I Among Dogs

Chapter 10: An Outcast Turned Citizen

My head hurt. It felt like someone had taken a hammer to my skull multiple times even after I had been knocked into an unconscious state. My hands slowly shuffled, feeling what I could only assume was fabric as I struggled to lift my eyelids, my vision slowly clearing up the longer my eyes were open and I soon found myself in the Heeler's living room, laying on a couch. The source of the fabric feeling coming from a blanket that was draped over me. Slowly looking to my left, I saw the familiar faces of Chilli, Bluey and Bingo all watching me, their faces plastered with concern.

"...You okay, Nathan?" Bluey was the first to ask, having noticed that I had woken up.

"Ugh, what happened?" I groaned as I rubbed my head, the pain slowly fading but still noticeable.

"Bandit said you passed out in the library. You hit your head pretty hard on one of the bookshelves." Chilli explained. That explained the head pains I was currently dealing with. I tried to remember what had happened back at the library that had made me pass out as I knew that the Heelers would no doubt be asking me how and why I fell unconscious.

The last thing I remember was reading a book that Lucky had pointed out to me which contained a piece of the lost page with five words that were clear as day in my mind.

"...Chilli? Do you know anything about a War of New Zealand that happened on 2015?" I asked the mother dog in question, her eyebrows raised which told me that she was not expecting that kind of question.

"I don't believe I do, why?" Chilli inquired with a question of her own. I wonder how she would react if I told her what I found.

"Well... Me and Lucky found a book about Canistralia and... I found a page had been torn off of it with only the title left which was "New Zealand War of 2015". I know that New Zealand exists in my world... So does this mean...?"

"Yes. We are living in the same world as you and the other humans are." A voice suddenly answered what I was about to ask, making us all turn to find a certain German Shepherd in a suit at one of the doorways.

"...Andrew?" The German Shepherd nodded at my recollection of his name before he approached us.

"How are you feeling, Nathan?" Andrew asked sympathetically as he sat on a nearby couch whilst I sat up, pulling the blanket off of myself. "Well, my head isn't hurting as it was before so there's that." I replied as Andrew acknowledged my answer with a nod.

"Now... Bluey's parents mentioned to me that one of her friends had said that humans had used to live among us in the past. Is that correct?" He asked to which I responded with a nod, having been there when she had said it, allowing him to continue.

"Miss Heeler. What your friend has told you was indeed the truth." Andrew addressed Bluey before continuing. "There was indeed a time when dogs like us and humans lived together in peace for years. Perhaps all the way back to even the stone age."

"What?!" Bluey and Bingo exclaimed in surprise upon hearing this.

"Yes, it's true. The problem was... The human organisation known as the United Nations were weary of us, as were many of the human states' governments. They were afraid that we would use their trust for our own advantage and possibly attack them to claim the human world as our own. The government of Canistralia, which believe it or not is a sister region to Australia had been planning to sign a declaration of peace to ease the UN's worries. That is until... that happened." Andrew's expression fell as he finished part of his answer. I had a vague feeling on what he was referring to.

"Bluey, Bingo? May I ask that you go do something while me, Nathan and your mother talk? What I'm about to say may scare you." The two young dogs didn't argue as they got off the couch and ran off, leaving us alone before Andrew turned back to me.