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Khano and Mereth A Companion's Bond

There are some aspects of having a companion that many simply do not understand. Most without one simply see it as simply having a pet, an animal that you can order around as you please and must obey any command. For those who do have one, it is more commonly felt as a close friendship. They care for each other and they protect each other. For me and Mereth...

Perhaps I should go back a little bit. Start from the beginning. My name is Khano. I am a Hajin, or a Catfolk as it is called in Common. I am... rather standard for my race. I've always been on the short side with perhaps a little too much pudge in the middle, but since I've always had it it has never cause me many problems. Light brownish fur, stout legs and tail... Nothing fancy to look at, but never anything ugly either. Simply the run of the mill Hajin.

As a young cat, I found my skill at hunting with a bow naturally and have used it ever since. When I was a mere 14, I took my first solo with a bow, a large boar, and became known as Khano the Hunter amongst my tribe. At the age of 17, I struck out on my own, leaving the tribe behind in favor of finding bigger and better game that I could hunt.

I met many rangers on my travels, some more experienced and others just starting out like myself. But what they all had that I lacked was an animal companion. Wolves, horses, eagles, and any other animal imaginable bound to the hunter. And I was alone. I did not find this bad. I enjoyed solitude on the hunt. The open spaces were good places to think and contemplate life and nature. Yet a small part of me wondered what it would be like...

When I was 19, I happened upon a cave that would make the decision for me. The cave was high on a mountain, one well-sheltered and hidden. I naturally assumed that it would be some form of den for a creature that I could hunt for food. In the high noon sun, I went to the cave to set a trap.

There was indeed a nest inside. Large clusters of straw and branches encircled a small cluster of eggs. And yet I sensed no mother about. Curious, I went to the next to examine the eggs. They were like nothing I had ever seen before. Similar in shape to a lizard's eggs, but they were far too large to be such at around 5 to 6 inches across. They were also of many different colors, mostly blue and green, but also some of a brownish tint and some of red. And they had a strength in their shell like nothing I had felt before. I decided to leave them be.

For the day, I waited for whatever creature made these eggs to return. The sun set and I waited another hour, but there wasn't so much as a shadow over the entrance. When the air began to chill, I knew that I would have to leave the place. It would get cold and this place would provide little warmth. I would not leave empty-handed, however. I collected one of the eggs, a green one that was covered in tiny white flecks, and tucked it into my bag. If there was no mother, the eggs would likely either be dead or infertile. I could have traded it or eaten it, whichever proved better.

That night, I was back amidst the trees where the wind couldn't reach me. I had set up a small fire to sear some cuts of cow that I had collected the previous day. So far, the hunting trip had not been the most successful. I was considering returning to town when I heard a loud and very sudden crack.

With a jolt, my half palmed my dagger as I spun silently to my feet. My bow was on the ground, but unstrung. My ears twisted as my eyes scanned through the trees. The fire plus moon made for enough lighting to see a lot, but I could not see anything that may have been stalking me. No scent on the wind...

There was another crack from behind me and below. I spun again, my blade coming from my sheath, but there was no one. Only my bag at my feet. The thing gave a small lurch and I froze. Something was in my bag. But nothing had snuck up on me. The memory of putting the egg there came back. At the moment, it seemed like the only logical reason.

I put the dagger back in its place and reached into the bag. My fingers brushed the egg, and sure enough I felt cracks beginning to spread over its surface. With a rushed breath, I pulled it from the bag and set it by the fire to watch. I had witnessed births and hatchings, so this would be nothing new. I was mostly curious of what sort of creature dwelled within the egg.

My eyes watched the egg for another few minutes as more and more cracks spread over the egg. And then, with a resounding crack, a large panel on the side opened and the thing seemed to fall apart. A mass of green fell from the shell onto the floor and rolled about.

I instantly saw wings and a very long tail. Right away, I realized that it was a dragon. But a dragon like this I had never seen before. It had four legs separate from its wings, and was no larger then a foot long. It stood on four legs that shivered and shook as it stood. It had no scales, instead seeming to be some sort of smooth hide. And its eyes.... The thing managed to finally right itself and it began to look around. When the eyes found me, they locked onto mine. The eyes were like gems, sparkling in dozens of tiny facets.

The thing gave a soft little chirp at me and I realized that my jaw was hanging limp. I closed my mouth as I looked down. "Hello..." I said softly. What else was I to say?

The sound of my voice made it withdraw for a moment, but its weak legs gave out and it collapsed a bit. Not wanting to get too close just yet, I simply watched with a ready hand just in case it got worse, but the creature righted itself. It looked up at me again and chirped.

A strange sensation began to ease into my head. Hungry. Yes, I was hungry. Oh! But then this little creature must be hungry as well. Young freshly born were always famished. I pulled up the large steak I had been eating from, and the smell of it made the little creature chirp loudly, almost demandingly. With a giggle, I cut a small piece and offered it.

It hopped forward and grabbed the piece hungrily. I saw some teeth flash in the firelight as it latched onto the meat and pulled it in. The piece was almost as large as its head, and yet it dragged it down without so much as a chew. "Wow... Hungry thing, aren't you?"

It looked back once the first piece went down and this time gave an almost angry-sounding bark. And once again that same thought hit my mind. Hungry. This time, my head tilted a bit. Once again, I cut out a little piece of meat and offered it. The thing took it and ate it again, and for a moment the feeling in my head eased. And once again it returned when the creature chirped for more. Amazed, I could only repeat it.

We sat there for several minutes, me cutting off small pieces of meat and it gobbling them up. For being such a small creature, I was amazed at how much it ate, the meat soon starting to bulge its belly. And then, it simply seemed satisfied. It gave a little huff and a screech, and an entirely knew sensation began to press against my thoughts. Content. The dragon started towards me, and I shuffled a bit.

I had no idea at the moment what was going on. All I knew was that somehow I knew what the creature wanted. It took another step closer and I slowly reached a hand out towards it, palm down. It looked at the hand, twisting a bit and sniffing at it. And then it reached under and rubbed the ridge above its eye against my finger.

A sensation like lightning pulsed through my hand. It was a soft shock, but I felt it. The dragon gave a soft churr that I heard with my ear and felt in my soul. The sensation made my fur stand on end for a moment. And yet I couldn't pull away. I felt its happiness, its contentment, and its almost simple joy to be there with me. There were no words, merely a sensation of thought and of emotions that I knew. It came up against me and curled by my leg. The little spines along its back slide through my fur and against my flesh, but I couldn't turn it away. Instead, my hand simply went to its side and I pet along its green flesh, feeling its breath and heartbeat and feeling its mind drift into sleep.

As it slept, and I began to examine it, I had to make a decision. It was clearly female, with surprisingly strong muscles for being right out of the egg. What was I going to do now? I though. I couldn't simply abandon it. While a possibility, I somehow new that the thoughts in my mind wouldn't allow it. That contact... That link... Whatever it was, it was something that I wanted. I would keep her with me.

That night, we slept side-by-side with her back to my belly and my form curled around her. In the morning, I was woken to the sensation of hunger and her chirping lightly in my ear. I fed her again, this time quite a bit less, until she was happy. I set her on my shoulder as I gathered up the camp and her tail clung to my neck for support. It was a strange sort of comfort feeling her weight.

By the time I was done packing, I had chosen her name. Mereth. At first, she seemed confused, but when she realized that I was addressing her with the name, she felt pleased.

I returned that morning to gather more eggs, but they were gone. Where or how, I could not tell as there wasn't a single track outside the cave. They were just gone. Mereth was the only one left. So we left her birthplace towards the town.

The weeks that followed that night were quick and fast. I learned a lot of things about having a young one to care for and more about what she was. She was a Fire Lizard, a very rare species of feral dragon. Many claimed that they didn't exist, and even the zoologist that I went to have her inspected seemed amazed at the very existence of the creature.

I discovered how to let her breathe fire, some special rock known as firestone. It was a compound commonly used in some mountain times as it could be broken down in pools of acid to make flame. Mereth could eat it and exhale the gases to make a rather generous flame.

But the most fantastic thing I learned of her was her powers of teleportation. According to the records I found, it was known as moving Between, theorized to be some form of transitional dimension where Mereth could move into and then back out somewhere else. By the time she was merely a year old, she had learned to harness the power of her flame and move Between, even carrying objects as she moved back and forth.

And so, I had found my animal companion. We travelled together, tracking animals like a sure pair. She became my eyes above, pointing me towards query while I tracked them from the ground. And to me, she became a close partner. It may have been the very fact that there was a strange mental link that we shared together, but she understood me more then any other. She did things to make me happy, and I did so in turn. When one was sad, we were both sad. We felt each other's pains and sorrows and shared in the joys of life.

Of course, all special bonds come with their unique problems.

We were on our travels from one town to another, taking a side detour to track some deer, when we stopped for the night. Ever since leaving the town, I had felt something strange wafting from Mereth. But each time I pushed at her, she would look at me quizzically, as if she didn't know what I wanted. I

merely let it go. But that night, I felt a powerful feeling come over her. I was sitting against a tree with her on a branch overhead when I heard her open her maw and give a strong roar. I looked up in time to see her jump from the branch and her wings extend and she took off. I quickly lost sight of her through the trees, but I could still feel her presence there. "MERETH!" I called after her.

She flew into the air, screeching her call, and then I felt it slowly begin to wash over my mind. It was something similar to that first night, a hunger in her belly. But it was a very different form of hunger. It was something darker, something very feral, and something that she could not find in herself to control.

The feeling was powerful in my mind, and I realized with a sad heart what she was feeling. It was the call to mate, the urge of her body to reproduce. And it even affected my body, sending a strange sort of lust into my own loins. I tried to force the feelings away, but Mereth seemed to have other ideas. Her body was hungry for this, and she would have it.

For an hour, she flew in circles overhead, her screech calling over the trees. I sat down, my legs folded against my chest and my tail curled around me. She wouldn't listen to my calming thoughts, instead just overwhelming them with her body's own natural need. And as the minutes passed, I felt her get more frantic, more hungry. Her circle expanded a little, going almost half a mile out from me.

And then, as two hours approached, I felt her suddenly enter despair. I felt her grow tired, her chest and wings becoming sore, and yet the power of her body would not relent by much. With a panting breath, she returned to me. I opened myself, dropping my legs and offering my arms and she collapsed against my chest to curl up against her belly.

Feeling here there in both body and mind, I began to weep. She was here, alone. The only of her kind that I had ever seen, and she was in pain. I think she tried to keep it from me, but I could now feel the sensations radiating from her hide into my pads.

My mind began to try and soothe her. I had to do something. How could I leave her like this? I knew from my experience that a heat would pass in time. How long would it last for her? A week? A month? I could not let her suffer for that long.

I began to pet her, my pad moving smoothly over her sides. I even took to scratching that ridge over her eye, a favorite spot of hers. It seemed to help, but she remained curled about herself. It wasn't working. There was something that she needed.

And what if I were to give it to her? The thought came on slowly as I sat there. I couldn't properly mate with her, but... But what if I just did a little something to help ease her? Make her more comfortable. The next town wasn't for miles. It was just us.

My hand started to slide down her belly, forcing her to uncurl a little bit. For a moment, she screeched and chirped as it I was disturbing her. My fingers felt down her belly until they felt a warmth amid her hide and I felt a little part just above the base of her tail. With a calming thought to her, I let one of my fingers ease her open and dip inside.

All at once, her whole body reacted. She tightened, her teeth flashing and taking a bite at my hand. I grimaced as I felt her teeth press painfully into my thumb, but I didn't pull away. I felt in her mind that it brought both a sense of ease and a bit of comfort but also a renewed hunger. With a mental push, I tried to convey to her that I was helping and I pushed my finger in a little more.

Something must have gotten through to her. Either she was feeling something that wasn't crossing our minds or she understood what I was intending, but either way her hold on my thumb eased as I worked an inch of my finger into her. I felt an amazing heat sear through my fur, but I was not stopping. It seemed to give her a sense of relief to have something touch her there, as if this was all she needed. The pain dulled to a basic hunger, but one that she was no addressing, and she relaxed in my lap save for her paws clutching at my shirt.

I gave a smile and continued to waft soft feelings of comfort at love to her as I felt strange comfort return. My finger began to work at her entrance. It felt strange, almost absurd, to be doing such a thing. We were not alike; two completely different species of two different sizes, and yet she was my closest and dearest friend. If this was what she needed, then I was going to provide her.

It didn't last but for several minutes before I felt the hunger in her began to ease, so I slowed my finger and withdrew it. There hadn't been much for a climax, but she suddenly seemed like the hunger was gone. Her head twisted and she began to lick at my wrist. And I smiled at her, glad that I could help her.

In return, she watched calmly from my shoulder as I relieved myself of the sexual tension she had caused in me. It was quick and hard, but it was done. And then, three more times that night she needed me. Apparently her body would not be satisfied without the real thing, but I was able to catch her before she flew off and I helped alleviate her discomfort with more of a gentle touch. Each time she became more accommodating, more open to my offer for assistance, until the final time she simply curled on my belly and I satisfied her.

The next morning, she was fine. I don't know how or why, but it seemed to only be an ordeal for one day. And yet I could feel that she was grateful to me. The presence of her mind to me was like a constant touch, and it filled my heart with warmth just to feel her tail around my neck and cheek against my muzzle.

To this day, we have yet to meet another Fire Lizard. Every time she enters season, whether it be at day or at night, she is there in my arms and I am comforting her with my touch. On one or two occasions, she has tried to return the favor with humorous results. Others may frown on it, as Mereth is technically a feral, but I shrug them off. They do not know the kind of bond that we share. I do not force myself upon her, nor she upon me. I simply help my dearest friend in need.

You see, to me, Mereth is not a pet. She is not just a friend. Mereth is a mate in all but body. We share a connection that few ever have, and I would not trade it for the world.