A World of Despair(Book One)

Chapter Nine(Rhylo)

  Rhylo was beyond annoyed now. He had waited for that stupid idiot Josh to come back but the human never did. He waited out in the dark but still nothing. However along the way he found a downed Xion and smelled Josh's scent. Getting some food into his stomach, Rhylo then began the arduous task of tracking down Josh. He easily caught the scent and then went on his way thinking about all the ways he would punish the pup later.

   Finally by about mid day Rhylo had found Josh. The stupid idiot was laying on the ground completely exposed to the sun. However there was something different about his face and scent. It had an oddly sweet tinge to it under the sour and bitterness. However before he could deal with what that was, Rhylo needed to get this idiot human out of the sun before he fried. Gripping the back of Josh's shirt and wincing at the acrid taste, Rhylo then proceeded to drag Josh to anywhere with shade. That proved difficult however since there really wasn't any shade around. Finally Rhylo just gave up and let go of Josh's shirt. Going off a few feet Rhylo took a deep breath and then began to dig. He didn't like taking this risk but he was left without any options. 

   He needed to be careful not to dig too deep because of the radiation that was in the ground. Not to mention the deadly parasites that ate the radiation. Once he thought that he had dug down deep enough he then began to expand the tunnel into a small cavern. Quickly going back up to the surface he then got Josh to the entrance of the hole and then pushed him down into it. "Oof! Rhylo! Rhlyo where are you! I have the greatest news!" He cried out from deep inside the earth. Rhylo shook his head and then made his way down.

   Inside the cavern, Rhylo saw Josh practically bouncing up and down in excitement. Rhylo turned his head to the side in a way of asking 'what?'. "I- I met with Emilia! She gave me this mask too! See, see?" He said. Rhylo looked at Josh and then sniffed the mask on his face. Then Rhylo realized that it was her scent. That was great! That meant that if Josh had seen her that Emilia couldn't be too far from where he was. Josh then stopped bouncing since he must've just seen what Rhylo was thinking. "Sorry but... Wheetziebat came and took her again..." Josh said then. Rhylo snarled and swiped his paw at the ground. Damn that old bat! Why did he want to keep Emilia from him?

   It had been a few hours and Rhylo had since collected his wits. He had also thought up a plan as well. He knew that Wheetziebat was a Humanoid-Xion and had to feed off of pure radiation therefore he couldn't really leave the City. So all Rhylo had to do was sneak in and get Emilia when Wheetziebat was rulling his subjects. Fool proof, no? The only problem was the Xions in the City and of course Wheetziebat himself. "So are you all set?" Josh asked. The crazy human was in on this plan fully. Rhylo narrowed  his eyes when he noticed the blissful expression on his face when Emilia was mentioned. Rhylo didn't like it.

   They exited the burrow and then turned toward the outline of the City. "This isn't going to be easy you know." Josh said. Rhylo snorted and then started to walk. Did the human not know that he knew it was dangerous? Of course he did but he needed to do this. He needed to find out why Emilia was so important. It was driving him to the edge of his sanity.  

   Just before twilight Rhylo and Josh made it to the City. "Uh Rhylo... do you think that we should I dunno... hide?" Josh asked. Rhylo could tell that Josh was uneasy and rightfully so. Rhylo would be lying to say that he wasn't a little skittish himself. However where would they hide? This was the Xion's home territory. They were the dominant ones here. So Rhylo then thought of a place that he thought he'd never go back to. Snorting at Josh he motioned for the human to follow him. They walked through the outskirts of the City and then came to a rural area. 

   "Hey, I know where we are. I had an aunt that lived here. Used to come and stay with her every summer."Josh remarked. Rhylo looked at him and tried to figure out what the signifigance of that statement was. Josh just smiled stupidly and shrugged. Rhylo rolled his eyes and padded a bit faster. He figured the faster he walked the less time Josh had to talk. That was better for everyone.

   They both then came down a street that Rhylo knew very well. It was called Parody street. The sign was gone but Rhylo didn't need it. The street was all ripped up and chunks of the sidewalk was in the middle of the street. There were various bloodstains on the road and Rhylo started to speed up once again. By now he was at a trot. He wanted to run, but that would attract attention. Josh was jogging behind him and then Rhylo saw it, his destination. It was an old decrepid house that had all of its paint stripped off. The windows were broken in and then house itself held a chilling aura around it.

   Rhylo stopped right in front of the door and stood there for a moment. Could he bring himself to go back in there? Would he be able to stay there in that house of memories? Rhylo didn't know but he was going to find out. He stepped onto the yard and felt the dust and rocks beneath his paws. Flashes of when this yard was lush grass swam in front of his eyes. He heard the sweet far off calls of a child. He remembered vaguely running up and leaping over the fence that used to confine the perameter of the house. It had since melted into a ring of metal though. "Rhylo!" Josh's scream snapped Rhylo out of it. Shaking his head, Rhylo then padded on through the open front door without another word.

   The interior of the house was still the same despite the radiation that aged it quite a bit. Rhylo stepped over the broken plaster bits on the floor and then looked around at his beloved home. He saw that the alabaster walls were specked with blood and other substances and then made his way down the hallway. Getting to the last door on the right he nosed it open to reveal the room of a little girl. The walls were pink and flowers were all over them. The bed wasn't very big but was covered with a huge comforter that also had flowers on it. Rhylo went over to the bed and then proceeded to flop down on it. He closed his eyes and just let his mind wander. "Hey... Rhylo, why are we here?" Josh asked as he came into the room.

   Rhylo gave him a look and then Josh nodded, "Oh, I get it. Is this place where you lived before?" He pressed. Rhylo looked at him again and debated whether or not to answer that. "If you don't want to answer it then it's alright."Josh said. Rhylo just rolled over to face away from the human. He would need his sleep for tomorrow. Josh of course couldn't just shut up. "Hey Rhylo... Were you a dog before you got turned into a Xion?" He asked. Rhylo just rolled over and looked at the human. Apparently he didn't get the warning look that Rhylo was sending him. Either that or he was too stupid to notice it. "Well, were you?" He pressed. Rhylo's eye twitched. Actually twitched. He didn't even think that his eye could twitch.

   Josh asked once again and Rhylo replied by smacking the living daylights out of him. "Ouch! It was only a question!" Josh yelped. Rhylo growled and smacked him again. How many times would it take to get him to shut up? "Ouch! Ok, ok, shutting up now!" Josh said. Rhylo stopped his frenzied tails from smacking Josh again and just waited for the next onslaught. "Um... Rhy-OW!" Rhylo sighed as he smacked the human again. Sometimes humans were just so dense... "Seriously! OW! This is an important question!" Josh cried. Rhylo paused and looked at his stupid companion.

   "If you had a choice would you eat kibble or animal crackers? OW!" Josh cried once more. Rhylo thought that eventually he'd stop, but no. Josh just went on and on about NOTHING in the world. It really just amazed him that the human managed to talk nonsense for so long. Rhylo laid his head down again and tried to block out the noise of his incesant chattering. However soon Josh resorted to poking him. Rhylo's eyes flew open and he leapt up onto his haunches and snarled at Josh who was trying to look innocent. But failing miserably due to cracking up too much.

   Rhylo sighed and smacked the human harder than he usually did. Josh yelped but then laid down obediently. All was quiet until yet again Josh had to talk. Rhylo sighed and put a paw over his eyes. 

   This was going to be a long night...

***********************************************************************************************************

Well, this over on the right is the picture of Gadezooks. He appears in this next installment or so.