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Loyal Companion

This one shot includes a character from my book "The Secrets Beneath the Lies." However, you don't need to have read it, to understand and enjoy this one shot!

This one shot is in no means related to Secrets Beneath the Lies. The wolf, Rascal, was indeed rescued and raised by Jesse and Petra in Secrets Beneath the Lies, but is still a pup there.

In this one shot, Rascal is a fully-grown wolf adventuring with Petra. 
Readers of SBTL, don't let this effect your view on the book, or your theories on how it'll end. With the way SBTL ends, this isn't a possibility for Petra and Rascal's future. 
It's basically a whole different story.

Enjoy!

-
Plot suggested by @_Mary_531_
___

It wasn't a great day to be outside. Fog hung heavily between the dense trees of the forest, barely any sunlight visible through the thick clouds. It was drizzling lightly, a misty type of rain that could soak you without you even realising. It was bitter cold.

Rascal stopped trotting, vigurously shaking the water out of his shaggy grey coat, droplets showering everything. He then picked up the pace again, jogging quickly to catch back up to Petra, till he was trotting by her side.

The redhead was walking slightly hunched over, her clothes and hair absolutely drenched. Her pale skin was hard with goosebumps, her lips and fingers almost slightly blue. With every step her boots sunk into the soggy ground.

A strong gust of wind blew through the trees, threatening to snatch Petra's bandanna. Both she and Rascal shivered violently as the wind calmed down, their already chilled forms now cold as ice.

Rascal looked around, his instincts starting to kick in as he looked for shelter. Instinctively he wanted to get him and his owner out of the rain and cold. They've been out there for hours and, while his thick coat was keeping him warm, he could tell that Petra was freezing. Rascal was born in a cold taiga, not far from the roofed forest where he and Petra first met. He was built for cold weather. But his owner wasn't.

Petra's breathing was becoming slightly raspy, her step slower. Her skin was paler than usually, her blue eyes dulled. Nearly a week's travelling in the foul weather was starting to get to her.

Rascal stopped, pricking his ears. It was starting to become dark, and his sensitive ears had picked up a distant zombie moan. Petra stopped as well, acknowledging her wolf's behaviour.

She looked around, trying to spot a cave. She wasn't sure if she had the physical strength left to build a dirt hut at that moment.

Rascal had caught onto his owner's idea, darting off into the trees excitedly. He knew he could easily sniff her out again, even in the rain. Rascal stopped near a small hollow against a rock face, peering inside. It was the perfect size for him, but he could see that his owner wouldn't be comfortable in there.

After checking out a few more hollows, Rascal found a considerably large cave. He didn't venture far into it, instead turning around on the spot and running back to where he and Petra had split up. He was able to catch onto her scent in no time.

Once Rascal found Petra, he immediately grabbed her by her sleeve, giving it a gentle tug before letting go. She knew this signal, and instantly started following her wolf. Rascal ran ahead of Petra, leading her to the cave he found. He had to occasionally stop and wait for her to catch up, as she wasn't at all up to her normal speed.

Petra stopped in the cave entrance, her blue eyes scanning the darkness. There was a rattling of bones in the shadows, followed by the sudden snap of a bow-string. Despite being a little off, Petra's reaction to jump out of the way of the arrow was swift.

Rascal darted into the cave before she had even reached for her sword, sniffing out the hiding skeleton. The mob immediately retreated, but it was no use. Rascal leapt up at the skeleton, clasping his strong jaw around one of the mob's ribs. Minutes later, it was nothing but a pile of bones. He trotted back to Petra, earning a rewarding pat.

She heaved her heavy backpack off, dropping it down onto the ground, before taking out some unlit torches and lighting them. Rascal sat down beside the backpack, watching as Petra slowly walked the inside perimeter of the cave, placing torches on the walls to keep anything else from spawning.

Petra came walking back to Rascal, taking out some planks which she placed over the entrance so no mobs could get inside.

Usually once they have secured an area for the night, Petra would continue setting up camp, before going through all her tools and making sure which she needed to repair before the next day came.

That evening however, as soon as the entrance was covered up, Petra slumped down beside Rascal, sounding slightly out of breath. She broke into a few weak coughs, clutching her heaving chest as she did.

Rascal whined in concern, walking up to Petra and gave her pale face an affectionate lick. Petra smiled at him faintly, reaching up her hand and stroking his ears.

"Hey boy. Seems I've come down with a cold, huh?" She said to him, her voice barely audible.

Rascal didn't understand the words Petra spoke, but he knew she was addressing him. He tilted his head to the side, his tail giving an enthusiastic wag as he tried to encourage Petra to get up and go about her usual routine.

After five more minutes of simply sitting against the wall with her eyes closed, and another small coughing fit, Petra got up. She opened up her backpack, getting out some more wood and her flint and steel to light a small campfire. Rascal immediately took a spot beside the flames, sighing contentedly as he felt the heat start to warm him up.

Petra left the fire, going back to her backpack and getting out some different clothes to swap out with her soaked ones. When she was done, she got out her sloppily-made sheep wool blanket, which served as a sleeping bag, dropping it beside the fireplace as well.

For a second, Rascal thought she was about to completely skip over dinner and just go to sleep. But then Petra took out some of the chicken that she and Rascal had killed earlier that day. What puzzled Rascal, was that she only took out one portion of food.

Petra sat back down beside the campfire, starting to scrape the feathers off the animal, and cleaning it up in general. As she normally would do, she slowly cooked it over the flames of the fire, the cave soon starting to fill with a meaty smell that Rascal absolutely adored.

Petra finished cooking the chicken, turning it around a few times as she examined it. Then, much to his surprise and delight, she tossed it towards Rascal.

His tail quickly stopped wagging when she got up, sitting back down on her make-shift bed. Wasn't she going to eat?

Rascal daintily picked up the food, carrying it over to Petra, and putting it beside her bed. He pushed it an inch closer to her with his nose.

"No boy, it's yours." Petra replied, nudging the piece of meat back towards him. "I'm not hungry tonight."

Rascal whined softly, not understanding why Petra didn't want the food. He watched as she lay down on the wool blanket, closing her eyes.

There was no denying it, Rascal was hungry after their day's journey. He slowly began eating the chicken, finishing off all the meat until there was only a small pile of bones left. When he finished, he walked over to Petra, slipping in underneath her left arm like he would any other night.

Petra was still only barely awake, lowering her head slightly to give her wolf an affectionate kiss on the top of his head. Then she pulled him gently closer to her, hugging him tightly and burying her face in his fur. Despite how cold it was, Petra felt a lot warmer to Rascal than she normally would.

Rascal wagged his tail slightly, snuggling his head into Petra's chest. By her breathing he could tell that she was already asleep. It wasn't long before he too drifted off to a peaceful slumber.

----------------------

Rascal's ears pricked in the dark, a rustling sound catching his attention. He lifted his head, glancing around the cave. The torches were still letting off a faint glow, keeping anything from spawning, but the camp fire had gone out. The cave was fairly dark.

Petra was still asleep, with her arm wrapped around her wolf. She looked calm and peaceful, her breathing rhythmical, yet slightly stuffy.

Rascal lay his head back down, only to immediately hear another noise. His head jerked up once more, listening out for the now scraping sound. It almost sounded like somebody was pushing some planks around.

Rascal didn't like the noise, it was way too close for comfort. To his sensitive wolf ears, it sounded like it was inside the cave.

Rascal lowered his head, licking Petra's cheek to wake her up. She mumbled something in her sleep, but didn't wake up. The other noises had all of a sudden gotten very quiet.

"I heard a voice." A hushed whisper sounded.

"Is the woman awake?" Another one asked.

The light from a torch shone over Petra and Rascal, causing the wolf to squint slightly. "Nah, still asleep. It's just the dog."

The hair on Rascal's back slowly raised, his ears pulling back. There were other people in their cave, which immediately put him on edge.

Rascal lowered his head again, gripping Petra's shirt in his mouth and tugging on it to try and and wake her. Whoever was in there had lost interest in looking at them.

Petra's eyes opened tiny slits, looking dull, sick and tired. It was enough for Rascal, slipping out from underneath her arm and getting up properly. A deep growl sounded within his throat as he walked in the directions of the voices.

Fur upright, head low, ears back, tail straight. Rascal pulled back his lips, snarling at the three figures digging through Petra's belongings. They all had cloaks hiding their faces, their identities hidden. Rascal didn't recognize their scents either.

"Scram, pup." One man muttered, waving his cloak at Rascal. The other two continued digging through Petra's bag, scattering her stuff across the cave floor.

"Who are you?"

All three figures turned around in surprise at the challenging, yet slightly scratchy, voice. Petra had her hands on her hips, her eyes narrowed in a scowl. Rascal immediately circled back to her side, protectively standing beside Petra.

"Back off if you don't want to get hurt, pipsqueak." The one man snapped at Petra, slipping out something from beneath his cloak – the knife's blade shimmering in the dark.

"Yeah, who you calling pipsqueak?" Petra challenged, taking a threatening step closer. She was quite tall in comparison to most people, but these three guys towered above her, about Axel's size. Rascal picked up on the scent of fear coming from his owner, something he rarely ever smelled.

"Back off I said." The man growled.

"And let you steal me bare?" Petra replied threatening, reaching out for her golden sword that I was leaning against the cave wall. "I think not."

Rascal pricked his ears, all of a sudden picking up another sound, another smell. But there wasn't time react, as a fourth figure moved out of the shadows, violently shoving Petra right off her feet.

The redhead stumbled to the ground, coughing hard. As much as Rascal wanted to throw himself at these intruders, he immediately went to his owner's side, whining and anxiously stepping around her.

One of the men high-fived the fourth arrival, grinning broadly. Unlike the rest of them, this one was less muscular built and slightly shorter. She was still taller than Petra however.

"I'm... okay, boy..." Petra breathlessly tried reassuring Rascal, feeling him press his wet nose against her cheek.

She looked up, watching as the contents from her bag got scattered over the cave floor. Clothes, food, tools, everything. More valuable items were thrust into their pockets, like the iron Petra had mined.

Finally getting her breath back, the redhead heaved herself off the ground, her gaze deadly. She may be sick, but Petra's never been the one to back away from a fight before.

"Don't you have any respect?" Petra hissed, clenching her fists. "That iron is all I have for when I get to the next town. And unlike you scavengers, I've worked hard for it."

"Traveler, ey?" The one man asked, holding up on of the ingots before slipping it into his pocket as well. "Well maybe you should have found a better place to set up camp then."

Rascal snarled aggressively, sensing the rage in Petra. He didn't like these people, they hurt his owner.

"Sorry honey, but finders keepers." The woman among the bandits said tauntingly. "We've outnumbered you, sweetie."

Petra's hands clenched into tight fists, gritting her teeth. She has never had any tolerance for being called names. And, without really thinking over her actions, Petra all of a sudden launched forward, grabbing the other woman be the shoulders. She yanked her back harshly, her fist pulling back as she prepared for a nose-breaking punch.

One of the guys came to their companion's rescue just in time, shoving Petra up against the wall. She tried pulling free from his strong grip, but her strength wasn't all what it used to be. He chuckled as she squirmed in his grip with no success.

Rascal growled aggressively, grabbing the guy by his pants-leg and tugging violently at the fabric. The man kicked back, causing Rascal to let go with a yelp.

"Back, Rascal!" Petra commanded from where she was pressed up against the wall. "Stay back, boy!"

She could see that these guys wouldn't hesitate to hurt him. Petra would rather watch them walk off with every last valuable she had, than seeing something happen to Rascal.

Rascal whined, understanding the command Petra used. He was torn between obeying her, and helping her. Rascal turned his head towards the two men and the woman, seeing all Petra's belongings scattered across the floor, except for any of her iron and even some tools. Rascal turned his head back to the guy that was holding Petra against the wall. She had stopped squirming, but he was still tightly pressing her up against the coarse stone.

A low growl sounded from deep in Rascal's throat, as he started stepping around on one spot. Itching with aggression.

"We got everything." The woman finally announced. "Let's bail!"

Petra's face fell, her gaze desperate. Rascal hated sensing the sadness she was feeling, the fur on his back rising.

"It was nice doing business with you." The guy holding Petra snickered at her, all of a sudden bringing a knee up right up into Petra's ribs.

Something inside Rascal snapped when he heard the agonizing cry of pain from his owner, the thud as she was thrown to the ground.

The man raised his foot, ready to give the redhead one final kick. He never got that far however.

Rascal shot up at the guy, clasping his teeth around the guy's arm. Ignoring the cries the man was letting out, just keeping his jaw locked in place. It wasn't long before Rascal tasted blood.

A sudden contact to his side caused Rascal to let go with a howl of pain. He staggered slightly on the ground, but then collected himself, shaking off his coat.

The four intruders were running out of the cave, one of them still having blood run down his arm. Rascal darted after them aggressively, adrenaline still masking any pain he had.

Petra could do nothing but watch as Rascal ran after the group of bandits, disappearing outside. She didn't even have the breath to call after him.

She gave up the struggle of getting up, slumping back onto the cave floor. Her vision was distorted, throbbing pain radiating from Petra's side.

There was a wolf's cry of pain outside, causing Petra to stiffen. "Rascal?" She croaked out hoarsely, trying to uncurl herself from the ball of pain she was in.

She hopelessly sunk back down onto the ground, gasping as she tried to calm her racing heart. As much as she wanted to run outside to see if Rascal was okay, she knew she needed to give herself a moment to catch her breath, before she passed out from overexertion. Petra wasn't at all used to being this weak.

There was the familiar clicking of nails on stone, causing Petra to look up. Walking up to her with a visible limp, was Rascal.

Rascal whined softly, pressing his nose against his owner's feverish skin and giving her a comforting lick.

"Hey boy." Petra breathed, pulling him to her chest in a gentle hug. "It's alright, we're going to be okay." She whispered to him, resting her head against his. "You did good, Rascal... I'm proud of you, boy.

Rascal whimpered, but then his tail wagged faintly. He understood the words of praise, and while he wasn't sure what he did right – it made him happy.

Petra closed her eyes, smiling weakly. She didn't care that all her ore and some of her tools were gone, she didn't care that all her belongings were scattered about the cave. Hell, they could have taken Miss Butter for all she cared.

She was too thankful to still be able to hold her loyal companion in her arms.

___

Probably one of my favourite one shots I have ever done!

The suggestion for this was actually left on my one shot from the challenge book, where puppy Rascal comforts Petra (Thank you for the suggestion!). I really liked the idea of Rascal protecting Petra from thieves on their aventures

(Fun fact, these people were originally two guys and one woman, but then I was like 'Oh crap, people's gonna think it's the blaze rods XD So I just plopped another guy in. Just normal bandits, nobody from the game!)

This was so much fun to write though! 

What are you guys' opinion on one shots about Petra and Rascal? Do you mind me writing him into my one shots that have nothing to do with SBTL? Would you like me to do more of these? 

At first I was going to go for a full on normal, happy ending as well here, with Rascal completely scaring the bandits off, but I decided against it. I really like this idea of all Petra's valuables basically being stolen, even her tools. She's left sick and injured, with barely anything left, but all that matters to her is that Rascal is still alright. And as long as he's with her, she knows everything is going to turn out okay.
That got real deep for some reason. 
I love it.

Oof, enough rambling! xD

Feel free to leave any requests, whether they are plot lines, one word prompts or sequels/prequels to previous one shots I have done!

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