Upon Three Paws

Chapter 8

When I come back to the realm of consciousness, I feel my body is unable to stretch out. Confused, I shift and feel a familiar material rub against my fur. A blanket. Memories of the cold creatures fill my mind.

The muffle sound of a voice has my heart beating faster and the quickening pace of beeping makes it to my ears. My eyes shoot open as the sound of footfalls grows closer and I snap my head in the direction of a green humanoid creature walking closer towards me.

"It's okay," his deep voice cooes. A gentle undertone doesn't go unnoticed by my panicking thoughts and I find myself slowly calming back down, in sink with whatever's making that beeping sound.

"That's it."

I watch wearily as his strange paw reaches for the top of my head.

Once I've managed to wake Twig up, with the help of Streak of course, as if in cue, two cold creatures burst in. Not really burst, but the flap in the wall called a door is loud enough against our ears to be considered bursting in.

Instinct drives all of us to growl at them as one shuts the door behind them. We're all together on this when we say we feel trapped.

Twig, Dawn, Streak, Ash, and I all gravitate towards one another as they grow closer to our table, while Sun and Rain hide under a pile of blankets on the other table. The phrase "out of sight, out of mind" runs through my head and I can't help but feel the urge to follow their lead.

When his skin comes in contact with my head something in me snaps and I snarl, biting at his hand. His reflexes are sharp enough that when I went to sink my teeth into him he was already far out of my reach.

He gets up and tinkers with a strange structure that seems to be producing the beeping noise that beats with my heart beat. How does it know? Growling at the thing, my instincts begin to fade and my brain becomes fuzzy, eyelids closing on their own accord and plunge me into sweet nothingness.

***

"How long has she been out?"

"About three days now. I lowered the amount of tranquilizer in her food, so either today or tomorrow she'll wake."

I let out a huff mixed with a groan as my body feels unused and slightly uncomfortable. The blankets around me have loosened, but still remain impossible to escape, more so now than before I fell asleep.

Drowsily, I look around and examine my surroundings. Walls of glass about as tall as me on my haunches surround the pink padded flooring on all sides. The padding itself likes bouncy, but still comfortable and soft. Two bowls, one with water and another with some kind of meat in it sit in the furthest corner from me. A dim red light emitting heat stands in the corner closest to me, the light pink blankets absorbing its heat.

"I need to go now. Bye, Sahala."

I furrow my brow at the familiar name. That's when it hits me. The feminine voice that told him to document my behaviour. He said her name is Sahala. I've heard it twice after all.

"Hello little fox." My eyes are drawn back to the green humanoid who seems to have taken me into his home. I'm out of my element and have no clue on what to do next, so I just stare at him.