Upon Paws

Chapter 15~Bitten

Chapter fifteen~Bitten

At some point, I had fainted from the shocks and woke up to an unpleasant rocking.

I blearily opened my eyes, taking in the world around me.

I was back in my kennel, and Tazan was carrying me by the handle. My collar-thankfully- was gone, leaving my neck fur a bit singed.

I rested my head back on the kennels floor, feeling dizzy. I peered out the cage door.

Tazan was walking along a long hallway, with a dirt ground. The walls were perhaps a tent, because light filtered in and some of the walls flapped.

I still wasn't quite used to my ears and nose. It was like my nose and ears had cotton shoved in them my human life. I could smell and hear so much more, like my senses were almost upgraded.

My ears twitched as the kennel bumped against Tazans leg. I was still worried about what was going to happen with Tazan now that he suspects we can talk.

I thought about this a moment longer as Tazan walked. The long tunnel suddenly opened into a large white tent, with colours dancing along the walls like disco lights. The room was a large circle, with a floating platform in the middle, and little cubicles in front of it.

I stood up to get a better veiw; the alien tech amazed me. Floating platforms?! I was amazed.

Tazan carried me over to one of the cubicles near the edge, placing me down gently. I didn't notice before, but Tazan had been carrying Iggy's kennel in his other hand. I heard a tap as Tazan placed his kennel down in the next cubicle.

Tazan opened my kennel door and let me step down. "Here you go, Rusty. Just don't go anywhere." He lightly patted my head before making the kennel shrink into a small cube.

I watched as he turned to Iggy before surveying the space around me. The cubicle was around two feet by two feet, and on the walls and floor was a soft cushion. I sunk my claws into it.

The cubicle was attached to a small table about five feet off the ground. I glanced at Tazan, readying myself to jump down. But I stopped as I heard footsteps.

I looked up, my tail flicking. T'Cap holding Carlos in a kennel, with another, much taller, alien. I backed up into the cubicle and Tazan turned and looked at me before realizing more aliens have arrived.

They don't seem to have very good hearing, I observed. My fur started to fluff at the newcomer.

Tazan stepped forward and greeted the new alien, ignoring T'Cap. Obviously he's still a bit sour.

The new alien was even taller then Tazan; and his skin was a dark green. Tazan's and T'Cap's skin was a pea green; was the newcomer a a different race?

Tazan grinned. "Pleasure. I'm Tazan."

The taller alien looked down his nose at Tazan, looking cold. Turhan. Those?" He nodded his head in our direction. "I've never seen them before, which is a surpirse."

T'Cap cleared his throat as he placed Carlos down beside me. "Tazan, Turhan is the president of the Space..." he wrinkled his nose. "What do the humans call them? Oh, yes, Space Animals committee. Turhan, Tazan is fascinated by humans and studies them."

Tazan glared at him but didn't say anything.

Turhan had a politely bored look on. "Thank you. May I see them?" Tazan nodded and led him over to us.

Turhan was mostly looking at me. "Fascinating. Where did you find it?" He crouched so his head was level with me. My fur bristled and I bared my teeth.

"Her name is Rusty, and me and Sakari were exploring the human lab when we found her and Shadow over there"--he nodded at Carlos--"and I'm sure you know Kar-Kar?" Tazan reached out and scooped up Iggy. Iggy didn't resist, but he didn't look happy.

Turhan stepper closer and lifted one of Iggy's wings. "Interesting... and why, does she not have wings?" He turnee back to me with cold black eyes.

My back arched and a hissed. Turhan looked shocked and turned on Tazan. "You don't have her trained?"

Tazan put down Iggy and approached me warily. "She... she is nervous around new people." He reached out his hand and patted my back.

I still hissed but settled down and glared at Turhan. "See?" Tazan gently reached out and cradled me in his arms.

He seemed wary with me now that he had a suspicion that we could talk.

Turhan looked amused and reached out to touch me.

Nope. I rolled over and bit his hand, still balancing in Tazan's arms.

Just like T'Cap, and Gary, Turhan yelled and pulled his hand back. I let go and spat his own blood at him. It was green, like his skin.

Tazan pulled me back, staring at Turhan. "I-I'm-" he started to apologize but was cut off.

Turhan held his hand to his chest. "There will be repercussions for this! This will reflect on her mark!" He roared, and swept out the long hallway.

Tazan shook his head and put me down in my cubicle. "You just ruined your chance with that judge. Maybe Kar-Kar will win the Pet contest."

Pet Contest?

I found out what the floating island was for.

All the cubicles now had animals in them, some which I recognized from the plane ride here. The floating island had a long a table on it, with seven chairs filled with aliens. One of them was Turhan, with now a large yellow circle pinned on his chest.

The female had joined T'Cap, greeting him with a kiss on the cheek. Iggy and Carlos were sitting with me in my cubicle.

Iggy stretched his wings. "I have an idea why we're here," he said, glancing up at the floating island.

"It's a contest, dingbat," Carlos snapped, looking over from his pacing.

Iggy sat up and glared at him. "That's what I was going to sa-"

I cut him off. "Yes, I'm pretty sure that's what we were all thinking!"

Iggy scooted closer to me, his glare still fierce. "There's no reason to get mad." I continued firmly.

Carlos sighed, looking at T'Cap, but didn't say anything.

I glanced between the two, feeling tension between them. Before I could say anything, the room fell silent as an alien stood up from his chair on the floating island.

He raised his hands to the side in a welcome gesture. "Welcome! I, am Petron, the head judge!" He explained the rules.

A beep sounded and a spirel staircase descended down from the side of the island, ending near the edge of the tent.

The judges climbed down and started to explore, looking at all the cubicles.

I laid on my side, waiting, as Carlos and Iggy were moved to their own cubicles.

A shadow was cast over me and I looked up. Petron was standing above me. "Well, well, what do we have here?"

~~~~~
Authors note:

If you liked this chapter, feel free to give a vote or comment! It motivates me to write faster!