Sonmi's Couples, Characters and Writing - Posting Welcome

[Sonmi-451]

Pet's name: Chip and Pet's name: Gracie

I lived in a fairy tale, I knew I did. And I also knew that eventually my little word would come crashing down on my head and reality would set in. But for now, I was happy. For now, a fairy tale was the only thing that kept me sane and stopped my tragic life from becoming even more pitiful.

"Hey Chip," Gracie greeted. "Are you ready for the Iditarod? I've heard rumors that it starts today."
"I guess we'll just have to see Gracie," Chip responded. "And if it does start today, we just have to do our best and hopefully make Mark proud."

It started later that day, around 1 pm. We were all ready and set to go, and by the looks on our faces, we thought we might actually win. But I knew the truth. The only talent our team had was Chip and sort of myself. Everyone else was just a motley mix of street rejects, only running in the snow because it was better than their former lives scavenging in the barren roads and sleeping in trash cans. But who was I to talk? The only reason I wasn't out by myself or dead was thanks to the human, but he hadn't done much else for me since then. He beat me when I got the slightest thing wrong, just because I was a girl, and then smothered the idiots who couldn't even run with attention just because they were boys. Oh well. For now, that was all I had. So, to make up for that, I built my own world of magic, my own happily ever after, because I would probably never get it here.
Then my owner yelled "Hike!" and we were off.

At about 9 we stopped for the night at a checkpoint station. Mark immediately checked our paws and was satisfied when none were bleeding, then fed us. I, of course, ate last, which I didn't really mind because I was so starving to begin with. The human then went to bed and us dogs were left alone, my least favorite part of racing. Since I was the only girl among all those boys, I often got teased and pranked and occasionally assaulted. Making my life miserable during the night seemed to be what got the guys off, except for Chip. He was the definite alpha, as he was the lead dog, and he often stood up for me when he saw our teammates kicking my sorry butt. The others muttered after he broke up my torture sessions, but they would never oppose Chip because they knew he would rip them to pieces. After we did our routine, aka the boys picked on me and then Chip came over and disbanded them, I settled down and watched my sorry team. They soon became too boring, so I lost myself in my fairytale dreams.

Chip watched Gracie sleep, her beautiful grey fur gleaming in the moonlight coming through a tent window. She was different, not like any of them. She was treated unfairly by the team and by Mark, she knew it to be so, and yet seemed indifferent to the whole matter. Gracie was far too smart, too quiet, too beautiful, too civilized to appear to belong in this team of mongrels. And that was why she was the object of the other guys' unwanted attentions; she was the definite outcast, the odd one out compared to everyone else, and so she was an easy target for the frustration of failure. Gracie was the misfit, so she had to be the one making them flop, right? The team was too saintly, too good, too perfect that they couldn't lose on their own, so she just had to be the reason for their shortcomings. And Chip found that quite hypocritical. Oh well, it's not as though he could or would beat sense into his witless teammates.

We started the next day bright and early at 6 am sharp. I again was fed last so did I not get to finish my breakfast like usual. There wasn't anything I could do, so, like always, I just went with the unfair treatment and the cruelty. I knew that if I ran away, Mother Nature would only be even harsher on me, so that was out of the question, no matter how much I was tempted to do so at times. As we ran, the continuing pounding of paws on the snow became comforting, like 9 pairs of heartbeats that the team ran on and no one dared to change. But when the sun was directly above us in the sky, piercing us with its blinding, painful arrows, I saw something in the distance, a brown spot, standing out against the diamond-like snow. At first I told myself it was just a mirage, an anomaly caused by the malevolently bright sun, then realized it was moving not with us, but towards us. I came to a halt and broke the montonous rhythm that we had been running to, and, since I was right behind Chip and therefore the supposed second-in-command, forced everyone else to slow dow and stop as well, which brought curses and mutterings from the team and a loud command from Mark to move again. Squinting and straining, I finally recognized the URO, or Unidentified Running Object. It was a grizzly, and based on what I saw, it was coming straight towards us.

Gracie yelled, "Bear! Bear! Coming straight for us!" Of course, no one believed her. The team thought she had finally cracked and were falling over laughing, while Mark muttered something about, "Crazy dog," even though the only thing he saw was Gracie standing there barking at nothing. Chip, even with his generally higher faith in Gracie, thought she must be seeing something, because he had never heard of a grizzly running towards a dog team unprovoked before. The best thing he could do was just to get Gracie to stop yelling about a bear and start running again. The only thing was that Gracie was very stubborn due to her years of quietly subverting and rebelling against Mark and the other boys, so shutting her up when she didn't want to could be quite a struggle. However, Chip was sure that Gracie would eventually realize that there was no bear and start again on her own if the boys and Mark didn't force her to before that.
How very wrong he was.

The bear ran charged the sled, sinking its knives of claws into our food bundle and crushing some of the wood structure, just barely mising Mark. It then roared, and, in a rage, slammed its feet into the ground and somehow only sliced my strap that connected me to the mangled sledge. I dodged, just barely missing the opportunity to become a pancake under that half-ton of fur. I then looked up and saw its eyes, and I will never forget the madness I saw, the frenzied look of psychopath who lives to kill. I then saw its mouth, which was surrounded by a thick foam of saliva. I didn't know this at the time, but the bear had rabies, and was so insane it would die within a couple days anyways. Suddenly I felt a pulling on my harness and thought the sled was getting dragged away by the grizzly, us included, when I realized the sled wasn't even there any more. In the distance I saw my team running away with the broken toboggan. In vain I tried to run after them, but the pulling just increased. I strained, with all of my might, and finally snapped my leather straightjacket a moment before the bear, with my harness, fell to its death off a cliff I hadn't even known was there.

Chip always wondered what happened to Gracie, the girl who had unintentionally stolen his heart. No matter how he tried, he could never forget her bravery in standing up to the grizzly and the shame he felt whenever he remembered how he abandoned her to save his own sorry skin. He should have been the one left behind, not her. Oh well. Hopefully she would take her vengeance on his wretched soul in the afterlife.

I walked slowly, my joints hurting from the cold and the long run. It had been so many years, about 5 since the griz, since I had seen Chip that I couldn't belive I was going to get to meet him again. I sauntered up the steps to the door I had been told was his and knocked with my paw. The frame opened, and there was Chip, in his handsome, black-furred entirety. I found myself staring with my mouth opened, then recovered and said, "Remember me?"


Pet's name: Moon's Shining Star (Twin) and Pet's name: Amber Moon (Moon) and Pet's name: Shaw

"Hey Shaw," I said, smiling at him. He was sooo hot, all of the girls at Lupa High were falling for him, including me. He probably knew I liked him, but oh well, at least I wasn't as obvious as Katie or Hailee.
"Hi," he responded, grinning back at me. He had such perfect teeth and hair and-
"Shaw!" Hailee and Katie called in unison, edging me out of the way in their efforts to get to him. I turned away, disgusted at how selfish and mean those girls were. Then I realized I would probably do the same thing in their circumstances.
"You know your mouth is open, right?" came the familiar and comforting voice of my best friend Lizzie Lightning. Her real name was Elizabeth but she would literally eletrocute you if you called her that. And yes, her whole family has like lighting and moon powers, so she's not the only one. Because of her powers and her IQ, she's what you could call a trouble kid. She always got bored in class because she had the lesson done before the teacher even started so she goofed off and pulled pranks on everyone, generally involving electricity or gravity, and once I was done, I helped. Boy, those were fun to pull off. Lizzie also was the only girl in the school who hadn't fallen for Shaw.
"Yeah, I know," I said dreamily, still staring at Shaw's retreating back. I then snapped out of it and asked, "How do you not think he's hot Lizzie?"
"Cause I like Black Moon as much as you like Shaw." Black Moon was her boyfriend, another trouble kid who was brilliant and had powers. Only he specialized in death and darkness and destruction, oh my. But he was really hot. In my opinion, he was tied for 2nd-hottest boy in the school with his brother Maugrim, both of them behind Shaw. Oh, Shaw. I could go on and on about him.
"Well, Shaw's attractive, but Black Moon and I are intellectual mates as well as he's hot."
"Hah, I got you to admit Shaw's attractive! Victory for Twin!" I cried, watching the subtly dangerous look Lizzie got when she was ticked creep across her face. Wind then started whipping through the hall, and air crackled with electricity. Oh crap, that means Lizzie's seriously ticked.
"You're not gonna electrocute me, are you?" I joked, teasing her even more.
"No," she replied dryly, "but I might just shock you out of your skin." Lizzie now was grinning, and I thought for like the millionth time how she was the most beautiful girl in the school.
"Good, because lightning-fried Twin would not be cool or taste very good," I joked.
"Yeah," she agreed. "You'd be too bony." Then we both laughed.

I felt the wind that ripped through the hall, which meant Lizzie Lightning was either mad or joking. Dang, was she pretty. But not as pretty as Twin, who she always hung out with. I thought Twin liked me, but I wasn't sure. I knew for a fact that Lizzie was like the only one who didn't. And trust me, having all of the girls in the high school fall for you was not as good as it may seem. Because generally there is always one that doesn't, and, for some reason, you always fall for her, which was originally the case with Lizzie. At the beginning of the year, she was the only girl who wasn't tripping head over heels for me, so, of course, I had a monster crush on her. Then I found out her boyfriend was like the hottest guy in the school who was brilliant and had death, darkness and destruction powers, so that meant she was off limits unless I wanted to get my butt kicked by Black Moon and by Lizzie herself. I still sort of have a crush on her, but now that I've met Twin, she's my major crush. She's really smart, really pretty and really nice and so far she was the only one that I thought liked me that didn't stalk me everywhere. My type of girl. I had plans to ask her out during 5th period, and I prayed she would say yes.

"So, do you wanna go to the movies? You know, like, a date?"
Wait, what was my name again? Right now all I knew was that my crush Shaw had just asked me out.Over in the corner I saw a girl, I think her name was Lizzie, mouthing the word, "Yes," so I said that.
"Yes, I'd love to." Lizzie then gave me a thumbs-up and a nod that said, "Well done."
"I can't believe Shaw just asked me out," I told her when I got back to our table. "I mean, this is like my dream come true." I then noticed all of the evil looks the other girls were giving me and returned the favor.
"You're pretty lucky Twin." Lizzie was smiling at the look on my face, which I can imagine looked like I had just won a million dollars, though in my book Shaw is better than any money. "Lots of girls are really jealous now, especially Hailee and Katie."
"Well you know what, they can go die in a whole, or jump off a bridge, or whatever sinks their stinkin' boats," I replied, annoyed that any other girl would even think about laying their dirty paws on my Shaw. "I'm gonna call Moon now and see if Shaw can come over for dinner."

I eyed Shaw up and down and immediately knew what he was: a pretty boy heartbreaker, one that I could never trust with Twin.
As we were eating dinner, I asked Shaw things like, "What do you plan to do after you graduate?" and "Where will you go to college?" I got answers like, "I don't know," and "I don't know." Mmph, typical senior.
After we finished, I let them go up to Twin's room to hang out, but kept an ear out just so I could make sure what they were saying and doing was appropriate, aka no kissing or hugging or basically touching or talking about any of the former. I then heard Shaw and Twin giggling and sprinted as fast as my track-runner legs would let me up to her room and stopped silently outside of her door. Peering through the doorway, I found Shaw and Twin kissing, which made my blood boil. Into the room I swept, pulling Shaw away from Twin and throwing him outside of her room.
"Now why in the heck were you kissing my little sister?" I thundered, trying to make myself look as imposing as possible.
Apparently it worked because that cowardly pretty boy squeaked, "Well, Mr. Amber Moon sir, I really like Twin, so-"
"So nothing," I growled. "That kind of behavior is inappropriate and shall not happen again in my house."
"Yes sir," Shaw yelped.
"What did you say?" I aimed for extra effect to enforce the notion he will not be found in this house again with Twin in the same room without my supervision.
"Yes sir."

Finally it was graduation day. After almost a month of seeing Shaw in secret without Moon's permission, I could finally live on my own with Shaw away from Moon. Wait. Away from Moon. I couldn't leave him just like that. I loved him as much as I loved Shaw, if not more, and Moon was the only family I had left. Oh my gosh, this was another one of those crazy situations I always got myself in. In these things I always had to make decisions I would regret whichever way I went, and this was no different. The only family I had left and loved with all of my heart or my boyfriend, the best guy in world besides Moon. Grr, my life is too complicated. I mean, it's not like I could just leave both of 'em, I loved them too much for that. But I couldn't have just one, I loved them too much for that too. But since Moon now hated Shaw, it was very unlikely I would get the best of both worlds. Oh well, a girl can try, can't she? But with Moon, trying isn't gonna cut it.

The time for me to get my diploma finally came, and as I walked on stage with my robe and hat, I felt so proud to be one of Lupa High's graduating class of 2013. The whole crowd cheered as I received my paper, and I picked out Moon whistling in the back and Lizzie yelling, "That's my girl!" and Shaw just applauding in the student section. By the time all of the diplomas were handed out, I was almost bored, because the only ones I paid attention to were Lizzie's and Shaw's. Lizzie, of course, was valedictorian and the top athlete in the school, boy or girl, who had gotten scholarships to Yale, Princeton, Harvard and like 50 other colleges. Shaw was the homecoming king, which I knew just had to be the case, even though I hadn't really even known he existed when the elections were held. At the very end, Lupa High held to its tradition of the students getting up and making little speeches or whatever they wanted to say about graduating. I was really suprised when Lizzie didn't get up and say something, and equally shocked when Shaw left his seat, since as far as I knew he wasn't the public speaking type, but still I listened very closely.
"As a lot of you may know," he began, "Twin and I have been going out for a month now." He looked over at me, and I could clearly see Moon scowling in the far corner, which made me smirk a little.
"And you know, Twin is an amazing girlfriend. She's beautiful, brilliant, one of the kindest people I know and she's sporty. I mean, what more could I guy ask for?" he addressed me almost more than the crowd, never taking his sterling blue gaze off me. "And so, I wanna ask that incredible girl, Moon's Shining Star, if she'll marry a boy like me, who may not have much more to offer than his love, but does have a lot of that," he finished, his voice fading away, his love-filled eyes doing the talking.
I so desperately wanted to say yes to the boy of my dreams, but then I remembered that I had Moon, and that he had half of my heart. I searched him out in the throng at met his gaze. I mouthed, "Ok?"
He mouthed, "Ok," and nodded his approval, tears brimming in his mismatched eyes.
I then got up and took the microphone from Shaw and said one simple word that made my life.
"Yes."

[Sonmi-451]

Rain (f) and Thunder (m)

"Nice tie," Rain said to me as she walked past. Her large, shimmering, feathered wings glimmered in the light from the windows dispersed between clumps of lockers. She was so pretty and perfect that I really felt like kissing her and worshiping her at the same time.
"Thanks," I replied after about 2 seconds of beautiful-girl-I-have-a-crush-on-late-reaction-time silence, looking down at my black-with-exclamation-point tie. Then, screwing up my courage, I asked, "Rain, do you wanna go for a milkshake after school?"
"Sure," she said, turning around to look me in the eye. "As long as you buy."
"Of course," I said. "It just wouldn't be a gentlemanly thing to make the lady buy her own milkshake." i smiled at her, and hoped it wasn't too obvious that I had a crush on her.
"See ya at Sonic then," she told me, then twirled back around and continued to walk down the hallway.

"Score for the Rain!" I thought to myself as I left Thunder. Finally he had asked me out! I had been giving him compliments and looks since the beginning of school that made it clear I wanted him to, but guys just can't take a hint! Oh well, at least 5 and a half months later Thunder did. As I glided down the hall (yes, glided, don't judge me, those wings make me feel special), many other guys catcalled and said things like, "So you goin' out with Spots now? Honestly, is your hotness scale mixed up with your weird one?"
"Oh shut up," I growled. "You're just jealous that I said yes to him and not to you. And his name's not Spots, it's Thunder."
"Ooh, Rain's got spunk," one of them, named Mark, teased. "I like a girl with spunk."
"Well you know what, I'm not your biggest fan Mark, so please leave me alone before I make you." I was annoyed now.
"Bring it Rain," he taunted, making mock fists with his paws.
"Fine," I said, then launched at him airborne. The force of my weight threw him down loudly and apparently painfully, as he got up groaning and rubbing his head.
"You ready for Round 2, or have you got all of the butt-kicking by a girl you can take?"
"You win, Rain. I surrender as long as you don't do that again."
"Good Mark. And remember, I can and will beat you up."

If I was having a milkshake with anyone besides Rain, the milkshake would be the best part of the deal, 'cause it's my favorite food. But Rain trumps all, even chocolate milkshakes, and I told her so.
"You know, I never thought I would say something is better than chocolate milkshakes," I commented, sipping in the cold, rich, creamy awesomeness while looking at the most awesome girl I had ever seen.
"Well, what's better? I know you love milkshakes enough to kill for them, so what could you possibly like more?" she asked, sounding bored like she was just trying to humor me.
"I'm lookin' at her," I breathed, smiling in a way that I knew was obvious I loved Rain. I then looked her in the eye, and she stared back, and then, I knew that my life was now complete, because she felt the same way about me. Moving over to her side of the table, I put my arm around her, and she snuggled up next to me, wrapping her wing around me. "Are we now..."
"Going out?" she finished for me. "Yeah, we are." She then gave me a light kiss on the lips, and I was left dumbfounded. It was like I had died and gone to heaven.

After a while of just sitting there, thinking about how I had finally gotten Thunder to be my boyfriend and him probably thinking nothing, considering I had just kissed him, I suggested, "How about you come over to my place, and we do the whole 'meet the parents' thing?"
"Sure," he agreed. "I'm happy as long as you're there."
As we walked through the parking lot back to his car, a black sedan came whipping around the corner. Thunder then ran and pushed me out of the way and got himself clipped by the SUV. "Thunder!" I yelled in fear, and sprinted, part of the time my feet not even touching the ground, to his side. Immediately pulling out my phone, I put the paramedics on speaker and managed to snap a picture of the license plate of the car that just hit Thunder.

"Uhh," I groaned. "Where am I?" I tried to sit up, but instantly someone was beside me, telling me not to. "What happened?" I asked, letting myself sink back into the bed I had been sleeping in.
"You got hit by a car and was in a coma," a voice I recognized came. "We were so worried Thunder."
Blearily I opened my eyes and saw the most beautiful girl I had ever thought I'd seen in front of me with an anxious yet relieved look on her face. A name was coming to me -
"Rain," I muttered, not sure if I was right but not sure I was wrong.
"Thunder, you remember!" she cried, and ran over to me a gave me a big hug that I'm pretty sure cracked most of the ribs not already broken. With the sweet, watery smell of her perfume, my memories came back, and I remembered pushing Rain out of the way and the pain and smiling at her stunning face right before I blacked out.
"Ohh, it's nice to see you too Rain, but could you maybe squeeze a little less 'cause I think all my ribs are re cracked or just cracked," I told her, and she instantly stop suffocating me was now just slowly smothering me. Oh well, at least it was Rain instead of my mom.
"So how long have I been out?" I was thinking maybe a day or two -
"One week."
"Holy crap! One week!?" I yelped, startling Rain enough to get her to let go of me.
"Yep," she confirmed, looking at me for a reaction.
"What about my friends, and school, and everything?" I questioned, now sitting up and refusing to lay back down.
"Well, everyone's been really worried about you, including me," Rain said. "And as for school, everyone except for Mark and his cronies are upset you're not there."
"Wow, I didn't think I was that popular," I remarked, actually quite surprised.
"Thunder, you're a hero. You saved my life and almost lost yours," Rain said, then looked over at her parents and motioned for them to go away.
"Why'd you do that?" I was confused. I thought Rain was supposed to have like parental supervision wherever she went or whatever.
"So I could do this," she whispered, then bent down and kissed me.

About an hour later we were both sitting on Thunder's hospital bed, eating gross hospital food while watching Jeopardy. Thunder was calling out the answers and getting almost every one right.
"Wow Thunder," I commented. "You should be on there. You could beat all of them out and win the show."
"Yeah, maybe," He said, shrugging. "But then I'd have to leave you, and that would be no good at all." He had the cutest smile. No, he was the cutest.
"Hey, you done with your tray?" I asked. About half the food was left but I figured he couldn't stomach any more. I knew I couldn't.
"Yeah," he said, looking down with disdain upon the mushy steak and even mushier mashed potatoes, and, of course, the jello. "Why couldn't they at least make an effort to make this stuff taste bad?"
"What do you mean? It already does."
"No, right now it's horrible, but if they added some salt and stop cooking towards the toothless crowd, it'd taste bad, a step up from its current state," Thunder stated, a small grin creeping across his face.
"I don't like that face," I told him. "Cause usually when you have that face you just got an evil genius idea."
"You know me too well," he smirked, then took some mashed potato off his plate and threw it at me.

When the hospital staff found us about 15 minutes later, we were both covered in imitation potato (we decided it was that after tasting it) kissing. It probably wasn't that hard to find us - just follow the path of fake potato destruction. After I hit Rain the first time, she threw some of hers back at me and then ducked just in time for my counter to drill some old lady in the back who was passing down the hall. She then turned around and started screaming bloody murder and waving her cane like she was going to take our heads off. Thus I yelled to Rain that it would be way more fun to hit old people than it would each other, so we teamed up and sniped anyone coming down the hall with a shot of bogus vegetable, subsequently agreed that just hitting people coming down our corridor was too boring, and went off in search of prey, and you can guess the rest.
But when the big old Mrs. Hitler nurse came stomping down the hallway and dragged us back off to my room, we silently made a consensus that if we ever did something like that again, Mrs. Hitler would be our first target. Of course, we would do hit-and-run, cause I didn't want to stay around and see how angry she got. She threw us headfirst into my room, muttered something about getting a janitor and a whip, and stormed off, slamming the door behind her.
"Well that was fun," I told Rain, who, even though she was covered in sham spuds, still looked amazing. I, on the other hand, probably looked something awful, even worse than I usually did.
"Yeah," she agreed, a diabolic smile breaking across her face. "Next time, Hitler lady's our main target."
"Yep, and we gotta hit her good and hard as payback for throwing us in here."
"Uh huh."
Some awkward silence, then, "So what do we do now?" I asked. "The TV's broken cause one of my shots hit the wires and blew them out, so..."
Rain hopped up on my bed and patted the spot next to her. "Let's just relax. After all, I'm sorta tired after hitting 20 out of 20 targets," she said with a smirk on her face.
I sat down next to her, and she snuggled up to her, her warm fur smelling like gross false potatoes and, faintly, that wonderful smell she always had of sweet water. She soon fell asleep against my chest, and as I watched her serene, incredible face, I wondered how a grade A geek like me landed a girl like her.


Laylah (F) and Nakuri (M)

"Oh, god," the beautiful girl groaned, rubbing the top of her head. "Where am I?"
Nakuri watched as she got up with some difficulty and walked around, examining her cell of steel. She was an observant one, he noted, as she inspected the rusted lock and began to pick it with one claw. Now this was where he came in.
"You may not leave," Nakuri ordered, leaping down from his perch on the rocks surrounding the cage. "You have been captured and taken in for study."
"How am I any different than you?" she asked. "I'm a dog, you're a dog."
"No, you are not just a dog. Our scientists have been able to tell through scent and blood tests that you are a hybrid of some sort."
"Well then your scientists must be crazy, because I'm no hybrid."
"Your blood does not lie," Nakuri told her finally then turned away and barked for guards to make sure she did not escape.
"You will let me go, you will set me free," she commanded from behind him. Instantly Nakuri felt an urgent pull to do exactly as she wished, to turn around and let the stunning girl go, yet somehow he managed to resist and break the spell her words wove.
"I will not."

"Well this is fun," Laylah muttered, watching the dogs with clip pads return her gaze and occasionally write down something. "I'm stuck here with a bunch of crazy dogs that think I'm something I'm not and don't look like they're gonna let me go soon. Maybe I can act like they want me to and then they'll set me free. But then if I convince them I'm a hybrid, they probably won't let me go 'cause they'll want to study me more. I guess I truly am stuck."
"Interesting," one of the psychos keeping her locked up said to himself. "The girl seems to only have half of the usual DNA. It must have something to do with whatever her other half is."
"Grr, how many times do I have to tell you that I am not a hybrid?!" Laylah cried, finally cracking with frustration at their delusion. She was not abnormal, much to the contrary belief of the crazy doctors that would probably run and try to stab her with a needle any second.
"Of course you aren't," one murmured just to shut her up.
"Well then why am I locked in a steel box surrounded by a bunch of psycho scientists with needles?!"
"Quiet!" the black dog with spiderweb patterns barked. "You will comply, hybrid, or we will put you out to test you."
"Oh yeah?" Laylah growled, adrenaline and rage pulsing through her veins. "Cause it looks to me like your hybrid's about to break out." And with that, she threw her whole weight at the already loose rusting door and snapped the lock.

Nakuri snorted as the scientists ran. They were supposed to be brilliant but that by no means meant they were tough. Snarling, he advanced on the girl, admiring her gorgeous features and thinking that it was a pity she was hybrid.
The girl snarled back and growled, "Get out of my way or I will hurt you."
Nakuri chuckled quietly, then taunted, "And I'm supposed to be afraid of a pretty-girl hybrid? You may be scary enough to make the scientists run, but it will take a lot more than some teeth to frighten me."
"Well I'm just gonna have to change that then."
But just as the girl was about to lunge, a blinding pillar of light appeared between them and she stepped back, startled. Out of the brilliance stepped a radiant human woman that for some reason bore an unsettling resemblance to the hybrid. Now Nakuri was wary. Even he had never seen anything like this.
"Who are you?" the girl asked cautiously.
"It's a shame you don't recognize family Laylah," the woman replied, smiling.
"Who in the heck are you?" Laylah demanded, looking angry and defiant now.
"I am Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love," both Nakuri and Laylah gasped, "and your mother."

"Impossible," Laylah breathed. "My mom is dead, there are no such things as Greek gods and you are human."
"You are wrong on all of those Laylah," Aphrodite told her. "I had to leave 3 months after you were born because of Olympian business, and your father told you the story that I was dead so to not let you know about me. And yes, there are such things as Greek gods; you are looking at one."
"But how do I know you are real?" As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Laylah had an urge to bend down and cry her eyes out for no apparent reason.
"That was me who did that," Aphrodite said quietly.
"But then if you're a god and you're my mom, then I'm a, I'm a half-god! Holy crap, my life just got a whole lot more complicated." Yet somehow, even though the proof was standing right in front of her, Laylah still felt that the gods couldn't exist, because that would mean her world was turned upside down.
"You still doubt." Aphrodite scanned Laylah's face thoughtfully. "Why?"
"Because all of my world's leaders can't be wrong, can they? My whole world can't be so unlike I've been told, can it? Everything I know and hold dear have to be like how they seem, right? Everything I know can't be hopelessly wrong, can it?" Laylah's voice had risen to a panicked shout.
"It can and is daughter," Aphrodite confirmed gravely.
"Don't call me that," Laylah snarled, her face contorting with anger.
"Why not?"
"Because you're not my mother."
"Why not?"
"Because even though you may have given birth to me, no real mother just ditches her kid! No real mother just shows up 18 years later and asks for forgiveness that won't be given! And you know what, I have no real mother, because I never had anyone to love me and care for me besides Dad!" Laylah stormed off, partly relieved but still steaming to have gotten to vent about a mother she didn't even think existed.

"Laylah, wait!" Nakuri called, his long legs catching up to her easily.
"What?" she snapped, clearly annoyed that someone would interrupt her in the middle of fuming.
"We need to talk," he told her, his green eyes meeting her golden ones, and for a fleeting moment, they had an agreement.
"All right," she sighed, and her face lost the energy rage had given it and became an effigy of sadness, her eyes becoming wells you could fall into and never come out of.
Once they had bounded out of earshot of Aphrodite, he turned and said, "I need to tell you something."
"Well I figured that," she snorted, looking faintly amused. "I mean, that's the point of talking to people."
"Well mine's actually a secret I've never told anyone." This made her pause and give him a long, calculating stare.
"Well then why in the heck are you telling me, of all people, a demigod you just met, a secret that's never been spoken?"
"Because you're the one who needs to hear it most." For the first time in his life, Nakuri felt something for a girl, this girl, this way-out-of-his-league demigod, and he felt quite uncomfortable yet perfectly right whenever he looked at her and felt his heart almost thump out of his chest.
"Laylah," Nakuri began, pausing. How would he say it? "Laylah, I'm... I'm a demigod too, except I'm a son of Hades."

"You're what?!" Laylah exclamined, although it really wasn't that surprising given his personality and looks.
"I'm a son of Hades, the Lord of the Dead," Nakuri repeated, this time with more confidence, his emerald eyes shining as he looked upon her. Laylah suddenly knew that he had fallen for her, like so many other guys had, but he was not like any of those other guys. He was a son of the underworld, Prince of the Dead, an outcast. And Laylah loved him for it.
"You've fallen for me, haven't you?" she asked plainly, wishing to confirm her suspicions, although his eyes gave him away.
"Yeah, I have," he replied, smiling slightly, his face taking on a sad look. "You're a daughter of the goddess of love, what else can I say? But I already know you haven't fallen for me, for who loves the insane Master of Death?"
"Well then you need to get a reality check," Laylah told him, then stood on the very tips of her paws, since Nakuri was actually quite tall, and gave him a small kiss on the cheek.

And so they lived, the strangest union Olympus had ever seen, rewriting the history books and making their own legends, all the while properly raising a family of their own, unlike the godly tradition.

[Sonmi-451]

Scarflight (m) and Beau (f)

"Oh God, honestly?!" I cried as I ran. My shoulder throbbed and I could hear the wingbeats coming even closer and closer, bringing upon their green scales my eminent doom. I ducked and rolled at just the right time to avoid getting tackled and send him flying into the dirt, but the pain was so excruciating it would almost be better just to die there and then rather than live another minute. But I would not die lying on the ground like a coward, no, never. I would die with the honor and nobility I had been raised with, and I would face my attacker and go down fighting. Snarling, I drew myself up shakily and tried to look intimidating, which clearly didn't work since Mr. Greenjerk burst out laughing.
"You are pathetic," he teased maliciously. "How 'bout you just wander on home to your rag-tag pack and get yourself cleaned up, and then we'll see about fighting."
That struck a serious nerve. How dare he insult my pack, much less me! "Really, 'cause you don't look so good yourself Mr. Scarface."
"Well at least I'm not half dead and about to be dead," he spat back, and lunged for my throat.
This time I was too slow and he slammed me down, causing me to yelp in pain. "Oh, God," I groaned as my vision blurred. The last thing I remember is Mr. Scarface looming over me, coming in for the kill.

"Ohh, where in the heck am I?" I muttered, sitting up so I could get a better view of my surroundings. As far as I could tell, I was in a rough stone cave, with Mr. Scarface sitting over near a small fire in the center. "Oh, great, apparently we're gonna do Round 2 or something."
"Good, you're up," he told me brisquely, upon hearing me talk.
"Um, I have a question," I began awkwardly.
"Yes?"
"Um, why am I still alive?"
"Well, I couldn't kill you; I'd get killed if I killed you," he replied, calculating my expressions.
"Why? You're from a different pack clearly, so why wouldn't you just kill me? I'm not an alpha or even a beta in my pack, so ransom wouldn't really have any value," I said, partly to him and partly just voicing my thoughts.
"You have been chosen by the leader of my pack, Kyne, to be his mate," Mr. Scarface told me formally.
"What?! I'm supposed to be your leader's mate?!"
"Correct. Boy, you catch on fast," he replied sacastically.
"But why? Why me, Beau, one of the many subordianates of the Two Moons Pack, to be the mate of a guy I've never even seen?" I persisted, determined to get an answer.
"Because one time, when he came over to your pack for a diplomatic visit, he saw you and then could never get you out of his mind." Mr. Scarface sounded bored now.
"So that was him? Ahh, it actually sort of makes sense now. Ooh, he's really handsome," I mumbled, blushing when I saw Scarface's amused look.
"Kyne will be pleased that you have taken an interest in him already. Maybe even so pleased that I'll get a raise, imagine that," he muttered to himself.
"So when do I get to meet him?" I asked excitedly, now ok with the whole arranged-mating thing.
"Today if we move quickly," Scarface growled, annoyed at something.
"Ok cool, let's get going," I cried, jumping to my feet. "But first... What's your name?"
"Scarflight," he told me, with a touch of sadness. "And after you."

After almost 5 hours of straight running, we finally approached Kyne's pack, which Scarflight told me later was technically called Lithium Warriors. Such a cool name to match such a cool leader. As we jogged into camp, many wolves looked at us and whispered, and quite a few of the guys gave me interested looks and many girls gave me death stares. Slowing down to a walk, Scarflight fell behind and urged me to proceed on to a large, decorated human tent, which must have been Kyne's headquarters.
Even before I got there, however, I heard a melodic, strong voice behind me. "Hello Beau."
I turned around and found myself looking upon the most handsome wolf I had ever seen, with a dazzling smile and kind eyes. "Um, hi," I stammered and was almost blinded by his teeth.
"I'm glad you made it here quickly, I'll have to give Scarflight a raise," he replied, looking me up and down as though inspecting me. "As you can guess, I am Kyne, your mate-to-be.You're just as beautiful as I remembered."
"Thanks, it's nice to finally personally meet you." I was still quite shy since I was in a new territory but couldn't believe what luck I had. I was going ot get to be the mate of the most handsome as well as the nicest guy I had ever met. Ooh, this day just couldn't get any better.
"You too." He never stopped smiling, which was not easy on my eyes. "So let me show you around." A tour, alone with Kyne? My day had just gotten better, even though it was almost impossible.
The last thing I saw before leaving with Kyne was Scarflight looking on with jealousy in his eyes, which made me feel something, not pity or anger, but something else, something weird, sort of like I felt when I looked at Kyne.

"This is a great view," I commented to Kyne as we sat on cliff together that overlooked the ocean. It was sunset, and the setting sun had lit the water on fire with orange and yellow and red color.
"It's not as good as the one I'm looking at," he told me, love in his eyes.
"This is almost too perfect Kyne. You're perfect, this setting is perfect, it's almost too perfect that I think I might be dreaming and that any second now I'll wake up back in my home surrounded by a bunch of laughing wolves."
"Well then I'll just have to pinch you," he breathed, and leaned over, gave me a small wake-up call, and kissed me.

We returned to the pack in the middle of the night, have spent hours talking and hunting and kissing. Upon arrival, we found Scarflight waiting for us with a disapproving scowl on his slashed face.
"As your friend, Kyne, I'm telling you you should have been back hours ago. Many of us were very worried."
"I'm sorry Scarflight, but I don't remember appointing you to my personal guardian."
"I'm your friend, and therefore one of my jobs is to look out for you," Scarflight recovered smoothly, his eyes flicking between us.
"Well I thank you for that, but it is not necessary. I don't want you get even more scars on my account. And I was also wondering if you would be willing to be my best man and give Beau away at our mating ceremony in a week."
The green, grizzled face looked very taken aback and for once his eyes lost their angry light. "Well, of course Kyne, I would love to."

With a flower behind my ear and Kyne on my left, we walked together down the small grassy path that served as an aisle. All of the eyes of the Lithium Warriors were on us, but I only had eyes for Kyne, who looked so incredible.
As we stopped in front of the shaman, the old man would mate us, Kyne whispered, "Are you ready?"
I nodded in return, tyring to stop my heart from coming out of mouth.
During the ceremony, I half-listened to all of the things the shaman said, mostly thinking about that I would be mated to Kyne within a few minutes. When it came to the, "Speak now or forever hold your peace," part, I didn't think anyone actually would, even as a prank. But someone did.
Scarflight.

"I do," he said quietly, his red eyes glowing even more intensely than usually.
"Why, Scarflight? You're my friend. Why would you do this to me?" Kyne cried, but Scarflight seemed not to hear.
"I have a problem with this mating because I love Beau, and Kyne, you knew I did, because I had told you many times."
"I'll admit, you did tell me you loved her, but I can't help if we both fall for the same girl. In that situation, the best man gets her, and this time it was me." Kyne looked rather guilty.
"No, you weren't the best man fairly, you were just the one who had the power," Scarflight spat, hatred giving him an evil twist. "If I had been Alpha and you just the friend, then we would probably be in reversed situations now."
"Perhaps that is true. But I don't intend to not mate Beau," Kyne said, turning to look at me and seeing the doubt and confusion clouding my eyes. "Or maybe we should just let her decide."
"I agree."
I took a deep breath. "Well, Kyne I love you, but I love Scarflight too, just as much. So maybe I just shouldn't mate either of you and avoid breaking your hearts." This brought gasps from the crowd and protests from both wolves.
"No, Beau, at least mate one of us," they both pleaded.
"Ok, ok, I see the whole neutral thing isn't going to work, so... Oh God, how do I choose?" I cried. Then, as if God had actually been listening, a painful, yet problem-solving idea popped into my head. "I have a very important, but very difficult question to ask both of you..."
"Yes?" they chimed in eagerly.
"Would you leave this pack for me? Because I think the only way I can be with either one of you is if I leave the pack and you come with me."
Kyne hesitated, but Scarflight said, "Yes, I would leave with you and for you. I'm getting rather tired of having to compete with my best friend all of the time and getting bested all of the time anyways." He gave Kyne a small smile.
"I'm sorry Beau, but I have a duty to my pack, and I cannot go." Kyne looked very melancholy, and probably would have been bawling but he had to be strong in front of his subjects.
"Well it's settled then. Scarflight, let's get going," I commanded quickly, trying to restore order and reduce damage.
"And Kyne, I won't be needing this where I'm going," I told him, pulling the flower from my hair. "Keep it as something to remember me by." I gave him a small smile, took one of the swords from the bodyguards ("For protection," I explained) and walked out of the door, an amazed yet joyously happy Scarflight following suit.

Had the couple kept in touch with civilization, they would have heard the stories of Kyne, the incredible leader of the most powerful pack to have ever lived, who was an infamous ladies' man, but could often be heard saying he could never forget his first love, Beau.


Pet's name: Virgo (f) and Pet's name: Balance (m)

Her wings were crumpled and battered, her halo losing its glow and her eyes losing their sparkle. In short, she looked far from perfect, which she would have been usually. But to me, the one who had only seen similarity and plainness, she was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. As I watched her climb out of the impact crater she had made when her heavenly body hurled to Earth, I wondered who she was and how she got there, but all of my thoughts about calling the police were lost when I saw her confused, scared and weary face.
Leaping out of my arboreal hiding place, I called to her, "Hello?" and got "Thank goodness, someone is there!" in return.
"Would you like some food stranger?" Her blue-hued fur glowed with a celestial pattern and her stunning face held a kindly, relieved smile.
"Yes, please, thank you."

She spoke little as she ate, clearly ravenous. As the nourishment from the food started to take effect, her body began to repair itself, her feathers fixing themselves, her eyes shining again, her band of light gleaming almost blindingly.
When she finished, she beamed upon me and said, "Thank you for the hospitality but I am afraid I must be going."
"Thank you for gracing me with your presence, constellation," I replied, bowing deeply and proud of myself for discovering her true nature.
"So you figured it out," she commented, pleasant surprise her current reaction. "I am quite amazed, but quite impressed."
Gliding towards the door, she paused suddenly, plucked one quill from her shimmering wings and handed it to me.
"A token of my gratitude. Whenever you need me, I will be there. Thank you again mortal. I will be sure to put a good word in for you when you die, and also make sure you don't die too soon."
With that she was gone, like one of her very own holy feathers in the wind, vanished in a blinding flash of light, leaving no trace of her Earthly existence except for a small pile of dazzling star dust, far more beautiful and far rarer than any diamond.

I had never forgotten her, even through Armageddon and the end of all life as I knew it. She was the one thing, the one good memory I had of the time before the apocalypse, for I had no other memories besides the one of her, as apparently I had lost the rest during World War III. Always when I ran into battle with the rest of my American dog survivors I thought of her and seemed to feel her wings around me, protecting me and guiding me as I fought in this crazy, cruel experiment of a world the higher power had left me in. Sometimes I wondered if this was a punishment for something I had done that I had no recollection of, and other times, such as when we won wars and drove the demons back, I thought this might be my purpose in life, the thing I had been created to do, an honorable position if not a reward. But the only thing I knew for certain was her; I knew she existed because I was far more imaginary than she was. She was always up there in the heavens, guiding and protecting me from this world's horrors. The hope of seeing her immortal face or hearing her melodic voice again was the only thing that drove me, for my life was lost and everything I knew was crumbling under the weight of the higher power's hatred or cruel trick. Or maybe my planet had been abandoned by God and now was Satan's playground, but the single thing I was positive about was that she was there, somewhere, maybe a million or a billion or a trillion miles or years away, and that she was guarding me.

The demons were winning this fray, and all around me my friends were falling, their screams piercing my soul. I was praying to God, I might have even been praying to Satan, but I was praying for salvation if I was to die and life if I wasn't. The divine crest I had put into a yin and yang sign, which was worn around my neck to remind me that there was some benevolence left in this apathetic realm, started to emanate a blue-tinted blinding light. An aurora in the form of a wolf appeared next to me, her body glistening like the stars of which she was made.
"I knew you would come back eventually," I breathed, nearly crying with happiness that my angel had come back.
"I never let down promises, and I always answer prayers." If it was possible, her face was more beautiful than ever before, and her eyes shone like sapphires with the radiance of the sun.
"Good, because there is a battle to win and lives to save and possibly even dogkind at stake here."
"Well then, we have work to do."
"Yes." I couldn't believe she was in front of me again, her azure beacon filling my unworthy eyes. "But first, what is your name?"
"I am your sign, Balance. I am Virgo."

[Sonmi-451]

Pet's name: Hurley (m) and Pet's name: Nymeria (f)

Pet's name: Kodiak (m)

I sprinted after the gazelle, fighting to keep my instincts from taking over. The blood of millions of years of hunters pulsed in my veins, and currently it was winning over my common dog lineage. My fangs were bared, my claws extended, my eyes on the prize, when something about as graceful as a wounded duck slammed into my left side, throwing me out of the air.

I ambled along, have nowhere to go and nowhere I could call home, after my humans dumped me outside their city so many years ago. I scanned my surroundings, looking for water, but only found more and more and more dried up, dead savannah grass. I growled in distaste and continued to wander.

"Haha sis, I got ya," I told her triumphantly, panting with my paws upon her white-furred chest.
"Ohh, you are such a pain of a brother sometimes," Nymeria growled. "That was supposed to be my kill, you idiot!"
"Well, get over it, the rest of the pack's got it covered." I motioned to the carcass that our family was eating from.
"Grrr, eventually I'll pay you back Kodiak," she growled, then shoved me off and loped over to join the rest, with me following suit.

The animal that should have been mine was not very big, and since Kodiak and I were the omegas, we ate last and therefore didn't have that much meat. But oh well, it was better than no meat at all. Tiki gave us a stern look as we jogged over and patiently waited our turn.
"Nice one Nymeria," Akamaru said sincerely. "You would've had that gazelle if it weren't for Kodiak."
"Yeah, if it weren't for Kodiak," I echoed, grimacing over in his direction. "It's always Kodiak. I would've had a lot more kills if it weren't for him."
"I know what you mean," she said sadly. "Trying to live up to Tiki is hard. When he's your dad, he's going to be the one leading, he's going to be the one killing because he's so famous and tough. But with you, it's sort of the opposite. Kodiak is a goofball, so he purposely stops you from killing. I think it might have something to do with jealousy."
"Me, jealous of Nymeria?" Kodiak burst out laughing. "Never. At least I have a sense of humor." He wandered over to the kill and began to eat his share.
"You have a crush on him, don't you?" I whispered to Akamaru when Kodiak was out of earshot.
"Yeah, I do," she replied, not bothering to keep her voice down. "He may be an omega, but he's funny, and cute, and stupid, and often cute because he's stupid. And I also love him sort of like a sibling thing, 'cause we all grew up together."
"Well I think he would be really lucky to get you as a mate," I told her, smiling. "And I think he likes you too."

A strange scent filled my nostrils. That of a female wild dog, but yet also smelling like a house pet. It was quite odd, and quite unsettling. Where was I, that wild dogs socialized with others? Nevertheless, I decided to follow my nose and find the source of this weird, yet friendly smell, and set off loping into wild dog territory, which would be suicide if I was caught.

I raised my nose to the wind, and sniffed. Carried to me by the breeze was a normal dog's scent, an intruder to my pack's territory. I despised regulars, as I called them, for my father had been one, and he had never done anything for my sister or myself excpet abandon us to fight for survival in the African savannah, in other words a very bad parent. Determined not to let Nymeria have all the glory, I bounded off to dispose of this unwelcome visitor.

Suddenly I jerked to attention when I saw and felt Kodiak move. We had always been connected (it was a twins thing) and so I could tell whenever and oftentimes wherever he went.
"Um, I gotta go," I muttered to Akamaru. "Could you cover for me? It's a Kodiak thing."
"Ok." Her spotted features looked worried. "Just don't die on me or let Kodiak die, ok?"
"Now why would I do that?" I chuckled. "Well actually, if Kodiak gets on my nerves, there's no guarantee that he'll be fine, but trust me, I'll keep myself safe." And with that, I set off, following Kodiak's scent and movement patterns, as well as the scent of a dog.

I was getting more anxious now. It was clear I was coming closer towards the base of my curiousity, but also that, with every step I took, closer to death, for the female's scent was mixed in with that of pure wild dogs, which I had no doubt would kill me. I could also sense another hybrid, this one male, on a collision course with me. Perhaps he was the one they sent to take out the trash, but I would not go down without a fight, and all of my years of fending for myself had made me tough and experienced, so I wasn't afraid of a mutt. And what was this? The female's smell was closer now too; she must be following the other. Good. I would take out two birds with one stone.

My target was approaching; every step he took was one step closer to that dog's eminent doom. I flattened my ears and charged forward, snarling at the thought of a dog on my pack's land. I would take this invader down and make sure he could never get back up.

I was closing in on Kodiak, his movements filling my brain and his dusty, angry smell filling my nostrils. Determined to catch up to him before he caught the invader, I flatlined my body and threw all of my weight forward to give myself an extra burst of speed. Both of their stenches were saturating my nose, my mind, my body with their, angry, excited, anxious emotions, so real I felt it within my own heart and seemed to become the embodiment of of their feelings. I knew the intruder would be dead if I did not get to him before Kodiak did.

The female was overpoweringly worried, while the male was agitated and trying to be dominant. I knew they were only a few feet from me, but due to the 3-foot-tall grass, I could not see them, and figured they could not see me, so I would find them by smell. I turned and sensed the female right next to me, seperated only be a wall of grass. But just as I was going to break through the barrier, I was jumped by the male, and started bleeding from the shoulder as he sunk his canines in, through my armor to my flesh.

I was thrown from his back into some prickly plants, but did not notice the pain of their thorns in fur through the rage I felt. He was a tall dog, with spotted gray fur, wearing armor and cloak of all things. But it wasn't the fact that he was bigger than me that made me afraid. It was his eyes, golden yellow, with more savagery and hatred than I had ever seen living with wild dogs. He looked desperate, tired, the spot where I had bitten through turning a hot red and pouring crimson over the dead landscape.
"Why are you here?" I snarled, spitting out a mix of blood and metal.
"I am here to find the hybrid," he spat back, lowering himself into an attack position.
"Which one of us?" My mouth was on fire, since the iron I had bitten through had severely cut up the inside of my jaw.
"The girl."
That did it. No one was going to come here for Nymeria on my watch, and I leapt for his throat, only to miss and then be pinned by his monstrous paws.

"No, stop!" I cried, desperate to save my brother. "Please!"
Much to my surprise, the stranger stepped off Kodiak and murmured, "So you are the one I came for."
"What are you talking about?" My main goal - saving Kodiak from the invader - was done, so now all I had to do was make sure the grey dog didn't go psychotic.
"I came to this territory because of your scent," he explained. "I had never smelled such a creature as a wild dog-regular dog hybrid before, so I decided to explore and seek you out."
"Ok." This was getting weirder by the minute. "Well, you found me and nobody died in the process, that's a good thing."
"Indeed," he agreed solemnly. "And may I ask your name, fair lady?"
"Um, Nymeria." He had all of the chivalry of the age of his armor. "And what's yours?"
"Hurley." For some reason Hurley looked quite sad at the mentioning of his name. "It's an odd one, I know."
"No, actually I like it." I grinned at him. Hurley really was nice when he wasn't trying to rip your twin brother's throat out.
"Well you're one of the first I've met that do." He returned my smile with an even warmer one.
"So how did you get out here?" I asked, curious about his past.
"I was dumped by my human owners when I was only 6 months old. Since then I have been fighting for life and traveling around the world."
"I'm going to guess you picked up your armor on one of your trips?"
"Correct. I was in England actually," he mused, lost in thought. "You know, the fish and chips up there is incredible."
I burst out laughing. "Of course, typical boy, always focused on the food."
"That's me." Hurley was a really nice guy.
Suddenly, I was sad, for all of my life I had been stuck within a 40-mile radius, but Hurley had been everywhere on this rock, within a 26,000-mile radius.
"What's wrong?" He seemed concerned and almost wary.
"Well, it's just you've been everywhere, and I've been nowhere," I said, a lump in my throat.
"If you want, I can show you the world," he replied, offering to me a paw, which I took gladly.

The three of them - Hurley, Nymeria and Kodiak - wandered the world together, having great adventures and fun. Hurley and Nymeria eventually mated, but Kodiak never found one, as he swore he would never forget his true family and where he came from, and that included Akamaru. She also never forgot him, and every night for the rest of her life, she sent out a howl for him, hoping her mutt would come back.


Pet's name: Eougha (f) and Pet's name: Gwillan (m)

"Mom!" I cried, searching the chaos of the swarm of dogs for her beautiful, greyish-blue face.
"Eougha!" I heard someone call from the opposite end of the evacuation area.
"Mom?!"
"Eougha, over here!" my dad yelled at me, dragging me out of the mob to a corner. "Have you seen her?"
"Well, no I thought that was evident by the fact I was screaming bloody murder over thousands of panicked dogs," I retorted, not losing my attitude.
"Ok." For once my dad didn't say anything about my sort of snappiness, which was a real shocker. "We'll just have to keep looking then." At that exact moment, there was a blinding flash in the sky above the ceiling-less building we were in, I felt a heat so intense I thought I was going to burn up on the spot, and everything went black.

"Are you all right?" I asked the Aussie shepherd mix. She was clearly breathing, but her mottled brown fur was dotted with dust, debris, and crimson flakes of dried blood.
"Ohh, what happened?" she groaned, flicking her eyelids weakly.
"You survived Armageddon, that's what." She was doing far better than any of the other survivors of the bomb my pack had found, because none of the others would wake up.
"What?" Her eyes were bleary, and she clearly was dazed and confused.
"You are the only survivor of the bombing at the evaucation station that was a part of Armageddon," I repeated, relieved she was coming to her senses.
"Where's my family? Where's my mom Rain and my dad Thunder?" She bolted upright, a terribly worried look upon her face.
"I'm sorry, but you are the only survivor we have found so far," I told her, then cradled her fall as she went limp, crying.
"No, no, no, no," she mumbled. "Dad and Mom wouldn't let themselves die. Mom would fly away and she would take Dad with her." I had no idea what in the heck she was talking about but didn't want to pry.
"Well, unless your parents can disappear into thin air, they aren't alive anymore." It pained me to tell her such a sad thing, but I knew through personal experience that the harsh truth was better than a nice lie. On a lighter note, I asked, "What's your name?"
"Eougha. And yours?"
"Gwillan. Pleased to meet you Eougha, although I am sad we couldn't have met on happier terms." I smiled at her, her amber eyes shining with tears.
"Yeah, me too." She seemed lost in thought, then commented, "I just... can't believe they're gone. I mean, my parents are-were-tough, and so I just can't believe they died."
"Trust me, you're not the only one," I sighed.
"Did your parents die?" There was a sympathetic, almost fearful look to Eougha now.
"No, but my twin brother Gruffen did." I paused. The pain of 2 weeks ago was so real and so alive, I just couldn't contain it. "We were exact twins, right down to each hair on our heads. We did everything together, play, eat, drink, annoy our younger sister Lizzie... we had such good times. But then..." The lump in my throat was making it hard to speak. "Then our pack got bombed, and Gruffen was right in the middle of it, 'cause he was the one of our family that got left behind when we went on a diplomatic visit to another pack. When we came back, there was so much blood and flesh that I got sick. It took a lot of digging through dead bodies, but eventually I found Gruffen's."

"I'm really sorry for you," I consoled Gwillan, but it seemed to do no good. His dark features still were an effigy of sadness, and his green eyes were trembling, like he was about to cry. "You can cry."
"I can, but I don't," yet his jade gemstones continued to shiver.
"Why not?" I was trying to warm up to him, but it was really hard to solace someone who wouldn't let their feelings show.
"Because boys don't cry." He turned to me, blinked, and calmed his spastic eyeballs. "If you would like, we can start traveling and get to my pack within a few days."
"How far away is it?"
"About 50 miles. We should get there within 2 days if we move quickly." Gwillan gazed out of the cave opening, as though hoping to see something in the dry, cold air in front of the den.
"Ok. Let's get going."

Throughout the journey neither of us talked much, Gwillan leading with me trailing behind. Occasionally he would stop and make sure I was keeping up, but most of the time he relied on my common sense and speed to keep me at pace with him, which probably wasn't the best idea, but it worked anyways. We stopped to sleep very late, and rose very early on each day, barely taking the time to hunt rabbits at dawn and dusk. Gwillan set a fast, but steady pace, and I generally didn't have a hard time keeping up, but prefered to stay back, letting both of us think in peace. Gwillan was an interesting wolf, with those intense, almost burning green eyes and the black dragon wings design that crossed his shoulders. Personally I thought he was very handsome, even though I was only about 2 and a half years then, but he also seemed to be, so, to me, he was fair game. Now whether he would put up with it was a different matter, but a girl could dream, couldn't she? No matter what he said, however, I would never stop thinking he cute, even if he called me a sicko or psycho or something like that. Yet for some reason, I think he enjoyed my company, and, I hoped with all of my might, that he thought I was cute too.

"Who's the girl?" were the first words Lizzie spoke to me upon our arrival at pack.
"A survivor of an evacuation station bombing," I whispered back. "Why do you care?"
"I just was wondering." She kept on eying Eougha, which made me kind of nervous, since when Lizzie had that look, she was usually planning something.
"I brought her here to keep her safe from the aftershocks of the war."
"No one's safe now Gwillan," Lizzie muttered. "Just look what happened 2 weeks earlier. In all of my 16 years of fighting, I had never seen anything like that."
"And I haven't seen anything like that in my 18 either." "And neither had Gruffen," I thought to myself. "Well, I figured we could keep her as safe as anyone could."
"That's true." Lizzie stared at me very hard, and I could almost feel her picking through my mind, prodding and poking to find the information she wanted. "Ooh, you like her," she teased when she found that emotion in my memories.
"I hate it how you can read minds." I mean, honestly, weren't there some things a dog had a right to keep secret from his little sister? But apparently not when your little sister was Lizzie Lightning.
"Oh, I know, so I'm going to do it more often just to spite you, because I love you that much." Grr, teenage little sisters could be such pains.

Gwillan's pack were really nice, just like he was, especially his younger sister Lizzie. She and I soon became very good friends, but I started to wonder about the Lightnings, for the weather appeared to copy Lizzie's emotions, and Gwillan seemem to have some control over animals. Oh well. It was probably just my seriously stressed out imagination messing with me, but I could never quite stamp out the notion that this torn family was hiding something.

"Um, I've got something to tell you Eougha," Gwillan told me about 3 weeks after I lost my parents, which, of course, set both my mind and heart racing.
"Yeah?" I scanned his face for hints and was disappointed when my search yielded none.
"Well...oh, how do I put this? Well, us Lightnings aren't exactly normal," he finally said.
"What do you mean?" I was beginning to think it wasn't just my stressed imagination.
"Well, we've all got powers. Like Lizzie, she can do storms and elements and psychic stuff, and my dad can do lots and lots and lots of lightning and electricity, and my mom is the moon girl, and my grandma can do mind stuff too."
My heart almost froze, and I blinked uncertainly, questioned within myself if they could be the Lightnings from legend. "Well what can you do?" I breathed, not being able to manage anything louder due to shock.
"I can do the animals and stuff. I can talk to them, I can control them, I can become them, which really isn't just my power, since our whole family is a bunch of shapeshifters, but yeah." He inspected my expression with his emerald eyes, making sure I wasn't going to go into shock or anything.
"You know, it actually doesn't surprise me that much," I whispered, my throat clearing up and my volume increasing with it. "I mean, I always suspected you guys might not be regular, but I never thought I would actually be right."
"Well, surprise, surprise," he chuckled, smiling down at me. Yes, down, because Gwillan was about a half a foot taller than I was.
"Any more surprises?" I asked him, studying his incredible face.
"Just one," he murmured, and bent down and kissed me.

[Sonmi-451]

Pet's name: Lynx ♂ and Pet's name: Cupcake ♀

Lynx's green fur shimmered as he ran, his markings matching the earth that he had known and loved all his life. Loping towards his target, he seemed lost in thought and not even fully aware when he reached the brightly embroidered human tent of which his correspondent lived. Finally he would get to meet the elusive and infamous Cakegirl13, of which he had been a penpal for almost 6 months.

He called, "Hello? It's you penpal Lynxer. May I come in?" Lynx was nervous about his confronting of Cakegirl13, because by all accounts he had heard, she was beautiful and popular and nice, or in other words the deserving popular girl, so what if he was less than she expected? What if she took one look at him and ran? What if... His thoughts were interrupted by a nice voice replying, "Of course."
He stepped through the doorway, bringing in a cold breeze from the outside. A reddish-purple and greenish swirled back was turned to him, and he could hear the rustling of paper that the dog was presumably holding.
"Hello," he greeted, and for some reason immediately felt stupid for saying that.
"Hi," the dog greeted in return, spinning to see him eye-to-eye.
The creature in front of him was truly beautiful, far more than any other female he knew, with bright, benevolent rubies for eyes and swish-patterned fur. Her nose was a light maroon to match the very end of her paws, and she had a grin that truly stretched from ear to ear.
"So you're the famous Lynxer, huh?" she said, looking him over and sizing him up.
"Yep," Lynx replied nervously, scanning her face frantically for a hint of her reaction towards him.
"Welcome, brother," She burst into an even bigger smile if it was possible.
"What do you mean, 'brother'?" He was really confused now.
"I mean, we are siblings." She almost fell over laughing at my expression.
"But I don't have any siblings," Lynx stammered, almost fearful now.
"Yes, you do," she insisted. "Me, you dodo. Have you not been listening?"
"But I don't have any siblings," he repeated, now seriously looking like an idiot.
She just snorted and decided to drop the topic. "So, siblings or not, my name is Cupcake. Pleased to meet you." She held out a small paw.
"Ok," he mumbled, taking her paw. "Mine's Lynx." Much to his surprise, she pulled him into a hug, which he, of course, did not complain about.
"Nice to meet you Lynx. It's no wonder you were Lynxer." She beamed upon him, and instantly Lynx felt better.
"It's not wonder you were Cakegirl13 either, with a name like Cupcake." If she wasn't his sibling, which he was almost sure she wasn't, he would love to date her.
"Yeah, both of our penpal names were sort of dead giveaways." Her eyes shimmered with happiness.
"Cupcake!" came a call from outside the tent.
"Yes dad?" she yelled back.
"May I come in?" The male's voice was deep and rough, rather like a general's.
"Of course Dad." Cupcake sounded resigned, like she knew what was coming next. Through the door stepped a dog just an inch shorter than the top of the frame that had visible muscles and a hardened, scarred face with a cruel yet handsome expression.
"So you are Lynx?" he asked tersely, really making Lynx wary. What was this warrior playing at?
"Yeah," Lynx responded cautiously, checking out Cupcake's dad's ripped legs and slashed appearance and noting that he would get his sorry cat-named butt kicked if he challenged that dog. "Why?"
"It's nice to finally meet you son," the old dog said, his tough, merciless countenance breaking into a not-so-pretty but refreshing happy bearing.
Before he knew it, Lynx was being crushed in a bearhug from Cupcake's old man, and Lynx figured he would probably lose circulation within a couple seconds if he wasn't let go.

"So how have you been Lynx?" Storm asked over a dinner of deer and berries.
"Um, fine I guess," Lynx replied, looking around with amazement at the humongous cave he was in. "I mean, it's still hard for me to accept that you're my dad and stuff, but I guess I'm doing all right, since I haven't freaked out yet."
"I know what you mean son. I was raised like you, by only my mom, always thinking my dad had left, but unlike you, I never got to meet my other parent."
"Really?" Lynx's ears perked up at something Storm said because of a reason besides fearing for his life for the first time.
"Yes. It seems to be like a pack tradition or something that when the leaders split after having been mated, the female gets one pup and the male gets the other." Storm wore a grimace of disappointment.
"Wait, do you say leaders?"
"Yes Lynx, leaders. Didn't Catherine tell you?" Storm looked confused as to why his ex wouldn't tell Lynx that he was the future alpha of everything he knew.
"Um, no, Mom didn't tell me," Lynx replied, wondering for himself why his mom wouldn't tell him a vital secret like that. "Must have slipped her mind or somthing like that."
"Yeah." Storm chuckled. "But now you know. When you and Cupcake come of age, you will be co-alphas of both the Mountains pack and the Forest pack."
"Cool!," both Lynx and Cupcake exclaimed in unison, then both glanced over at the other, as if to say, "That was weird."
"Well, I think I'm going to leave you two to get to know one another," Storm said, then rose quite majestically and left the cave.

"We have so much in common," Cupcake declared after they had done a little get-to-know-you chat.
"Yeah." Lynx couldn't take his eyes off of her face because she was just too dang pretty. "Well, I should probably get heading back to my pack to ask my mom some questions about what else she's been hiding from me." Lynx was finally able to snap out of his reverie and come to his senses.
"Well, I'll see you tomorrow then Lynx," Cupcake told him, and gave him her trademark wink.

For Cupcake there wasn't a tomorrow, as Cupcake was shot and killed by human hunters only 5 minutes after Lynx left. Throughout his whole life, Lynx always kept Cupcake's memory fresh and sacred, never letting her wink or her smile or her ruby-red eyes fade, and never, as long as he lived, would Lynx, even if he had wanted to, be able to shake the vision of his first love and just-known sister Cupcake with her unique, definitive blink.


Pet's name: Siona (f) and Pet's name: Tiki (m)

Her eyes scanned the page, her blue neckerchief pristine but her white bottom coat dusty and stained with red. Her sky-blue irises glimmered with intelligence and wisdom that her hundred years had brought, and the platinum scabbard on her back was decorated with blue designs signifying her position. Her beautiful face was clearly exhausted, although there wasn't a hair out of place, and her mottled bluish-grey fur seemed to flicker and dance in the light of the single flame that lit her work. She was the literally and metaphorically immortal Siona Turgon the Great, High Queen of All Dogs and the stuff of many legends that already bore her name.

His brown fur was dotted with crimson and his golden eyes flared with the anger of a hundred years of war. Snarling, he lunged forward and, in one swift, graceful movement, grabbed his opponent dog by the throat and snapped his neck, killing the enemy instantly. Sometimes he doubted why he was out here, if one person or thing or idea or objective was worth all of the lives that had been spent and all of the time that had been wasted, but every time he saw her face, he immediately knew that this incredible, brilliant creature was worth everything all of her subjects could offer, and that she would guide them to victory, no matter how large the odds against them were. And she, Siona Turgon, his queen, was the only reason why this battered old warrior kept going, even though he would probably never personally get to know her. Yet still he loved her, with all of his broken heart, he adored with a passion this amazing woman that was his superior, that was millions of billions of trillions of miles out of his league, for how did a general compare to a ruler so good she was called Siona the Great? He was Tiki, the worn-out fighter that would keep battling for his kingdom until he died, and his only regret was that he had only life to give for his Siona.

"How are the border wars going?" Siona asked tiredly, yawning and rubbing her eyes with her paws.
"Well your Majesty," Tiki replied, tracing her movements with his gaze carefully. "We won yesterday at a cost of only twenty lives, with the enemy losing hundreds."
"No lives should be lost," Siona murmured, looking out to the sea and watching the great waves like fists hammer the shore.
"I'm sorry your Majesty, but it could not be avoided." Tiki looked disgraced.
"I'm not blaming you Tiki. I'm blaming Serpent for trying the take our land, I'm blaming the primal instincts we have the make us want to fight and kill when we are challenged, I'm blaming everything but you Tiki. You are my excellent general, and it is not your fault that your men die, it is mine, it is the world's, it is war's, but not yours, never yours." Siona's voice seemed to contain the fatigue of ninety-six years of being queen over all dogs, yet her brilliant azure eyeballs held the sparkle of youth, as though they had been frozen in time, forever to be four years old.
"I understand," Tiki told her quietly, looking out to the great ocean with her. "I know how many responsibilities I have as general and cannot imagine how many you must have as queen."
There was something about Tiki's voice that gave Siona comfort, even though she had only known him for five years now, not much time compared to her overall lifetime of 100 and counting. It had a melodic quality that, along with his brainpower, experience, looks and skill, made for a very well-spoken, powerful man that Siona considered herself lucky to have as Commander in Chief of the Tsuki Senshi Tiki army, named after Tiki himself.
"Thank you Tiki-sama," Siona said, smiling at him.
"What did I do?" Tiki was quite confused and pleased at the same time.
"Thank you for standing here and talking to me and reminding me how great of dogs my subjects are," she responded, now speaking Japanese, her original language and the language of the Ryuki and Volcano Islands, which were the headquarters for the Turgon kingdom.
"I am happy to be of service." All of the dogs on the islands spoke Japanese and English, Tiki included.
"Well I am happy to have you."

Tiki watched Siona go, her shimmering fur glistening like a finely cut diamond in the rays of sunshine. Returning his eyes to the water, he watched the great swells crash upon the rocks with neverending, unstoppable fury and pondered upon what had stumped him for five years now: Siona. Or, more specifically, himself and Siona. At times he could have sworn she was inviting him, wanting him, but at others, when she had to play the role of a queen or superior, she seemed to only want to politely and appropriately converse, according to their positions. Oh God, women, especially queens. Tiki could'nt live with them and he couldn't live without them.

Siona quickly, almost frantically, tidied up her quarters and made sure she looked proper while waiting for Tiki to arrive. Many times she thought that it was quite frivolous to make yourself look better, or like something you're not, just for a fellow creature, because to Siona, no man was worth her identity and individuality. But Tiki was different, so unlike the formal courtiers in his manners, and so much more preferred over the nobles and princes and kings that came to win her heart. It was obvious he had fallen for her, but Siona liked that, for it proved he really cared and that he did not just treat her as a prize to be won or an obstacle to be conquered. No, Tiki would never think like that, because he was too compassionate and real to be that shallow, and Siona found it refreshing and enjoyable to have one of her second-in-commands actually have a heart. A knock at the door that had to be Tiki interrupted her thoughts, and she glided over to answer.
"Hello," she greeted warmly, after opening the door to find Tiki with a bouquet of flowers.
"Your Majesty," he said respectfully, bowing. "I hope you like the flowers."
"Thank you." Siona laid her paw upon the stems and right away the wilting petals began to perk up and within a few seconds, the blooms looked like they had just been picked.
"I never will get over the fact that you are the earth spirit incarnate," Tiki commented with wonder.
"I don't think I will either." Siona still was almost in denial. After all, how could she be something she had always thought didn't exist, if she was perfectly real and normal? Well, she wasn't normal, since she had been born with control over the elements, so did that make her less real, too? Siona would have been a great philosopher and thinker, as she already was, if she had not been a queen. "Please, come in and make yourself at home."

Tiki watched her ladle out soup into two bowls, being graceful and careful not to spill.
"This smells wonderful," he told Siona as she came and set a dish down in front of him. "I suppose I should be doing the serving, as you are my superior."
"Yes, but I say I do the serving, as it is my home and you are my guest," she replied smoothly, settling down into a chair across from him. "Please, dig in Tiki, for the worst fear of a cook is to have no one eat her food."
The soup tasted as good as it smelled, and it made Tiki yearn for a time so long ago when his mother, bless her old dead soul, would make him dinner every night. But Siona was so much better than his mother, even though he would probably get cursed in the afterlife for thinking, no, knowing that.
After he finished, and it was so good he actually licked his bowl, which got an amused look from Siona, Tiki remembered he didn't even know what the reason for this invitation was. "So, your Majesty, what is the purpose of this meeting?"
"Tiki, the purpose of this meeting was for you to come over and have dinner." Siona's eyes twinkled at the confusion and pleasant surprise upon his grizzled face.
"There must be some political or strategic reason for you to invite me over." It was very uncharacteristic for Siona to do something just because she wanted to.
"There is none, Tiki, besides the fact that I enjoy your company." Siona was coming closer.
"Then, is this a..."
"Date? Yes," she whispered, and put her arms around my neck, staring up into my soul and heart.
She was just too beautiful to resist. I bent down and kissed her, and her earthy, natural, lovely scent filled my nose, her lips against mine, and I was in paradise.

The following morning there was much buzz among the subjects of the Turgon kingdom, as Siona had not shown any interest in a man for twenty-one years, ever since her first husband Sirius Von Nebula, the Dog Star, had left her because he had celestial duties to attend to. Tiki came knocking to Siona's door early.
"Was me kissing you last night real?" he asked, looking hopeful yet dejected at the same time.
"Yes, it was Tiki. Haven't you heard all of the chat from your soldiers?"
"Yeah, but I just wasn't sure, because I've been dreaming about doing that as long as I've known you, so I thought I might be having a very real dream." Tiki had an incredible smile.
"Here, come in," Siona offered. "Would you like something to drink or some breakfast?"
"No thank you your Majesty, I have already eaten."
"Tiki, please call me Siona. The 'your Majesty' stuff gets quite old."
"All right then, Siona," he smiled, then put his arms around her waist and drew her close.
Siona pushed back, not feeling comfortable being in the arms of a man since the last one that did that broke her heart and still held a part of it.
"What's the matter?" Tiki was clearly hurt and confused.
"I don't feel right in the arms of a man, because Sirius used to do that, and you know what he did." Siona tried to tell Tiki in the least painful way possible that she didn't want to be held.
"I understand, but I'm not Sirius, and if that star ever comes back here again, he's going to have a price to pay to me and you for breaking your heart." Tiki yet again wrapped his arms around her, but this time Siona did not fight it, for she saw that this man deserved more than her, yet was content with her the way she was. "You're finally letting me."
"Indeed." She still wasn't completely alright, but it helped to remind herself that this man was Tiki, not Sirius, and that he wouldn't leave her, because Siona knew Tiki would die rather than live without her. "Are you sure you don't want anything?"
"I'va already got exactly what I want." He surrounded her with a hug, and whispered in her ear, "And it's you."

As Tiki left Siona's room, he couldn't believe that everything he had dreamed would happen but never thought actually would just had. He chuckled to himself and started to whistle, he was so happy. When he passed one of the guards in the hall, he said, "Nice day, eh?"
"Yes, Sir Tiki," the dog replied, looking rather bewildered.
As he stepped, almost bounced, down the steps to the barracks, many of his men whistled and patted him on the back, cheering things like, "Tiki, you got it going on!" and "You lucky dog!"
"Thanks guys," he yelled above the ruckus, which set off even more shouts.
After the noise subsided a little, his second-in-command Akatsuk told him, "So what's the real, not-completely-formal Siona like?" Now the room was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop because every single soldier was listening.
"Amazing, just like she is as queen," Tiki responded finally, after much thought and silence. "But when you don't have to call her your Majesty or think about your rank compared to hers, everything just seems so much better, because it doesn't matter that she's queen and you're so far below her, and somehow she almost seems more beautiful, maybe because she opens up and loosens up."
"And how's she at kissin'?" one of the younger guys called from the back.
"What, you gettin' ideas Gaki?" Tiki joked back. "And by the way, she's incredible at kissing."

Siona looked over at Tiki, dressed in his official uniform of a brown cloak to match his fur and a sword to symbolize his rank. He looked so handsome that she felt she paled in comparison, with just her blue neckerchief and platinum sword, but oh well, it would have to do. But just the fact that she cared how she looked in the eyes of a man marked a great change in Siona the Great.
"Are you ready?" he asked her, holding her hand. "You look great."
"I am as ready as I will ever be," she replied, straightening her azure cloth. "And thank you Tiki."
"Wait," he said suddenly, pausing just as they were at her door and in the view of all of the nobles who were in attendance to hear Siona speak. "There's one more thing I have to do."
"Yes?" Siona was rather annoyed. "What did you forget now?"
"This," he breathed, and dipped her like a proper gentleman should, and gave her a heartfelt, loving kiss in front of all of the court.

Tiki looked over at Siona, who was radiantly beautiful, so much so that he and everyone else must look like the ugliest things in the world in comparison. A flower in her hair, her bandanna around her neck, her sword on her back, Siona looked like your typical amazing talking dog warrior queen the Great. What an oxymoron. Finally, Siona had chosen a date for Tiki to properly propose. He had done so privately about two weeks ago, and much to his ecstatic delight, she had said yes, and now the world would get to know that Siona Turgon had officially found another lover to replace the hole in her heart. There was much chatter as the couple walked out together hand-in-hand, but all settled down when Siona stepped up to the platform.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I-we-have an announcement," she declared, the audience of courtiers seeming to hang on her every word for dear life.
"Can I take it from here?" Tiki signed, and Siona replied a sharp yes.
"As you may know, Siona and I have been courting for about a month now," he told the crowd, his voice strong with determination and passion. "And just to tell you, I love Siona very much, and know she feels the same way about me." Tiki had eyes for nothing else except for her heavenly face. "And about two weeks ago, I asked her a very special question." Tiki got down on one knee and pulled out a ring from a cloak pocket. "Will you marry me?" There were gasps and even some crying from the watching group. "And Siona said-"
"Yes," and suddenly she was in his arms and they were kissing and the gathered dogs were cheering and applauding, except for a couple of the idiots who had been trying to woo Siona for quite a while now. They were sobbing with sadness, what a bunch of pixie morons. Tiki made a mental note to say something to them on his way out.

Siona and Tiki walked slowly down the aisle together, his arm linked with hers. She looked over at her wonderful Tiki, his golden eyes shining as he returned her gaze, his mouth upturned in a love-filled smile.
"Are you ready?" he questioned, his stare never leaving her face.
"Boy, you've been saying that a lot lately, so much that I'm surprised you don't already know the answer."
Tiki chuckled slightly and said, "You're right, maybe I should make being more original one of my wedding vows."
"Maybe so, Tiki, maybe so. But I don't care what wedding vows you make as long as we have a wedding." Tiki, for all of the times he called himself a simple man of war, was really one of the smartest people Siona knew, and one of the most witty. No wonder they got along so well. Ohh, he was such an awesome man.

"I do," Siona whispered, looking up at Tiki.
"I now pronounce you husband and wife," announced Akatsuk, the one marrying them. "You may kiss the bride." He gave Tiki a red, tiger-striped thumbs up which Tiki returned with his own.
Bending over Siona, Tiki whispered in her ear, "Thank you, your Majesty," and then kissed her, once again her marvelous earthy smell filling his nose and her lips pressed against his. Tiki could have and would have spent the rest of his life in that moment, but then he would have missed all of the heroic battles and dangerous adventures and all of the other kisses they shared, some of them even better than this one. But Tiki would never forget this particular caress, for it was the one that changed his life and probably saved it.

[Aeli]

Pets:
Pet's name: Silent Death (♂) and
Pet's name: Collete
Type of story:Hmm not sure...could you decide? I love how all your storys turn out!
Genders of pets:The raven wolf is a boy and the other one is a girl
Other?:Nope

[Sonmi-451]

Pet's name: Stitch (m) and Pet's name: Rosalina (f)

I broke free, shaking away the tubes and needles that had been impaled into my fur. Looking down, I saw with horror that my right leg was now white instead of black, but my left leg remained the same. Snarling, I leaped for the scientists, ready to rip their throats out, but they countered with steel, a great pipe thrown at my chest. I fell back, all of the wind knocked out of me and probably a couple of ribs broken. One of the men tried in vain to put a muzzle on me, but I lashed out, and my teeth, which were now poisonous daggers, met his flesh. The others backed away, effigies of fear, pathetic little humans in my way. In a flash of primal rage, I lunged for one's throat.

I was tossed headfirst into a small cage, my very own jail cell. Why didn't my owners want me anymore?
The little girl was crying, and I whined with her and tried to lick her hand through the bars, but her dad warned, "Don't let Rosalina touch you, she might be infected."
"But Daddy!" the child sobbed. "She's not, she's not sick!"
"You don't know that Grace," the man told her sternly, and walked away with Grace following without another word.
I bent down and wept, crying until I had no more tears yet, then just sitting there sniffling pitifully.
I heard a snort from the back of my pen and a low voice mutter, "It's always the same. The pretty ones come in, cry and moan, and then get adopted."
"Who's there?" I asked fearfully, my bracelets tinkling against the cold steel floor.
"Just me," came the voice, and a dog's head appeared out of the gloom. I gasped, for it was a mutant of some sort, with evil-looking jet black eyes, red fur and teeth that would've made a wolf run.
"Yeah, I know, I'm not very pretty," it sighed, slipping back into the darkness.
"No, wait, don't go," I called, wishing to learn more about my mysterious cellmate. "What's your name?"
"It used to be Blackout," he whispered, his voice fading to almost nothing as he retreated to the blackness, "but now it's Stitch."

My new roommate was just the same as all of the others - a pretty little creature given up for some stupid reason - which meant she would probably be gone within a week, just like the rest. Good riddance. She talked too much and was just too cheerful for being in a metal box.
"So how long have you been here Stitch?" she questioned the morning following her arrival.
"Two years," I mumbled, keeping my ugly head down as I headed to the water bowl next to her.
"Two whole years?" She sounded surprised. She shouldn't be.
"Yeah. It's not as though I've got anyplace to go to anyways."
I felt her nudge the side of my body, and I looked up in confusion.
"You've got pretty eyes," she told me, locking her gaze with mine.
"No, I don't," I replied, chuckling bitterly. "Nothing about me is pretty or even ok anymore."
"Don't tell yourself that Stitch. You may not be most handsome guy, but you're definitely not the worst." Gahh, she sounded like my mother.
"Yeah. Right." I padded back over to my far back dark corner and put my tail over my eyes.

Stitch was an interesting character, and not just because of his looks. Most of the time he was silent as a rock and had the heart of one too, but occasionally he would answer my almost constant questions and actually be something bordering nice.
"So how did you get here?" I asked. There was silence; I must have caught him off guard.
"I got here after some human scientists gave me this lovely makeover and some nice poison." He had answered, I was happy since that was better than usual.
"Care to elaborate?" I was probably pushing my luck with his conversation skills.
"Eh, why not?" I was amazed. "When I was a pup, I lost my owners in a hurricane, a really big tornado that happens over water." As if I didn't know that. Oh well, it was far better than the eerie quiet that too often filled this steel box. "I lived on the streets for about six months." He paused. "Then... then I got captured and taken in to be experimented on by this crazy group of scientists. They gave me super-strength, this lovely fur-do and nice fangs complete with venom to match." Stitch sounded bitterly amused. "I got so angry when I saw what I had become that I killed them and escaped from their lab, only to be picked up by the dogcatcher when I had collapsed on the street. In other words, humans made me a freak and then punished me for it."
"Well, if you've got super-strength, couldn't you just bend the bars and break out?" If he so was miserable and could do something about it, then why wouldn't he?
"I could," he muttered. "But where would I go? No human would want me and no dog either. I'm an outcast, Rosalina, so this is the best place for me to be, because everywhere else would just be even worse."
I felt really bad for him, but there wasn't anything I could do. After all, I had my own problems to deal with.

Surprisingly, Rosalina wasn't gone within a week. Oh well, just more time I had to put up with her. Compared to the other cellmates I had had, she really wasn't that bad, but the best cellmate would've been none at all.
"So why were you called Blackout before?" she chatted one day, trying to cheer me up. She clearly didn't what a lost cause looked like then.
"I was called Blackout because I was a pure black wolf." Couldn't she guess that my name had something to do with me being black?
"Oh."
I was trying to tell her to shut up in the nicest way possible - without saying anything - but she just couldn't take a hint!
"So where did you live before?"

It went on for a couple hours like that, her asking stupid/no dur questions and me either ignoring or responding with the fewest words possible, which was often, "I don't want to talk," or "Please be quiet."
At about the billionth awful inquiry, I snapped and yelled, "Just shut up all ready!"
"Oh, ok then," she told my snarling homely face nicely. "If you had wanted me to do that a while ago, you should have just me." Grr, everything went over Rosalina's head, including my ball of anger-and-frustration-and-poison that I spat at her in annoyance. Ohh, roommates were stupid, mostly because if you killed them, you'd get blamed, not the guy next to you.

I watched where I thought Stitch must have been in the darkness, then decided he and his black were too boring. Ohh, Stitch. He could be a pain in the butt sometimes, but he was actually nice to me most of the time now, possibly because I was growing on him in the month we had been cellmates or maybe because he thought good behavior on his part would get me moved. Probably the latter, but I still appreciated his change in attitude. Even if he didn't truly like me, I liked him, his messed-up, twisted face and personality and even his really sharp teeth. Ok, those fangs of his did freak me out a lot, but hey, as long as he didn't use them on me, I was good. But needless to say, Stitch was definitely the most colorful character I had ever met, and also one of my favorites.

I smiled at Rosalina, for once not caring how bad my grin looked but just caring that I could smile. She returned my grin and gave me a playful bump.
"What's the matter Stitch? You like never smile, so is the world gonna end or something?" She actually could be funny when she wasn't annoying, and I found she was funnier and funnier and less and less annoying the more time I spent with her. Apparently I was adapting.
"Na, I'm just happy, actually," I told her, staring out to the rows and rows of steel cages, each with their own inhabitant. It was sad, but I had no sympathy for those dogs, because the pound had been my only view for two years and would probably stay that way until I died.
"It's sad, isn't it?" she commented. "That humans would just leave these good dogs and put them in cages just because they didn't want them anymore."
"Yeah," I sighed. "That's my life story right there. Being unwanted and stuck in here."
"I know it's not gonna stay that way Stitch," Rosalina told me. "You're a good dog, and I know that you'll find a good human eventually."
"Yeah, eventually. How long is eventually? The day before I die?"
"Grr, you are such a pessimist," she growled in frustration. "You would make my life a whole lot easier if you didn't have witty remark to counter everything I say." She stalked off to her corner and gave me the evil eye.
I kept my eyes on her long after she had closed hers, wondering what this strange I was feeling was. Could it be twisted, psychopathic love? Maybe, I didn't know. All I knew was that I liked Rosalina better than any other dog I had ever known.

I watched the human walk down the aisle of cages, looking inside each one, examining the dogs with a gentle, knowing eye. Stopping outside of ours, I saw him check out Rosalina with interest, then slunk back into the shadows before I scared him.
"Um, sir, could you take this one out for me?" the man asked the pound owner and operator.
"Of course."
Rosalina was picked up gruffly and dropped, the dogcatcher holding her by the nape of her neck. She gave me a worried look, as this was her first time being taken out for an official look-over.
Instead of the usual, "What breed is it?" the visitor asked, "What is her name?" Interesting.
The big man must have been caught off guard too, for it took him a while to respond. Or maybe he was just stupid. "Rosalina."
"Rosalina," the potential adopter murmured. "Very pretty. My daughter would love her. I think I will adopt this one sir."
No, I couldn't let Rosalina go! In a panic I ran up to the cage door and barked, trying to tell her that I would go with her, I would break out and follow her to her new home and -
The burly man's fist to my face silenced me and I sat there whining because my Rosalina was leaving and it felt like I had a broken jaw.
"Wait," the adopter commanded, making both me and the pound runner freeze. "What is his name?"
"Well, we don't know sir. No one's ever considered him for adoption, so..." The idiot scratched his head awkwardly.
"Hmm, he looks like a Stitch to me," the gentleman declared. "I think I will take them both. My daughter would love to have two playmates, and my wife would like Stitch for his patterns." He had gotten my name right and actually complimented me. Boy, that man must have been a really nice psychic.
I couldn't believe it as I was taken out of my cell for the first and hopefully last time and put on leash.
I wagged my tail frantically and told Rosalina, "We're going to live together, we're going to live together!"
"Yeah, in a place with a little girl and a nice father and mother!" she barked back, just as excited as I was.
We raced down the hallway, yipping with happiness, and our new owner laughed. As I walked out of the door into the wonderful, blinding sunlight, I knew I had finally found a place I could call my own and friends and humans that would accept me and love me. Overcome with emotion, I leaned over to Rosalina and gave her a kiss, expecting a slap or a nip in return. Instead, she gave me an even more passionate kiss, and I gave her the first true smile I had since the hurricane, and it hit me that I was going home.


Pet's name: Lime (m) and Pet's name: Thirst (f)

Thirst looked on as the rest of her family fed, sinking their fangs into the screaming, running villagers. It was too easy, like catching sitting ducks, but she should be grateful for the easy hunt, as generally, they found more resistance to their dining tendencies. A flash of green caught her eye, and Thirst followed it, seeing a large, scarred dog with green fur and wings running away from the carnage of her family's dinner.
"Good, a hunt," Thirst thought, and took off after her soon-to-be meal, the excitement and fear from her prey feeding her own.

Lime was praying that one of the bloodsuckers didn't see him, that he was free, that no one with large fangs wanting to make him a meal was following. He knew he couldn't keep running or flying forever, and so if he was being tailed he would be food eventually, and a wave of panic overtook him at the thought of becoming a dry husk of skin, all of his lifeblood sucked out by a demon. He thought about his fellow villagers that he had left behind to that dreaded fate, and he got a lump the size of his heart in his throat. But he couldn't turn back now, or he would also become monster food. Breathing deeply, he kept on sprinting, trying to control his emotions as he remembered vampires could smell your feelings, and he must have been stinking of fear and guilt and regret.
"Keep on going, keep on going," he told himself, and pushed ahead, his wings and his fright acting like boosters and giving him extra bursts of speed.

Her quarry was slowing down as the hours wore on, but Thirst didn't for she had just eaten and didn't have to stop to sleep or rest. Slowly but surely she gained ground, her long black legs trumping his green ones. The only thing that would stop her from a guaranteed snack would be if he finally wised up and decided to use his wings, but even that wouldn't save him forever, because he would have to stop and give his wings a break after a while of flying, and then she would get him. It was just a matter of time, and Thirst had all of the time in the world.

Lime's wings and legs were aching, but now that he knew there was a vampire behind him, he couldn't stop, but soon he wouldn't be able to go on either. He could hear the too-quietness his stalking demon brought and could smell the death mixed with the anticipation and almost boredom of the chase. Lime also could sense that his probably-murderer was female, but it's not as though he could or would charm a vampire even if he tried, and he knew that girl bloodsuckers were just as dangerous, if not more, as their male counterparts. So all he could do was just keep on running and flying and hope that when he got caught, his devourer would be merciful and take his life quickly.

Thirst's legs settled into a rhythm as she ran, a sort of heartbeat that kept her running after her prize. How much longer would this dog keep it up? Even though she didn't have anything else to do, Thirst was getting impatient and bored with just running and no killing. Oh well, she just had to wait and keep her pace steady, because he would eventually fall. But how much longer was eventually? Maybe too long for her liking, but Thirst knew it wouldn't and couldn't be actually too long. But that was a problem for immortals like her - they had learned to wait, not take initiative, for what was a few more years compared to the hundreds or thousands they had already lived? It was rather ironic that they - her demon kin - could do incredible things, but instead they chose to wait decades, centuries, even millenniums for things to happen that they could have done with a little difficulty within a day or two. So that made Thirst think that to vampires, incredible slowness with little work required was better that speed with some catches, but that wasn't how Thirst worked, for generally she preferred quickness with some hang-ups. However, she was an outcast even to the vampires, so why did her opinion matter? It didn't to them, so all she had to do was keep running and hunting, and not think about her not-so-great current situation.

Lime could smell his eminent doom maybe a hundred yards behind him, but he did not turn, still hoping in vain that he could outrun his death. He felt her long legs stride closer and closer and could see her long, sharp white fangs ready to take his life. The small spot of blood on her cheek gave off a smell sickening to Lime, mostly because he knew that it might be one of his friend's or family's, and that he was facing the same, inevitable fate. The black bow in her hair gave off an almost normal scent that was covered completely by her doom-and-gloom body odor, and the earth on her paws seemed to him to be trying to jump off of this unearthly, unnatural demon. Her excitement and impatience made him even more nervous and afraid, which in turn fed her emotions. Lime looked ahead along his path, snapping out of his probably final thoughts, and found that he was in the middle of a clearing surrounded by impassably thick woods. So this was where he would make his last stand, hmm? It was very fitting. Working up his courage, Lime turned around to face his terminator, almost ready to die.

Thirst found her prey quite interesting. Just moments before, he had been frightened like a child in the dark, but now he was facing her, brave, almost defiant, ready to die fighting. It would just be more entertainment if he wanted to try to push back, so she was happy she had finally cornered her bold snack. Maybe he would actually make this dinner and a show.

She was very pretty for a vampire. Lime would've liked to date her if she was still mortal and not about to eat him.
"So this is it," he called to her, showing no fear and stretching his wings to make himself look larger.
"Indeed." Her crystal blue eyes held his mismatched ones in their captivating gaze. "You are not afraid. Why? Most dogs would be on their knees begging for mercy right now."
"I am a demon wolf, not a dog," Lime replied, breaking the spell of her stare.
"Hmm." She looked vaguely curious. "Well then, what is your name, demon wolf?"
"Why should I tell someone who is about to eat me?" Lime never took his eyes off her face.
"Good point. I'm liking you better by the minute demon wolf." She cracked a dangerous smile. "Mine is Thirst, but you can call me Rosaline."
"Why is a vampire named Thirst go by Rosaline?" Now Lime was amused. It was the largest oxymoron he had ever seen and would probably ever see, since he had only a few more minutes or seconds left to live.
"Actually it's the other way around," she confessed, looking almost benign or at least not lethal. "All vampires gain a new name when the become the walking dead, and mine was and is Thirst. I was called Rosaline in my mortal life. You know, you remind of my lover from back then. He was brave and strong, just like you." Thirst was circling Lime now, like a butcher examining a cow before slaughtering.
"And how long ago was back then?" Thirst seemed so young on the outside, yet her eyes revealed her true nature.
"413 years," she whispered, her white fur stained with the blood of her recent kills.
"Hmm. That's a long time." Lime's scar seemed to ache after 5 years of being ugly.
"Yes." Thirst forever danced around him, her black silk shining in the moonlight. He couldn't believe it had been 7 hours since the attack on his village. That seemed like a world away. "You are handsome just like he was," she was getting closer and closer, "and you have his personality and determination, along with his wings." She was directly in front of Lime now. "You seem to be his much-younger doppelganger," she breathed, and Lime closed his eyes and braced himself for death. Instead, he got a kiss on the lips.
Lime opened his eyes and looked down upon Thirst, standing with her muzzle inches from his. "What was that for? You're supposed to suck my blood or something like that, not kiss me."
"Says who?" she told him playfully. "Just go with it Lime." She kissed him again, and this time Lime didn't fight, not even bothering to think about how she knew his name.

[Sonmi-451]

Pet's name: Stitch (m) and Pet's name: Rosalina (f)

Pet's name: Lime (m) and Pet's name: Thirst (f)

Thirst pounced upon the rabbit, her fangs finding its throat and sucking out its warm blood. Wiping her mouth with a paw, she returned to Lime's side.
"Are you alright for a little while?" he asked, anxious to leave. Thirst's meal patterns were quite the puzzle to other dogs, and therefore they couldn't stay anywhere for longer than a few days.
"Yes, I have fed enough now to last for a week or two," she replied, nuzzling Lime gently. She didn't have to stop herself from trying to eat him anymore, a definite improvement since her husband now wouldn't be her snack.
"Good, because I would like to leave as quickly as possible." His eyes scanned the forest, his ears straight up and his scar seeming to pain him again. "I smelled a pack a little ways ago and would not like to have to confront them."
"Well then, let us leave." Thirst was quite happy and lucky to be married to a man who had given up all of his life to be a part of hers.

I watched the dogs run though the forest, the one with the wings occasionally leaving the ground. The female smelled very... interesting. I would have to go investigate.
Turning to Rosalina, I told her, "I'm going to go check out the trespassers."
"Please do," she replied, her magenta eyes never leaving the black dog's sprinting form. "And don't let that vampire suck your blood."
"That's a vampire?" I was really confused, since I had always been told they were myths.
"Yeah," Rosalina replied, spitting upon the ground at her feet. "And they're as nasty as the legends say."
"Awesome, but I have even better fangs," I said, grinning. "So that vampire's gonna get pwned if she tries to take me on."
"I know Stitch," she said wearily. "Just don't get too cocky. Vampires are extremely dangerous, and even you would have a hard time with them."

The mutant pounced upon Thirst, his toxic fangs outstretched and his eyes full of death... and confidence? Lime tackled the freak, smashing him headfirst into the ground.
"Who are you?" he snarled, his angry mismatched eyes boring into the attacker's. There was something very familiar about those pitch-black holes...
"Blackout," Lime breathed, stepping off of his old friend's chest. "It's been almost four years. The hurricane, and everything..." Lime was amazed. "I thought you were dead."
"Yeah, I thought you were too," Blackout replied, grinning as he clambered back to his feet. "Nice to see you Lime. And by the way, it's Stitch now."
"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to you?" Lime examined his old friend's very unusual appearance closely.
"Humans happened to me." Stitch's not-so-pretty face took a darker cast. "During the hurricane, my owners died and I was left out on the streets. Some scientists then came and picked me up to be their guinea pig and gave me super strength and this awesome fur-do and some lovely canines with venom to match. When I saw what they had made me, I killed them all, broke out of the lab, and got picked up and put into a pound after I collapsed on the street. I spent three years in that place until I found Rosalina."
"Ooh, Blackout's-Stitch's-got a girlfriend," Lime teased.
"Hey, you shouldn't be talking, because at least mine's alive!" Blackout-Stitch-pointed out.
"How'd you find out?" Lime was very interested now and began to wonder how he knew Thirst was a vampire.
"Well dude, she smells like death, not to mention the fact that Rosalina told me." Stitch looked concerned now too.
"Can I meet Rosalina?" Thirst said suddenly. "And no, I will not suck her blood, I just want to know how she came to know so much about my kind."
"Um, sure. I mean, if Lime trusts you, then that's good enough for me." Stitch still appeared to be uncertain despite his words. "Rosalina, an old friend wants to meet you!"
"I'm coming!" came the faint reply, and a beautiful and definitely alive female lightly landed next to Stitch after jumping down from her perch on a cliff overlooking their little meeting area.

As soon I saw the vampire, I backed up, flattening my ears and baring my teeth. "Did you just call me down to my death?!" I cried at Stitch, never taking my eyes off of the demon.
"I don't eat dogs anymore," the female bloodsucker said, looking quite perturbed at my reaction.
"Rosalina, what's this all about?" Stitch asked, also seeming very surprised.
I took a deep breath to steady my hyperactive heart. "When I was a pup, my parents were killed by vampires," I explained. "I was the only witness, and I almost died. No one knew what had happened except for me, and every night I had nightmares about me becoming a vampire or my parents coming back to suck my blood and stuff like that."
"Why didn't you ever tell me?" Stitch looked more hurt than shocked now.
"Because I didn't think it was important to our relationship." I was feeling really bad now.
"Um, well, I guess it wasn't vital," Stitch confessed, now seeming like I felt, "but I would've like to have known!"
"Well I'm sorry Stitch, but currently I have more important things on my mind," I growled through clenched teeth, now taking an aggressive position towards the vampire. "Like the fact that one of the creatures that killed my family and ruined my early life and was the stuff of my nightmares is standing in front of me."
With that I lunged, knowing I was probably going to die but that at least I wouldn't die helpless like my parents would.

Lime threw himself at Rosalina, knocking her off Thirst and pinning her to the ground. "Why did you just attack my wife?!" he snarled, revealing white needles just inches from her face.
"Because I know she will attack me eventually, so I might as well get the last laugh and attack her before I die," Rosalina panted back, not being able to breath as well with all of Lime's weight pressing down on her chest.
"Oh, um, sorry about that, I don't want to kill you or anything." Lime stepped off gingerly and helped Rosalina to her feet.
"But I might." Thirst's eyes were blue chips of ice and her voice was just as frigid.
"Go ahead, vampire," Rosalina spat. "But I don't intend to be an easy kill."
"No, no one will be dying today," Lime cut in, standing in between the two females.
"Agreed," Stitch chimed in, also stepping in between the potential chick-fight. "Rosalina, could you just chill? I won't let Thirst kill you." Stitch certainly had gained insight since his time as Blackout.
"Not to mention the fact that I am a vegetarian campire, so to speak," Thirst said, her eyes still frozen enough to make the sun a chunk of ice. "I don't eat dogs anymore."
"You did eat them though?" Rosalina's eyes narrowed.
"Yes, but that was before I met Lime." Thirst warmed as her gaze passed over him. "He changed my life and make me realize I still had a heart, however dusty and rusty it may have been."
"Well imagine that, a vampire falling in love with a mortal," Rosalina murmured, visibly relaxing. "Changes must be happening then."
"Indeed." Thirst now could only make a blizzard with her crystal stare. Then a very suprising thing happened...
"Thank you for showing me how even vampires can change," Rosalina told Thirst, then turned to Lime and asked, "May we travel with you? As you know, the world is a very dangerous place and they say there is strength in numbers."
"Um, well, of course," Lime said, quite taken aback. "As long as it's ok with Stitch."
"Yep; I'll go wherever Rosalina goes." Stitch also looked very astonished.
With that the very strange quartet set off in search of happiness, life, and when it came time, friends in higher places.


Pet's Name: Froggy (m) and Pet's Name: Serpentina (f)

I watched the frogs hop and frolic among the water, their skin as green as my fur contrasting sharply with the clear blue water. I was the only one that didn't scare them, even though I scared many dogs; and that was probably why I came to be called nothing but Froggy instead of my given name Bartholomew. I liked being called Froggy, for Bartholomew was a hideous name and the frogs I actually cared for, unlike the dogs I lived with. Splish, splash, splosh; the sounds of my friends and family at play. If only I could truly be like them...

The silver-white snake on my back seemed to glow even more brightly today as my slithering cousins flourished. Their hissing was my lullaby, their scales my comforter, their slitted pupils my guardians. I loved the snakes, far more than I could ever love a dog, for what had they done for me except abandon me on my own as a defenseless puppy? Nothing, nothing at all. Oh well; I had a family and a place that I sort of belonged among these sliding, legless reptiles I called my own.

I hummed as I made my way to the pond, despite a very lackluster day. But the frogs always took my worries away, as they seemed to have none. They leapt and jumped free, just I like wanted to. In anger and jealousy of creatures so far luckier than I, I chucked a stone with all of my might into the pool, but my amphibian friends did not care. They kept hopping, skipping, playing like nothing ever happened, like I didn't exist... just like all of the dogs I knew. I sighed, knowing that even to my submarine family, I was just another thing in the background, not belonging and not loved.

I awoke. It was quiet, too quiet. It was never quiet around snakes. There was always someone awake. I sat up yawning, glancing around at where my family should be. Nothing, no traces of life.I couldn't believe that they had just gotten up and left me during the night. God, I had bad luck with living things. Even snakes had left me alone! But that was the story of my life; getting ditched. I couldn't do anything about, so I would just deal with it like I had before. I rose to my feet, sighing but not surprised. There I was, on my own again.

As the days went by, I grew even more distant from the dogs that were my technical family and even closer to the frogs that were my real family. I stopped even returning from the pond, never seeing my biological parents or siblings anymore. But I didn't care, because I knew they didn't. Apathy was the story of my life when it came to dogs and even to frogs. But at least the amphibians didn't seem to hate me because I was different, unlike the canines. It was very strange; I felt accepted by the toads just because I wasn't noticed, because I blended in. Outside of the pond, I always stood out, but here, I fit right in, and I didn't intend to leave because I knew I wouldn't fit in anywhere else I went.
"Who needs dogs?" I asked of the polliwogs one day, and got ribbets and splashes in return. "Not us, not us," I told them, "because we have each other."
I knew I was going insane because of lack of socialization, but I'd far rather be insane with frogs than have my sanity and be surrounded by bigoted, cruel dogs.

I covered about 25 miles a day in a random direction, sometimes just wasting weeks going back and forth because I had nothing else better to do. I hunted occasionally, never taking down anything big, even though I had a slight toxicity to my canines that had developed over my years as a sort-of snake. Whenever I scented canines I ran the opposite way, never wanting to be anywhere near those wretched creatures that I just happened to be one of. However, one day, a very strange smell caught my attention. It was that of dog... and of a frog? I just had to go investigate, not knowing or caring if curiosity would kill the dog.

The wind carried to me news of a dog-snake by way of smell. I was not surprised at the strange combination of creatures, for I considered myself a frog-dog, so why couldn't there be a dog-snake? I told my aquatic friends that I was just going to check it out and I would be back soon. Me telling the frogs something that probably wouldn't happen was yet another mark of my decreasing mental stability. Oh well; at least I was a happy mad-dog or mad-frog instead of a psychopath.

The frog-dog was coming closer now, that strange mixture of amphibian and canine even stronger. I was almost excited at meeting another animal-dog, yet also wary. What would he be like? Was it a dog-frog and not a frog-dog and I was running towards a frog that lives with dogs? I didn't know, but that was why I was running: to find out.

The serpent, as I had dubbed the weird hybrid, was getting very close, almost too close for comfort. I just hoped it didn't eat frogs like real snakes did, otherwise I would break my promise to the frogs. How interesting and sad that I cared more about keeping a pact than my own safety. Yet still I ran, my own little crazy world complete as long as I didn't die.

Even with all of the trees, I could see the dog's brilliant green fur contrasting sharply with the gloom of the forest. The creature - a male, my nose told me - stopped, sniffing the air and muttering to himself like a madman. His eyes - brilliant amethysts - shone with a crazy fire, confirming my suspicion that he was not sane. I slipped, almost slithered, out of the shadows, causing him to start violently.
"It's alright, I'm not going to hurt you," I said soothingly, trying to comfort him.
He regarded me with those purple wells for a few seconds and then looked away, as though ashamed. Finally he asked quietly, "Who are you?" He actually sounded in his right mind.
"I am Serpentina," I told him, seeing that his comprehension was making a comeback or showing up for the first time.
"I am Bartholomew," he replied slowly, his mouth twisting into a frown at the sound of his name, "but please call me Froggy."
"It's nice to meet you Froggy," I smiled, attempting to seem less intimidating, although personally I didn't think I was that scary.
He grinned back shyly, looking almost hopeful at my reaction. His face lightened when he saw I didn't stop smiling.
"Nice to meet you Serpentina," he responded. Froggy was actually sort of handsome when he didn't look like a psychopath. He commented, "You know, you're really pretty when you smile."
"Thanks." He was seeming more normal by the second. "So how did you come to live with frogs?"
"It's that obvious, huh?" He looked concerned.
"Well, the name and the slimy-pond smell is dead giveaway." Why was he so worried about everything he said?
"Ok," he told himself. "Well, I came to be a frog because I was never accepted as a dog. No one ever liked me, not even my own family, and so I just had enough and left to go live with the frogs. So how did you get to be a snake?" Froggy was hanging on my every word.
"Sort of the same story. I was accepted as a dog but I was as a snake, so I went to be one of them instead." He really did seem to care about whatever I did. It was sort of creepy.
"And yet you're not crazy," he muttered.
I couldn't think of anything to say so I just kept quiet to try to avoid awkwardness, but it hung in the air like a buzzing crowd of flies - very annoying but almost impossible to kill completely.
Suddenly, out of the blue, he asked, "Would you be my girlfriend?" He spat it out so quickly it was basically intelligible.
"What?" I wanted to know if I had heard right.
"Um, will you be my girlfriend?" he mumbled, turning bright red under all of that green.
I resisted the urge to laugh at the fact that he looked liked a Christmas ornament. "But you barely know me, and I barely know you."
"Well, yeah, but were both outcasts so I thought maybe we could stick together." He seriously looked like a Advent joke gone bad now.
"All right Froggy," I told him, only partially realizing what I was saying. "Let's go."

Finally both of us had found our match, which actually was rooted in society's hatred of nonconformity rather than in heaven, but hey, not everything's going to be perfect...

[Aeli]

Here's a story based off a suggestion by Glowbreeze:
Pets:
Pet's name: Silent Death (♂) and Pet's name: Collete

Silent Death was the exiled. Collete was the exalted. Their love for another was forbidden by all laws and all opinions, yet they continued to care in a world that had lost all feeling. They would have to change the world around them... or pay the ultimate price for their love.

"Collete, are you ready?"
"Yes, Father," came her exasperated voice.
"Good. Today you will earn the meat for the pack."
"Why should I? All of them are just a bunch of uncaring lazybutts."
"Why should you? Well Collete, you are the -"
"Yeah, I know, I'm the Chosen. Uhh, I just want to be normal Dad, and not have to do all of this Chosen stuff."
"Collete, you are the angel of our pack, our divine figure. You were chosen by the gods when your angel wings grew in. And I am Father to you; even though you are the Chosen I will not have you addressing me so informallly."
"Alright Father let's just get this hunt over with."

"I see a deer Collete. Fly over to it and strike," Father commanded. Collete, knowing she couldn't get out of this one, flew over and pounced.
"Ok Dad, it's dead, so we're done, right?" Collete hated doing all of this hunting and killing for her pack. Why couldn't they just do it themselves instead of relying on a teenage wolf? "'Cause I'm different, that's why," she thought to herself.
"No, we aren't Collete. We still need 4 more to feed all 20 of the wolves in our pack. And it's Father, how many times do I have to remind you?" Father said irritably. "I think I'll let you do the rest by yourself; you have eyes and ears and a nose."
"Finally," Collete said as Father left, and flew off into the Uncharted (and forbidden) forest.

"I'm so happy to see you Silent Death," Collete cried as she approached a large black wolf with feathery wings.
"As am I, Collete," Silent Death said, turning to nuzzle her. "What took you so long?"
"I had to kill 5 deer this time. Apparently 1 deer per 5 wolves isn't good enough now; everybody needs more meat. I don't see why they eat at all; after all, they don't do anything to burn energy, so it's no wonder why they're all so fat," Collete ranted.
"It really isn't fair that the whole pack wants you to do their hunting for them. I would help you if I was allowed in the pack anymore, " Silent Death said quietly.
"Well thanks." Collete smiled at him. "Oh crap, I gotta go. I have to go deliver those deer before they rot."
"Goodbye beautiful," Silent Death told her.
"Goodbye handsome," Collete called from behind her shoulder as she flew off into the sunset.

"Father, why can't Silent Death come back into the pack?" Collete asked Father just before they were all getting ready to go to bed.
"Collete, for the last time Silent Death is never allowed in this pack again because of his name, his wings and his powers. He is your antithesis, the devil to your angel. We cannot allow him to hurt you and remove our Chosen One."
"But he's not evil. He's just different, and no one in this pack understands that," Collete told Father.
"I don't want to hear another word on the topic of Silent Death. Do you understand, Collete?" Father asked sternly.
"Yes," she grumbled, then went over to her corner, laid her head down, and tried to sleep.

"Collete the beautiful, the exalted, the angel, would you be my mate? Would you mate your opposite, the exiled, the ugly, the devil?" Silent Death bowed before her with his question.
"Yes, Silent Death, yes," Collete breathed. "And you too are an angel. Or at least, you are my angel."
"Collete, you just made the last 2 years of living in exile worth suffering through; in fact, you just made all of my life worth living." They both just stared into one another's eyes for a few moments, and then nuzzled passionately.

Silent Death and Collete flew into the pack together. All of the wolves gasped in astonishment that Silent Death, the Exiled, the Damned, would dare show his face here again, but both Collete and Silent Death held their heads high, and walked right up to Father's den and knocked at the entrance.
From inside came a tired voice. "Who is it, and what business do you have here with me?"
"It is Collete -" "What?" "- and Silent Death." "What?"
"Why are you here with him?" Father demanded, and growled at Silent Death, "As soon as we are done here you will die for breaking your exile and for being anywhere near Collete."
"I'm afraid that won't happen Father, because if you kill Silent Death, I kill myself, and you wouldn't want the pack to lose their Holy One, now would you?" Collete said.
"Collete, how can you care for this demon?" Father cried, and spit at Silent Death.
With that, Collete lunged and knocked Father unconscious. "Listening to him rant about how you're such a devil and I'm so damned now that I'm connected to you would've gotten old," she told Silent Death, who nodded in agreement.
"Well we should probably go Collete, as clearly we are not welcome around here." Silent Death was anxious to leave this old life behind. "Yep, let's go."
Just as they were about to leave, they heard a voice from behind them call, "Don't!"
Collete turned around to see Mick, the second-in-command behind Father. "Why not? she asked him.
"We don't believe that you are an angel and that Silent Death is a devil," he said earnestly.
"What do you mean 'we'?" she questioned.
"All of us except for Father. We never did, but Father was too powerful to resist, so we had no choice but to go along with it."
"Really Mick?"
"Really."
"So could we stay here then?" Silent Death asked.
18 voices chorused, "Yes," and a couple added, "Nice to have you back Silent Death."
Silent Death looked at Collete questioningly. "What do you say, my angel?"
"Let's stay. Here we have a whole pack to live with." To the crowd she said, "But I hope I'm not gonna have to do your hunting now."
At this all of the wolves laughed.

"I'm pregnant, Silent Death," Collete told him excitedly. "You'll be a father in a few months."
"I think our puppies will make good leaders. After all, they'll be a cross between light and dark, so they'll be perfectly balanced," he responded. It had been almost a year since Father had been thrown down and Collete and Silent Death had become Alphas, and all of the pack had been anxiously waiting for the announcement of puppies.
"The rest of the pack will be happy to hear the news of our heirs,'' Collete said happily.
"Yes they will, but they can't be more happy than us." Both Silent Death and Collete loved their unborn children with all of their hearts, just as they loved one another.

Both Collete and Silent Death lived out their days together in love. It was just like those fairy tales, how does it go? Happily ever after...

Oh thanks! It's amazing! And I guess you can see I traded my raven wolf away... you're a great story writer!

[horchata]

Pets:
Milo And Millie

Adopt virtual pets at Chicken Smoothie!
Story Type: Romantic/ Love Please
Genders of Pets: Milo is male and Millie is Female
Other: