Holy shit! I have so many reviews! Thank you thank you thank you! I feel so loved. Don't worry about me quitting this story. I am having fun with this and I should be able to finish without losing interest. No worries!
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Harry and Kina winced as the boss's voice cracked and reached something akin to a banshee shriek. It could never be said that Anita Paulo was a push over. She was a harsh taskmaster who looked like she had once been a supermodel but had let herself go. Either that or she had a bad experience with elephants. In fact, after hearing her story Harry hadn't felt quite so bad about not being able to work with the animals.
But that didn't matter right now, because right now he was being chewed out for what Kina had done. Harry found it hard to pay attention to what Anita was saying. His mind kept returning to that damn letter. He mentally shook his head and forced himself to stay on task and listen to his boss, his only source of nourishment, the one who found him, the one who was glaring at him…damn.
"Pay attention, brat! This is important!"
Harry sighed and nodded. He forced his mind to focus on what she was saying so he could go over it later when she wasn't spitting on him. She tended to spray it rather than say it. There were several jokes floating around the rings about it. (It and her desperate attempts to snag Peter Arnett, the other co-owner.) There was this really good one about how you need to water proof your paychecks before you go to her to get them cashed. There was also a list of things to say to get it to stop raining, but that one had floated right on to her desk and they had all been more careful since. Harry shuddered. That was one punishment he didn't want to repeat. Then again he had gained a lot of muscles in his le-
"BOY! Are you even paying attention to me?"
"Yes ma'am." Harry used is 'innocent waif' voice along with his 'I'm pitiful' look. All of the fire died in Anita's eyes and she gave him a token frown and continued. She had always had a soft spot for Harry. He didn't really know why but he wasn't one to let an opportunity slip past him. It wasn't like she was cruel or anything, she just got the job done in the most efficient way possible. If that was a little harsh then so be it.
The other head-honcho, Peter Arnett, didn't have the same attitude. To him, if it wasn't perfect then it had to go. Which is why he was training with Kina and Sher Kan so hard. They were the weak link in Peter's chain and Peter hated weak links. His favorite saying was "You're only as strong as your weakest link" and he took it to embarrassingly extreme proportions. Harry sighed. God, he's such a dic-
"Harry!"
Damn, he must have made a face…
"I'm sorry ma'am. Its just that I'm so worried about Kina!" Insert 'I'm pitiful'. He waited for her eyes to soften a little before saying in 'innocent waif' "You know Pete hates her. He will be happy to get rid of m-her!"
Anita caught his fake stutter and glared off at nothing. The fire in her eyes was back but (thank god) wasn't turned on him. She liked Pete but he really could be a dick sometimes. She suddenly looked all concerned and weepy. She jumped out from behind her desk and slowly made her was towards him. He had chosen the chair farthest from her desk for several reasons.
1). It made him seem smaller, and therefore more pathetic.
2). It made him seem meek, and therefore repentant.
3). It gave him a clear view of the exit, which always made him a little more at ease.
4). If she decided to pull this concerned mother crap he had time to tell Kina not to kill her.
And so when she stood up he made a quick hand motion to Kina to stand down and brought that same hand up to his face to scrub away imaginary tears. He could cry on command, but it would be going overboard until he could hide his face on either her shoulder or in her breasts (which she was more prone to). He wound never let anyone see his tears, even the fake ones. He figured he was just to macho. He bossed around man-eaters all day; he couldn't help but have a huge ego. It was one of his weaknesses. That and he had no peripheral vision in his right eye.
It had happened on his first visit to the circus. It was Dudley's birthday and he was protesting vociferously about Harry's being there. Unfortunately (more like fortunately, really) Mrs. Figg had had to take one of her many cats to the vet that day. So, with all three Dursley's protesting loudly, Harry quietly followed them around the large tents. They paused briefly at a petting zoo, which Harry absolutely loved, but had to leave almost immediately because Dudley had tried to ride miniature pony. After that the Dursleys headed to the main tent but stopped just outside of the ticket vender's hearing. Vernon Dursley then told him that he was a worthless little shit who didn't deserve to live (especially not with them) and that he was going to wait here for them to come out after the show. Harry had merely nodded, being a four year old (and a shy one at that), and so was totally surprised by what happened next. Vernon grabbed his arm, yanked him behind an outhouse and proceeded to beat the shit out of him. He took quite a few to the face and when Anita found him a few hours later she had at first thought him dead.
He had been temporarily blinded in the right and his left was swollen shut. His left has healed completely, while his righthad ended up without peripheral vision...at least he wasn't blind.Since his jaw was broken and his wrist broken, plus a few broken ribs, he hadn't been able to tell them anything for a while. Once he was able he told them that his name was Harry Potter and nothing else. Even today he stillcarried the irrational fear that Vernon would come back and hurt him again if he told. Harry felt the telltale pricks behind his eyelashes and jumped the last few feet separating him and Anita. She wasn't surprised by his emotional spontaneity anymore. He had been to therapists and they had told Anita that being clingy and emotional were traits of those who had had a loveless childhood (though only to those they trust).
"Harry," Her smooth voice was soothing and it helped to calm him, even if he had heard the exact same words before he couldn't get the fear out of his mind "You know I would never leave you right?" he nodded mutely so she continued "You are my little axe murderer (1), I will never let you go."
He started to cry harder then tried to regain composure. Damnit! He was 10 ¾s! He didn't need to be coddled! That was almost 11 for crissakes! He pulled himself together and threw a watery smile at Anita. They both knew that he needed that more that he let on. He hugged her tightly once more around the waist then ran out the door, Kina nipping at his heels.
XXXXXXX
And so the months of June, July, and most of August flew past. Harry's life was normal…well as normal as it was going to get, and he was happy for the first time in a long time. Kina had grown into her potential and her shoulder was almost as tall as him now. She was his silent guardian, and his eyes. She never left his side, save for when he had to go to the bathroom. She even went into towns with him now. Of course he had to put a leash on her, but it was just a prop. She had taken to wearing a spiked leather collar, and listening to him when he told her anything. All in all she was totally awesome looking as well as obedient. Sher Kan was much the same: accommodating (2) and impressive. He too had grown, but would always be a runt among tigers. God among men, yes, but runt nonetheless.
XXXXXXXX
Harry sighed and absently ran his bare feet up and down Kina's spine. He was supposed to be doing his homework, but he didn't have the concentration for that now. Seven owls had been lost to the white menace known as Kina, all bearing the same information and all coming only when he changed addresses. He sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time that evening and glared down at the innocent looking papers lying on top of his History text. Maybe he should just burn them. Harry brushed his uncooperative raven locks out of his eyes and pushed his small square framed glasses farther up his nose all in the same swift, agitated motion. He wore contacts during performances because not being able to see clearly was too much of a risk when dealing with wild animals, but he preferred glasses. Both hair and glasses slipped slowly downward as he focused his attention on the papers in front of him. They were starting to give him a headache. Who ever was sending them sure had a sucky sense of humor. If he didn't fall for it the first time then why the hell would he the 7th?
He would call them terrorists but they were just so pathetic that he felt the title was not earned. He finally gave up on trying to figure out anything printed that night and got up to feed Sher Kan. He had been moved to a newly constructed pen next to Harry's trailer three days earlier. He and Kujo, the largest tiger in their traveling menagerie, had gotten into a fight and it hadn't looked like it would be resolved any time soon. So Harry had an agitated Siberian Tiger for a neighbor. On the bright side, it did deter visitors. On the down side, he had to deal with the touchy bastard more often. Sure he loved him, but a tiger was a tiger. Unpredictable, deadly. He could never bring himself to trust any of the animals (or people) completely. The only exception to this rule was Kina, and the only reason he trusted her was because he had raised her. She was his baby and if anything happened to her he would go ballistic. He wasn't a natural fighter but his skills were nothing to sniff at. Anita had once said that nothing short of a shotgun could stop him when he was angry.
He only remembered getting truly pissed once in his life. He had just finished his act with Jimbo the Jumpy Clown (knife throwing) and was on his way home when some drunken patron walked up to him and asked for his autograph. Harry, being six, had quickly agreed and had followed the man to an ally a few fee away in search of suitable autograph material. Once there the man grabbed his throat and told him in a no-nonsense voice that he was being kidnapped and held for ransom. Harry had seen red. He had screamed his fury and launched his freshly holstered knives at the man, scoring several crippling (but sadly not killing) blows and then attacked the man. Using the few karate moves he had picked up in the scant 2 weeks he had been in the class so far, he had kicked the mans ass beyond recognition. Turns out he and his friend (his friend got away) had heard of him and figured he was some higher-up's kid and had thought they would be able to get some money out of him. Harry had needed an escort from then on until he had reached purple belt at 8. Either 8 was a magic number or they thought that being able to kill a man 37 different way with out using your hands was good enough protection.
Harry sighed and shook the memory form his thoughts. He needed to be alert when dealing with Sher Kan. The tiger had always been a close friend but you never knew when you offended a tiger until your entrails were dangling in front of your face. He sighed one more time for dramatic effect and smiled down at Kina. She was curled at his feet resting peacefully and he didn't really want to wake her up but she would be angry if he left without her.
After watching her for a few seconds he reached down and started scratching under her collar. She was up instantly but didn't do more than open her eyes and smile at him, well that's what if felt like anyway. He knew a wolf couldn't smile, but Kina was very expressive. If she wanted you to know what she was feeling then you would know. He smiled back and glanced at the clock…
"Fuck! We're over a half an hour late! Gah! He'll be so pissy in the morning!"
Harry groaned and grabbed the 48-gallon cooler sitting near the door connecting his room with Sher Kan's pen. Opening the door with his elbow and waiting for Kina to leave, he nearly tripped down the stairs when he heard Kina snarling then several seconds later a man sneezing loudly. Harry froze on instinct and listened for a few seconds. He silently set the cooler on the ground and drew a knife from his hip holster and laid his other hand on Kina's neck. She silenced immediately and moved to stand at his right. After several tense second the sound of something very large moving very loudly (his hearing is very good mind you) came to him. He held his breath and brought himself into a ready stance with his knife out in front as a blocker.
What ever it was he had been expecting wasn't even close to what he got. The man stepped out of the shadows and Harry had to take a few steps back to keep him in his sights without looking up. He felt more than saw Kina's lips curl into a silent warning as she tensed and prepared to strike. He could feel Sher Kan moving to come up on his left the same way. It was good to know that the tiger still had his back even though he had made him wait for food.
The man eyed him silently and Harry could vaguely see a smile stretching out beneath his huge scruffy beard. The man's eyes began to sparkle with unshed tears of what Harry assumed was happiness… then he sneezed again. It was a booming sound accompanied by a gale-like wind. The man sniffled and wiped his nose on his patchy sleeve.
"'Ello 'Arry."
XXXXXXXX
Well there you go. I know you were all wondering who I'd send to go get him and I hope I don't disappoint. Please review, they make me so happy!
(1)This nickname will be explained in one of the later chapters. It's not even important for the plot, but it is amusing (it is in my head anyway) and you should enjoy it.
(2)I put accommodating instead of obedient for a reason. He's a tiger, no matter what he is still a tiger (yes he's just a normal tiger) and tigers just don't take orders. They are wild and not pets…not that I need to tell you that -.-; god I feel like a pbs show.
REVIEW!
