really wrong Uncle Zero.” Said Duncan slowly, wondering how to explain himself. “I’m just more wondering about something.”
  “Which is?”
  “Well, wondering why Uncle Zak drinks so much. Most people say that it’s because the person is depressed or something, but Uncle Zak just doesn’t seem that way.”
  Zero chuckled, and he noticed Duncan’s ears droop in embarrassment. Mentally chiding himself for laughing, he said quickly, “It’s natural to be curious Duncan. But really, I don’t think Zak is depressed or anything.”
  Duncan tilted his head to the right in curiosity. “So why does he?”
  Zero smiled, glad he had averted upsetting his younger friend, moving on to continue the conversation. “I just think he likes it just because. The taste of beer, how being buzzed makes him feel after a few drinks, and, dumb as this may sound, the history of why he started drinking. He met up with your dad over some drinks, so it makes sense he’d keep the habit.”
  Giving a bit of thought, Duncan smiled. “Yeah, that makes sense. Thanks Uncle Zero.” He said brightly. He seemed much happier now that he was sure what Zak kept drinking for.
  But his happiness wasn’t meant to last for long as they went to go through an alley shortcut. When the duo turned the corner, they halted, staring at the scene before them. It was the street fight turf of the day, and the ones fighting were some sand color-coated mutt and Duncan’s own brother, Meph. They felt uneasy being there, but they had been noticed by some of the spectators, and they even saw Meph’s forest-green eyes dart over for a split second as if telling them to wait a moment.
  They watched as Meph charged at the sand-colored mutt, tackling him into a wall close to Zero and Duncan. His teeth gored deep into the other’s shoulder, and the mutt tried to bite back. With a flick of his powerful neck, Meph sent the canine flying into a pile of garbage cans, causing a loud crash to go through the alley.
  Now that they were close enough, they could see his rough, street-toughened features easily. He was a fairly large dog, a mutt himself, covered in scars from previous fights and firm muscles, with new cuts on his body. His eyes shined with a battle light, enjoying the freedom of the fight, and his big paws flexed, slightly blood covered due to clawing at his opponent. Notched ears twitching, he lowered himself slightly in a crouch to pounce forward as his opponent dislodged himself from the cans.
  Looking over at Meph, he gave a light shake of his head. He limped up to Meph, who stayed wary, staring him in the eye. Then he flopped tiredly onto his side and rolled onto his back, neck stretched far out. He was beaten, exposing his neck as a sign of submission and permission to be killed.
  Ignoring him, the young, teenaged mutt walked past him to a big, older-looking Rottweiler. “I’ll take my bones and be going.” He said flatly. The elder shaking his head in a sort of wonder, he pulled out a bag of bones and gave them to the young dog. Taking the bag in one paw, he gave them a shake and nodded, confirming it was what he wanted. “Thanks.”
  Zero and Duncan shot each other a glance as the latter’s brother approached, looking fierce. He gave a jerk of his head, indicating the other end of the alleyway before starting to walk through the throng of tough-looking dogs. They followed him closely, noticing his muscles were still tensed, as if expecting the other dogs to pounce on him. Looking at them out of the corner of their eyes, they could see why he was so uneasy. They really did look like they wanted to jump on the scarred hound, but they couldn’t build the nerve to do it.
  When they were out of the alleyway on the sidewalk, they turned a corner and Meph’s form finally relaxed, but still had a tense edge to it. Zero wondered if the mutt thought that he or Duncan would pounce on him.
  “So,” he started in his usual flat tone, looking back at them over his left shoulder, “what’re you two doing out here?”
  “We always take that way as a shortcut.” Said Zero, feeling a tad nervous with that harsh eye staring at him, wondering why the fighter dog had to feel as though he were an enemy. “We’re going to the beach.”
  Duncan nodded to confirm what Zero said, and they finally saw Meph’s muscles fully relax. Though the eye was still harsh, as he didn’t really care for either of them, he trusted them only to be around him. He was the main solitary dog in the apartment, rivaling even Andrew, Charlie’s son, who only hung out with his niece Sam.
  “Sorry we took your shortcut, the fights are always placed at random.” His eye roamed over to Duncan. “I’m guessing our Uncle got drunk as Hell itself again? It’d explain why you’re hanging with Zero.” Meph said with a light contempt in his voice. He wondered why such a big dog wasted his time with drinking games, instead of brawling or at least boxing like his Grandfather once had.
  The red-eyed canine stiffened a bit, and said with a light growl, “Yeah, he did, but it’s only because he’s having fun unlike you. You fight all the time Meph, and you act like we should do the same. Just grow up Meph; you aren’t a puppy trying to lead the pack anymore.”
  Meph froze right there, whirling around to face his slightly smaller brother, teeth lightly bared. He had to give credit to his brother though; Duncan hadn’t ever voiced such a harsh opinion to his face before. “I think, my sweet brother, this is where we part.” He growled, starting to go across the street with his tail flicking in anger.
  Zero glanced at Duncan, seeing he looked ready to go after Meph, who had disappeared down an alleyway, and shook his head. “Don’t go Duncan. We both know he’ll tear you up if you go.”
  Duncan’s shoulders relaxed as he heaved a sigh. “I know Zero.” He said, simply. “But he just is so… He’s so… Mean.” He gave a small smile. “Huh, can’t even make a good insult. I just can’t dislike him.”
  “Well you really aren’t supposed to insult your own family.” Zero pointed out.
  “But Uncle Zak and Uncle Andrew do it all the time, and they are stepbrothers.”
  “They’re different…” Zero heaved a sigh. “They used to be friendly, but Andrew started to get himself in too much trouble, and was dragging Sam with him. Zak knew that was bad, because he saw how you were being treated by them, and tried to set Andrew straight. He didn’t like that, and they began to argue and fight until they pushed each other into loathing.”
  “Oh…” Duncan looked at the ground. He was starting to get upset, and he knew he’d cry if he got upset too much, so he quickly changed the topic. “W-well, let’s just go to the beach. We were gonna have fun Uncle Zero!”
  Glad the younger mutt was the one who changed the topic, he gave a nod. “Yeah, let’s go buddy.” He gave a smile, leading the way to their destination. Watching them go from the alley he had gone through, Meph felt a pang of jealousy, and he hid his winnings in a secret spot in the alley, then he started to silently follow them to the beach.

  When the two canines reached the beach, they avoided several families there, choosing their own patch of sand. Their incident with Meph was forgotten as they began to build sandcastles. Zero’s always collapsed, never having come to the beach much, but he contented himself with watching Duncan build complex castles like he always had with his Uncle Zak.
  “We should come here more often, this is pretty nice.” Zero remarked, looking at the peaceful waves lightly crashing against the shore. He liked to be here, away from the city noise. He could probably nap out here.
  “Yeah, Uncle Zak and I like to come here a lot, swim in the ocean and such.” Duncan looked up from his work to smile at the ocean, the water sparkling from the sun and a dark green color. “Though we never go far, he wants to wait ‘til I’m bigger to swim in the deeper waters.”
  “You seem big enough Duncan.” Said Zero, smiling warmly to try and encourage the younger dog. He noticed Duncan shuffling his paw in the sand and tilted his head. “… It’s something more isn’t it?”
  Duncan gulped a bit before he decided to tell Zero. “Well… I know I’m supposed to work this out, but I’m scared Uncle Zero. I don’t think I’ll be able to learn how to swim.”
  “Aw, come on Duncan. You’re a strong dog; I know you can swim if you put your mind to it.” Zero said, wagging his tail. Sheesh, I sound like an old television show.
  “Well…” Duncan bit his lip a little, giving it some thought. “Can we wait until Uncle Zak can come? If I do swim, I want him to see me do it.”
  “You just want to put it off ‘cause you’re scared.” They heard from behind them, both turning to see the speaker. It was Meph, smirking wide. “I bet I could go out there and swim much better than you ever could Duncan, and it’d be my first time.”
  Zero shook his head, ears twitching. “Meph, don’t start trouble with us, we’re having a great time. Leave