That was the worst night ever! Every sound made me jump. There was howling, yips, grunts, and hoots, and I had no clue what the sources of the sounds were. I was glad it was over. Faint morning light lit up the entrance of the den, but in the back, there were only shadows. I got up and gave my fur a good shake before heading out. My stomach rumbled.
Right...
I was in the desert, not a cage. No human was going to come and feed me. It was better that way. It wasn't like I wanted the stale kibble, so my stomach would stop growling. That was a lie!
Of course, I wanted some kibble! I hadn't eaten in two days and the only way I was getting food out here is if something else killed it for me or I hunted it myself. Drop taught me to hunt one day when I wouldn't stop pestering him with questions about his past life. There wasn't much room in the cage, but he did tell me about crouching, tracking, and pouncing. I didn't like pouncing. It made me think I was a cat. I never liked cats.
I was grateful that I knew how to hunt. Without Drop, I would never be alive. Without Drop, I would never have been able to do a lot of things.
Beyond the wash was mostly just open land filled with cacti and rocks. It was quite barren, not to mention hot. The blazing sun showed me no mercy, as I started to track the scent of what I believed to be some kind of rodent-like creature. Maybe a rabbit? I heard that those are related to rodents, but weren't the same.
I spent at least a few hours out in the desert, only stopping to look for water. I wasn't even sure if I knew my way back to the wash. All well. I would have to figure it out later. Sitting down on the heated ground, I sniffed the air again. I could smell something, but I couldn't see it, so I decided to listen.
There was a nibbling sound coming from my left, where there was a circle of barrel cactuses surrounded by thick grass. I got up to inspect, carefully placing my paws down and lowering myself to the ground.
I stuck my nose out from the grass, parting it. There was a rabbit in front of me. It was small but looked plump. Licking my lips, I stepped forward. It still hadn't noticed me. However, it was losing interest in whatever it was eating and started to look around.
Before it could see me, I leaped towards it. At the last moment, the creature dodged my attack. Instead of landing on the rabbit itself, I landed on a thorny barrel cactus. I yelped with pain and quickly scrambled off the spiky plant. There were thorns sticking out of the soft skin on my belly. I gave it a few licks after I had pulled the thorns out.
I looked up, feeling someone staring at me. The rabbit was still there, it's nose quivering. It said nothing, but I didn't care. I was angry. Though it hurt, I got up and started to growl at the small thing, but even that didn't phase it.
"Hiya! I'm Nibbles," the rabbit introduced himself. "What's your name, stranger?"
I growled.
"Hey, 'grrr', it's nice to meet you."
I gave him a weird look. What was wrong with this rabbit?
Nibbles took no notice. "Sorry about your stomach," he apologized, looking at the gaps the thorns left.
I remember why I was angry with the rabbit in the first place. With a snarl, I took a menacing step forward. Nibbles took a step back.
"Woah, there! W-we can sort this out, right? After all, I-I was only trying to avoid being eaten by y-you. H-how is t-that m-my fault?"
I stopped. It was true that it wasn't Nibbles' fault. He was just trying to survive like me. Plus, I didn't think I had the heart to kill another creature. Instincts or not.
"Your right," I said. "Me falling into the cactus had nothing to do with you. You were just trying to avoid death."
The rabbit nodded vigorously. "Yes, yes! That's right. Does that mean you will spare me?"
I faked thinking about it, even though I already knew my answer.
"Yes," I said.
The rabbit did a little victory dance, which was just him hopping up and down.
I sighed and looked away. My stomach was rumbling and breakfast was staring at me, very much alive.
"So, where do you come from?" Nibbles asked.
I refused to look at him. "I escaped from a prison for dogs and then found a wash. I'm staying there." I paused. "I need to find my way back."
Nibbles looked at him with his head tilted. "To the prison or the wash?"
I was shocked. The nerve of this rabbit! "What do you think?" I growled.
"Hmmm, the prison?"
I shook my head. "Guess again," I gritted out.
"Well, if not the prison to free your friends, then the wash?"
"Congratulations, that's correct." I sighed, regretting my decision not to eat Nibbles.
"Yay!" Nibbles did a happy little hop. Once he was a bit calmer, he turned to me and said, "I think I know the place you're talking about. I'll take you there since you decided to spare my life."
I regretted my decision a little bit less. At least the rabbit knew his way around. Something that I couldn't say about myself. It would be useful to have Nibbles around. I wasn't ready to tell him that, though.
"Are you ready?" Nibbles asked me.
I nodded and followed Nibbles, who didn't know how to slow down. It came to the point where I had to start running just to keep him in my line of sight.
***
The sun was past its midpoint by the time Nibbles and I reached the wash. The wash was still undisturbed, so I was further reassured that this was a safe place where no one would bother me.
Meanwhile, Nibbles was exploring every inch of the area. He first investigated the stream, then the edges of the wash, and finally my den. I almost stopped him at the point, but I realized there was no need to be so defensive.
It's not even my home, technically. I only just got here.
"This is a nice place you got here! Nibbles exclaimed.
He stamped his foot for emphasis.
I looked around, then sat down. "I guess it is, isn't it?"
"That's what I just said," Nibbles responded, brightly.
Nibbles stopped talking after that, leaving me to enjoy the peaceful silence. I stayed in silence for most of the day but soon got bored. The silence was nice when you were in a calm place, but what was the point of having company if not to talk to?
As if reading my thoughts, Nibbles spoke up. "You know, Grrr, it's been nice spending the day with you. I always loved having company."
I frowned. "Why are you still calling me that? That's not my name! My name is Feran, not Grrr."
It was Nibbles' turn to give me a strange look. "I'm only calling you that because when I asked you your name, that was your response. So, you're telling me your real name is Feran?" He laughed; a loud chatter that was very annoying. "Why didn't you just say so?"
At that point, I didn't bother arguing with the stupid rabbit. He was aggravating, but a friend was a friend. Wait, friend? We just met! I hated Nibbles, he wasn't my friend. Then why did I just think of him as one?
My thoughts raced to answer it, but I was interrupted by Nibbles. "Hey, Feran? Where am I supposed to sleep?"
I was too busy thinking, that I didn't really listen to him. "What do you mean?"
Nibbles repeated himself. "I mean, where should I sleep?"
"Uh, don't you have a home or something?"
I was really hoping that he would say yes. I didn't want to spend the night with this annoying little thing.
"Well, I sorta do, but it is dark and there are coyotes." For the first time, Nibbles sounded scared and it was unnerving for me. Also, what were coyotes?
"What are coyotes?" I asked him.
"Coyotes are mean dog-like creatures that would eat me easily and kill you in a flash. They are vicious creatures!"
Now, I was starting to feel scared of these coyotes.
"Fine, you can stay here," I said.
"Oh, thank you, thank you!"
He hopped around happily and then came back to me.
"Where do I sleep then?"
Right. He needed to sleep somewhere. Sleeping in my den was out of the question. Nibbles would probably be up all night, annoying me. On the other hand, he still needed shelter.
I came to a solution. I would build him a den!
There was still enough light from the sun to navigate my way through the desert. I didn't really bother telling Nibbles what I was doing and left him there. I searched for materials to build and only found a few measly branches and clumps of dry grass.
I took them anyways and came back to the wash. Nibbles was right where I left him, watching me curiously.
Taking the branches, I made a hollow cone shape and filled in the patches with the dry grass. Admiring my handiwork, I turned to Nibbles. "There! Here's your den."
Nibbles stared at it and that's when I started to feel bad. What I just built wasn't going to protect him from the elements. However, instead of saying something bad, Nibbles hopped up to it and said, "I love it!" He hopped on inside of it, and that's when it happened.
One light tap from Nibbles' side was enough to send the thing crashing down. Nibbles launched himself out of the way before the sticks could bury him alive.
He and I watched it crumple into a broken pile.
"Ah well. I'll just sleep outside," Nibbles said.
Arghh! Why did he have to be so accepting? It made me pity him even more.
"If you want to, you can sleep with me in my den." I offered, reluctantly.
"Sounds good!"
I led Nibbles into the den and laid down. Nibbles cuddled up next to me.
"What are you doing?" I wasn't used to feeling the heat of another body next to me. Even in my old cage, Drop tried to distance himself from me.
"Keeping warm! The desert gets cold at night here," he explained.
I nodded, still uncomfortable. Despite that, I drifted off to sleep, as did Nibbles.
Maybe life here wouldn't be so bad, now that I wasn't alone.
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