Ethan Rom & Carbon

Dixie endured nearly half an hour of a dark, bumpy ride in the back of the van, with her muzzle still tightly bound and the unfamiliar sensation of a thick collar hugging her neck. The ride became rougher the further it went as Ethan left the streets of Atroe and the highway that led towards his house, and entered the final two stretches of gravel road that had the boxy vehicle bouncing and thumping against the uneven, partially washed out terrain.

Eventually, the journey reached its end, and the van came to a standstill. The engine puttered into silence, and a few beats later, the back doors swung open to reveal the silhouette of the tall man looming before Dixie's crate. Behind him glared an ugly yellow light, cast from his cabin house, and the air that swirled in around him carried the heavy scent of other canines. Still without a word, he reached in to unlatch Dixie's kennel, and pull the old dog out by the nape of her neck...

Standing a few paces behind his master, Carbon watched with keen interest. In the dying light of the evening, the yellow glare from the porch almost gave his black coat a touch of gold coloring, and cast each frozen breath he exhaled in a dense cloud of frost. Like his human, Carbon was wordless as he watched the proceedings, one giant ear trained in Ethan's direction as he waited to see whether or not he was needed.