Name for a Creature

The creature slowly made its way towards me, but remained very cautious. Its focus was on my hand, which used to hold the dagger. "Seriously, I'm not going to hurt you", I said once again. The creature stopped about a metre away from me, probably judging whether I'd make any moves on it. "You know that at this distance, I'd catch or harm you already? Come over and let me see that wound", I added.

Finally, the creature walked over next to me. I extended my hand slowly, but it got scared and moved away. "Really? Okay, let me say this again. I'll take you into my arms, and have a look at your wound before applying the medicine. My intentions should be clear now, right?". The creature approached once more, but didn't run away when my arm reached to grab it. "There we go, wasn't that difficult, was it? Now, let me see your wound", I said with the creature in my hands.

The wound looked rather deep, perhaps the creature got cut with a sharp claw or something. There were no bite marks anywhere, which was a good sign. "Stay still, alright? I'll have to touch your wound a bit when applying the medicine", I tried to convey my intentions, for that little guy to feel safe.

I could tell the wound was really painful, but my father's medicine wasn't some cheap knock off. That was the real deal, and it would help the creature a lot in the recovery process. Once the medicine was applied, I let the creature go. "See, I didn't harm you, and even released you. Don't overwork yourself too much, let this wound close. If you want, you can stay here with me… Are you hungry?", I asked.

The creature seemed genuinely surprised. After all, I simply released it without harming or capturing it. "Arf, arf!", the little guy's barks sounded more cheerful and happy, as he made his way back towards my lap. "Hehe, you are a cute little creature indeed. Here, have some food and rest", I said while feeding him some meat.

The creature felt much more comfortable staying near me. The little guy got a bit startled when I tried to pet his head. Though when he realised my intentions, he didn't seem to mind. "Why are you in this forest? I haven't seen anything like you for many months that I've been here. Are you lost? Do you have an owner?", I asked myself really, since the creature couldn't speak.

Though the creature couldn't speak, that little guy could nod his head in affirmation or shake in denial. That's exactly what he did, at least to the best of his knowledge. From the various nods and shakes, I learned a few things from the little guy. The creature was lost, that much was certain. He had no owners, and really seemed to dislike that word.

"Hmm, so you have no owner but you know our language… You were also really scared to approach me… Does that mean you were captured by someone?", I asked. The creature nodded in confirmation. "Are they after you right now?", I asked another question, to which the creature nodded again. "Are they strong?", was my next question. This time, the creature didn't know whether to nod or shake his head. "Maybe like this, are they stronger than me? I've reached the Outer Limits stage, if you know what that is", I tried to clarify.

The creature thought about it for a while, as if trying to remember something. A while later, he nodded. "So they are stronger than me… Hey, you don't have to run away", I said while grabbing the creature. "Grrrr…", it growled but didn't try to bite me. "I'm not going to sell you or anything. You wouldn't think like that, if you know me a bit. Calm down, alright?", I explained before placing the creature down.

"I know why you are so cautious and all that, but I'm not from around here. I'm not part of this place, this Empire. I come from the North, this is not my home. Don't lump me with these bastards, alright?", I added. The creature returned to my side, and laid atop my legs once more. "Why would they take you to this forest though? I mean, there's nothing here. No villages, cities or anything", I asked.

The little creature shook his head, telling me he didn't know. "When did you escape?... That's a bad question… You know days and nights, right? Before you met me, did you escape for this many days, or more?", I asked while displaying seven of my fingers. That was a long shot for sure, but the creature actually shook his head.

That meant, he was on the run for less than that. 'Perhaps he escaped on the day he met me. Since this little guy was captured, and moved here for some reason, he couldn't hunt for any food… Why would they bring him here? Does he have some sort of special abilities?', I asked myself.

"Do you know why they brought you here?... Maybe like this, do you have any special abilities or traits, which they found useful?", I asked, but he shook his head. Asking how he managed to escape would be pointless. That little guy couldn't speak and explain these sorts of things to me. Since there were no traits or abilities involved, why bring that creature to the forest?

"Have you been captured recently, or a long time ago?", I asked instead. The little guy shook his head first, but then nodded. 'So, a long time ago. That doesn't make sense, why would anyone bring such a creature here?'. I had no clue why, nor how many people would be searching for that creature.

"...Numbers… How many of them were there? This many?", I asked while extending my fingers. The creature nodded when there were five fingers left. "Five of them… We are severely outnumbered. They are supposedly stronger than me, and there's five of them… I don't have anything useful anymore. With the Voltic Orb, there wouldn't be any problems", I said.

While petting the creature, I noticed some old scars underneath his coat. 'This guy's been treated really badly. No wonder he was so afraid of me', "You've been through a lot, right? I'll take you with me, and try to get you away from these people… Huh, I didn't realise you are a female. That's why you followed me?", I asked once the creature belly was exposed to me.

"Arrf", the creature barked and nodded in confirmation. "I'm not sure how far away they are, and about their tracking methods. If they have no ways to track you, we should be in the clear. Though we can't discard that possibility. Let's rest in my shelter, alright?", I added. The creature agreed, then made its way towards my shoulder where it stayed.

The night passed uneventfully, which was a good sign. "You should be able to move normally soon. My father's medicine can work miracles, it surely saved me a few times", "Arf, arr". Calling that little animal 'she', 'you' or something else didn't sit well with me. Instead, I proposed to give her a name. "Hey, how about a name? I'm Anna, so why not give you a name as well?".

She didn't seem to mind it that much, and agreed. We went through many female names, but she didn't like the sound of any. "Hmm, you're really picky, no wonder you are a female", I said. She protested a bit with her barking and other noises, which sounded more cute than angry. "How about Fluffy? Or Furry?... Nah, these are not good. How about Mimi? You like it?", I asked.

She declined these names as well, which put me in the spot since I was running dry. "Peaky?... Foxy?... How about Sneazy? Nah, I don't like that one either… Wavy?... Curly?", at that stage, she stopped for a moment. She considered the last name I mentioned for a while, then finally nodded. "You like Curly? That's great, it's not a bad name, right? I'll call you Curly from now on, alright?". Curly agreed, allowing me to have a breather with those names.

'She's so demanding, and I'm supposed to be the daughter of an Emperor', I thought. We were making good progress towards the north, even though we had to travel through the forest. Neither of us had the slightest idea what awaited us real soon.