The markets that they were talking about are huge!

I mean the places where my Daddy’s go shopping are big and they don’t allow me inside, but this is just something else entirely. It’s taken us nearly three full walks just to get through the first layer and whilst I’m panting like a maniac I’m still so fascinated by everything.

There’s loads of different people here, thankfully not all of them look like Puff, and a majority seem to have their own stalls and their selling stuff the likes of which I have no idea what half of it is.

I mean, I went to sniff at a plant and it tried to bite my nose off.

Honestly! It was just a pretty flower and then suddenly it hissed and snapped towards me with hundreds of teeth and I had to flee else it would have eaten me!

Can’t be eaten by some stupid flower, that would be the worst way to die.

Panba laughed at me though, which made it better, just a little, cause it means she’s happy.

Jintao was able to get her some traditional baby clothes from this strange place and Heechul’s got her all wrapped up so she looks like every other little puppy that we meet. A few people seem to be confused as to why Heechul has a puppy but I can only tell that by their facial expressions.

Everyone is keeping away with me though, which makes me sad.

Normally I get lots of attention and pets when I go out for a walk or at least there’s other doggies who are happy to play with me but here they all back off as if I’m going to eat them.

As if I would do that, humans aren’t for eating. They’re for playing.

But regardless of that there’s still lots of very fun things in this market and we travel around for ages which is quite cool. I even make a friend with a birdy that echoes back the noises that I make which provides some good entertainment for everyone which is good. But suddenly birdy takes off into the sky and Jintao calls me back before I can go chasing off after it because he does not want me to get lost.

A few shifty looks are sent his way and I get a particularly bad vibe from a man who’s apparently selling pebbles as he’s glaring at me in a way that I don’t like in the slightest. I send him a warning growl as I pass and he continued to stare at me with that same look. Not good, not good at all.

Jintao, that man with the rocks is looking at us funny.

“I’m not surprised Hero,” Jintao replies without looking at me, his eyes trained on Heechul who’s a little further away from us talking to a stall holder and I flick my ears to pick up the conversation. He’s buying some milk for Panba cause she’s getting fretful and that reminds me that I’m rather hungry to.

Gently I at Jintao’s hand and he jumps in surprise before nodding and agreeing, “Hmm, lunch is definitely in order.”

So we end up at this large fountain with really nice clear drinking water, well I don’t know if it’s drinking water or not but no one is stopping me having a drink, and once I’m finished that I trot over to Heechul whose giving Panba a bottle and gently nudge at the little puppy who smiles brightly and tries to bat at me with her hands which is always good.

Heechul playfully frowns and shakes his head as he pulls her out of my reach, “None of that whilst she’s eating, Hero, she’ll end up hungry later.”

But I always check on her when she’s eating, Heechul, you don’t need to worry about that.

“Here, Hero, come see what I’ve got for you,” Jintao chuckles and I turn around to see that he’s got some kind of sausage in his hand which smells a bit different from normal but since we’re on a different world I doubt very much that it’ll be too bad. Plus, it doesn’t smell icky so my tail wags happily and I sit down appropriately and raise my paw in a please motion because I’m a good doggy and won’t be greedy and snatch.

Jintao looks a little on the confused side for a moment but then gives over the sausage thing and it’s really tasty. I want more!

Before he can even begin to unwrap the other sausage though, there’s a sudden change in the atmosphere around us and a smell invades my nose. It’s similar to wet dog but this is more like a dog that has been dragged through the mud on an icy day, left it in their fur to rot and then gone back into the icy mud once again.

I turn with a snarl already forming and find that half of the market has disappeared as there is a dog standing there in the centre of the street. It is black and has red patches which are similar to my tan ones but make it look like it’s been smeared with paint rather than being naturally cool like mine and its eyes are pure white. It is big, bulky and clearly designed to take down huge monsters that must roam outside of this township.

It radiates a strong aura and I understand why Jintao and Heechul would run screaming from it.

He’s a bad boy, and I know he’ll steal Panba from me if he gets a chance.

I’m not even going to give him one.

Before this snork can even process what is about to happen I charge straight at him, covering the distance in a spurt of speed that rivals anything on this planet I wager and I body slam into the creature to send it tumbling back down the street. I don’t let it get back up, immediately attacking forward as it snarls unnaturally and tries to take a bite back towards me.

It’s clumsy in fighting, clearly used to pinning more than actual rough and tumble and from the weight I figure that these things much pounce on their prey and then snap its neck. Good, that gives me an instant advantage cause I just have to keep on pushing forward and keeping it on the defensive and it’ll trip up. My paws and teeth strike at the creature but they don’t quite connect like when I play fight with dogs back at home. It’s almost like this thing is not there, but I figure it must be some kind of defence or else these things are ghosts which means I’m screwed.

However, the snork manages to get a lucky bite on my muzzle and pushes me back, before going immediately for a pounce that would have floored me if not for the fact that I’m in fighting mood.

We clash mid-air and my teeth find something heavy and metallic in the centre of its chest so I naturally bite down on it. It howls loudly and I know I’ve got something here so I refuse to let go and swiftly shake my head from side to side. Something clicks and then breaks off and the snork tumbles down to the ground with a groan of pain before collapsing in on itself and disappearing in a series of streaming smoke into what looks like a ball of some kind. It’s almost metallic and has a few long wires sticking out of it like some odd spider arrangement and I drop the bit in my mouth which looks to be like a stick but not. There’s a rattling noise from the ball and I lean closer to see a small door pop out and a black slimly thing squelches out making a horrendous noise.

A few swift barks have it running towards a nearby drain but it doesn’t take more than a few leaps to capture it in my mouth and with a simple snap it’s splattered all over the pavement.

It’s icky! 

Shaking off my head after letting out a snort for good measure, I turn around to head back to Jintao, Heechul and Panba and I’m not surprised to see a couple of other snorks surrounding them though they’re not looking overly brave now.

In fact, all I have to do is start charging towards them and they’re scattering wide in the street but then Jintao starts yelling something towards me and I just catch the briefest glimpse of a small metal disc flying towards the trio and suddenly they’re engulfed in this blue shield thing and then just like that they’re gone.

No! No nonononononnonononono!

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Panba! Where have you gone!

“Freeze!” a voice commands behind me but I’m not giving it a second thought as I score around the place where Panba was last and try to locate her scent but there’s nothing! Where’s my puppy gone! I did everything to protect her.

A hand grabs onto my collar which is a big mistake as I turn and swiftly knock the man down to the ground, biting into his arm because he’s stopping me from finding Panba!

The blue shield surrounds the pair of us even as the man screams and I get a strange sensation of falling before suddenly finding myself back in the courtyard where I think we first turned up.

A quick glance around has me seeing that Jintao and Heechul are on their knees in chains and looking as though they’ve been struck and then I see that Panba is being held wrongly by a man in black robes who has a red mask causing his face.

Panba cries out as he twists her around and that’s all I need.

Get your hands off my puppy! 

authors babbling: yeah, don't mess with rottwilers when they want to fight cause you won't win. 

I'm so sorry for taking so long to get back to this story, between conventions, birthdays and work being a pain I've lost track of time but hopefully things are going to be settling back down shortly so I should be on a more regular update once again. However I hope this chapter makes up for the wait and I really wouldn't like to be the man in the red mask right now, would you? 

love you all lots 

Chia