The Great Dog Escape (Izra)

[Susta]

My knees hurt, but I was no giver-upper. Or, if the people have a word for it, then, whatever that word was. I wasn't great at saying things. Anyway, my legs hurt and wobbled, but, I knew they weren't broken. Unlike the girl sitting beside me, my legs were short, making it hard to cripple them. I sniffed her, pressing my nose into her soft stomach. I was on her left side, and got up, sniffing my way up to her hair. My brown eyes lit up with happiness, as I realized, this was no ordinary girl. This was a cat.

She had the cat stench all over her, how could I of missed it? And now, she stood before me, her life leaning heavily on mine. A sly smile spread across my face. I shifted, and ended up next to her, lying on the floor naked. I backed away slowly, and felt my long blond hair. Oh, how great it felt to be human once again. I mean, sure, I liked my corgi form better, but, human form, it makes you feel free.

"We need to get out of Ravok as fast as possible. We aren't far from the exit."

I thought of if I needed anything else to say, but nothing came to mind. Placing my finger on my lip, I quickly whipped up something more. Talking was fun.

"The slavers, they will recognize me if they see me. The citizens here won't. And, they won't realize we are kelvics, as long as we get dressed and pretend to be human. Since your a cat, stuff will be tempting to scavenge through. But, try to resist. Now, on my word, I will support you, because of your leg, and we will go and get your stuff, if you have any. We need to make it quick and fast though, or else people will get suspicious."

Could there be another way? I thought for a minute. How could we get by unnoticed, either blending in or by stealth? A solution blended in my mind. Yes, we could be animals. Small and compact.

"Or, you can take option two. We shapeshift, and stealthily make our way out. Maybe, though, if someone does happen to see us, they will think we are regular house pets."

[Izra]

For a few moments after the dog's--or girl's--shift, she was stunned. That...that thing was a Kelvic? She had several conflicting feelings about this, though she felt a good bit better about having risked her life for the girl. At least she hadn't hurt herself for some stupid dog... Well, she had, but the dog was a Kelvic. That made it different. At least she thought it did. But it was still a dog, and she didn't like that one bit. Izra nodded wearily, trying her best to adapt to the situation, "We won't be able to live out of Ravok," She said honestly, "Not for long. We'll need to come back soon." The girl was right; with her injured leg, she'd be very easy to rob. Izra gestured down at her loose clothing with one hand while her other was supporting her on the wall, "I'm dressed...there's a cloak in my pack, if you can look in there and get it... If you keep the hood up and your head down, we'll be okay." She would dearly love for the girl to take the pack from her, but there was no way Izra was willing to ask a dog of all people to do that. That raised an important question, though, "Why are you helping me?" She asked with curiosity, not really paying much mind to the fact that she'd just freed the Kelvic from a cage. It was a dog--she was a dog. Dogs chase and try to hurt cats, they don't help them. Then again, cats don't help dogs, either. She shrugged, "Let's just get out of the city. Get my cloak and we can get out of here.

[Susta]

I waited for the girl to lean herself against the wall before actually helping her myself. I wasn't too happy about helping a cat, but she had saved me. I could never repay that. I slapped myself in the head, as I had realized, I had no clothes. I looked at the cat, and my eyes filled with doubt.

"I have no clothes." I weakly said.

Uuh! You are so stupid! Why hadn't I remembered? Im a slave, I have no clothes? I cursed at myself over and over in my head. Looking back at the cat, I snorted. Maybe, she was nice enough to let me borrow her cloak. But just then, my brain hatched another idea. I could pretend I was her pet! The perfect plan.

"I know! I can pretend to be your pet!" A smile once again shined on my face.

Oh, Susta, you really are a problem-solver!

[Izra]

"I know! I can pretend to be your pet!" the girl said with a bright smile, and Izra grimaced in distaste. A dog for a pet? What kind of person would want that? Naras had birds, lots of people had cats, but...a dog? She won't really be my pet, Izra thought to herself, It will just get us out of the city. After a brief hesitation, Izra nodded again, "Fine. Just don't bite my ankles or anything." She warned as she continued stumbling towards the street, being more able to manage the pain as she went along, though she'd still walk with a noticeable limp. After a few pained steps, she staggered, nearly falling in the process. She couldn't continue; if she even managed to walk, she would surely lose everything she had on the way out of Ravok. Whatever these 'slavers' were, at least them recognizing the girl was not as bad as Izra getting robbed. She had seen people being beaten with big clubs so bigger men could take their things. In defeat, she looked back at the girl, "Could you take my clothes and be the human? I can't even walk like this..." She really did not like the idea. That girl could just take Izra's things and run away, leaving her stuck in a city, hurt, with nowhere to go.