Slobber Chops pushed the cart down the hallway toward the cell he had seen earlier. One of the younger Guard Dogs walked with him speaking quietly, "I have been told by the Commander not to interfere unless the creatures attack you, Lord Slobber Chops..."

Chop growled at the title, "I am no Lord. I am a speaker to others. Just leave us alone unless you hear me yelling for help. These creatures are frightened and they probably think of Guard Dogs as scary and dangerous. Please stay out of sight while I try to communicate with them."

The Guard Dog yapped a quick affirmative as they stopped in front of the cell door. The Guard Dog unlocked the door and held it open for the Ambassador, then closed it behind him. Slobber Chops let go of the cart and looked around. Most of the creatures were huddled together against one of the far corners of the cell, while the small one and the tall one from earlier in the day were standing next to the bars of the cell. The tall one brandished its stolen blade subtly, tightening its grip on the weapon while the smaller one watched Chop curiously.

'Parent and child?' Chop wondered, 'No matter, I need to get this process started.' He looked back down to the cart he was pushing. There was cow, pig, chicken, mushrooms, some very valuable fruits and vegetables, and even a bit of fish. All the food was in its perfect form for eating: raw and unrefined.

He began taking the clay plates off the cart and setting them down on the stone floor of the cell. He laid out every food plate separately then pushed the cart to the far end of the cell, away from the clustered creatures. He left the cart and sat himself down near the food.

* * *

"That must be for us." Ryia whispered.

Veera raised her eyebrows, "Then go get it."

"Are you crazy!?" Ryia hissed, "YOU'RE the one with the knife, you get it."

Veera shrugged uncomfortably, "Well... they seem to like you best..."

"Mara's mercy, Veera! I weigh maybe sixty kilograms," Ryia gestured to the Rakshasa sitting by the food, "He has to weigh close to a hundred and fifty! He could snap me in half like a twig!"

Veera leaned over and spoke sternly into Ryia's ear, "I'll keep an eye on him... this was your idea."

Ryia closed her eyes and shook her head, fists clenched at her sides, 'Talking about it is one thing when they're not here...' she looked up at the one sitting on the stone floor behind the food, 'But actually DOING it...' she shuddered, 'The fangs, the claws...' she shifted her weight from left to right trying to work up the courage to go get the food. It was far more difficult to put her words to action than she had assumed it would be.

The whole time, the Rakshasa just sat there on the floor waiting patiently with his little puppy eyes... Ryia blinked and rubbed her own eyes, 'What?' She focused on the eyes of the beast, taking in its entire countenance bit by bit, 'It... it really does... kind of... look like a dog.' Despite the number of feral dogs that roamed around her home town, Ryia liked dogs. The ones she had seen as pets and the few pets she had been able to interact with, had all been positive experiences.

"Hey Veera?" Ryia whispered.

"What?" Veera asked.

"Doesn't he kind of look like a dog?"

Veera was taken off-guard by the question, but she did examine the creature more critically, "Yeah, if you like colossal, demon-possessed, mangy pugs."

Ryia nearly smiled at Veera's description, "He looks more like... a lanky... shaggy... Jack Russell Terrier."

Veera sighed in irritation, "Then go pet him or something!" she hissed, "We haven't eaten all day and it's making me cranky."

Ryia drew in a deep breath and steeled her resolve, just as the creature raised its claws.

* * *

Slobber Chops had expected some hesitation on the part of the creatures, but thus far not a single one had ventured forward to eat. Chop raised his paws and gestured to the creatures then to the food, it was as much of an invitation as he could manage given the complete lack of intelligible words available to him. Still none of the creatures moved forward. Chop hung his head, 'Razor Wit would know what to do.'

The sound of a tiny scrape caught his attention, his ears swiveling toward the noise. He slowly raised his head and saw the smaller creature from earlier that day cautiously inching her way forward. Chop held still so as not to spook her. She crept closer and closer, her eyes locked onto the plate of dried apricots. Moving very slowly, Chop raised his paw and slid the plate toward the creature.

She crept forward, reaching out her arms slowly. As soon as she had her digits wrapped around the plate, she pulled the entire plate to her and stuffed one of the dried fruits into her mouth. She chewed it slowly moaning with delight. As soon as she had finished the first one, she rose to her feet and presented the plate to the others who were huddling in the farthest corner of the cell, with the exception of the tall one who stood apart from the others holding the stolen knife in her hands. The others descended on the plate ravenously while the smaller one cast an unsure look over her shoulder at him.

Chop decided to stay seated, but he slid the other clay plates toward the creatures hoping that the demonstration of intent would help to settle their nerves and make them more at ease around him. The same small female from before took the plates of vegetables and fruits, but left the meat alone. Chop began to wonder if perhaps the creatures did not eat meat at all until the same small one, apparently feeling bold, sat down in front of Chop. She was well out of arm's reach, but still she was there presenting a willingness to at least be near him. She pointed to the plates of meat and looked up at Slobber Chops as if expecting him to explain them. The meats were skinned and boned, so he could understand why she was confused. He also noted, 'She either can't tell what they are by smell or she doesn't know what they are.'

Deciding to pantomime, Chop pressed one of his claws to his nose and pushed up then snorted like a pig. The creature's face seemed to light up in compression. She shook her head and pushed the plate back toward Chop.

* * *

Veera watched as the creature sitting on the floor imitated different animals as Ryia pointed to the plates of meat. He snorted like a pig, he mooed like a cow, he clucked like a chicken, but the last one ta e him pause before he pressed both paws to his muzzle and made kissy faces. The pantomime of a fish was easy to interpret from there and despite how dangerous he looked, Veera nearly chuckled at the ridiculous face he made.

Ryia pushed all the plates of meat back toward the creature and made several motions with her hands. The creature cocked his head to the side, his ears partially rising, just like a dog. Ryia put her right hand to her chin and pondered briefly before she snapped her fingers and briskly rubbed both of her hands together creating heat from the friction. The creature looked even more confused until she motioned for one of its paws. It slowly reached its left paw forward and Ryia placed her hands on either side of the paw.

The creature still looked confused until Ryia removed her hands and pointed to the meat. The creature looked back and forth a number of times before its eyes lit up in understanding. It turned to the cell bars and growled out some strange words. A rasping reply from just beyond Veera's sight answered him. The response was accompanied by the sound of paws slapping the stone floor, 'Ah, he had a guard close by.' Veera then turned her attention back to Ryia and the creature.

Ryia patted her bare chest and said her name. She repeated her name five times and the creature got the idea. It seemed to have no difficulty pronouncing her name and then in turn, it patted its chest and growled something almost incomprehensible. Ryia's posture sunk as she realized she would have great difficulty saying the name. She tried more than ten times, but never got it. After the twelfth time, the creature wiped its own paw on its jowls and held out the drool covered appendage toward Ryia. The creature pointed to its slobbery paw then patted its chest. The poor girl looked absolutely lost as to the meaning.

Veera on the other hand had a thought, "Maybe he's trying to show you what his name means?"

Ryia never turned her head, "Drool?"

The creature gestured to its slobbery paw again and repeated the word, "Drul?"

Ryia shook her head, "No, drool."

The creature patted its chest, "Drool." It then pointed to its muzzle.

Ryia arched an eyebrow, "Face?" She asked quietly, patting her cheek, "Face?"

The creature nodded happily. Ryia turned toward Veera and tried not to laugh, "His name is... Drool Face?"

Author's Note

Let me know if you spot any typos.

I have not updated recently because we have suffered a death in the family. Our Grandfather passed away at 94 years old. He was a great man and one of the few people in this world that I truly respect unashamedly. He lived with diabetes his entire life but instead of giving himself injections every morning (he was terrified of needles like me), he watched his diet very carefully, and he worked out every day. Up until he had his stroke, he worked out for two hours on his Nordic Track every morning, still hunted, and still helped build houses. He was a peaceful and honest man and he will be sorely missed. I'll see you again someday Grandpa, this time I'll bring the bait when we go fishing.