Chapter 4 No.4

I suppose more will come looking, until then I'll be watching the water.

A Dog's Interstellar Adventure

Black fur brindled gold on hips and back glistened in the artificial light of a colonial starship. Somewhere between small and medium, the dog's unknown mix showed signs of bully breed and shepherd. Pointed ears laid back, chest thrust low, she let out a bark that sounded deeper than her size suggested.

"Ready?" the shrill voice of a young boy asked.

A ball sailed over the dog's head. It jumped while turning about and snapped at the object overhead. Penny seized the blue ball and trotted back to her wiry, sandy blonde owner who watched the approach with big blue eyes. Willy snatched the ball and stuffed it into his satchel.

"Come on Penny. Dad said you can see the planet we are going to land on out the starboard ports, " Willy said.

The boy and his best friend left the recreation area and walked a few blocks down street sized corridors until the came to the city sized vessel's outer hull. Willy pressed his face to the glass. It felt ice cold and refreshed him after their walk. White clouds drifted over masses of blue, green, and brown. He knew from his grandparent's pictures that this planet resembled Earth, the place his colony departed twenty-five years ago.

The colonial starship landed and a couple days blurred by with massive hull deconstruction efforts, and various other tasks related to converting a metal behemoth into a landed, permanent, home.

Willy and Penny instantly loved the outdoors. Any boy and his dog would. Treks started off small and supervised, Mother would walk with them around a freshly cut and trodden trail which skirted a thick canopy. Father got Willy involved in a new soccer league and held Penny off field to prevent her interference.

Time passed and Willy's parents began to let the boy and his dog venture out unsupervised, from time to time. One such adventure led Willy and Penny down the new part of the trail on the tree line.

A noise in brush nearby elicited a growl and the ruff between Penny's shoulders stood straight like a mohawk. A small purple creature crept out of shadow. Willy's brindled companion turned guardian and wedged herself between boy and beast.

"It's okay Penny, " the boy rubbed down her fur and made his way to the animal "Let's have a look at the little...Aagh!" Willy staggered as the creature sunk claws into his forearm.

Penny crunched down upon it, which rendered the purple assailant inert. She dropped its corpse and sniffed at the wound. The odor was not simply her boy's blood.

Willy paled and felt sleepy. He slumped back against a tree. He hardly felt his dog nuzzle him and whimper concern. His eyes fluttered and he realized the creature and Penny were gone.

Penny raced back up the trail and to the family's quarters in the colony. It took only seconds for Mother and Father to get the brindled playmate's message and the three raced back to recover the poisoned boy.

Their doctor synthesized anti-venom with the corpse Penny retrieved, before the poison affected Willy too deeply.

The boy awoke with Penny asleep on his feet and his parents at his side. "Mom, Dad, you saved me!"

A low rumble of disagreement came from his motionless companion.

Initiation

Pneuma guards surrounded Jaff. Spears poised, ready to thrust through the young lad who, only months ago, shared their physical appearance. Their steely blue complexions flushed a shade darker from exertion. Wedge shaped heads sat atop long serpentine necks. Tails twitched as short arms readied their weapons.

Jaff's adolescent growth spurt turned him into one of the rare few. Something his people abhorred. Bright red skin and powerful wings gave him away the first time his hood fell out of place. Perhaps if his parents were farmers they could have hidden the lad. Living in the city, he could not remain indoors without being missed.

Jaff felt grateful he had been discovered away from the family home, conspiracy to harbor an Anki received the same penalty as simply being Anki; death.

A Pneuma thrust his spear toward the red youth. Jaff raised a hand in fear; the spear tore from the guards grip and flew backward to clatter harmlessly on the cobbled road. Jaff reeled as a guard on his other side screamed a sonic burst and left the boy momentarily stunned. The red youth felt the next spear pierce his thigh and it seared his mind back into the moment.

The boy lashed fire from his dart toothed maw and used his newly discovered telekinesis to wrap the flame about his attackers.

Screams of pain erupted as they broke rank and rolled about the ground to extinguish their uniforms.

Jaff tore himself free of his hooded robe and unfurled massive red wings. He used the powerful tail and his unharmed leg to leap into flight.

A spear rose to meet him but reached summit and fell harmlessly to the cobblestones.

The boy flew only from instinct. Never before in his months since the transformation had he tested the ability, lest he meet fate. Right then, necessity granted what might have been his last wish. The pain from his stab wound throbbed and bled. The boy brimmed with worry and anxiety but still felt awe at the sights of his city from this vantage. He flew until the scenery change to a thick wood. Jaff landed in a clearing miles from the city and his hunters.

The boy staunched his wound with improvised bandages torn from his tunic. The guards would be onto him before nightfall. Their leader King Zaetel, and his predecessors since time out of mind, hunted and killed any who matured into Anki.

The Pneuma were a species on the brink of evolution. Lore stated that once a community of Anki rose to power on Haran and treated the Pneuma as a lower servant class.