A light breeze was flushed into the cave and brushed leaves onto the cave floor. The Tazarians stirred in their sleep, but only a few of them were awake, either listening to the early morning sounds or cleaning up themselves before the other dogs in the team saw them. A few of the sleeping dogs were twitching in their sleep to a bad dream or because another dog was brushing their fur on their snout.

Waggit had been one of the first to awaken, and when he had gone outside the snow was falling just as hard as it had been the day before. The pool of water next to their cave home was cold, but the Long Cold still hadn't frozen it to a point where they could no longer drink.

He lapped up a few gulps of the sweet taste and turned to nod a greeting to Little One and Little Two who were both on Eyes and Ears. The two pups were still young, but the rest of the team saw that they were growing bigger, and they had already grown twice the size of their adopted mother Magica.

The two younger dogs dipped their heads in submission, remembering that Waggit was now not only older than them, but since the Big Move had been made, he was also now their deputy.

"Hello, Waggit," Little One greeted the white dog.

"What brings you out this early?" Little Two asked, thumping his still-small tail on the hard earth below him.

The larger dog shrugged and glanced around the meadow where a few deer were grazing peacefully. "Just thought I should probably get a head start to my day today and go see if i can catch a few hoppers for breakfast."

The two smaller dogs nodded together and, saying goodbye, Waggit left them be and headed out towards the path that led deeper into the park. Ever since they had moved here, he had been memorizing each path, seeing with one led where, and attempting to find a nice meadow such as the one they already lived in, in case of an emergency. He knew nothing serious would probably happen, but every dog needed to make precautions.

He turned the corner and headed down the same old path. It was barely light out, from what he could see, although there was a blanket of snow piling on branches overhead, so that dimmed the lights a little. He sighed as he turned the corner onto a new path he hadn't explored yet and trotted down it, taking in all that was around him. Slowly he came to a stop and looked at what he had come to.

The end of the path stopped abruptly at a small cave just big enough to fit a team of dogs while leAving just barely enough room for an upright. He sniffed around it. Only the scent of hoppers, scurriers, and deer filled the air, and it didn't look inhabited. He decided to take a look inside and, checking outside to make sure everything was how it was suppose to be, pushed his head into the cave entrance.

The inside was a lot like their own cave, only a little bit smaller. There were leaves scattered across the dusty floor and cobwebs around the ceiling. All in all it looked like a good home to a dog like Waggit. He nodded to himself about it and pulled himself out, shaking a few spiders off his head and turned to hear back to the rest of the team.

When he got back, he saw that a few of the dogs were having an argument, and Lowdown was in the middle of it. Waggit rolled his eyes. The older yet smaller dog was always making a fuss about how he had seen a Gray One and no one else had. It was actually be coming quite annoying.

He trotted towards them and sighed as he heard a bit of their disagreement.

"I did too see a Gray One!" Lowdown protested to Gruff. "I saw him right over there." He nodded to a patch of ferns on the far side of the meadow.

Gruff snorted. "Yeah? Gray Ones don't exist, they're just stories to keep the young ones from howling for food."

Alicia stood beside Gruff and nodded. "You're seeing things, Lowdown," She screeched. "You've grown so old you don't even know a bird from a hopper."

The three went on in a howling fit about whether the existence of Gray Ones was real or not, and no one around seemed to want to stop them from fighting. That is, not until Tazar showed up.

"What in the Great Dog's name is going on?!" He barked at the three as he emerged from the cave. His powerful and intimidating look helped him to stop fights like this, and the three looked up at their leader quickly.

"Lowdown's going on about how he met a Gray One, but they don't exist," Gruff complained. "Do they, Waggit?"

All eyes turned to the white dog as he stood near their gathering. Even a few of the younger dogs had decided to join in on the commotion, and now the pack was in two separate groups.

Waggit looked at Tazar, then at Lowdown. The old dog peered at him through hopeful eyes, and Waggit cleared his throat and stared at Gruff. "I have seen a Gray One too. Although no one else has, they do exist. Whether or not they exist in our time, that does not make them lies or stories. And Lowdown here has a right to believe in what he wishes, and so do all of you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to speak to Tazar alone."

The big black dog nodded and led the young dog deep into the forest, close to the way Waggit had come earlier that morning. Snow covered splotches of the path, but the dogs ignored it as they walked together.

Waggit looked up at his leader with amazement that the old dog was still looking so noble. His head was high in the air and his chest was puffed out proudly, and even with his limp he still had the walk of a king. But there were times when he was not able to look so majestic as he did now.

The limp he had gotten through a roller accident a while back had permanently damaged him, although he had gotten help from an upright who knew about how to fix those sorts of things. His left hind leg now stuck out a little, and with every step he struggled to stay on his paws. This made it hard to take walks through the forest, or lead his team through the park on expeditions. And hunting was completely out of the question, though knowing Tazar he was quite fine with that.

They rounded a corner and headed down the dirt path the Cal and Raz had found a while back. Tazar and Waggit both knew the way to where they were going quite well: it was the one place they were able to get in their private conversations without being surprised by one of the other dogs. And thankfully it wasn't so far that Tazar had to walk slowly or else he would be in critical pain.

"Sit, Waggit." The black dog nodded to Waggit's spot by the stream they sat by. The meadow they were in wasn't too big, but it was just fine for the two of them, and the stream made it an exceptional spot.

Waggit sat in front of his leader, his tail pounding on the ground excitedly. Tazar noticed this and grinned a "Dog Grin". "What seems to be on your mind?"

"I found an emergency cave. Just down the main path." Waggit panted happily.

Tazar nodded. "Good. Is it big enough for the team?"

Waggit nodded his answer and described it to the older dog, stopping for Tazar to making a few comments here and there. Once he had finished, the black dog pondered on what they might do next.

"We should make sure no upright can find it, in case they decide to wander down an unbeaten path to see what's on the other side." He pointed out, then bent over to take a small sip of the stream water.

Waggit nodded. "I'll see to it. Little One, Little Two and Jumper can do that."

Tazar made a face at his deputy. "Are you sure Jumper is ready to help out with the team yet? She's been a bit resistant on the whole 'abandonment' thing."

Waggit remembered the day he'd found the little pup in the baseball field outside the park. She had been abandoned by her owner and had been searching around frantically for him. Her situation had been much like hers, even with the fact that she didn't want to believe her upright had abandoned her. She had even run away a few times to try and find him, and every time Waggit would find her back at the baseball field alone and ashamed. He had hoped by now she would have accepted the fact that she was now a free dog, but her hopes were still too high.

"I don't know, Tazar," Waggit sighed. "But I think we should give her a chance."

The black dog nodded. "Good choice, Waggit. Come, lets get back to the team and announce the finding."