(Fluffykin's Bow)

The tests were run, and thankfully Piper was given a bath and full shave while she was under. She was wrapped in a blanket, and tucked into a soft carrier while I was given some training books, a list of starting medication, and a list of what she would need to live comfortably.

My questions were only answered with the vet tapping the books with a nail, as he was called to the next room for an even bigger emergency. One of Arlo's kind had been attacked by a raptor he had tracked with a hunter. Blood was all down the hallway as one nurse held the beast, and another ran beside her with a severed tail.

Animals should be free to do as they wanted, not tortured like Piper, or forced to hunt dangerous raptors like Arlo's kind. It was good Piper didn't see this.

Piper's carrier resting against my hip, I looked at the list, wandering toward a connected pet shop. My tail hung limply at all the things she would need. Her diet varied even more than I'd thought, and her hair care alone made me consider keeping her shaved. What had I gotten myself into?

"You're here!" Mr. Fluffykin's owner came over, her yellow tail held erect in happiness that had my own lifting. "Welcome to my shop." Mr. Fluffykins ran around my feet, barking in excitement, as he spotted the carrier, and tried to jump up to it.

"Sit, you terror." She said, with no anger in her words. Fluffykins sat, long legs crossed under him. He pointed to the carrier and whined. "He wants to play with her," she explained. "She's in bed. Why don't you go to your bed in the back?" The pet moved his head oddly side to side. And the woman huffed, "That means no, guess he wants to wait for his new friend."

I raised a brow ridge. "He understood all of that."

She shook her head, "No. But I've trained him since he was a pup so he knows all the command words and location words like bed." Again Fluffykins shook his head. She giggled at her pets response, "Fine. No bed. Come." She patted her yellow leg, and her pet ran over, hugging her. "Humans are fascinating," she said, scratching behind his ear.

Whimpers came from the carrier, and I moved quickly before they could become wails. "Shh," I held Piper until her eyes cleared fully. She blinked up at me, stiffening, limbs started to flail, and I quickly put her down.

One moment Piper was chittering with Fluffykins, as I talked to his owner, the next she was running back to me. "Awe, she already likes you."

"I wish that were true, but I think the door opening scared her." I pointed to the door and the hulking Reptilian that walked through.

Piper jumped at my feet, and I lifted her. "What is it, Pipes? He won't hurt you." I knew him, waving to my friend. He waved back, in too much hurry to stop and chat.

Piper whimpered, trying to crawl into the carrier. "No," I said, placing her into the hatchling seat. She whimpered, pulling her knees to her chest again, but I gently tugged her feet down, "That's not safe. Good girl." I said as she set the right way, even though she did wrap her arms around herself.

"Have a look around," Fluffykins owner said, "I have to go help customers."

My pet whimpered, and made the same sounds over and over, but she wasn't loud enough to bother anyone. We even got a few coos from other customers as we walked down the aisles. Piper turned an odd shade, but I'd read about humans changing colors, usually it was from stress. I went to a quieter section.

"Look at all the pretty things." I said, pushing the cart along. Her eyes glanced along the aisle, landing on a few different pieces. But they stopped at a string of beads that were different colors; some blue, some pink, even a few light oranges, some were flat colored, others were sparkled. Of all the different collars, I was surprised she picked this one when there were so many lovely silver options even I would have liked, but this one was better than the fabric the veterinarian had taken off her.

I put it into the cart, surprised that it had a larger and smaller one in the same pack. Maybe it was for if I had gotten her young? I shrugged.

I picked out a few more things, and she didn't seem interested, until I turned into the last section at the back of the store. Her eyes lit up, and she reached out toward the small items.

It was hard for me to understand why some owners gave their pets silly costumes. They didn't need them, the temperature here was perfectly fine for them, and could even be colder given their odd ability to keep themselves warm. But I couldn't deny Piper seemed so interested. Odd, given that her previous owner had only given her that one tattered covering. Shrugging I picked up the nearest item, maybe my girl just likes the colors?

The thing was frilly, reminding me of the frills on some, the frills like Fluffykin's owner had. But they were soft, and the color was odd. I held it out to her, and she yanked her hands away, short tongue sticking out. "What does that mean?" I questioned, putting the dress into the bottom of the cart.

She yanked it up. "Now you want it?" She stuck her tongue out again, throwing the clothes away and onto the floor. "Bad girl," I said, causing Piper to hug her knees and bury her head.

"I'm sorry, good girl," I lifted her chin, scratching behind her ears. She pressed into the touch.

I picked up the dress and returned it, giving it a show of my tongue. Piper giggled, it was almost like bells, and no natural laugh I had ever heard. But, she was happy.

If she didn't want to be colorful, maybe she was looking for something to protect her? Humans had a few natural predators, and even though she was a pet, instinct would be hard to ignore.

The next thing I picked up was a rather plain piece of cloth, it was a dark green, soft to the touch. While it would be good for hiding in her enclosure, I wanted to be able to easily see her. Her eyes got wide, and her mouth dropped open. At first, I thought it was a no again, but turning to put it back, she grunted, reaching for it.

I handed it to her and she laughed again, giving a squeal of delight as she stood in the cart, and yanked it over her head.

The cloth wrapped around her top and arms, she pulled a big section over her head, making it look a bit bigger, to intimidate. The end left her legs loose, only the top part covered. It looked comfortable, and would let her easily run from predators. To me, she just looked cuter.

After the first yes, we made a game of picking clothes, I'd pick out a random thing and she'd stick out her tongue. I'd pick out nearly the same thing just to get the same response.

*Hope you enjoyed it!*