Hello, everybody! I wrote something a little different this time. It's a Journey of Natty Gann fic. I have wanted to watch that movie for awhile now because I love John Cusack, and I finally got to watch it the other day. I thought it was a pretty good movie, and it is a Disney movie, but it's an older one and I don't think people are as familiar with it nowadays. I could totally relate to Natty, being a tomboy myself. The story takes place during the movie, while they are traveling on the road going west. I hope you enjoy the story!
The three of them made an odd group traveling together, a tall, dark, handsome young man, a short, scrawny, boney-legged scamp of a young girl, and her even more unusual traveling companion, a great, big, grey and white wolf, which had been traveling with her longer than the young man had been with them. He didn't know how the unlikely pair had met, but they seemed to be close.
The young man stopped to turn back around to look at the girl, sensing she had been getting farther and farther behind him as they continued their long, arduous journey down the road, which was covered with the snow that had been pouring down for days. He knew if they didn't stop and find shelter soon, they were going to freeze to death and get frostbite, but he was more worried about the girl than he was himself. He was brawny and big for his age, standing at little over six feet, and she was small with little meat on her bones. They couldn't have been more different. She wouldn't last as long out in this weather as he would. "Do you want to stop and get some rest, Natty?" the boy asked, a grave look of concern crossing his youthful, boyish face. "You look like you could use some."
Natty staggered to a stop, and leaned against her wolf for support, clearly exhausted. "No, I'm fine," she said, frowning, and the boy could tell she wanted to argue, but was surprised when she didn't. Instead, she knelt down, peering into the eyes of the wolf, seeing herself in his sharp, piercing gaze. "You and I are a lot alike, you know that?" She ran her hands through his thick, furry coat, ruffling it with her fingers, and buried her face in the fur on the top of his head. "I think that's why we get along." She ran her hand down its long, lean back, and rubbed his sides, pulling back away from him to smile at him. The wolf let out a soft yelp of joyous excitement and licked her face.
The sight was a heartwarming one, and the boy couldn't help but smile seeing it, but he still wasn't certain if he should trust the wolf. His first encounter with the creature hadn't exactly been a friendly one, and he was afraid he hadn't made a very good first impression on the wolf. "I don't think he likes me too much, though," the boy said, making sure he kept a good distance away from the wolf, still a little weary of the creature.
Natty looked over at him and smiled. "Oh, come on, Harry, you just got to give him a chance," she said, and motioned him to come over to them with a wave of one of her hands. "If you're anything like me, he'll like you, I'm sure."
Harry chuckled, charmed by the girl's boldness and fearlessness, and if he was to be truthful with himself, more than a little envious of how unfazed she was by always being in the presence of such a dangerous and unpredictable creature as the wolf. There were times when he had feared for her safety. He wished he could be as brave as her. "Oh, all right," he said, slowly and cautiously beginning to make his way toward the wolf. "Hello, there boy." Once he reached the wolf, he knelt down beside it with great awkwardness, stretching a trembling hand out toward his muzzle, quickly pulling it back when the wolf bared its fangs at him and began to growl. He took a deep, shuddering breath, gathering up what little courage he had left, and decided to try to befriend the creature one more time, for both his and Natty's sakes. After all, It was pretty obvious she wanted him to be friends with the wolf, and if they were going to be traveling companions for awhile, which was starting to look like a pretty, real good possibility, he thought it would probably be best to make amends with the wolf and offer his friendship up to the creature. From his experience, having to live half of his young life alone ever since his father had died, he had quickly learned it was always better to make friends than enemies in this harsh, unforgiving world. Otherwise, it was best to be alone and not associate with people, if you could help it. "It's all right, I won't hurt you." He extended his already shaking hand, which was trembling even more now, out toward the wolf. "I just want to be friends." Much to his relief, he saw the wolf's ears, which had flattened against his head when he had tried to pet him the first time, perk up, and he felt much braver than he had just moments before. "That's a good boy." Feeling a little safer as well, he inched his hand a little closer to the wolf's head, letting out a deep, relieved exhale, inhaling the cold, winter air as he did so and more than likely giving himself a cold by doing such a reckless, thoughtless, yet seemingly natural thing but being unable to control himself and having little choice in the matter, when his hand fell on top of the creature's skull and it didn't growl. "There you go, boy." He began to laugh, and felt the tension leave his looming, imposing, body, his broad shoulder's sagging from relief, making him look much smaller and less threatening.
Natty grinned at them. "See, that wasn't so hard now, was it?" She stood back up, clutching her hands into fists, and planted them on her tiny, narrow waist. "I think you have the soul of a wolf in you after all, Harry."
Harry's eyes widened in surprise when the wolf licked his face, and he couldn't help but laugh, glad to see he and the wolf were making progress in their newfound friendship. "I certainly hope so," he said, and surprised himself when he wrapped his arms around the wolf's body, unafraid, and enfolded it's big, furry form in a warm, heartfelt hug.
The wolf yelped in excitement, and Harry knew then that everything was going to be all right between them.
The End