Chapter Text
Arilda's eyes opened slowly as the lights turned on overhead. Those clinical white lights that housed her prison, her salvation.
"It is time to rise, my four legged compatriots." Arilda looked up, through the bars of her enclosure, as the elderly caretaker came with her food. Arilda couldn't contain herself, as her tail, curly and small as it was, began to wag. The other dogs at Wither's Rescues started to howl and bark in excitement.
"Mr.Withers! What is it today?" Arilda asked, her barks falling on deaf ears. He placed her food in front of her, a she gave it a sniff. "Egg and bacon flavor again?" She sighed on contentment, as she gulped down the canned delight.
Arilda's day went as most of her days did, a lot of sitting around, and waiting to see which of her friends would leave today. She had been there longer than most dogs, as most people didn't seem interested in a pug with her condition. She had a large burn scar on the side of her face, that deformity coupled with her shy, fearful attitude, did not make her very enticing to the people looking to adopt.
"Aren't you just a doll?" Arilda didn't look up, she heard the sweet voice. This woman wasn't talking to her, they never are. "Is this one okay? She's just laying there, and her face! That poor baby."
Arilda stirred at these comments, as she gently lifted her flat face to the bars, to find a woman staring back at her. She instinctively jumped backward, trying to get away. "Please don't hurt me, not again!" Arilda whimpered, as Withers opened her cage. The woman reached out her hand, as Arilda cried and shook.
"This is it." Arilda whimpered. "No more egg and bacon meals, no more story time with Withers. No more anything, but the sweet embrace of eternity." The woman stroked the pug's wet face. "It's okay baby, I'm not going to hurt you." Arilda looked back at the woman, her eyes wet and her body still quivering. She looked so kind.
Arilda examined the blonde woman's face, she had her lips in a warm and welcoming smile, a few loose strands of hair fell over her forehead, loose from the high ponytail she kept it in. Arilda noticed her eyes, they were bright, and Arilda could tell that this woman was very smart, the way she scanned the room. One was yellow, while the other had an odd sickly black and yellow look, that would have made Arilda cringe if not for the woman's open and welcoming aura.
"Hi little baby, I'm Morgan, do you wanna come home with me?" Arilda's small tail wagged, her eyes were big. "Mr.Withers, I'll take this one." Morgan wrapped her soft pale arms around Arilda, and while the pug flinched at her touch, she was happy. She let out a little bark, as she departed her prison, her salvation. Ready to see what this new journey had in store for her.
Morgan opened the door of the house that Arilda would soon call home. Arilda had been so excited as they rode in the car, the sights of the rural country side passed her by. She smelled so many new smells as the window was rolled down just enough for her to reach her flat nose to it. She was used to the sounds of the city. it's cold unforgiving nature had left the pug scarred and broken. Looking at Morgan, her easy smile, made Arilda realize that maybe those days were gone, maybe she could be happy, and safe.
"Welcome home Arilda!" A tall red skinned woman approached, wearing a black t shirt and a pair of ripped jeans. "Fuck Morgan, she's just how you described her, what a little cutie." Arilda felt a comforting warmth as this large woman took rubbed her cheeks. Her rough hands finding the burn mark that would never heal on the pug.
"She's like me.. I love her Morgan. We'll keep her safe." Morgan smiled, her own eyes filling with tears. "I thought of you when I saw her, it reminded me of when we first met. I couldn't leave her there." Morgan sat Arilda down on the couch, as Arilda stared at her surroundings. It was a very rustic and cozy home, deep in the country side. Arilda could still smell the horses and Chickens from the barn and coop nearby.
"They must be farmers!" Arilda turned around to see her owners Morgan and Karlach, Morgan was being held by Karlach's strong arms, as Karlach kissed her wife on the cheek. "I have two moms!" Arilda yipped excitedly. a soft purring made her halt in her tracks, as a brown shorthair cat, made it's way next to her.
"Are you new here? I'm Gale, of Waterdeep. I love meeting new friends." He slid against Arilda's body, as she drew back. She had never seen another cat, not since.. She pushed the memories from her mind and stood on guard as the small shorthair cat stared at her, his big blue eyes studying her.
"You're a funny one, aren't you? That scar.." Gale examined the small pug, as she let out a small growl. "Arilda! No, baby, that's Gale, your new brother!" Morgan scolded the pug, as she jumped back.
"Morgan look what you did, now she's crying." Karlach picked the small pug up in her large arms. "It's okay baby, Mama K is here for you." Gale purred as he watched them, Karlach sat Arilda back down. "Make friends you two."
"They seem to like you! You must be staying then, would you like a tour of the house?" The shorthair asked. "I..I guess so.. Gale is it?" The shorthair nodded as he leapt down, eager to show the Pug his home.. and potentially, his magic ability!
"Follow me new friend!" Gale the housecat pranced forward, leading the small pug on a tour of the amenities of their abode. "So, this is our Mother's room!" Gale looks up at the room in front of them, the door is halfway open, and Arilda can see a large bed with clothes littered over it, the sheets were a mess and for some reason Arilda felt that Karlach must have been the cause of the mess.
"Don't go in that room though." Gale looks across the hall, opposite the bedroom, as the pair stand in the spacious hallway. Arilda looked to the door Gale was cautiously observing, a sense of dread filling her.
"What lives in there?" Arilda asked, staring at the ominous sign on the door, a skull and crossbones adorning it. If either was able to read English, they would have also noticed the writing next to said Skull and crossbones, it read "A little stinker lives here." Arilda stared at the gibberish and let out a small growl. "Watch it friend, the beast that lurks there would bite your absent nose, as quick as she'll look at you."
Arilda and Gale continued on, not noticing the stir of the door, and the soft jingle that followed them.
"Ta-daa!" Gale meowed, showing Arilda the blue glow in the litter box, "Gale, you can do magic!" Arilda exclaimed, not having believed the cat's magical prowess, but the blue glow in that litter left little doubt of his ability. "If you are so gifted, why are you afraid of the door?" Gale looked skittish, "Well, my magic has it's constraints, you see. I receive all my powers, from my former lover, and god of cat magic, Meowstra."
Arilda barely has time to process this revelation, before a piercing screech rings out and a white ball of terror flies over head, it lands it between the two, as Gale scatters, running far and leaving Arilda with this white cloud of death.
"Who.. who are you?" Arilda stared ahead at this creature, white fur covered it, its hair was tied on top in a neat bow, a small green gem on said bow. The figure growled, holding a bone in it's small mouth, a bone with two silver colored ends. The beast drops it's bone, staring into Arilda's eyes. "Who am I? I'm your only chance of salvation istik! Leave this house now, and I will spare you the might of my silver sword."
The white creature nodded to the bone, her eyes dangerous. "I.. I'm sorry! I didn't know I did anything wrong!" Arilda whimpers dropping to the floor, her head hung low. "Chk, what a fool, to enter a warrior's domain and so quickly to concede. I will give you a quick death, you flat faced fool." The white beast picks up the bone, running at Arilda, but suddenly finding her short stubby legs in the air, lifted higher and higher by a pair of red arms.
"Lae'zel? What are you doing to Arilda? She's our new friend, be nice to her you grumpy little Shih-Tzu!" Karlach scolds Lae'zel the Shih-Tzu, before placing her back on the hard wood floor.
"Tsk'va! I shall spare you today, but perhaps next time Mother won't be there, sleep with one eye open, for I will be watching." Lae'zel grabs her "sword" and waddles back to her room.
Gale peels out from under the couch, staring at the door, "She's gone? Good.. I don't think we would win in a fight with her.. did you see that sword?" Arilda watches Lae'zel, as she sits in her dog bed, visible in her dark room. Try as she might, Arilda couldn't shake the feeling she got when Lae'zel first saw her, a sense of familiarity. She didn't know why but she felt a strange kinship with this white beast, and she intended to find out why.