Where Oh Where Could My Puppy Be (Job)

After a few days of lazing around and crashing at the hall of her new guild, Arcadia sat at the Fairy Tail guildhall bar. She absently swung her bare feet just above the floor, her legs not quite long enough to reach from the stool she was perched on. Tilting her nearly empty glass to her lips, she took down one of the last bites of watermelon-strawberry slushy.

Arcadia had indulged in every juice combo that struck her fancy over those days, and even discovered how to turn the juice into a slushy treat. Of them all, watermelon and strawberry was still her favorite. Staring at the last little bit of watermelon-strawberry slush, she felt like it was time to start pulling her weight around her new home.

Plus she was pretty sure, she might get in trouble if she kept sleeping wherever she could find someplace out of the way in the guildhall itself. Outside was not much pf a better option either. The young dragon slayer had run through what little jewel she had wandering this side of Fiore, until one fateful night the guilds of this new world she found herself in was incidentally brought to her attention. Fairy Tail being the guild she overheard most specifically about that one night.

Finishing off her slushy, she pushed her empty glass away, and slid off her stool. It was a short walk over to the job board. So many of the postings just seemed so overwhelming for just one girl on her first official job, even of she was a dragon slayer.

Word Count: 266 (Total: 266/1500)

It was probably best to start simply, while she got a better hold on this strange future she found herself in. She contemplated seeking out Nessa, who already kinda felt like something of a big sister or maybe the kind Fairy Tail ace, Rina, both who helped welcome her into her new home.

As she thought about it, everyone she had met so far would've been good to ask. One niggling voice in the back of her mind, the one that hated to lose at anything. Did she really deserve this new family or their help if she couldn't help them in return? Because how could she return the help if she couldn't take care of a few simple challenges on her own.

Her deep green gaze found something that appealed many of her sensibilities, and seemed simple enough to handle on her own. One of the newest posters was from a local man named Everett. The poster claimed one of his favorite dogs, Big Red, had a litter of seven puppies that were all now missing.

There was no way she could let seven cute little puppies suffer out in the world on their own. If she could get a blanket or something with their scent on it, then Arcadia knew she cold track them down easily by herself.

Grabbing the poster for the address, she nabbed her knapsack on the way out onto the streets of Magnolia. Better yet, this job was local, meaning  she wouldn't have to find jewel for transport or endure any vehicles to get there.

Word Count: 261 (Total: 527/1500)

The mild warmth of the mid-morning sun felt glorious on her face.  Now that she had a place to crash that wasn't the great outdoors, made it easier to appreciate that kind of thing. Arcadia double checked the address the poster. Glancing up and down the street from the flier, she realized she didn't yet really know her way around town very well. That wouldn't be a problem once she got ahold of something with the puppies' scents on it. Her nose could lead the way then. For now, she'd have to muddle her way to Mister Everett's home.  

There was an old man passing by across the street. It would be easy enough to ask directions. She leaned to take that first step across the street, but never actually lifted a foot. She bit her lip, staring in frustration at the ground. Asking any stranger anything, was easier said than done. For a moment she wished Nessa was here.

Arcadia pushed that thought aside, however unsure she was of this future, she couldn't go crawling to her guildmates just to find some puppies. What would Khione Glacier, the dragoness who raised her, think? (It was still hard for Arcadia to believe all she remembered about her dragon foster mother was 'hundreds of years ago'. To her, it only felt like a few weeks ago.)

In all her hesitation, the old man was starting to get pretty far away. She was also... pretty sure? Pretty sure he was going the wrong general way she needed to. So she pressed on down the street, going the way, the old man had come from.

Word Count: 273  (Total: 800/1500)

Her mid-morning start had waned into late morning. Here she was out here to look for lost puppies, and she'd gone and gotten herself lost too. She let the heft of her knapsack slip from her shoulder to rest down on the ground. The young dragon slayer chided herself, ”I know.... I know, Khione... Mom. I shoulda asked that old man for directions. I'll never hear the end of it, if they have to send some out to find ME.”

She found a new sense of determination from that one thought. Ahead she saw the same set of houses she had passed at three times now. This time though, she looked further down the cross street just before the three houses than she had before. The very street she had been looking for. She giggled, wondering how many times she had passed right by. Taking up her knapsack again, she started back on her way.

Mister Everett's house wasn't too far up the street she'd been looking for all along either. The house was a lot bigger than she had imagined. She stood there in awe of the mansion's size only briefly. There was a job to do, and she had wasted enough time this morning already.

There was a bored looking guard at the gate, and there was no avoiding this man. Acardia frowned, not willing to let her mistake with the old man happen again. Though she did not meet the guard's eyes, she did show him the poster and the outline of sky blue on her left forearm. ”Hey, Mister. My name's Arcadia Fairchilde. I'm a wizard from Fairy Tail, and I'm here to help Mister Everett find his missing puppies.”

The guard looked doubtfully at the young mage. He didn't look so sure about her, but help was help, and wouldn't be the one to tell Everett he turned away Fairy Tail's aid. Opening the gate, ”Go right in, little lady.”

Arcadia bowed graciously to the guard and hurried in, up the stairs and through the doors. As grand as Everett's home was on the outside, the inside was unlike anything Arcadia had seen since the one time she had visited the royal palace in Dragnof with Khione Glacier.

A tall, mustachioed man greeted Arcadia with a flamboyant bow, “Hello, Hello. I'm Everett. Are you from one of the guilds? Are you?”

The dragon slayer stood straight and forced herself to meet the tall man's gaze. If she wanted to help these puppies, wanted to show she could come through on a job on her own she couldn't shy away from the client. ”Yes, Sir. I'm Arcadia of Fairy Tail. Don't you worry. I'll find your puppies. I just need a blanket or something they've slept on to get their scent, and maybe borrow some of their favorite snacks.”

Everett nodded, ”The snacks I get, but scent? Do you have a dog with you I don't see or are you part part canine yourself?”

Arcadia grinned proudly, showing off her cute little fangs to Everett, ”More like part dragon. I'm a dragon slayer, and we have pretty good noses.”

The tall man seemed satisfied with that answer, because smiled, ”In that case, wait right here.” he left, and returned a couple minutes later with dog blanket and bag of chicken bits in hand. It was covered in dog hair. ”This is one of the blankets they were sleeping on before they got out.”

She accepted the blanket from Everett, and bowed, ”Thank you, Mister Everett. I'll be able to track them down for you.” Arcadia held the blanket up to her nose, letting the different scents of each puppy sink in. Heading back outside, she alternated between sniffing the blanket and sniffing the air.

It wasn't long before she picked up the puppies' trail. She charged ahead, her pale blonde hair trailing out behind her. Finally she was making real progress. Arcadia often double checked the scents she could make out on the blanket to rule out the trails of any strange dogs that could throw her off track.

She saw a woman and couple of kids younger than her along the way, who might have seen the puppies. The scent trail was still pretty strong though, and Arcadia trusted her senses more than she ever would strangers. The trail eventually lead to one hollowed out old tree on the edge of town. Arcadia knelt down and peered in, seeing four or of the seven puppies cuddled together inside the hollow. She could pick out the scents of the other three in the air, so they were somewhere close.

Arcadia laid out their blanket on ground just outside the tree, and began reading off the names from the flier. ”Clover! Clover! That's a girl. Ben-ben. Ben-ben. Patches! Here Patches. Spot! Spot, Spot! Blue! Here June! And you Darkness... good boy.”

The puppies started coming out one by one, and as they did, she would throw pieces of chicken onto their blanket. Before she knew it, all seven were gathered around the comforting smells and treats. She threw the blanket over her shoulder and began collecting puppies off the ground. Four were hugged in one arm and three in the other. She carried her armload of happiness back home.

Everett and more importantly the puppies' mother was overjoyed to see the seven wiggly bundles of cuteness again. Everett cheered, ”Wonderful! Wonderful!”

Word Count: 915 (Total:1715/1500)