Chapter One
Dogs, Cats & Bugs
The capsule house was small and sparse, but it had been her home for over a year now. She had taken her fathers credit card, and in the space of a day, bought as much long lasting food, clothes equipment and the basic capsule house before cutting it up and jumping on the next bus out of the city. She had jumped buses and trains as often as she could for the first week. After that she found herself in a small town surrounded by mountains and forests. She had set up her house in the heart of the forest were she hoped, nobody would find her. Slowly she introduced herself into the small town, and by the end of the second month, she had found herself a part time job as a waitress in one of the towns few restaurants. This helped fund her food and other necessities.
Unfortunately, by the fourth month, she found herself depressed. She was lonely, horribly so and found herself lacking a real direction. She was 17, wanted to go to college and make something of herself. That would really rub it in her father's face, but she found herself lacking the commitment and funds to do so.
It was overcast in the late afternoon. She was walking through the town, heading home after a long day at work. She lifted her head, smiling broadly at the puppies and the kittens in the window of the pet shop. The shop had only been open for about two weeks, and she wanted a pet badly. It would help alleviate her loneliness and keep her company. It was only three more days until her next pay day and she was willing to spend the money on a new friend. She kept walking, smiling to herself as she drifted into dreams of her and cute puppies and kittens.
It was a long walk to where her capsule house was situated in the forest, half way up a mountain. She liked the privacy, although wished she had bought a capsule bike with her father's credit cards when she had the chance. She sighed as it began to drizzle. She didn't mind the rain, rather she enjoyed it, but it was cold and she was tired and her appreciation was at a low. She picked up her pace, walking a little faster along the path. It ran adjacent to a rocky ridge on one side, the forest on the other casting a shadow over the trees. A few sparse homes sat on top of the rocky ridge, mostly small time farmers this far away from the town. She stopped, hearing a growling and snarling dog. She listened and frowned to herself. It was a pack of wild dogs, but they sounded distant. She picked her pace up even more until she was power walking. She had heard them before, always distant, somewhere in the forest. They would occasionally wander into town, scavenging for food, or picking off a lamb from one of the farmers. The sounds grew louder and she began to jog. She didn't think she'd be up to fending herself from wild dogs, although they sounded distracted.
The sudden squealing hiss of something caused her to stop dead in her tracks. At first it sounded like a wild boar crossed with a snake, but it was something much different. The sounds of the wild dogs grew unbearably close, seeming to surround her, but it was just the acoustics of the rocky ridge playing tricks on her. She stopped, hearing the sounds of something heavy and fast through the underbrush. Then it burst out of the shrubs on the tree line, behind her. She whirled around to see a dog sized insect like creature. It was mottled mustard and earthy brown, with a huge V-shaped crest on its head and huge pink slit eyes, currently wild and frantic as its tiny stout legs carried it up the path. The wild dogs burst out after it, snapping, barking and growling. The creature hissed again as one of the dogs jumped on its back, sinking its fangs into its under developed wings. Lavender hued blood spurted down the creatures side and it made a snapping sound, as it's V-shaped crest rammed home in the creatures neck, breaking it with the force of the blow.
Two other dogs charged, snapping wildly. One of them attacked the creature head on, and the creature managed to get its leathery beak around the dogs front legs, while its head crest jerked to the side, smacking the dog away with another forceful blow. The creature hung on to its leg as the dog flew away, the force snapping the dogs leg like a twig. The creature suddenly dropped the dog, squealing again, as the other dog had attacked, it's jaws clamped shut on the creatures short stubby leg. The creature couldn't reach the dog because of its huge bulk. Another dog attacked, followed by another three, all helping the other dog bring the creature down. It fell with a sickening crunch on its side, exposing its softer under belly. It squealed again, the sound hurting her ears. Something snapped inside of her as she saw the creature wildly trying to defend itself. All thoughts of her own safety fled and she dropped her back pack to the floor, grabbed a nearby fallen branch from one of the trees, and charged the dogs, yelling as loudly as she could.
She imagined the sight of a human waving a heavy branch in her hands and yelling loudly was startling, as the dogs backed up a bit, shocked. She was surprised it had worked herself, but kept going. The dogs held their ground, until the heavy wooden branch met with the sides of one of the dogs, closest to the creature. The dog yelped, crashed to the floor, but wasn't truly hurt. Frightened the dogs turned and ran, their tails between their legs. The dog with the broken leg, limped away, leaving the dead dog's carcass in the middle of the path. She stared at it for a long moment before she turned on the creature. It managed to roll back onto its feet, but leaned heavily to one side. It's back leg was mangled. She frowned and the creature stared at her for a long moment. She went back to her back pack, pulled out the red apple she was supposed to have eaten for lunch. She rolled it along the floor to the creature. It stared at it but made no attempt to move. She spoke to it calmly, reassuring it as she came a little closer. The creature watched her, didn't move as she reached her hand out to its crest. It let her touch it, the creature surprisingly warm.
It began to rain a little more heavy, helping her to clean the wounds. The creature was on it's side again, letting her work more easily. She knew basic first aid, and tore up her jacket into strips, using it to dress the creatures worst wounds. When she was done, she helped the creature roll back onto its feet. It was still gingerly avoiding its back leg, but stared at her anyway. She hesitated before reaching out and stroking it's smooth warm back.
"Your not scared of me." It wasn't a question, but she was shocked to see the creature slowly shake it's head. She stared, blankly for a few seconds.
"You can understand me?" She asked, still confused. It nodded slowly once. "Wow." She exclaimed. "What are you?" It stared at her, unmoving until she got the message. She sighed slowly and smiled.
"You should rest that leg for a few days. My home isn't too much further away. Would you object if I took you there?" The creature lowered its gaze to the ground. It was a very long time in thinking, before it slowly looked back up at her and nodded once.
Not surprisingly, the creature was incredibly heavy and awkward to carry. Eventually she managed, holding it around the chest with one hand, and around its waist with her other, making sure its injure leg was not in any pain. It felt like an eternity of slow progress up the mountain side before her tiny white and black spherical house came into view through the thinning trees. She sighed relief and pushed open the door, heading straight for the couch. She put it down gingerly and slumped into the seat next to it. It watched her for a long time, before she stood back up and headed to the tiny kitchen. The house was only one room, with the U shaped lounge in the middle, a bed to one side, a tiny kitchen with the basics to another and a bathroom which could be separated from the rest of the room by a curtain. It had a tiny set of drawers and a desk with a chair. That was about it.
The creature stared around the room slowly, before returning its steely gaze to her. She smiled.
"Hungry?" The creature nodded slowly. "So what do you eat?" She found out quickly, that it ate anything and everything and ate it all. It was getting late when she slumped back on the couch.
"So, how you feeling?" It nodded slowly as she moved to check his leg. It was a moment before she stripped the make shift bandages and exclaimed loudly. The creatures' eyes were bright as if it was laughing at her.
"You completely healed?!" She yelled. The creature nodded again. "So soon?! That must be handy." The creature nodded again. She sat in silence for a while, just staring at the creature.
"So... are you... going to stay anyway?" She asked. The creature paused for a while, thinking, before nodding slowly. Her face lit up. "Really?" It nodded again. She smiled.
"Great! So what do I call you?" The creature tilted it's head and stared. She smiled sheepishly.
"Oh, right, my name is Rowan."