The Star Beast and The Wonder Child

Chapter 1

The astral being laid in silence on the cold floor of his small, metal cage. He was a large cat-like being with two tails and short, purple fur that got darker in places, which then faded into dark blue and then black. The darker areas were speckled with white spots that look as though they could resemble stars. On his head, were spiraling antlers, on his back there were four spikes, and on all four paws, he had raptor-like claws.

This astral being was known as Nabil. He had been sent to Earth to become a guardian of flora, fauna, and all things good. Unfortunately, the humans did not understand this. They managed to capture him and brought him to a laboratory in the mountains of Washington State where they chained him up, threw him in a cage and performed tests on him. They had to use a lot of sedatives to subdue Nabil.

The large beast was in a lot of pain. It was hard for him to move. His two larger eyes slowly fluttered open until they got used to the harsh florescent light. He raised his great head and looked around, his gaze drifted upon a large bowl of food. It looked more like gravel to him, but he supposed, to a domestic animal, this might be considered an excellent feast. Still, he refused to eat it.

It might be poisoned, he thought as he slowly got to his paws, and stretched out his long, powerful legs. Nabil tugged at the metal collar around his neck. He would be able to slip it off if it weren't for his antlers being in the way. He took a deep breath, gathering all of his strength and threw his head back, successfully breaking the chain. He did same thing with the chains keeping his paws on the ground. The metal cuffs and collar remained in-tacked, but the cat-like creature decided he could deal with that later.

Now it was time for Nabil to get out of his cage. He pushed against the bars. Normally the bars would have just bent and snapped under his weight, but it was obvious his strength was not fully recovered. His pale blue eyes spotted the heavy chains that kept his cage locked tight. The creature carefully slipped one of his large paws through the bars and got a hold of the lock. His large, curved talon was too large to pick the lock, so he had to use one of his normal claws.

He twisted and turned his claw and finally... click! The chains fell to the ground, and he pushed the cage door open. He quietly crept out of the cage, looking around as he neared the door. Nabil was able to use his long toes as fingers to turn the doorknob and exit the room, and found himself standing at the end of a very long hallway that veered off into other hallways and even more doors.

Nabil was always unconscious whenever they carted him around the hallways, so he had no idea where to go. He began to make his way cautiously down the hall, praying to his stars that none of the scientists or security guards would come down this way. A faint glow coming from one of the other hallways caught his eye. A bit hesitant at first, he approaches the door with the odd glow and peeks into the small window.

In the room he saw human-sized glass jars that were all empty. All except for one. It was filled with some strange liquid, the source of the glow. Floating within the liquid was a human girl. She had long, wavy, dirty blonde hair that went down to her waist. From the looks of it, she was only wearing undergarments and there were wires and IVs hanging from her arms. Nabil opened the door, feeling rather drawn to this human, he approached her container and watched her for a moment.

The creature noticed the device in front of her container. He looked over the buttons, not sure which one might help. A movement he noticed out of the corner of his eyes caught his attention. The girl was awake. Her large, round, amber eyes were now wide open, watching the magnificent creature before her. She was pointing to something on the device.

Nabil followed the direction of her finger and noticed a large green button. He looked up at her for confirmation and when she nodded, he pressed the button. The liquid began to drain from the tank. Once the water was low enough and her feet were able to touch the bottom, she was able to stand. Now that the liquid was completely drained and the strange glow was gone, the glass opened up with a hiss and the young women took in a deep breath. She stumbled off the platform gazing at Nabil.

The large beast took a step back to give her some space. She smiled kindly before turning to some hooks on the wall. She grabbed one of the lab coats and put it on. The young girl then cleared her throat, trying to find her voice.

"You must be the star beast they spoke of," she croaked. It was hard for her to speak after not using her voice for quite a while. Nabil nodded his head in response. "Its awful knowing what they did to such a beautiful creature as yourself."

Nabil's ears twitched. He was not used to being called beautiful. Most humans called him a beast or a monster and when they saw him, they just could not run away fast enough. This girl was different. She took a step towards him, holding out her hand. He didn't budge. She smiled at him and and took a few steps closer until she was able to touch him.

She gently touched his cheek. "Thank you," she whispered. "I've been trapped in there for a couple years now. I have never been so scared in my life. Thank you." She wrapped her arms around his neck as much as she could and buried her face in his fur. Nabil couldn't help but to smile.

"You are very welcome, young one," his deep voice rang out like an echo. The girl looked up at him in awe.

"You can talk!" She beamed with excitement. He blinked at her, surprise.

"You can understand me?" She nodded enthusiastically. "Most humans cannot understand me when I speak. To them, it just sounds like a loud, piercing screech." He studied her for a moment, trying to figure out what was going on and how it was possible for her to understand him.
"Guess I'm just special," she giggled. "My name is Birdie by the way. Birdie Valor."

"I am Nabil."

"Thats a cool name! Nabil, are there others of your-" She stopped when she heard a noise in the hallway. Birdie lowered her voice to a whisper, "The security guards must be checking on your cage... We have to get out of here.... Up there!" She pointed to an air vent and quickly started stacking up anything she could find to reach the vent.

"Its too small for you to fit. I could take the form of a small house cat and fit, but you will not be able to make it through." He looked at her with concern. He had just met her, but something made him feel protective over her. Birdie turned to him, her long, dirty blonde locks swished over her shoulder.

"I got a few tricks up my sleeve," she grinned. Suddenly, her body started changing, she started getting smaller, sprouting ears and a tail. Now standing in Birdie's place, was a mouse. Nabil stared at the mouse, dazed and confused. Birdie climbed and jumped up the pile until she reached the vent. Nabil, still a little dazed, changed his form as well and followed the mouse version of Birdie up and through the vents until they found a way out and made their escape.