A/N: This is my very first fanfic story and kinda don't really know what I'm getting myself into. My grammar, punctuation, and storytelling is very raw I'm sorry. But there's a LOT more to come after chapter 1 so bear with me, it's not a one chapter deal. I will warn you that this chapter contains SOOO much exposition and kinda boringness so hang on tight. I will more than likely not ever have a fixed schedule for updating this fic, but I WILL finish it if it's the last thing I do. I know that Courage the Cowardly Dog isn't the biggest show on the planet anymore, but it doesn't change the fact that I'm still going to be involved in it. Anyways, pls enjoy what I have so far. Thanks for reading and cheers!

To Be Born

By: AuntGertrude'sRasberryJam

Chapter 1: A Cordial Day in Nowhere

Nowhere, KS, as the town was named, wasn't ever entirely devoid of light. Its night sky was always full of stars, which always shined the brightest there. Under the stars were usually kidnappings, murders, burglaries, ugly monsters, and the less fortunate. It was always a pretty night in such an ugly town. The town has had a long history of such bizarre occurrences pretty much daily, but not tonight. Tonight brought some cool winds (as winter was drawing nearer), but nothing else. There were no kidnappings, no murders, no burglaries, and no ugly monsters. Nowhere's tragedies have started becoming more like urban legends as things have gradually started improving for the best. Even the more petty crimes have become more rare. And tonight was the first night ever that nothing truly happened in Nowhere. And Courage almost knew that on some spiritual level.

Ever since he was found by Muriel as a pup, Courage had worked sleeplessly to guarantee her safety (and when he had time, the safety of her husband Eustace). He and Eustace didn't quite see eye to eye, but deep down inside he still really cared about him whether the old man cared or not. But after losing his parents, Muriel became Courage's sole reason to live and sacrificed everything he had to keep her breathing. Living just outside of Nowhere, the family had encountered their fair share of foes, disasters, or just straight creepy sightings and sounds. After about an unreasonably canceled TV show's worth of encounters, things finally started to gradually subside.

For years it seemed like something new was happening every single day. But ever since Courage was harassed by a perfectionist phantom, he noticed that the encounters have become way less frequent. By that night, it had been exactly 64 days since they have had their last encounter. Courage kept count, first out of fear, but now as a hobby. Without death knocking at the door every night, Courage and his owners have since then lived their lives rather peacefully. They always had time to do what they wanted to when they wanted to do it and it was like blissful heaven. He also finally finished writing his memoirs of his encounters inside of his sentient computer, who was always criticizing his grammar and spelling. But with the cynical machine's help, he was able to finish and even laminate a catalog of his encounters and brushes with death. He'd read that book over and over again like a thrilling novel and hopefully not have to worry about anything in that book ever again.

Nothing grew monotonous about not dying everyday, but Courage was still faced with a hint of a strange feeling. Something felt empty, or incomplete, or missing. He couldn't quite pinpoint what it was exactly. But what made this really odd is that the more he thought about it, the more he felt lost as it is something that may have been living within him for a long time even during his encounters. But other than that slight feeling, everything was almost perfect.

That charming night came to an end, but gave birth to a golden morning. Golden light shone through the windows, it was slightly warmer today than it has usually been, and Courage could smell Muriel making blueberry pancakes from all the way downstairs. Smiling warmly, he was already in love with the day.

Feeling immense loads of happiness and vivacity within his doggy self, he jumped upwards with a,"Yeah!"

Then Eustace (who he forgot was still sleeping) rolled over to throw a pillow at him and yell,"Shut it, you stupid dog!"

Courage then half giggled silently and jumped off of the bed. He made his way out of the room and slid down the banister of the stairs only to crash at the very bottom. Muriel then peeked into the living room from the dining room.

"Ah, there you are Courage," she giggled warmly. "I knew my special pancakes would get you out of the bed."

Courage, who was only a little hurt, laughed maniacally and gave her a thumbs up.

"You just help yourself," she patted him gently on the head. "I'm going up to get Eustace." And then she was off.

Courage got up off the floor and headed into the kitchen. He loaded his plate full of blueberry pancakes. He had trouble deciding just how many he wanted and kept picking one up just to put it back.

Muriel soon returned to the kitchen to find an empty dish of pancakes and a really happy Courage next to it sitting back to hold his stomach and smile greatly.

"Courage!" Muriel gasped. "Did you eat all of our special blueberry pancakes?"

Courage then scanned the empty pancake dish next to him and looked back at Muriel. He burped very loudly and laughed goofily and almost as loud.

Muriel giggled. "That's okay Courage," she smiled at him. "I can make plenty more for all of us." Then she got to work.

Courage decided to help her as "payment" for him eating all of the pancakes. He also just LOVED helping Muriel out in the kitchen. Even though he was rather adept, Courage wasn't particularly interested in the culinary arts, but he just loved being in there with her and spending time with her so he acted interested. Also other than sniffing around or chewing something up, he really had nothing better to do so he was happy to help.

After making another batch of pancakes, Eustace then showed up with his face in his newspaper and sat down at the kitchen table, not saying a word. Muriel brought him a plate with extra blueberries and he proceeded to eat. She then fixed herself a plate and sat down across from Eustace. But right before she touched her fork, she realized she was missing something.

"Oh, I forgot butter," she said. But before she could even get back up, Courage pushed her seat right back in for her and brought her the butter. After smearing a fair amount, she reached for her fork until she stopped again. Courage watched her intently. "Oh, tea," she said. Courage went and got the teapot from the stove and poured some into her mug. His eyes remained on her just waiting for her next need. She reached to stop again. "Oh, syrup," she said. Courage happily went to retrieve it from the counter and handed it to her. After pouring a large amount, she reached for her fork again. Courage was completely fixed on her every move. This time she grabbed the fork and scooped up some pancake. Right before she could take a bite, the washing machine in the basement was heard as it indicated that the load needed to be swapped.

She started to set her fork down as Courage zoomed into the dining room and into the basement yelling,"Don't worry, I'll get it!" He happily smiled as he switched the load of laundry knowing that he was doing a service to the one he loved most. This was his life now, and as simple as it seemed, he absolutely loved it. Even if there isn't a monster, he'd help Muriel with anything to the very end.

After he finished the laundry, he went back up to the kitchen to find Muriel putting the food away and no Eustace. He went over to help Muriel with the food and that's when she noticed him again.

"Ah, Courage, there you are," she said. "I was wondering where you ran off to."

Didn't she see him race up before she could to do the laundry for her? And she never came down to check on him or the laundry either. This was a little odd, but he ultimately decided to ignore it.

"Eustace thinks it'd be a grand idea for us to go to see a picture show," she said. "I told him that we'd like that now wouldn't we?"

"Mmmhmm," Courage replied as she scratched the side of his muzzle.

After the kitchen was clean, Muriel went to get Eustace and they were off to town. As they drove through town, Courage took note of the happier people and the cleaner streets. There were also less homeless around which meant faster and safer travel for everyone, and of course it also hopefully meant that most people were doing better now. Courage crawled on top of Muriel and stuck his head out the window and stuck his tongue out. He was truly embodying his happy doggy spirit now.

When they arrived at the movies, they had 3 movies playing at once. They had a comedy, a horror/thriller, and an action/adventure. Eustace picked the action/adventure one and bought them 3 tickets. They went inside and stocked up on snacks, popcorn, and soda.

The movie they watched was about a fortunate early nineteenth century French sailor who was betrayed by a jealous friend. The friend worked with some other people to get the sailor imprisoned for a treasonous letter he unknowingly had on him. As he spent years in prison, he meets someone there who helps him plan his revenge and escape. While he's in prison, his former friend stole his fiance and part of his legacy. But after the sailor escaped after 14 years in prison, he strategically fulfills his revenge plan, killing or imprisoning those who have wronged him. His fiance happily jumps back into his lap and he is able to defeat his former friend and reclaim his status.

Courage actually thoroughly enjoyed the movie (despite not really being interested in movies like this, it being very lengthy, and emotionally powerful). But he paid close attention to the pain experienced by both the sailor and his fiance from being separated for a long time. It was a pain that made Courage's heart ache much worse than most pain he's used to. He understood so little of this pain, yet he claims to feel that pain festering inside of him, yearning for an end. He still couldn't quite pinpoint a source, but he felt that it was connected to the hints of monotonous feelings he'd been experiencing worse lately. What he really couldn't understand is that his life right now was better than it's ever been. His home has finally been pretty much permanently safe, everyone and everything seems to be doing just fine, and he has Muriel and Eustace. It couldn't be the loss of his parents, could it? That's the closest thing he could come up with but even that he knows isn't quite it.

After getting back into the truck, Muriel asked Eustace if they could swing by the grocery store. And after complaining about having to spend money to get food, Eustace gave in. With Eustace staying in the truck, Courage followed Muriel into the grocery store to make sure she didn't need any help with anything.

After following her around for a good while, they got just about a good trip's worth of food. After paying for their groceries, they headed back out to the truck. They passed by a little bunny Girl Scout who was selling cookies.

"Ah, Courage check it out," Muriel awed as they walked by. "The wee rabbit's selling scrumptious sweets to make a quick buck. Now that's the beauty of the world, it is."

"Huh?" Courage asked, failing to see the "beauty" in this.

"Here," she said, giving him her groceries. "Can you go load up?"

Courage nodded hesitantly.

As Courage loaded the groceries and re-entered the truck, Muriel scouted for some cash in the truck.

"Muriel!" Eustace yelled. "What are you turning me truck upside down fer?"

"Oh nothing," she replied with a smile.

"You told me you would quit buying from those lazy hippies!" He exclaimed

"Oh, Eustace Baggestein you," she shook her head after finding a $5 bill. "I won't be long." She shut the door and made her way back to the Girl Scout. Courage watched her and was hyper focused on her.

"Lousy stinkin hippies!" Eustace groaned, pulling Courage from his thoughts. There apparently was a garbage truck picking up the garbage right in front of them, trapping them from driving off even though they weren't driving right now.

But after that brief distraction, he returned his attention to Muriel, who apparently had her attention on something else. Or rather, it was a someone else. Sitting on the ground next to the Girl Scout was a little blue beagle dog (same breed and about the same size as him) and she was petting him! It got even worse when she started scratching underneath his muzzle. How DARE she! She ONLY did that to him! HIM! And that little blue jerk was over there stealing HIS scratches and was clearly enjoying it! Courage barely stifled a deep growl that Eustace still heard. He turned to face Courage and saw why he was growling.

"Would she just hurry up!" Eustace whined. "Now she's over there playing with the stupid hippy's stupid dog!"

After what seemed like an eternity, she was returning to the truck with two boxes of cookies. The dog stared at her with a melancholy expression as she left. Courage glared at the dog in return. When Muriel finally reached the truck, both Eustace and Courage unloaded onto her.

"Well it's about time!" Eustace groaned.

"Abubububa bababa glubamu babuglu!" Courage choked out in his broken gibberish dog speech while waving his arms. He meant something along the lines of,"What the hell were you thinking?!" He stood in his seat with his paws on his hips tapping his foot, waiting for a good response.

"Whose Taco Bell was stinking?" Muriel sincerely asked with a hand on her chin.

Courage then sighed and sat back down. He supposed it's not worth getting too upset about. Afterall, he's never going to see that blue jerk again.

-o0o-

After returning to the farmhouse, Courage made an effort to unload everything by himself. Afterwards, Muriel sat in her favorite rocking chair to watch the television. Courage then hopped into his usual spot and she held him. She pet him so softly and delicately, just like she always did. She ran her fingers slowly under his fur and massaged his back. Then she'd make her way back up to his ear and back down again. SO comfortable, he eventually fell into a deep deep sleep.

-o0o-

That evening, he was reawakened by Eustace declaring that he was hungry. Muriel told him that he's in luck because at the grocery store she got all of the ingredients for Aunt Gertrude's recipe for carrot and potato stew.

"Carrots? I hate carrots!" Eustace whined. "I can't even stand being in the same room as carrots! I'm going out for some chopped meat." Eustace then departed the house in his truck.

"Oh well,"Muriel sighed. "I guess it's just you and me now Courage huh?" Her smile was back.

"Aburu gablu!" Courage exclaimed with a happy wagging tail.

"Come now Courage! We have a stew to do!"

They returned to the kitchen and cooked enthusiastically, but silently. This allowed Courage to think. He reflected on a lot of his emotions from today. He wasn't happy with the way he was handling things. Even though he loved being with Muriel and helping her out, he started to kind of realize that maybe he was overdoing it. Instead of happily doing things for her, now it felt like he was frantically doing things for her out of the fear of losing her. A lump went up in his throat as a lot of past memories of almost losing her surfaced. He knew he had nothing to worry about as it seemed almost impossible for him to lose her now.

And then he thought of his aggressive behavior towards that other dog. He thought of that black jealousy and pure white rage coursing through his body upon laying eyes on their little interaction. He felt extremely guilty about getting worked up about it. He always received Muriel's utmost love and attention so why is he so upset when he misses out on only a little. And recalling the appearance of the dog, the dog looked stray, homeless, and pathetic and really the least he could do is offer him some of Muriel's love. Not to mention Muriel, being the pure loving soul she is, was just sharing love and affection with another being, especially one who is less fortunate. Courage, now feeling a little depressed at how awful he is, started feeling nauseous and threw in a towel in helping Muriel with the meal. Muriel, reading his emotions, told him to take it easy.

He laid on the rocking chair and closed his eyes to try to ease off his nausea and emotions. He eventually drifted off the sleep again.

-o0o-

"Courage? Courage," Muriel was trying to wake him up with a soft voice. "Courage, how're you feelin?"

He quietly muttered some disembodied gibberish before laying his head back down.

"Well, Eustace just got back home and refuses to visit the bathtub. He's already in bed and that's where I'm heading. Feel free to join us if you want, if not then goodnight my little Courage." She planted a little kiss on his forehead and he smiled.

He continued to lay there with his eyes closed long after she left. He still felt her warm presence from the kiss on his forehead and that made him as happy a dog as he could be. It was so dark and so quiet now, but it was all very comforting for Courage as he knew nothing bad was going to happen.

But then he got this feeling in his gut. The feeling of that kiss faded. He no longer felt safe. In fact, it felt like he was being watched. He then snapped his eyes open and scanned the room. When he didn't see anyone, he scanned the windows, where he still didn't find anyone. Even though the coast seemed to be clear so far, he still couldn't shake that uneasy feeling inside of him. He got up and started scanning the whole downstairs portion of the house. He was searching in the dining room when he might have heard slight jiggling on the outside door from the kitchen. It was very subtle, but loud enough in this quiet house to hear it. He went into the kitchen and looked out the windows to find nothing. Then (against his smart side) he decided to go outside and look around a little. He opened the kitchen door to go outside, and that's when he found out how much louder it was out there. The bugs were making loud noises, the wind was howling through the powerlines, and everything was out in the open. He ventured out a little and peeked around both corners of the house. When he saw nothing, he went back inside and locked the kitchen door again.

But it didn't make any sense. He still beared that uneasiness and swore that he heard something coming from the kitchen door before he unlocked it and went out. But then that's when he caught onto a foreign scent. It was very subtle, but he knew all of the scents in this house like the back of his paw, and this scent did not belong. In fact, this scent was not here the last time he was here. So he sniffed around the kitchen for a little while. He found a spot on the floor in the middle of the kitchen that seemed to carry an abundance of that smell. He stopped there and sniffed and sniffed until-

"ACHOOO!" He sneezed super loudly.

"Gesundheit," an unfamiliar muffled voice silently spoke from beneath the kitchen sink.

Courage was startled by the unexpected response. His jaw dropped to the floor. Was somebody seriously this dumb to give themself away like that? I mean really?

"Who's there?" Courage asked a little scared now.

No response.

Courage then slowly advanced towards the sink. Being cautious in his steps and trying to be careful like he used to always do, he was already planning his next move. As he was only a few steps now, he was going to open that door, and–

Suddenly, a dark figure pounced from beneath the sink and pinned him on his back on the kitchen floor. When the stars in his vision faded, he found that he was nearly nose to nose with the blue dog.

A/N: Congratulations, you have made it past most of the exposition and "continuation of the show" parts. Now that the OC has arrived, things are about to shift into a wacky direction. If you've made it this far, good job and thank you! Also for those of you that are here for the romance, get comfortable because you have FAR to go LOL! And again, there is always more of this story to come so stay tuned! :)