Alright, first thing's first, I have a review to answer!~ I'll just put it here for everyone to see, cause I'm sure at least one other is curious about it as well.
It's kind of a long answer, so if anyone else doesn't want to read it, just skip all the bold and continue on to the rest of the story.
agnibr
Patience, my friend!~
Actually I keep forgetting that it all makes sense in my brain, but it may not in others. I think that may be one of my downfalls in writing that I'm still figuring out, because you can't give away too much at one time and then you can't take forever to reveal it. Well I suppose you could, but that only frustrated people and eventually they just loose interest.
Vaihtaja is a name that took forever for me to figure out, in all honestly. Because I'm sure you noticed I couldn't quite keep saying she's a dog, when she's not quite that. I DO clear that up in later chapters, how and why they are all similar. If you or anyone else is curious, Vaihtaja means changer in finnish c:
need a name, just type random things in google translator.
This was the reason why when I first wrote this story, I had to stop, collect my thoughts and start again.
But for an outright answer (since I went off rambling) is that yes, the species itself is similar to a kid of humanoid dog thing. I try and say canine in specfic, because they aren't really wolves nor any breed of dog you can place. Just the most crossbred dog you can think of that looks wild like a wolf and between the sizes of a large wolf to that of a bear. Khaz is a short one, so she's only about the size of a large breed of wolf. They also only have golden colors for fur, though there are exceptions cause genetics are weird, but for the most part think autumn.
As it turns out "Any where, any place, and anytime" was actually just Cardiff, some where near London. I guess it was Rose's time period, she seemed rather excited about it. I took to sleeping most of the first day, I was so sore! Shifting isn't exactly an easy thing to do and it's painful if you don't keep it up. Oh, so very painful.
But the second day was Fix The TARDIS day, or something like that. I was completely useless with this, so I preferred to just climb the branch things. It was fun because it amused me and made Jack nearly have a heart attack.
"Khaz, you're going to fall." Jack finally said to me after a few close calls. Personally, I wasn't fond of heights, but they weren't entirely too high inside the TARDIS. It was bearable and I knew the fall wouldn't be so bad, at least not as bad as it could be.
"No, I'm not." I confidently told him, but my shoe slipped underneath me, proving me wrong. I squeaked and latched onto the branch like a koala bear.
"Uh-huh."
I couldn't see him, but I could hear his voice and man, was it full of doubt. And laced with sarcasm as well.
"Come down here before you hurt yourself."
"No! I'm fine, really. That was just a clumsy moment." I assured him. "Now, go back to fiddling with the ship and leave me alone."
I felt his gaze one, probably contemplating if he really wanted to leave me to brave the heights. Finally, I heard him sight and walk off. When I glanced over I saw he didn't go too far. His worry for me actually made my heart swell and a smile tug onto my face, he was a good guy for sure.
Still, he was hovering and his lack of confidence in my balancing abilities wanted me to prove him wrong. At first I was so determined, but then I grew bored and decided that I'd just go back to sleep. A little nap would be nice, my body was so sluggish anyways that I probably would kill myself climbing around these branch things.
I placed myself in a way that I could lean forward hug the branch, tempted to sleep like that before fidgeting into a more comfortable position where I had one arm up to lay my head on it while my legs hung on either side.
As I drifted in and out of consciousness I heard Rose talking to someone that didn't sound like either Jack or Doctor. My foggy brain decided it wasn't worth moving from my perch so I ignored it and focused more on relaxing myself so I could sleep.
Knocking on the TARDIS door jolted me from my sleep, so much so that I actually slipped and fell! A small scream that ended in a frustrated groan as I lay on the floor. I rubbed my shoulder as I fixed a withering look at the door. "Who on earth would be knocking on the TARDIS door?" I though allowed, really more complaining than anything. I'd just fallen asleep!
"What do you mean "Who the hell am I", who the hell are you?" An unknown male voice demanded.
Immediately I was on edge, but I tried not to go into full guard dog mode. Rose and Doctor didn't seem too alarmed by him so I figure that means I should cool it.
"You okay?" I heard Rose ask. She'd walked over to help me up.
Waving her away, I scrambled up and said. "Yeah, I'm fine."
The person that had just been speaking rather rudely to Jack, stormed past him and into the TARDIS. He looked to be about Rose's age; dark skinned, and beyond pissed. I bristled at his actions, feeling a growl rising from within my chest.
"Don't tell me, this must be Mickey."
Mickey? I wondered. I wondered what I'd heard that name before. I wracked my brain until I remember back on the ship when we'd first met her, the name at been mentioned then.
"Here comes trouble. How are you Rickey, boy?" Doctor asked.
"It's Mickey!" The man spat out. He clearly didn't like the Time Lord and I couldn't help but wonder why.
"Don't listen to him, he's winding you up." Rose told Mickey as she walked over to him.
I trotted up to Jack and lightly slapped his arm. Not enough to hurt, merely grab his attention. He jumped and turned to me with a bewildered look.
"Be nice." I warned, finger pointed at him like I was reprimanding a dog. He very nearly looked cross eyed as he stared at my finger.
The two of us turned back to the scene before us of Rose and Mickey reuniting. I wonder how long it had been since the two had seen each other?
"Aw, sweet, look at those– ah hey!" He cried, flinching away from my attempt to slap his shoulder. He turned a sour look to Rose and Mickey, "How come I don't get any of that? No, instead I get her." He complains and jabs his thumb at me.
"You know you love me." I told him and planned on giving him a half hug, you know, one of those wimpy hugs, but he grabbed a hold of me and squeezed the breath from me.
"Only every now and then." He teases, smirk upon his face and chuckling. I hunched over and gasped for breath when he released me.
"You jerk." I huffed, though I didn't really mean it.
"I told you – you don't need a passport." I heard Doctor say, successfully bringing our attention back to the conversation before us.
"It's all very well going to platform one in Justicia and the glass pyramid of San Kloon, but what if we ended up in Brazil? I might need it. You see, I'm prepared for anything!"
"Sounds like an excuse to me." I mumbled under my breath with a slight teasing tone. I'd thought Mickey's voice overrode mine, but I noticed irritation briefly flicker in Jack's face as he looked at me and could only assumed he'd heard me. I smiled innocently, pretending like I'd said nothing at all.
By the time I was turning back to the conversation again, I felt I'd missed something. It was rather silent...and awkward. I fidgeted and tried to remember what the man had asked. Something about her stayin- oh. He wanted to know if she was staying.
"So, what are you doing in Cardiff, and who the hell's jumping Jack Flash and-"
"Hey, that's Captain Jack!" I snarled, only I was allowed to tease Jack.
"Did she just? Never mind I don't want to know." Mickey says, glaring at me. "I don't mind you hanging out with big ears up there -"
"Oi!" The Doctor hollered as Mickey gestured to him.
"-Look in a mirror!" He shouts back while the time Lord shakes his head. "But this guy, I don't know, he's kind of -"
"Careful." I snarled even load, taking a step forward only to have Jack hold me back.
"No who's not being nice." Jack lazily says. I can tell he doesn't care, but this is Rose's friend. I huff, looking away and crossing my arms underneath my chest.
"And what's with her? She's growling like a dog." He points to me with a scowl.
"We just stopped off. We need to refuel." She says, ignoring his complaining. She then launches into a story, gesturing with her hands every so often. "Thing is, Cardiff's got this rift running through the middle of the city. It's invisible, but it's like an earthquake fault between different dimensions."
Doctor chooses then to cut ingot her story. "The rift was healed back in 1869..."
"...Thanks to a girl named Gwyneth. 'Cause these creatures were using the rift as a gateway, but she saved the world and closed it."
The poor young man looked like he was having trouble keeping with the story, like he was trying so hard to wrap his brain around it. I didn't blame him' I remembered way back when I was just a little puppy and having to grasp the concept that our world was bigger than just the forests surrounding our home.
I turned my thoughts away from home before I got too depressed just in time to hear Jack joining into the tale. "...and that scar generated energy, harmless to the human race..."
"..But perfect for the TARDIS – I just park it here for a couple of days, right on top of the scar and.."
My eyes flew from the Time Lord back to Jack. "Open up the engines, soak up the radiation..."
"..Like filling her up with petrol, and off we go!"
I so my chance to jump in and took it. "Into time-" I started it, nearly jumping where I stood with my excitement.
"-and into space!" Everyone followed along with me, making my heart swell a bit with happiness. We had a group high five session before Mickey ruined it.
"My god, have you guys seen yourselves?" He asked incredulously. "You all think you're so clever, don't you?"
We all agreed in our own way, ranging from the Doctor's "Yeah" to my "Pretty much".
It wasn't too long later that we all filed out of the TARDIS and into the fresh air. I was so eager for the fresh air Jack had to hold me back so I didn't just pummel through everyone to breathe it and once I was outside I took a huge deep breath, letting out with a content sigh. The TARDIS was nice and all, but you can't beat the fresh air.
"Should take another twenty-four hours." Doctor said from behind me.
"Which means we have time to kill," I whirled around with excitement. I so wanted to explore and this was the perfect time to!
"That old lady's staring." Mickey announces, staring off at an older lady that looked rather confused. I turned to peer around the TARDIS and grinned thinking, Silly human...
"Probably wondering what four people could do inside a small wooden box." Jack smirks from beside me. I laugh along with everyone else, shaking my head at my human's comment.
"What are you captain of, the innuendo squad?" He asks with a scornful tone.
I glare at up at the darker skinned male, walking forward to tell him off. I felt a snarl beginning in my chest and my fangs biting into my lips as they grew. I've had just about enough of you. Mickey didn't look afraid, in fact he looked at me with a lot less fear than what should be there.
'I can fix that...' Aspen whispered and for once I quite agreed with her. It was a nice change from battling it out with her. Her presence was fleeting, but it felt like she was trying to stay awake up there, like she didn't want to let go. Guilt swelled up within me.
The snarl that had been building up finally spilled over, having the hint of Aspen's haunting tone. It's funny how when I welcome her, both agreeing on the subject, that her presence wasn't painful and her growling escaped from it's confines much more smoothly.
Before I could go any farther, Jack's hand was grabbing my arm, making me snarl at him instead. It nearly as mean. Having learned her lesson, Aspen backed off and left the growl all my own. He simply dragged me away in an attempt to leave.
Really, what did I think I was going to do? I was just angry and attacking him wasn't going to fly with Rose and something told me despite his quips, the Doctor wouldn't allow it either. I took a breath and let my anger dissipated as I let it out.
"Wait, er, the TARDIS – we can't just leave it. Doesn't it get noticed?"
Curious himself, Jack turned back towards the others and dragging me along beside him. He wasn't holding my arm any more, though, instead holding my hand. "Yeah, what's with the police box? Why does it look like that?"
"It's the cloaking device in it and from the looks of it, it's not working well." I told them. I couldn't remember the name of the device, I just knew that the TARDIS and many other like it back on Gallifrey had one. Obviously Doctor's was a little quirky. I looked to Doctor to make sure I was right and he nodded his head in confirmation.
"It's called a chameleon Circuit. The TARDIS is meant to disguise itself whenever it lands – like if it was Ancient Rome, it'd be a statue on a plinth or something. But I had landed in the 1960's, it disguised itself as a police box, and the circuit got stuck." During his speech he's moved to the side of the TARDIS and was now leaning on it with his arms crossed.
"So, it copied a real thing? There actually were police boxes?"
"Yeah, on street corners. Phone for help before they had radios and mobiles. It they arrested somebody, they could shove them inside 'till help came, like a little prison cell."
I tried to imagine a bunch of TARDIS boxes on every street corner and couldn't help the small giggle that came with it. Jack looked at me questioningly and I shook my head. "Nothing, just thinking." I grinned up at him before turning to Doctor. "Why don't you just fix the circuit?"
"I like it – Don't you?" He asks.
"I love it." Rose says from the other side of the TARDIS. At some point she'd leaned against it, almost like she was hugging it.
"But that's what I meant – there's no police boxes anymore, so doesn't it get noticed?"
"Rickey, let me tell you something about the human race." Doctor says as he walks up to him and puts his hands on Mickey's shoulders. "You put a mysterious blue box slap bang in the middle of town. What do they do? Walk past it. Now, stop your nagging – let's go explore."
He patted Mickey and then walked off with Rose in tow. She was practically skipping beside him with her hand in his. I turned to Mickey and offered a small smile. I still didn't like him, not by a long shot, but I felt bad for just leaving him.
"Come on, it'll be fun." I assured him, tugging on his hand until he was walking in step with the rest of the group. I abandoned him shortly after so I could stick to Jack's side. It was both out of habit and because, well, I liked being by his side.
"Cardiff, early twenty – first century and the wind's coming from the east. Trust me – safest place in the universe."
For a moment I wanted to believe him, but I had a sinking feeling he may have just jinxed us.
So, school has started once again in my town. As a full time college student I get to have a fun little photography assignment where I have to take 100 pictures a day by next Tuesday and it CAN'T be animals.
Wish me luck.
Anyone else have questions? xD I'm more than happy to try and answer them!