Shifting Truth

Part 16

The surrounding nature laid in a peaceful silence as the group made their way up the mountain. They had kept to the path, but when seeing a naturally formed path going to the side, they strayed off for that. And Irene was having the time of her life on their hike. With them being on a mountain, where they were sure few to none went, they had let Irene off the leash to run around. Of course, she kept close, but she zoomed all around them with full energy and joy, making everyone laugh in amusement.

Seeing the dutch shepherd zoom all around them, Conan had instinctually changed into his dutch shepherd form as well, without himself even knowing. The only reason he realised that was from his sudden energy boost and wanting to run around as well. But he kept it down. He was supposed to be seventeen years old, after all. Though that didn't stop him from playing around with Irene in the forest, as he was starting to feel less embarrassed about being more open and playful lately.

So Conan would grab a decent sized stick, run down the path before throwing it off for Irene to fetch, much to her bliss. She'd bolt back and forth, fetching the stick and giving it back to him. Conan laughed as he ran with Irene, and the other three threw a smile in his direction.

Conan ran in front of the group, the others being slightly behind because Kogorou wasn't exactly in the best shape, and Conan's dog form just brought the boy much more energy than usual. He continued to run forward as he kept an eye on Irene as she ran for the stick. She leapt over some bushes, and a bark came as she disappeared behind them.

Seeing her out of his sight, Conan picked up his speed and ran over. "Irene!" he called, pushing the bushes to the side to step through them. A bark came in response, and he glanced up. His eyes widened as he stood in awe. Through the bushes was a small open patch of meadow inside the forest of the mountain. Bright green grass filled the open area, and nothing else was in sight except for the forest surrounding it. The grass was tall, so Conan barely caught sight of where Irene ran around as he saw the grass move around. "This's the perfect place!" beamed Conan, then chuckled as Irene leapt onto him. "Great job, Irene!"

"Conan-kun!" came a call from behind, and Conan turned around and peeked over the bushes. "Where are you?!"

"Ran-neechan! Over here!" called Conan, waving his arms to make himself more visible. "Irene found the perfect place!"

It took a minute, but Ran found his location and ran over. Before she got to scold him though, he turned to gesture to the small open field for her. "Wah! It's so pretty!" beamed Ran as she took in the sight. "I didn't know you could find places like this on these mountains!"

"Right?" beamed Conan up at her.

A tired groan approached them, and the two turned to see Eri and Kogorou slowly walking over, Kogorou half bent down in exhaustion, while Eri had her arms crossed, glaring at him in frustration. "You should cut your drinking and smoking and get into proper shape," huffed Eri at him. She shook her head, but smiled as she walked away from Kogorou to walk to the others. "So you found a place?"

"Un! Irene found it!" beamed Conan with a bright nod, and stepped back.

Ran and Eri followed him into the small grass meadow, Kogorou slowly staggering behind. Ignoring the man, they all stepped over to a large tree nearby and placed down their bags. "Yes, this'll do fine," smiled Eri as she looked around. She turned back to the boy, his tail standing out as he slowly stepped around to explore. "Do you want to start practising then, Conan-kun?" asked Eri with a smile.

"Hai~," called Conan, and he ran back to them.

He took off his jacket and laid it over the bags. Ran knelt down in front of him, placing her hands on his shoulder, giving him an encouraging smile. Conan gave a small smile back, then changed from dog to sparrow.