(C) Shedding Light (Monica/Zrion BC)

[lawna]

Marcus felt a little sheepish at getting 'caught', but shrugged it off. Better to be using his skill in a manner that was interesting, instead of quashing it with technical mumbo jumbo.

"By the way, that wasn't exactly fair," Marcus accused, sauntering back to the group. "I thought this was a fireball- only contest."

Monica smiled. At least they were enjoying themselves. They had been out here for a while, so Monica feigned more exhaustion than she really felt. Who really wanted to be lectured on the same thing over and over again?

With the approval from the adults, they all decided to head back to the house, and Monica's stomach grumbled for another doughnut.

[Darkjak87]

Zrion shrugged. "Maybe so, but if there's one thing I've learned over the last 13 years, it's that fair fights are for suckers." With that little tidbit of wisdom, Zrion joined the rest of the party as they made their way back.

However, as they were passing through the garden district, Zrion paused when he heard a whimpering noise. Looking around, he spied a small black puppy, a Labrador Retriever if he was correct, laying in the shade near a tree. It seemed to be bleeding from a small wound on it's side, possibly from another, larger animal.

Dogs were rare in Haven City - along with their relative, the crocodog - since most people could barely afford to feed themselves, let alone a large pet like a dog. Curious, Zrion approached the animal, but it shied away, obviously fearful of strangers. Zrion frowned slightly. That wound could become infected if it wasn't treated.

"Zephan?" Zrion prompted, turning to face him. "Do you mind healing that dog?"

"Not possible," Zephan said bluntly.

Zrion blinked. He hadn't expected that reply. "Uh, why?"

"I hate dogs," Zephan explained.

Zrion sighed. "Look, just because you -"

"No. I mean it's literally not possible," he elaborated. "I can't heal something with green eco if I don't care for it."

"Okay..." Zrion conceded. Zephan's rather passionate hatred of dogs was still a mystery to him, since the Ottsel wasn't very willing to explain it. "Monica?" he tried, "Do you want to give it a try? This could be good practice for you."

Zephan didn't look particularly pleased by the idea, but he seemed to agree with Zrion's words. It would be good experience for her. "Remember what I've told you," Zephan told her. "Simply help the the body do what it does naturally."

[lawna]

"Of course I'll try, but it has to come to one of us first." Monica said, looking at the puppy in sadness. She knew it was afraid, so she had to handle this gently.

She sat up against the tree it was still under, and crossed her legs Indian style. "Come here," Monica quietly cooed. "It's alright." She whistled and tapped the ground next to her. That caused the puppy's ears to raise, and its nose started to twitch. The dog hesitantly walked closer to Monica, and sniffed her hand. It must have even managed to get a taste of frosting, as it gave her hand a tentative lick.

"There you go," Monica encouraged, petting the dog's head and scratching one of its ears. She could already feel her eco trying to roar to life, to heal this poor injured puppy, but she reigned it in, so she could control it herself.

The dog was still licking her hand clean when she gently put it in her lap, not wanting it to run away when she starting healing it. She felt her eco, tapped into it, and let it go, to spill out and heal the puppy, speeding up the process that the puppy's body may or may not have down on it's own. The bleeding completely stopped, the infected and dirty scab fell off to form a new, clean one. Then the scab shrunk and disappeared, the wound totally gone.

"I think it's ok now." Monica said, gently rubbing her hand over the puppy's side. The puppy lifted its head to see what Monica was doing, and dropped it back down onto her thigh.

'The puppy must be really tired or was really hurt if it's still tired after a healing.' Monica thought. She kept petting it and looked up to the adults. "What are we going to do?"

[Darkjak87]

"Hmm...I think it's a 'she'," Zrion noted. Internally, he was considering. He'd always been curious about dogs, and he didn't often get a chance to be this close to one. Besides, he'd heard stories about war dogs, and he'd always been fascinated by the concept.

"I guess we can keep it," Zrion decided. "We can always give her away later if she proves to be too much trouble."

The resulting string of profanity from Zephan would have earned him a golf clap from Zrion's squadmates.

Zrion sighed. "Zephan, there are children here."

"Zrion..." Zephan said dangerously. "I. Do. Not. Like. Dogs."

"It's not a crocodog, Zephan." Zrion argued. "Besides it's just a puppy. We can train it."

"Train it to jump off a bridge, maybe," Zephan muttered.

Normally Zrion would call his bluff, but the way the Ottsel's left eye was twitching when he said it convinced him of the danger.

"Zephan, if this puppy dies under mysterious circumstances, you're going to be sleeping outside for a very long time," Zrion warned.

The ottsel sighed angrily. "I'm not going to win this one am I? Fine, keep the damn dog, but don't blame me when it starts crapping on everything."

"Fair enough," Zrion said brightly. "What should we call her? I'm thinking 'Ace' because she was pretty lucky to be found by us."

"Don't care. Just keep it away from me," Zephan said, as cheerfully as ever.

"Ace it is!" Zrion said, grinning at the Ottsel's misfortune. It wasn't as if he didn't make himself a tempting target for karma, after all.

The party began making their way home, Ace yipping happily as she ran between their legs.

It was funny, Zrion mused. Less than a month ago, it had only been him and Zephan, and the ottsel aside, Zrion really hadn't had much in his life beyond his work. Now, he had a sort-of-daughter, a new dog, and arguably a friend in Marcus to boot. For the first time in a long while, Zrion had something to look forward to upon coming home besides good food and a warm bed. For once, things were finally looking up.