More Than One Side 2/3

More Than One Side
Chapter 2: I am Brave

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It had started out as a normal day for me.  I went out among the rocks to search for food.  I hadn't found much, just a few small lizards to sustain me.  I knew I needed to find more food, and a source of water.  My best chance was to keep searching throughout the outcroppings like I have done all my life.

Around mid-morning a sand storm appeared.  It was a small one, but I took cover beneath an outcropping and waited it out.  As the storm reached its climax, I thought I heard a strange scream come from below in a nearby chasm.  The storm receded quickly after that.

I did not wish to find out what had made the sound, but something about made me curious as to what sort of creature could have made it.  I made my way over to the edge of the canyon.  It wasn't too deep, but I couldn't see anything on the bottom.  Perhaps I should've turned away then, but I didn't.  Instead, my powerful limbs carried me down the side of the gorge onto its floor.

Cautiously, I searched along the bottom.  I soon found a figure lying on the ground surrounded by a few rocks.  It was nothing like I had ever seen before.  The creature was about my size and shape, but that was about all we had in common.  The beast lacked a tail like mine, its face was flatter, the ears were much smaller, and the hide of the thing had no thin fur like me.

One thing I could tell was that the thing was hurt.  I couldn't just leave it there.  Looking around, I spotted a nearby cave.  That should be a good enough place to keep it.  The creature was surprisingly light in my arms as I lifted it up and brought it into the cave.

As I moved farther towards the rear, I noticed the place was littered with strange objects.  They all had the same shape, but were different sizes and colors.  Despite the way they caught my eyes, I had no time to study the objects now.

After a few more bends in the cave, I came to the end.  There, I set the creature down into a position that seemed to be more natural for it.  The beast won't likely wake up for a while.  And with the sun just about at its peak in the sky, I went to rest a short way down the tunnel from the creature.

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I slept peacefully till the sound of a few falling pebbles awoke me.  The sound seemed to tickle my ears and I slowly pried open an eyelid.  But when I looked, there was the beast.  It was awake and it was looking at me.  My eyes flew open at the sight.

Startled by its sudden appearance, I let open a yell of surprise and bolted from the cave.  I scrambled out the cave entrance and ran a short ways down the canyon.  I stopped, my heart was racing as I turned back to face the mouth of the cave.

"Come on," I told myself, "I shouldn't be afraid.  I must be brave."  I crept back to the opening.  Cautiously, I went back inside.  There on the ground was the creature.  It must've exhausted itself from dragging its body from the back.  I picked up the creature again and moved it back to the rear of the cave and in a comfortable position.  This time, I went to wait by the entrance for it to awaken.

A while later I heard the sound of something being dragged along the ground.  It was the creature.  It seemed like it was weak enough, so I carefully crept up to it.  I could sense that it was a little frightened of me.

I moved around the creature, giving it a wide berth so it wouldn't become startled.  I tried my best to seem as harmless as I could (which was difficult seeing as how I am just as big as the thing and seemingly stronger too).  The creature just kept looking at me.  But soon it seemed to relax and get the idea that I was helping it.

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Over the next couple days, I tried searching for food for both me and the creature.  But when I returned, it seemed to have already had some stored in the cave.  This was fortunate, since I could only find enough for one.

Also, I found the creature had taken a few of the colorful objects I had seen earlier and had opened them.  The objects seem to be able to fold close and the insides had strange lines on them.  Though, in some places, there were unusual images on them.  For instance, in one spot, I saw the sunset even though it was really midday.

As I kept watch at the entrance, I began to hear a strange sound.  The creature was looking inside one of the objects and was vocalizing.  I couldn't understand what it might have been saying, but the sound was sweet to my ears.  It was beautiful to hear it.  So much that I had closed my eyes and rotated my ears to listen.  A smile crept across my face as I listened.  It was an almost indescribable feeling.

That night, I found myself sleeping next to the creature.  It seemed to accept my presence now and enjoyed having me close.  At any rate, the extra warmth of my body would help keep it warm from the chill of night, and it seemed to like the feel of my short fur.

The creature looked happy as it went to sleep next to me.  The sight made me feel happy too.

I'm glad that I was brave enough to help the poor thing.  I'm a brave chio.