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“So, you said you come through here a lot?”


“Uh huh.”


“And that you don’t normally see many people?”


“Nope, not many. Maybe a hunter on occasion.”


The white dog with the black animated socks crept behind, still sniffling and nervous. His mind was still on the prior hour of being chased. He didn’t want that again. “And, uh, will they leave us alone?”


“Yeah, usually. People tend to stay away from scary. Being different is scary, and I'm pretty different.” And he certainly was different. While he stood no taller than most tall men, he was green from head to paw. He had many features of most canines that stood on two legs. Pointed fluffy ears. Large rough around his head and neck. Claws on his fingers instead of nails. Paws where feet should be. He even carried a quaint wicker basket slung over his shoulder. In this respect, he was no more threatening than a golden retriever. But he was unfamiliar in many ways. Over his muzzle were muted lime scales, the same of which also cover his chest and belly. And where a friendly tail would be, he had one thicker than a small tree with a tremendous fin running around it. But out of all of this, there was one thing that stood out. One part that makes strangers nervous and pray against bad omens. His eyes. His eyes were a deep blue. As deep as the deepest depths of the sea. And what more, where most everything else in this existence has white in their eyes, his were black. “I'm sure you are very familiar with that concept. At least from what you told me.”


While the last comment wasn't meant to be piercing, it pushed Rain’s thoughts away from the uneven ground that he just stumbled over. “Well… yes, yeah.” That statement was painfully obvious now. He knew just as well what being strange was like. The mix of fear, curiosity, and illogic that comes in others reactions. He's been too nervous to observe the obvious. “Would it be okay if I asked something?”


“Yeah! Sure!” Ic chirped. “I'm an open book, flip through my pages.”


“What exactly are you?”


This made the bean pole stop for a moment and actually think about what he possibly could say. To him, he just was. Just like how the white dog behind him just was that. The villagers were each an individual of themselves. But he does need to give an answer, he can break what he promised on the first question. “I guess I don't really know what I am or how I am.” he spoke without turning to show his trouble. A deep breathe to face himself and then to face Rain. “I think I am some sort of fish, but not like any I have really seen before. I mean, I think I have stuff that look and act like gills on fish. And I swim really well, even with all this fur.” He scratched at his neck uncomfortably. Maybe removing his skin would make him have to stop talking about it, but it was unlikely. “But I also come up here on land and walk and talk. I look closer to what you do than to anything in the sea. So, maybe I'm not a fish. I really don't know.”


The nervous ambiguous subject was lost for a few miles. It had been only about an hour since they left that spot in the stream, but this already felt like a different country. Gentle sloping woods became sloping forest. Occasional rocks became boulders and uneven ground. For Rain, this was very unfamiliar. He was only in the previous town for about three days before he ended up in this situation. He wasn’t even from these parts. He had to rely on a stranger, and he can only hope to maybe make him less strange.


“I don’t want to pry, but what were you doing out here?” The puppy dog said as he made a way around a protruding boulder. One of the many new features that any trail or blaze will most likely have to go around.


The self appointed guide took a moment and rest against the rear of the rock. “Are you tired at all? Do you need a rest?” He dropped the small wicker basket on a close ledge. “Here is just a good place as any, if you do.” A subtle nod from Rain, and the fishy person hopped right up next to his singular belonging, offering the seat next to him. The top of the curved basket was lifted to offer what was probably some stream trout or other small river fish. “Need anything to eat?”


“No, I-” but his stomach interrupted to make its own remarks. “Maybe I am. I just hate to take more from you.”


“It's no worry.” He picks up the almost two foot fish in his webbed hands, bends it in the middle with a loud crack, then skillfully rips it in half. “I don't have a heck of a lot to offer.” After a moment of examining Rain’s expression of almost horror, he places the tail end in his paws. It was mostly a kindness due to the lack of innards on that side, or maybe he was afraid that he would waste all the good middle bits. He bit into his own end, at the open part of the belly so that all the tasty parts didn't spill out. “So, you asked why I was out these parts. Well,” He swallowed his mouthful so he can speak for longer. “I guess I'm out here looking for a place that I belong, or to figure out who I am.” He stared into the inner fish between his paws. “That… is at least what I'm telling myself. I guess a good portion of it deals with my mother. Well, she is a surrogate mother, but she is as much of a mom that I have ever had.”


The canine barely has taken a nibble of his raw fish. It's a little more unrefined than what he is used to. “Is she sick or taken somewhere or something?”


“No, she isn't in danger or anything. She did ‘fall in love’ and get married, I guess. And part of it was that she changed to become like him and even changed her name. If she's happy, it's all good.”


This beating around the bush confused the dog. “So, you got kicked out with this marriage? Or she moved and didn't take you with her?”


“Uhm, well, no. I'm pretty sure I'm still welcome to be around and she loves me and all that. And I'm sure that where we lived is still there. I- okay. Let me start at the beginning. Get all of the details right.” He took another bite at the fish and swallowed with a big sigh.


He started over. “When I was young, probably about eight or ten years old from what my mom guessed, I was found on the shore by a woman named Loriana. At that point, she was a red fox and living alone in town. She asked me about my parents or a home. I didn't really come on land before that point, so I didn't understand what she was say. She told me that I just repeated some of the words she said blankly. She feared for my safety and took me home to at least get me out of the weather. I'm sure she was panicking and had no idea what to do. So, she took me in and raised me as her own. I couldn't even imagine how hard it was to deal with something as strange as me when you have never even had kids of your own. But, she managed and I'm not totally helpless. As I got older, I had trouble finding work. You know, how I talked about being strange before and people staying away. I was able to use my previous skills to catch fish on my own to help feed ourselves. After all the time she put into me, I wasn't going to just be a leech to her hard work. Anyways, about a month ago, she married this new man, and she happily took on some magic to be like him. I was happy for her, but this was a new chapter in her life. And I felt that she should explore it with this new person in her life.”


“So, you left?”


“Yeah. It was also that it made a new chapter in my life as well. With her moving somewhere, I realized that I was living in a small bubble. That this would be good for me as well. I took care of myself before, I can do it again, eh?”


“Ic, can I ask you something else?” The puppy fumbled the mostly untouched fish tail.


“Shoot.”


“Did you usually cook food you caught when you brought it home.”


IcVulpes nearly choked on the eyeball he was sucking out and spat it out laughing. “Oh, geez. I’m sorry. Hah! I’ll take it and eat it later.” He put the rear back in the basket without the nearly clean front leaving his mouth. “You think you are set for some more? I think the closest port is about another couple of hours away. At least that’s the closest one I know of.”


Rain scooted back onto his feet. “I think I can do it.” He hadn’t much of a choice. “At least I’m not hungry anymore.”


The fishy fellow joined him with the basket back on his hip. “I do apologize about that. But, if you do want it, it will be here. Just let me know!” Laughing at his own joke, he motioned onwards and took the lead.