The Ones On The Ground (sequel to The One Who's Fallen)

Chapter 73

Clarke's POV

We reach the woods and let the pets go off and do their business.

"Clarke?" Mom says. "Shouldn't you go after them? What if they wander away?"

"They won't," I say confidently. "They're smart Mom, they know not to wander too far. Besides, if one of them does manage off, the others have good senses of smell and can easily find them. I'm not worried."

"What about your pets, Raven? Isn't one of them blind?" Mom asks worriedly.

"Yeah, Beowulf is blind in his left eye and Lilly is deaf. I'm not worried about them either, Mama G. Like Clarke said, they're smart."

I can tell that our words don't completely silence her worries. Mom looks at the bushes they disappeared into with a worried gaze. Honestly I think it's sweet that she's concerned about them.

Dalul is the first to return and trots over to me. I crouch down as she presses her side to my legs and pet her side, scratching slightly.

"Good girl," I coo.

Dalul looks up at me, her tongue lolling out. Her tail wags hard, slapping against Lexa's legs since she's right next to me. I snicker and look up at Lexa's face. She's not exactly amused, and it shows. I find it hilarious.

"Good girl," I whisper to her.

The slapping of Dalul's tail gets louder and more frequent at my words and I can't contain my laughter anymore. Apparently, while I'm laughing my face gets low enough where Dalul can lick it. So she does. I close my lips so her puppy tongue doesn't get into my mouth. Now Lexa's laughing at me, having moved out of Dalul's tail's way.

I turn my head towards Lexa, Dalul's licking reaching my jaw now. I maturely stick my tongue out at her before turning back to Dalul. She hits me right in the lips with her next lick and I let out a puff of air.

"Puh. Dalul!" I groan.

She obediently stops licking and I shake my head fondly at her. I put my hands under her stomach, indicating that I want to pick her up. She doesn't try to squirm away or growl, so I know it's okay. I scoop her up and giggle when the first thing she does when we get close to Lexa is lick Lexa's nose.

Dalul squirms in my arms, trying to get over to Lexa. I hand Dalul to her and press a kiss to her lips.

"Lupi!" I hear Madi say and I turn around to look.

Sure enough, Lupita's coming out of the bushes. She walks with her usual swagger, heading right to Madi. She rubs herself against Madi's legs as Madi giggles. She crouches down and holds out her hand. Lupita sniffs it and then presses her head against it, rubbing and purring.

Beowulf and Lilly come back together, their tails beginning to wag when they see Raven, Luna, and Anya. Beowulf yips happily. They practically stumble over their tiny paws in their effort to get over to them. Raven lowers herself to the ground carefully, trying not to agitate her leg. As soon as her butt hits the ground, she's practically tackled by two excited puppies. And I'm not talking about Luna and Anya (if I ever told Anya I referred to her as a puppy in my head, I have a feeling I would wake up to a few more freezing water baths).

Luna chuckles and Anya smiles softly, both of them sitting on the ground as well. Lilly and Beowulf cover Raven's face in sloppy puppy kisses as she giggles. She whispers something to them and their ears perk up. They jump off her, stumbling at the impact of their tiny paws against the ground. Then they go tackle Luna and Anya, taking turns smothering them with kisses.

"May I meet them?" Mom asks.

"Mm hmm." I agree immediately.

I gesture for Lexa to go over to Mom with Dalul still in her arms. She can meet ours before theirs, since Lilly and Beowulf are still going to town on Anya and Luna while Raven watches them with a wide grin on her face.

"Hello there," Mom murmurs when Dalul is close to her.

Dalul's tongue flops out of her mouth again as she watches Mom with curious eyes. Mom places her hand close to Dalul so she can sniff it. Dalul's mouth closes as she sniffs. She pauses and looks up at Mom and then continues sniffing. She stops and moves so her muzzle is under Mom's hand. Dalul moves her head up so that she nudges her hand. I can see Mom's eyes widen and I know that Dalul licked her hand.

Dalul's head starts moving and I can hear the sound of her licking. I laugh at the disgusted look on my mom's face. She tries to pull her hand away but Dalul's head moves with it so she can keep licking. Mom's hand reaches up quickly and she scratches at Dalul's head gently. Dalul was in the middle of trying to lick her but she's now distracted by the scratches. Her tongue is still sticking out but her mouth isn't open anymore, and her little puppy eyes are half closed with pleasure. Even her tail has paused in its wagging, like she's too focused on the scratches to do anything else.

"Aww!" Raven says.

She walks over to us with Lilly in her arms and Anya has Beowulf in hers. Mom stops scratching and removes her hand. Dalul shakes her head and squirms in Lexa's arms. Lexa lowers her to the ground and we watch as she runs around, pausing to sniff whatever catches her attention.

"Lupi next!" Madi requests, Lupita in her arms.

Mom gives me a questioning look and I explain. "Her name is Lupita but Madi calls her Lupi."

Mom nods and holds out her hand for Lupita. She thinks it's a game at first and bats at Mom's hand, claws thankfully not extended. Then she gets it and sniffs. She "mrowr"s (that's what Madi calls it) and rubs her head against Mom's hand.

Aah! Animal cuteness! It makes me wish I could have an animal in my dorms; I miss my puppies! I need to get my own dog when I can... The only problem is, the earliest it could be is in like two years if I move into an apartment and have a job to support the puppy! Next chapter, Abby meets Lilly and Beowulf! Thank you all for reading and for your amazing comments! Stay awesome!