Misadventures of a Very Bad Pet

Chapter 2

"A new shipment of creatures came last night!" Srox chirped happily over the noise of the caged creatures, her orange frills trembling a bit from excitement. 

"And," her voice lowered in a dramatic whisper as she leaned in closer to Kotrox's ear, "I heard that they found a new species from a crashed poacher ship along with a bunch of other usually smuggled breeds. Apparently one of the more dangerous ones got loose and slaughtered the whole crew. Only the other caged creatures survived."

"Oh really now?" Kotrox said, his own frills waving in interest. He had no idea how Srox had managed to sniff out tidbits of news like this.

"Yes!" she exclaimed, eyes shining, "And guess what?"

She didn't even wait for him to reply before continuing, "The new species they found on board? They had no idea where it came from so they couldn't possibly return it to it's planet. So they brought it here instead."

Well, that was news. Kotrox couldn't have cared less about the creatures in this shop. After all, he only worked here because his partner was here, and she absolutely loved taking care of the creatures. Seeing her happy was enough for him.

But he couldn't deny that he was rather curious about this new creature. They might be one of the first of their kind to lay eyes on it after all. Srox flicked her tongue at him, amused at his rising curiosity. 

"Oh we'll see it soon enough, it's just a few crates down from here," she flicked her tail in the general direction and turned around, pressing her hand onto the scanner. It flashed green and the cage door clicked open, revealing the animal inside. The furry creature waited expectantly, it's six eyes trained on the empty bowl Srox was holding.

Kotrox looked over the food containers in his cart, pulling out the generic nutriec pebblets they use to feed almost every creature in the shop. Packed with nutrients, it's the staple for the animals in this store. Only a few creatures needed additional supplements ranging from live feed to vitamin tablets. This stuff would probably be fine for the new creature as well. He filled the bowl with the brownish green feed and watched as Srox carefully placed it into the cage. 

As they made their way down, they finally stopped in front of the new animal's cage. It was funny looking, with a tuft of fur covering the top of its head and what seemed like loose animal skins covering its body. It didn't seem to have any natural defenses, it's pale skin looking soft and fragile. It stayed still and watched their every move. Kotrox flicked his tongue out at it, intrigued. 

Srox opened the cage door, and the creature shrinked back as far as possible from them. 

"Aw, poor little guy," Srox cooed after she put down its bowl. She peered at it, continuing calling out to it gently and mixing in some other sound effects in hopes of a response. 

It made a noise back. Kotrox tilted his head at the sound. It wasn't like anything he heard before. It was a short noise, but sounded a bit like the song of an Aviea, an adventurous beaked being known for their song-like language and vicious fighting style. They were covered in colorful short fur, their venomous spurred leg their trademark of attack. They often joined cargo crews for interplanetary distribution of goods, their reputation of quick one-sided fights keeping plunderers away.

In fact, one of the captains for the cargo ship supplying their shop for pet food and pet items is an Aviea. It seemed to be a family-run business, with most of the crew being the same species. Kotrox had even seen some of the Aviea's offspring help unload the ship.

The creature's call was a bit similar, except it was in a lower pitch and instead of flowing smoothly, ended in a brief pauses.

Srox's frills fluttered in delight at the creature's response, but she never stopped cooing at the thing. She cautiously reached out towards it, a bit hesitant. The creature made a even softer sound, lasting longer than the first.