Animal Story Part 2

A couple months later, after I had finished off all of the shepherd’s sheep - and all of the shepherd - I walked back to the village to see if I could find Kazzero. I was still hungry, and I was sure he probably wasn’t over the death of his master, so I decided I would put him out of his misery. After sneaking around, looking for the mournful dog on every street and behind every building, I finally found him in an alley.

Sure enough, he was still grieving. He looked like he hadn’t eaten anything in a really long time. He was definitely miserable – there was absolutely no doubt about that. That assured me that I needed to put him out of it. But as I approached him and didn’t see him jump up or run or make any attempt to do...anything, I knew something was very wrong. So, taking on that compassion that he was convinced I didn’t have, I walked up to him and sat down, letting him know I wasn’t there to kill him...anymore. I looked down at him.

“Look at you,” I said. “You’re a mess.”

“I guess I can’t argue with you there,” he said. “Those sheep are all I have left in this world, but I can’t bear to see them. Not after losing my master.”

I coughed and gagged at the mentioning of the sheep. “Well...actually...” Kazzero looked at me in fear. I shrugged. “Well? What can I say? After there was no longer anything to protect them, they were fair game. I’m just surprised no other animal got to them first...”

Kazzero looked down sadly. “Great. Now I have nothing to live for...”

“Wow...that’s not depressing at all or anything...” I told him. After a couple moments of silence, I said, “I could take care of that, if you want me to...”

Kazzero looked up at me. “Um, no. I’m upset, but not that upset.”

“Okay.” I replied. “But my offer still stands.” Kazzero laid his head down in the snow. I looked at him. “I’m sorry, we haven’t been properly introduced.”

“Kazzero,” he said.

“Oh, I know,” I answered. “I’m Kharusa.”

He looked at me and sighed. “I guess you’re the only one I know now,” he told me.

“Why?”

“I never had any friends other than the shepherd, and one or two of the sheep, and now that they’re gone, well, they were all I ever needed...”

“Oh, come on!!!” I cried. “NOW I’m starting to feel bad!!! Don’t make me feel guilty for being a tiger!!!”

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m not trying to make you feel guilty or anything...”

“No, I’m sorry,” I interrupted. “I guess I never knew anyone could have a relationship so strong, and I had to be the one to ruin it. I’m sorry I killed your best friend. I’ve never had a best friend before...” I looked into the cloudy grey sky above me.

Kazzero looked at me. “Would you like one?”

Surprised, I looked back down at him. “You’re really offering to be my best friend? After what I did?!”

“Well, yeah. Look, I think we just got off on the wrong foot. I’m depressed, and could really use someone to talk to, even if it IS the one who got me depressed in the first place.” I looked down guiltily. “And you’re hungry, and I know some of the best places in the village.”

I looked up at him, a glint of hope in my eyes, and in his too. Kazzero stood up and smiled at me. I smiled back.

“Well, this will certainly be the most interesting best friend pair Russia has ever seen, but I suppose that’s alright,” I said with a mischievous smile.

Kazzero returned the smile. “C’mon. Let’s get something to eat.”

He led me out of the alleyway and into the streets. Or, at least, he went into the streets. When he realized I wasn’t following him, he stopped and turned around. He cocked his head to one side.

“Why aren’t you following me?”

“Oh please. I thought you might know that I can’t go out there! I’m a tiger! You’re a dog! Somebody’s going to try to kill me!!!”

“Right...right...” Kazzero said, thinking. “Well, stick to the alleyways. No one will see you there. I’ll try to stay in sight. It’s not far.”

I wasn’t convinced, but I followed Kazzero anyway. Things were going smoothly for a while until I came to a wall – literally. As I walked, I bumped straight into a brick wall. A blob of snow fell off and hit my head. As I stood, rubbing my aching nose, I realized Kazzero was still walking.

“Kazzero!” I whispered. I looked in every direction for a way around the wall. “Kazzero!” I hissed again. And again, there was no response.

So, I decided that drastic times call for drastic measures. I leaped up on top of the wall and looked over to see if I could find Kazzero. Sure enough, he was walking on the sidewalk right below me.

“Kazzero!!!” I shouted. Alarmed, Kazzero stopped. He looked around. “Up here you idiot...” I said.

Kazzero looked up and saw me there. “What are you doing?! Someone is going to see you!!!”

“Well, maybe if you could tell me how to get around this wall, everything would be fine!!!”

Kazzero looked around me and peered through the planks of a wooden fence adjacent to the wall I was standing on. His eyes widened when he saw what was in the space. I, too, looked down.

It was a backyard, and sitting in it was a young boy. He was staring at me in fear. There was an awkward point where we just stared at each other. I smiled at him, but I guess it wasn’t a very good idea. Flashing my teeth in a friendly smile isn’t so friendly towards humans, and the boy screamed.

“Kharusa!!!” Kazzero shouted.

“What?! I didn’t know he was going to scream!!!”

“Just get down!!! Let’s go!!!”

I leaped off the wall and into the streets of the village. People walking on the sidewalks screamed on first sight of me. They were right to scream. I felt so respected in the village. People made the effort to get out of my way as quickly as possible as we ran away from the boy’s yard. I barely paid attention to that, though. We ran and ran and ran, and then we ran some more.

Finally, we stopped. I didn’t know where we were, but it appeared to be safe. Well, I thought it was safe.

As we sat there catching our breath, I suddenly felt something hot on my side. I turned and saw a tiny red dot on my coat. A laser beam was connected to the dot. I followed the beam to a bush. I narrowed my eyes and stood up. Kazzero looked at me, confused. I trotted steadily towards the bush. The dot moved to the spot right between my eyes. I paused and listened. I heard the sound of something creaking and nervous breathing. I ducked just in time.

Right as I fell into the snow under me, I heard an ear-splitting bang. Something sailed through the air and into the trees behind me. It made impact with a tree, blowing pieces from it and scattering the birds that lived there. Snow and tree bark fell on Kazzero. He jumped a little and looked around, alarmed. I stood and raced towards the bush, determined to find out what had tried to blow me up.

As I neared it, a man stood up and ran away. In his hand he held a long black...thing. I picked up the pace and ran after him. I was about ready to pounce on him when a husky jumped out in front of me, snarling and growling.

Her red, white, and orange fur was bristled, her ears were flat against her head, and her mouth hung open, dripping with saliva and flashing bright white fangs. I stopped so as not to run her over. The man, however, continued running, unaware that I had stopped. What a stupid, naive human. I looked back at the husky.

“Ha!” I laughed. “Don’t waste your breath, dog. You wouldn’t dare challenge me.”

“You stay away from him!” she shouted.

“Are you out of your MIND?!?! He tried to kill me!!! And you’re going to tell me not to chase after him?! Who do you think you are to tell me what I can and cannot do?!?!”

“Hey, hey, hey. Break it up, you two,” Kazzero said, joining us. I looked down at him. The dog, very stressed, also looked at him. “Let’s not have fighting. Fighting never got anybody anywhere.”

“You don't know the first thing about fighting, Kazzero!” I snapped.

He looked at me nervously.

“Oh, and I suppose you do?” the husky asked. I looked at her.

“You’re kidding, right?” I asked her. She raised an eyebrow. “Alright. Bring it. Let’s see who knows how to fight.”

She lunged at me, but I hit her out of the way. ‘This is going to be easy,’ I thought to myself. As she stood up, I ran up to her and pinned her down again. Claws ready, I lifted my paw to deliver the final blow when I heard the piercing bang again. This time, it hit its mark.

“Kharusa!” I heard Kazzero cry.

I flew back a few feet, wracked with agonizing pain. I looked at my paw, which was stinging. A good bit of the paw pad had been sheared off and it was bleeding profusely. I looked up and saw the man standing there. He had the long black thing up to his face, peering through it. The red dot was back in between my eyes, which were fiery with hate.

The only thing the man was focusing on was killing me – that was quite obvious. Of course, he never got the chance. I looked over to see Kazzero dashing fiercely towards the man. The man never saw him though, because he only saw me.

Kazzero jumped up and grabbed the man’s wrist viciously, causing the black thing to fall from his hands. He then started to tear the man up; I had never seen that side of him before! It made me curious as to why he didn’t show this side when coming to me the first time. The husky stood up and hurried over to help her master. I licked the blood off my paw before standing up and also running over. Well, it was more like hobbling. By the time I got there, Kazzero and the she-dog were fighting each other. I took my wounded paw and pushed it against the man’s throat. He let out what little scream I would allow. Now, the blood from my paw ran onto the man, instead of the snow. His hair and clothes were slowly getting covered in it. The sight of the blood made my vengence grow stronger, and I desperately wanted to see him covered in his own blood, instead of mine.