As the morning sun rose, I was quickly faced with a problem that, through the haze of feeling and excitement, I had overlooked. I couldn't just waltz around camp; no one would recognize me. I wouldn’t belong anymore.

  I followed Nicole quickly, keeping my head down as she brought me to her tent. The other option would have been to stay away during the day, and I wasn’t feeling brave enough to be left alone out in the wilderness.

  “In here,” Nicole said, pushing open the flap to the small back area that I had already nosed around. I trotted inside only to notice her tucking the jar of hair I had noticed before out of sight. “I expect communication to be our biggest issue,” Nicole looked up. “Long term, it would not be hard to convince the colony that I have tamed an animal. While utterly bizarre and unlikely, the biologicals have very little understanding of such complexities.”

  I wasn’t exactly thrilled at the prospect. But what other choice did we really have? We couldn’t survive on our own. I may have been in a body better-suited for this planet, but what little I knew was here. Plus, Nicole was a doctor. She could help the colonists. I couldn’t just steal her away to live in the jungle; they needed her. And I needed her. So we would stay.

  Admittedly, my interaction with domesticated animals was… none. But if I were just clingy and followed her around, I figured that would probably be accurate? It would be honest at least.

  “You can nod and shake your head, so answering yes or no questions is feasible," Nicole hummed consideringly. “Anything more challenging will prove… difficult. Your hands are somewhat dextrous, yes?”

  I gave her a double thumbs up.

  Nicole nodded. “Basic sign language may work then, though it would need to be adapted to your physiology.”

  I leaned down to scratch shapes into the dirt that I knew was more or less my name. If she taught me how to read and write than that would make all this so much easier. How hard could that be? Even children could do it.

  Nicole watched me silently for a moment. “Are you writing your name?”

  I nodded, pressing my paws together and folding them open as I looked down at my palms, pretending to read.

  Nicole just watched me with mild confusion. “A book?”

  I nodded again. Immediately stuck for some gesture for ‘keep going.’

  “If you were not illiterate than it would be an excellent option when time is not limited,” Nicole added after a moment. Somewhat guessing as to my meaning.

  I nodded much more intensely.

  “You wish to learn to read and write?” Nicole supplied.

  I nodded even more intensely.

  She smiled, grabbing a box from the shelf. “I can teach you.”

  I let out a coo. It was somewhere between the spectrum of a bark and a squeal that this body was capable of vocalizing. It felt like a happy sound. And considering Nicole was Nicole, if anyone was capable of learning my strange new body language, it was her.

  Nicole sat at a small table and opened the kit. I perked up, curious as to what she was up to. She pulled various small tools and rolled up her sleeve.

  “It is an easy repair. I just need to close the leak and sew my skin up. Had you hit my frame, you would have injured yourself,” she explained, my curiosity evident.

  Sheepishly, I lowered my head, my spines folding against my head. I still felt bad about nipping her. I wasn’t used to having an… emotional range. At a point that out of control buzz made you do foolish things.

  “What?” Nicole asked. “Is this you being apologetic?”

  How in the world did she know? This whole body language thing was working great. I nodded, adding a floppiness to the gesture that felt appropriate.

  “I forgive you,” Nicole reassured, turning back to her arm as she picked up a pen knife thing.

  I had to look away as she cut her arm open. Though what I was imagining was probably worse than reality. All I could picture was red, pooling and dripping blood. I suddenly felt nauseous.

  Ducking my head under the table, I lay down, curling my tail all the way around to my snout. I let out a sigh. I still felt exhausted, but a different kind of tired. Not the human lethargy of illness, but an exhaustion from well-used muscles and a lot of running around.

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  I was still hungry. When Nicole was done, I would bug her about food. I couldn’t wait to eat something that wasn’t nutrient chalk.

  Wiggling my nose through the tent flap, I snooped. Nicole was tending to a man’s arm, cleaning it with something before bandaging it up. I was bored, bored and antsy from being so cooped up all day.

  “If you have any signs of infection, come back,” Nicole said. “You don’t have a fracture, but considering the swelling, do not stress your arm for a few days.”

  The man nodded, gently rubbing the bandage. “Can you give me anything for the pain?”

  Nicole nodded. Grabbing a bottle from the shelf and dropping two pills into the man’s hand.

  “Ibuprofen?” He frowned.

  “We have a limited supply,” Nicole offered simply. “That is what I can give you.”

  The man took off his mask long enough to gulp down the pills. “What about once they wear off?”

  Nicole put the bottom back on the shelf. “If the pain is unacceptable, then come back.”

  “Of course it’s unacceptable, I’ve got a big fucking gash in my arm,” the man frowned, standing up where he towered over Nicole.

  I ground my teeth. On the verge of lunging at the man. But Nicole was strong, and I had to hide. But I would, if he tried anything, I would.

  “Given current restrictions, that is what I am able to give you,” Nicole replied firmly.

  “Unbelievable,” he huffed before turning around and walking up.

  I relaxed, glad he was gone. Nicole didn’t falter as she began cleaning up.

  The man hadn’t even said thank you.

  What a meanie.

  “You are lucky he did not notice you,” Nicole turned to me, her glare not particularly scolding.

  I was too bored to feel bad. My stomach growled, reminding me indecently of another point. Opening my mouth, I pointed at it and mimed biting. I was hungry and sick of waiting.

  “Nicole?” Someone called from outside.

  Nicole shooed at me, urging me to hide. I stumbled back, my tail getting stuck against the tent wall as I tried to backpedal in a body only really designed to move forward. I spun, ducking under the flap and landing in a heap. I lay there, annoyed with my own clumsiness.

  “Lord Barrick wants us all at the bridge, apparently, we have a problem,” the man said from the other side of the hanging door.

  “I’ll be there in a moment,” I heard Nicole reply.

  Shit. I was going to have to hide away here all by myself. I couldn’t risk trying to sneak out during the day. Maybe I should have stayed in the jungle, I could have tried to… hunt something. Not that I really wanted to eat anything raw or fleshy. But maybe in this body it wouldn't taste so bad?

  Nicole slipped through, making me jolt. I watched her as she rummaged through a few crates and finally pulled out a long chain. “Do you want to come?” she asked me, holding up the chain.

  I stared at her. Yes, but… what? I could hardly be seen by people like this. We had barely managed a simple conversation, let alone figured out a plan. I felt wholly unprepared for anything. Except maybe a snack. And why the chain? That certainly seemed ominous.

  Apparently, my unease was written on my furry face.

  “As a leash,” Nicole explained. “I can attach the chain around your neck, and you’ll just have to stay close. That will give us a cover story. You are one of my experiments. An attempt to domesticate the native wildlife. I recued you when injured, nursed you back to health, and am trying to acclimate you to people.”

  Oh… I didn’t really know how to feel about that plan. But it was good to get our stories straight. I reluctantly nodded. I was more than a little curious as to this “problem,” and if it would let me get me out of the stupid tent, then I could put up with it.

  Nicole crouched down and looped the chain around my neck. “I won’t really attach it. I’m using a string to hold it in place, but if you really pull it will snap free,” she explained, fiddling with the chain. I craned my neck to try to see what she was doing.

  That at least made me feel a little better. I wouldn’t be stuck in an emergency.

  I took the opportunity to nuzzle her. It just felt like the right thing to do.

  She was always looking out for me. She deserved more than I knew how to give.

  I was suddenly a bit off balance as Nicole wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling me into a hug.

  I let out a contented coo.

  “I really missed you,” Nicole confessed, voice tight and unusual.

  She deserved so much more than I could give. My heart cracked all over again. I couldn’t even speak anymore. I was a lesser thing now, and Nicole needed me more than ever. Even if I took over a human body, it wouldn’t be… me.

  I could be strong because of her. But how could she be strong when… this was all that was left of me?

  I tapped a paw to my chest before holding up two fingers. Me too.

  “I’m sorry,” Nicole sighed. “I know such emotion is not productive. I thought it would go away now, but it… lingers just to claw at me.”

  I whined, nuzzling into her. Helpless as to how I could offer anything more. How could I stop her pain? Even returning from the dead wasn’t enough.

  “You’re right, I’m sorry. Let’s go, I know you're hungry,” Nicole muttered, standing as she composed herself and giving the leash a gentle experimental tug.

  I stared at her, my heart crushed. That wasn’t what I was trying to say at all. She had just… assumed the worst. Assumed that her own thoughts were mine. I didn’t like that at all.

  She was hurting, and she could not hear my comfort.