Opposites Attract

Chapter 1: Awkward Meeting

                  

The rain was in a downpour and lightning cracked the ground around him as he ran from a horrible beast.  When suddenly, Axel, a black furred, blue eyed wolf anthro ran off the side of a steep hill and started tumbling down the muddy slope.  He tumbled for a few seconds and when he got to the bottom when he slammed head first into a tree and got knocked out.

Neostar, a white tiger anthro, was in her treehouse falling asleep to the sound of rain and thunder.  She loved the way the rain tapped the roof of her treehouse; and the sound of thunder crashing far away from her humble abode gave her a sense of security.  When suddenly she jolted awake to a feeling she had never felt before.  The thunder had shaken her treehouse before with its noise, but not as much this.

"What was that?  Thunder?  It's probably that elk rubbing his antlers on my tree again."  She said grabbing her knife as she slowly walked to the door.

Once she got to the door she heard something she had never heard before.  A low moan.  She got nervous and gripped the knife tightly.

"That's not an elk, or if it is, it's probably dying.  Time to put him out of his misery."  She said opening the door and jumping down to the ground.

But to her surprise, it was not an elk.  It was the black wolf, lying on the ground up against her tree knocked out cold.

Neo gasped at the sight of him.  "Sir are you ok?!"  She asked.  "What do I do?  If I bring him inside, when he wakes up he'll freak out and think he was kidnapped!  But if I leave him here, he'll die of cold and hunger!"

Neo had to make a decision either to bring him inside and risk giving him the thought of being kidnapped or leaving him outside and let fate decide if he lives or dies.

"C'mon think!  Oh wait I know!"  She runs inside and grabs a blanket to cover up Axel and she quickly runs back out and covers him up.  "That should keep him warm, at least for tonight.  I'll make sure he's ok in the morning."  With a tired yawn she climbs back up into her treehouse and climbs into bed and falls into a deep sleep.

The next morning, Axel wakes up moaning in pain as he looks at his leg to see his ankle is popped out of socket.  He tries to set it back in place but when he puts pressure on it, he lets out a painful yell waking up Neo.  He then tries to reach for a couple sticks and vines to set a splint for his ankle when he notices two paws in front of him.  It's Neo.

"W-Who are you?  Why are you way out here in the middle of the forest?  How did you-"  Before he could finish, Neo had her hand over Axel's muzzle.

"First off, my name is Neo.  Second, I live here.  You ran into my tree.  When I noticed you knocked out I ran inside and grabbed a blanket to cover you up."  She takes her hand off of Axel's muzzle.  "Here let me help you into the treehouse, you can rest your leg while I work on your ankle."

Neo helps Axel up and into the treehouse.  After ten minutes of painful yelling from Axel trying to climb the ladder, he is finally on the couch with his leg propped up on a chair.

Neo, with a bottle of rum and a piece of leather walks up to Axel.  "Here, drink some rum and bite down on this.  It won't hurt as much if you do."  Axel drinks a bit of the rum and bites down on the leather as Neo moves down to his ankle.  "Ok ready?"

Axel nods as a sign that he's ready to brace himself.

"Ok this is going to hurt for just a second."  With a quick movement, she cracks Axel's ankle back into place with a loud echoing crack.

After Axel let out a pain filled, muffled yell, he passed out on the couch.  Neo looked at him, worried that she had hurt him badly.  She then proceeded to take the leather out of his mouth and took the rum away.

A few hours later, Axel woke up and he felt a slight pinching in his ankle.  He called for Neo, but she was nowhere to be seen.  Axel's eyes then diverted to the coffee table where there was a note lying on it.  Axel picked up the note and then proceeded to read it.

"Dear Axel,

I went out hunting so you can get some food in you.  I'll be gone a while so make yourself comfortable until I get back.  I fixed your ankle, but don't try to walk on it for a few days.  We don't want it dislocated or broken again.  When you passed out I was worried and tried to wake you.  But when I saw you breathing I calmed down.  I left you a glass of water on the table for you to drink.  I put some vitamins in it to help ease the pain in your ankle.  So drink that up whenever you wake up.  You'll get some at dinner too, just a heads up.  I'll see you in about a half hour.

-Neo"

After reading the note, Axel spotted the glass of water on the coffee table and proceeded to drink it.  His ankle felt relief almost instantaniously.  "Looks like whatever vitamins were in that water did the trick.  My ankle actually feels a little better."  After he set the glass back on the coffee table, he laid back down on the couch and fell asleep.

About 15 minutes after Axel fell asleep, Neo comes back and sees that the glass is empty and a reassuring smile washes across her face as she takes the butchered meat and puts it in her freezer box.  Neo then crawls into her bed and falls fast asleep to the sound of rain hitting her treehouse roof.

The next morning, Neo is awake.  Axel awakens from the delicious scent of bacon, eggs, sausage, and toast.  A scent he has smelled many times before the event that changed Axel's life forever.

"Good morning sleeping beauty." Neo giggles a bit as she continues cooking.  "How did you sleep?"

"Well thanks to you bringing me in and patching me up, great, thanks.  You're cooking breakfast?"  He asks.

Neo nods at him.  "Yup.  I figured you'd be a little hungry after what happened last night.  Do you think it smells good?  I was never much of a cook so I'm not sure if I did it right."

"It smells great.  You're a pretty good at cooking."  Axel says with a smile.  "I haven't met very many cooks in my days.  But I am a good one too."

Neo smiles at him slightly blushing.  "Thank you.  I've never really been complimented on my cooking before.  Before I moved out here, my cooking was scolded and disliked.  Of course I was serving lower class meals to higher class citizens in the city."

"Well they should have been praising your cooking.  That's just not right."  Axel tries to get up and walk but he lets out a painful grunt and lays back on the couch.

Neo runs over to his aid.  "Just lay down and let your ankle heal.  It's going to hurt for a while.  So just kick back and relax, and I'll take care of your every need."  She blushes looking down to see her hand is on Axel's, then she pulls her hand back quickly giggling a bit.  "Hehe sorry.  I'm going to continue making your breakfast."  She walks back over to the stove still blushing.

Axel is slightly blushing as he watches Neo walk backto the stove and a slight smile washes across his face.  "I don't know what she just did, but now Ihave this warm and fuzzy feeling inside. What does this mean though?"  Axelsays to himself so Neo doesn't hear. "I've only felt like this once. Around...Her...."