With Good Company: Rivalry

  Grimm was running behind Dodger on the sidewalk, dodging past the usual hustling crowd around them and making people shout. They were heading for the west side of town, and Grimm was curious where they were off to, but didn’t waste his breath. Dodger never told anyone his plans until they were where they needed to be, but this was farther than he had ever taken him. Soon the Terrier darted down an alley, catching Grimm by surprise, but the young mix soon caught back up.
  They kept up this way for a good, long while, until Dodger finally stopped, panting a bit. Grimm sat beside him, his own tongue lolling out, wondering what they were going to do. When he caught his breath, Dodger turned his head to look at Grimm.
  “We’ll wait here for the others. They are getting supplies for this next big heist over here on this side of town.” He said with a big smile.
  “What’s the heist this time Dodger?” Grimm asked, head tilting.
  “Simple. We need a new TV, since the one back home is all busted up and hardly works.” Dodger replied, looking around a corner, and Grimm knew he was looking at the place they were targeting.
  “A store is a pretty big place to steal from isn’t it?” The mix said, ears twitching.
  “It is. But it also has the best stuff we need.” The Terrier said, not taking his eyes off the store that Grimm couldn’t see. “We just need to wait for the others to get here.”
  The young mix took a seat to wait, wondering how they were going to bust in and out with little difficulty. Minutes ticked by, Dodger seeming calm, but Grimm could see his tail flicking in slight agitation. The Shepherd-Chow mix looked up at the sky, watching the clouds go by as he waited.
  Soon they heard a loud patter of paws coming their way, and their gang came around the corner they had come from, dragging a bunch of random objects with them. Einstein and Francis had a shopping cart, and Rita and Tito brought a big length of rope.
  “Hey guys, what took ya?” Dodger asked as he looked at them, raising an eyebrow.
  “Took us awhile to find this stuff Dodge, dump is a big place.” Tito replied, growling.
  Einstein walked up to Grimm and gave his cheek the usual fatherly lick. “Hey, how was scouting Grimm? Fun?” He asked with a smile, his long, bony tail wagging.
  “It was pretty good. I haven’t done much though, just been following.” The young dog replied, seeming sheepish. Thinking he was down, the Great Dane gave another lick.
  “Dodge will let you scout on your own soon, trust me.” He gave a friendly grin. Grimm gave a smile before giving Einstein a lick back.
  “Thanks.” He said simply, fluffy tail wagging in return.
  “Hey, guys are ya listening?” They looked over, Dodger looking at them with a smile. “I know you got a father and son bond thing going on, but we got a heist to do.” He chuckled. The two dogs smiling back, they nodded, showing they were paying attention.
  “Alright guys, here’s the plan…” Dodger started, as always, while the others gathered around to listen in, nodding and contributing to the idea.

  The moment the plan went into action, all was complete and utter chaos! Einstein bounded ahead, the rope locked between his teeth, dragging the cart behind him. Inside was Tito and Francis, each on one side of the cart, the rest following around the sides.
  “Gangway!” Tito shouted exuberantly, tossing something at the oncoming store employees. It was a small bag of old marbles, cracked but useful, and the store people slipped and fell face first to the floor. Grimm’s adrenaline was pumping, keeping up with the speeding cart. Dodger gave a bark, letting him know it was time to split up, and the two bolted down an aisle to their right. Luckily, as Dodger was hoping, it was a food aisle. The plan was to nab as much food as they could carry back to the cart, hopefully meeting up with the others with the TV. Grimm grabbed a few boxes in his muzzle, not caring what was in it, and looked at Dodger. He saw the Terrier mix had his bandanna in his maw, his eyes flicking down to it multiple times so Grimm could catch the message.
  Grimm nodded, starting to pile boxes in it, before they dashed off again upon hearing the employees coming. Pausing momentarily in another aisle, Grimm grabbed two bags of bread, and saw they couldn’t fit anymore. Disappointed, but not having time to think about it, the duo dashed off towards the front of the store, anxiously hoping the cart would be there. They groaned a bit as they saw it missing, looking around furiously.
  They were starting to get surrounded, and Grimm gulped down a lump in his throat. They were caught and cornered. They heard a lady scream from the back of the group, and Einstein came plowing through like a thunderbolt, the cart being dragged behind him. They could see the TV box in it, modest size like they wanted, and they made a desperate jump.
  They landed on top of Tito and Francis, dropping the food down before hopping back off the cart to run. The less weight their Great Dane friend needed to carry the better. People were shouting, but they were ignoring them, running to the sliding doors. They shot out of the store, vanishing into the alleyways with their heavy cargo with the subtlety of a brick wall, banging into the alley walls along the way.

  After a long time of running, they paused to catch their breaths, laughing and smiling. Grimm’s tail was wagging as he took a seat by Einstein, patting the large dog’s back, noting how he was panting loud. The run had taken a lot out of the older hound. “You okay Einstein?”
  The huge hound gave a nod, smiling. “Yeah, I’m okay. Just winded is all.”
  Grimm gave his neck a light nuzzle, smiling back. “I’ll help you out when we take off again.”
  “Thanks Grimm,” Einstein said gratefully, tail wagging, “you’re a good pal.”
  Dodger looked around at everyone before he asked, “Alright guys, ready to head home?”
  “Ready to go boss!” Tito said with a grin, mock saluting. Behind him, Francis rolled his eyes and knocked Tito off the cart.
  “As if you did much you little rapscallion, the others did most of the work.” He said dully, receiving a glare from the Chihuahua. The others laughed, Tito calling through their din.
  “You just wait Frankie! I’ll get you for that!”
  When all had calmed down, they picked themselves up and ran off, using the alleys to dodge the people of the city, heading back to their ship home. When they arrived, they unpacked all the stuff they had nabbed from the store proudly. Grimm and Dodger had grabbed the bread, and a couple of boxes of soup. It might not have seemed like much, but to the gang it was a lot of food, especially for their master.
  They enjoyed each other’s company, talking about how all the stuff went on their end. Tito exaggerated, talking about how they had dodged through so many aisles it was dizzying, and they had to direct Einstein to the front to rescue Grimm and Dodger from their own mob. Frankie promptly deflated his story by saying it was simply a roundabout run, just running to the back of the store and using the sides of the store to find the front again.
  Grimm noticed his best friend, Einstein, looked about ready to drop. He excused himself and the Dane, saying they were both tired. It was true, as a wave of exhaustion suddenly hit Grimm in realization with how much he had run. The big and small dog travelled back to his room, silent due to tiredness, and Grimm was hardly aware when he lay down and snuggled up as usual to his father figure.
  He was almost asleep when Einstein’s gruff whisper started. “So how did your end of your first big heist go?” He asked, and through the light moonlight through Grimm’s window he could see a smile on the big muzzle above him.
  “It went alright.” Grimm said, tail lightly wagging. He could feel it gently thumping the large hind leg behind him. “Felt a bit lost and we could have gotten a bit more, but it went okay.”
  “Well which was it?” Einstein asked, chuckling. Grimm smiled wide, unable to help it. It was funny when his best friend seemed oblivious, but he knew the Dane was intelligent in his own way.
  “It went alright, Einstein.” The younger dog replied, giggling a bit.
  “That’s good. You want to explore tomorrow?”
  “Sounds like fun pal. Night.”
  “Night Grimm.”
  The two settled down, dozing off happily. Grimm dreamed normally for awhile, puppy-like dreams, hanging with his friends and having fun. But the dreams took a twisted turn, hounding him in nightmares, about his family. His brother Alphonse leaving them, Adrian being lost somewhere, and he was calling for him.
  Grimm jerked awake in the morning, shivering hard and eyes lit with sadness. He looked around his room with his ears drooped, thinking about the things he repressed. He didn’t want to worry the gang, but it had been too long. I need to tell them about my family… And find Adrian…

  When Grimm and Einstein left that morning for the docks, the big canine noticed something wrong with his young pal. He waited until they were far enough before he inquired, “What’s the matter Grimm? You don’t seem