The large man sitting on the steps of this skiff looked so sad. She couldn't help feeling sorry for him. Though, on the other hand she didn't feel very sorry for him. He was too powerful looking to feel sorry for, but he looked hurt. A hurt no time could erase. A hurt she herself felt she knew something of. One she hid away, like she hid herself away from people. She didn't normally interact with humans, but today, looking at the man, she was almost tempted to abandon her creed. As much as she needed help sometimes she could never bring herself to trust anyone or perhaps it was she wouldn't trust herself with anyone. Curious. That thought aside...perhaps a compromise.
She would call it her good deed of the century. She chuckled nervously to herself. She was about to do something very stupid. She gently removed the most beautiful and best tempered pup from her large pocket. She silently held the protesting white scaled thing in both outstretched palms and advanced slowly. Enough time for him to let her know if she was out of line. He didn't react. He sat with such a stillness she wondered if he was asleep or even dead. She was so close if she reached as far as she possibly could she would be able to deposit the Hellhound on his knee.
There.
She withdrew, heart pounding from the close proximity of another human. The man tilted his dark lensed goggled head to look at the clinging pup for a moment. Then his gaze returned to look in her direction. She backed away to the walkway slowly. Then turned and walked on. Out at the distant town limit she let the other two pups out of her pockets to ride on her shoulders deep in thought.
He felt someone's stare on him. He opened his eyes to check without moving. He spotted a small person in a deep hooded cloak. It would have been too dark in the shadow of her hood to see features, for the average man. As it happened to be, he wasn't average. He could see even from this distance, ruined flesh. The small being stared at him unmoving on a walkway full of people. It slowly reached into its billowing cloak. He tensed ready to spring away in a second. It brought out something, alive, small and white. He stayed where he was, watching the animals familiar lines trying to remember where he had seen such a creature. On both small palms of decidedly feminine hands it laid, shivering, looking pitiful but at the same time mewling with surprisingly strong cries of protest.
She advanced slowly. Not sure about him. Just about the time he was going to tell her to get lost, she looked doubtful. That small piece of humanity stung him. His chest flared in pain. She wasn't just another piece of anonymous flesh. Maybe she felt, for a long time he had forgotten others might sometimes feel. He doubted how deep her feeling's went as the familiar pain washed over him. A consuming wave of torture, Jack.... Movement snapped him back to the present.
She was a small thing, too skittish to be a normal human. Something was wrong with her. At arm's length and stretching for all she was worth she gently laid the Hellhound on one of his knees. Her scared fingers lingering longingly on the pup's back protectively. Then she retreated quickly keeping her eyes fixed on him at all times. The Hellhound was pure white. Beautiful and rare. Most were only a dull brown. She backed all the way to the walkway and melted into the crowd. He continued scanning the walkway while the pup clawed his way up to his shoulder and curled up against his neck rumbling small sounds of disgruntlement. He raised his hand to gently rub it's scales. The pup instantly moved to get the full effect of his hand on his hide and began to purr a snuffling growling of contentment.
What am I going to call it? He wondered.