Chapter 1.27 A Friend For Toby

"Mom? Can we get another dog?" Connor asked.

Erin raised an eyebrow at his request "What's wrong with Toby?" She asked in return.
"Nothing, I just want another dog. You and Thomas are busy with Alyssa and me and Rosie are always at school, I think Toby might be lonely."

"And your solution is to get another dog?" She asked, folding her arms. 

He nodded as if it was obvious "Yeah, because then Toby won't get lonely and we can do more of what we want to do without him feeling like we're neglecting him." 

Erin half smiled "What if he doesn't get along with that dog though? Then what do we do?" She asked.

"We get another dog." Connor shrugged.

"What if he doesn't like that dog either?" She asked again, raising an eyebrow.

"Then we get another one." He grinned.

She sighed, "Lets hope for the sake of the house that Toby can get along with only one new dog."

His eyes lit up, "We can get another dog?" He grinned, and Erin nodded. 

"Just as long as you take care of her. And I want the new dog to be a girl." She grinned, going upstairs to check on Alyssa.

"You wanted to see me?" Thomas asked as he walked into his boss's office. He still wondered what all this was even about.
"Yes, there is." The fact that she didn't sit down in her chair made him the ever more uneasy about what it was. He wasn't going to get fired. He could tell that.

"I know this is usually your day off, and I'm sorry. I know you have a young daughter that you should be looking after, right?" That was probably the thing Thomas hated most about Dragon Valley. Everyone knew everything about everyone else.
"Yeah, Alyssa." He mumbled, "Her mom's looking after her though, my... Partner." He was stuck on what to call Erin. They were clearly more than just friends, they had Alyssa to prove that, but they weren't quite a couple either.

"How old is she? Still young?" She smiled, but it wasn't enough to fool him.
He narrowed his eyes, "She's a toddler, yes. Her birthday was a few days ago but she already knows how to talk a little. She can't really walk yet. Can you please tell me what's the real reason you called me in?"

"You've heard of Starlight Shores, right? There's been a lot of troubles going on over there, all stemming from an argument between the Gooder and the Best families. It's peaked at a whole new high, causing a lot more fights over a few other places in Simnation." 

Thomas frowned a little, not quite understanding why he was being told what he was being told, "And why did I need to come in this morning."

"We need you to go and try and settle things."

He pursed his lips, clearly not happy about this, "Why me? There's a lot more people who can deal with the things like this." He really wasn't happy about this, he didn't want to have to go all the way to Starlight Shores.

"The people who can 'deal with the things like this' tried, and they made it worse. Its almost on full blown out war, so we need people to try and stop it from being a war."

He nodded slowly, "And what's the likelihood of me getting hurt while being out there?" He asked.

His boss hesitated, "Right now, unlikely. I doubt it'll ever be all too likely that you'll get seriously injured." 

Hearing that made him slightly more at ease, "So, when do I have to be deported out?" He asked, seeing there wasn't much of a way out of this.

"In a few days."

Meanwhile, back at home, Erin was spending time with Alyssa, along with wondering where Thomas was. He hardly ever worked on this day, she didn't get why today was so different.

While Erin was wondering where Thomas was, Toby was getting friendly with a new dog in the house. It was the same breed as Toby, a Boston Terrier. Apart from the new one was a girl, called Boo and she had a brown splodge in the middle of her back. Neither of the dogs were sure of what to make of each other at first...

Luckily though, they soon became friends, or at least used to each other. Maybe a friend for Toby wasn't such a bad idea. Besides, he had to be getting lonely with being the only dog in the house. Now he had a friend to play with.

Erin was waiting by the doorway when Thomas got home. Her arms were folded, and she clearly wasn't happy "Where were you?" She asked, frowning. "I thought today was your day off." She was a little confused about that part. Where would he have to be? More importantly, why didn't he just tell her?
"It is my day off, and I was out, okay?" He sighed "And there's another dog outside... Since when did we have two dogs?"

"Connor wanted another dog. Her name is Boo. And you were out where?" She pressed further, wanting to know where he was. 

"Work called me in for a few hours, I was there." He answered. "Do you even consider talking to me when we get another dog?" He narrowed his eyes.

He tried to walk away, when she just stopped him "Stop trying to change the subject. I know when you do that. Just tell me what's going on, please?" She frowned, looking at him. "You're not all that bothered about getting Boo, are you?"
He frowned, "I am a little bothered about how you got her without telling me, like how you got Toby without telling me."
"Stop changing the subject." She folded her arms, looking at him.

He hesitated, thinking about how he was going to tell her. He wasn't going to beat around the bush, that was a pointless thing to do, "I have to go to Starlight Shores."

She furrowed her eyebrows "On vacation or something...?"

He shook his head "There's a war going on over there, and I have to help out." He frowned. "I'm going out in a couple of days." 

The main response he got off of Erin was silence.

Chapter 1.26 Witch!                                                                                                

Chapter 1.28 Silence

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AN: Does this count as a cliffhanger? I don't think it does... But hey, I have high expectations for cliffhangers.
I had to change Erin's dragon tattoo because the one she originally had was cc and I can't find it again. I like the new tattoo though