Adventures

Well, my faithful readers, there is much to catch you up on from the last several days. I must apologize, but brevity does not do the events justice. As predicted we did make a journey in the ride. We once again visited Patriarch and Matron (and Rascal). The evening there was spent uneventfully. However the following day resulted in much excitement.

Master and Princess left for a conquest of their own, and I was left to guard the fortress. I was given freedom to roam the fortress while the humans, along with Rascal were in the front grounds. At one point, Patron returned inside the house and I saw a chance to assert my dominance over that small young pup. I quickly raced through the unlatched door onto the grounds. Rascal became aware of my presence and dodged my offensive by getting under one of the rides. Before I could pursue him farther, Patriarch was on top of me and restrained me inside the fortress once again. This is all quite frustrating I can assure you. Though I do take pleasure in the fact I made the young pup wet himself.

Master and Princess finally returned while I was enclosed in the sleeping chambers. I could hear them in the main chamber of the fortress talking with Patriarch and Matron. Though I am still learning the human language, I did hear my name several times and I believe the stories of my adventures were being relayed. I was released into the main chamber of the fortress after a time. Shortly thereafter, Master noticed my paw, which I had injured while outside earlier. I do not completely understand what all happened next, but the humans conversed among themselves and Master and Princess left. They returned shortly however and began looking at my paw again. Princess poured a liquid onto it that stung a little and wrapped it in a strange stretchy cloth. It was very difficult to walk after that, but I understood that they were concerned about me so I left my paw alone. Though I was very glad that Princess removed it before we went to bed that night.

After my paw was wrapped, Master and Princess began packing the ride again and we returned home. Most of our travel home it was dark and I know my humans must have been tired. They usually retire much earlier in the evening. I too was growing tired and went directly to my bed once I knew the fortress was secured and my humans were preparing for sleep as well. What happened next I am not quite sure. We had been asleep for a short while when I heard the sound of a very large ride near the back grounds, though not close enough to be on the fortress property. I then heard the sounds of bubbling water come from the small cleansing chamber that is off the bed chamber. Princess must have heard it too because she jumped out of bed and rushed in there - I presume to stop whatever was happening. Master too got up and they conversed among themselves. We all then went to check the other cleansing chamber, which also had water flowing out of it. It was very clear by this point that my humans were not happy. And I don't blame them - the water smelled putrid.

As Princess got dressed, Master called me to go with him into the back grounds. Outside I could see the large ride that I had heard earlier and there were two men with it. They appeared to be doing something in our neighbor's back grounds. Master spoke with them tersely.  Though I am unsure of what was said, I think they are responsible for what happened inside the fortress. Master went back into the fortress, leaving me outside to watch the grounds. I was okay with this arrangement for a while but I could hear Master and Princess moving around inside. They had opened up a window that faces into the back grounds. This window is very high up and I must place my paws on the fortress wall to see inside. I did this several times to make sure that everything inside the fortress was okay and to let them know that I was still watching the grounds but would like to re-join them.

After a good deal of time, Princess let me back in the fortress and put my pack on me. I knew this must mean we were going somewhere again.  My humans were very agitated and yet very lethargic.  We made a short trip in the ride to a fortress I have not visited before.  This turned out to be the home of a pack who has visited our fortress several times.  They are a male and female, and their very young pup, whose antics I enjoyed immensely when they visited.  The male is the alpha of their pack, and has a large mane which extends around his face.  I shall refer to him as Whiskers.  But I digress.

We stayed the rest of the night at their fortress and packed up early in the morning. We went in the ride to a large fortress we sometimes visit, from which the humans usually return with provisions.  This time the humans returned with foul-smelling chemicals of some sort, which when we returned to the fortress they began using to clean the mess.  This process took some amount of time, during which two other humans assisted for a while.  After completion a pungent odor remained, though I am not sure if my humans smelled it as their senses are not as attuned as mine.  It has at this point been a night cycle and the odor remains.  My humans and I slept in another chamber of the house than normal which may indicate they smelled it after all.  I am not sure if this means they gave up on cleaning it or were unable to finish. Either way, time will tell if the fortress returns to normal.

Kilo, signing off.

Other Canines (cont)

I believe I have intimidated the other canines into leaving. They have not been seen for several days now. I am still wary, however. Every time I am released into the rear grounds my first goal is to make sure that the property line is secure and the scoundrels are no longer a threat to the security of my domain. Before they left, I could hear Master and Princess talking to their human in their presence. This greatly upset me that my humans would risk encountering such dangers without my being there. Despite my vocal objections, they continued in their discussion. I am hopeful that, since humans do not have refined hearing, they simply did not hear my warnings. Regardless, this incident has left me aware of the risks my humans are comfortable taking, I must must continue to be vigilant in my work of communicating the dangers.

This morning, Princess left in her usual manner while Master stayed back for a little bit with me. During this time Master started packing his bag. This only happens when we are going on a journey, so I immediately got excited. I thought that perhaps Princess would return quickly and we would leave in the ride. Unfortunately this was not the case and I spent a relatively boring day watching the fortress. When Princess came home I greeted her excitedly and she too started packing. My suspicion of a journey was confirmed when she retrieved my pack from its normal storage spot. My pack only goes with us when we are going on an overnight adventure and, similar to the humans bags I assume, houses my food and toys for my entertainment. I immediately started helping Princess by making sure she had all the essentials. After she completed that task I signaled I was ready to leave by sitting by the door. She allowed me to go with her into the front grounds of the fortress but then required me to rejoin her back inside despite my protest. For now it seems as if we wait for Master.  

Other Canines

Our fortress is in row of many other fortresses. For the most part, the humans that inhabit the other fortresses come and go with little disturbance in our day. Occasionally Master and Princess will converse with these local humans and it appears they are on friendly terms with them. Only a few of the fortresses around us seem to have fellow canine sentinels and the ones that do are not directly next to us. I'm not sure if this is a fault of the humans not desiring companionship or of their former canines not being alert to the dangers of the outside world. Alas, not all canines are worthy of the title "Sentinel".

Because there are no other canines close to the fortress I rarely have the need to assert my authority over my domain. Occasionally I will have to give warning barks - and several days ago a small, young fluffy canine attempted to approach the fortress while I was inside with Princess. I quickly alerted Princess and loudly proclaimed to this little canine that she needed to leave. However, two days ago, Princess and I went in to the rear grounds to play and there were two large canines in the fortress next to us! I immediately raised my guard and we had a heated discussion about the property line before Princess pulled me away. Their master was occupied with also pulling them away. I do not think my humans understand the need for me to protect our property from the dangers of these untrustworthy newcomers. Since this initial encounter, Master and I have been outside several times. While I give warning barks, I know that Master does not want me to engage these scoundrels and I am trying to be respectful of his wishes.  I am still wary though. Especially at night when I can hear them about outside their fortress. I do not trust them to keep to their fortress.

Signing off.

More travels and taking care of Master

     The last many weeks have been boring at times but have had some exciting moments. We once again traveled in the new ride to visit Patriarch and Matron. While I never saw Rascal during this visit, I was ever wary of his presence. I believe that the humans are having us "take turns" in guarding the main chamber of the fortress because I often hear him while I am confined to my human's sleeping chamber. I do not understand why they trust the young pup. He is both young as well as small and I have no faith that he would be much threat against an enemy.
     While I never saw the spoils, I believe that Master, Princess and Patriarch went on a great conquest during our visit. I have previously mentioned that Master has an odd device that emits light and a loud bark. Princess also carries on of these tools with her. They left with these devices as well as one that is much longer in nature (and I presume to be more proportionally more intimidating to an enemy). They returned after a time and, as I said, while I never saw their spoils, I am sure they must have had a great victory as they were in high spirits.

      We have since returned to our fortress and life had been fairly normal. I am ever on guard against evil (I believe that the feline I once saw is still lurking in the area). A few nights ago my humans retired to their sleeping chamber later than normal, however, Master awoke not long after and seemed to be in distress. I attempted to comfort him but it did not seem to help. He awoke Princess and they left in quite a hurry. I am unsure of where they went, but I believe they may have gone to seek help from other humans. When they returned Master seemed to be in less distress, though both appeared very fatigued. Both were at home for their normal two day reprieve from conquests but seemed to be less interested in playing. I believe Master to still be recovering from what ever distressed him that night. While we still play, he has been less enthusiastic the past several days and today, while Princess left for her conquests, Master remained at home to rest. I have done my best to entertain and take care of him.

Now I must return to my duties.

Sleeping quarters

Our fortress is made up of many smaller chambers. Most of my time with the humans is spent in the large chamber that contains this inter-pack communication device as well as the area for human food preparation. A smaller chamber houses our sleeping quarters and another one is where my humans hone their combative skills.

There is one small chamber that is usually blocked off to me. Occasionally Princess will go there, allowing me to go with her to protect her. However, the other night the chamber was open to me. In this chamber is a large mat that sits low to the ground. It resembles my human's bed in its size, but is not elevated, so I assumed with it being low to the ground that it was for my sleeping comfort. I went to bed with my humans to make sure they were okay and reclined upon the smaller mat they have provided for me until they fell asleep. I then went and tried out this new mat. It was very comfortable and I slept well through the night without being disturbed by any evil. It was so comfortable that when Princess awoke the next morning I was loathe to escort her around the house as I normally do. But alas, a sentinel's job is never done.

Since that time the chamber has again been blocked against me. I think my humans are uncertain of my ability to guard them if I am not in the chamber with them. I completely understand their caution - one can never be too cautious. So until such time as I assure them of my diligence, I will await my opportunity to return to the large mat.

Speaking of diligence against evil....I have seen a feline creature stalking the premises. Just yesterday it had the audacity to sit out by the lane where the rides travel. I believe it is trying to find weaknesses in the fortress' security. I will be ever vigilant against this creature and any accomplices.

Return to normal life

The human festivals seem to be over now. Princess and Master and I have remained at the fortress for several days now and they seem to be back to their normal routine of daily conquests and returning to my care.

At our most recent visit to Patriarch and Matron I had hoped to again be able to partake in their feasting. Shortly after we arrived the humans prepared their meal and it smelled of delicious treats and I was in high hopes of being able to partake. Since Master and Princess had brought with us my disc squeaker for my enjoyment and it has become a favorite, I decided to see if my humans would respond to a trade. I retrieved my squeaker from the chamber and brought it to Matron since I felt she would be kindest and would quickly recognize my sacrifice. Alas, she refused to comply with my request for a trade when I placed it on her lap and sat. I attempted to win Patron over with my politeness in sitting before him, but he too was unwilling to allow me to share in the feast. I believe that my humans have communicated with Patriarch and Matron that they do not want me to have human food. I trust them to make good decisions for me, however I am not sure I agree with this one.

This last trip down to Patriarch and Matrons also allowed me to experience the new ride. It is very nice and I have more room than in the previous ride. Instead of entering from the side I now my enter from the back and then the entire back section of the ride open for me. My only complaint is that in the new ride I cannot sit between my humans as I once did. The old ride allowed me to sit between them looking behind us to guard against evil. This new ride has an odd covering between my humans seats and my section. It is short enough for me to look over and observe them and I am able to bend it and sit on it in my former fashion but every time I attempt to do so Princess makes me move. I suppose I will have to be content with the extra room I have been given. Since this trip I have had a few shorter trips and have found them to be quite enjoyable. I approve of the spoils of Master and Princess' conquest.

Human Festivals and a New Ride

We have returned to the fortress. I have decided that I enjoy human festivals. While I am rarely allowed to partake of human food, my humans made an exception and allowed me small bits of the large meal that they prepared. It was fantastic and I hope the humans have another festival soon so I may partake in their celebrations again. Master and Princess also gave me a new squeaker when we arrived back at the fortress. It is a disk with an open center and is quickly becoming a favorite.

Prior to leaving, I was forced to interact with Rascal. This was the first time I had seen him since our arrival. Every other day he was restrained away from my presence, though there were times when the humans confined me to the chamber and I heard Rascal out among them. While this made me very unhappy, I suppose it is understandable. Even fiends need some time to exert their energy.

While I still have no love for this small pup, I know my humans want me to tolerate his company. So after protesting his presence, I silenced myself and was then allowed to engage with him in closer quarters. I attempted to greet him in usual canine fashion but he did not appear amiable. While he caused no harm he did snap at me multiple times. I let these minor affronts go with little response.  I do not like him, but I am capable of taking the high trail. We shall see what becomes of this in time.

While at the fortress of Patriarch the humans went on one of their usual excursions.  I am not always sure of the exact nature of their trips, but this one must have been quite the victorious conquest, as they returned with a new ride! This one is a bit larger than the small ride we usually take trips in, but smaller than Master's veritable mobile fortress.

I was allowed to inspect the exterior upon arrival of the ride, but was not allowed to enter in.  I know little of the workings of these beasts of burden, but perhaps they are similar to the equine species and require breaking.  Master still drives his mobile fortress, but Princess' previous ride has gone by the wayside in favor of the new one.  I can hardly blame her.  My humans must have defeated quite a large and powerful enemy to secure such a prize.  I hope to partake in the spoils of their victory soon.


For now I will resume my place guarding the fortress.  I have heard rumblings of the enemy which made the loud noises outside the fortress recently.  I shall be waiting, should they ever return.