After the Plague|Post-Apocalyptic Dog RPG|Semi-Lit|Accepting

[iRabid Coffee]

"Well, every now and then a human that came into the kennel would talk to herself and she would always mention shoes when she took these odd looking things off her feet. She would let me out of the cage often and let me run around. I sniffed her 'shoes' and they smelled like that box." Paris yipped happily while explaining and skipping around Ram, bumping against his legs every now and then. Paris watched when Ram knocked over the box and jumped in, looking expectantly up at the big dog. Paris looked at the shadows then tried looking at the sun. Ow, the sun is a lot brighter than the kennel dogs said it was, it's nearly blinding. Paris blinked rapidly and shook her head. "Wait Mr. Ram, what's a pack?" Paris yipped and jumped out of the box and started running to catch up with the trotting dog.

[Soriams]

Ram stops and looks back at the little dog when Paris asks, what to him, is a very odd question. "You don't know what a pack is?" He asks, puzzled. He can't imagine not having other dogs around, having be brought up in a kennel with many other dogs and regularly seeing them when they were turned out. "A pack is a group of dogs... We all work together to find food and keep each other company." He says finally, not really finding words to describe something so basic to him. What a strange little creature. Maybe they live alone, like cats? He thinks before walking off again, this time at a bit of a slower pace since it appears she wants to follow. If I can get her to follow me, then I can just show Serena and not have to worry about trying to describe it.

[iRabid Coffee]

Paris bumped her furry black body into Ram's leg when he stopped. Hehe, I rammed Ram. The puppy made a half giggle, half yip sound at her mental joke to running into the dog's leg. "Oh, that sounds like a kennel, like where I came from but in the kennel we didn't have to find food, our people brought it to us. Usually in little bowls, mine was green." Paris yipped happily when she remembered her green bowl that she eaten out of when she was in the kennel. "We were always in the building so we kept each other company because the humans weren't with us all the time." Paris said and did a little dance type thing around Ram's feet, careful not to run into any of them. When Ram started walking again, he was being followed by a little black ball of fluff.

[Soriams]

Ram smirks at the little dog, watching her dance around his feet. "Yeah, I remember when they used to bring us food." He says, a touch of bitterness in his voice. Life was easier then, not having to worry about his next meal, or that of his pack. Though he never had his own bowl, life with the humans was sweet bliss compared to this. All the dogs were fed from a huge communal bowl, encouraged to compete for their food, hoping that attitude would carry over onto the race track.

He works his way back through the quiet streets, no cars or people walking about. The emptiness and stillness makes the hollow buildings look somewhat like skeletons, expectant and yet sad all at the same time. Is it possible that she doesn't know they are all gone? He thinks, making sure his fluffy shadow can keep up. A bit of sadness wells up in him, remembering all the strife he and the others have gone through thanks to their disappearnce. I wonder where she has been, all this time? How could something so small find food out here all alone? Ram looks back at her, watching her fur bounce as she walks. Finally he asks "So you were in a kennel, huh? What did the humans train you to do?"

[iRabid Coffee]

Paris stopped momentarily and tilted her head at the bitterness in Ram's voice. Did he not like his humans?Paris wondered for a moment before sniffing a mongolia tree leaf that had drifted into the street, she started chasing it. When the black pup pinned the leaf down, she picked it up in her mouth and continued following Ram, a bounce in her step as usual. The black pup thought about the rows of cages in the kennel. About four cages high, five cages long. The puppy kennels were at the bottom. When the humans left, Paris had started eating the normal dry food every other dog in the kennels ate but the puppies were yet to be put into the dog kennels. Paris broke her thoughts of the kennel and looked around at the empty houses."Yea, they didn't train us to do anything special. Most dogs just were taught to walk very specially on a special leash. The human kept calling them 'registered' and 'show' dogs." Paris said panting before asking. "Why did all the humans go on vacation at once? When will they be back?

[Soriams]

Ram comes to a stop outside of the alley that Serena disappeared into. Unsure of disturbing her just yet and at the same time, not wanting to walk this little dog right into the midst of his pack. He studies her as she speaks of being registered and a show dog. He has heard other dogs talk of this, and knows that hounds in his kennels were registered as well, though he gets the feeling that it is different somehow. Ram looks down the alley for a moment before looking back at her when she asks the questions about the humans. Something about her spunky innocence makes him feel heavy inside and it carries out through his voice. "I don't know where the humans went." He says slowly, and lays down again. "But they seem to be gone for good." He sighs, "I haven't seen one in a very long time." He finishes finally.

[iRabid Coffee]

Paris looked around Ram's legs and looked into the alley entrance they had stopped at. Ohhh, a deep dark alley, are we going in?The black pup wondered and walked bravely under Ram from tail to head and was about to turn around and walk head to tail when he started talking. Instead of doing what she planned to do, Paris sat down and looked straight up at Ram, tail wagging as the black Shih-Tzu listened to what Ram was saying about the humans that used to take care of her and her kennel. He doesn't know, does anyone? Gone for good? Thoughts like these swirled inside Paris's little brain. She paused on the thought of humans being gone for good. "Well, what am I gonna eat then? What about the other kennel dogs that are still in the kennel?" Paris whined a bit when she thought about her brother, her mother, and all the other Shih-Tzus still stuck in the cages. Her brother, Caymen, a black and white shih-tzu bigger than she was, now had a whole human to himself. Originally there were four of them but two of them didn't make it so that left Caymen and Paris. The black Shih-Tzu pup whined again when she thought about her brother and how he was all alone, where ever he was in a cage, in a house, all alone.

[Inatae]

{Serena}
Finally getting up from her hiding spot, she decided to shake off her thoughts by touring the rest of the city, even though she'd been around it several times already. The sun had already thawed the majority of the ice on the road, making it much easier to walk, but stray puddles could be seen, and the grass squelched under her light steps. Coming across a scent she recognized immediately as Ram's, she headed over and noticed the small, black puppy. "Who's this?" she asked herself quietly. "A pet dog, hmm? Their owner must've died recently, if they're still acting as a pet would. No matter, they may be useful some day." Pushing past the two of them, Serena picked her way along the still-frozen sidewalk, watching the other dogs from the corner of her eye. If they attacked, she'd be ready.

[Soriams]

"Serena!" Ram barks curtly, tired of waiting. "This is Paris, I found her in a 'shoe' box while I was out marking boundaries." He trots up behind her, following her to continue talking. "I don't think she has been out here very long." He mumbles, ignoring Paris' food questions and focusing on Serena. Where is her head today? She seems like she is out of it... Is she actually avoiding the rest of the pack today? He wonders, following in her tracks. "Do you want me to take her into the pack?" He asks sounding more tired than irritated at this point.

[Inatae]

{Serena}
"Just leave me alone, Ram," Serena growled, really not in the mood for a chat. "Do whatever you want with the pup, she's your responsibility, not mine." Increasing her pace, she bounded away into another alley, coming back with a parakeet and coming to a stop in front of Paris. "Eat," she ordered, spitting the bird out before the pup. Dragging her claws across the bird, she pulled off enough feathers to leave space for the pup to bite.