My Little Neko Boy

Chapter II

I fell out of the camp chair when the hand touched me. I scrambled back a few feet and was looking up at the most breathtaking being I had ever laid eyes on. His pale skin gleamed in the moonlight, his tail was twitching in a hypnotic manner, his black hair was mussed from when I toweled him dry and his whiskers wiggled slightly as he spoke.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten."

"Oh, no worries," I said as I got up from the ground. "Ummmm....are you okay? Can I get you...like...a hospital? You had a pretty bad crash."

"No! No hospital! No government!" Genuine fear shone in his dark blue eyes. His long dark lashes fluttered anxiously.

"Okay, okay. No hospital. No government. They'll probably be here soon because they tracked your descent and area of impact. I was just on my way to pack up and get out of here before they're here."

"Don't worry. First off, I'm a fast healer. Most of my species are. When we heal, we're able to heal others briefly. Look at your hands."

True enough, my hands were in perfect shape. I checked my leg, and aside from needing to wash some remnants of dried blood off, it was also in great shape. Looking up, I had a question on my face.

"Our ships are immune to your radar. We had one get shot down some years ago and we worked on avoiding your technology. They didn't see me come down. Also, my ship will be undetectable from my planet now that it's underwater."

"So..." I tried to process all this information. "You're a cat/human hybrid, and you crashed in a lake. Won't...won't your country be looking for you?"

"Truthfully, sir, I have no country. I'm not from this planet. I'm not from this solar system. I was born on the planet Eldred, and it is the main home planet for my species. I am a Neko."

"Ohhhh," I said, realizing. "You're a Neko. I thought your name was Nico. How'd you wind up here?" I sat down again, and my new friend sat on a rock.

"Thanks for rescuing me. By traditions of my planet, I am now yours to own. I also thank you for making sure my tail is comfortable."

"Yeah. No problem. I just did what I thought was right. By the way, my name is Aries Fenix. Do you have a name? How old are you?"

"By your reckoning, I am eighteen years old. By Neko count, I am fifteen years old. A full grown adult Neko is twenty years old. It is then that they choose a name for themselves."

"So you don't have a name?" I queried.

"No. Perhaps as my owner you'll give me one?" I saw the hope in his beautiful blue eyes. Such a dark but also bright blue. I had never seen anything like it at all.

"I don't own you. Owning another person is illegal and-"

"Please, sir, may I have a name?" I didn't mind that he cut me off.

"Hmm. You were able to heal yourself, and you healed me. Seemed like magic...magic is used by casters...what do you think of the name Castor River Fenix?" His face lit up and he had a huge smile. Then something happened that I didn't expect.

Castor jumped towards me, and in midair, he shrunk down so that by the time he landed on my lap, he was a cat. A seemingly regular cat that was purring and rubbing against my hand. The only thing was that the cat's eyes were the same shade. I absentmindedly petted Castor for a few seconds before my brain was able to process what had happened.

"Not only are you a cat being, but you can turn into a full cat?"

Twitching his whiskers, Castor jumped off and changed back to his original form and sat back on the rock. "It's a rare trait among my species. It's how I came to be here."