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CHAPTER 13 Promises

Canis Major looked so beautiful. The transition from that ship surrounded by tragedy and destruction, to the now quiet, peaceful and happy environment happened so fast that one could barely follow with it. It was very difficult to think that almost thirteen years had passed now.

But why did the pain and terrible memories still consume the wolf-dog's heart? Why couldn't he live the new life opportunity that his brothers and sisters where given?

Lay woke up early that morning as usual. He wandered alone through the huge garden that his Zone Complex had. He sat down near a small crystalline pond holding his knees against his face. He once again thought about his family and friends that were lost during both attacks to Canis Major. The pain was now very familiar, but not short of self consuming. But there was something else bothering him this time.

The day before, his best friend made a life-changing decision. He was going to join the D.E Development Team, and maybe join as a permanent member of the defense squad. Lay did not take this lightly, and because of this, an unusually strong discussion took place the night before.

Lay stayed motionless sitting on the grass for hours as the lights slowly shifted to the morning cycle. Soon, everyone was awake. It wasn't long until Lay was found by his friend.

"Lay... You were here all the time." The small Chihuahua approached. He kneeled next to the Wolf-Dog Evo and hugged him gently.

"I don't want you to go, Laser. I don't want us to get involved in the D.E Project."

"Look, Lay. I thought of not following further training to become a permanent. But I will still help them with the development."

"Why do you do this to me, Laser?" Lay desperately asked. He never took his head from between his knees.

"Doing you what? Lay, please, you need to calm down. Nothing bad is happening to me, with Lya or you. I just want to help with this. You know that it's the best for Canis Major even though you might say the contrary."

There was no response from Lay.

"That K9 fellow is going through a lot to make this project work. Imagine what you and I could do for them."

"Don't go..." Lay responded. It was like Laser's words didn't take any effect on him.

"What do I have to do to wake you up from your trauma, brother!?" Laser raised his tone in desperation. He stood up and walked two steps backwards. For more than a decade he tried to bring back his friend to his senses. Enough was enough. "If I stay here, it will only feed that fear that you feel. That's why I'm going. I ran out of ideas on how to bring you back, my old friend."

Lay didn't talk anymore. He lied motionless with his eyes wide open filled with tears. Laser didn't have anymore to say but that he loved him. He walked away.

Inside their Zone, Laser packed a few things while discussing with Lya and the Rough Collie named Bebe.

"Lya, don't get close to him right now." Laser objected to Lya's desperation to sooth Lay.

"Lay is suffering, Laser. He needs us and I won't live him alone!" She responded.

"Lya, please! Trust me. Lay doesn't need that at this moment. We are like some sort of shield for him, I see it now. He's protecting himself from something that's not there."

"Laser is right, Lya." Bebe intervened. "I know you are worried for him, but it is clear now that being with you two in this Zone is only an escape for him. If you keep on living this way, that's only going to feed him a false sense of security. This is what has kept him from going out and confront the real world. He has been missing the beauty of the Evocanis life for so long. He hasn't been able to see that we are safe and happier than ever. If that continues, his fears will keep on overwhelming him... As Laser said; he doesn't need this anymore." The Rough Collie asserted.

"This is the only thing that I can do for him for now." Laser said as he closed a little bag with some of his personal belongings. "I have no choice. If this doesn't work, I don't know what will."

"Lya, I know this will sound bad, but I think that you need to separate from him for a while too." The Collie suggested.

"What? No! I would never do that!" Lya objected.

"Sweetheart, think of it. If Laser goes, he will search for comfort in you like he hasn't before. He will block himself even further." Bebe said, agreeing with Laser's suggestion.

"Lya... I met Lay under very harsh circumstances." Laser said as he approached the young white female Evo. "But I knew the real 'him' at that moment. He's the strongest and most fearless Evocanis I've ever came across with. Even when we were almost killed I could see that nobleness and braveness in his eyes. You have no idea of what he is capable of, and the things he did to save many that day. I want that Lay back. You deserve to meet your real father."

Lya struggled with the idea for a moment. But it was true what the little deep voiced Chihuahua said. All her life she knew Lay as being a very silent and emotionless Evocanis. He almost never showed the typical joyful behavior than other Evos did. However, she felt that he wasn't really like this. Just maybe, taking a more direct approach to fixing this problem would actually work...

"You don't need to stay in the D.E cruiser forever. I have faith that this will wake something up in Lay." Laser said. "Think it through, Lya... I will be back as soon as the D.E Project gets passed its development stage." Laser threw his small bag over his shoulder and walked outside their room.

Lya stayed motionless for a while, but then she looked back at Bebe. The Collie smiled and nodded. "Don't worry, Lya. Ben and I will take care of him."

Lya ran outside the room and caught up with Laser.

"Laser!" She yelled. The little grey Chihuahua stopped and looked back. "I'm going with you."

The Chihuahua closed his eyes and smiled. "Everything is going to be alright. This is the best that we can do for him, Lya. I PROMISE I will make him come to his senses one way or another. Pack a few things; we are going to H2."

It was a very difficult decision, but Lya was a very intelligent girl. She understood that this needed to be done.

A few minutes later and they were packed and ready to go. As both were walking outside their room again, they unexpectedly came across with Lay. He was just standing there, watching both his daughter and best friend carrying a small bag with their belongings. No one said anything for a while. Those piercing yellow eyes gazing directly to theirs were very intimidating.

"...so this is how it's going to be?" Lay said almost in a mute tone. "You convinced Lya to join you... You're taking her away from me."

"It's not how..." Laser tried to justify himself, just to be abruptly interrupted by Lya.

"It's not how it is, Lay." She said, putting herself between Lay and Laser. "I decided to go." She then said with a very firm tone.

For a second or two, they both just looked at each other to the eyes.

"...fine..." Lay uttered.

"Lay, I'm sorry but I..." Lya tried to explain, but Lay interrupted.

"I said FINE!" Lay yelled. He then walked passed by them and got in his room. Lya tried to follow him but was stopped by Bebe.

"It's ok honey. I'll take care of it. You go now." The Collie said.

Lya cried for a second, but immediately gained her strength and determination of what needed to be done. The grey male Chihuahua and the white Spitz female Evocanis departed from their home. A long journey awaited them in hopes that this will finally make their loved one wake up from his traumas. Only time would tell.

Meanwhile, far in Sector M2... Two Evos played to fetch a ball in the beautiful gardens of their Zone Complex.

"Try not to throw it too far, Spot!" A female black and white Border Collie yelled.

"Oh, come on. You always catch it in mid air before it even reaches far enough." A female Dalmatian replied as she walked backwards getting ready to throw the ball.

"Yeah, but I'm not always so lucky. Yesterday we broke three pots... those poor plants."

"You were the one that fell on the pots, Nanook. And they have new pots now, so don't worry." The Dalmatian replied. "Ready?"

Failing to follow the Collie's suggestion, Spot threw the ball as hard as she could. Dalmatians are a strong breed, and the ball flew so fast that it even changed direction in mid air. But Border Collies are known for their agility. Nanook gained maximum speed almost instantly as she ran to intercept the ball. For a second it seemed that the ball was going to fly past above her, but in an incredible act of agility, she jumped almost her height, grabbing the ball with her hand-paws and immediately securing it in her muzzle while still in the air. She then fell on her four extremities in a very elegant fashion. Without loosing momentum, she stood back again on her lower extremities.

"Ah shehh hwhathh hhyouhh hried tohh dohh..." Nanook yelled.

"What?!" Spot asked after not understanding a single word her friend said. Nanook took the ball out of her mouth. "I see what you tried to do!" She now clearly said. She looked behind her and the pond that almost every zone Complex has was just about two inches from her.

"I'm sorry, I still don't understand you. I'll get closer." Spot insisted, now suspiciously running towards Nanook's direction.

"I SAID..." Nanook yelled, but was cut in the middle of the sentence since she realized that Spot ran towards her with the only intention of pushing her into the pond. Oh no, you don't... Nanook thought. As Spot got ready to pounce on her, she dodged her playful attack with the same agility than she was playing a few seconds ago. But she never expected what happened next. "I know all your moves..." Spot said while flying past by Nanook. She grabbed her friend from an arm and both fell into the pond.

"Spot! Why did you?!" Nanook yelled.

"Oh no, it's so cold!" Spot exclaimed. She didn't realize that the temperature was so low. Her short coat did little to stop the freezing water from getting into her skin. Nanook's double coat held the water better.

"That's what you get, you crazy spotty girl!" Nanook laughed.

Both played for a while in the pond until a white fluffy Evocanis of an unidentified breed approached them.

"What in the name of Canis Major are you two doing?!" The female mixed breed asked concerned but not surprised.

"Nothing, Kimi..." One of the girls replied.

"What are we going to do with you two?" Kimi said. She let out a faint laugh. "Come on! Ralph needs to have a word with you. Go and get you and your clothes dry."

After a while, the two crazy Evos were in their room throwing their soaked clothes in a drier. Then they went to the fur drier in their bathroom. Almost ten minutes after, they were dry and brushing each other's fur in their bed.

"Thanks a lot, Spot." The Collie said sarcastically. "I spent hours untangling my fur last night and it's all tangled again."

"It's not that bad. Let me help you." The Dalmatian gently said.

Suddenly, a male Pointer Evocanis made his way in their room. He looked serious, but not in a bad mood kind of way.

"Nanook and Spot, I need to t... WHAT HAPPENED HERE? There's water all over the place." He jumped in surprise.

"Nothing, Ralph..." Spot replied innocently.

The Pointer just rolled his eyes. "...Anyway..." He continued. "I needed to talk to you about what we discussed last night. Have you made your decision?"

Both Spot and Nanook suddenly were very serious. The day before they discussed with their Zone managers about the D.E Project, as they both had the desire to be part of it.

"It all depends on Kimi and you." Nanook replied.

"Why would that depend on us? You are the ones that are interested."

"You didn't seem to be very happy when we first told you, Ralph." Spot reminded him.

"No... It's not like that Spot. The problem is that I want to make sure that you're not seeing this as a game like you always do. Although Kimi, the others and I took care of you since that day when we were attacked for the last time, we are not your parents. You are all grown up and you can take your own decisions. Again, I just want to be sure that you are doing it for the right reasons."

"Spot and I just want to do something good for once. We are tired of being a nuisance for all of you." Nanook insisted.

"Yes, Ralph. We want to make it up for you." Spot added. She stopped brushing her friend's fur and looked directly into Ralph's eyes.

"Is that it? How can you say that? You're not a nuisance!" Ralph quickly denied the self accusations from both female Evos. "We love you two; we all do. We couldn't live without you."

"We are aware that sometimes it gets out of hand, Ralph." Nanook reminded him.

"No, sweetie... That's who you two are, and we like you that way. Yes, you can be obnoxious sometimes, but that's what makes you Spot and Nanook. Besides, you two are very affectionate with everyone here... We couldn't live without that." Ralph said. He sat with them in the bed and gave them a hug.

_ _"But still, we want to do this for Canis Major. For the ones that took care of all the orphans and the ones that lost everything. I'm talking about Evos like you and Kimi. Please let us show you our gratitude by helping to secure the future of our home. We want to make you proud for once." Spot begged.

"You don't need to make us proud. You've already did. You make us feel proud every single day that I see you living you life with such happiness. But once again, it's your choice. You have all of our support."

"Thank you, Ralph. We won't let you down."

Both Spot and Nanook hugged Ralph in a very gentle way, unlike their usual tough way of having physical contact. All their lives they been wishing to repay the effort that Kimi and Ralph made when taking them as puppies and raising them. This was now the time.

The next day, Spot and Nanook would head to H2 for their training. Four more Evos were about to join the D.E Project...