Alone, but Never Alone

The Dream

Preface

Yana ran through the streets, shouting, calling for her companion which she had feared to be lost to her. Was it too late? If he was gone, shouldn't she be dead? Is that what all of this meant?

Her cries rang loud through the darkness of the long night, falling on deaf ears. The multitudes that walked the cobble stone roads to the center of Amble did not hear her, no matter how loud she cried. It seemed she was invisible to them. They where not like her, not in the least. They were alone, but then again, so was she without her companion. Was she really so different, then? The thought seemed as though it would kill her if it lingered any longer in her mind.

"Amicus!" she shouted. "Amicus!"

Her foot falls were silent on the cobble stone. Soon she realized that no matter how fast she ran, she was going nowhere, and even worse, all of the people in the streets had vanished. The night darkened unnaturally. There was nothing but silence as she stopped trying to run. She stood completely still. Her ears rang with the silence.

She felt the cold breath make the hair on the back of her neck stand up before she heard the menacing snarl of rage behind her. She felt the claws of the terrible beast rip into her back and she cried out in anguish. Suddenly she felt it hard to breath, as though something was crushing her from the inside.

Everything went from dark to pitch black. She felt a strong feeling of suffocation. The snarls came again. This time it was in front of her, though she could not see it.

Suddenly, there was a burst of light, as if the sun knew she was in trouble and came too see her pain. She saw what was in front of her. A large black beast with sharp silver teeth, a sleek face, a glassy complexion, and a forked tongue stretched out inches from her face. Had the sun come just so that she could watch her death?

This went on for only a moment, because all of a sudden the creatures face turned into that of a pained expression. It waled a horrible cry of discontent and anguish. For a split moment, Yana had begun to see that perhaps the sun had come to save her!

Then, the creature burst into flames, and the flames reached out to Yana, and swallowed her.

And killed her.

Yana woke screaming, only to realize that she was alive, and that her companion was not lost to her. He was there, comforting her in a lovely ferret form, nuzzling and speaking words of peacefulness. However she knew that he was shaken by the dream as much as she was.

She sat up, soaking wet. It was raining, and she had no shelter from it in the alley that she fell asleep in.

Chapter 1, part 1

In the city of Amble, day time only lasted for a half-hour, and for the next eleven hours , a beautiful, but far sunset was seen on the horizon. This affect was what made people want to live in Amble.

Amble was a place where socialites, and rich noblemen, and royals, and leaders would come to live, or at least visit. The city lights were ever so beautiful. The buildings were tall and very high-end, so only the rich were able to live in them.

However, this story is not of Amble, but of the strange girl who lived in the streets of Amble, her name being Yana.

Yana had no last name, because she never knew who her parents were, all she knew was that she had grown up living on the streets, which is no place for a thirteen year old girl, of any sort, to live in. Yana had no friends, for she was an outcast. However, it was all the same that she thought that she didn't need friends. She had something so much better than a mere human friendship. She had Amicus.

Amicus was not a person, no, he was a thing. A thing which Yana had no name for, other than his name, Amicus. That's all she knew to call him. Though, he was not a useless thing, he was a very helpful thing. What little girl wouldn't want a friend like Amicus?

You see, Amicus was like an animal. Yana would find that his favorite thing to do, would be to walk around in the form of a cat, though sometimes he would change into something bigger, like a dog, or a deer, or something smaller, like a ferret, or a mouse, maybe even a lizard.

Though Yana didn't know what to call him, she did know a few things about him. The first thing was that she and him shared one mind. They always knew what each other were thinking. The second thing was that they shared emotion, and pain. If one was happy, the other would feel it, and if one was in pain, so would the other be. Lastly, and most important of all, was that Amicus could never leave her. If he were to go too far from her, they would feel pain, which neither of them liked. Besides, he would rather stay with her anyway.

Yana needed Amicus. She didn't know what she would do without him. She even had nightmares about losing him.

"I promise that will never happen." Amicus would reassure her.

"I know, I know, it's just a dream I suppose." said Yana.

"That's right," said Amicus. "And a very unlikely one at that."

They were strolling down an alleyway, bored out of their wits. Chatting was the best way to pass the time. Most often than not, they would find themselves bickering about something completely meaningless. They didn't mind. Talking to each other was their favorite thing to do.

Amicus strolled along side her, in the form of a tabby cat.

"Amicus, haven't you ever wondered why we have each other, and the people in Amble are alone?" asked Yana.

Of course he had, and she knew that. He nodded, then gave a quick twitch of his tail.

"What if that's what happened to them? What if something came and took their's away, like in the dream. Maybe that's why they are so afraid of animals. Maybe it makes them afraid of animals."

Amicus shook himself. "Nah, I think we are just different than them."

To be continued...