An Encounter of the Wolf Kind

Written by: Julie "Legend" K. - kossmoe_chan@hotmail.com

All text and appropriate ideas are ( to the author.
Catdog and all related errata is ( to Nickelodeon.
I am not making any money off of this story in any way, shape or form. Sheyna, an original character created and designed by me, can not be taken
without the written permission of the creator. This story may not be taken, in whole or in part, without written consent
of the author.

--

In a distant part of the world, there lies a continent inhabited by sentient animals. Hidden from the eyes of humans by unknown forces, this content remains, and will always remain, secret. There, the land is fertile and used in ways similar to how humans use their land.

One thing kept this place different from that of the humans: there were no wild animals, all creatures here were able to speak to each other in English, or a language similar to that. Most stood on their hind legs and did everything that humans could do: build homes, run businesses, and even invent.

One city, a mere city surrounded by the many others around it, named Nearburg, is were our story begins.

--

Dog pressed his face against the window, his breath fogging it as he panted and watched the commotion outside. He had his feet placed on the top of the couch, they sunk in a bit in the worn-out red fabric. He kneeded his paws into the fabric nervously, his full attention outside.

"Caaaaat," Dog whimpered, turning his head towards his feline counterpart. Cat adjusted his reading glasses, not even bothering to look at his brother. In his paws he held a thick book entitled The Beauty of Cats. Dog glanced from Cat to the window again.

"Dog, again: It is Cat's time, and I want to read. Can't you be quiet?" The irriated feline said flatly, still not moving his gaze to the dog beside him. Dog sighed, and looked out the window again. His ears twitched, and he tried again.

"But Cat!" He cried out, placing a paw against the window to clear the fog. The house that was just down the street from the lone fishbone residence had a moving truck parked by it. The house had been repainted a dark shade of slate gray.

"What, Dog?! What?!" Cat exclaimed, slamming the book and tossing it to the floor. He groaned and placed his paws against the checkboard pattern of his side of the couch, lifting himself up to take a look outside. He growled. "I don't see anything spectacular! Leave me to my reading!"

"Cat, there are more aliens moving into that one house! Remember last time, with the cookies and the brain sucking machine?" He whined, taking Cat by the shoulders and shaking him, as if trying to prove his point. Cat rolled his eyes and growled deep in his throat, not amused.

"Dog, I thought I said I didn't want to hear anything else about that?" The feline looked out the window again, clearing the fog made by Dog's heavy breathing. He studied the scenery outside, studied the house with the truck next to it. "They're just new neighbours. That house never stays occupied for more then a year, this isn't anything new to you!"

Dog whimpered and bit his lower lip. Cat wasn't really being rational today, as he could tell. He was sure that this new neighbour had to be an alien! Who else would paint their house that depressing shade of gray?

"Cat I'm sure they're aliens!" Dog said. "No one paints their house gray! It's just weird!"

"Dog, Mr. Sunshine painted his house gray last month. You and I helped him paint it, remember?" Cat said, trying to keep his temper. Dog frowned in thought, but realized that Cat was right. He muttered, but turned his nose towards the window again. Cat studied him for a moment.

His brother really did look concerned, but he couldn't imagine how the canine could let his imagination take him away like that. It had to be all of those comics he always read. Cat made a mental note to stop buying those comics for him, it would be for his own good.

Cat picked up his book from the ground, and dusted the light coat of dried dogfood dust it had on it, which was scattered all over the floor. He sighed. Dog had to always leave a mess in his wake - it was like he was literally determined to tear the house apart.

He thumbed through the book, looking for where he had left off last. To his dismay, he found his cat-shaped blue bookmark next to him, and groaned. He'd have to do this manually. He glanced over the chapters, trying to remember which one he was on last.

"Cat! They're aliens!" Dog suddenly shouted, breaking Cat's concentration. Cat placed his bookmark in the spot, then laid his book down gently. His furious eyes met Dog's worried ones. Dog didn't seem to notice. "Look! They're taking a thing wrapped in a sheet that looks like a body!"

Cat muttered something incomprehensible, then jumped down to the floor, his paws hitting the blue and green carpet without a sound. He walked over towards the door, Dog following him questionably. Cat placed his paw on the brass doorknob and looked over towards his brother.

"I am going to prove this to you just like last time. We are going over to meet the new neighbours, and you can see they are not aliens." Dog reacted to this violently, shooting off in the other direction towards the kitchen, dragging the reluctant cat behind him.

"No! No, no, no, no, no! I'm not gonna let them suck out my brains!" Dog shouted, running up the stairs now, looking for any possible way to get Cat as far from the door as he possibly could. Cat dug his claws into the carpet, bringing Dog's rampage to a complete halt.

"You are going to learn, once and for all, there are no aliens in Nearburg!" Cat hissed, and began to claw his way down the stairs. Because of the grip he held on the carpet, he was able to drag dog downstairs successfully.

There was a sudden slam, and both the brothers turned their heads to see a familiar blue rodent walk out of the small doorway carved into the wall. "Chasing aliens again, aye Dog?"

"I'm not going to let them take our brains!" Dog told him, struggling to keep Cat away from the door. Winslow laughed at the dog's stupidity, but he didn't downright say it outloud. He figured he'd let Cat be tormented from Dog's pointless fears.

"Yeah, well, they might not be aliens, they might be psycho killers," Winslow said, hopping up onto the couch to see the house across the street. He didn't really find anything different, but he liked to mess with the twin's minds.

"Huh! Psycho Killers! Cat they're going to kill us!" Dog said, embracing Cat close. Cat just rolled his eyes, and glared at Winslow, who chuckled and jumped down from the couch. He headed back towards his door.

"He's just saying that to scare you," Cat said flatly, pushing Dog away from him. Cat's huge claw came out of his one finger, and he plucked Winslow off the ground by slipping the claw under his overall straps.

"Hey! Get off me!" Winslow snapped, twisting around, trying to be free of the cat. "What are you, nuts?!" Cat chuckled, happy to be in the offensive position against Winslow for once.

"No. Since you're telling all of those lies to Dog, you're coming to meet the new neighbours, too!" Cat glared at the blue rodent, who smirked in retaliation. Cat frowned, feeling like he was all-powerful to the rodent.

"I doubt that!" Winslow said flatly, grabbing Cat's whiskers and pulling hard. Cat jerked his head back in reaction, and Winslow slid off the large claw and onto the floor. He landed in front of his door, and entered it, slamming the door behind him.

"Wow, I guess its just you and me, Cat," Dog said, scratching his head. Cat rubbed his face, the skin near his whiskers tender and sore now. He murmured, but kept his comments to himself. His composture back, he opened the door to Winslow's part of the house and placed his paw in there, claws out, searching for the blue rodent.

"Get out of my house, you mangy cat!" Came a shout from inside the doorway, and Cat yelped. He took his paw back instantly, a mousetrap caught on his fingers. His fingers were literally red with pain, and he gently took off the mousetrap.

"Gee, Winslow, that was really mean!" Dog said, peering into the doorway.

"He got what was coming to him, heh heh."

Cat's eyes exploded in fury, and his temper was beginning to surface. He searched his mind for a way to retaliate against Winslow. All things considered, it seemed like the rat won this battle. The pain in his hand where the mousetrap got the best of him proved this.

A thought came to Cat, and he walked into the kitchen, Dog following. Dog turned his head to see what Cat was up to, the feline was going through a drawer cluttered with years of junk. Cat dug around for a minute or two, then pulled out what he was looking for.

"What do you need that fireplace poker for, Cat? We never use our fireplace!" Dog said, studying Cat's face, trying to understand what he was thinking. Cat ignored his questions and headed back over to Winslow's door, which was now shut.

Cat, chuckling to himself as he felt victorious, opened the door and shoved the poker inside, trying to find and irritate the blue rodent. He rustled it around, hearing things being knocked down and broken. It jabbed into something, and Cat heard a shout from inside.

"Stop poking with that thing, you moron!" Winslow shouted, as inside he was trying to dodge the poker, which was being wildly flailed nearby him. He got next to the wall and looked around for a place which would not be disturbed by the fireplace object. Alas, there was none.

Cat jabbed the poker into Winslow again, but this time he jabbed hard. The blue mouse yelped, feeling the pain explode in his chest. He saw the poker come at him again, and he narrowly jumped out of the way. Dog, hearing the painful shout, pushed Cat away from the door and situated himself in front of it.

"Cat! You're hurting Winslow!" Dog said, and Cat smirked and leaned against the handle tip of the poker, head resting in his arms. Cat's sadistic smirk gave Dog the chills, despite what he wanted to think.

"You think that wasn't what I was aiming to do the whole time?" Cat said flatly, then pushed Dog away from the hole. Catching the canine's angry look, he muttered and put the poker to the side. He put his paw in the hole again and fished around for the mouse.

He successfully got his claws around the mouse, and yanked him outside. Winslow growled as he saw Cat, because he knew he was powerless against the bigger creature. Cat kept him away from his face this time, wary of the pain in his whisker area. Dog watched blankly.

"Well, rat-boy? What's your choice now?" Cat hissed to Winslow, bearing his teeth in anger. Winslow was intimidated by that, but he wouldn't let the cat see it. He simply frowned, thinking about his reply.

"Eh.well, I guess I can take a look with youse," Winslow said flatly, crossing his arms in front of his chest.