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 yourself.”
  Grimm was silent, almost like he was in a trance. Einstein watched his face, seeing him stone-faced, hardly blinking. Walking a little closer, he gave the mix’s neck a nudge.
  “Grimm?”
  “What? Oh, sorry Einstein…” Grimm muttered, looking glum.
  Einstein halted, gently putting a paw on Grimm’s back and pushing down. “Come on buddy, talk to me.”
  Grimm sat at the gentle but commanding paw’s push, looking up at the big dog. “I’ve just thought of something… About my family. My brothers to be specific.”
  Being the first he had heard of it, the Great Dane sat by Grimm and nodded for him to continue.
  “I have two, Alphonse and Adrian. I love them both, but Alphonse doesn’t seem to care much…” explained the small dog, “Adrian followed me a lot and I was happy he looked up to me. But one day he decided he wanted to be more independent and split from me. I was proud of him, but lonely until I met you guys.”
  “And you miss them?”
  “Adrian really, I know Alphonse can take care of himself. It’s been a long time since I’ve heard from him.” Grimm sighed. “I sorta repressed thoughts of them both, thinking they didn’t care for me much. But I miss Adrian; he stayed with me as long as he could before he decided to be alone. Alphonse wouldn’t be so bad to see either.”
  The big doofus canine’s brow furrowed thoughtfully.
  “Why not just look for them?”
  “What?”
  “You know, ask around and see if anyone has seen them.” Einstein licked Grimm’s cheek heavily to cheer him up. “I bet they’ll know your brothers!”
  Grimm blinked, giving it some thought himself. He did miss them, and he was sure nobody else looked like him in the city. Maybe it could be the break he was looking for to find his relatives. He looked up at Einstein, whose tail was wagging proudly.
  “Alright buddy; we’ll give it a shot.” Grimm said, smiling. The two walked off, ready to start asking anyone and everyone if either of his brothers sighted. What they didn’t notice was a pair of glowering eyes staring at them from afar. The owner was too far away to hear Grimm, but he was glaring pure venom at the mix for reasons known only to himself. He just had to get Grimm to himself… Catch up, bandy words, and create havoc to make Grimm pay.
  The figure followed the two, looking for the right time to get Grimm alone.

  The two strays wandered all over the city, asking questions to any dog they met. They had gained minor leads, but it always turned out Adrian had seemed to vanish after he had been seen. Grimm was starting to get discouraged, but his Dane companion kept his spirits up with sheer optimism.
  “Don’t give up,” he would say confidently, “you’ll find him before you know it.”
  So the search went on, well into the evening, and the leads began to get better, leading them closer to an abandoned warehouse, filled with old crates full of long-forgotten goods. Curious, but determined to find his brother, Grimm looked around at the mixed-up aisles, the only one knowing where everything was supposed to be long-gone.
  “It’d be easy to get lost in here.” Einstein observed, looking around the eerie place.
  “We should probably split up though; it’ll help cover more ground. We might find a den or something.” Grimm said. The Great Dane looked a little spooked, but nodded in agreement. Both were a bit nervous, the setting sun providing light through the musty windows, making it look creepier than it probably was in the day, making their fur spike a little with their nerves.
  “See you later.” Grimm said, heading down an aisle to his left. His partner went to the right, both hearing the click of their claws against the concrete ground until they were too far away, surrounded by silence.
  The figure that had followed them there gleefully watched Grimm go, darting down a straight path, taking swift shortcuts, knowing where Grimm would end up and where he wanted him to be.

  Hearing other claws somewhere around him, the young mix swiftly turned his head both ways, trying to pinpoint it, but with the echo it was impossible. Can’t be Einstein, he’s on the other side of this place… Grimm thought, going back to his task of moving ahead. He found it a bit odd how the crates were stacked, he couldn’t see a thing.
  When he came up on two different aisles, he took the right, and then was forced to make a left, going straight towards the back of the warehouse. He kept walking, ignoring the sounds of his own claws, looking carefully around. He began to notice odd patterns around where he was walking: some crates pushed apart, far enough for a dog his size to fit in. He took a peek in one, and was able to see the next aisle over, and started to push through.
  I feel like I’m in some horror movie… But really, Einstein is here, I got nothing to be afraid of. The young canine firmly pulled himself out of the gap, looking around. This aisle looked about the same as the place he just came from, except the right way back was blocked off by a huge crate, so the hole was the only place to get in this aisle and the left was the only way to go. It was like a huge maze in the warehouse, and it was quite unnerving. He kept on the move, actually welcoming his claw noise over the silence, noting that the deeper in he got the darker it was through lack of sunlight.
  He heard something scurrying and paused, listening closely. It seemed to be coming from ahead of him, and he moved slowly forward, trying to only use his pads to walk. He made it about halfway down when he saw a shape around his size dash off at the end. It had orange fur, his build, similar markings…
  “Adrian!” Grimm barked, starting to run after his brother. He was excited; he couldn’t wait to see his sibling. But something was wrong: why would he run from him? Grimm was his brother, not some rough stray. “Adrian, wait!”
  Their claws echoed around the warehouse, and Grimm’s voice carried to Einstein. Thinking he was in trouble, he tried to get back to his young friend, but he had forgotten the way and was lost. He hoped Grimm would be alright with whatever was going on.
  Adrian soon ran around a corner, forcing himself through one of the many shortcuts. Grimm saw his tail pull through and tried to follow after him. He found this particular one hard to get through, and he had a feeling it was squeezed tighter in case a quick escape was needed. He forced his way through after figuring out how to work his body through it, and looked around.
  He and Adrian had ended up in a square-shaped patch of concrete, surrounded by crates. He could see a large door cracked open behind a huge stack of crates, for an escape route of sorts, and to let light into the desolate spot. There was a lot of dust, and many paw prints around, suggesting Adrian had practiced this many times.
  And there stood the dog himself, eyes hard and tough as ice. Grimm, on the other paw, was grinning. He didn’t realize how Adrian was looking at him because he was so happy.
  “There you are Adrian! I was wondering why you were running off.” Said the young dog happily, stepping forward. Adrian growled lowly, making Grim stop in his tracks. “Adrian…?”
  “Hello brother.” The other mix said rather venomously. “It’s been so long hasn’t it?” He started to walk around, still staring at his brother.
  “Well yeah,” Grimm said, nervous now, “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
  “Hmph. Ever think of looking in your shadow Grimm? I’ve been following you for some time.” Said Adrian, a bit too coolly for Grimm’s liking. “I’ve been wondering if you would remember me.”
  Grimm stayed silent, starting to get a bad feeling about Adrian.
  “It took you this long to realize I might not be okay Grimm? Do you even know where I’ve been? Have you ever cared to check before now?” Adrian’s voice rose to a savage bark. But then it dropped right back to coolness. “No… No, you’ve been with your little gang all this time, having fun.”
  “Where have you been?” Grimm asked quietly.
  Adrian smirked. “Good to know you care enough to ask. I’ve been in the pound. Getting strong, thinking about how you didn’t care to check for me.” Explained the canine, flexing his body in preparation.
  “But Adrian I do care, I’m here aren’t I?”
  “Yeah, after weeks of not even thinking about me, even after I was locked up.” Adrian growled starting to move forward to corner his brother.
  Where’s Einstein when I need him? Grimm thought, standing his ground. Even though he tried to appear tough, he couldn’t help knowing it’d be a useless match. Adrian had gotten stronger, he was leaner, and Grimm was definitely sure he was faster due to their run. He knew there was going to be a fight, and he knew he was out-classed.
  Adrian pounced suddenly, lips pulled back into a vicious snarl, revealing his extra-sharp fangs. Grimm tried to dodge to one side but was caught on his right hind leg with a bite, and with the remaining momentum Adrian spun and tossed Grimm into one of the crate walls, a gaping mark deep in his leg.
  “Yeah… Just like I thought…” Gasped Grimm, starting to get back up slowly, injured leg shaking. “You’re fast…”
  Adrian smirked, running up and head butting Grimm’s side, winding the young dog and knocking him into the wall again. The stronger brother kept up his assault before Grimm finally realized it: Adrian was just toying with him. When Adrian charged again, he rolled towards him this time, tripping him up.
  Grimm tried to make a dash for the hole in the crates he had come from, but Adrian bit his tail and dragged him back. “Oh come on brother, stay awhile why don’t you?” He snarled around Grimm’s tail. Grimm yelped, trying to kick his aggressive brother off, the latter standing and ready to finish Grimm off.
  Before either of them could make another move, Adrian was suddenly bowled over by something nearly twice his size, black furred and powerful. It was growling, and began to wrestle and bite at him, Adrian fighting back with all he had. Grimm slowly sat up, watching it happen, wondering who had just defended him.
  “Grimm, come on!” The young canine heard from the door behind the crates. He looked over and could see Einstein pressed up as much as he could get to see him, and he nodded. He limped over, luckily not being far, and began to push himself out, being helped by the big canine. From outside they could hear the fight, which went on for a few moments before it eased into silence.
  Grimm heard a voice from inside, “Now get outta here, I don’ want to see you messin’ with another one of Dodger’s boyos again.” It growled. Soon they saw the speaker push his way out like Grimm had done awhile ago, grunting due to his slightly larger size. Past him, they could see inside where Adrian was crawling out of the hole Grimm had come, shooting hate-filled glares at the intruder as he vanished.
  “Adrian…” Grimm whispered, ears drooped.
  “Buddy of yours boy?” The newcomer spoke. Grimm looked at him, seeing he was a Beauceron, a pretty big guy, and he noted a weird accent on him.
  “Brother. It’s a long story.”
  “Darn shame eh?” The canine sat in front of him. “Can’t help it when a siblin’ decides to be a bully, y’know what I mean?”
  “Yeah… Not to be rude, since you saved me and all, but who are you?” Grimm said shyly.
  “Name’s Draken,” the other dog offered his paw to shake, “but you can call me Drake, most do. Who’re you?”
  “Grimm. Good to meet you.” Grimm shook the offered paw. I think…
  Drake glanced back at the hole he had come from before looking back at Grimm. “That was too close a call for ya lil’ guy. Ya need help.”
  “Help?” Repeated Grimm, looking curious.
  “Yeah man. Need to get strong, tough, be able to fight your fights and win them.” Drake nodded back where they had come. “I can’t stand bullies myself, and since ya know Dodger I don’t mind helpin’ ya out there.”
  Grimm seemed interested, so he continued, “Dodger is a bit like a broda’ to me, offered me to stay with his gang before you. It’ll be like a double favor, Dodger for the hospitality, and me for my conscience so I don’t leave ya undefended.”
  “You think you could get him up to match his brother?” Einstein asked. Drake grinned at him.
  “As sure as I know I’m from Boston!”

  Adrian limped through the warehouse, easily following passageways he memorized back to his den so he could hide away, to eat, rest, and relax. He almost had Grimm, he was so close. He knew Grimm would be wary now, so he had to be cleverer in how he handled him. He heard muffled voices through the wall of his den, and frowned. He wished he could hear them, but he didn’t really care. He had plans of vengeance to make.