She was almost stunned to stillness. It was only with an effort of will that she kept herself walking beside Annie, and not running around sniffing and touching things like crazy.

There was so much to see she didn’t know where to start. All sorts of things around were made with wood. There were big things looming to either side that had openings in them (houses? They had to be houses!). People were going in and out of the opening parts, moving about with purpose, some carrying things, others not. They were complicated and impressive, and they lined the sides of the… path? No… the street!

This was a proper street now! It had stones all arranged to fit together reasonably well. She sniffed at them, letting the rich scents fill her up. They were just rocks but she could smell all the travel they’d seen. She could smell so many things!

As she’d grown up she’d gotten much better at picking out one smell from another, but she really was beyond her ability here. Not only were the scents many; there were also plenty she had never experienced before. There was too much going on in the aroma department for her to get her bearings. She was overwhelmed by it all.

I’ll get used to it. She cheerfully consoled herself, still brimming with nervous excitement.

If this goes well, I’ll have all the time in­—

“Shadow!” Annie snapped sharply, her tone sounding a bit strained.

She jerked her head back up. She’d gotten a bit lost in the smells and had failed to notice the gathering of the main attraction of her visit. Humans.

Her eyes widened, or they would have if she wasn’t already forcing herself to keep them as wide as she possibly could in the daylight for the added cuteness factor.

The people were glancing between her and Annie, looking concerned and confused, but not outright hostile. There were so many of them, she didn't know where to put her eyes, so her gaze darted between them, taking in all their features. She saw hair that was blond, brown, and black adorning most of them (Confirmed not a sex trait. Men and women alike were sporting hair of all the different colors.) There were a couple of anomalies, one person had pointy—

“Sit!” Annie commanded.

Shadow’s butt practically teleported to the ground. Not actually, as that would have been unbelievably bad to do in the village, considering the hunter's reaction, but it had gotten down there quick enough that she was worried she may have bruised it.

“Lay down!”

She did.

“Roll over.”

Mission accomplished.

“Sit. Stay.”

She got herself propped back up on her front legs and stayed there.

“As you can see, the collar enforces perfect obedience, and she understands given commands perfectly.”

One of the shrewder looking women in the group spoke up.

“Does she? Took ya a few times callin’ ‘er name before she started listenin’ to ya.” The woman challenged, looking at Annie with suspicion.

What!? It did?

If Shadow had the ability to break out in a cold sweat, she would have. As it was, she just started lightly trembling. She must have been more caught up in the scents than she’d realized. Annie had started her spiel without her noticing, and she’d missed her cue. She glanced sideways up at Annie and got a very significant glance back.

“Oh, that was nothing to worry about. She was simply a little distracted. As soon as—”

“Well if she can be distracted, what’s ta keep ‘er from bein’ distracted munchin’ on some poor soul?”

Annie straightened up at this, a flash of satisfaction passing through her eyes. They had a good answer to a question like that.

“The answer to that is simple. This collar performs something I call complete behavioral replacement. To put it simply, despite her looks, she has the mind of a loyal working hound or family pet. She would never attack a soul, unless ordered to, and attacking anything right now is the last thing on her mind. The violent unthinking shadeling within has been completely eradicated and replaced by this much smarter, friendlier, and perfectly loyal persona!”

That was the plan. Or at least the main gist of it. Shadow was now officially a magical personality. If they bought it, these people wouldn’t be scared of her because she wasn’t a “real” shadeling. She was just a well-trained magic dog brain wearing the form of one.

She cocked her head a bit. That really was a strange thing when you thought about it.

Annie for her part had managed not to wince saying it out loud. She had some strong opinions about doing things like that to any animal, shadeling or not.

It didn’t bother Shadow as much as it might have. She could tolerate being a dog if it meant she got to see this wonderful village without being hunted by the inhabitants or causing a panic. She hoped to be more than that at some point... but she had a lot of learning to do. She didn't have to rush.

She’d had to ask how, exactly, she was supposed to act like a dog. Annie had described them and their mannerisms to her, but said that as long as she didn’t try to communicate or do anything too smart, her default friendliness should be fine. She should just treat everyone like they were Annie or Jonas.

The crowd had grown, and now many of the villagers were nodding along with Annie’s explanation. A good number still looked confused and others looked skeptical, but the shrewd woman had stopped talking, so Annie continued with her spiel.

“Just imagine how useful one of these collars could be for you or your families! You could have what would normally be a dangerous beast as a loyal pet! It could protect you, or help you hunt! Here, let me show you, there is nothing to fear!”

She quickly bent down and undid the leash, untying the bit of rope Jonas donated to the cause.

There were a few sharp inhalations, but nobody stopped her.

“Shadow! Relax.”

“Come, step forward! Interact with her! She’s just like any other friendly dog you might meet!”

Some of the braver souls who looked a lot more curious than apprehensive stepped forward to meet her.

“Can we touch ‘er?” one of them asked.

“Of course! Please be gentle though, there is essentially a dog in there and I wouldn’t want you hurting her!”

“Wait.” a man said, stepping toward Annie. “You said that—”

Shadow missed the rest. She had been prepared for this part, but it was still overwhelming. She suddenly had hands touching and petting her, patting her belly or messing with a leg or her tail to examine it.

Just like Annie. Just think they’re Annie.

She was pretty nervous. Okay, she was very nervous. She wanted to meet new people, but she didn’t know these humans. Her last experience with a new human had him almost killing her, so she was understandably tense letting these ones put their hands on her neck or touch her belly.

She felt vulnerable. She was still much smaller than these humans. Any one of them could overpower her with their strong arms and vice-like grips. Her biggest defense was in not letting them get a hold on her, but here she had no choice but to let them.

Just lean into it.

She huffed out a breath and forced herself to relax. If they were going to hurt her, they would. Stressing herself out worrying about it wasn’t helpful.

These are humans all around you! Have fun!

With a fire igniting in her belly again, she stood herself up, slowly as to not startle the people away, and then started exploring the new humans as they were exploring her. She started sniffing at the people touching her and nuzzling hands.

She got a few laughs and the humans seemed to get even more comfortable with her. Her excitement was bubbling up again.

It’s working! They like me!

She started to walk around a bit, smelling the various folks that had come to see her. She broke off if anyone stepped back or seemed uncomfortable with her approaching.

“She weren’t kiddin’. This beasty is just as friendly as a pup.”

“It has me thinkin’ of ma cat Marta. She’s always rubbin’ up on folk like that.”

There were more and more people coming over to her, having gathered their nerve after seeing how friendly she was being. She noticed there was another group still gathered around Annie, asking her a variety of questions, but her attention was quickly pulled back to her own situation.

She approached another man and he crouched down, putting his face right up in front of hers. He was staring right at her eyes, studying them with a look of fascination, a grin plastered on his face.

She could see some of herself in those eyes, that same drive and curiosity. A want to understand something that was beyond your experience. This was why she liked humans, had wanted to meet more of them so badly. They really were like her. Some of them could be stupid and hateful, sure, but some were like this man, just happy to see something he’d never seen before.

Just happy to see her.

Thank you for those eyes, kind man.

She suddenly felt warm and fuzzy inside. She liked this man with his curious, wondering eyes. An idea jumped into her head, something Annie had said to her about dogs, and she decided to go for it. She stuck out her tongue and licked him across the face.

“Aaugh bleh!” The man fell back, surprised as he wiped off his face.

Shadow froze for a second, worried that she had made a terrible mistake, but that worry was quickly quelled when the crowd started laughing, followed shortly by the startled man himself.

“Yup. Just like a pup!” the man chuckled, starting off another round of merriment.

She had never licked Annie or Jonas because she thought the action associated with eating. She hadn’t wanted there to be any confusion on that front. Once they had been together for a while she could have probably asked to, but the topic had never come up.

Apparently, dogs licked their humans frequently and it was seen as endearing and affectionate. She wished she’d known that sooner. She always liked tasting things, even if she never planned on eating them. If the action could endear her to someone, all the better!

Things continued in that vein for a while. People would pet and examine her, and they all got more and more comfortable with each other. By the end of it, she was playing fetch with people, running around in the street, almost deliriously happy.

Everything had worked out. The plan went off without a hitch.

She had been accepted.

The village was her's to explore... as long as she stuck with Annie.