A Wolf's Tale: Chapter 1-Welcome

I followed my brother’s spirit through the forest; the forest where Hail had died so many years ago. He kept telling me to look up for a pure white dove. I did so, but saw nothing but darkness. Hunger made me dizzy, and I got tired from walking so long, and even begged my brother for us to stop. “No, Sleet. Don’t worry, everything will be fine. We are almost there, I can hear her.”

“Her? Who,” I saw the white dove. She flapped her wings, and disappeared, along with my brother. “HAIL!” I ran, confused, in the direction the dove came from, smacking into a man.

He was in deep panic, panting and wheezing. “Ma, please…” he cried lightly, almost to a whimper. “Where are you?” He looked up at me, and I got a good look into his eyes. They were very dark blue, around a Navy blue, and held fear and sorrow inside them. He backed up, bowing his head. “I am so sorry! I was…I was following my mother, see..... I am truly sorry.” He let out a shark gasp. “Oh my gosh; my kids!” He turned around, and dashed the way he came.

I stud there, dumfounded. “What just happened?” I let out a sigh, and ran after him. He was fast, but I caught him, his arms wrapped around two robots. They both were nuzzling him, just as I did with Hail. I took a deep breath, hearing him apologizing to the two under his breath; I stepped forward. “Excuse me; do you need a hand?”

He turned around, making me jump. My ears fell back, and what little tail I had left went between my shivering legs. “Pardon,” He asked, with hope filling his voice.

I took a deep breath. It was now or never. “I asked if you needed a hand. You seem to have quite a lot in your hands, I can tell.” I let myself smile, felling comfortable with this man. “My name’s Sleet. I came from a large house of many pups; I think I can help you.” He blinked weakly, and his face was pail. I could see he was deep in thought, but he looked out of it. “Um, Sir, are you alright? You seem like you’re sick.”

He blinked again; his eyes now back to the navy blue. What was WITH this man’s eyes? They change from navy to periwinkle (a type of light blue, close to Light Blue and Carolina Blue) to navy again. I tilted my head lightly, trying to understand how they were changing so quickly. “I’m sorry; what did you say your name was?”

I chuckled lightly. He had a very calm voice, one that could hum you to sleep, and his face was simple, yet made it to where I felt safe with him. He had no hair, besides that on his upper lip, making a brown mustache, and glasses were at the rim of his nose. “The name is Sleet,” I replied, hope flooding my body. “I’ll do anything to get out of the nut house of my home.”

The man looked down at the two robots, whom had their heads buried into his sides. I couldn’t help but smile at the thought of how simple lie must have been for them, and the thought of a young pup up agents their mother came into my mind. He sighed. “I really don’t know…Can I trust you with my kids?”

KIDS? These were his Kids? I tilted my head gently, trying to see how it was possible. “I had to live with over twelve pups in one house…I think I can handle two little cuties.” The older looking one of the two looked up at me. His vermilion (Shade of Red) eyes caught my orange eyes. We took in each gaze, reading each other’s thoughts. He was scared, yet happy. He must be shy to new people, and trust was nowhere in his eyes. I smiled lightly, speaking in a voice I would to a pup. “Hello there, little guy.” He lowered himself, in submission, hiding himself with his father’s gaze, but still had his eyes on mine.

The man chuckled historically. “Thanks…I…well…I,” he paused, taking a deep breath. My right ear twitched to tell him I heard him, the little one had gorgeous eyes. “I can’t…really…pay-”

“Oh, no need to pay me.” I looked up at the man, breaking the stair down with the child. “I just want to get out of my house finally.”

I heard a small squeak from below me; I looked down to see the little robot speak. “Sir, who are you? Where did you come from? You don’t look like anything I have ever seen before; what are you?”

I smiled, leaning down to eye level of the little child. I started to fight tears, so the man wouldn’t see me crying. “You’ll be able to ask him all the questions when we get home, Decoe.” I looked up at the man, who had yet another shade of blue in his eyes, now a light Maya Blue. He was smiling. “The name is Ivo. I need to go to my Nephew’s for a few days and I didn’t want to leave my kids all alone. I am really sorry for such short notice.”

I shook my head, feeling overwhelmed with happiness. “Consider it done, Sir.” I looked back at the kid, as he got his younger brother from the shadow of his father to introduce me. “Hello there.”

He wiggled happily, his little brother tearing up. “My name is Decoe, and this is Bocoe!” He wiggled some more, smiling and laughing.

“Well, hello there, Decoe.” I looked up at Ivo, getting up from my crouching. “Ivo, don’t you worry; your kids will be safe with me. I’ll treat them as though they were my own.”

Ivo nodded, starting to move more in the direction of which he came from. “Say, Sleet, why were you over here in this neck of the woods?”

I blinked. What did he mean? “I just was walking when I happen to run into you.” I looked down to see the young robot, Bocoe, clamped to his older brother, Decoe’s hand. He reminded me of myself to Hail.

He spoke again, turning his head to look into my eyes. “Sleet: thank-you.”

I smiled softly. “Don’t mention it, Ivo. Don’t worry; I’ll be glad to help if it means if it means I can finally leave home. I promise, I’ll stay with this family, and treat it as my own. You have my world.”

He smiled, lifting his younger son and letting him ride on his back, and taking his older son by the hand. “I’ll show you around the house.”

I let off a purr of happiness. “To be honest, I want a shower and some food.”

He chuckled. “I can supply that, don’t worry. I can get you a bed ready for tonight while you shower, along with dinner. What do you like to eat?”

I could only remember eating the fleas and ticks from my body, which made me shiver in disgust. “Anything is fine, really.”

The house was a little larger than the house I remembered from home. It was two stories, for one thing, and also had a basement. He brought me to the shower room, which had not only a bath and a shower mix together, but a separate bath beside it. It had water in it, and seemed to steam a bit. “You go in that to relax. I can get it ready for a bug bath, if you want. It looks really painful with all those blighters all over your body. If you want, I can help you take them off.”

I nodded slowly. “Thank-you, Ivo. I wouldn’t mind help. I’ll call you when I’m ready.” He left, and for the first time in almost an hour, I was alone. Yet, this was a different type of alone. I knew someone would come if I called, and someone cared for me. I quickly flung off my clothing to the side, and shook. You don’t know how disgusting I felt. Starting the shower and hearing the fast running water droplets was like hearing a harp playing the most beautiful tone. I put my head under the rain like droplets, and let out a happy moan, slipping the rest of my body in. Boy did it feel good to bathe.

I think it took me around an hour or two to fully clean myself of the dirt from my past bed. I looked down at my tail, which was only a stub. Half of the fur had fallen off through my bathe, only leaving a grey wiggling stub of a tail. Most of the fur on my body was dead fur, and also fell off through the washing. But it’ll grow back, or at least I hoped.

Quickly, I stepped into the large square hole in the middle of the room, feeling warmth from the warm water inside it. I closed my eyes, and placed my head on the floor. I could feel many of the ticks and fleas latching off of my body; dying from the poison. I closed my eyes, and quickly fell asleep. It was the best sleep I had in years. I was in sleep heaven.