to ask him. But he could only manage a small grunt from his wide open mouth. Nicolai lifted his paw and lightly shut Julian’s mouth, giving a small chuckle. “Might v’hant to close zhat. You can catch flies.” Julian’s brows furrowed and Nicolai laughed. “Zho, Juli.” Julian started at his father’s new nickname for him. He had been listening very closely, because the strange accent was hard to understand next to his French one. “How is your mother?” Unbeknownst to Estelle and her masters, Nicolai had been secretly in love with Estelle ever since the night of their breeding. Well, really, ever since he first laid eyes on her.

Julian cocked his head at this strange question, but answered anyway. “Eh…she is okay, I suppose. Back at ‘ome…uh, I mean my old ‘ome,” Julian paused, noticing his dad’s eyes sparkle with glee. Whether this was from Julian’s stammering or his French accent, Julian wouldn’t ask. “She was very nice, sweet, caring.” his’s eyes lit up with love as he thought of his mother. “She vould always let me roam ze room, explore, and she vould be ‘appy as ve do it.” He spoke of her with a sort of reverence, and Nicolai noticed this and smiled. A very advanced young pup, Juli was.

“V’hell, I’m glad she’s doing vell.” Nicolai’s eyes twinkled for his secret love. “Eh, it is gettling late, boy. I vill make sure to send for you tomorrow.” Nicolai said happily, obviously delighted to have his son with him. He exited the room with a final goodnight, and Julian settled in for a night of good rest. He wasn’t going to be tired when he spent the day with his father the next day.

The next half a year of his life was full of growth and learning. He stuck by his father’s side and learned much from him, taking on many of his qualities along the way. Though he was still absolutely terrified by his cold and mysterious master and the blonde shadow, he was always looked upon with a good air because he was always with his father, obviously the man and woman’s beloved. Julian grew significantly in this time, became tall and broad and handsome. By his eighth month, he was already taller than his father, and he hadn’t even hit the dog equivalent of puberty yet. Though he missed his French family, he felt that he lived with them still, and he always made sure to keep his French accent, no matter what. He felt closer to them that way.

There was darkness to this happiest time, however. His subconscious mind always remembered one thing from his last day with the French side…Fletcher’s face. This face haunted him through his dreams, cropped up in his mind while he had free, lazy time, and disturbed him deeply. Now that he was older he could understand more what the emotion in his face said. Why was he so angry? What could have provoked that face of absolute and terrible rage? Whatever it was, it unnerved Julian, but he shook it off as much as possible. But his nightmares haunted him, and remained until one incident on his first birthday…

It was late at night, and Julian was tossing and turning in his comfortable bed. He had moved into the “dog” room with his father after he had his major growth spurt. He rolled and twisted, and he was getting and overall terrible sleep, when his father’s hushed voice broke through his consciousness and willed him awake. Nicolai’s tone was urgent, low, and tense, which rustled Julian awake very quickly and he looked up at Nicolai, startled. “Pére, yes, vhat is ze problem?” He said quickly, in an equally hushed voice. It wasn’t until then that he realized he had picked up some of his father’s Russian dialect, but he didn’t worry about that then. “Juli, I need you to get up, now.” Nicolai ordered, and Juli stood and shook. “No time, boy! Run, now!” His father rammed into his side, willing Julian to move. And so he did. As soon as his father expertly opened the door to the dog’s room, Julian became absolutely terrified as he realized their predicament.

The entire living room was engulfed in flames, casting a red-orange glow onto each white and gold wall. He stood like a deer caught in the headlights until his father rammed his side once more.

“Move, boy, move!”

Julian ran in a daze, his gold-flecked-blue and green eyes cast with a red glow. His father was a blurry fur clump ahead of him, shouting things like “run!” and “move, come on, Juli!”. Julian obeyed as best he could, but he was still in a terrified state until the front door swung open, his father’s expert door opening skills striking once again, and the cold air hit his face and woke him up. He ran with long strides while trying to keep pace with his father’s slightly shorter legs. Besides, he had no idea where he was going. Then it hit him.

“Dad, follow me!” He screamed into the night, the loud sound of neighbors’ horrified screams nearly drowning out his voice. Nicolai heard, however. “To v’here, Juli? Ve have no’vhere to go!” He said in exasperation. Julian nodded. “But ve do. Dad, I’m going ‘ome!” He caught himself, rethinking that sentence. “We’re going ‘ome.” He said, hoping Nicolai caught it. He glanced back again, finding that his father was obviously still confused, but pushed on, throwing his sight, hearing, and smell into the night, trying to navigate his way back home. Back to his mother.

And also to face his waking and sleeping nightmare.

They ran for what seems like hours, going in circles at times, changing direction and then changing back again. Nicolai was obviously getting worn out, but Julian pushed on. It wasn’t long before he though he saw the light of day coming up (or was that the sleep deprivation?) over the tall house with the black door. He glanced back at Nicolai, who was panting, but at the same time smiling, as if trying to say, “Well done, son.” Julian yawned and lifted a paw to scratch at the door, to signify their arrival, but before he could it swung open, just barely hitting him in the nose on its way open. A tall, lanky figure with a red-brown flop of hair stepped out into the open, stopping dead in its tracks as it saw Julian and his father. It was Cristofor, and his vibrant green eyes swooped across the two quickly and glimmered in recognition. “Julian? What are you doing ‘ere? With your father…” His eyes widened in grim recognition, probably from the reason he so quickly tried to rush out the door. He dropped what looked like suitcases and turned around. “Therese, my love! Julian is ‘ere, with Nicolai! I sink zey’ve been ‘it! He rushed inside, grabbing her by the waist and dragging her out. Julian recognized her instantly, her extremely prominent curves, big bust, long, wavy black hair, and the ever-caring, soft chocolate eyes that reminded him of his mother. Her eyes lit up with love and happiness, Julian recognized that look anywhere, and he ran forward to nuzzle her. That they still adored him, still wanted him here, made him feel right at home. Nicolai began to feel more comfortable and walked forward, allowing them to give him affection. Julian saw something in his eyes that he did not understand, sort of a searching, blank look, but he was not going to ask him about it now. He looked back at his masters as Cristofor spoke.

“’Therese, love…eh…” He said slowly, catching her mocha eyes with his emerald ones. “Do you sink, maybe…we ‘ave room for two more?” Nicolai yipped at that, that they cared for him so quickly was mindboggling. Therese nodded lovingly and gave each dog a fur shuffle. “I sink it can be arranged.” She said, love immediate in her voice. And so it was that they were put into large crates and stacked carefully in the back of their automobile, with five other dog crates and two large suitcases. (How they got it all packed into one car Julian will never know.) And soon they were off. It was a long drive, and while they were still near home it was tense, and Julian caught phrases such as “can’t believe they were attacked” and “we could ‘ave been next”. Whatever happened, it caused this move, but Julian wasn’t going to worry about it then.

They drove for days, stopping twice a day for a bathroom break and food, but never really interacting. They stopped other times to get a weird smelling substance to run their vehicle with, but Julian didn’t pay much attention to these stops. Hours and days began to blend together, and much of this time was a blur for him. Finally, an indefinite amount of time later, things were moving again. The car was ridden roughly onto a ferry and the dogs were taken out, allowed to roam the deck until needing to leave again. There was a happy reunion, Julian greeted his mother with a heartfelt nuzzle and licked her muzzle, and she returned the gesture. Nicolai greeted her nervously, and though she was surprised to see him here, she greeted him politely back. Though Nicolai was unsatisfied, he took it well, and sat on his haunches to watch the dark water go by. And Julian couldn’t help but notice Fletcher sitting awkwardly and lonesomely at the feet of Cristofor, looking out into the dark horizon as if he saw something there.

They were soon loaded back into the car and began driving again, passing a sign that read “Welcome to Anchorage!”Julian looked through the small holes in his crate to the bustle of this new place, though it was nothing compared to how New York ran. At