[Jaykobell]

After having walked for so long, Bug had started limping. One of his front paws was sore and painful to the touch, and so he avoided putting too much weight on it, earning him a gait. "Greyson," he called out, panting, "I have to stop. Something's wrong."

Greyson bit his tongue. He'd noticed Bug limping, but he associated it with pain and exhaustion. Greyson's paws were just as exhausted, and they, too, screamed for a break. "We're so close, Bug," he insisted, his eyes focused on what appeared to be a rather peculiar patch of scenery.

[Jaykobell]

Bug whined behind him, and Greyson finally stopped. "Come on," he encouraged, and he turned around, "we've gotta be—"

Just as he spoke, and just as he turned around, Greyson got to see Bug collapse. Seeing his friend on the ground, flanks rising so quickly, Greyson gasped. "Bug!"

He bounded close, fear in his belly. "What's wrong?!" he asked, towering over Bug and looking over the body of the other Dalma. "Is it your paw?" Besides some minor scratches and bruises, nothing on Bug's body indicated an injury that could make him collapse.

[Jaykobell]

Bug seemed unfocused as he answered. "I... I think so," he said as he moved his injured paw. "It's so hot here, too," he complained.

Greyson looked down at the paw, and he brought his nose close. The stench made him flinch and recoil in a heartbeat. There had been a smell for a while, but both of them had assumed it was due to the fact they hadn't bathed in a long time. But this smell, this stench, it wasn't dirt or sweat.

It was sickness.

[Jaykobell]

Greyson's head started to spin. Was Bug going to be okay? But what did Greyson need to do to help him? Where could he even go? There was no guarantee those wild Dalmas were anywhere close, and no guarantee that they could help, either. And if they couldn't help, would Greyson be able to bring Bug back to town?

He stood over his friend in frozen silence, afraid.

And then, suddenly, every hair on his body stood on end. Something was here — something was nearby. Chills went down his spine. Was it a predator?

Had Greyson doomed them both?

[Jaykobell]

Greyson turned around, his body and mind terrified, but his stance betraying nothing. His muscles tensed, ready to protect himself and his vulnerable companion.

But quickly, his fear and anger turned to disbelief, and to shock.

Two stocky Dalmas were making their way towards Greyson and Bug. The difference between the two pairs was shocking — those two Dalmas were muscular, thinner, but not starved. And most noticeably, they lacked the traditional ribbon Dalmas were known for.

Greyson lay conflicted between deep concern for Bug, and exhilarating excitement at seeing those two Dalmas approach.

[Jaykobell]

The silence and awe lasted but for seconds.

"Finally found that smell," one of the wild Dalmas said, a soft growl in his throat as he looked over the collapsed Dalma in front of them.

The other one scrunched his nose in disdain. "Haven't smelled an infection this bad in a long time."

Greyson stared as the two talked to each other as if he and Bug weren't even there. He instinctively stepped aside when the two stocky Dalmas stepped forward to look over Bug, his mouth agape. He wanted to say something, anything, but he didn't know what.

[Jaykobell]

Fortunately for Greyson, he didn't need to come up with any words. "Hey, you," the first Dalma spoke, turning his attention from Bug to Greyson. "You're together?"

His heart caught in his throat, Greyson did his best to speak up. "Y... Yes," he answered in a high pitched voice.

"Where from?"

Greyson needed a second to think. "Th-the preservation zoo," he breathed. "Near, uh, Terrace Park."

The two wild Dalmas looked at each other and blinked. "Terrace?" the second one echoed, and he tilted his head. "That's pretty far."

[Jaykobell]

For a second, Greyson thought the two Dalmas were impressed by their traveling from so far away. He felt his heart swell.

But the pride died down quickly. "You traveled from this far," the second Dalma, his spots a barely noticeable tan color, spoke, "and you never picked up on the fact your brother had an infection?"

Greyson's heart turned to ice in a flash. "An... an infection?" he echoed, dumbfounded.

The other Dalma, speckled with tiny spots of liver on his back, took over. "Yes, an infection. Couldn't you smell it?"

[Jaykobell]

The questions left Greyson feeling even more horrible over the situation. "I-I did, but..." He swallowed as he tried to think of an explanation. "We just thought it was because we're both dirty from the journey."

The two wild Dalmas looked at each other. Their expressions were unreadable, betraying nothing — and that only made Greyson more uncomfortable. Were they angry? Were they disappointed? Were they sad?

"Hey, you." The tan Dalma prodded Bug with a paw. "What's your name?"

Resting, but still breathing with a somewhat laboured effort, Bug opened his eyes, squinting at the two Dalmas. "B... Bug."

[Jaykobell]

The Dalma nodded. "Okay, Bug. Your paw's pretty infected, so we're going to carry you back to our camp," he explained, and the other Dalma moved around without needing to be told.

With one Dalma at Bug's rear, and the other by his head, the two moved and shifted about until they had managed to get Bug onto their backs. The red-ribbon Dalma whined as they moved him, but he quieted down once he was positioned well enough.

"You come too," the liver Dalma told Greyson, and without waiting for an answer, the two wild Dalmas headed off with their patient.

[Jaykobell]

Greyson didn't need to be told twice. Suddenly, his paws moved, following after the impressive Dalmas.

With Bug on his way to treatment, Greyson regained some of his confidence. "You two are from here, right?" he asked, the excitement catching in his throat. "You live here in the wild, on the Vast Plains, right?"

The liver Dalma glanced at the excitable other. "Is that why you're here?" he asked with a knowing tone. "You heard of the Dale?"

The name was music to Greyson's ears. "The Dalma Dale," he breathed with disbelief.

[Jaykobell]

Unable to contain his excitement, Greyson bounced as they walked. "You're real!" he yowled with unfiltered happiness. "Bug! Bug, they're real!" he continued, and he shoved his face against Bug's, which hung limply over the liver Dalma's back. "I told you they were real!"

"Hey!" the tan Dalma growled. "Easy! Your brother needs his space. Quiet down."

Feeling like a puppy being scolded by his angry mother, Greyson obeyed. "I'm sorry." Only then did something stick out to him. "You called Bug that earlier too," he remembered. "'Brother,'" he quoted.

[Jaykobell]

The two Dalmas looked at each other. "Us Dalmas in the Dale are a family," the liver Dalma explained. "We're brothers and sisters to one another. We help each other and support one another."

"Including those outside the Dale," the tan Dalma added. "Us Dalmas stick together, whether you're part of the Dale or not."

Hearing the explanation filled Greyson's heart with happiness. Everything he and Bug had gone through to reach this place, despite the doubts that these Dalmas didn't exist: it had all been worth it to have these two hardened Dalmas with them.

[Jaykobell]

"That's amazing," Greyson spoke quietly after a moment.

The two wild Dalmas seemed curious about Greyson's reaction. "Do Dalmas in the cities not do the same for each other?" the liver Dalma asked.

A teasing, but still somewhat judgmental, snort came out of the other Dalma. "Judging from the state of this Dalma, I'd say they don't."

Greyson's excitement evaporated at the accusations. His smile turned into a shocked grimace, and he stopped in his tracks.

The liver Dalma gasped. "Pale Guard!" he snapped. "Please."

[Jaykobell]

Greyson tuned out Pale Guard's retort to his Dale brother. He followed slowly behind the three of them, his eyes focusing on Bug's exhausted, semi-conscious body. He had tried! He told Bug to go back to town. If he had, maybe a human would've picked up on his infection! Right?

His paws almost froze in place again as he realized that maybe nobody would have noticed. What would have happened to Bug had he listened to Greyson and gone back to town alone?

Would Greyson have gone back to town to nobody?

[Wild Pet Found]