[Spring and Summer]Cry Wolf Cry Wolf

[Ariston]

Ariston walked along, eating an apple for his breakfast, on his way to work. He had been working at the Spring and Summer Pet Paradise for a few months now, and it was a job he enjoyed. True, it wasn't a glorious type of job. No, his days were spent sweeping the floors, cleaning out animal cages, helping Jackers feed and exercise the pets and, when Lala needed him, he worked the counter. But, it paid enough for him to live on, both Jackers and Lala were becoming like family, and the work was fulfilling in a strange sort of way.

Having had the previous brightening off, he was unaware of the shops current predicament. Had he known, he would have been out searching for the missing pups, but, as it was, he knew nothing and so had done nothing. Instead, he had spent most of the brightening at the Universitaes, browsing through the library, as he often did with his free time.

He finished the apple as he walked through the door of the Spring and Summer, smiling boyishly as he did so. "Vedui," he called out, tossing the apple core into the trash can by the counter.

[Whisper]

Lala caught Ariston's eye and waved at him with her fingertips in greeting, but she was engaged in conversation with a uniformed fellow who looked like part of the Demiosian militia. She was frowning and looked upset, very much unlike the Lala that Ariston was used to seeing.

She was in the middle of saying, "Are you sure you haven't seen them? You can't miss them, their little teeth, and one is grey, and the other one black--"

"I'm sorry, Ms. Buxomia." The soldier seemed frustrated, and he kept looking at the timepiece on the wall. "But the militia can't be bothered to look for some lost puppies. We have arsonists to catch, missing waiters to find..."

"Missing waiters, missing animals, what's the difference?" Lala's bottom lip trembled. "They're just wolf puppies. They won't survive in the wild; they've lived here all their lives. We've fed them, cared for them since they were born."

"Then I'm sure they'll turn up here eventually. Good day, Ms. Buxomia," he said before Lala could reply. Nodding dismissively to Ariston, the soldier turned on his heel and walked out the door.

"Oh Jackers..." wailed Lala, her chest heaving. Jackers turned from where he was filling a bird's water bowl and put a hand on her shoulder. "What will we do...?" She sniffled and patted at her eyes with a handkerchief that she pulled from between her breasts. "I'm sorry you had to see me like this, Ariston dear... It's just... the thought of those two puppies by themselves..."

[Ariston]

Ariston stopped in his tracks when he saw the soldier. He remained quiet, and stood to the side, listening to the exchange between Lala and the militiaman, trying to decipher what was happening. He was surprised to hear that it was the two wolf pups that had disappeared.

The half-elf returned the soldiers nod then stepped to Lala, patting her arm. "Perhaps I should go look for them, Lala?"

He had plenty of work to do in the shop, but, having two wolf pups loose in the town could prove a real problem for the Spring and Summer. Granted, the pups were tamed, or at least as tamed as a wolf could be, and they were only pups, but, they could still cause enough property damage to cost the pet shop a hefty amount of coin.

[Whisper]

Lala sniffled and blew her nose into her handkerchief. "Would you, dear? I can't stand to think about what would happen if someone else found them and captured them, even the guards for that matter. They might get hurt. And if they aren't found, they might wreak havoc around the city. Oh, Cream Puff! Eclair!" These were, presumably, the two pups' names. Lala didn't usually name the pets, preferring their new owners to have that honor, but she seemed especially attached to the pups, since she had named them after two of her favorite snacks.

Jackers gestured over to the pair of cages where the pups had been kept. "If you want, you can look around there," he offered. "Perhaps there's a clue or two."

[Ariston]

He quirked an eyebrow. Cream Puff? Eclair? It was all he could do not to laugh, but, he held it in. He wrapped an arm around her and hugged her once before turning to Jackers and the cages that once held the missing pups. He nodded to Jackers and began studying the area. He crouched down, examing in the latches.

Somehow, they got out, and he was sure they hadn't managed to unlatch the cages themselves. And Jackers had worked around animals long enough that Ariston was positive the man wouldn't have forgotten to secure the cages. And he himself had not been there, so he ruled himself out.

So, he looked closely, trying to discover anything out of the ordinary. He studied the cage thoroughly, looking for any loose bars or a faulty latch. Anything that might explain how they escaped. It occurred to him, also, that there was no way the pups could have gotten out of the shop without one of the doors being opened.

[Xavim]

As Ariston looked at the cage in more detail he saw that the cage still had an waster dish, food dish and some hay that was overall normal but around the water dish along the edge there was an small brown chip if he would look more at it he would see it was dried out clay. Along the clay there were small red dots along the bottom of the cage.

The two shop owners left him to do what he was doing as Jackers try-ed to clam her down. So many things could go wrong with them if word got out that there pets got out and did damage to Demios people would think badly of them and who knew what would happen then.



Cream Puff and Eclair, two young wolves out in Demios could be very bad if someone try-ed to take them by ship off the island or sell them on the streets or even on there own due to the spiders in the woods or other nasty animal.

[Ariston]

Ariston's eyes fell on something that seemed out of place to him. He studied the brown chip a bit before finally picking it up and examining it closer. He frowned as he looked the thing over. Dry clay, he was sure. But, what was it doing here? He lowered his eyes back to the cage and the red dots.

He scowled. His first thought was that the red dots were blood. Tentatively he reached down and touched one of the drops with his finger, hoping that his assumption was wrong. If it was blood, it could be the pups. And that was not good. But, even if it wasn't the pups, it meant that someone was possibly bitten by the pups, and a wolf pup getting the taste for blood could prove disastrous.

[Xavim]

Few sources of clay were on the island thankfully or unthankfully depending on how one would look at it. A few shops around the island used clay in there products, a small housing company on the outskirts used it on homes now and then but that was rare, clay makers at the school used it the most as a teaching tool.

Time was running out, the ferry service never questioned anything like two pups if a person or a group left the island with them, or if they had a private ship to leave the island, or if they got out and free the spiders on the island would find them a tasty meal or kids playing in the northern area of the city would try to play with them and might get hurt if the pups had the taste of blood.

[Ariston]

He stood from his position at the cage and wiped his hand on his pants, thinking over what he would do. The piece of clay was a definate clue, but, what it meant he wasn't sure. It occurred to him that it might prove informative to speak to those on the island with more knowledge of clay than he. He turned to Lala and Jackers. "I'll be back later. And don't worry, I'll find Cream Puff and Eclair, Lala." He smiled reassuringly at her and stepped out onto the street.

The smell of clean sea air thrust another thought into his head. If they were stolen, they may have left via the ferry. Turning in the direction of the docks, he quickly made his way to the ferry landing. He would ask the guards there if they had seen anyone with two pups. If nothing came of his inquiries there, he would then head up to the Universitaes' art department and ask the sculpters there about the clay.

[Xavim]

The guards greeted him like anyone asking about the visa and how long his stay would be until they found out he was looking for two pups. They look over there notes of who came and who left but after a bit they looked at him.

"Sadly we have not seen any pups anyone took, Should we let any person leave the island if they have pets?" The guards asked as they looked worried of there jobs.

As he left and came upon the schools the teachers at the art department greeted him kindly and said they would answer all his questions about clay.

[Ariston]

Ariston was both disappointed and relieved to find that no one had passed through the ferry with the pups. That meant they were probably still on the island, but, it also meant his search was going to go on a bit longer. He had hoped it would have ended quickly.

At the Universitaes, he began his questioning again. He dug out the piece of clay he had found at the pet shop and handed it to one of the teachers. "I was curious as to what exactly this is and what it might be used for. And who might have it on their person."