One crucial benefit of being a member of this coalition—at least to him—was the expectation that every day he would not go hungry. The meals provided to them weren’t necessarily the best in the world especially when compared to the ones he received from The Drunken Pony. Considering the relative squalor this faction of the coalition dealt with, it was to be expected. Still, it sure beat the endless starvation he experienced out from beyond Liall.

For today he enjoyed himself a bowl of freshly made stew in the mess hall of the abandoned state building the coalition occupied.

Others gathered around at the long tables with many of whom he did not recall their names. Asum who had been teaching him to properly use a sword was there eating a meal himself along with the two twins who always made an effort to avoid him.

He eyed them from across the room and saw their gazes instantly avoid his. What’d I do to make them hate me?

“Something wrong?” Lar asked from the opposite side of the table from him. She plunged her wooden spoon into the bowl and took a bite.

“It’s nothing. Just Sera and Sara continue to not like me so much.”

“You can’t please everybody. Just avoid making contact with them.”

Lar wasn’t wrong. That didn’t change the fact that he didn’t like knowing there were people out there that either straight up disliked him or despised him. And he didn’t even know why which bothered him. Maybe it’s my eyes. Or my hair. Surely it’s not my wonderful long black hair.

His eyes drifted around the mess hall. It became clear that many people had their little cliques within this faction of the coalition. They sat amongst one another and intermingled while being separated from other groups.

One person however caught his attention. Juna sat all alone staring into a bowl of stew. She had an unusually sad look on her face. I wonder what’s wrong with her.

She was always so chipper every time he encountered her or spent time around her. I should go cheer her up a little. A sad Juna is bad news for sure.

“Hey, where are you going?”

“I’m going to see what’s wrong with Juna.”

Lar’s head twisted around her shoulder as she watched him get up and leave to head over to Juna. You can always come with me if you don’t want to eat alone. It appeared that Lar chose to simply sit alone and eat her own meal as he went to go see Juna.

Juna kept her hands in her lap beneath the table not even caring to partake of the food in front of her. The steam simply rose to her face as the spoon sat still in the wooden bowl.

He sat down startling her. She looked up into his eyes and tried to put on that lovely smile she normally possessed. It did little to hide the pain in her eyes.

“Oh, uh, heya Kiran.”

By being next to her compared to before, he could additionally tell that she was not only a bit sad but also quite tired. She had bags beneath her eyes and didn’t appear well-rested by any stretch of the imagination.

“You looked a little lonely over here so I thought I’d come by and help provide you with some of my lovely company.” His companion sat down next to him to his left joining him. So you did decide to join me after all. He was a little surprised but not at all dissatisfied with this result. “Is everything going alright with you?”

“Of course. I’m quite swell actually.”

He hadn’t known Juna for all that long really. They had done a few tasks together and even had her allow him to stay at her relatively small residence temporarily but he still didn’t feel like he truly knew her completely. She hadn’t managed to actually convince him of her doing swell with that tone she utilized nor that weary look in her eyes. Something is clearly bothering her.

Even with them there chowing down, she avoided partaking of the food she had in front of her. He took another bite and swallowed a few bits of carrots.

“Clearly,” Lar said frankly, “there’s something on your mind bothering you. Out with it at once.”

“Come on, be nice,” he replied only for her to roll her eyes.

“I am only stating the obvious.”

“No, no. You’re right, of course,” Juna said. “There is something in fact bothering me. While you two managed to fall asleep last night at my place, I ended up waking up only to find Fred missing. I searched throughout the area in the night and I wasn’t able to find him.”

“You should’ve woken us up. We would’ve helped you.”

“I didn’t want to bother you two,” she said sadly. “I-I’m not really sure what else to do. I’m planning on spending more time searching for him later today but I don’t see much hope in finding him.”

“We can’t have that,” he said. “I can’t afford to let Lar’s best friend run away and not be found. That’s not good at all. We must go find them at once otherwise Lar will be devastated. Isn’t that right Lar?”

Lar’s brows intensified. After Juna’s dog ended up urinating on a sleeping Lar one night, the combative relationship between those two had become undoubtedly more dangerous from then on out. If they could find Fred, he imagined their warfare would only escalate to the point of the world falling apart as a result of it.

“I wouldn’t even know where to start to find him,” she went on to say. “I’ve searched throughout the nearby area and its surroundings. There’s no sign of him anywhere.”

“Well I’d imagine the odds would go up if we both assisted in the search. How about it?”

She looked at him and he thought he could tell she had already given up. “It would only be a waste of time and besides, we wouldn’t be able to go until later this afternoon after you’ve done your training today.”

“Finding a beloved companion will never be a waste of time,” he declared.

He came to understand the power that companionship had. Lar had been there with him for a long enough period, that the thought of them severing ties was not something he even wanted to consider. Her dog Fred might not have the same utility Lar provided. They were just a normal dog after all. But what did that matter at the end of the day? To Juna, Fred was something worth having and holding dear to oneself.

And who would he be if he did not assist someone like her? “Juna, I promise it’s not a waste of time. I’ll gladly go out there and help you find them.”

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“You really will?”

“Absolutely.”

“And you’re coming with us,” he said towards Lar.

She sighed and began to stand up. “Whatever. Let’s just get this over with.”

“Um,” Juna said getting up herself. “Aren’t you two supposed to stay here to keep training after lunch?”

“The training can wait. If Asum or Lorek get upset that we chose to leave to do something else, then I’ll take whatever punishment they want to give.”

The three of them left and headed outside. Where they were to begin their search was—in his mind—a bit of a problem. He figured at least that they ought to start nearest to where they had last been seen which was Juna’s small home she lived in and that he still currently resided at temporarily.

“So he was last seen here, right?”

Juna nodded her head as they stood outside her home near a bit of muddy ground.

“Lar, can you go do a search yourself while we ask some of the folks around here?”

“If I must.” You could try putting in a little more effort to not appear so uncaring.

What was Fred in the grand scheme of things? He was just a dog but he was Juna’s dog and dearly beloved companion. He had seen how sad she appeared in the mess hall. It would no doubt plague her mind soiling the moments that occurred throughout ones day and days thereafter. If he could devote a bit of time to potentially solve this issue, then all the better.

While Lar ran off changing into her cat form so she could move around faster, he began leading Juna through the slums of Liall.

A rougher-looking fellow stood along a street corner beside an even rougher-looking building. Kiran gave them a description of the dog’s appearance only for them to shake their head.

“Haven’t seen any dog recently by that appearance. If I had the chance though, I would’ve gladly eaten them for dinner if they came up to me.”

Well then. Glad he hasn’t come across them.

“How could you do such a thing?” Juna said.

“What, eat a dog? Can’t be so picky round’ these parts little miss. I’d eat a dog every day if it meant I didn’t have to starve, including yours.”

“Come on,” he said urging her forward. They gained a bit of distance from the man so eagerly proclaiming their reason for why he would eat her dog had he been given the chance. “There’s no sense in continuing to talk to them.”

In some way, he understood where that person was coming from. It still wasn’t exactly something that should be said necessarily especially given the context.

People were more than willing to eat or do practically anything if they were starving. In these parts, going hungry wasn’t such an unusual thing and he remembered how much pain he experienced by being hungry out in the lands ruled by toxic fog.

Even with that in mind, he wasn’t going to give up their search knowing that the people in this part of Liall would be more than willing to grab a stray dog and consume them like any other animal.

Time passed by in the search for Fred. Most of the people they asked around hadn’t seen them. And more than that earlier person today suggested they would eat them only causing Juna to appear visibly upset by their admission.

“Any luck?” he said telepathically.

“None whatsoever,” Lar replied. “I doubt we’re ever going to find him.”

The odds aren’t looking good for little ol’ Fred. He wasn’t going to give up just quite yet, however. They still had time before night came and if they needed to, they could try looking around tomorrow as well. If after that point they didn’t find him, well, they likely wouldn’t.

“Wait.”

He stopped as Juna began to focus in on something. Something clearly got her attention but he couldn’t exactly tell what it was.

She grabbed his hand and they began to run down a dark alleyway. They motioned through at a rapid rate and exited the alley.

They ran by people who probably wondered why they had a couple of strangers running by them. Little did they know they were on a mission.

It became evident with what exactly got her in a rush. A dog was barking and it became more obvious the closer they got to them as to who’s bark that was.

The two of them stopped to catch their breath in front of a small building put up against a whole row of cramped buildings. A dog barked from inside and it came running outside.

“Fred!”

She picked him up and grasped onto him tightly. I didn’t even hear this dastardly little thing until we were right up on it. Her hearing must be nothing short of amazing. She ran a hand across Fred’s head and even scratched behind his ears as he panted.

“This your dog?” A man wearing a dirtied shirt and dark greenish trousers came out with two kids clinging to his leg.

“Uh-huh, this is my dog Fred. I thought I had lost him. But here you are you silly mister. You scared me half to death.” She sat her dog down as he wagged his tail appearing happy to be reunited with her.

Kiran felt relieved that they found him. They had searched for a better part of the day and to be honest, he wasn’t so certain that they would find them but with those magical ears of hers, they had managed it. Thankfully, no dog eaters got their hands on him. It was just some family living out in the slums who had kept them in their home.

“You can stop your search,” he said telepathically.

“I guess you found him?”

“Juna did.”

“It’s about time.” He heard her sigh in his mind.

Unfortunately, while Fred was reunited with his owner, the kids appeared a bit sad knowing that the dog wasn’t necessarily going to be around anymore for them.

“Well I’m glad to see him returned to ya miss,” the man said. “Although the kids will be a bit sad having to say goodbye.”

The kids unwrapped their hands from the man’s leg and began petting Fred.

“If you’d like I could bring him over sometimes,” Juna said.

“You would?” one of the kid’s said.

She put her hands on her hips. “Sure. Fred seems to like you two a lot.”

Everyone said their goodbyes and Juna held Fred in her arms as they headed back to her home. “How long have you had Fred anyways?” he asked.

“Geeze. How long has it been?” She pondered on that question for a moment trying to come up with an accurate number. “For ten or more years I think.”

“That’s quite a long time.”

“I know. We found him when I was really little so he’s been in my life for half of my life basically.”

“We?”

“Oh, my brother and I.”

“You have a brother?”

“Oh um, yeah. I had a brother some time ago.”

He had unintentionally discovered what he thought must’ve been a painful memory for Juna judging by how she said that. She had a brother and yet they had passed away at some point in the past.

“Fred’s one of the last few things my brother and I ever had together,” she continued to say as they walked along the darkened street. “It means a lot to me that you helped me today. Thank you.”

“What’s a friend to do other than help? Besides, companionship means a lot to me. Dogs are often a lot like family so I knew I couldn’t just do nothing once I learned he had gone missing. Plus we can’t have Lar’s best friend not be around. Who else will keep her company late at night?”

She laughed and kept running her hand along Fred’s backside. “You’re right of course. I can’t forget about their own friendship.”

Pretty soon Fred and Lar could be back at their long staring matches in no time. All in all, he was quite satisfied. Juna was back to her usual high-spirited attitude which he wouldn’t want to do without.

Now all Fred had to do was definitely not pee on Lar as she slept. Unless he of course wishes for them to go to war ending the world as they knew it.