Nekotalia

Chapter One

The white wolf laid unconscious on the forest floor, the husky standing before him. He bent down to the wolf, very well remembering that he did not help him in the bombing. But that didn't stop him from helping the young wolf.

"Pssst." The canine whispers to the white wolf, "Hey, Wake up."

The white wolf did not stir, only parted his mouth a bit to release a soft painful moan.

"Oh, whoops sorry." The husky said sheepishly. "I need you to wake up. I'm dead serious, man."

Again, the wolf did nothing. Waking him needed more effort, as he was damaged and obviously shaken up from the rough event that had taken place only a few hours ago.

The husky stopped, thinking of a plan to awaken the wolf. A imaginary light bulb went off above his head.

Walking, or more like crawling over the the wolf he softly shakes him. "Psst. There's fresh new deer here, in the conscious world." He chimes.

Waiting for the wolf to awaken, he looks over to his right where a small pile of fresh deer lay, for the both of them. For he had hunted just awhile ago to fulfill his plan.

Knowing now that, the first part of the plan wouldn't work he moves onto the next part.

Picking up a fresh piece of deer he fanns in above the wolf's nose, "Mmnm. Yummy deer."

The white wolf's nose starts moving slowly, inhaling the scent of the fresh meat. Then his eyes flutter open and he lunges upwards, grabbing the meat with his jaw, and scurrying away with it. The neko leans against a nearby tree, grunting softly with pain and effort of the sudden motion, before scarfing down the flesh. He lets out a satisfied burp, before then realizing there was another neko there.

"H-Hello?" the wolf asks quietly, feeling guilty for being rude. I don't think I should have taken the meat like that.

"Hi, how ya doin'?" The other neko just chuckled, "-and eh, it's fine. I acted like that when I saw the meat too."

"Uh, good," the wolf said, quite embarrassed as he attempts to clean to blood and ash off of himself.

The dog just chuckles again. "Don't worry, I'll get us out of here." He says, slightly smiling. Muttering, "I hope."

"I'm Yuki, what's your name?" the wolf asked the dog, getting to his feet in a awkward manner.

Standing up too, the dog replied, "My name is Krist."

Yuki nods, still extremely embarrassed, before brushing off his torn and tattered clothing again. He wrinkles his nose and leans against a nearby tree.

"Uh, thanks for waking me. And please forgive my abrupt manner." Yuki scratches at the back of his neck as he says this, staring intently at the ground. He is obviously very insecure; a bad quality for a prince.

Krist smiles sheepishly, and rubs the back of his neck too. "Eh, it's alright. Now if you don't mind, do you want to travel together?" He looks at Yuki, hoping he'll say yes.

Stunned at his kind offer, as Yuki was still broken inside from the previous incident, he nods a small nod.

"Of course." He flashes a warm smile, eyes glowing brightly in the dim light.

Krist looks around at the surrounding forest, "Okay I have a plan. We need to head south if we want to survive this and since south is where the incident didn't happen then it's our only option. Got it?"

With a small, undetectable frown from the white wolf neko, Yuki nods again. He doesn't like being told what to do, as he is used to being prince of the kingdom.

But there wasn't a kingdom now.

Glancing in the direction Krist was implying they head in, Yuki shoves his hands into his pockets.

"Alright, let's go."

"Okay so South it is!" Krist yells marching southward.

Yuki follows Krist, not as enthusiastic. Why did Krist chose this direction? Should I even trust him....? The wolf's thoughts rolled endlessly through his mind as they walked. He is uneasy trusting people, even though no one has actually betrayed him outright.

~*~*~*~*~*~

After a few hours of just endless walking through the smoky forest, Krist now can't hold the silence anymore. "So what kind of job did you have when the kingdom was still together? I was a trainee for the Military Nekos. It was nice and all but I had so much pressure put on me by my parents, friends-if I had any real ones-and my coaches."

Yuki stays quiet for a moment before answering,

"I'm Prince Yukidanare of Nekotalia."

Smiling, he answers with pure pride, "Cool! I'm a Acadmy Military Neko, Code 34AL2 Krist Snowhail."

Slightly offended, Yuki nods and forces a smile. He doesn't really know why he's offended, however. Is it because Krist didn't address him properly?

Seeing that Yuki got hurt by his answer, Krist quickly stops and bows with his head down in one knee, "Sorry for not correctly addressing you, Prince Yuki. I was just really excited and pride for being the only neko in my family to make it to the Military Academy." He bows his head deeper, "I'm sincerely sorry, but I don't like formalities. May I get up, Prince Yuki?"

Blinking, Yuki stands there for a moment, frozen in place. How had Krist read his mind so easily? Were his actions speaking more loudly than his words? Shrugging it off, Yuki gazes downwards at Krist, showing much more respect for him now.

"Of course. I never ordered you to bow, 34AL2. Krist." Yuki gives him a small smile.

"Of course, of course." Krist rubs the back of his neck when he stands up, "Um, you can either call me Krist or 34AL2. It doesn't matter."

"Like you don't like formalities, I don't like number names. I'll stick with Krist. Now let's continue on. Anyway....where exactly are we heading?" Yuki asks, suddenly realising that they were traveling south, but didn't have a planned location. Or so he was told. Was there something good in the south?

"Alright!" Krist gives Yuki a wide smile. "We're going to see a friend of mine that just so happens to be South around this part of the year."

Again, Yuki frowns ever so slightly, a frown so small that Krist was not able to notice. He still didn't know whether he could trust Krist. Is he taking me somewhere so I can be offered as a ransom for my family....wait...my family is ashes....

Finally, the white wolf responds with, "Okay. Thanks a bunch."