[@Sodium] Looks good. An interesting take on pets, particularly. To answer your questions, for the sake of the story animals are not able to understand human speech. They may understand a human's intention by the tone of their voice or learn to obey a particular human word such as "sit", "stay", or "come", but they cannot fully comprehend what people are saying-- with the only exception, of course, being the animal elementos, who is able to communicate with all animals as well as be understood by them. 

[@Rinoa Rose] [@NightFlight] I will get to reviewing your CS's on my next break. Feel free to post them in the OOC in the meantime if you want, though.