Chapter Text
(One year ago..)
The town of Maplecrest wasn't as crowded as it normally was at such late hours of the night - where the chatter of groups overlapped with the sound of loud street music to bring people in to check out a store (although it pushed them away instead of bringing them in). Golden leaves fall onto the pavement, adorning the lonely streets with an alluring wam patch.
In an alleyway, a small, brown dog with unkept fur sat. Its gaze was facing at the empty streets, but unseen eyes watched the dead end. It barked once, getting the attention of its parasite.
"Huh? Oh, whaddya feel like tonight pal?"
Two barks.
"But we just had that last week!"
Two barks again, albeit more agressive.
"Alright, alright. I'll just get us pork buns AGAIN. We need a place to crash in full honesty. You might be cool here, but I'm starting to get sick of waking up right next to garbage cans."
One bark. A chuckle escaped from the parasite.
"Heh. That's what she said."
_
The warm gaze of the Sun fell onto the two, awakening them from their slumber. The afternoons in Maplecrest had a special flair of being extremely crowded but somehow not overwhelming. The sound of a school bell in the distance, sizzling grease from the food stands and the revving of car engines were by far the most noticeable ones. The parasite yawned, while the dog just sat there. Menacingly.
"C'mon bud, we gotta get moving or we'll get evicted." - The parasite joked, which got his host moving.
As much as they liked staying in Maplecrest, they weren't a big fan of getting ushered OFF the sidewalk and almost getting ran over by a car. Trinity bless the kind old lady who signaled for the reckless driver to stop before he killed the dog. The rest of the walk, even though they weren't too sure on where they were going, was less rocky. Sure, the occasional parent telling their kid the reason they won't get them a dog because "they're dirty fleabags" (clearly referring to his host) were annoying, but at least they weren't getting cussed out in public.
Gentle shade besides a pearly white wall was found, perfect for them to crash. The infamous high school of Maplecrest, where the normal year is akin to the ones shown in the movies targeted for children. Everybody who had social media in Canopolis knew that the school was corrupt, even though it wasn't a figure of the goverment - well - everybody except for the citizens of Maplecrest themselves. Great job people of Maplecrest, great job.
The sight of schoolgirls chatting, the gorgeous maple leaves and the ever so casual school fight where a crowd forms around the contenders with phone cameras and livestreams capturing the tussle between 2 students, more to join as the fight progresses were something you wouldn't expect in other parts of New Meridian, the state of their beloved Maplecrest they held so dear, where that was the average Tuesday for the normal student who just wants to go home after enduring 8 hours of sitting in a plastic chair and being forced to memorize information no normal citizen would use in their daily life.
Whatever, enough with the complaining about something I'm luckily not forced to live through. The parasite thought to himself. He thanked the Trinity for making him a parasite who leeches off of people instead of a normal, walking, talking, breathing human being with around a zillion responsibilities to handle. He can't just help but throw shade at whoever thought it would be idea to implement a billion social constructs and norms. It would be better if-
"Ohmygosh such a cute doggie!"