The Dark Entity

Chapter 5: Friend or Foe

"It's cute," Astrid commented, referring to the soft-looking creature that sat in front of the three of them.

"Yeah, I wonder what it's doing out here?" Clover asked, holding her hand out to show the animal she wasn't dangerous or trying to scare it.

The creature slowly crept forward towards her outstretched hand, its nose twitching as it smelled for any signs of possible danger. It seemed to feel safe with the three of them watching it, so it went ahead and headbutted Clover's hand with its tiny horns. She giggled as it let her pet itself.

"Aw- hello," Clover cooed, scratching under the friendly animal's chin.

It rolled over on it's back, exposing its fluffy stomach to the girl. She patted it, giving it lots of attention. She wasn't scared of animals- not even the wild ones. If they had a disease she would know right away, by looking at the signs that were obvious to her. She saw that this creature didn't have any illnesses and took the opportunity to meet it, and show it that she was nice.

"Well now we know it's a female," Ignacia said, crossing her arms.

Clover looked down at it and noticed what the other girl was referring to, "Oh! Well then- you're right," she replied.

"Should we give her a name?" Astrid asked, raising their eyebrows in question.

"Sure, why not?" Iggy answered. "Clover, she seems to like you the most, you should name her."

She was a little surprised, but happy, and nodded in agreement, "Alright, what should I name you?..." she said, thinking of names that would be suitable for the creature. "How about... Koki'o?" she eventually came up with.

"Sounds pretty, I like it," Astrid responded.

"Me too," Ignacia agreed, nodding. "What do you think of that, little miss?" she asked the animal, who was now rolling over onto it's stomach.

Clover pet her head once more, making the creature make a happy purring sound.

She smiled, "I think she likes that," she said. "Don't you, Koki'o?"

The creature headbutted her hand again, which made Clover laugh a little.

"So... do we take her with us? Or do we leave her here where she lives?" Astrid asked, grinning when Koki'o looked at them.

"I guess we can't really bring her along, but maybe she'll follow us," Iggy suggested, reaching out to pet her for the first time.

"Maybe. Hopefully she will- I wanna spend more time with this little ball of fluffy happiness," she cooed, making a face at Koki'o.

"We should keep going now," Ignacia suggested, beginning to walk again.

The other teens followed behind her, and to Clover's delight, Koki'o followed a them too. Much like Phoebe the phoenix, she wouldn't always stay on the path that the three people were walking in, and would sometimes stray off onto her own trail. But she was headed in the same direction they were- even if she got distracted by some insect, she'd still find her way back to Clover.

The bunch traveled for an hour longer, occasionally stopping for a very short break or to check if they were headed the right way with the Imperium Necklace.

"Are we there yet?" Clover whined, making a pouting face to exaggerate her impatience.

Astrid rolled their eyes, "Oh quit complaining."

This only made her whine more, "Shut up, asteroid- my legs are starting to hurt," she said, with a dramatic tone.

Ignacia looked between the two and sighed, "We can take a break if you guys want to, I'm doing okay but if you need it, Clover-"