I gasped for air as I was pulled above the surface of the water. "I can't swim!" I managed to say, pawing frantically at the water.
"Hold on! Don't panic, I'll get you to safety. Just breathe deeply, and everything will be alright," she said in a warm, soothing voice. She wrapped her arms firmly under my forelegs arms and started pulling me backwards. Soon enough, we were next to the boat and several paws and hands pulled us up onto the boat's deck. Still gasping for air, I flopped down on the deck of the smallish, semi-crowded boat, staring through narrowed eyes at the human. I double-and-triple-checked for pointy ears or wings, but, to my dismay, found none. This was a genuine human, and I owed my life to her. She was fairly tall for a human, had long, deep red hair that was tied back in a ponytail (and was dripping wet), and vivid green eyes. She shook the stray strands of hair out of her face and spoke.
"That was some fall!" she exclaimed, glancing up at the vast cloud that was Faerieland, "Not many people are clumsy enough to fall off the cloud!" She was obviously joking, but I wasn't laughing.
"You're a human," was all I could get out.
"Uh… yeah. I am. Did you happen to land on your head on that fall?" she asked, seeming concerned. I knew it was all an act, though. Humans weren't capable of any real compassion. She leaned forward, reaching a hand out towards my head. I instinctively jerked my head back, a snarl on my face.
"Get away from me! I don't want anything to do with you!" I shouted.
"Whoa, maybe you didn't notice, but we're in the middle of an ocean, and you can't swim. If you don't want anything to do with me, I suggest you learn to swim pretty fast. If you can't show any gratitude, I'm not gonna save your sorry fluffy tail again."
"Fluffy? What are you talking about?" I asked. Then I remembered why I had fallen in the first place. I rushed to the side of the boat and gazed into the water. I found myself staring at the reflection of some weird blue fox-like creature. I moved my head. The fox-creature mimicked me. I raised my paw. So did the fox-creature. I fell back from the side of the boat, panicking. "What happened to me? What am I? What did that stupid faerie do to me?" I shouted, my voice shrill with panic.
"Faerie? What Faerie? You—" the human stopped talking abruptly. I glanced up, wondering why she had stopped speaking. Standing on the deck of the ship was none other than Fyora.
"You! What did you do to me? Change me back now!" I demanded, striding up to her with my head held high. She seemed much taller that she had last time I had seen her.
"I would, if you had shown some gratitude towards this human. As it is, I think you need to learn some trust. You'll never survive if you don't learn to put more trust in humans… and I think I know the perfect solution." She turned to face the human. "What's your name?"
"I'm Zephyr. Zephyr Anderson. Some people call me Blazehart. Or Lord Jas. I have lots of nicknames," the human stated, grinning goofily. Stupid human.
"All right, Zephyr. Would you like to adopt Kimahri the wocky?"
"Sure, but I think the name 'Kimahri' is already taken… Let me check," the human said, pulling out a strange electronic device and typing something into it. While she was busy, I took the time to protest the situation.
"Wait, I can't go with her!"
"Why not?" Fyora replied coolly.
"Because, well… because she's a human!"
"And why is that so bad?"
"Humans killed my mother!" I shouted, losing patience. The human, Zephyr, looked up sharply.
"What… What were you, before she turned you into a wocky?"
"I was a dragon."
"Draik," Fyora corrected.
"Whatever. Anyways, like I was saying, it's because of HUMANS that I'm here in the first place! If it hadn't been for humans, I would still be with my mother and I would still be living on Earth, happy as can be!" I was met with a stunned silence.
"Wow. You're a draik? From Earth? So that's where draiks come from. Huh, I've always wondered about that… Are you really a draik?" the human finally asked.
"Don't you have ears?" I snapped.
"Well, is the name Kimahri taken?" Fyora asked, changing the subject.
"Wha—oh, yeah, it is. But Kimahri_Kitty isn't."
"Kimahri_Kitty it is."
"What?! That's the stupidest name I've ever heard! And what in Draco's name is a wocky anyways?! Don't I get any say in what my name is?"
"Nope," Fyora answered, fluttering her wings a little before turning to the human. "Well, I had better be going. I am the queen of Faerieland, after all. Busy, busy, busy!" Fyora said, opening her wings and taking off.
