Brooklyn for a time with the clan continued to avoid their leader which reminded him too much of Goliath. And the one who he still struggled to talk to the most was Kita. He saw she could hold her own in a fight whenever a robber came into the village which impressed him.
One night, Kita decided to bring one of their gar dog's pups named Siveth to Brooklyn. Siveth was a pretty social puppy who got along with the clan and humans. She hoped Brooklyn would enjoy her company. "Come on, girl," Kita said to Siveth as she led her gar dog to Brooklyn, who sat on his bench by the water again, holding his legs and looking down, ears flat, thinking about Sasha more.
He still missed her terribly, having stone daymares still about her death and was doing his best to keep on living for her like Viktor said. But Brooklyn would never forget the one who pulled him away from that hellish auction, hoping Yegor wouldn't find him here either.
That was when he heard someone next to him and a small woof. "Bronx?" Brooklyn asked, jumping a little but when he saw it wasn't Bronx but another gar beast unknown to him, his eyes rounded in slight fear, backing up slightly on the bench. Kita gave him a smile.
"Hi, I brought my gar dog over to cheer you up," Kita said in her musical voice. Brooklyn gulped, gazing at her nervously, and at Siveth who tilted her head, whining at his scared face.
"She won't hurt you," Kita persisted, petting her ears. "Hoped that a little animal therapy could help."
Brooklyn gazed into the small gar pup's eyes, who looked rather cute. "Her name is Siveth. You can pet her if you want," the gargess introduced. Feeling curious in spite of himself, Brook inched carefully towards the gar dog, who whined playfully, wagging her tail stump.
Brooklyn found himself inching a little towards the gar dog, though still trembling at being in the presence of Kita again. Kita herself seemed pretty tough hence her muscled appearance and not wanting to give up on his mental state. He just didn't want to embarrass himself in front of Kita. Swallowing, Brooklyn reached out with his hand.
Siveth sniffed it, before eventually nuzzling his hand. He couldn't help but give a small smile from that, going to lightly scratch the beast's head.
Kita looked happy that Brooklyn wasn't so sad anymore now that he was petting Siveth. She could see that he missed his own gar dog back in New York. Kai had told her his name was Bronx.
"So... how you were taken away from Manhattan?" She asked carefully, sitting down on the bench with Brooklyn while the red male petted the pup. He eyed her nervously, but soon knew that he couldn't bottle up his feelings forever since it had been nearly a week since coming. Gulping again, he nodded.
"I-I got stolen by poachers. They took me all the way to Siberia, Russia to an animal auction." He replied in a scared voice that made Kita gasp softly.
"I'm so sorry that happened to you Brooklyn. But how did you even escape from there? And your tail?" She stared at his deformed tail again that made Brooklyn's breath hitch and he closed his eyes, tears falling down his face.
"You don't have to tell me about your tail yet if you don't want to," Kita murmured, her hand taking his gently. Brooklyn this time didn't jerk his hand away from her, but found himself welcoming it, Siveth having helped him loosen up a little. He had to tell another gargoyle after telling his two human friends. Shaking, Brooklyn began to speak. "No, I want to tell you," The red male admitted in his sad voice. Ears flat, Kita rubbed his hand gently while he talked.
Taking a deep breath, Brooklyn began to tell her the nightmare of losing his tail. "For one of their threats towards me, the poacher leader that held me broke off part of my tail while I was in my stone sleep." He first revealed. That made Kita's eyes round in horror and disgust. She had been around nice humans growing up here, but to hear about such humans who would do this so horrifically was awful! "Oh, Brooklyn," she said, feeling her eyes moisten.
Brooklyn clutched his tail again. "Hope to get it fixed, but it depends on when I go home. Someone there could help me," he mumbled thickly.
Brooklyn continued. "Then, just when I thought hope was lost for me, a female human named Sasha rescued me. She... out bid my potential much meaner buyer, and took me back home and set me free, healed me. Upon us forming a close friendship, my previous buyer stormed in, pulling out his gun and..." He felt more tears, burying his face into his knees, not wanting to cry in front of Kita again. Kita then knew that the horrible human had murdered his closest friend that saved him.
Her head shook in anger and disappointment towards his abusers and his friend's murderer. "I can't believe they would do this. Why would humans kill each other?" Kita asked in sorrow.
Brooklyn looked at her, eyes red. "She jumped in between the gun, saving my life again. I would always love her and be in her debt. But I'm... afraid of being close to anyone again. Even with one man I met along the way named Viktor. He and I sort of became friends but not as close as Sasha and I were. He directed me to where the Eastern sea was, and well, here I am," Brooklyn said, finishing his story.
Siveth whined and licked Brooklyn's hand, having heard it and wanted to cheer him up. Brook couldn't help but give a sad smile, petting her again, glad that Kita had brought her over, having missed being around gar dogs. Kita swished her tail as she gazes at Brooklyn's sad but handsome face. He was rather eye-catching to her but didn't want to make him uncomfortable.
"You're safe with us now, Brooklyn, away from those horrible poachers. If they come here we will keep them out," Kita promised in a brave voice. Brooklyn felt himself smiling from her tough tone, happy to meet another girl who was willing to protect him. Brooklyn then knew he had to somehow let his clan know he was safe and not dead, since they were probably worried out of their minds.
"I have to tell my clan where I am, Kita. They've been probably worrying and trying to find me. Is there any way I can call them? Or send them a message?" he asked, scratching Siveth's ears again.
Siveth whined when seeing how worried Brooklyn was but happy he had been able to be brave enough to pet her. Kita thought about the last time when Goliath had been here and Elisa had used a payphone in the village. She nodded. "Yes, but maybe we can bring you to our leader first since he has been wanting to talk to you?"
Brooklyn's ears flattened but knew he had to do it, since after all his talks to the people who helped him had gotten him to let down his guard a bit more so far he felt a spark of bravery return to him. He knew Goliath would've wanted him to. The red male nodded though after looking at Kita's pretty eyes again he blushed. She noticed and couldn't help the giggle.
"Have to ask though, how old are you?" Kita asked Brooklyn. Fiddling with his deformed tail, Brooklyn answered. "I'm 38," Brooklyn replied with a soft voice. He never had a well-spoken conversation with a girl like this before since Brooklyn always seemed to make girls stay away.
Kita was surprised. "I'm 38 too, that means we're the same age!" She exclaimed in excitement. Brooklyn's eyes rounded, heart thumping at the idea of meeting a girl nearly his age. Angela had been 36 which was a bit younger than him.
Siveth then woofed as she found a big stick on the ground and picked it up and put it on Brooklyn's lap, making him chuckle. "You want to play?" He asked, his heart slowly feeling light again after months of feeling the trauma of his kidnapping. Brooklyn then threw the stick, causing Siveth to yip and run after it. Siveth came back and threw it at his feet, panting and wagging her stump tail. Kita had also picked up the stick and threw it, making the gar dog run after the stick again.
The two beaked gargoyles laughed until they felt their hands touch. They pulled their hands away, both flushing, while Siveth returned, tilting her head with her stick in her mouth. Brooklyn swallowed, pushing his hair back. "Er, maybe we should talk to Kai now?" He asked in a slightly nervous voice. Kita nodded though her eyes watched how he pushed back his long hair, which she thought was also unique about him.
Kita and Brooklyn both stood together and went back through the square of the village, Brooklyn averting his eyes from the watching humans as he eventually found himself in front of Kai. His nerves shot up again as Kai gazed down at him with more interest.
"He seems to be better Kita," Kai commented in a slight deep voice but not as deep as Goliath. She nodded. "Yes, my leader. But he has a request to ask you."
Trying to hide his broken tail, Brooklyn began to talk. "I want to try to talk to my family again. If there's any way I can do that, I would be in your debt. But I don't remember the phone number there too well since being taken." He said.
Kita spoke up too. "Also, the ones who stole him had been responsible for what happened to his tail." Brook blinked slightly at her saying it but felt grateful she could mention it when he couldn't.
Kai frowned but spoke again. "Maybe we can find someone here to fix it for you, Brooklyn. Your clan wouldn't want to see you this way I would imagine." Brooklyn blushed, taking up his tail. "No, I think I know someone at home who could make it look like normal again. Thanks for the offer." The younger male said meekly, glancing at Kita, who smiled encouragingly.
"Kita, your sister Kaori can operate electronics better than any of us. She could probably help Brooklyn contact Goliath and his clan," The leader suddenly suggested.
Kita looked like she liked the idea, nodding. "I would love to introduce him to my sister." Brooklyn felt tears in his eyes, knowing soon he might get to hear his family's voices again. "Thank you." He told them both in happy tears. Kai bowed his head. "Since Goliath helped us, now we help one of his own."
Brooklyn too bowed to Kai and after that, Kita took him to meet with her sister, hoping that what they were saying was true about her being a good electronics gargoyle.