POV - Chaos
As soon as Elias went into the school, I stashed Ember's lunch behind a bush and ran full speed down the path to her house, being careful to stop where her Grandma warned me to stop. I waited for her to come out, but the minutes ticked by and she didn't.
I began to pace, afraid Miss McCay would hurt her again if she was late. Finally, I started barking at the house. A man came out to the porch.
"What the hell is that?!" He shouted. Grandma came out to stand beside him.
"Ember made a friend out of him yesterday. He walked her home. If I had to guess, I'd say the mutt has decided to walk her to school too." She said.
"Ember!" The man shouted. "Bring me my gun!"
I could hear her voice in the house behind them, and then Ember came running off the porch.
"Please don't, Papa! He won't hurt nothing, I promise! Please? He's not mine, he just wants to be my friend! Please?" She begged.
"We don't need no stinking dog around here, Ember, we can't afford it." He said back. "Get rid of him."
Grandma spoke up. "Leave it be, Roy. As long as he doesn't come any closer, she can walk with him. If he does, we'll shoot him."
Grandma looked at me when she said that last part. I took one step back and lowered my head, putting my ears back, showing I understood the rules.
"There, see? He knows better than to test me." She said.
Roy looked undecided. Finally he grunted.
"Get on to school, Ember, but if I catch you sneaking food out of this house to feed that mangy mutt, I'll beat you bloody." He threatened.
"I won't!" She said as she hurried to meet me.
Kyas laughed behind the barrier. 'If only you knew! It's the other way around! The mutt is gonna feed your slave for you!'
'That's right!' I thought back.
I trotted with Ember down the path, again with her hand on my back, delving deep into my fur. Thankfully, she wasn't last to Miss McCay's room, but I noticed that Miss McCay didn't yell at the boy who was. I went around to the window like yesterday. Today they were learning about something called a calendar, and that all the days actually have names. Who knew?
Again, Kyas and I were captivated. At lunch, some of the pups preferred to eat outdoors and sat at picnic tables around the edges of the schoolyard. I heard Miss McCay snap at Ember that she better not steal food again.
Ember walked slowly over to an empty table and sat down. She refused to look up at the other tables, facing her body away from them, and I knew why. Seeing others eating in front of you makes the hunger worse, Kyas had told me.
Checking the table she went to, I was about to go over to her when Elias shouted my name. He hadn't come out yesterday, so I was happy he did today. I was excited for him to meet Ember.
Before he made it to me, I dashed back to the bush to retrieve the lunch I had stashed earlier, and led Elias to Ember's table. Careful to make sure he saw me, I put the stolen lunch in her lap.
Ember looked at me in surprise. "For me?" She asked in wonder. I barked affirmative. A grin spread a mile wide on her face as she opened it. Then she froze when she saw Elias.
"Blaze? Is this why you stole my lunch?" He asked. Again, I barked affirmative.
"This is your lunch?" Ember asked timidly. "I'm sorry, you can have it back." She held out the bag, but I took it and dropped it back in her lap.
"It was my lunch, but Blaze stole it, and I got another one. Looks like he wants you to have it." Elias said.
"I can really have it?" She asked. Elias nodded. Ember giggled, pulled out a sandwich and took a bite. With her mouth full, she said, "I'm Ember, I'm six. "
Elias smiled, and responded, "I'm Elias, I'm ten."
I wagged my tail, now my friends were friends too. Kyas and I watched the color bloom.
The next morning, I stole Elias' lunch again, and the next day, and repeated the pattern of picking up Ember in the morning and walking her home, though I never let Elias follow all the way to the end of the trail to her house. I didn't know how the Grandma might react to him, and didn't want any of us to get in trouble. By Friday, the kitchen maids had caught on, and started packing me a lunch on purpose.
Over the next few weeks, this became our routine. I was learning alongside Ember - it was fascinating stuff! I couldn't wait to go each morning.
Soon, the next full moon was just a few days away, and Kyas began wondering about how to go about it. We chatted about last time, and something clicked in my head.
'Kyas...' I began. 'I'm thinking something...'
'Yeah?' He said.
'I'm thinking that the Kyas that died here...I don't think it's true.' I said.
'You don't?' He asked.
'No, I think he's still alive, and I don't think there's two boys named Kyas. I think you and their Kyas are the same person'. I told him.
Kyas was stunned. 'But I'm not a person, and they said at Cedar River pack that my parents were dead.'
'Yeah, and they think their son here is dead. What if they're both not true?' I asked.
Kyas seemed to think about it. 'Huh.' He said.
'If so,' I said, 'we should tell them when you shift.'
'But... what if we're wrong?' He asked. 'Chaos, we could really hurt them if we tell them I'm their Kyas and I'm not. How can we tell for sure?'
I thought about that for a few. 'Faces.' I finally said.
'Faces?'
'Yeah,' I responded. 'Alpha keeps saying that he thought you were Elias. That his Kyas and Elias looked the same. So, when you shift, find a way to see if you look the same. If your face is the same as Elias, then it is you.'
'Huh.' Kyas said again. 'Okay, I'll try to find a way to look.'