Username: Black Dog Haunting
Name: Quill
Gender: Male
Name Meaning: His human considered names such as Thorn or Bramble, but didn't want to give him a name that only meant prickly, since that can be considered negative, so he chose Quill, which has a dual meaning: Quill's name is both in reference to his initial prickly nature (such as a porcupine's quills, which are used for self-defense), as well as a quill pen, which is sometimes associated with wisdom or learning. His name is meant to symbolize that he's both capable of defending himself, but also smart, and that he has the potential to learn and grow.
Prompt:Life on the streets was predictable in its unpredictability. The young dog never knew when or where he would find his next meal, or if it would be safe to eat it without getting sick. He didn't know when he'd have to beat a hasty retreat from meaner dogs with more powerful bodies or surly humans that were quick to throw things and yell at him. His ability to find a safe place to sleep for the night was often up to luck, especially during poor weather, when all the street animals were seeking shelter and wouldn't hesitate to lash out at any strange animals getting too close. It was an environment composed completely of those fighting for survival, and in such a place the unspoken rule known to all is that you can never trust anyone but yourself.
Wariness had kept the young dog (not much older than a pup, really) alive thus far, and he was determined to keep it that way.
-xXx-
It was on an average evening in mid autumn when the predictability of the dog's unpredictable environment was interrupted. At the time, it seemed so insubstantial and fleeting that the dog paid it very little mind beyond his usual caution — after all, a human wandering past the box he'd claimed for shelter for the night wasn't unusual. The dog tensed up and tucked himself in further in an attempt to avoid notice, keeping his feet beneath him in case he needed to make a break for it.
Amber eyes watched the human keenly, taking in whatever information they could gather. Similar to the dog, the human was at the precipice of being fully grown, but still in the gangly growing phase. Shaggy dark hair brushed the youth's ears but was kept out of the way of light-grey eyes. Based on their build and scent, the dog determined them to be a human male, causing the dog to tense further — human males were more likely to torment him if they found him. The youth's posture was upright but relaxed, but the dog knew that could change in an instant if the human spotted him.
As the dog shifted on his feet in an attempt to better position himself to dart out of the box and away from the potential threat, the box crinkled, and the human's light eyes snapped to him at the sound as they stopped in place. Despite knowing better, the young dog froze in the face of being caught in the human's gaze, his muscles shaking with how tightly they were coiled. The young dog braced himself for an attack that he was
certain was coming. After an endless moment of tension, the human averted their gaze slightly, and to the dog's immense surprise, the human's body untensed.
"Sorry for spooking you, pup." The dog twitched as the human spoke, their voice oddly soft in a way he'd never heard directed at him.
"I'll leave you to your rest. Goodnight." With those parting words, the human left, their posture remaining relaxed even as they turned their back on him.
For a while, the dog just stared after the human in bafflement. He'd met a lot of other creatures in his life that behaved in all sorts of ways, but that brief encounter had tipped all of his past experience on its head. So confused was he that he didn't even notice the tension in his own muscles draining. Finally shaking himself out of his stupor, the dog laid his head on his paws to try and get some rest.
Such an odd human… was the dog's last thought as he drifted off to sleep.
-xXx-
A couple weeks later, the dog had successfully put the strange human youth out of his mind. He had been too busy seeking food or fleeing threats to keep worrying about such anomalies. It was far better to trust his own wariness than to be swayed by experiences that weren't likely to happen again.
The sun was setting, and after a long day of fruitlessly foraging for food in human scrap bins, the young dog was both hungry and exhausted as he turned his efforts towards finding a place to rest for the night. His paws were dragging as he trudged towards the closest alley that didn't tend to have many humans passing through it, hoping that no other animals had occupied it yet. He was in no state for a fight — he could fight if he absolutely had to, but it would be incredibly risky for him. Even a non-severe injury could turn fatal if it festered, and even an injury that didn't fester would likely inhibit his ability to search for and secure food or run from danger.
Upon reaching the alley, he carefully scented the air for any recent traces of animals or humans, and couldn't help a small, relieved swish of his tail when the coast was clear. Still, he took the time to search behind and below the large scrap bins and in the pile of empty boxes against the wall, and only after all was checked did he tuck himself into a large box tipped on its side. It would be a meager shelter against the autumn chill, but at least it was better than nothing.
The dog had just curled up into a tight ball, his eyes already drifting shut in his exhaustion, when a sound from the alley entrance caught his attention and sent his heart racing. Swiveling his ears, he listened carefully to place the sound: a repeated, muted
thud. Human footsteps. Hackles raising, he held himself very still, bracing himself to make a quick escape if they tried to approach his box. He fleetingly worried that his lack of energy and empty stomach would hinder him, but he shoved those worries away — there was no time to dwell on what could go wrong. He could only focus on doing what he could to survive to the best of his abilities.
The human's legs came into view, and just as he was bracing himself to flee, the human stopped in their tracks and slowly crouched down, facing the mouth of the alley rather than his box. A warning growl left him before he could bite it back — the dog braced himself for a sudden strike in retaliation, but aside from a small twitch, the human kept their muscles loose as they removed the fabric pouch from their back.
"I'm sorry for spooking you, pup. I'm glad I finally found you again." The young dog's growl cut off in his surprise at the familiar, soft voice. It was the strange human youth from two weeks before!
Why are they here? the dog thought in bewilderment. This wasn't the same place they'd met before, and from what he could tell, humans didn't have a keen sense of smell that could help them with tracking. Had the human been trying to find him for some reason? The dog's ears pinned back at the alarming thought. What could this human possibly want with him if not to hurt him?
The sound of the human pulling something out of their fabric pouch snapped him from his thoughts. It looked like a clear basin filled with something dark and topped with a covering.
"I brought you something. Hopefully you'll like it." Wary, the young dog gave another growl as the human youth removed the covering and set the basin a bit closer to the dog's box than was comfortable.
"Don't worry. I know you're scared of me, but I won't hurt you."As the scent from the basin reached him, the dog's growl abruptly cut off. It smelled like fresh meat.
Why is this human leaving fresh meat here? the dog wondered, his achingly empty stomach warring with his caution. Despite his best efforts, a tiny whine escaped him as his gaze zeroed in on the dish. It wasn't until he heard movement from the human that he was able to tear his eyes away.
The human had resealed and replaced his fabric pouch onto his back and had moved back several paces before standing from his crouch. How had the dog not noticed sooner?
"I'll leave you to get some rest," the human said, and like it meant nothing at all, the human turned his back on the dog and left, leaving what smelled like perfectly good meat behind.
It was several long minutes before the dog's stomach won out against his confusion and caution, and oh so carefully, the dog approached the basin. After one last sniff of the meat, the dog took a small bite. As it hit his tongue, the last of the dog's hesitation over the food snapped, and he devoured it ravenously.
As he laid down to sleep with a full stomach for the first time since he could remember, the young dog couldn't help but wonder over the human youth's puzzling actions and behaviors yet again. As the dog's eyelids drooped, he finally decided to put the youth out of his mind.
It's not like this will happen again, anyway… he thought as sleep swept him away.
-xXx-
It happened again. And again. And
again. This odd and baffling human kept bringing the dog food every other evening after that first time, and he just couldn't understand why. Why would this human youth go so far as to track him down repeatedly just to give him fresh meat and soft words? It made no sense! It wasn't to harm the dog, and it didn't seem to benefit the human in any way, so why? The dog couldn't figure it out at all. Even when the dog had growled at them repeatedly whenever they got too close or moved too fast, they still spoke softly to him and gave him fresh meat. They never threw things, struck out, or yelled. The human hadn't tried to touch him or grab him, either.
The young dog still distrusted the human youth, but against his will, he found himself relaxing a bit around them. The more the youth spoke to him in that soft cadence, the easier it was to tolerate their presence. The dog had taken to following the human to the edge of the neighborhood after he'd eaten — to make sure that the human wasn't up to anything suspicious, the dog told himself at first. Later, he reasoned that it was just to make sure that a somewhat reliable food source wasn't attacked by another animal or human. He'd even grown to feel an odd sort of warmth at the name the human had started to call him by.
Somehow, without his permission, this human had become a part of the predictable unpredictability of the young dog's life on the streets.
-xXx-
It had been four weeks of the human youth bringing the young dog food when the cold finally settled in to stay. The sky had been full of dark clouds threatening snow the entire day and the air was sharp with winter chill. It was still daylight, or what passed for it, as the dog sought out somewhere to take shelter to stay warm. He knew it was fruitless, but the winter cold could be fatal for an animal caught out in the elements.
During his search, the clouds finally broke, dumping fat clumps of snow on those unlucky enough to be outside, accompanied by a biting wind. Everywhere he checked was already occupied by another animal, and with the relentlessly falling snow, by the time he found a wet box to huddle in, he was soaked to the bone and freezing. With ears pressed miserably against his head, the young dog curled up as tightly as he could, a fearful part of his mind wondering if he'd be able to survive the night.
As his shivering increased, he found himself wishing that it was the evening for
his the human youth to bring food just so he wouldn't be alone.
It was as he'd started to drift off when he heard a familiar voice calling for him.
"Quill!" Too cold to move much, he opened his amber eyes to find the familiar light gray eyes of
his the human youth he'd been hoping to see. He couldn't keep his tail from giving a tiny swish of happiness. The youth was kneeling right in front of his box, something that Quill would usually growl at him for, but right then he was too happy to see
his the human to care. Ever so carefully, the human reached out a warm hand and stroked over his ears, causing Quill's tail to swish again. He was so glad he had the chance to see
his the human at least once more.
"You're freezing, Quill," his the human said softly, an odd shakiness to their voice.
"How about we go home together this time, huh?" Quill couldn't know how significant those words were, but he was too glad to see his human to worry about much else. And this
was his human, Quill realized. The regular food, the soft voice, and now the warm hands stroking his ears were all things he cared about far deeper than he'd been willing to admit to himself before. He wanted to stay somewhere close to his human — that way he could protect them in return for the precious kindness they'd granted him.
Quill oh so gently nuzzled at his human's hand, earning a loud puff of breath from them. Ever so gently, his human draped something around him and picked him up in their arms, holding him securely but not harshly. A flutter of anxiety filled Quill's chest as his body left the ground, but the sound of his human's heartbeat so close to his ears and the security of their arms holding him helped settle him.
There were still many changes Quill would have to face in his near future, but perhaps there was one person he could put his trust in after all this time facing the world alone.
[Word Count: 2,343]
(As a stray note, since I couldn't figure out how to include it in the actual story: Quill's human is named Avery. I use they/them pronouns for Avery in the story mostly to keep from mixing up Avery and Quill since I use pronouns quite a bit for them, but Avery would have no preference between he/him or they/them.)
