Niko Bellic | Network 002

[vengeance_driven]

[Public | Audio]

I would like to say that I do not intend to eat my hound. He is a good dog. He protects me.

Those are not all the words I said.

I won't eat my beast either. She keeps creepers away. I also wouldn't eat her if she didn't keep creepers away.

[Niko's explanations at their finest.]

Comments

[quixotically]

[The facts that the animals are both strange and barely paying attention to them don't really register too much to Elle. If you think she didn't waste a day off chasing a not-bighorner around petting it and its entire family, you're wrong.

She takes the package of meat, lips scrunched up to one side of her face.] Yeah, I think so. Can't be too hard, right? [Jokingly,] I think this is the first time I've had to bribe an animal into liking me.

[vengeance_driven]

You are not just bribing the animal to like you, you are bribing it to take an arrow for you. To run in if anything comes at you.

So only really do it if you want this kind of loyalty from an animal. It is very hard to make them move on from a person. It was a tough decision for me [since he doesn't expect to survive], but I knew the hound would help keep away enemies and make it safer for my explorer. If you go home, you might have to take it back with you.

[quixotically]

[... yeah, it's definitely not a joke any more. Elle's expression sobers. Rex was entrusted to her, but he dove into combat more readily than she did, back then. But Roxie... This is more similar to Roxie in scale.]

That's okay with me, [she says slowly.] People back home are just gonna think that it's a mutated dog. [She pauses, taking more time to mull over the thought of loyalty.] I... Honestly, I'm... willing to ask that from them, if they're willing to come with me. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to take care of them, no matter what. So... [She nods, not entirely sure why she said "so." She doesn't know what else to say.] Yeah.

[vengeance_driven]

They are also assholes who might just steal the meat and run for a few times. So there is that too. It might take a few tries.

[They get inside of the forest, and Niko finds an old stump to sit on and pull out his canteen. He's just waiting and listening now, for a bark. There are lots of wolf tracks and he know they're around.]

[Pas sits beside of him, showing off some of that loyalty just by wanting to be around him. It's not even for the meat. He just seems to want to give Niko attention. Sure, other people can be nice to him, but those four eyes stay trained on his person most of the time.]

I don't know why the people here made their dogs so loyal. From what they say, they couldn't fight to protect themselves. So maybe that's it.

[quixotically]

[Elle isn't entirely sure what to do with herself. In the end, she decides to lower herself into a crouch, holding the package of meat with both hands.]

This world is full of all kinds of danger... I mean, it's pretty hard to pick out creepers, right? Maybe, if the dogs are more loyal, they aren't gonna run when they get scared because of them... [She trails off, thinking of how skittish the coyotes are back home. They've been content to walk with her sometimes, on occasions when she was out walking the Mojave by herself, but as soon as there was something dangerous...] Are they really that much more loyal than regular trained dogs? I mean... Rex and Roxie, they've always been prone to running to danger, because their protective instincts have been bred so strong... I thought that it was pretty much the same.

[vengeance_driven]

That's the only thing the dogs won't attack.

You can train a dog very well back home. You can work with it for months. Years of input. But these dogs? Just feed them until they like you and they are yours. And yes, unless someone else can get through to them the dog will sit and wait for you no matter how long it is that you are gone, without wondering off. And it takes much to get through to them.

They're very dedicated. They won't even eat beyond what they absolutely need until you feed them.... don't ah... overfeed them though.

Because... [He makes a dismissive gesture. You know. Like he and Boone learned the hard way.] Pas tries to make Rex his girlfriend sometimes. [Which, reasonably, doesn't work.]

[quixotically]

[Elle stifles a laugh. She shifts the meat to one hand and reaches over to pat Pas' back.] Sorry, buddy. He's the wrong kind of doggy for that.

[She muses on the training for a moment.] I guess... One benefit for people about this would be that, if they got caught out in the woods or something... Then they'd be able to have a fast friend who'll help take care of them.