by With a deep breath, Rowan knocked on the old wooden door that housed his first client. Rowan had only 5 minutes before seen the poster asking for help reacquiring a batch of puppies. The young mage immediately decided that this was his calling as a D-ranked mage, and so now he stood in front of the client’s home. Rowan let his eyes wander around as he waited for the door to open, appreciating the serene atmosphere of the town. He took a step back to admire the architecture of the house, and how compact it was beside all the other house. Finally, the door slowly creaked open, and a young women’s face peeked around the corner. “Yes? Can I help you?”
Rowan was frozen momentarily before quickly digging the job poster out of his pocket. “Er, yea, the address for this job poster is right here… so I assume you’ve got some missing puppies?” He unfolded the poster and displayed it clearly so that the young women could see. Her eyes lit up and a slight smile managed to crawl onto her face as she opened the door further, revealing that a pair of young children were also listening in. They hid behind what was presumably their mother’s dress, peeking out with innocent looks. “Yes! My children’s puppies managed to get out of the house because they left the door open.. but now you can go get them!” The mother seemed to be relieved and she brushed her dress down before turning towards the inside of the house. “Please wait here while I get some things for you to use to help you.” She quickly strode into her home and returned after a few moments with 7 leashes and a small bag. “The leashes are for… well the dogs obviously, and this bag is filled with dog treats.” The mother eagerly thrusted the objects into Rowan’s unprepared hands, and the young mage struggled briefly to get everything in order. “Ah! I should also mention that the puppies do respond to their names which are as follows, Spot, Dot, Heart, Dart, Tug, Goat, and Potato.” Before Rowan could ask what the dogs even looked like or even what kind of name ‘Goat’ was for a dog, the young woman slammed the door shut with a muffled ‘Good Luck’ coming through the door.
Rowan was now walking the streets of Magnolia Town, completely perplexed by the job. A huge amount of thoughts were swimming in the young mage’s mind, and not all of them were positive. He mumbled to himself as he strolled along, occasionally peeking into an alleyway to check if there were any puppies. “Where do I even start… who names their dog Goat?…. Potato?…” Rowan wondered if perhaps the children had named their puppies, which would make much more sense. He was shaken out of his thoughts, however, when he noticed a group of children excitedly grouped up ahead. Pursing his lips, he made his way over to where the group was bent over something, cooing and excitedly chattering. As he got closer, Rowan could hear small barking, and he arched an eyebrow before slightly moving some of the children away. He could easily tell now that there was a puppy, and finally the young mage slid past a final child and identified the little dog. It had completely brown fur, except for one large circle of white on the dog’s back. Rowan nodded as he quickly cornered the puppy and clasped a leash around its neck, appreciating the easily recognizable name. He looked around at the now disappointed children and signaled for them to break up. “Alright Alright! Show’s over, get on with your playing or chores or whatever it is you kids do nowadays..” The children reluctantly disbanded, a few of them sneaking one more pet on the docile puppy. “Okay Spot, let’s go find your friends.” The little puppy looked up at the sound of its name and yapped once before attempting to gnaw on Rowan’s boot.
With Spot in tow, Rowan continued his quest to find the remaining 6 puppies, now motivated by his first success. The small dog kept quiet, seemingly enjoying the small walk, and it occasionally pulled away to smell something. It turns out, Rowan didn’t have to look for too long for the next puppy. As he was passing an alleyway, a ferociously… cute bark rang out before a speckled puppy burst forth from the shadowy alley, barreling into Rowan. After it regained it’s balanced, it began biting the edge one of the young mage’s pant legs, pulling on it in earnest. Rowan looked down at the struggle and curiously called out a name, hoping the dog would respond. “Tug?” Thankfully, the puppy stopped pulling on his pants for a brief moment and barked, but promptly when back to its game of tug of war. Rowan, unfazed, clipped another leash onto Tug and added him to the fold. It seemed that Tug and Spot seems to be well acquainted, and they immediately began a game of “run around the mage”. Rowan simply sighed and mumbled to himself, “Only 5 more…” before stepping over the now tangled leashes and continuing his search.
Rowan’s search took him to a park, a beautiful one at that. It was fairy small, but the careful organization of the flowers made up for it. He stepped through the stone path that led through the rows of flowers, occasionally calling out a dog’s name. “Dot! Heart?! Dart! G-goat… pot..ato..” Rowan’s voice died down as he realized he probably looked ridiculous, strolling through flowers and yelling things like ‘goat’. He signed and continued walking, eventually coming up to a bench, where he gratefully sat. The two puppies that he had liberated seemed to know that this was break time, and so Tug went on pulling at his leash, and Spot sat quietly, content with watching the other puppy play. The young mage then remembered the small bag of dog treats and he dug into his pockets for a few moments before freeing a few of the dog-bone shaped delicacies. He tossed them onto the ground in front of Tug and Spot, and they immediately began crunching them down. Rowan smiled as he watched the puppies eat, his manliness slipping away as the cuteness overtook him. He was so preoccupied, in fact, that he didn’t hear the steady rustling in the flowers next to him and was caught completely off guard when yet another puppy burst through the plants and tackled Spot. The newcomer immediately rolled off the confused puppy and scoped up the rest of the treats, crunching them down in a matter of seconds. Rowan watched all of this with some mild shock, and the new puppy looked up at the young mage before strutting away. As Rowan attempted to stand and call out to the puppy, it did a quick 180 and began sprinting towards him at full speed before crashing into Rowan’s shin. “Gah!” The mage toppled over, grabbing his leg whilst cursing. He lay there for a few moments before the new puppy came over and began nibbling Rowan’s ear, who promptly clasped a collar around the puppies neck. “I guess you’re Goat…” The puppy of course barked in reply before going back to attempting to eat Rowan’s ear.
Rowan now had 4 more puppies to locate and bring to justice, but the task wasn’t getting any easier. The 3 puppies that he DID have constantly ran around his legs, pulled at their leashes, and barked at other pedestrians. He looked up at noticed that it was about mid-day, and he was getting a bit hungry. Rowan promptly decided to find a place to eat, abandoning his puppy searching duties… for now. He quickly found small sandwich shop that had outdoor seating, so he wouldn’t have to worry about taking the dogs inside. A waitress quickly came by and took his order, and for the first time that day, Rowan was able to completely relax. Tug, Spot, and Goat were behaving themselves and they played quietly next to the table. It wasn’t too long before the waitress returned with the mage’s order and he quickly took the first bite. He chewed appreciatively and thought to himself. Perhaps he would find the other puppies before sundown, and he’d be able to actually have time to read. Before he could enjoy the rest of his sandwich, all three puppies’ ears perked as the sound of barking approached. Rowan’s sandwich hung at the fatal point between the plate and his mouth as the mage watched as a puppy came running past the sandwich shop. It was completely brown like spot, but was covered in a flurry of small white dots. He quickly realized that it was the infamous ‘Dot’ and that he was going to have to ask for a bag for his remaining food. Rowan’s plans were completely thrown out the window when the trio of puppies decided that now was the time to chase their dotted friend and began pulling the table that they were tied to. Rowan’s plate went crashing to the floor as the table was pulled out from underneath it. The combined strength of the 3 puppies dragged the table along, and Rowan scrambled to get some money out of his pocket. He managed to get more than enough to pay for the sandwich AND the table, before dropping it on the ground before running after Spot, Tug, and Goat. The young mage apologized to pedestrians as he passed them, all of them jumping out of the way of the puppies… the table.. then Rowan. Rowan knew that he couldn’t just grab the table with the puppies because then he’d lose ground on Dot. With a mental sigh, he sprinted past the table, past the trio of puppies, and quickly caught up to Dot. Once he got close enough, Rowan snatched up Dot and skidded to a halt, and promptly after the group of puppies tumbled into his ankles. Rowan dug another leash from his pocket and attached it to his latest prisoner, Dot. Without further ado, the mage calmly untied the other puppies from the table and set it upright. He wasn’t going to bother returning the piece of furniture and he came to the conclusion that he wasn’t going to be able to rest until all the puppies were found.
Thankfully Rowan didn’t have to take even another 10 paces when he spotted another puppy. This one was a mix of black and white, and scampered around in circles. There was no definite way to tell if this was a puppy he was looking for, but he attempted to leash the dog anyway. Before Rowan could, however, the puppy dashed just out of reach and stood a few meters away, almost like it was waiting for the mage to catch up. Peeved, Rowan obliged the puppy and jogged over, pulling puppies in tow. He inched up to the dog yet again and attempted to leash it, but this time, the puppy ran straight for Rowan and escaped between his legs. Completely frustrated with the impossible canine, Rowan began chasing the puppy, much to its delight. “Would you stop darting away!?!” At that plead, the puppy stopped for a moment and barked in response, which confirmed that this was indeed one of the seven puppies. Rowan was now more determined than ever to catch the rascals and continued the chase. The mage, however, stopped dead in his tracks when he corned the puppy… right next to an extremely narrow alley, too narrow for people. “Niiice puppy! Come here little puppy! Come on Dart! Don’t make this difficult!” Rowan put on a smile as he attempted to goad the puppy closer. Dart yapped in response and continued back away, into the alley. Rowan suddenly remembered the dog treats and pulled one out of his pocket, waving it in front of Dart. Of course all the other dogs went crazy and started running around, each trying to jump up and grab the treat for themselves. This finally seemed to convince Dart, and the puppy sprang towards Rowan for the treat… and the leash was clasped around Dart’s neck at last. Rowan gave the treat to Dart reluctantly, and stood up straight, stretching his legs after the merry chase. He was now feeling extremely confident and was eager to get the job done even faster.
It had been hours. The sun was now sinking lower into the sky and Rowan hadn’t had any luck finding the remaining two puppies. His stomach grumbled from the lack of sustenance, and the puppies seemed to sense his weariness, and they too dragged along beside him. The mage started to question whether or not this job was even worth doing anymore, but he knew that because he had started it, he would have to finish it. After a few minutes meandering on the streets of Magnolia, the puppies seemed to perk up and began pulling Rowan along, seemingly leading him somewhere. For once, they seemed to be unified in their pull, and they led the mage to what seemed to be an inconspicuous cardboard box. He arched an eyebrow curiously, and proceeded to open the top of the box, surprised to find a sleeping puppy within. It was brown like Spot and Dot, but instead of some simple circles, there was a white spot in the shape of a heart directly on top of the puppy’s head. Rowan nodded in satisfaction and clasped yet another leash around the dog, awakening it from its slumber. It sleepily looked around and quickly caught scent of its friends, jumping out of the box in excitement. There was only one puppy left to find.
Rowan found himself back at the small flower park that he had visited earlier in the day. The mage had essentially searched all of Magnolia Town, and now he had nothing left to do but backtrack. It was here that he found the last puppy. All the puppies at this point were dead tired, and Rowan forced to rotate carrying a few within the confines of his jacket. At one point, Rowan stopped to rest on a bench and lo, he saw the final puppy in all its gloriousness. It was facing away from Rowan, and so he called out the final name, hoping that it would respond. “Potato?” The mage felt infinitely silly for calling out that name, but at this point, there was no self dignity left. The dog slowly turned to look at Rowan, and the mage understood the dog’s name. Its face was in a perpetual state of derp, with its tongue sticking out, and its eyes crossed for eternity. Of course, this didn’t matter at all to Rowan, who quickly clasped the leash around the dog and led all 7 back to the client’s home
Back at the client’s house, Rowan had all seven puppies in his possession and he knocked on the door. It was quite late, and so it took awhile for someone to answer the door. The young mother that had requested the job peeked out from behind the door, squinting at Rowan before recognizing him. “Oh! It’s so late… I thought a mage could do the job quickly...” Rowan snorted indignantly before handing off the handful of leashes. “Just take your dogs…. “ The young women shrugged before taking the leashes and handing Rowan a small bag, his pay. “Okay! Thank you! You can go now!” She yet again slammed the door shut before Rowan could say anything, and Rowan simply shook his head tiredly. He hefted the bag of money before turning on his heel and heading home.
Word Count:2630 Words
Rowan was frozen momentarily before quickly digging the job poster out of his pocket. “Er, yea, the address for this job poster is right here… so I assume you’ve got some missing puppies?” He unfolded the poster and displayed it clearly so that the young women could see. Her eyes lit up and a slight smile managed to crawl onto her face as she opened the door further, revealing that a pair of young children were also listening in. They hid behind what was presumably their mother’s dress, peeking out with innocent looks. “Yes! My children’s puppies managed to get out of the house because they left the door open.. but now you can go get them!” The mother seemed to be relieved and she brushed her dress down before turning towards the inside of the house. “Please wait here while I get some things for you to use to help you.” She quickly strode into her home and returned after a few moments with 7 leashes and a small bag. “The leashes are for… well the dogs obviously, and this bag is filled with dog treats.” The mother eagerly thrusted the objects into Rowan’s unprepared hands, and the young mage struggled briefly to get everything in order. “Ah! I should also mention that the puppies do respond to their names which are as follows, Spot, Dot, Heart, Dart, Tug, Goat, and Potato.” Before Rowan could ask what the dogs even looked like or even what kind of name ‘Goat’ was for a dog, the young woman slammed the door shut with a muffled ‘Good Luck’ coming through the door.
Rowan was now walking the streets of Magnolia Town, completely perplexed by the job. A huge amount of thoughts were swimming in the young mage’s mind, and not all of them were positive. He mumbled to himself as he strolled along, occasionally peeking into an alleyway to check if there were any puppies. “Where do I even start… who names their dog Goat?…. Potato?…” Rowan wondered if perhaps the children had named their puppies, which would make much more sense. He was shaken out of his thoughts, however, when he noticed a group of children excitedly grouped up ahead. Pursing his lips, he made his way over to where the group was bent over something, cooing and excitedly chattering. As he got closer, Rowan could hear small barking, and he arched an eyebrow before slightly moving some of the children away. He could easily tell now that there was a puppy, and finally the young mage slid past a final child and identified the little dog. It had completely brown fur, except for one large circle of white on the dog’s back. Rowan nodded as he quickly cornered the puppy and clasped a leash around its neck, appreciating the easily recognizable name. He looked around at the now disappointed children and signaled for them to break up. “Alright Alright! Show’s over, get on with your playing or chores or whatever it is you kids do nowadays..” The children reluctantly disbanded, a few of them sneaking one more pet on the docile puppy. “Okay Spot, let’s go find your friends.” The little puppy looked up at the sound of its name and yapped once before attempting to gnaw on Rowan’s boot.
With Spot in tow, Rowan continued his quest to find the remaining 6 puppies, now motivated by his first success. The small dog kept quiet, seemingly enjoying the small walk, and it occasionally pulled away to smell something. It turns out, Rowan didn’t have to look for too long for the next puppy. As he was passing an alleyway, a ferociously… cute bark rang out before a speckled puppy burst forth from the shadowy alley, barreling into Rowan. After it regained it’s balanced, it began biting the edge one of the young mage’s pant legs, pulling on it in earnest. Rowan looked down at the struggle and curiously called out a name, hoping the dog would respond. “Tug?” Thankfully, the puppy stopped pulling on his pants for a brief moment and barked, but promptly when back to its game of tug of war. Rowan, unfazed, clipped another leash onto Tug and added him to the fold. It seemed that Tug and Spot seems to be well acquainted, and they immediately began a game of “run around the mage”. Rowan simply sighed and mumbled to himself, “Only 5 more…” before stepping over the now tangled leashes and continuing his search.
Rowan’s search took him to a park, a beautiful one at that. It was fairy small, but the careful organization of the flowers made up for it. He stepped through the stone path that led through the rows of flowers, occasionally calling out a dog’s name. “Dot! Heart?! Dart! G-goat… pot..ato..” Rowan’s voice died down as he realized he probably looked ridiculous, strolling through flowers and yelling things like ‘goat’. He signed and continued walking, eventually coming up to a bench, where he gratefully sat. The two puppies that he had liberated seemed to know that this was break time, and so Tug went on pulling at his leash, and Spot sat quietly, content with watching the other puppy play. The young mage then remembered the small bag of dog treats and he dug into his pockets for a few moments before freeing a few of the dog-bone shaped delicacies. He tossed them onto the ground in front of Tug and Spot, and they immediately began crunching them down. Rowan smiled as he watched the puppies eat, his manliness slipping away as the cuteness overtook him. He was so preoccupied, in fact, that he didn’t hear the steady rustling in the flowers next to him and was caught completely off guard when yet another puppy burst through the plants and tackled Spot. The newcomer immediately rolled off the confused puppy and scoped up the rest of the treats, crunching them down in a matter of seconds. Rowan watched all of this with some mild shock, and the new puppy looked up at the young mage before strutting away. As Rowan attempted to stand and call out to the puppy, it did a quick 180 and began sprinting towards him at full speed before crashing into Rowan’s shin. “Gah!” The mage toppled over, grabbing his leg whilst cursing. He lay there for a few moments before the new puppy came over and began nibbling Rowan’s ear, who promptly clasped a collar around the puppies neck. “I guess you’re Goat…” The puppy of course barked in reply before going back to attempting to eat Rowan’s ear.
Rowan now had 4 more puppies to locate and bring to justice, but the task wasn’t getting any easier. The 3 puppies that he DID have constantly ran around his legs, pulled at their leashes, and barked at other pedestrians. He looked up at noticed that it was about mid-day, and he was getting a bit hungry. Rowan promptly decided to find a place to eat, abandoning his puppy searching duties… for now. He quickly found small sandwich shop that had outdoor seating, so he wouldn’t have to worry about taking the dogs inside. A waitress quickly came by and took his order, and for the first time that day, Rowan was able to completely relax. Tug, Spot, and Goat were behaving themselves and they played quietly next to the table. It wasn’t too long before the waitress returned with the mage’s order and he quickly took the first bite. He chewed appreciatively and thought to himself. Perhaps he would find the other puppies before sundown, and he’d be able to actually have time to read. Before he could enjoy the rest of his sandwich, all three puppies’ ears perked as the sound of barking approached. Rowan’s sandwich hung at the fatal point between the plate and his mouth as the mage watched as a puppy came running past the sandwich shop. It was completely brown like spot, but was covered in a flurry of small white dots. He quickly realized that it was the infamous ‘Dot’ and that he was going to have to ask for a bag for his remaining food. Rowan’s plans were completely thrown out the window when the trio of puppies decided that now was the time to chase their dotted friend and began pulling the table that they were tied to. Rowan’s plate went crashing to the floor as the table was pulled out from underneath it. The combined strength of the 3 puppies dragged the table along, and Rowan scrambled to get some money out of his pocket. He managed to get more than enough to pay for the sandwich AND the table, before dropping it on the ground before running after Spot, Tug, and Goat. The young mage apologized to pedestrians as he passed them, all of them jumping out of the way of the puppies… the table.. then Rowan. Rowan knew that he couldn’t just grab the table with the puppies because then he’d lose ground on Dot. With a mental sigh, he sprinted past the table, past the trio of puppies, and quickly caught up to Dot. Once he got close enough, Rowan snatched up Dot and skidded to a halt, and promptly after the group of puppies tumbled into his ankles. Rowan dug another leash from his pocket and attached it to his latest prisoner, Dot. Without further ado, the mage calmly untied the other puppies from the table and set it upright. He wasn’t going to bother returning the piece of furniture and he came to the conclusion that he wasn’t going to be able to rest until all the puppies were found.
Thankfully Rowan didn’t have to take even another 10 paces when he spotted another puppy. This one was a mix of black and white, and scampered around in circles. There was no definite way to tell if this was a puppy he was looking for, but he attempted to leash the dog anyway. Before Rowan could, however, the puppy dashed just out of reach and stood a few meters away, almost like it was waiting for the mage to catch up. Peeved, Rowan obliged the puppy and jogged over, pulling puppies in tow. He inched up to the dog yet again and attempted to leash it, but this time, the puppy ran straight for Rowan and escaped between his legs. Completely frustrated with the impossible canine, Rowan began chasing the puppy, much to its delight. “Would you stop darting away!?!” At that plead, the puppy stopped for a moment and barked in response, which confirmed that this was indeed one of the seven puppies. Rowan was now more determined than ever to catch the rascals and continued the chase. The mage, however, stopped dead in his tracks when he corned the puppy… right next to an extremely narrow alley, too narrow for people. “Niiice puppy! Come here little puppy! Come on Dart! Don’t make this difficult!” Rowan put on a smile as he attempted to goad the puppy closer. Dart yapped in response and continued back away, into the alley. Rowan suddenly remembered the dog treats and pulled one out of his pocket, waving it in front of Dart. Of course all the other dogs went crazy and started running around, each trying to jump up and grab the treat for themselves. This finally seemed to convince Dart, and the puppy sprang towards Rowan for the treat… and the leash was clasped around Dart’s neck at last. Rowan gave the treat to Dart reluctantly, and stood up straight, stretching his legs after the merry chase. He was now feeling extremely confident and was eager to get the job done even faster.
It had been hours. The sun was now sinking lower into the sky and Rowan hadn’t had any luck finding the remaining two puppies. His stomach grumbled from the lack of sustenance, and the puppies seemed to sense his weariness, and they too dragged along beside him. The mage started to question whether or not this job was even worth doing anymore, but he knew that because he had started it, he would have to finish it. After a few minutes meandering on the streets of Magnolia, the puppies seemed to perk up and began pulling Rowan along, seemingly leading him somewhere. For once, they seemed to be unified in their pull, and they led the mage to what seemed to be an inconspicuous cardboard box. He arched an eyebrow curiously, and proceeded to open the top of the box, surprised to find a sleeping puppy within. It was brown like Spot and Dot, but instead of some simple circles, there was a white spot in the shape of a heart directly on top of the puppy’s head. Rowan nodded in satisfaction and clasped yet another leash around the dog, awakening it from its slumber. It sleepily looked around and quickly caught scent of its friends, jumping out of the box in excitement. There was only one puppy left to find.
Rowan found himself back at the small flower park that he had visited earlier in the day. The mage had essentially searched all of Magnolia Town, and now he had nothing left to do but backtrack. It was here that he found the last puppy. All the puppies at this point were dead tired, and Rowan forced to rotate carrying a few within the confines of his jacket. At one point, Rowan stopped to rest on a bench and lo, he saw the final puppy in all its gloriousness. It was facing away from Rowan, and so he called out the final name, hoping that it would respond. “Potato?” The mage felt infinitely silly for calling out that name, but at this point, there was no self dignity left. The dog slowly turned to look at Rowan, and the mage understood the dog’s name. Its face was in a perpetual state of derp, with its tongue sticking out, and its eyes crossed for eternity. Of course, this didn’t matter at all to Rowan, who quickly clasped the leash around the dog and led all 7 back to the client’s home
Back at the client’s house, Rowan had all seven puppies in his possession and he knocked on the door. It was quite late, and so it took awhile for someone to answer the door. The young mother that had requested the job peeked out from behind the door, squinting at Rowan before recognizing him. “Oh! It’s so late… I thought a mage could do the job quickly...” Rowan snorted indignantly before handing off the handful of leashes. “Just take your dogs…. “ The young women shrugged before taking the leashes and handing Rowan a small bag, his pay. “Okay! Thank you! You can go now!” She yet again slammed the door shut before Rowan could say anything, and Rowan simply shook his head tiredly. He hefted the bag of money before turning on his heel and heading home.
Word Count:2630 Words
