Unlikely Friends

Part 1: Meet the Human

"Do you not know how dangerous that was?! That was pure stupidity!" said my father as he stormed in behind me. Let me explain what happened, my father and I were out hunting in the woods near our den when we heard the sound of heavy footsteps in the grass. My father, instantly recognizing the sound as that of hunters, tried to usher me away. However I, wanting to be just as brave as my parents, tried to attack. He decided to ruin my big moment because as I was about to jump out of the brush he pounced on one of them, fighting them off. "But I wasn't gonna get hurt though", I said angrily. I sighed and as I stood up on my hind legs my purple fur receded and the fur on top of my head turned into my long hair. My wolf ears stayed and a shirt and some ripped jeans materialized so beautifully around me. If I hid my ears and tail I could almost pass for a normal human, but since the incident that left the whole world split we aren't accepted around human territories.Let me describe the event that caused the globe to become divided. Before I was born sixteen years ago, a significant nuclear explosion occurred in Antarctica a few years ago. All around the planet, the air was thick with smoke. While the majority of people were outside and some were inside their homes, nobody knew what had transpired. The ones who spent even a little period of time outside awoke the next day with distinct animal parts or characteristics; others even had strangely colored hair and fur. After a while, mankind began to kill anyone who had an animal quality out of fear that the inhuman creatures would turn rabid. My parents, who are both half-wolf people and were able to escape as deep into the woods as they could, were already together at that point. As a result, my type now lives in the forests far from human settlements, remaining fully hidden from view. Not long after, humans began to hunt us. I have so lived my entire life in this manner. Aisha, a sixteen-year-old inhuman girl who is constantly hiding or evading capture.My dad growled fiercely. Since I reached 10, I haven't seen much of the tall, brooding guy he chooses to seem as when he decides to look human-like."I know you're striving to be like her, but didn't you see where it got her? " I groan, "I can't lose you too.She was the sweetest and most courageous person ever. She even maintained friendships with several people after the incident. She and a handful of her pals went to the mall one day, but she forgot to cover her ears, and a person shot her.I was ten years old at the time, and after learning that she had passed away, I stayed in my quiet spot in the den for a few days. My father now makes sure I have a hood over my head and that my tail is hidden when we go to the store on days when we don't want to go hunting."I can see why you might want to, Aisha, but-"I interrupted him and said, "But we can't just endanger our lives just because it would be looked at as a great and noble feat like your mother. Yes, you say this every time I try to help you ward off people," I reply. I silently began walking to my location with a flourish of my hand. I can see where he's coming from, but I'm no longer a child. I can look after myself.After what felt like an hour of sitting in my room looking at the ceiling I decided to go for a walk around our territory. If I'd known there was a family camping nearby I never would have left. Before I'd realized it, I had walked within 15 feet of their campground. I jumped behind a bush, afraid that they'd seen me. A moment of silence passed before I slowly raised my head. Confirming they couldn't see me, I looked around. There were two different tents, one purple and one orange, one large enough for two and the other large enough for one. I saw a girl around my age, talking with her parents and laying wood out next to the makeshift fireplace. "I'll go get us some more wood," She said over her shoulder, walking in her direction. Before I could hide away she parted the leaves in front separating me from the campground. late,but both of us were not paying attention and we bumped into each other. "Oof! Hey you ok?" She said as she got up and held a hand out to help me up and when I sat up she screamed frightened. "Yo- you're- " she stuttered, unable to fathom what was happening. When I looked at her I noticed she was a human and my ears perked on high alert and I quickly got up ready to fight. I looked at her up and down and saw she didn't have a gun or any weapon; she didn't even look like she could fight. I decided it wouldn't be a fair fight if I decided to try but before either one of us could say anything I heard rustling in the bushes nearby. I decided it must have been her parents so I ran home the long way. When I finally got home Father was sitting right there in the entryway waiting for me."Hey dad," I said scared since I know he heard the scream of that stupid human girl.Didn't she know I could have gotten caught outside the den without permission, and that now I'm gonna get in trouble for it?"I noticed you were nowhere to be found when I heard the scream." I chuckled nervously knowing that I would be in big trouble. I hung my head in shame and stood there waiting to be reprimanded. Oddly enough he just motioned for me to go to my room. I ran away like a mouse would if it saw a cat. Heh, I wonder how that one family of mouse inhumans are doing. I thought as I noticed how I ran away.Having hid in my room all night feeling bad, I decided the next day to go hunting and I would make lunch, so I turned into my wolf form and ran into the woods and who do I see? If you guessed the annoying human and her family then you were correct. She saw me as a normal wolf with dyed fur and tried to get me to come close to her. I of course growled and just sat there contemplating if I wanted to scare her again or just walk away. Sometime while i was lost in my thoughts she had gotten closer and i looked at her startled."Hey! Do humans not know about personal space?" I spoke accidentally. She screamed of......glee? I was so confused."You're a inhuman!" she said happily. "You're the one from the other day aren't you?"She started with the normal "I've never seen an inhuman before," then she started asking rapid fire questions.