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Naaman was hopping along through the vast fields of a distant prairie. Naaman was originally from a domestic forest near humans; but he was on a trip with the person he formerly looked out for. His keep had been on a wild safari hunt, but the poor man was taken down in a wild fight between a lion and a cheetah. Being left stranded in the middle of this vast wild place, Naaman decided to go searching for a town. He was really interested in having some salty snacks. Then, he came near a lake to drink and refresh himself. He spotted something in the grass.

"What is this?" He wondered to himself. He started hopping all around it, batting parts of it with his paw.

The little fluffy creature suddenly started moving, trying to get away. It opened up a pair of eyes. The sight of the eyes made Naaman jump back for a minute. Naaman got down on his front paws and looked into the eyes. "What are you doing here all by yourself? Where is your mom?" he asked with his head slightly cocking to the side.

The fluff looked up at him. He looked around. "I....I don't know. Who are you?"

Naaman looked at the fluff again, now getting comfortable laying down on his tummy. "Oh, I'm Naaman. I am what's called a familiar. I help guide both animals and humans sometimes. I just happened along here kind of lost. I"m looking for a town or source of food. Would you happen to know where I can find it?"

The fluff looked at him. "Oh. Hi Naaman. I don't have a name. I don't there is anyone. I just woke up."

Naaman found this curious. Why would a wild animal leave it's offspring alone in the middle of this wilderness? He propped up his front legs. "Ok, well... I can't very well leave you hear all alone out here. There are lions and tigers, and they just might find you to be rather tasty should they discover you. I think you need to come with me. We'll try to go find a town. Hmm.. we need to give you a name.. let's see... your fur reminds me of one of those giraffe things. So... I'll call you.. Geoffrey. How about that?"

Geoffrey nodded in a way that was half confused and half sad. "Yeah. Ok. I will follow you. Are you sure you can get us somewhere?"

"Well, normally, I don't get lost too often. It's just that this part of the world is a little new and foreign to me. I am having to kind of adapt as I go. Well, let's wait for nightfall. If we travel under the night sky, it will be cooler, and we might sneak by some preys unnoticed."

"Ok, Naaman. I'll trust you. "
Naaman was leading Geoffrey out the wilderness by his senses. He always had a really good gut instinct. He also was able to follow certain stars to guide his wandering. They had been out there in the wilderness for days now it had been. They were so ready to have a good rest and a meal. Finally, just as the sun was setting, they found a town. Naaman found a barrel Geoffrey could hide in.

"Ok, stay here till I come back for you. There might be people or animals that would otherwise hurt you. I'm pretty nimble and able to hide myself well in shadows."

"Ok.. I guess. But, it will be scarey alone in the dark..." Geoffrey replied in an uncertain wavering tone of voice.

Naaman then went about town peeking in windows. He came to a little shop serving tea and baked cakes adn things of that sort. This was quite the unusual thing to find in a town on the outskirts of the desert he thought. He hopped inside the window and got in for a closer look. He noticed one lady being busy about there. He watched her closely. The place smelled great. When she opened the fridge, he swore he almost saw milk. He hadn't had milk since he was with his previous owner in the states. "Milk...." he drooled silently to himself. Noone could hear it of course. He then jumped back out the window and went to lay himself on his stomach in front of the door. He looked up all dejectedly adn abandoned like. "meeeoooowwww... meeeooowwww.."

It wasn't much further into the second one the lady came and opened the door. she had brown hair that went to her shoulders. She bent down and picked Naaman up. "Oh, how cute are you! Are you hungry? I bet you are. Let's get you something to eat."

Naaman smiled to himself secretly. He decided soon as he could to bring this lovely human to Geoffrey who still awaited him in town.
The lady had poured out some milk in a wide shallow saucer. Naaman figured Geoffrey wouldn't mind to wait just long enough for him to drink it. But, just before he was about done, she came back again but with another shallow dish that had what smelled to him like some kind of salmon. He began to think this lady was some sort of angel or something. He was liking her more and more. He really wanted to eat the salmon, but he knew it would be wrong to leave the baby etoile out there all by himself. He sat up and looked at the lady. "Meeoow?" he said to her.. like as if asking her to follow him. She nodded, but she asked him to hold on. She called back to someone else who was there. "Hey, I'll be right back. I think this kitty wants to show me something."

She opened the door, and Naaman led the way. He led her around several corners to the dark alley storage area with all the barrels. Naaman was glad for his keen sense of smell. He hadn't realized how many barrels were there when he stashed Geoffrey there. He called to Geoffrey. "Ok, little guy. You can come out now. Guess what I found us someone who will make sure we are taken care of. I picked her, but we'll just let her think she found us. I can tell she will want to keep us." He smiled. This made him very happy.

Then, Geoffrey inside the barrel pushed the lip up. His little eyes peered out and looked at the lady. She looked at him. "Oh, what have we here? Is this another kitty? Possibly your family?" she said to Naaman. She went over to the barrel and hastily took the little etoile out of the barrel. "Oh, you are not cat. Hmm. I am not really sure what breed of animal you are. Your fur reminds me of a giraffe, but those most certainly have long necks. You do not have a long neck. ((hahah.. do i sound like i'm writing a children's book? I've read 2 stories so many times to my son in the last week. heh))Ok then." She picked him up out of barrel and carried him back to the little shop. Naaman hoped up onto her shoulder and hitched a ride. He was fairly sure the lady wouldn't mind. When they returned to the shop, she kept going and didn't stop where she first fed Naaman. She continued to go upstairs into what looked like a small home. She approached two little girls. She set the etoile down on the floor, and Naaman walked around the girls to sniff them out. "Girls. I found teh cat meowing out the window and brought him inside to eat. But, then he led me to this other little guy here. I"m not sure what kind of animal he is. Of course, we aren't native to these lands, so I'm guessing it is a local animal type. Perhaps a result of interspecie breeding. I think we should take care of them."
The girl with long pink braided hair jumped up and down. "Oh, can I have the kitty mommy??? Please!!!"
The girl with teh short brown hair that fell in front of her eyes got down on the floor to look at both of them. "Oh, they are so kawaii mom. We should keep them. Mimi, you can't just keep the cat itself. They are obviously found as a family."
Mimi flushed with a tad of embarrassment, "You're right Kiki." She looked up the lady, "Mom, I will help take care of them if you want. "
The lady looked at them. She hugged them both then hugged the little furball. "Ok, well, I think we should give him a name. You remember the giraffe at the toy stores we used to goto when we were in the states?"
Mimi started jumping up and down on her knees, "Oh yeah!!! His name is Geoffrey!!" She was getting really excited.
"Geoffrey it is then." the lady smiled and nodded. She then said to him, "We are going to call you Geoffrey. I'm Graceangel. But, most people call me either gracie or mom. You can decide what you want to call me. The girl here with long pink braids is mimi, and the short brown hair is kiki. These are my daughters. We aren't really even from here. I was with a band of people out here for charity work. The girls weren't ready to go home, so i rented this building to run a temporary shop. We will take care of you two. When we make plans to return home, we'll have to figure out what to do. For the kitty here, he would be easy to take. For you little Geoffrey, I"m not sure what kind of animal you are. So, between now and then, I will have to do research in town to find out what kind of biological needs you have. Like, food and stuff?"

Just as she said that. He was over sniffing out a plant. He nibbled it and then looked up at them almost embarrassed. He didn't know if he was being bad or not.
"Oh, look mommy!" Mimi said excitedly. "He is a vegetarian just like me! He is part of our family!" She ran over and hugged him tight. He just smiled and continued to eat.

Grace called to the two girls. "OK, well, I still need to finish cleanin and close up our shop downstairs. " Then, she looked at Naaman. "Well, I will bring you that salmon up in a little bit. If you don't eat it soon, it will get rotten because fresh fish like that goes bad very quickly if it's not on ice."

Naaman immediately zipped right by her at that sound. He was right at that plate munching away. ~Oh yeah...~ he thought to himself. ~I think I found little Geoffrey a really good owner. I'll just have to stick with that little kid to make sure he grows up right. Yeah. that's it. I wonder when I should tell them I can speak human. I try not to advertise it. I could upset the world of cats. I mean.. I'm a familiar so my species of cats have the ability to communicate with them whereas the other cats do not. Oh well, I will worry about that later.~


Grace went out that morning to find the animal expert in the town. She found him running some antique shop in town. The shop was extremely dusty, and most of his antinque wares looked mostly just like retro junk. She saw him smoking on a long pipe with a long stem that went all the way down to the floor. She eyed him.

"Hello. I heard you were an animal expert. I have happened on what I believe to be an unusual species... perhaps even rare. Do you think I could persuade you to come to my home and take a look at it?"

The old man eyed her over in exchange. He slowly stood up and leaned his pipe against the wall. Grabbing his cane, he got up and walked over to her. After looking her straight in the eye, "So, you aren't lying huh? Ya know. I can spot a liar a mile away. Ok. I will come. but, I require payment."

Grace nodded. "I will both pay you and serve you a free filling hot meal. I own a small cafe. I will pay you and allow you a free meal there. Now, follow me."

The two left the little shop and crossed town. Some people arched their eyebrows at the two of them. Some towns folk considered the old man to be a looney. It was often said some of the species he had supposedly seen never existed. Some also rumored he really ran an underground operation in this part of the world. Most got bored of looking, so by the time they came back to her cafe. They hadn't been followed. As they went inside, she prepared and served him a rich coffee and a large bowl of potato chowder soup.

"Here you go sir. You eat up, and I will bring him down." Grace then hurried upstairs to her living area. "Ok guys. I brought the exotic animal expert here. He is eating downstairs. We'll have him evaluate Geoffrey." She picked him up and held him close to her. She went back downstairs. "Ok sir." She said as she sat across from him with Geoffrey in her lap. He was nearly finished already anyways. It wasn't too often people offered him free meals as people took him to be quite the weirdo. His eyes widened and his mouth gave in to a smile.

"I dare say! Where did you get this creature?" He said to Grace excitedly.

Grace was pretty sure she had something interesting on her hands. "Oh, well, there was a cat here last night. He led me to it. I took them in. I believe that cat was trying to find them a home."

The old man listened adn considered. "A familiar? already with the thing so young. That's quite incredible. Oh. yeah. Well, what you have here with you are known among animal collectors as an Etoile. When they grow up more, they have a body with features that might remind you of some canine qualities. They are usually quite large with beautiful fur coats. I heard in some parts of the world that people used to hunt them for their skins. They became quite rare. Some parts of the world have set up sanctuaries to prevent exotic hunters from making their population of these breeds from going extinct. I strongly advise you not to let it be common knowledge you have this one. Can I examine it?"

Grace registered right away what he spoke of. It was a sad thing to hear of such things happening in the wild. "Well, of course you can examine him. Sir... maybe you would like to move your shop in town to one of these out of the way corner shops near mine. I could agree to feed you if you can help me find out information on how to properly care for him. I am keeping him. You also say that cat is his familiar. I am not really sure what that means."

The old man picked up Geoffrey and laid him on another table to look him over. "Well, it's a male for sure. Hmm.. maybe. It cannot be done too hastily. People will wonder what you got even without you saying so. Maybe I can get the shop next door? We can have a secret door that opens between the offices of both our stores? That way I could sort of be here a lot?"

"Oh, I already have an idea for that good sir. The way to offset any suspicion about why you are here so much. Me and my daughters have agreed to sort of adopt you as an extensive family member. In case you don't know, we are really from the us. We had some business here, and we ended up being waylaid for a while. Our stay here is indefinite. We are cut off from our friends and family from home. One of my daughters or both can alternate helping in both of shops if you do move in next door. We could put you up in one of the extra rooms upstairs. We have 2 extra rooms which are just storing supplies for the shop. "

The old man was happy to get the offer of frequent warm meals. He was also interested to learn more about this Etoile. "Sounds like a plan then, eh lass? I'll get to work on it right away. Should I meet your daughters?"

Grace called them down. "Girls, come on down here. Bring Naaman too. Our guest is going to become a member of our family. You guys can call him Uncle...."
She turned to him. "Oh. I did miss your name."

"Right. My name is William. I am not from here either. I am originally from Scotland myself. I came here with a group of people 20 years ago on a safari. It turned out some of the members of our party were hunting with criminal intentions. Through some awkward turn of events, I was stranded here, so I created a small life for myself. Because of my knowledge of europe, some people come to see me. My antique shop actually also works as visiting point for tourists from the UK and sometimes the states as well. He got up and bowed to the two girls. He looked at the familiar. "Oh, i see. The neko familiar. Most etoiles who take a familiar ends up with one of three for some reason. Well, we'll see what we can learn. While I"m in the process of relocating my shop next door. I also will see what i can do through my contacts to get more information on these breeds."

The girls watched him leave the shop. Kiki went over and rubbed Geoffrey's head. "I hope he was nice to you. Cuz you are just so cute!"

Mimi sat down next to kiki holding Naaman. They squee'd at each other holding the two animals. Grace smiled. She was really happy that fate should bring these unusual creatures here. They were already becoming part of their family.

Geoffrey sat through all this a little confused and bewildered. ~I want to find a way to talk to these guys. To communicate with these people~

A few weeks had passed again. Old man William has his shop set up, and he enjoys the meals at Grace's cafe. Kiki helps the most in his shop as she has a better appreciation for antiques and unusual objects. Mimi mostly likes to tend to Geoffrey and Naaman. She particularly liked to bath and groom Geoffrey. Initially, he ran all over the upper flat trying to escape his watery destination. However, since she kept up on giving him baths every few days, he accostomed to the routine, and he actually enjoyed being bathed. After when she'd towel dry him, she would give him lots of cuddling. He liked that very much. Mimi tried to bath Naaman too, but Naaman would have none of that. Naaman's primary concern was just with Geoffrey's well being. He often was lazy and just slept. Geoffrey and Naaman had a deluxe sleeping area that Kiki and Mimi created for them. They picked up some things out of William's shop, and they glued them together. They put cloth around it, and it was a splendid place to sleep. Geoffrey's bed was especially thick and fluffy. They made sure it would support his dense weight. On the back and right side of the bed was a small half slide, half ladder. It went up to a higher pedestal smaller version of Geoffrey's bed. This was Naaman's spot.

Sometimes Mimi would bring Geoffrey down to the cafe where he'd munch away on some salads Mimi made for him. There was always music in the cafe. William left his door that adjurned into the cafe a creek open, so all the music would drift in. This made his shop much more appeasing, and he gained more customers. In fact, there had been a lot more customers as of late. Grace always wondered why it was all of a sudden. She decided that Geoffrey must be some kind of good luck.Still, life was feeling stagnant and boring in a way.

It was evening now, and they were all sitting down to dinner in the back of the cafe. William was there with them too of course. He was pretty much like an uncle to them all. Grace sat down with a bowl of soup and a half sandwich. They were all eating soup and sandwiches tonight. "Would you all be interested in taking another trip? I have been in the mood for one. This time, I think we should bring William. "

William sat there chewing on a bite of his sandwich thoughtfully. "Why do you want me to go? Wouldn't you rather I just watch the shop for the day?"

Grace had already anticipated this answer. "Yeah. I knew you might say that, but you have animal expertise. What if we find something rare? I also think you should bring your rare animal notebook with you as well. We'll go for three days this time, so we'll need to plan to take stuff to stay warm at night."

Geoffrey's ears perked up at this. He started to run circles around the table. He was totally for the idea of getting out of the house. Due to Grace's concern about poachers finding out about him, they only let him outside at night for a very brief walk outside the town gate. Usually either her or William took him. "I think Geoffrey really wants to go mom." Kiki said laughing a little at how excited he was.

Geoffrey ran upstairs at once. "Naaman, naaman. Guess what! We are going on another trip. This time for three days!!! I am soo happy. I can't wait to be outside. You are coming too, right? Please say you will."

"Of course... of course, young master. Anywhere you go; I will follow. If we are going for a few days, I am sure they are taking a small wagon or a wheelbarrow to pull some camping gear. I will be happy to rest there."

Geoffrey looked at Naaman with a slightly bored kind of look. "All you do lately is sleep. Why is that?"

Naaman opened his eyes and looked at Geoffrey. "I am your familiar. As a familiar, I just look out for you. Because we found humans to take us in, I don't have very much to do. And, the nekos as a race do tend to sleep a lot as situations allow them."

Geoffrey nodded. He decided to crawl into his spot to get ready for sleep. He was looking forward to tomorrow's great adventure.