Chivalry Isn't Dead | A Clawtie Fanfiction

• Purposeless •

"Can you smell that, Busby?" The princess pup questioned the toy rolling beside her with a voice seeming to be jolly, yet anyone that knew her could easily figure out the upcoming sarcasm she was about to add. "It smells like... a disgraceful knight attempting to creep in this very hallway to stalk a beautiful terrier."

"Hey, that's not nice! I don't smell that bad, do I?

From behind a tall, human knight's armour, that was displayed on the side of the current hallway, came a Doberman Pinscher.

"Why are you following me, Claw? Once someone sees you, you're as good as gone-stripped off of your armour, may I add?"

Claw crept forward, keeping wary of any sound that could reveal his position. The thought of what the female said made his already tense shoulders tense up even more. Everyone knew he was forbidden from entering the castle.

"Meet me behind the castle later this afternoon. I have something to show you."

"Please do not try to do a pathetic attempt to swoon me with a love letter or a song made in a single night. I find those highschool romance stories as horrendous and I have no plans of recreating it. Unless you give me a chainsaw, that is."

Claw shook his head after hearing the awfully specific response. "It's not, just trust me."

Immediately, a set of footsteps entered both the pups' ears, a fair image of a princess coming out of the corner all of a sudden.

"Sweetie, dear? Who were you talking to?"

"It's..." she prolonged the pronunciation of the last letter, glancing at the large plant in a pot where the male hid behind, and he shook his head, pleading with puppy eyes to her to save him.

"It was no one, princess. Just my best friend, Busby." Sweetie smiled, reaching a single paw over to her toy before giving it a good hug.

The princess's mouth moved to one side, inquisitive. She could swear she heard someone. A boy, even. Although, all that paperwork might just be getting to her.

"Alright then. Do be a good pup and read your books in the library later. Your new shipment of adventure books just arrived earlier and I don't want you using them for paper airplanes again. They're pricey."

"I would never!" Sweetie expressed with a face of disbelief, when in reality, it was the sixth time she was asked not to create tiny flying contraptions made out of pages from books she found boring. However, to be fair, it was Chase that secretly taught her that because one: it's a fun activity that usually does no harm (but we're talking about Sweetie here), and two: he hates how Sweetie appears to be preparing a sacrifice after burning the books she finds disgusting for merely existing. That's one way to tick off authors.

With a small nod, the princess went on with her way, leaving through the same path she entered, and as her footsteps faded, a small sigh was heard beside Sweetie, a frown crawling onto her face.

"Bookworm."

"Shut up. I'll meet you at five." Sweetie glared at Claw. "You better not be late."

Raising a paw to his side and straightening his face, the dobermann uttered, "It's a knight's promise."

Sweetie rolled her eyes. She only agreed because she had nothing to do. Besides, she pitied the lonely pup who strived for unrealistic goals.

As the sun started to disappear behind the distant mountains, Sweetie sat under the shade of the only tree behind their castle. It was pretty large for being the only tree there. Maybe because there wasn't any until Sweetie asked for one. With specifics as well, even though she didn't disclose the reason to her owner.

Under the Flowering Dogwood, she had her eyes closed, her furry back against the large tree trunk as the shadows of the countless leaves gave comfort against the last minutes of sun rays. Coincidentally, the self-proclaimed knight pup had chosen the same place Sweetie stayed at times to think or calm down whenever she and her owner got into heated arguments. That was the only reason she could withstand the current frustration that popped up right now, for the dobermann was a minute late.

However, his arrival wasn't as expected. He usually just walks over to Sweetie with his head turning everywhere, yet his entrance at the moment was dramatic, descending down from the air with the colossal wings under him slowing down in their flapping.

"You see, Sweetie? I did it! I finally did it!" he lauded, a giant grin unfading on his face while the fearsome creature stomped on the soil for the landing, possibly marking footprints. He watched as the flying reptilian sniffed on the grass they were on, and tilting his head up to look at his sole audience, she clearly was in awe.

"I can't believe it. You actually pulled it off," Sweetie replied with her lips parted, admiring with a smile of the dangerously majestic creature before her. The massive planes on each side of its body, the tough, red exterior of scales that reflected the dying light, and the monstrous claws that could slash anything in its path into pieces.

"His name's Sparks. With him, I truly have proven to myself that I am the one and only true knight! Even the princess didn't believe in me, but now, I am here, riding the dragon on my saddle!"

After striking a few poses, he let out giggles before slowly turning to the terrier. She stood there with a questionable face. She had a small frown and her eyes glinted with curiosity. There was also a hint of annoyance.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing, really." Sweetie tilted her head to the side. "Despite the task being a piece of cake if I were to do it, I am impressed by your 'impossible' achievement. However..."

Claw waited for Sweetie to continue. Even when only a second passed without her resuming, his anxiousness began skyrocketing. He felt insecure, for the princess pup looked like she was seeing something he had failed to accomplish which he couldn't see himself, but what?

"'However' what?" He grew impatient.

"However... what now?"

The question was peculiar. It almost didn't even make sense.

"What do you mean, Sweetie?"

The white pup took an inhale through her nostrils, releasing a small sigh as she furrowed her eyebrows like she was concentrating.

"You did it, you've proven yourself. The dragon is yours and you can make it clear that the princess is wrong. Now what?"

After a small period of a lack of reply, the dobermann began laughing wholeheartedly.

"Sweetie, I've proven myself, there's nothing more."

"So... that's it?" she asked.

"No, no, no. You're missing the point, I have a dragon. A living symbol of chaos doing my bidding." That was all Sweetie needed to hear to realize the truth Claw doesn't want to believe in. The knight pup didn't have a plan after getting the dragon.

He was purposeless.

For a moment, Sweetie's squinting eyes and furrowed eyebrows softened. She felt pity, but it wasn't the same kind as compared to her forcing herself to befriend the ex-knight. It was more of concern and it grew on her face, which was something the dobermann saw as unacceptable.

"Well, I know that I can... fly with my dragon and... he can breathe fire. How cool is that?" he stuttered, covering his mouth as he realized his uneasiness. He reached the finish line, yet the happiness was never through the ending, rather through the race, but he understood that too late. He missed the adventure and was brought to a place where he couldn't progress anymore, his darting eyes showing his frustrations.

"I'm sorry, I gotta go."

Immediately, Claw commanded Sparks to fly high in the sky, and Sweetie's eyes followed them, observing the troubled presence in the male's expression. She didn't care for his ambitions. That didn't mean she couldn't feel sympathy for him though.