Tic, tok, tic, tok, tic, tok…
The noise rang in his ears. The only thing that didn't let him notice the sound of car horns and yelling outside. The tick of his own mind-clock, counting minutes just to see how late the escort was. Nothing would break his dream state other than the escort's bark. Not even the wails of his siblings echoing off the metal walls of the watertower.
Speaking of- He let his gaze travel through the room, but his siblings weren't to be found. Hmp. He sighed, turning back to the entrance. The car horns of afternoon traffic stinging his ears now out of his dream state. With a small whimper of shock and pain, he focused out his senses. Still nothing. No mice twitched grass and no hunters to catch them. Only cars standing still on roads.
"Of course…they all must be sunbathing." He said to himself.
"Who are you talking to?" the voice scared him.
He turned around to the face of his sister. Her eyes narrow with curiosity. "You, now."
"Yakko." She growled, "Who are you talking to?"
"That's no way to talk to me, Dot. And you don't need to know who it was."
She sighed, glancing at the door then to her brother again. "Alright. Why isn't that person here yet? It's already been like… I dunno… three hours?"
Yakko shrugged, "Sunbathing…?"
Dot took a gasp of air to speak, but a crash interrupted her. A second later, their other sibling, Wakko, appeared next to Dot. His violin in his hand behind his back. A nervous smile crossed his face, "I-I'm good! I'm alright."
Yakko's ears fell back and his eyes widened. With a sigh, he checked his brother. No marks around neck. Good. His ears went back up.
"I'd like to think he was like the script. This reserved pacifist… it would be a relief from all the fighters we have here."
The voice rang in Yakko's mind. A female voice with a hard edge and very tiny fragment of county accent. Yet behind the mask of a sixteen-year-old, the knowledge of many years before her time. Times bathed in shadow never to be found.
Yakko was vaguely aware of his siblings staring at him, wondering what would happen in his mind to make his breath stagger into only shallow gasps. He shook his head, clearing it, and looked at his siblings again. He tilted his head a bit, acting innocent that nothing happened. Nothing had happened. He was just imagining her voice sending a message.
"She should be here in a minute." He forced excitement into his voice, trying to reassure his siblings. They didn't look very glad about it. Yakko stifled a sigh, "Just imagine living in a forest. There's always fresh air, and basically an endless supply of food. It's never cold here, so the prey doesn't hibernate- I don't think…" he added to himself.
Dot and Wakko looked at eachother. "I can't imagine eating mice and stuff." Dot spat at him.
"And no one else is gonna be there. It's just the escort." Wakko added, "Who is the escort by the way? You haven't said her name."
Thinking for a moment, he replied. "Secret. Her name is Secret."
The two glanced at eachother again before tilting their heads.
"That it?" Dot asked him, a bit of sass flowing into her voice.
"I won't really trust her if you don't say anything." Wakko added to her statement, telling their same thought.
With a twitch of his ear and turning back to the watertower entrance, Yakko told them, "You'll learn whatever she wants you to know. As far as you should be concerned, Secret is a sixteen-year-old with a family and others she needs to take care of in the forest… and today she's accepting us." He added after a moment.
Yakko could sense a wave of fear from his siblings as claws scrapped on metal and a loud howl sounded through the door. With a glance at Wakko and Dot though narrow eyes, Yakko opened the door.
A brown dog sat outside the door, with a more orange chest and tailtip, darker paws, and floppy black ears. With a nod to Yakko, she stepped in. The clicking of her claws echoed on the walls as she walked in the silence. She looked at Wakko and Dot, and with a small smile and twitch of her whiskers, she bowed her head to them. Yakko stood next to her, and she perked her head back up to look at the siblings.
With another look at the dog, Yakko answered their next question: "Who the hell is this dog and why is she here?" "This is Secret." He told them, cracking a small smile of laughter at their reaction.
"Yakko that is a dog." Dot told him.
"I thought it was a human." Wakko had said in only a whisper.
With a scolding look at Wakko, Dot retorted, "Who would name their kid 'Secret'?"
He shrugged, walking up to her and knelling down to her level. Wakko stuck out his hand for her to sniff it, but she only growled and flicked her tail in response.
"I already know you're a good person, Wakko. I don't need your scent to revive old memories- I do that perfectly well on my own." With that, she put her head on his chest.
Wakko's eyes were wide with shock at the talking dog. He pushed her off him, looking into her eyes, "You're that dog!"
"What?" Dot asked coming up to them. Yakko's smile faded. Secret looked straight back at him, her eyes sparkled as she realized what he was talking about.
"Of course… and I trust you haven't done anything… stupid?" She bared her teeth to show her fangs.
Wakko nervously smiled. "I fell earlier, but I wasn't trying that."
Secret nodded, then looked at Dot, and bowed her head to her again. No words needed to be said, Secret was obviously proud of how his sister had turned out. With another look around all three of them, she tilted her head toward the door, and started padding toward it. The three followed, Yakko close to the dog, Dot a bit behind, and Wakko trailing in amazement.
Slowly, they climbed down the ladder. Secret jumped off the last few steps, and sat waiting for the three to meet her. Yakko reached her first, waiting on the springy grass.
"So Aurora does watch your skies." Secret was staring up at the dark purple and orange sky, the first few stars in the shape of eyes. Yakko looked up as well, but made no movement. Once Wakko and Dot got down, they started the journey to the forest.