How They Met
It was a sunny day, unlike the rainy one before. The smell of moisture was still in the air, but the sun was shining and there were few clouds in the sky. Yahto was trotting through a field on the outskirts of a small country town; the grass as tall as his shoulders and soil soft under his feet. He could hear the sounds of strangers laughing and playing nearby when a soccer ball came rolling past him, followed by a younger canine jumping through the grass. Yahto stopped the ball with his paw, and then kicked it back to the other dog playfully, "Hey, can I join in?" he asked.
"Yeah, sure!" the kid replied, passing the ball back. "Be careful though, you can't see the ball until it hits you!" He laughed, trotting back in the direction he had come from. Yahto kicked the ball forward, laughing as he ran forward in the grass and the others joined back into the game. At one point someone hurled the ball a little to hard and it went flying from the field and into the town nearby. Yahto turned and sprinted after it as it bounced off walls and other things. Finally it crashed into a wagon of fruits which caused the ball to finally stop moving, but the fruit came tumbling down around the dogs that were nearby. He rushed forward, helping the dog nearest to him, "Oh man, I'm so sorry," he said, "The ball just kept going!" He laughed - once - falling silent when he saw the expression on her face. "You should really be more careful. And considerate to others. Playing ball in the middle of everyone else probably wasn't a good choice." Taken aback, Yahto stepped to the side and out of her way as she pushed past him. "Here, I'll help you pick everything up. I'm so sorry," he said, trying to be sincere, "Although, for what it's worth, we were playing ball in the field down the road, not here." He grinned, suppressing a laugh. When she didn't respond he sighed, turning to help pick fruits off the ground. "I really am sorry," he repeated, "I had no intention of creating a mess." "Whoa, what happened here?" a voice asked, laughing. "Yahto crashed the marketplace!" The younger dogs that he had been playing with earlier had come looking for him. They spotted the soccer ball nearby and quickly grabbed it. "Ready for another game?" he asked, bouncing the ball to his playmates. "No, you guys go!" he called, his voice muffled around a couple oranges he was carrying. The kid just laughed and ran back off to join his friends. They continued picking the fruit off the ground in silence until they were finished. The girl he had helped earlier was saying goodbye to the others and had started walking away. He trotted forward, catching up to her. "Hey wait," he called, falling in stride next to her, "You never accepted my apology," he smiled, turning and walking backwards to try and stay in her line of sight. They both stopped walking and she just glared at him for a moment. "I'm not quite sure you really are sorry," she said, staring him down. She started to walk past him, but he quickly stopped her. |
"Well, would it help if I apologized again?" he asked, "I think that would make it a total of four times that I've apologized!" he laughed, though she still was not amused. "From the bottom of my heart, I am terribly and sincerely sorry that the soccer ball caused the fruit to come flying from the wagon and as consequence, sent you falling to the ground," he laughed again, trying to be funny but she wasn't having any of it. She only shook her head and turned to continue walking. He turned and fell in step beside her again.
"You're really not going to forgive me?" He asked, sounding hurt. She laughed; YES, finally, a positive response! "Look, it's not your fault the soccer ball came flying through the market," he nodded, completely agreeing, "And you helped pick everything up. If it will make you go on your way, then fine, I accept your apology." "Perfect!" He grinned, feeling triumphant. "The names Yahto, just in case you were wondering." "I wasn't," she said. "And yours?" he asked, stopping in front of her again. This time it didn't stop her though, and she only moved around him and continued walking. "It doesn't matter much," she called over her shoulder, "We'll probably never see each other again anyway." "Oh, I don't know about that!" he yelled back, smiling and shaking his head as he turned away. He had a feeling that this would not be the last time they saw each other. |
The storm was rolling in quickly, the clouds were becoming dark grey and rumbling with lightning. Vixen was walking quickly down a mostly deserted road near the beach, looking for strays that may still be lingering. This was an unsafe area even in the best of circumstances, and she was fairly certain there was a hurricane coming. She had been helping all day; getting people to move to the safer areas of the city and making sure that those places were stocked up on the necessities. The wind was picking up, enough that walking in a straight line was nearly impossible. Trees were bending against the wind and in some places large branches littered the ground where they had been torn from their trunks. Vixen had been following the sound of someone nearby, calling out for help. It was possible that they had already been trapped by the weather and she was determined to help them.
Finally, she was able to pinpoint the voices, spotting a couple of younger pups trapped behind a blocked doorway. Thunder rolled from the clouds above and the rain caught up to her, instantly soaking her fur. Lightning struck; a blinding flash across the sky, and thunder quickly followed, shaking the ground so hard that she almost fell over. Suddenly a weight collided against her and she did fall, sliding across the rocky ground. Everything was quiet for a moment before her senses returned completely. She slowly shook her head and climbed back to her feet, assessing the situation around her. Where she had stood seconds ago now lay a large tree; the ground was broken into pieces where it had fallen. |
"Are you alright?" a voice asked.
"Yeah, I'm --" she stopped, suddenly very confused. He laughed at her expression, although she didn't find it quite that funny. "I swear I'm not stalking you or anything," he said, watching her carefully. It was the dog from before; the one that had caused such a mess in the marketplace a few weeks ago. How in the world was he here? Her thoughts were quickly interrupted before she could really process anything though, by more thunder and another - smaller- tree uprooting itself next to the other one. "I really don't have time to question this," she said as she turned and jumped over the trees that had fallen. "There are kids trapped in this building." Thankfully he didn't ask any questions either, and just followed her to where she had indicated. They quickly cleared away the debris that had been blocking the doorway and helped the younger pups out from the mess. Vixen pointed them in the direction of the nearest safe area she had set up and they quickly ran off in that direction, obviously frightened by the storm. She glanced up at the sky before turning back to Yahto. "Thanks, but you should probably go too. The storm's getting worse," she said, starting to walk off in a different direction. "But where are you going?" he asked, taking a few steps after her. "To see if anyone else needs help," she said matter-of-factly, looking over her should and then looking up at the sky again. The clouds were close to black now, and the rain was falling so hard she could hardly see through the stream. She shook her head, momentarily clearing the water from her face and she started walking again. "Well, then I'm coming with you!" Yahto announced, leaping forward and falling into step next to her. She laughed. "I don't need your help," she said, stopping to turn and look at him. The wind whipped around them making it almost impossible to hear anything, the rain pelted against them like ice. Lightning streaked across the sky and then down into the building next to them, causing the brick to come falling from the walls. Yahto lept forward, pushing her out of the way and barely missing the stones himself. "Are you sure you don't need help?" He breathed, surpressing a laugh. "Come on, let's both head back. I don't think anyone else is down here." He slowly got to his feet, eying the building and the sky before them. She nodded, doing the same. "So, do I get to know your name now?" He asked as they quickly made their way inland. "Or should I start guessing?" She shook her head, smiling. "Vixen," she said. "My name's Vixen." |