[A/N: Oh my! It's been a long time since this story was updated. Sorry about that. ^^' I did draft out this chapter in March, but the documents have a deadline here so I lost it all. D: I hope you enjoy this re-written chapter, though.

Oh! And I might turn this into a crossover fic with Balto. I don't know yet...]

Games in the Dog Life

Chapter Two: Frantic Departures.

Slowly, two young pups scrambled out from the petite dog door, finally free of rules that took place in the household. Angel was finally glad to be free, yet there was still a small pang of guilt that kicked her feelings every now and then. She was going to leave home, it'd surely be a loss to the family—not to mention, she was dragging Scamp, who had lived with this household and his parents his entire life. He'd be throwing it behind because of her. Her and her feelings; screw them. However, his memories with the family were in the past now. They were going to start a new life elsewhere—it'd be so great Scamp wouldn't ever regret coming.

She barely hesitated to slip out from underneath the gate. Of course Angel loved this family to bits, but they were already annoyed at her. She would try to escape the exile before it even happened. Suddenly, her instincts had told her to pirouette and make sure her companion was following. He didn't seem to be. The grey mutt just sat there, motionlessly staring at the ground as the small tufts on his elbow blew in the rhythm of the wind. This was the hardest decision he'd ever make, of course he'd hesitate! And Angel didn't blame him for that. But encouragement would help him overcome his fears of leaving home.

The husky pup leisurely trotted over towards him, a weak smile firmly planted on her muzzle. Once again, she was to slide underneath the black gates to nudge him. "C'mon, Scamp, you can do it," Her smile was still there. "You're almost a fully grown dog, now. You have to be able to—"

"Barely," Scamp interrupted, not wanting to hear the rest of her sentence. He rose his head to he could look at her. His brows were furrowed, and a frown was clearly visible on his maw. He wasn't happy. "I'm barely a dog! I'm just a pup!"

Angel didn't want to listen to anything she was saying. Her smile had evaporated, to Scamp it had. But to her, it was still there; it was just faint. She wouldn't give up so easily. "Aw, Scamp, you can do it! Turn that frown upside down!"

Unexpectedly, Scamp slapped his paw on the concrete surface, wincing as he thought out his sentence. What he was going to say may have been harsh, but she had to hear it. Maybe it'd stop her from making a terrible mistake. "Stop it, Angel! Stop running away from the truth! It's easy for you to live out on the streets, but for me it isn't! You've been a junkyard dog for so long—you know what to expect. I put myself out there, I gave it my all and here I am; two months later and I'm home. Can't you see what it proves?"

Still startled from his stomp, Angel's teenage voice broke a little as she spoke. "Yes but that was months ago! You didn't give it your all, you were barely in the junkyard dog squad. Two months only! That didn't prove anything! You would've gotten used to it eventually."

Angel suddenly began to feel small. She was pressed up against the gate as she eyed a humongous and gigantic Scamp towering her. He wore an expression of wry, suddenly and maniacally cackling above her as his venomous words poisoned her. "You are nothing but a filthy little mutt! You don't deserve a family! Run while you can! Don't hide from the truth, maybe you can run from it, but hiding from it is impossible!" He spat dryly, as if he truly wanted to get to her.

Angel, on the other hand, pursed her lips. She had nothing to say. Scamp was right; she was nothing but trash. She didn't deserve this family—they had done so much for her and the first thing she wanted to do after a few months of becoming accustomed to this new family was run away. Out of the blue, another taller figure emerged from behind this gigantic Scamp.

"Maybe we should swap names!" The figure laughed. "I'm not the Tramp! You are! You should be ashamed of yourself, you brat!"

The targeted pup was still reclining against the gates. She was totally insecure at this point; insulted, cornered and targeted. Why did she have to be picked on? Why was it always her? "Please leave me alone! I know, I'm a stupid, insecure brat! But please let me go! I'll go and never return, I swear!" Her voice was evitably laced with honesty. She wouldn't return; she'd do anything to save herself.

"Angel, I'm disappointed..." came the voice of another figure. Angel's eyes widened.

"...L-Lady?" she cooed hesitantly. She had called not on instinct, but disbelief. If she hadn't appeared, Angel's mouth would probably still be sealed.

"My, my, Angel..." Lady's voice boomed once more. "What has this come to? Betraying your own family? How could you?"

The teenage husky's throat seemed to tighten more and more—she felt like she was going to explode. Lady, the one she had trusted the most to talk about this all to, had negative thoughts about her as well. Her negative thoughts had differed with the gentle kindness she had once held. She was acting like she truly wanted to hurt Angel.

Unable to take the blame anymore, Angel threw her paws over her ears and sealed her clouded eyes. She sank to her feet and screamed as loud as she could. The pain was unbearable, it enveloped her relationship with the ones she had loved dearly; and it clashed with her thoughts about her future. Obviously, a happy future wasn't possible anymore.

Tsssshhhhh...TSSSSSHHHHHH...

The agony was physically increasing as she felt her right foreleg was going rip from her body. She swatted her head to her right to find that Scamp was before her, with her foreleg squeezed tightly in his jaw. She couldn't even feel the pain anymore. Everything was numb. Her legs, her ears, her tail... everything. Never before had this pup had experienced such a thing. Whatever it was, she wanted it to end. And now.

"Now! Make it end! Make it end!"

"Angel?!"

Gosh, what was with all the figures? Couldn't they just leave her alone?! Though the voice was barely familiar, Angel knew what she was going to say. There was no need to harm her anymore. She'd had enough of it—nobody was going to torture her anymore. Baring her fangs, Angel yelled back, "Yeah it's Angel! The stupid mutt everyone hates! There, I said it. Leave me alone now! Let me rot here, I'm already suffering—it's what you want, right?! Well here you have it!"

"Angel..." The voice sighed. "Listen to me. Don't say that."

"I just did! Now go! What do you even want?!"

"I know how to stop it all." Whoever was speaking sounded tired. "I know how to stop the pain. I'm your mother, come and see me. End this all."

"My what...?" At this point, Angel didn't know what to feel. Whether she should be happy or not. Her mother was here all this time, and she hadn't even thought of helping her daughter until she actually started suffering? What kind of mother was this? At the thought of these inquiries, Angel's emotions barely changed; she just felt a little more frustrated. However, she didn't show it. She was just glad someone was here to end it all. If she was going to go, it wouldn't be to meet her mother. It'd be to stop her pain. She was independent, she didn't need a mother.

"You heard me," Her mother said, more calmly. "Meet me."

"How should I know where to find you?" Angel hissed, baring her fangs at the voice. "I'm not that much of a genius..."

"You'll know when you do." replied the voice more cheerfully. "I can help."

"W-w-wait! You want me, to just get on the streets, and ask random dogs if they're my mother or not?"

"Correct."

"Why? I don't need a mother!" the pup argued, furrowing her brows. "I've survived all my life on my own."

"Well, clearly you need guidance, darlin'. Nobody in this household's gonna' give it to ya." the voice mused, sounding as if she was going to burst out in laughter. "Listen, dearie. This house's givin' ya nightmares because ya don't belong there. Soon you'll walk into who knows what! To live life, you needa' be happy and free! Don't force yourself to live there for the people! Come to me, and you'll feel right at home."

Angel sighed. Maybe this mother of hers was right; Angel didn't feel at home at all even with all the luxury and attention she was receiving. And she was reminded of the pain everyday the moment she had arisen from her slumber. Not to mention, Tramp had illustrated his annoyance at her not too long ago. At this point, Angel was willing to take any chances to lead her to happiness. After all, if this dog really was her mother, at least she'd have someone who knew her well. Lady was an excellent mother, no doubt. Yet it didn't feel the same. Angel didn't feel that motherly-daughter connection with Lady that would free her from her cage of worry.

"Alright..."

"I knew you'd accept, dearie," the mother said. "Find me soon."

Suddenly the figure had scampered off and Angel was bounding after her. Somehow she'd disappeared, and the terrifying scene had faded away...

"ANGEL!" It was a familiar voice. It didn't sound like an echo, and the figures had disappeared. Everything was just pitch black. "Wake up, it's midday!"

At the loud vocal calls, Angel jolted up, startled. Wake up? Had she been sleeping this whole time, was she dreaming? A wave of excitement scampered through the husky's blood as she jumped onto her paws. She was truly tired, however, she knew today would be a long day. Angel spun her head around, suddenly crashing right into Scamp, who fell into Colette, who fell into Annette, who fell into Danielle—who fell flat on her stomach with a groan.

"Gee, you sleep a lot," Scamp muttered, earning a dirty look from all of his sisters.

"Something wrong, Angel?" Annette inquired worriedly as she took a step towards Angel. "Why did you sleep out here? And you looked like you wanted to run after something..."

"You've been really blue lately..." Colette agreed, sitting on her haunches beside Annette.

"She's not blue! She's yellowy-gold!" Danielle interjected, obviously not understanding the metaphoric term of her sister's speech. "But yeah, Angel, you looked like a pup trying to chase after it's moth—"

"MOM!" Angel gasped randomly, silencing her friends. She felt all eyes on her, but chose to ignore it. "I have to find her!" She galloped towards the gates, slipping under the gates and out into the harsh world. She bounded to her left, behind the bricks and out of sight. It took the pups a weird look at each other for her to come back and rapidly instruct, "Please don't tell on me." before bounding out of sight again.

Colette happened to turn to her twin sister. Shock and confusion had devoured the pups' words, enveloping them all in a deep silence. As always though, Scamp had decided to intrude on this silence.

"We should tell Mom and Dad!" he declared frantically. "Anything can happen to her out there! What if—"

"No, Scamp," Annette sighed. "Let her go. I think she needs time to herself."

"She has been quite blue lately." Danielle announced ceasing her fun game of digging holes in the ground to enter the conversation. "...M-Maybe she needs a wild adventure! I wonder why she didn't invite us though."

"Danielle!" Annette yelled scoldingly, elbowing her sister. "It is not like that at all! Angel has been depressed and none of us had noticed. Maybe she went to find her... mother..?"

"That's ridiculous!" Scamp threw back at her. He was obviously very blind to his companion's state. "She's happy here! She's always wanted a family...and she doesn't have a mother!"

Annette rolled her eyes. "Everybody has a mother, you idiot," she growled. "Imagine a day- no... years without Mom! She obviously has the instinct to find her mother to take care of her. She's older than you, but we're all pups."

"I still think we should tell Mom!" Scamp was a stubborn pup, especially when it came to a topic about Angel. "I'm going to tell her now!" He arrogantly trotted away from his sisters, until he was yanked back by them.

"Don't say anything, you darn fool! She told us not to." Annette argued.

"I kinda agree with Scamp now. She might not feel happy here, but she still needs the support of adults." Colette suggested wisely, triggering a wry smirk from Scamp's maw. "Not to side with him or anything, I'm just worried."

Annette sighed tiredly, before bumping heads with her twin sister. "She'll be okay," she muttered, turning to face the others. "If she doesn't return by night, then we'll tell Mom and Dad. I promise. Just give her a chance, Angel's a smart pup."

"Pigeon?"

Lady swatted her head to her right as she halted at the other end of the road. As if she didn't know who that was... Her teeth were bared and her brows were furrowed as she watched a taller, scrawny dog casually stroll over to her. It was her mate, Tramp. What was he doing here? He told her he didn't want to see her, and now he was the first one to make the move? It wasn't surprising, Lady had to admit. He couldn't stay mad at her for long, but she's still hold a grudge as what he had done actually hurt. As she always did when she was mad, Lady looked away with her eyes closed; it was sort of annoyed display.

Tramp continued to amble over towards his mate, with a halfhearted smile rooted to his maw. "H-Hey, Pigeon!"

"What do you want?" Lady snapped, not looking him in the eye. "Shouldn't you be with your amore? On a date right now? After all, she's your love now, isn't it? So go!" Mentally, the female dog kicked herself. She let her anger get the best of her, she was supposed to take Jock's advice and speak to him about it! Quickly, she tried to add more to her sentence.

"I came to talk to you...about before." Too late for that.

However, the cocker spaniel still held her stance. "Spill."

"I'm sorry about what I did, Pigeon. Honestly, I am! I was stupid and foolish, I don't know why I did that," he cooed pleadingly. "I love you, and you only—I swear! I don't love her, she was just...she was just someone. I didn't love her, and I never will. Forgive me, Pigeon..."

Lady rose a brow, trying her hardest not to smile. It did seem cute that he had bent down just to apologize to her. And she was glad he only loved her. She couldn't be sure he wasn't lying though. She had to ask if this relationship was going to work. "I'm going to trust you..." she began, "...with this answer. You're not lying to me, right? You don't love her, you haven't seen her?"

"Not at all." Tramp said, shaking his head.

"So what was that letter about? How come you're her love if she hasn't seen you?" the cocker spaniel edged. "Do you two send birds to message each other?"

"Well–" Tramp was hesitating which only added to the suspense. It also provoked some doubts from his mate. "N-Not exactly–I mean... I have sent birds to send her some messages but I promise I love you!"

"What messages do you send each other?"

"S-She always asks me to run away and meet her, I tell her I can't..." Tramp informed her slowly. "...A-And she wants me to meet her later to catch up...on old times."

"Tramp, this doesn't help any!" Her vexed mode was officially on, her words consumed his heart like fire. "Don't you see she's the reason we argue?! We don't even sleep beside each other anymore because of yours and her relationship! And the next thing you're gonna do is go on a date with—"

"It's not a date!" the dog retorted. "She just wants to catch up with me, and see what's going on in our lives! I can't do that? I always let you go off with Jock and Trusty..."

"But they're my friends, not my previous lovers!" Lady barked tearfully. "You really have gone back to being the Tramp, huh? You don't love me! Just go, leave me alone!"

"Maybe I should go to her! Maybe she should become my mate after all, because mates trust each other, something you can't seem to do!" Tramp winced, realizing what he said was far too harsh. He had crossed the line, and she certainly didn't want to be with him anymore. Those words had scarred her mind, and if Tramp had actually become mates with her, it'd haunt her of all those arguments her and Tramp had.

Feeling as if she was going to break down, Lady sprinted back down the road. She didn't know where she was going, she just wanted to get away from him. The weather didn't help any too. Intruding rain had plummeted upon the city, differing with the sun and ultimately hindering it. The city buzzed with numerous cars and many horns. Wipers on both cars, and buses swatted the rain out of the way, and lights had emerged. Due to the rainy day, the sky had darkened slightly, and bright bolts of lightning could occasionally be seen.

Umbrellas sprang from everywhere and many different colours; red, yellow, black, white speckled ones, pink, green, purple and a wave of some more colours occasionally popped up. People were bounding home in hope of not becoming too moistened by the ravenous rain; as were cats and dogs. Homeless animals had instinctively ran for the dumps outside of the chicken shop. Surely some bins would cover them, right?

And back at Jim Dear's household, the puppies had to suffer being bathed and dried with towels. Darling grasped her son with her dashingly long fingers, and placed him in his cot. She covered him gently with his purple cover, before leaning down and pecking him and turning off the lights. She skipped downstairs in her slippers and took a seat on the couch beside her husband, who buried his face in his hands. Suddenly, a concerned expression had appeared on the woman's face.

"What's wrong, Jim Dear?"

"It's Lady and Angel," he informed. "They haven't returned yet."

They both eyed the sulking Tramp who had nestled beside a pillow, seemingly distant from the family at this particular moment. It had indeed been thirty minutes (to the humans) since Lady and Angel had disappeared. The clock was about to struck six o' clock, and there were still no signs of the female dogs.

"Don't worry, Jim." Darling consoled, lobbing her arms around the man. "They're probably together."

Out of nowhere, Lady bolted in through the small dog door, all drenched. Segments of her fur dripped with raindrops. Despite that, everyone was relieved she had returned; and even Tramp was...secretly. He didn't show it though. Jim Dear, Darling, and the puppies were partly relieved their adult female dog had returned so quickly minutes after being missed, but they still hankered after the return of Angel.

Happily, the humans trotted over towards their lost pet, embracing her as hardly as they good. Lady offered a tired and halfhearted smile as she was devoured by the warmness of home. Darling had run into the bathroom to grab a towel while Jim Dear stood in front of his pet, his hand on his beard as he stared down at her bewilderedly.

"I wonder where Lady went to," he said, loud enough for his wife to hear from the bathroom. "And where's Angel?"

Scamp, Annette, Colette and Danielle all galloped towards their mother, nuzzling her. As soon as he pulled out, Scamp had a question that would ultimately shatter the promises the girls and Scamp had made to Angel, much to their dismay. But the world outside was dangerous, and Angel needed help.

"Mom, have you seen Angel?" Scamp inquired innocently, not wanting to turn back and view his sister's expressions.

"No," Lady replied tiredly, "I haven't. Why?"

"She's been gone since this morning," Danielle blabbered confidently. "And uh...she still hasn't returned."

"Yes, Mother, she went out! She slipped out under the gates!" Colette yelled in frantic worry.

Lady's eyes widened and she suddenly began to pace. "Alright. Tonight, when we go out on our walk, I'll search for her. I'm sure Jim Dear will do something though."

"I hope..." the puppies all said in unison.