Jaz Sotelo's Story

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In the woods, under a tree...

A boy's sneezed echoed throughout the woods. "Achoo!"

Jaz shivered. Despite being dressed in enough layers for autumn - a simple shirt with a hole in the side underneath a dark green hoodie, followed by a thick, used blue coat he had taken from when he had escaped them. He wore simple trousers and thick boots - also from them - and overall looked more like a kid from a poor family than a child who had been back on the streets for a month, but that did nothing to hide the gaunt look around his eyes, the thinness of his cheeks or the way his clothes hung off his small bony frame, as if he were a bit too thin for them to fit.

The hungry look in his eyes and the edgy, weary feeling he was giving off certainly helped destroy any illusions that he'd lead a good life the past few months, if at all.

He'd been trudging through the forest for a couple of days now. It'd be nice to see some civilisation again, although something bad might happen again. Jaz's eyes narrowed as he recalled them and all the other incidents that he had flipped onto the wrong side of the coin for. Not for the first time, he berated himself for his ignorance. Should have known it was too good to be true...

As if it were sensing his discomfort, Stein bumped itself gently against his ankle with a squeak. Jaz sighed as he looked down at the fox-like creature, frowning a little as he met its liquid black eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I know," Jaz muttered grumpily, taking another step forward. Stein trotted beside him obediently as Jaz stomped through the forest, leaves and twigs crackling as he stepped on them. "I shouldn't be moaning about things, I should look on the bright side of the situation, like how the ground is dry to sleep in at least -"

As if on cue rain started to fall, small droplets landing onto the leaves of the trees and dripping off them, landing on Jaz and Stein like tiny kamikaze bombers of liquid.

"Squeak."

"Yeah, I spoke too soon."

Great. Just as if being out in the open and starving wasn't bad enough, now he had to find a dry place to sleep for the night. One that preferably wasn't underneath a tree, because the way his luck was going Jaz didn't want to risk getting struck by lightning. Sighing, he pulled up the hood of his hoodie. It wasn't exactly waterproof, but it'd keep the rain out for a bit at least. Looking down at Stein, who had no protection from the rain, Jaz hesitated a bit before crouching down and offering an arm.

"You want to get on?"

Stein answered that by reaching up and pawing at Jaz's arm. For the first time, a faint smile broke out on Jaz's face. "Ok, ok, don't get your undies in a bunch - not that you have any." He lifted the animal up and bundled it under his coat with him, hugging it close to his chest. Despite being the size of a full grown terrier dog, the fox felt light in Jaz's arms, even if it felt a little damp. "There, all better now."

Stein was warm, a comfort against the increasingly cold weather. And it helped to have someone to talk to, even if it was an animal he'd picked up a month ago. Jaz didn't even have to feed him - Stein could feed on his own, and it helped to have a warm body to use as a heater that would wake him up if there was any danger. But most of all, just having someone who cared about him so obviously was comforting, even if they didn't speak the same language. Smiling a little, Jaz buried his nose into Stein's fur, enjoying how soft it felt.

It also stank of forest mold, but eh.

"Squeak?" Stein wriggled a little, as if it were confused about Jaz's actions, and Jaz grinned at Stein. "Alright, alright, lets go. Civilisation can't be that far, right?" Jaz said, straightening himself. No time for self pity! Taking a step forward with renewed determination, Jaz continued to walk forwards with Stein tucked in his arms, unknowingly heading towards a twist in the forkroad of his destiny.

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To say that Jaz was a bit grumpy was an understatement, to say the least. It was raining, he'd been out of the road a few days with no sign of shelter, and to top it all off he was starving. Food! Not tree bark or flowers or insects. They were edible, yes, but not tasty. And although Stein chomped up dandelions and beetles with great relish, right often in front of Jaz's eyes, Jaz wasn't so eager to find out what caterpillars or beetles or other such insect delicacies tasted like.

And to top it all off, Stein had wriggled out of Jaz's jacket and was now running off to who knows where. "Stein!" Jaz yelled, running after his pet the best he could. It was still raining, and the drizzle had started to grow harder, although there was still some time before it grew to fullon rain. Bounding forward, the short animal didn't pay attention to Jaz's calls, although he moved slow enough that Jaz never lost sight of him, despite always being a couple of steps ahead.

"STEIN!" Jaz yelled again, forcing his legs to pump even faster. As if in response, Stein twitched his ears and ran faster, until finally it came to a sudden stop at the edge of a hill and chirped cheerfully at Jaz.

"What're you doing, running forward like that?" Jaz called, increasing his pace to catch up with his pet. Phew, turned out he just wanted to show him... an exit? Excitement took a hold of him, and Jaz jogged towards Stein. "Wait, did you really - AAGGHH!"

Tripping on a tree root as he neared the edge, Jaz took a tumble forward right off it, Eyes wide, Jaz let out a yelp as Stein gave an alarmed shrill and darted forward, grabbing onto Jaz's arm with its teeth as he yanked upwards in an attempt to keep the boy from tumbling down a steep slope.

The action proved futile.

What happened next could have been considered comedy. Boy and animal tumbled together down a hill before flying up an incline like a surfing board before landing down onto another steep incline with a grunt, rolling down again until it fell off - directly into a small covering, still in the forest.

Jaz had just enough time to notice that there was a boy with dark hair in the way before squeezing his eyes shut and curling himself into a tighter ball around Stein, hoping against hope that it wasn't going to hurt as much as he thought it would.