This was beyond humiliating.
He'd spent most his life on his own. Surviving, hunting, killing even. His kind had it hard in their world; technology ready to out all of them at any moment. They had to be clever and strong or die. They had come so far and survived so long, a proud and noble race that could be merciless and destroy at the drop of a hat.
But now...now he was going for 'walkies'.
'Bushido' looked back at the human female who was muttering to herself with a stupid grin on her face.
"Why yes, he's mine. Isn't he handsome?" You cooed, talking to no one in particular. You looked to the left as if someone had asked you a question, "Yes. He's quite big, but very sweet~."
Clearly, this woman was an idiot.
He huffed and glared at anything that came into view as you both trotted through the park, his damn red collar feeling like a weight on his neck. It had taken a good while of wrestling before you had finally managed to slip the damned thing on his neck and another good hour to get him to come near you after the struggle. He glared and growled every time you had come within ten feet of him, but after you fed him an apology meal (cooked beef - since he refused to eat the dog food after hours of it being out), everything had calmed down.
The wolf might have forgiven you if you hadn't did a slight of hand and hooked him up to a leash and dragged him outside the next day to the sketchy-ass park a block away. Seriously, he could probably spot a drug deal or two near the park's fountain if he watched long enough.
"His name is Bushido and he's made of pure love." You squealed softly, determined to practice your pet owner conversations you were sure to have.
"Excuse me miss, do you know what time-"
"Isn't my dog the best looking guy around?" You beamed, interrupting the poor stranger.
"I, uh, well. Sure? But what-"
You puffed up proudly, stars practically twinkling in your eyes as you spoke. You may have only had Bushido for one day so far, but you had grown pretty attached. "He's smart, fluffy, and can totally beat up your dog-"
The man quickly walked away, eyeing you warily as he continued on his path to find a person who didn't ramble about their pets.
Frowning, you placed a hand over your moth and closed your eyes dramatically, "No one understands us, Bushido."
'I don't understand you.' The mutt scowled.
'Bushido' had come to realize what kind of person you were in just a few short hours of being in your care. You were loud, rash, stubborn, and a complete moron. If he could talk right now, he would tell you all those things to your face without flinching. He didn't care, he was just so angry for getting into this predicament.
Bad enough he had ended up in this city in the first place (he hated all the tall buildings and constant construction), but to get caught by animal control was just the cherry on top of a pile of shit. Now he had to figure out a way to ditch this stupid woman and find his way back to the mountains where he liked to wander.
It would be easy to leave. He could simply creep out when you went to bed that night and let you deal with whatever mess he left behind. He would have felt guilty about doing such a thing, but at that moment you were suddenly hugging and petting and cooing over him like some lovesick idiot and all thoughts of guilt vanished.
~
You frowned and pushed the bowl of dog food closer to Bushido, getting a bit more worried. "C'mon, big guy. You gotta eat. I can't keep feeding you scraps of my food."
He merely huffed and looked away from the dog bowl.
"Don't be like that. Look, it has all the nutrients and taste every dog loves!" At least, that's what the back of the bag says. You sighed when he simply got up and left the kitchen. Running fingers through your hair you stood and scowled. This will become a problem if he didn't eat something - the last thing you wanted was for him to starve.
Maybe you could slip some human food on top of his meal every now and then until he finally just at the dog food itself? That may work...
Ugh, you were a total amateur at this. Who in their right mind thought it would be a good idea for you to own a dog anyways!?
Letting out a frustrated groan, you rubbed your eyes tiredly and looked at the clock. It was getting pretty late and you had classes and work tomorrow. It was going to be the first day you would leave Bushido on his own and you hoped he'd be fine while you were gone.
Everything will be fine...maybe you could call on your neighbor to use the spare key you gave them to let him out every few hours for a bathroom break. Yeah, that would be good. The retired man would like the company anyways since he didn't seem to have any family you knew of. Hey, you trusted him enough to give him a spare key, you could trust him with your dog.
You walked out of the kitchen and past the couch where the dog spent most his time on and started your nightly routine. Shower, brushing teeth, etc., then headed onto bed (calling out a good night to your pet who continued to ignore you).
You'll definitely have the food thing solved tomorrow - he couldn't ignore his bowl forever.
~~
Oh god. Oh god.
You were sure you had locked the door. You were positive you had closed it too!
So why did your neighbor call you to tell you that it was open and your dog was missing?! He had gone over there while you were at school to do what you asked and had found the front entrance wide open and Bushido missing in action.
Now you were skipping work and running around the neighborhood looking for your pet. You were already on the verge of tears, feeling like the worst pet owner in the entire universe as you called out his name, hoping to whoever was listening that he would come back to you with that doggy scowl he always wore.
Damn it, how had you already become so attached to him!? It felt like a devastating blow and your heart ached knowing he was now on the streets all alone and probably cold and hungry.
"I'm sorry, ______." The older man sighed as you walked back to the apartment with him. He had volunteered to help you look and had seemed to have no luck as well.
"I-It's okay, Jinbei." You rubbed one of your eyes, hoping to quickly stop the tears before they started to fall. You hated crying in public so much, but it was so hard in this situation. "I'm sure he'll come back. He's probably just...exploring his surroundings. I'll make fliers tomorrow if there's still no sign of him."
You'd definitely call your local humane societies and pounds too; you were so glad you put that collar on him when you did. Now it'll be obvious someone owns him and he wouldn't be put up for adoption if found, or worse...
Jinbei looked doubtful on the idea that Bushido was merely exploring, but didn't say anything. He was sweet like that and you were so lucky to have a great neighbor who had basically became your Mr. Miyagi when you first moved in. He even grew his own bonzai trees on his tiny back balcony while giving you sage advice on life and where to find the best grocery coupons.
You both departed to your homes with respective words and you immediately got to work putting up internet posts about your missing dog. You wished you had a picture to share of him but he had only been living with you for a day and a half that you hadn't thought of solidifying the memories.
It was going to be so much harder to find him without them, but hopefully the description of a 'big, scowly dog' was enough for the moment.
You placed your head in your hands and took deep, calming breaths, feeling like an idiot. You never got so attached to things or people, but apparently living on your own for so long had made you susceptible to any form of contact to a living being. Even though Bushido had showed no interest in you, you had latched onto him, starved for some form of attention.
Christ, it was like having a boyfriend who dumped you for a better girl or something. This sucked so much balls.
It had been a week and a half when Bushido went missing and you still had no word from anyone on any missing dog. The humane society had no animals of your description and though you thought you had a few leads on the internet from sightings, none of them turned up anything. You had almost given up, resigned to never adopting another animal to avoid this heartache.
But then he came back.
Covered with wounds and blood.