The Battle

The Shapeshifter

Law woke up with a start, jolted from a sound slumber by a series of crashes in the next room, almost as if something large had been tossed across it and hit all the furniture on the way. The Samoyed sat bolt upright in bed, looking to the door and instinctively tensing up, his heartbeat rising... then he heard grunts from that same room, a voice he didn't recognize. The dog quickly hopped out of bed and headed into the living room.

Said living room was in shambles- the coffee table in the center was cracked in the middle, and everything on said table had been flung off of it, causing papers, tv remotes, and broken fragments of porcelain that had once been a coffee mug to be scattered in all directions. Law's eyes roamed over the wreckage in shock- then he heard moaning from the dining room. Baring his teeth and claws, he cautiously made his way around the corner-

-to see even more damage in there. The dining room table and one of the chairs had effectively shattered, the air still thick with sawdust, but a burning smell also filled the air, and black streaks of soot covered the broken wood.

Laying in the wreckage was a husky, wearing a gray shirt, a lighter gray undershirt, a pair of blue jeans, and brown shoes, with a pair of glasses askew on his face. He moaned, twitched slightly, then seized up and bared his teeth as he hissed, visibly and audibly in pain.

Law could only stare at him for a moment, completely floored. Finally, gingerly, he made his way over to the strange intruder, stooping down in front of him. "Are... you alright...?" he asked uneasily.

The husky's eyes snapped open, and he reflexively tried to scoot back, before seizing up and grunting again. He flexed his chest and shoulders, wincing. "Ah... Sore. Very sore. But... I think I'm okay...?"

Law let out a breath. "Good." Then he lunged forward and seized the front of the husky's shirt, earning a yelp. "So, then- you wanna explain who the hell you are, where the hell you came from, and what the hell you did to my furniture?!" He gestured at the assorted wreckage.

The husky blinked dumbly at him, not responding for a long moment, before craning his neck to look at the damage. He swallowed, looking again at Law. "Uh... Well, first off, I'm Ars. As for what I did to your place..." He looked sheepish. "Sorry about that. In my defense, I got knocked in here."

Law raised an eyebrow. "Okay 'Ars,' let's say I buy that. That still doesn't answer where you came from- and apparently you'll also need to spill who did it."

Ars' brow furrowed for a moment- then his eyes widened. "Dion," he breathed.

Law blinked. "Pardon?"

Ars didn't answer, instead pushing free from Law's grip and starting to look around wildly. "Where is it, where-?!" Then his eyes locked on something, which he lunged for.

Law readied himself to either restrain or start fighting this guy- then was again stymied when he saw the husky picking up what looked like, of all things, a piece of parchment on the floor, which he examined intently before sighing with relief. "What the hell is going on here?!" he demanded.

Ars quickly looked at him, his ears flattening. "...Look, I'm seriously sorry for the mess, I'll be only too happy to help clean it up later. But a friend of mine might be in trouble, I need to go help him."

"I don't think so," Law growled, taking up a fighting stance. "I'm gonna need some more answers before I let you go anywhere!"

Ars groaned. "Look, I get it- seriously, I do. But this might be a life-or-death situation here, I really can't delay!"

"Well that's inconvenient, because you're not leaving til I get some answers!" the Samoyed snapped. "You can start with how you know Dion!"

The husky blinked. "Wait- you know him?!"