Find Those Puppies | Solo

The morning sun rose along the capped mountains far into a distance as the harsh gales that blew across the Desert Village whipped the curtains away. The windows batted loudly against each other causing the young girl to flutter her eyelashes open. Her hands were curled loosely on the side of her head, silver strands of hair tangling among her slender fingers. Greeted by the bare white ceiling above, she stared at the surface of her room for a moment before pushing herself off the bed. The sunlight that pierced through the window caught the ends of her hair, turning it pale blonde that fell messily onto her shoulders. Snowflake has never felt the warmth of the sun for she was born in the country where winter never came.


The young girl thought to herself while staring down at her hands where the sunlight shone upon those pale limbs before she stood up to her feed, letting the coldness of the marbled floor bite into her skin and strutted through the bathroom.

Drops of water cascaded down her hair and her body, which was being wrapped with a warm towel that covers till her knees. With a smaller piece of towel, Snowflake patted her hair dry. After her whole body being thoroughly cleaned, the young girl slid into her short white dress and her bolero jacket before gathering her glistening hair into an off-center ponytail. Just to add a little more glamour, the young girl added a small tiara in a shape of a snowflake just above her ponytail. Satisfied with her look, the girl slipped out of her room, her high heeled wedges clacking against the floor. With a single nod, the young girl greeted to those who were in the guild, walking past her, although her arrogant vibe was still to the fullest. Yes, a guild. Snowflake had managed to become a part of a new guild in Fiore and that was no other than Sabertooth, due to the request of her master and her desire to become ’perfect’.

The silver haired girl tugged onto the hem of her dress, as she walked through the hallway of the guild, that was supported by huge pillars that reached up to the ceiling, meters away from the ground. It surprised her to see that the guildhall was as silent as a library with students taking studying for their examinations. The mission board stood still in the corner of the hall, eagerly waiting for mages to take on the jobs that was pinned on the board. Rip! The sound of the paper being torn apart from the board resounded through the quiet hall. Without even looking at the mission sheet, the young girl silently departed the guild.

Upon leaving the guildhall, Snowflake discovered that Sabertooth had its most confusing ways of exits and entrances that made her caught up at the same place for hours. Annoyed and frustrated, she barged out of the guild ’finally’ as her gaze glided over to the paper that was neatly folded in her hands.

A sigh escaped her lips followed by a slight drop of her shoulders. ”Honestly, why do people request for stuffs like this? This is complete and utter nonsense.” With her eyebrows furrowed deep into the centre of her forehead, Snowflake ripped the paper apart into pieces and threw them into the air nonchalantly as she struggled to find her way to her client’s house. On the way, men would turn around and gaze at her, their eyes filled with lust and desire while the women admired her beauty when she walked past the crowd. It was effortlessly easy for her to attract attention with her silver hair that glows like fireflies in the night, her eyes as cold as ice but could still seduce any man out there. A smirk crawled up onto her lips when she felt numerous eyes on her, ogling at her body from head to toe. Nevertheless, she shrugged past every few stares and continued her way to the client’s location.

The building was a single floored establishment, attached to a small garden filled with beautiful roses, lilies and the gorse bushes that grew all around her. Somehow, she had expected a simple residence like this but the garden that had been carefully attended impressed her.

A gentle knock on the door by her nimble fingers caused the entrance to be swung open, only to be greeted by an old man who looked as devastated as a child’s who had just woken up from a nightmare. Stunned, the young girl ran her blue eyes over his face. ”Are you o–“ The old man did not even bother to answer her question but grabbed her arm and dragged her into his house without her consent. Completely displeased by his rude gesture, Snowflake pushed herself out of his hold and glared at him. ”A-ah, I apologize. I was just in a hurry and I really need your help.”

The Sabertooth mage relaxed her tense shoulders and folded her arms across her chest. ”You want me to find your puppies right?”
”Yes, yes. I was supposed to sell them today to a client of mine but they escaped. I swear I left the house just for a minute and when I returned they were all gone.” With his hands flying everywhere in an expressive motion, the man described the situation he was in. ”Please, I need them by this evening. I don’t want to upset my client. Ah god, I’m getting too old. I shouldn’t be doing things like this anymore.”

Well, at least you know it yourself.

The silver haired girl thought to herself but did not give them voice. ”Alright. I’ll find it and return it to you by 6. Is that alright?” The old man nodded vigorously, a huge smile plastered on his face, although he was missing most of his teeth. Snowflake wanted to guffaw like a horse but stifiled a giggle, not wanting to upset a kind soul. ”I have a question. By any chance, would you know where they might possibly go?” The old man gave it a thought, his fingers rubbing and resting against his chin.
”I’m not exactly sure, but you could try the park. Oh, I think you might need some pictures of them. Wait here for a second.”
Sapphire eyes glided around his house, observing the place carefully. It was surprisingly neat and thoroughly cleaned for someone who is living alone, not to mention, in his late fifties as well. Perhaps, there could be a housemaid he hires every day. The thought occurred to her until the man returned with a couple of cropped pictures of him and his dogs, cuddled close together. ”Thanks. This will help a lot.”

Fingers clutched onto the picture that was given to Snowflake, she stared down at the photograph as the ends of her lips curved upwards into a small smile. 7 German Shepherds. It was going to be tough mission, nonetheless, those were lovely and adorable puppies, which was gladly Snowflake’s favorite type of animals. She decided to begin her mission at the most crowded place in Magnolia, the market. As expected, the place was crowded with mobs of people barging through stores, queuing up at vendors; it was a complete mess. Crowded places are ones that she did not technically enjoy coming but it could be worth a shot since she was clueless where to start searching the puppies.

Sapphire eyes glided over to the ice cream vendor, where a young girl stood, passing scoops of chocolate, vanilla, strawberry and many other flavors to children and adults alike. Her eyes glistening with joy, Snowflake strutted towards the vendor and ordered the flavor of her choice.

Snowflake fished out a couple of coins and cash from her pocket and placed it in front of the vendor whilst taking a good generous lick from the ice cream. ”Mmmm. Delicious.” The girl murmured to herself all the while, savouring every single taste of the ice cream that was left on the cone. Distracted by the ice cream she had bought for herself, the young girl was oblivious to the ruckus going on behind her until she heard a woman’s scream.

Her eyes trailed along to the source of the scream and a hint of fur passed across her eyes. Pushing her way through the crowd, the woman was frantically screaming and yelling, her arms and legs flying everywhere and there it was; an animal of black and brown fur, huffing at the woman as if it was asking for something. Snowflake thought about grabbing the puppy out of surprise but that would not turn out nice in the middle of the crowd.

The poor German Shepherd sat still in front of the woman who was completely freaked out by the sight of the dog. Snowflake wondered why the dog was sitting there, motionless, until she saw a piece of meat on the counter that the woman was selling. ”Excuse me, ma’am. Could I buy that piece of meat, please?” The woman turned to look at her and exchange glances between the puppy and her. ”Here here. Take it. If you can, get the dog out here fast.” The seller did not even bother to take the cash from her hands after seeing her scurrying away to safety. A giggle escaped her lips before she bent down to look at the puppy and waved the plastic bag, consisting of raw flesh, in front of him. ”Here, boy. I’ll give it to you if you come to me.”  It was as if the puppy had understood her, and without any hesitation, the young animal hopped into her arms. As smart as she was, the Sabertooth mage figured that if this trick works on one, no doubt she would be able to get the remaining six.  

How fortunate it was that Snowflake spotted the puppy right away. She would have totally missed the puppy if someone else had used the same method as she did and it would have been a complete disaster. The warmth from the puppy’s nostrils tingled her hands as she watched him sniff her. There is a saying that animals could tell if you’re dangerous to them or not. Perhaps, the dog was making sure she wasn’t. ”Don’t worry, I’m just taking you to safety.” Somehow, it seemed to have understood her when she noticed him turned around and licked her chin, causing her to burst into fits of giggles. She was already loving the pet, if only she could get one.

Strutting along the way with her heels clicking against the cemented ground, she held the puppy in her arms as the young girl proceeded onwards to the park, in hope to find the rest of the German Shepherds.  

The harsh gales that blew across the land of Magnolia Town lifted up her dress, almost revealing everything that was underneath until she slammed her skirt instinctively, gasping at the same time. ”Whew. That was a close call.” Blue irises flicking around the area to make sure no eyes were on her, the girl whipped her long strands of silver hair over her shoulder nonchalantly. The stream of river coursed along the land under the bridge, established for the convenience of the citizens. Leaning over the metal rails, Snowflake stared into a distance before her eyes glided to the sky, enjoying the view above her.

Her thoughts wandered off almost immediately until she heard a bark in the distance. The ears of the puppy instantly stood up, his head facing towards the source of the sound. Without any hesitation, the girl sprinted off to the direction the puppy was barking at, as if it was showing her the route.

The barks were getting louder each step she made, and it wasn’t just a bark from a single puppy, probably more than one. Snowflake rushed to the source of the noise, until she reached an alley, finally spotting three of the German Shepherds hiding in the barely lit space. They must’ve been scared, the girl thought, kneeling down onto the ground to face the puppies at her eye-level. Reaching her hand out towards, one of the German Shepherds began to bark at her, a low growl behind its throat as if it was telling her to not get any closer.

Talking to the puppies was an impossible task as they continued barking, not even allowing her to think properly. The girl held up the puppy that was hiding between her arms, with a helpless expression smeared across her features. The first thing she wished was to make them cease their barking, otherwise it would attract too much attention from unwanted people.

A sigh of relief left her lips and her eyes showed complete exhaustion after they had stopped snarling at her. It was almost noon and she was supposed to turn the puppies back to its owner. The other three was still missing, however, which did not help her situation at all. Snowflake placed both of her arms around the three of them, hugging them close to her chest while running off back to the market to purchase a basket for the puppies since it was impossible to hold all seven of them in her arm. Placing all four of them in the basket before wrapping them all up in a nice warm cloth, the girl departed the market again to search for the remaining three puppies.

The toll of a huge clock on the tower filled the streets of Magnolia Town. ”Ah, shit.” The words spilled out of her lips as she slid her hands over her face, silver strands of hair dangling over fingers.

I don’t have time anymore!, the girl screamed in her thoughts as she frantically grabbed the basket and run around the town holding the picture asking for anyone who might have seen the puppies. After asking numbers and numbers of people walking past the streets, she was finally granted some hint to search for the puppies. ”Hmm, I think I saw them running towards the playground.” Snowflake nodded in gratitude before sprinting to the location the man from the construction work had pointed. Glancing at puppies resting quietly inside the basket, a soft smile rose up the corner of her lips.

The playground was, as usual, filled with families, but mostly young children. Among them was a pack of puppies running here and there, playing with the kids. They looked adorable but there was no time for that. ”I’m sorry, kids. I’m really in a hurry.” The young girl gently brushed over the child’s hair before picking the puppies up inside the basket.

Panic rushed over her body as she rushed back to the client’s house as fast as possible, while making sure the puppies were not harmed as well. She was glad the German Shepherds were not as rowdy as she had expected. Perhaps the dogs liked her. Just ’perhaps’. The heels of her boots clacked against the floor loudly, filling up the roads that had grown silent within a couple of hours. As she passed by the large clock, she made note of the time before speeding up her pace, realizing that there was barely 10 minutes left for her to reach back to the client’s house.

Her knuckles placed against the door, she ran a couple of fast knocks until the door sprang open, revealing a grinning old man standing after the door. ”You got them?! Splendid! Amazing!” He began blurting words as he threw his hands into the air in a sort of a victory pose, causing her to stare at him in awe. ”Thank you so much! You saved my life. I owe you, so here, a bag of jewels that might help you with whatever you need.” Snowflake handed over the basket of seven puppies in exchange for the jewels before she headed back to her guild.