A slender white dog, stretched in the warm morning sun. Her soft fur, glowing, she padded toward her food bowl. Empty she thought. She sniffed the air, for any sign of her best friend, Tiko. He usually came over, when his owners let him outside. They'd had some of the best adventures together. She heard the slam of a screen door, and with her ears pricked, turned to see a tall man with a bowl of dog food coming her way.
The man was silent. He was different than most humans she knew. She'd seen the way Tiko's owners stroked him, and talked to him in a funny voice. Her human wasn't that way. He seemed to understand that she was a dog, and respected her as such. He gave her a pat on the head, and smiled at her. "I'll see you later, Kima-girl." the man said in his gruff voice. Kima could see his breath when he spoke. Winter was almost here, she could smell it on the breeze, and feel it in the air.
After Kima had eaten, she heard familiar footsteps in the leaves. She looked up, and saw Tiko. His warm brown eyes, smiled at her. "You ready?" he asked her. "You bet!" she answered, a mischievous gleam in her eye.
Chapter 2: An Unexpected Savior
"Wow the water in the river is really cold this time of year!!" Tiko yelped, pulling his wet paw out of the soft, trickling water. Kima laughed, and shook her head. Tiko was her age, but he seemed so much more like a puppy than her. She liked that about him, he had a good spirit.
She padded on, down the river bank, searching for some fun. Her whiskers twitched, and she looked to her right, and thought she saw something dart through the trees. She leaned her head to one side, deciding it was her imagination, and continued forward. Moments later she thought she saw the same thing, and turned around to ask Tiko if he'd seen the strange sight when she realized he wasn't behind her anymore.
Shocked, she ran back in the other direction, looking for any sign of her friend. "KIMA!" she heard not far in front of her, "KIMA HELP!" She ran as fast as she could, until she saw Tiko's black head bobbing up and down in the icy-cold water. They were down river now, and the current was strong. "Tiko, hang on!!" She took a step in. The water stung her as it touched her skin, but she couldn't worry about that, she plunged in, and blindly splashed around in the water, eyes tightly shut in pain, until she felt Tiko's wet fur. Opening her eyes to see the panic on his face, she clamped down tightly on his neck, and began swimming toward the river bank, but the current pulled her further down stream. She kept paddling, but her legs were getting tired.
Suddenly she heard a splash over the deafening sound of the water swirling around her, and she felt the weight of Tiko leave her. Thinking she'd lost her grip, she tried to focus on what was going on, and with water splashing in her eyes, she saw the blurry shape of an animal pulling Tiko to shore. The figure headed back into the water, and grabbed Kima as well. Back on shore, panting, and sore, she turned to thank her savior. When she turned around, she saw a wolf, running into the forrest. She closed her eyes, thankful to the stranger, half wanting to chase after it, but too tired to move.
Chapter 3 - A fight
Everything was hazy, when Kima opened her eyes. She tried to focus on the world around her. When things came into view she didn't have to wonder where she was. The events from earlier that day, still, were fresh in her mind. She nudged Tiko, and he slowly raised his head upward, and opened his mouth into a huge yawn. "We should get home" Kima said, helping Tiko to his feet. He didn't argue, so they slowly made their way back.
Kima's fur had dried in a weird way, and she licked the same spot over and over until finally it lay flat. She was back home. She'd already eaten dinner, and it was dark now. The twinkling stars above her gave a white glow to the leaves on the ground. The moon was behind a cloud, and when the cloud moved, Kima noticed it was a full moon. She always loved the full moon. It reminded her of home. She knew in her head that she was home, but her heart told her something else was out there. Somthing that called to her.
Before Kima opened her eyes, she knew it was morning. The sun was visible even behind closed eyelids. It was brighter than normal today, and warmer. She stretched, and lapped up some cool water from her bowl. Looking into the woods, she reminded herself of what happened yesterday. The wolf was ettched into her memory, and she couldn't stop thinking about it. "Kima?" she heard a voice behind her. "Hey, Tiko" she said, turning around, happy to see her friend. "Wanna go exploring again?" he asked. "Not today, Tiko...I just want to lay here, and think" she lied. "Oh, okay. Well I'll come back tomorrow." he said, a little disapointed. "Bye, Tiko" she said, as he turned and walked away. Maybe this is a bad idea. Kima thought. With a longing look toward Tiko's house, she darted into the forrest.
The leaves crunched under her paws, as she made her way through the trees. She had tried to sniff out any trail that was left behind from yesterday, but she couldn't find one. She was at the river now, but none of the landscape looked familiar. She walked on. Finally seeing a moss covered rock sticking out of the water, she realized she was there.
She sat at the edge of the water, and looked at her reflection. She didn't look much like Tiko. He was a tall muscular dog with a fluffy black and brown coat, and a friendly smile. She was smaller, and more slender. She had sharp features, and golden eyes. She wondered what breed of dog she was. Tiko knew his parents, but Kima had never known any of her family.
Crunching in the leaves behind her took the thoughts out of her mind, and made her jump. She spun around and a huge badger spit in her face. He made terrible growling and hissing noises, and slashed his claws at her. Hackles raised, she bared her teeth, and snapped at the offender. He didn't take much notice, and continued to strike at her with his huge claws. Kima jumped out of the way, only barely missing a gash to the foreleg.
She ran at the badger, and bit him in his thick neck. He squealed in pain, and rolled on his back. She took advantage of this, and bit him in the stomach. He jumped, squirming in the air, and took another bat at Kima. She snarled at the beast, and it backed away. With another hiss, it ran in the opposite direction, and kept running until Kima couldn't see it anymore.
Exhausted, she walked to the river for a drink, but as she bent her head to lap up some of the cool water, she saw a wolf on the other side of the river bank. She backed away a few steps, and then realized it was the wolf from the day before. She sniffed the air, and caught a faint smell of pine wafting from the direction of the magnificent animal. It stood there looking at her for what seemed like forever, and then it blinked, turned away, and ran back into the cover of the evergreen trees.
Chapter 4: Goodbyes
Kima padded through the forrest, the the leaves crunching under her paws. The stars shone over-head, guiding her way. She followed the path of blood up until the river. Here it stopped. How could something so injured, swim across the river? She wondered. She sniffed at the air, but couldn't catch a scent. She jumped into the river. The cold water, surrounded her. She struggled to get to the suface, she was running out of breath. Finally her head broke the surface of the water, and she gasped, breathing in the wonderful, chilly air. Determined, she swam to the other side of the river. When she finally got to the other side, she immediately caught another scent. Shaking the water from her coat, she ran after it.
Deeper and deeper into the erie forrest, she ran. The cover of the evergreens, shielded the starlight. Finally she smelled a strong smell. She squinted to see what was in front of her. TIKO! Her eyes wide, she ran to his side. She prodded him with her paw, but he didn't move. Blood caked his side, and his eyes were open, staring, unseeing, at nothing. A tear rolled down Kima's muzzle. Suddenly she looked up, and saw burning blue eyes in the darkness. "Your destiny is now." the strange creature growled in a raspy voice.
Kima's eyes shot open. Breathing hard, she looked around her. She was in her bed. Your destiny is now. She didn't understand. She must find out what this meant. "What's wrong?" Tiko's voice was like music to her ears. "Tiko!" She ran to him, and rubbed her muzzle in his soft fur, breathing in his scent. He was alive. "Are you alright?" he asked. "Tiko, I had a terrible dream!" her eyes were wide. "What happened?" "..I don't rememer" she lied. "You'll be okay" he told her. He licked her ear. "I have to leave." she said, looking away from him. "What?" he asked. "I have to leave here. The dream...I have to know what it means." "But you can't just leave because of a dream, Kima!" desperation in his voice. "Tiko..this wasn't just a dream. It means something. I have to know what that is. There was a wolf. He said..."Your destiny is now." I have to understand." Tiko narrowed his eyes at her. "Your destiny is here. You can't leave.." Kima looked away again. She had tears in her eyes. "You're my best friend, Tiko. I'd never leave you, if I didn't know I had to. But I <b>know</b> I have to do this." Tiko looked angry, but his voice was calm. "I know you wouldn't." He looked at his paws. Kima thought she saw a tear roll off of his nose, but wasn't sure. "Goodbye, Kima." he said. And turned away from her, walking toward his home. She ran after him. "Stop!" she barked at him. She looked into his eyes, and saw something she hadn't seen there before. "I'm sorry, Tiko." "I know." he answered, softening his gaze. "Don't forget me." he smiled. "Never." she answered him. And she watched him walk away.
-- Edited by ~PL~ at 21:05, 2008-01-11
-- Edited by ~PL~ at 12:47, 2008-01-22
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I know the world's a broken bone, but melt your headaches, call it home.
Thanks Winky!!! And those actually were supposed to be one chapter, but they seemed long, so I divided them into two. I'll put them back as one, they don't look so long on here, but on word they did. XD
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I know the world's a broken bone, but melt your headaches, call it home.
Thanks collar!!! I'll try and write some today, I just hardly ever have time to just sit down and write. That's why I stopped with my story "The Pack". But I'm going to try and keep this one up. ;]
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I know the world's a broken bone, but melt your headaches, call it home.
wow this is REALLY good.Keep up the great work! I try to keep storys up too,but I'll forget about them and then I'll just stop writing.I need to get a subject I'll really want to write about.XD
Sounds like its gunna be an amazing story!
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OMG, thank you so much PL!!I LOVE that picture! This is Maya without the 10.