any of the puppies for fear that any didn't make it.
Sure, Connor helped with medicine and they had Healers if anything went wrong, but they had no Vets. None of the Healers specialized in animal care and most were busy fixing everyone up.
Jonathan had warned her not to get too attached in case one didn't make it but nothing like that happened and they were out of the rough part.
Cooper? No, it's not normal for this troublemaker.
Trouble? No, that's just asking it to continue its escapades.
His coloring and fur reminded her of sled dogs and the name Togo popped up but she dismissed that one as well.
Dakota. Dakota sounds good.
She had spent so long thinking about a name that she reached the woods outside the City by the time she decided on one.
"Look who it finally is!" Gavin shouted as Sarah came near. "We were beginning to wonder where you were."
All the others started chatting as well but Sarah stopped them. "Since he's out of the danger period, I thought it was time to name him."
That sparked interest as the crowd of Scouts all started shouting names they thought were cool.
"Fenrir!"
"Aurora!"
"Balto!"
"Wait, you're saying we can't keep calling him Dog?" Gavin joked.
"Yes, Gavin, we can't keep calling him dog." Sarah sighed, "And before you all start shouting suggestions again, I've already given him one. His name will be Dakota."
They congratulated her and lavished affection on the preening dog in her hands at the announcement.
Afterward, Hal walked up and silenced the group. "Alright, alright, quiet down. Now that it's been decided, everyone knows the drill. You all have 5 minutes starting..."
All the Scouts stopped chatting and got into ready stances.
"NOW!"
All except for one of them took off at breakneck speeds into the woods, weaving in and out of the trees as they made to get away. The designated 'seeker' was Gavin today as he stayed behind.
Sarah watched while keeping hold of Dakota to keep him from chasing after them. She felt him tense to do just that and held on tighter.
"Do you think you'll win today Gavin?" Sarah couldn't help but ask.
Gavin sighed, "I don't know. I'm getting better but he's somethin' else."
The game had started out harmless at first but quickly turned competitive. Sarah had just wanted to tire Dakota out so he would stop trying to escape and it ended up turning into so much more.
The Scouts had noticed their outings to play in the woods and some came around to join her or chat and things grew from there.
Now it was an entire training activity they liked to call 'Man vs. Dog.'
While they liked to call it a training activity for their own dignity, it was really just a game. They took Hide and Seek and made it a competition.
A dozen or so Scouts would race off into the woods and try not to be found while one seeker and Dakota looked for them. It let them practice their stealth while also training their tracking abilities.
The seeker rotated so everyone got to work on both.
The competition came about when Dakota was introduced.
Sarah had thought it would be fun for him to try finding the 'Hiders' and set him to do just that. He ended up finding more than the 'Seeker' had which sparked competitive spirits.
It was downhill from there.
Dakota had yet to lose.
The five minutes ticked away and Sarah set Dakota on the snowy ground but still held on. As she counted down the seconds, she felt him ready to begin running.
When she reached zero she gave a command, "Seek!"
Dakota raced off into the woods with Gavin hot on his heels.
Sarah had thought the tracks left in the snow would have been a dead giveaway but skills made that a non-issue. Some could even cover their tracks without skills.
She knew how hard that was from her father's training. What she remembered of it at least.
After her two companions ran off, Sarah was left standing in the clearing alone. She remembered the one time Christopher had joined them for a game and how that ended up causing a smile to form.
Chris was anything but stealthy.
The fact he had just received so many levels didn't help. He had even less control over his aura than he usually did causing him to be that much easier to find.
He was the first one found and it wasn't even close. Chris moped and then offered sparring to be the next activity. The Scouts paled but Abigail swooped in to save them. Chris was on a strict no-fighting order as he was still recovering at the time and Abigail came in the nick of time.
As she was thinking back, barks sounded out followed by a curse somewhere else in the woods.
Gavin was down one already.
Sarah grinned.
Good boy.
Comments
Penguin Glutton
Btw are they dire wolves?
Penguin Glutton
Tftc!
Alexander C Hyde
They transitioned to solid food well and were (weaned)weened without any issues.
Alexander C Hyde
She was lucky she caught the (fleas)flees and the worms early or that would've been bad.
giann flroesca
Bro what if Chris becomes bonded with the wooly rhino and it becomes a mount?!?!?!
Thomas Issa
What’s Sarah’s profession? Also more tamers and resources specifically for the animals are going to become necessary pretty soon, wolves are able to procreate at 2 years old The scouts should be able to get taming and animal bonding skills by then, and specifically bond to the wolves who will mate with wild wolves, take over packs and have their own litters But that’s not even counting the horses, who already have a breeding population There should be a specific alchemist who makes things to help animals survive and develop, they should gain access to laws, body tempering, mana cultivation, and maybe even form spiritual anchors, also sapience when they reach a high enough grade
Buck
TFTC!
PWeygandt
This is such a fun Interlude! Learning more about the other characters that we have been introduced to is awesome
Demonlord
Thanks for the nice chapter 😊 Dakota is a cute name and SUCH A GOOD BOY
