Etsu held a torn brown box in her arms as she walked. It was a bit bigger than her so she had to look around the sides to see. Her normally tied up hair was falling like little ribbons around her face. She pictured herself as Mulan from the movie Mulan. The specific part where Mulan was training and was always failing at everything. That was Etsu's favorite part because she liked the music half. Placing the box at the door she opened the door and looked around. "Shen?" She called. "Are you home?" She stepped inside. The rain was becoming heavier outside. "Shen?" She called. No answer. She turned and went back outside and picked up the box. "Hmm." She carried it inside and tripped going in. The box spilled over with four puppies. "Ouch," she whinned. Etsu rubbed her knees as she saw the puppies running around. "Come back," she said. They were treading mud everywhere. Etsu stood and turned the box upright then closed the door. She quickly collected the puppies and headed to her room, forgetting that the puppies had tracked mud through the house.

Shen had just been out turning a mission report into the office. He felt bad for those poor saps stuck behind desks doing paper work. The field work was where the real fun was. When he walked into the house, he stopped dead. There was an unfamiliar scent in the house. And to add onto that, there was mud tracked everywhere, by what looked like tiny paw prints. "Etsu?" he called, throwing his bag onto the couch. He looked around. He heard small barks coming from somewhere in the house. For some reason he felt his shoulders drop. He got like that whenever he heard the barking of puppies. It always reminded him of Teia, which was one reason he'd never gotten dogs. Another reason was that dogs had never taken much of a liking to him.

Etsu had been playing with the puppies. She'd already named each one. Kody was a dark brown one. Romeo was a white one. Thunder was a black one with a white stripe on the side and last was River. She was the only girl with light grey fur. Etsu had already fallen for the puppies. She had even gone and bathe each one of them which had ended up in a big mess, that she would clean up later. Over the soft barking of the pups she heard Shen calling her name. Etsu swallowed and shushed the puppies, placing them in the box she'd had them in before. She then left out the room closing the door. "Yes Shen?" She asked innocently.

(Omg, the last one looks like Teia!)

Shen looked at Etsu with a smirk as she came out of her room looking innocent. He crossed his arms and gave a smile. "Do you know where all this mud came from?" he asked, playing the clueless card. He wouldn't be rough with her, after all, she'd just gotten there. But bringing in puppies was a bit much. Maybe his ears had been deceiving him, but he was sure as soon as he'd called Etsu, the small barking had stopped.

(uh oh)

Etsu put her hands behind her back and looked at the mud as he pointed it out. Her face was calm and she thought of a good explaination. Though she'd forgotten all about it. "Well, you see, it's raining, and muddy, so when I came in I was going back and forth and forgot to clean up. I was tired." She said with bright eyes. Etsu then bounced around Shen. "Where have you been?" She asked. "Did you bring me a present?"

Shen smiled as she made up an excuse. He then walked over to one of the prints and knelt down in front of it. "Come here," he told her, then pointed at the print when she got there. "See this one? It looks like a pawprint to me," he told her. "Do you think animals got into out house?" he asked with a smile. "Maybe it's a kitty cat, or a squirrel," he said. Of course he was teasing. He knew exactly what was in the house. "Or maybe even little puppies," he said. He shook his head when she asked him where he'd been. "I had to go see my boss," he told her, putting it in terms a child could understand. "No, but if you're good, I'll get you something later," he told her with a chuckle as she asked if he brought her a present.

Etsu bounced around Shen until he directed her to a paw print. "Ohh, what's that?" She asked curiously. She turned her neck and then smiled as he named off creatures that could have been the culprit. When he said puppies she remained smiling. "The door was open for a while, so anything could have come in," she suggested. Etsu's eyes shinned and then she turned as he said he hadn't brought her any presents. "I'm always good," she promoted. She then gave him a light push and pointed at the pawprints. "I will clean this mess up, it's my fault I left the door open."

Shen only shook his head. She was lying to him already, and she'd only just moved in. Then again, she'd lied to him the first time he'd met her as well. Perhaps she still didn't trust him yet. He smiled as she said that she'd clean the mess up, since it was her fault that she'd left the door open. "Don't worry about it," he told her. He then stood up and let out a whistle, knowing that wherever the dogs were in the house, they'd start acting up and barking. It was natural instinct for dogs to do that, even untrained puppies.

Etsu shook her head. She felt bad for lying, but those poor puppies, how could she just let them sit in the rain like that? Etsu looked at Shen. "No, I got it," she said and went to get paper towels when Shen whistled. Right after the puppies started to bark. Etsu sighed. She was found out. She slowly made her way back to Shen and stood infont of him with her hands behind her back. "I didn't mean to lie, but the puppies were cold," she explained. "I couldn't just leave them." She blinked her large eyes. "I'll find them a home, I promise." She was usually bubbly and full of joy, but today was an off day. The sight of those puppies had struck a cord and she didn't want Shen to throw them out until she found them a proper place to stay.

Shen smiled when she stood in front of him with her arms behind her back and apologized for lying. He ruffled her hair a little bit. "It's okay kiddo, just don't do it again," he told her with a smile. He blinked in mock confusion when she said she'd find them a home. "What do you mean?" He then smiled. "You've already found them one," he told her with a chuckle. "Well, do you want to bring them in so I can meet them?" he asked with a warm smile. He didn't mind having dogs around the house, though he'd smell like mutt now. He didn't want Etsu to be all alone when he went out on missions, and the puppies would keep her company, along with his friend stopping by to take care of her, but he wanted someone that Etsu could actually play with, and he hadn't been able to find anyone with kids Etsu's age, so this would work just as well.

Etsu was glad he wasn't too nad. "Forgiveness is the best gift. Thank you," she said. Her smile returning and her usual self returning as well. Etsu's eyes brightened as he granted her rights to the pups. "Yeah!" She ran to her room and got the box. She picked it up and struggled into the next room. Placing the box down, she pulled out each pup one by one. "This is Romeo, Kody, Thunder, and River," she said. She looked up at Shen with a great big smile. "Aren't they cute?"

Shen grinned at her reaction to him allowing her to keep the puppies. He waited, then sat on the couch as she went to go get the small dogs. He smiled as she took them out of the box, his gaze stopping on the last one with a blink. It looked....almost identical to Teia... He then gave a soft smile and reached down to pet the first one that came near him, which happened to be Thunder. "Hey there pup," he said gently. Yeah. Shen was a real softy for pups, wolfs or not. He smirked as Etsu asked if they were cute. "Yeah."

Etsu hadn't noticed Shen's quick reaction to River. She patted the puppy on head and laughed playfully as Thunder went over to Shen. She had thought he'd be a bit indifferent when he learned how many puppies she'd brought home. Four were a hand full. "We have to buy food and collars," she chirped excitedly. Etsu couldn't wait to take them to the open and play with them. She finally had playmates.

Shen looked at her when she said that they'd have to get food and collars and smiled. He liked the fact that she was so excited about this. "Yeah, of course," he said. He picked up Thunder and petted the pup as he jumped around on Shen's lap. It seemed that one in particular had taken a liking to him. He gave a small chuckle. "I think we should give them a bath first though, since they're all muddy," he told Etsu, noticing that the pups were tracking around even more mud.

Etsu started to play with Romeo and River, Kody had made his way to the kitchen. Etsu looked at Shen as he said they needed baths. "I think you're right," she said. She looked at the pups. "Bath time!" She said until River liked her in the face. "She says I need a bath too." It was true, Etsu was a real mess. Her clothes were completely covered in mud and her hair was tangled. It was going to be a long day.

Shen smiled as River licked Etsu's face. "Hmm, I think she's right, look at you, you're all muddy!" he joked with a laugh. "You gather up the pups and I'll go run the bath water, okay?" he chuckled, placing Thunder on the floor and getting up. As he started towards the bathroom, Thunder followed him without Shen's noticing.

Etsu bounced up and down. "I'm a kid what did you expect," she said. She gave Shen a hug. "Now you're like all the rest of us," she laughed. Etsu then went to gather the pups. Her eyes looked around a bit confused. "Hey, where's Thunder?" She asked. She hadn't noticed the pup had run off with Shen. Etsu picked up Kody. "Oh well, come on." She took the pup to the bathroom and dropped him down and went to retrieve the other two.

Shen blinked, then laughed as Etsu hugged him and got him all muddy. He ran the water, warm, but not too warm, so that neither the pups nor Etsu would get burned from it. On the rare occasion that Shen did take a bath to relax, he always made the water extremely hot. Only did Shen notice that Thunder was with him when the small pup tried to jump on his back. Shen chuckled and petted it. He looked at Etsu as she came in with Kody and smiled before standing up and setting some towels down outside the tub on the floor, so that there wouldn't be water everywhere when Etsu and the pups got out of the bath.

Etsu quickly retrieved River and Romeo. She then looked at the water and then placed the pups in. As the splashed she sat back. "Eww," she giggled. She stood up and began to wash Romeo. "Thunder likes you," she said with a smile. She made sure to wash Romeo really good. When his fur was all nice and clean she rinsed him off and took him out of the water which splashed everywhere. "Ooops." She looked at Shen. "I'll clean that up," she offered.

Shen rolled his sleeves up when all the pups were in and started to take care of washing Thunder, who really had seemed to taken a liking to him. "I can tell," he said with a chuckle when Etsu said that Thunder liked him. "That's a surprise, most animals don't like me," he chuckled, washing off Thunder's fur. He smiled when Etsu said that she'd clean it up. "Don't worry about it. I'll take care of it after we're done, you can play with the puppies in the meantime," he said.

Etsu looked at Shen. "But Thunder likes you," she said. "Why don't animals like you Shen?" She asked wwlaking up next to him. She looked at the dog then to Shen. It wasn't coming to her that Shen was a wolf. She'd forgot. As River jumped onto Etsu the little girl squeaked and turned to the dog and patted her. "You want a bath too, wiat your turn," she giggled and ran off to play with the puppy.

Shen took a moment to think it over when she asked him why animals didn't like him. "Well...." How would he phrase it? "I'm a wolf, and wolves are wild animals," he said, looking up thoughtfully. "I guess house pets don't exactly like wild animals," he explained to her with a smile. Shen had made care to close the bathroom door so that the pups wouldn't run out once they were cleaned off. Taking Thunder out of the bath, Shen smiled as he watched River and Etsu playing. That was cute. He picked up Kody and plopped the puppy lightly into the bath and started washing that one off. (I just noticed. Kody the dog. Kody the fish. )

(lol)

"Oh yeah, you are a wolf!" Etsu bounced around excitedly. "How long ya been a wolf Shen?" She asked. "Do you hunt in packs?" She asked. "Are ther eother werewolf people too?" She asked. "Is Thunder a wolf if he likes you?" Her questions were coming left and right. After the time he'd talked to those other wolves she couldn't help but be excited about this. Her eyes were practically glowing with excitement.