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The pup hadn't left, as the other thought, but was just asleep still, having had a fitful rest due to his loneliness. At the voice, Dartanion had stirred, ears perking a bit. It sounded like that wolf Aramis that was across from him? Why was the wolf talking to him, and so...nicely? Yesterday the other wanted nothing to do with him basically. Not getting up, the pup wondered if he should reply? This might be his only chance at getting on Aramis' good side. "I'm sorry for bothering you...I just..." he stopped a moment as his voice broke. "I just wanted a friend. Nobody likes me back here..." Did he dare hope now?

Aramis could definitely relate, that's for sure. He was always kept back here because he never got along with the other wolves. He smelled different than the other wolves because unlike them, he was brought in from the wild and had to stay there because something was wrong with him. "Yeah, I know whatcha mean.." Aramis replied, kinder, scratching his ear in a clumsy way.

Dartanion blinked. Aramis knew? Understood? This would be a first. He had thought he was basically alone. Tentatively, the younger wolf got up, inching towards the front on the enclosement. "Really?" He didn't want to be nosy, but couldn't help but want to know how this wolf was like him, reaching out for someone who could understand him. He waited somewhat impatiently, but managed to keep quiet, hoping the other would tell him.

Aramis gave a thin smile. It felt good. He couldn't remember the last time he smiled. "Yeah, I--" Suddenly there was a sharp pain in the young wolf's head, and he cried out, throwing himself to the ground. An instant later, Aramis' eyes rolled to the back of his head and his body began to shake violently. He managed to slip out a soft, pitiful whine, but it seemed like forever until the humans came. They were exclaiming something to each other that Aramis could not make out, and they took his shaking foom away and out of the back room, leaving poor Dartanion by himself.

Saying that what had just occured scared Dartanion would be an understatement. He had gone completely wide-eyed at the sight of the other wolf falling over and shaking uncontrollably. He didn't know what to do, to think. The pup wanted to call for help, but the humans came in then and began to pull Aramis out. Panic rose in the younger wolf's heart. They were taking him away! The one that might have been his only chance at a friend?! "Aramis?!" He ran up to the front, trying to see what was happening, and where his friend was being taken. "Aramis!!" And he was alone again.

By the time Aramis woke up again, he was back in his cage with a slight headache. Compared to the one he last had, this one was nothing. The humans had taken care of him again, and each time he wished they didn't. He hated what happened to him. All of that shaking...It made him hurt. He closed his eyes, wanting to cry, but then when he heard a voice, the tears fell. The voice was concerned for him. The voice was Dartanion's, asking if he was alright. Aramis sat up as well as he could, a bit light headed. He didn't know how long he had been asleep, but as soon as he gathered himself some, he answered. "I'm okay now..." He groaned.

Dartanion had cried long after Aramis had been taken out, huddling back into a dark corner. He didn't stop until the other was brought back, much to the young one's surprise. Aramis was alive?! He had thought he worst when the wolf was taken out, not scrambling to the front of the cage to try and catch a glimse at what was happening. Now at hearing the other speak that he was alright, it calmed him some but was still shaken by the experience, and sniffed back more tears. "I was scared...I thought you were gonna die...and I would be alone again..."

"You were scared for me?" Aramis asked, softly. "No one's ever been scared for me...except my mom...But she's gone." he said, poking his nose through one of the bars on the cages. A question instantly struck Aramis' thoughts. It was weird that he'd ask such a question to himself. He just met Dartanion yesterday and he didn't like him...but now..."Dartanion? When I was little, I had a little brother who died when he was born... do you think we could be brothers instead?" It sounded less silly when said aloud. They were both lonely and out of place and isolated. There must've been a reason they were brought together. Maybe being brothers was it.

"Brothers?" The thought seemed unimaginable to Dartanion at the time. He had never had family, and never knew them. "Really? I've never had anything like that...!" what if he was a bad brother and Aramis got mad again? Sticking his own nose and a paw through the cage bars, he tried to get a look at the other. But he sounded pleased, his tail wagging slightly in hope. The pup wished he could see the other better. "So what do brothers do?"

Aramis hasn't really thought about that. Said question actually made him feel pretty stupid for even suggesting it. He exclaimed without thinking, "I-I don't know! What brothers do I guess!" He looked away out of embarrassment.

The pup thought about it. Well brothers meant family right? "I wish we could see each other." He whinned a bit, moving across the bars though it didn't help. Finally he plopped back down to sit. "Um...so..." akward silence. "What happened to your leg?" He hoped it wasn't a bad question, but Dartanion couldn't help but be curious, being young.

Aramis looked at the lump that once had a leg attached to it. It still had stitches in it, which felt strange and scratchy whenever he put his nose on them. He looked at the empty space mournfully. "Some strange wolf bit my leg a long time ago when I got separated from my mom... and the wound wouldn't heal... It just kept hurting, and my skin was changing colors. It was then the humans found me... They cut off my leg. Once I was feeling better, they wouldn't let me go. So I had to stay here." Aramis sounded really sad about his leg. Sometimes he could still feel like it was still a part of him, but everytime he'd look, it wasn't there. He managed just fine without it, but it was still hard sometimes.

Dartanion's ears drooped, picking up the sadness in the other's voice. "Oh. Did it hurt? When they took away your leg? Does it still hurt?" He couldn't imagine how Aramis felt about it, or what it was like to have three legs. The younger wolf was still too young. When Aramis didn't answer for a while, the pup whinned, hoping the other wasn't angry with him again.

Aramis had to think for a while. He didn't remember much of it anymore, so he said so, "I just woke up and my leg was gone... one of the other wolves told me the humans took it. Sometimes it still hurts, but not really." The two young wolves heard the door's squeaky hinges swing open. A middle-aged male human entered and smiled at Dartanion and said, "Ready for some fresh air before the others go loose?" he asked the tri-colored wolf. The man didn't wait for a response, he just attached a leash and collar to him and walked him outside. Aramis couldn't see what was going on, but he heard the human say, "I'll be back for you, Aramis."

The remaining wolf frantically walked around his cage. He wanted out so badly. He didn't get a chance to when he had a seizure and he already couldn't stand the smell of this place. Like the human said, he returned with another leash and collar and took Aramis outside. The wolf would've pulled the human's arm out of socket if the floors weren't so slippery to his claws. At times Aramis would forget he didn't have a second arm and would fall and hit his furry chin on the ground. It would hurt for a moment, but he always shook it off. When the human and the wolf were both outside within a high-fenced area, Aramis was let loose and he ran as fast as he could to stretch his legs.

The only time he stopped was when he saw Dartanion for the first time on the other side of the fence in a different area. His new-found brother was colored white and grey and light brown with a few dark markings, especially two distinct ones on his muzzle which made him look kind of silly with such a young, round face. Aramis cautiously approached the side of the fence to meet the younger wolf.

It wasn't that hard to spot Aramis when he came out, him being the only three legged wolf outside. When Dartanion spotted him, his tail wagged and he ran up to that side of the fence as fast as his short puppy legs would carry him. Aramis was bigger than him, that he knew would be. The three-legged wolf was marked with shades of grey, with a white plastic collar aroud his neck. Having only three legs didn't seem to bother his 'brother' as he ran around for a bit before spotting him and starting over. Seeing that his friend was coming, the younger wolf's face lit up, and his tail wagged even more, to he extent that his whole back end was going side to side with it. "Aramis!"