Alone

Learning

A/N: As you can tell, I'm not really creative with names.... For Tanoki I just changed some letters in Tonoko.. Aha..... Yea... Please don't hate me for this .-.
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~Third P.O.V.~

"The name's Tanoki! What's yours?" The cheery girl introduced herself and waited for the tiger to do the same. He gazed at her with uneasy eyes, as he quietly responded.
"Tonoko... My name is Tonoko."
"Tonoko... Interesting, we have pretty similar names huh? Well it's nice to meet you Tony!"
He blinked, surprised by the new nickname. Narrowing his eyes Tonoko gave a small growl.
"It's Tonoko, not Tony."
Tanoki huffed at his cold behavior but quickly regained her previous personality.
"Well alright then Grump.... HEY! That's another nickname for you! It sure suits you well."

Growling once more, the annoyed feline narrowed his eyes.
"So anyways, I was thinking. Since you didn't seem to know what I was, or what you are... Do you know anything else?" Tanoki questioned, what she considered, her new friend.
Tonoko lowered his head slightly, a bit embarrassed by what he was about to admit.
"No... Not much... Why do you ask?"
"Well, I just thought that since I know pretty much everything," the girl boasted and gestured to herself with her thumb, "That I could teach you what everything is?"

The blue tiger's heart skipped a beat. Would she really teach him, even after he attacked her? He was incredibly excited, if she would let him learn after all.

"Would you?"
"Of course I would silly! We're friends now right?"
"What's... A friend?"

She deadpanned, 'We're going to have a lot of work to do...'

-Time Skip-

It had been almost 4 hours, and the sun was nearing its highest point in the sky. Tanoki had taught Tonoko many things. He had learned what trees, bushes, rocks, streams and rivers, clouds, rain, snow, bark, leaves, fish, and numerous other things were. Needless to say, he was incredibly excited to learn more, but the tired human had suggested to take a small break for lunch.
"What? Why? I'm not hungry!"
Tanoki seemed uninterested in his complaining as she laid back and put one arm behind her head while she scratched her ear with the other.

"Yea whatever. I'm hungry so let's stop for now."
The tiger huffed in annoyance, "Well what's for lunch then?"
"I don't know, you're the one that's going to get food."

Tonoko blinked and jumped in surprise.
"Wha- Why me!?"
"Because, we need to test what you know. And, we'll kill two birds with one stone by making you hunt and assessing you while doing so." Tanoki stated bluntly as she turned to stare at him with bored eyes. The blue cat expressed his indignation and begrudgingly agreed.

-Time Skip-
~Tonoko's P.O.V.~

Stupid Tanoki... Why can't she at least help me hunt? This food is going to be for both of us, so she should at least pitch in that much!
'Lazy human, making me do all the work...' I grumbled, making sure she heard my irritation. She just rolled her eyes. I sniffed and picked up my pace, getting the idea that I might be able to lose her if I went fast enough. She didn't seem to notice, since she was staring up at the trees. Grinning wickedly I continued to slowly increase my speed, enough to go faster but still unnoticeable unless you watched me.
'This might just work...!'

~Tanoki's P.O.V.~

It was really nice today.. Like really nice. A cool breeze, bright blue sky, puffy clouds... How cool. I shifted my gaze from the scenery around me to where Tonoko was walking ahead of me. But instead, I stopped in my tracks.
'Where's... Where's Tonoko..?'
I snapped my head in every direction, frantically searching for him. Did he do this on purpose? That little... Fuming with anger, I ran in the direction we were walking before.

-Small Time Skip-

I had been looking for Tonoko for about five minutes and I'm getting a bit annoyed... Where is he? He couldn't have gone that far!

~Third P.O.V~

The girl froze and stared at a tree several feet in front of her. Fear rose into her stomach as she recognized the sap-filled mark on the bark of the young oak. Her heart began to race and at this moment she knew she had to find Tonoko. This was no longer a fun game, it meant life or death for the feline.

'Skinner's here?'

End of chapter 5