♪ Find the Pupper ♪ Aeluri & Rin Job

Aeluri raised an eyebrow as Rin pulled out her tablet after such a loud, rage-filled outburst. She’s quite the fireball if her buttons are pushed, Aeluri thought with a little smirk. I’ll keep that in mind for the future. Rin’s face scrunched up as she started sketching, her pen moving swiftly across the tablet screen. Suddenly two enormous lions appeared with a burst of pixels in the air, landing gracefully on the soft, grassy forest floor.

Aeluri’s eyes sparkled as the big cats stepped forward with a roar, but she maintained a neutral expression on her face. She had loved cats of all kinds her whole life, and every chance she got to meet one made her heart soar. Umbra, however, was not as impressed. He bared his teeth as he craned his head to look at the maned beasts. “Why do they have to be lions and way bigger than me?” he grumbled, damaged ego quite apparent. A small giggle came from the top of one of the lions, and both Aeluri and Umbra looked up to see Rin and Lily sitting on its back. Lily let out another giggle at Umbra, who turned his nose up in embarrassment. “Well, you coming or not?” said the pink-haired girl with a smirk.

With the grace of a feline, Aeluri leapt atop the second lion. Umbra followed, unfortunately not as graceful. “You should work on your accuracy, Umbra,” said Aeluri.

“Shut up.”

Aeluri let out a small laugh. With a lurch, the lions began running into the forest. Umbra dug his claws into Aeluri’s lap as their ride bounded forward, but the black-haired wizard did not flinch.

The further into the deep forest they went, the less light was able to filter through the trees. Shadows seemed to loom and jump as if they were living creatures, and Umbra clung to Aeluri in fright. From within her bag, Aeluri retrieved two magic lanterns, one of which she tossed across to the two friends on the other lion. The lantern bounced between Rin’s hands for a few seconds before she clutched it to her chest with a sigh of relief. Light pierced the shadows as both wizards held up their lanterns. Slowing the lions down a bit, they scoured the shadows for any trace of the puppy. Not a paw print nor tuft of hair could be found. As their maned steeds trekked on, Aeluri realized they had reached the top of a small hill. Large boulders and rock formations loomed ominously in the misty darkness. The trees seemed less dense, but still no light came through the canopy.

Suddenly, Aeluri heard the slighted swish of fur and a soft whoosh of air. Alarms went off in her head, and her instincts signaled immediate danger. In a split second, she swiped up Umbra in her arms and dived towards the other wizard. “WATCH OUT!” she cried as she tackled Rin off of the lion, grabbing Lily by the tail as she went.

An enormous boulder whizzed through the air instantly after Aeluri leapt, smashing into both of the lions with a loud crack. Pixels shattered through the air as both lions disintegrated, their roars of pain fading into the murky silence of the forest.

The hillside was more rocky than Aeluri anticipated, which she regretted as the four of them tumbled through the bushes. “OW!” Umbra yowled in pain as his tail got caught between Aeluri’s leg and the ground. The group came to an unruly stop in a cloud of dust and leaves at the bottom of the hill.

Notes:

Aeluri raised a single brow as a cardboard cutout of a white-haired woman shimmered into existence in the clearing before the two girls and their pets. Rin’s magic was intriguing indeed. The smaller girl mumbled something with the name Astrid Foss, but Aeluri didn’t recognize the wizard. I really need to do my research on wizards in Fiore, she thought, but was immediately distracted by the distant crashing of bushes. Both Umbra and Lily scooted closer to Aeluri in their leafy hiding spot as the noise grew louder. A giant green vulcan burst into the clearing, heading towards the cutout with a creepy shine in its eyes.

BANG!

The next thing she knew, the vulcan was limping swiftly into the bushes in defeat while Rin stood steady, holding a smoking pink gun. The weapon seemed too adorable to have carried out something so incapacitating. Aeluri gave a nod of admiration in Rin’s direction, impressed with her finesse in battle.

A soft whimper drifted faintly from down the hill and the black-haired wizard whipped her head around, suddenly remembering why she was in the dark depths of the forest in the first place. Gently placing Lily on the ground under the bushes near Rin, she swiped up Umbra and advanced silently down the hill towards the noise of distress. Aeluri knew now that Rin could handle herself and was not concerned with leaving her job partner behind to deal with the vulcan.

“Why are you bringing me with?! There could be more vulcans!” Umbra growled at Aeluri, his tall ears flattened against his head and his hackles raised.

“Shh, I have a plan if we get in trouble,” Aeluri replied quietly, gently patting the black cat’s head in reassurance. Umbra’s fur flattened down a little but he still seemed defensive.

The whimpering continued as they snuck forwards, accompanied by the soft gurgling of a stream. As they neared the sound of the water, the two black-haired friends found themselves standing behind a giant boulder submerged in the earth on the edge of the stream. A tree grew out of the side of the boulder, drooping so low it seemed to be on the verge of collapse. Aeluri pushed aside the curtain of lichen and ivy hanging from the lopsided tree, peering around the side of the boulder. In the middle of the stream, perched on a rock and looking very sorry for itself was a small golden puppy. Its sunshiny fur was caked with mud and its paws were soaking wet, causing it to shiver pitifully. Sad brown eyes looked up from its face. The puppy’s whimpers rang out through the trees as if it were calling for help, or perhaps wallowing in its self-pity. Aeluri moved to step forward into the stream but quickly darted back behind the boulder, clutching Umbra close to her chest.

A vulcan had stepped out from the trees downstream, sniffing and looking around. When it heard the heartbreaking whimpers and saw the tiny golden puppy, the vulcan let out an excited hoot. “Found puppy! Puppy!” it cried, beckoning behind it.

Three other vulcans appeared behind the first. Seeing four giant green-furred beasts was probably a first for the small canine, as well as incredibly terrifying. The four let out a chorus of hoots and hollers as they splashed up the stream towards the puppy. The small golden being had no chance of escape and was swiped up into the hands of the first vulcan. The other three crowded around it and cooed at the golden canine as it struggled and let out scared barks.

“What do we do?” whispered Umbra quietly as he watched the scene in the stream. A shiver rippled down his back as he sympathized for the puppy.

“I told you I had an idea, but you might not like it very much,” Aeluri replied softly. She whispered the plan into Umbra’s tall ears, making gestures with her hands. He bared his fangs in a grimace as she finished but begrudgingly nodded his fuzzy head in agreement.

With a small whoosh, Umbra merged into the shadow of the giant boulder. Aeluri watched as the black cat jumped between the shadows of different trees, moving towards the vulcans and the puppy. He got close enough to traverse into the shadow of one of the vulcans, then returned back to his normal, non-shadow body. After taking a deep breath, still unnoticed by the vulcans, he opened his jaws and let out an ear-splitting yowl. All four vulcans jumped in terrified surprise, their fur ruffling as they looked around for the offender. Umbra continued to hide behind one of the vulcans, dodging its giant feet. Aeluri stood from her crouched position behind the boulder, tossing a rock up and down in her hand. She drew her arm back and launched the stone downstream into the trees. It rebounded off a few trees and broke some branches, making a lot of noise. All the vulcans turned towards the sound with confused looks. The leader put down the puppy, suddenly focused elsewhere. As the vulcans headed downstream towards where her rock had landed, Aeluri slipped from behind the boulder and started wading through the water, trying not to make a splash. She pushed her long black hair out of her face and held the bottom of her kimono up above the water as she went. The puppy and Umbra, both soaking wet, waited for her on side by side on top of the rock in the stream. She reached the two animals and leaned forward to pick them up. A loud and excited yap came from the puppy’s mouth as its small body wiggled in excitement. Aeluri winced and looked towards the vulcans, hoping they hadn’t noticed.

Unfortunately, vulcans have very good hearing.

“Puppy thief! Puppy thief!” the vulcans cried as they charged back up the stream towards Aeluri. She scooped one drenched animal under each arm and splashed back across the stream, not as concerned with the noise as she had been seconds before. Ducking under the lichen of the leaning tree, she bolted back the way she had come, towards her pink-haired, weapon-carrying job partner. The vulcans chased close behind, letting out angry noises as they ran.

“RIN!”

Notes: Beep.

Aeluri’s hair waved softly in the breeze as she and Umbra departed from Mr. Hammelten’s farm. They had just finished returning his beloved golden puppy with Rin and Lily, and were heading out on their next adventure.

Mr. Hammelten obviously loved his pet, and when he saw the group walking up the road with the bundle of sunshine in their arms, he had let out a shout of joy. Upon hearing the old man’s voice, the puppy wriggled its way out of Rin’s arms and bolted to his human. The old man embraced the puppy, crying in relief. The joyful reunion between the old man and the small golden canine was definitely a tear-jerking spectacle. Umbra, Lily, and Rin were so moved that they bawled their eyes out, but Aeluri had just let a small smile grace her lips as she looked on, maintaining her calm demeanor as usual.

The goodbye between the mages was short but sweet. Aeluri usually just preferred to leave without goodbyes, but she found herself giving the smaller mage a gentle pat on the head in acknowledgement, a display of emotion that surprised herself. Umbra had been hiding behind her legs as the goodbyes were given, unsure if he wanted to say anything. But as the two found themselves walking away from Rin and Lily, he turned and bolted back to the mage and cat-bunny. He gently touched noses with Lily, then turned around and ran back to Aeluri, waving his tail as he went. Aeluri could tell he was slightly embarrassed as they walked on, but she decided not to say anything.

Umbra looked up at his companion and locked gaze with her red and gold eyes. “Hey Aelu?” he asked, hesitating for a second before continuing. “Do you think we’ll ever see them again?”

Aeluri looked up at the path ahead of them. Blue skies hosted clouds that drifted lazily along, dappling the farmland in light and shadow. Cherry blossom trees lined the road, branches swaying in the breeze. Petals fell gently down from the blossoms, creating dancing figures in the breeze. She could almost picture Rin standing on the roadside, observing a pink blossom with Lily sitting on a nearby branch as the petals swirled around them.

With a smile, she looked back down at her feline friend. “I’m sure this is not the last we’ve seen of them,” she replied. Her face suddenly took on a grave expression.

“But I can’t guarantee in the future if we’ll meet as allies or as enemies.”

Notes: None!