Jahero looked back at the puppy who was now in the corner of the pins. "whats going on?"

Gemini snorted."don't bother.she's just a furball.so you actually want to talk to me?" She asked, disbelief evident in her voice and eyes.

"Yes, you have a area of intelligence to you. and i want to know what you know" Jahero said with his head leaning towards the left. Jahero wanted to look around. to see how big this place was etc. The space seemed enless

Shamus went outside to the pen to find Tallia. He wanted to make sure she knew she didn't have to be scared of anything. He found he in the furthest corner of the pen. "You okay kid?" he asked her.

Gemini tilted her head, not sure weather he was taunting her or not.after a moment, she decided to tell him anyway.she came out of her kennel and sat in the sun."alright, here's what I know.just like the furball said, this is a place humans dump off their pets while they go away.but there's more than that.dogs from all over end up here when their owners don't want them anymore.they dump them off here and leave.some are blunt about it, and others are subtle.like with Shamus, his humans left him here to go on vacation, and didn't come back.he's been here for months.and then there are cases like me.ive been here the longest out of all of us.a human family took me in when I was just a little pup, barely weaned.then I started to get bigger, and they decided they didn't want me.so they took me out in their car and drove, and once we were too far for me to get back on my own, they tossed me out the window and drove away.I spent a while living alone, hunting, fending for myself- I was happy.I avoided humans as much as I could.then these people came along.I gave them a good chase, and they would have lost me except I hurt my leg.while I was hiding and recovering, they gassed me and brought me here." She paused a moment to lick her shoulder."I've been trapped here ever since.the food is awful, and I can't run like I want.they bring other humans in to look at us, and sometimes they take one of us away, but most of us just stay here.the worst part is that the rest of them are so tame,they don't even realize that they're trapped here! And now they've got you, same way they got me." She snorted in indignation and shook her head irritably."and many of them are intolerant of me, being half wolf..." she said."oh, I forgot to mention that.my human traitors bought me from a breeder who bred my mother, a husky, with my father, a wolf."

" i did wonder why you where bigger than most female huskies, but i have seen dog like you before, in alaska. Wild dogs but they where wolf dogs all the same. There has got to be a way that we can walk around more of this place then just the small pins." Jahero started to look around a bit, he dipped his nose into Gemini's kennel, and into a few others. Some of them smelled new, fresh with a hint of life, some with fear and lost, and others.... Jahero shock his head and looked at Gemini " We need to look around"

From behind the tree Tallia was hiding, she poked her head out. She looked at Gemini talking to the new husky, Jahero, and the she looked up to Shamus. The threat she'd felt from the half breed had subsided with the bulky black lab standing over her. She walked from behind the tree and jumped up on Shamus to like his face thankfully. Talli's tail wagged at a steady pace as she sat beside Shamus.

"I'm alright... I just didn't want to get bit again." Tallia smilled, looking into the brown eyes of the labrador. She remembered when she first came to Les Chien; she was so little when she'd first arrived, weak and very sick. The humans had gotten her back on her feet in an astouding amount of time and when she was well enough, they'd tried to put her in the same pen with Gemini. Their hopes was that the young pups would bond however Talli made the mistake of breaking Gemini's space the next day and had gotten bit on the leg for doing so. The two were seperated quickly and that was when they began to enforce each dog having their own kennel to more or less be their gated bedrooms.

Gemini shook her head."no point.I've been to every corner of the area they allow us.there is no way out except through the door where they bring us in, and its guarded.they take care to keep us from getting away.they used to have us two to a kennel, can you believe it?! The hairless morons tried to put that furball with me.don't they know anything about personal space? Its my kennel, my sleeping space, and they expected me to share it! That changed quickly enough." She said.

Jahero looked around while gemini was talking then stopped to look at her " There is nothing wrong with being with a puppy, they placed her there hoping you would tech her things that humans cant teach a dog. But because of the tale you told me before you havent had much contact with anything dog nor human and so in a real way you dont know how to go about meeting new people. That was your problem. But its funny, you have no problem talking to me" he tailed off walking up and down the kennels before turning the corner. he diapered for a moment the poked his head around the corner "are you going?"

Gemini snorted."what could I ever teach that little airhead? It only proves that the humans know nothing.I never wanted contact with anyone, human or dog, and I never wanted to learn to interact with them.I hate humans, and I hate stupid little pets like her! And you're no better.I spoke to you because you seemed to have some sense, but you're just as domesticated as the rest.no, im not going with you.you find a way out, then come see me.until then, have fun with your puppy pet friends out there." She said bitterly."teach her.as if! They wanted to make me get used to other dogs.they were hoping id make friends with the furball and then id be easier to control.idiot humans."

Jahero moved slowly as if walking up to a wild animal of prey. He bent down and then with a quick movement of his feet he grabbed gemini by her neck and throw her to the ground his voice changing from the neutral voice to alpha tone " Watch it Gemini pup, I dont know whats going on with you, but you need to watch which dog your talking to. I work hard and am an alpha dog because of it" he growled at her his teeth showing

"I won't let her hurt you." Shamus said looking up to the leaves in tree. He didn't like it here. He knew that he belonged somewhere else. But as long as he was here he decided to take care of everyone while he could. He has a large heart.

Gemini instantly rebounded and lunged, biting savagely at the larger dogs foreleg."I know nothing of this alpha business, but I do know that I am top dog here! You challenge me, I will fight back!" She growled, squaring off against him.

With a smile, Tallia looked from Shamus and to the building at the other end of the fenced in yard. The soft smile faded away and she pulled her ears back, thinking of the things she'd heard Gemini say to her, about her, and about humans. She couldn't understand why this dog was so angery with everything. So far, she was the only dog close to her age that had come in for any length of time, she just wanted someone her own age to play with. A sigh escaped her little lungs accompanied with one, slightly frustrated whimper.

"Your no top dog, your just a pup. too scared for the world around you" Jahero barked back at gemini as she went for his forelegs, nipping them. Jahero jumped back and kicked gemini back with his back legs. " stand down pup"

Shamus' ear jumped when he heard the sound of the two dogs fight inside. He was concerned for both dogs safety. He looked at Tallia and saw she was sad. "Don't let things in this place get you down. There are some dogs in this world who just want to watch it burn. They feel they have no place or purpous, so they push others away so they don't have to worry about getting hurt while they wait for the world ot crumble. Thing will get better in time." he was very wise. He laid down in the shade next to the white Akita. He closed his eyes, he was enjoying the sun on his black fur.

Gemini dodged the kick."im no pup.only an old geezer human pet like you would think im that weak." She said, and swiped at his face."I've been in plenty of fights old dog, I don't back down!" She barked.

The sounds from Gemini's pen were starting to scare Tallia. She'd seen this plenty times before, and not just from the wolf-dog either. There had been other dogs who were as mean as she was but they were gone now. Everytime a dog got to bad and was permanitly deemed unaddoptable, they were taken to the back room and never seen again. Talli burried her face underneith Shamus, trying to drown out the furocious barking.

From the front door of the kennel, a human had come to check on the disturbance. It was Jaque LeBeau, and he had an unsettled look on his face. Snare in hand, he made his way down to Gemini's cage and looked at the two dogs.

"What is going on here!?" His voice was stern but showed no sign of anger, it was a more dissapointed tone then anything. He fed the snare in threw a crack in the gate and slipped it over Jahero's neck, gently leading him out of the pen. "Come on boy, let's get you out of there before you two tear one another apart." He knew that in someway these dogs could understand him, so he made sure to used neutral words with them all. Jahero's pen was down and next to Shamus' and was fresh with a new dog bed, bowls, carpetting and a rubbing block on the wall. Jaque let the husky into his pen and knelt down to look at the new dog face to face. "I'm sorry that you have to go threw all this buddy." He tossed a treat in for him then walked back to Gemini's pen.

Jaque looked in at the half bread wolf-dog with a chideful smile. His head shook slowly back and forth for a couple passes then stopped. He knelt down to look her eye to eye, trying to remove any intimidation she was getting from him. He offered a treat threw the wires of the gate.

"Little miss, I don't know what I'm going to do with you. You've been here so long." He pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand and took a deep breath. As he breathed out he met eyes with her, tossed the treat onto the torn carpetted floor, stood and walked out.

Gemini growled softly at the human.for some reason, this human was the only one she didn't bark at.she sniffed at the treat and kicked it back out at the man, not in anger but as a show that she didn't like it.why didn't they ever give meat? Even something already dead, like that steak stuff the restaurants had, would have helped at this point.stomach growling painfully, Gemini turned and laid down in her pen.she was tired suddenly, and wanted nothing to do with anyone else anymore.

jahero went for another attack before he was stopped. something was around his neck, as he looked back he seen a human male. The human pulled Jahero bacl out of gemini's cage and down the hall to his own cage. The man seemed calm and easy, he reminded Jahero of his pass master in which he longed to see once more. Jahero was put into his kennel and thrown a treat. "I'm sorry that you have to go threw all this buddy." the man said to him as he smiled and walked away toward gemini's kennel. Jahero's anger subsided. He took a few drinks of water and checked him self for cuts, there was none. After the man left Jahero walked o ut of his kennel and looked around. He sighed and went back to his kennel and laid down half way out of his kennel.

Finally the sounds of anger subsided and Tallia pulled herself out from under the bulky black lab. She scanned the yard, listening to the birds and sniffing at the suns rays as they reflected of the grass and dirt of the play yard. Jahero's back side of his body was laying outside of his kennel, so she decided to slowly make her way over, less Gemini should be near.

"Mmm mm," she cleared her throat softly to get his attention but not startle him. "Excuse me... are you alright?"

jahero looked up , it was the puppy again talking to him " hello little one. Yes ill be fine, I just....." he trailed off " are you okay?"

Tallia nodded to the husky and stepped closer to him.

"I'm okay, thank you... Did she attack you too?" She looked at the wet spots in his fur where Gemini had nipped at him and then back to his eyes.

"no i started it, she was being a child and she needed her ...... to be placed" Jahero said watching his mouth around the younger puppy

"I can hear you, old fart!" Gemini barked.