Needed: Part Two by tdyans | |
Dantam lay sobbing in the empty dirt lot for hours, unable to comprehend a
reality without his owner, Madison. Storm clouds rolled in, but Dantam took
no notice until the first drops of rain splattered on his face, blending with
the tears that still ran down his cheeks. At first, he remained where he was,
relishing in the sympathetic feel of the heavens crying down on him. As afternoon
lengthened into evening, however, he began to shiver in his soaked-through,
black fur.
Dantam ran across the street and scratched at the door of a neighbour's house,
hoping that they would offer him some shelter, if only for the night. When the
door was opened by a human and a striped Aisha however, they both took one look
at the Gelert's collar-less neck, frowned, and slammed the door in his face.
At the next house he tried, a yell of, "Get out of here, you stray!" chased
him away, and at the one after that, he narrowly avoided an angry kick that
was aimed at him. Finally giving up, he crawled beneath a bush in someone's
front yard to wait out the storm, and felt exhaustion lull him into sleep despite
his distress.
When he was chased out from under the bush by a broom with an angry human on
the other end of it the next morning, Dantam fled to Neopia Central. For days
he wandered the streets, unsure of what to do with himself now. He'd still had
the bag of candy that he'd bought just before his world was turned upside down,
but he'd eaten it all quickly and found himself still hungry. He wandered into
shops, wondering if anyone would loan him some food until he could manage to
pay them back, but the answer was always no, and his lack of a collar always
got him chased out if he tried to persist.
After a week without Madison, Dantam still found himself walking through the
dark streets at night, not knowing what to do, but knowing that he had to do
something and soon. He was cold and tired, and most of all hungry, but he had
no shelter, nowhere to sleep, and didn't have a clue how to find food for himself.
Just then, Dantam happened to look over into the alleyway that he was passing
by to see a half-eaten piece of ham come flying out of one of the trash cans
and land at his feet. Dantam couldn't believe his luck, until a familiar yellow
Kacheek came flying out of the trash can after it. "Hey!" the Kacheek exclaimed,
snatching the ham before Dantam could sink his teeth into it. He took the ham
and set it down atop a pile of other foods further back in the alley. Dantam's
mouth watered at the sight. He dragged his eyes away from the feast that he
would have scoffed at only a few days before to look up at the Kacheek who was
walking back toward him.
"So," the Kacheek said, arms crossed over his chest and a satisfied smirk
on his face, "If it isn't that pampered Gelert we're always seeing with his
nose stuck up in the air?" Dantam watched as the Kacheek's eyes fell to his
collar-less neck, and the smirk turned to a malicious grin. "Not so high and
mighty now, are you?"
Dantam growled and bared his teeth. His raw nerves had taken just about enough,
and although he had never been much of a fighter, he felt that he could take
this Kacheek, especially if it meant that he'd finally get some food. But just
as he was about to advance on the Kacheek, a red Kougress emerged from the shadows
to stand threateningly behind the little yellow creature. Her steel-gray eyes
glistened along with her claws under the light of the moon, and Dantam unconsciously
took a few steps back. He would have to take a different tack. He laid his ears
back and put his tail between his legs. "I'm sorry," he whimpered passively.
"I'm starving... maybe you could share some of your food with me?"
The Kacheek curled his lip and was about to respond when one of the other trash
cans behind him fell over with a crash. All three Neopets looked back to see
a red Lupe emerge from the can, shaking his head and looking a little dazed
from his fall. When he spotted Dantam though, he trotted up and sniffed at the
Gelert curiously. Dantam examined him in turn. He was a young Lupe, nearly full
grown, but obviously still a pup in many ways. He had only half of a tail, which
he wagged excitedly as he turned to look at the Kacheek and Kougra and ask,
"Who's this?"
"It's none of your concern Brenner," the Kacheek answered, glaring at Dantam.
"He doesn't deserve our help."
The Lupe looked back at Dantam in confusion. "But I heard him say he was hungry.
And it looks like he doesn't have an owner... doesn't that make him one of us?"
"Yes, it does," a new voice said, and a blue Eyrie with a green female Zafara
perched atop his head walked out from deeper in the alley.
The Kacheek spun around to face the Eyrie angrily. "He's not one of us Feruli!
How can you say that? You saw how he treated us yesterday-- like he was better
than us! Why should we help him now?"
The Eyrie sighed. "Yes, I was there yesterday, but that was yesterday. Now
he's a homeless pet just like us, and we can't turn our back on one of our own!"
"One of our own?!" the Kacheek exclaimed. "Just because he comes here with
a sad look on his face doesn't make him one of our own, and I for one am not
giving up my food for him!" The Eyrie stared down at him menacingly, but the
Kacheek just stared right back. The Lupe whined, while the Zafara and Kougra
stayed silent and still, and Dantam looked back and forth between the members
of the group, feeling the rising tension in the air.
Suddenly, as though he had caught something out of the corner of his eye, the
Kacheek broke away from the Eyrie's gaze to look at something behind Dantam.
His eyes widened and he yelled out, "Run!" The other Neopets scattered away
into the back of the alley with practised instinct, but Dantam found himself
rooted to the spot, not knowing what was going on or what to do. He understood
when the net fell over him and he was scooped up to find himself looking into
the face of an angry-looking yellow Techo with frazzled gray hair who he had
only read about before.
Dantam yelped, but it didn't seem to have any effect on Dr_Death, who tossed
him into the back of a van and slammed the doors shut. Dantam felt panic well
up in his chest as the van began to drive away with him. He'd heard horrible
stories of what the pound was like. What if nobody adopted him and he lingered
there forever in some little cage? Or what if he was adopted, but whoever adopted
him was a terrible person who treated him poorly? Dantam didn't know if he wanted
to be adopted, even if it was by a good owner. He'd thought that Maddy was a
good owner, after all, and she'd left him. He didn't think he could stand to
be hurt like that again. As these thoughts swirled through his mind, he watched
the alleyway recede into the distance through the little barred window in the
van door and he howled out, "Help!" not really expecting any to come.
To be continued... |