**Disclaimer: I don't own Grunties. Nada. Nor the world of "Hack".**
Grunties
The girl knelt down and petted the cyber pet.
"Owhee owhee," it squeaked, crinkling it's cheeks into an unmistakable smile.
"Feed me, I'm hungry!" it squeaked again after a while. The girl laughed and picked it up, snuggling.
"You're so sweet," said the girl softly, beginning to walk down the path to the Gruntie farm, where they would definately have some food. After feeding the small cow-like animal, she took out a round item from her pocket and threw it around, letting the Gruntie play with it, getting excercise at the same time.
The girl sat on the ground, watching the animal run around, rolling the ball with it's snout. The girl's eyes lowered slightly.
"You remind me of my dog."
"Whee?" The Gruntie paused, staring up at it's owner curiously. The girl made no movement, and the Gruntie continued with it's play. The girl watched it, feeling her happiness fade away.
"My dog Benji. But I hardly ever play fetch with him anymore..." she whispered softly. "I hardly do anything with him."
The ball rolled over to the girl and she half heartedly threw it, the Gruntie squeaking and chasing after it.
"Mum's been taking care of the cat...and Scarlet and Nanny..." the girl drifted off, remembering her pet rabbits, which should be in their cage out in the garden.
"I never let them out anymore either. I'm too busy playing in The World."
The Gruntie turned an awkward cart wheel, but the delight was gone from the girl's eyes.
"It's strange," she continued, "that I spend my time looking after computerized animals rather then my real ones..."
The Gruntie attempted a flip. It landed with a soft thud and stared up at it's owner. The girl stared down at the animal dully, then began to walk away to a portal. The Gruntie squeaked and trotted quickly after her. As the girl reached the portal, she stared down at her cyber pet, the happiness at having one ebbing away.
"I'm logging out now."
The Gruntie blinked and wagged it's small tail.
"Bye."
And the girl disappeared, returning to the Real World where her neglected pets awaited her, leaving the computerized Gruntie behind.
~Owari~
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Author's Notes:
First contribution to the .Hack//Sign fandom...not much, eh? Sorry if I got the facts (like the habit of Grunties, and blabla) wrong. I've only been through 2 volumes of the .Hack//Sign DVD's of the episodes, so that is why.
I was inspired to write this because of the episode of .Hack when Tsukasa was taking care of the Gruntie that was left in his charge, and it died. My friend whom I watched the episode with kept whimpering over it (though I admit when I first saw it I was quite sad as well) but I kept the thought in mind that the Gruntie was not real. So then this little thing popped into mind, also helped by the fact that I feel guilty for not seeing my pet rabbits as much because I'm too busy surfing the web.
Anyway, sorry if this was a waste of your time or anything. Oh yeah, I am also not dissing Grunties. I think they are really adorable!