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More from Eventide-Eye
AU explanation here: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/33422626
This story is an interquel, chronologically taking place between "First Bite" (https://www.furaffinity.net/view/37824920/) and "Lonely No Longer" (https://www.furaffinity.net/view/36332813/).
To recap, Bao Bao is Mao Mao's adoptive brother instead of his pet. He's also younger than Mao Mao, making him the youngest of all the Mao family's children and giving Mao Mao some older sibling rights. Bao Bao is physically a little bigger than Mao Mao though.
When little Mao Mao loses something in the garden, he set out to look for it. He was determined to not give up on finding the thing he valued most, as heroes would do. What he didn't count on was the unlikely assistance from an equally unlikely source who had just recently come into his life...
Mao Mao was not having a good time right now. “Come on. It's gotta be around here somewhere,” he muttered nervously as he scrambled around the Zen garden behind the house.
Earlier, the little black kitten was playing with his prized golden sword Geraldine on the balcony of his bedroom, trying to practice his swordfighting while pretending to participate in some hypothetical fight against some monsters or bad guys. It took only a trip over his feet to accidentally drop his sword over the edge of the balcony railing, sending it falling through the air until it landed onto the grass. Upon landing, it bounced until it rolled under a thick foliage of shrubbery.
Mao Mao couldn't understand how he still couldn't find where his sword dropped, especially since he was watching the whole time. He was very close to getting himself scratched up in the bushes.
“Hi,” came a small juvenile voice from behind Mao Mao. The suddenness of hearing it made the black kitten jump with a yelp, nearly making him fall flat under the shrubs. Mao Mao pulled himself back upright over the leaves and twiggy branches to face the source of the voice.
Standing just inches from him was Bao Bao, a petit Shiba Inu puppy with a peachy-cream coat of fur. He was wearing a pair of blue shorts with a single overalls-strap going over his right shoulder – it mirrored how Mao Mao wore a pair of shorts of the exact same design, only his were red and had the shoulder strap going over his left.
Mao Mao instantly recognized Bao Bao, knowing him all too well from his most recent encounter. At that time, Mao Mao got disgruntled by the puppy stealing his lunch, making off with a sandwich that he gobbled up in only a few short seconds. Seeing Bao Bao now only reminded him of how that incident was still fresh in his mind. “What do you want, thief?” Mao Mao grumbled, currently not interested in giving the other his time of day. He didn't stop in his search for his sword all the while.
The nickname didn't seem to register one bit in Bao Bao's mind, given the lack of reaction on his face. “You lost something?”
“Yeah,” Mao Mao grumbled without looking at him, “Why do you care?” He didn't wait for an answer.
Despite the kitten no longer paying him any mind, Bao Bao looked left and right of Mao Mao as he took in the garden environment. The puppy had learned enough to know when shrubs and trees were just scenery, even if the garden was prettier than the forests he was accustomed to for the first few years of his life. He was curious as to what Mao Mao was digging around the greenery for, so he plodded on his little feet to another corner of the garden.
Bao Bao liked the garden. Granted, the whole Mao estate was grand and enrapturing for him. The garden, in particular, was a part of the home that he felt carried a sort of magic just by being in it. It was so unlike the woods he had come to know before his adoption. Here, there weren't a lot of trees, but any trees there were beautiful, not just in shape but even including colors and leaves he never saw on any tree before – they’ve mostly been things like the long hanging vines of willows and the bright flowers of cherry blossoms, but there were others too. Along with the trees, the pebbles covering the ground were raked and combed in patterns that seemed reminiscent of paint strokes – Bao Bao never saw gravel look like that, considering he understood they usually looked wilder and disorganized anywhere else. In the middle of the garden, a pond lined with the smoothest curved borders rested at the bottom of a shallow grassy depression in the ground, as flat, smooth, and reflective as a pane of glass. Bao Bao only ever saw water as moving ripples and currents. He could never forget the feelings he had when he stared upon its waters to see himself like in a mirror, no distortions on its surface to tell him otherwise.
There wasn’t just the sight of the garden that captivated Bao Bao, though. There was also the touch of the garden – feeling the grass and pebbles beneath his feet along with the delicate smoothness of leaves and wood on every plant, plus the gentle breezes that danced within. There were also the sounds of the garden – the aforementioned breezes whistling as they danced and caused the leaves on the plants to rustle and even the water in the pond to ripple and occasionally splash. There was even the smell of the garden – the air was filled with the freshness of greenery and flowers, the pond water that was devoid of pollution, something metallic…
“Wait, what?” Bao Bao thought in mild bewilderment, his nose twitching from catching a whiff of something that didn’t match the rest of the garden. He knew what the smell of nature was, so he could already tell something didn’t belong when he caught the faint vague smell of what he thought was metal. He thought about calling Mao Mao, but he figured he shouldn’t risk agitating the kitten further in case he was wrong. He got down on all fours, continually sniffing the ground to determine where the metallic smell originated from. He slowly padded along as he followed the unseen trail, inching closer and closer to a random bush next to the pond. Once he was right in front of it, Bao Bao put up both his hands and leaned into the bush, almost like he was climbing into it. With both hands and his head in the bush, he fished around until he uncovered something at the base of the plant.
To his confirmation, the source was indeed metal, a long object seemingly made of gold that Bao Bao could identify as a sword. He did, after all, see swords before, courtesy of his adoptive father showing off several ones he owned whenever they had time together. He reached down and pulled the weapon by the hilt and flat side out of the bush, accidentally falling onto his rear when he pulled it out too hard. Taking one last glance at the golden sword in his hands, Bao Bao then trotted back to Mao Mao with it in tow, seeing the black kitten still sifting through the bushes.
“Is this yours?” Bao Bao interrupted Mao Mao, holding the golden sword by the hilt in both hands with the actual blade still touching the ground. He extended the item to the black kitten as Mao Mao turned around to see.
Mao Mao widened his eyes as he saw the sword. “Geraldine!” he cried, taking the sword from the puppy and hugging it affectionately, even using one hand to caress it like a little pet. “I thought I lost you forever!”
Bao Bao tilted his head in curiosity as to why his adoptive brother was talking to an inanimate object like that. On the other hand, Mao Mao turned his eyes to the Shiba Inu puppy with a curiosity of his own. “You found it?” he said to the puppy in a nicer tone this time around.
Bao Bao thought about telling the kitten about how he sniffed around in the garden after noticing the first smell of it. Before he could say anything, however, his ear perked at catching the faint sound of his adoptive father’s voice talking in the distance. Shin Mao wasn’t calling out to him, but Bao Bao wasn’t sure how he wanted to proceed with a conversation with an unfamiliar brother alone. At that moment, he much rather wanted to be with a grownup, and who better than the cat who took him to his new home to be his father? He ran past Mao Mao to go back into the house.
Left with only himself and Geraldine, Mao Mao realized he didn't get to thank Bao Bao. He began to ask himself if he was being too hard on his adoptive brother.
This story is an interquel, chronologically taking place between "First Bite" (https://www.furaffinity.net/view/37824920/) and "Lonely No Longer" (https://www.furaffinity.net/view/36332813/).
To recap, Bao Bao is Mao Mao's adoptive brother instead of his pet. He's also younger than Mao Mao, making him the youngest of all the Mao family's children and giving Mao Mao some older sibling rights. Bao Bao is physically a little bigger than Mao Mao though.
When little Mao Mao loses something in the garden, he set out to look for it. He was determined to not give up on finding the thing he valued most, as heroes would do. What he didn't count on was the unlikely assistance from an equally unlikely source who had just recently come into his life...
Mao Mao was not having a good time right now. “Come on. It's gotta be around here somewhere,” he muttered nervously as he scrambled around the Zen garden behind the house.
Earlier, the little black kitten was playing with his prized golden sword Geraldine on the balcony of his bedroom, trying to practice his swordfighting while pretending to participate in some hypothetical fight against some monsters or bad guys. It took only a trip over his feet to accidentally drop his sword over the edge of the balcony railing, sending it falling through the air until it landed onto the grass. Upon landing, it bounced until it rolled under a thick foliage of shrubbery.
Mao Mao couldn't understand how he still couldn't find where his sword dropped, especially since he was watching the whole time. He was very close to getting himself scratched up in the bushes.
“Hi,” came a small juvenile voice from behind Mao Mao. The suddenness of hearing it made the black kitten jump with a yelp, nearly making him fall flat under the shrubs. Mao Mao pulled himself back upright over the leaves and twiggy branches to face the source of the voice.
Standing just inches from him was Bao Bao, a petit Shiba Inu puppy with a peachy-cream coat of fur. He was wearing a pair of blue shorts with a single overalls-strap going over his right shoulder – it mirrored how Mao Mao wore a pair of shorts of the exact same design, only his were red and had the shoulder strap going over his left.
Mao Mao instantly recognized Bao Bao, knowing him all too well from his most recent encounter. At that time, Mao Mao got disgruntled by the puppy stealing his lunch, making off with a sandwich that he gobbled up in only a few short seconds. Seeing Bao Bao now only reminded him of how that incident was still fresh in his mind. “What do you want, thief?” Mao Mao grumbled, currently not interested in giving the other his time of day. He didn't stop in his search for his sword all the while.
The nickname didn't seem to register one bit in Bao Bao's mind, given the lack of reaction on his face. “You lost something?”
“Yeah,” Mao Mao grumbled without looking at him, “Why do you care?” He didn't wait for an answer.
Despite the kitten no longer paying him any mind, Bao Bao looked left and right of Mao Mao as he took in the garden environment. The puppy had learned enough to know when shrubs and trees were just scenery, even if the garden was prettier than the forests he was accustomed to for the first few years of his life. He was curious as to what Mao Mao was digging around the greenery for, so he plodded on his little feet to another corner of the garden.
Bao Bao liked the garden. Granted, the whole Mao estate was grand and enrapturing for him. The garden, in particular, was a part of the home that he felt carried a sort of magic just by being in it. It was so unlike the woods he had come to know before his adoption. Here, there weren't a lot of trees, but any trees there were beautiful, not just in shape but even including colors and leaves he never saw on any tree before – they’ve mostly been things like the long hanging vines of willows and the bright flowers of cherry blossoms, but there were others too. Along with the trees, the pebbles covering the ground were raked and combed in patterns that seemed reminiscent of paint strokes – Bao Bao never saw gravel look like that, considering he understood they usually looked wilder and disorganized anywhere else. In the middle of the garden, a pond lined with the smoothest curved borders rested at the bottom of a shallow grassy depression in the ground, as flat, smooth, and reflective as a pane of glass. Bao Bao only ever saw water as moving ripples and currents. He could never forget the feelings he had when he stared upon its waters to see himself like in a mirror, no distortions on its surface to tell him otherwise.
There wasn’t just the sight of the garden that captivated Bao Bao, though. There was also the touch of the garden – feeling the grass and pebbles beneath his feet along with the delicate smoothness of leaves and wood on every plant, plus the gentle breezes that danced within. There were also the sounds of the garden – the aforementioned breezes whistling as they danced and caused the leaves on the plants to rustle and even the water in the pond to ripple and occasionally splash. There was even the smell of the garden – the air was filled with the freshness of greenery and flowers, the pond water that was devoid of pollution, something metallic…
“Wait, what?” Bao Bao thought in mild bewilderment, his nose twitching from catching a whiff of something that didn’t match the rest of the garden. He knew what the smell of nature was, so he could already tell something didn’t belong when he caught the faint vague smell of what he thought was metal. He thought about calling Mao Mao, but he figured he shouldn’t risk agitating the kitten further in case he was wrong. He got down on all fours, continually sniffing the ground to determine where the metallic smell originated from. He slowly padded along as he followed the unseen trail, inching closer and closer to a random bush next to the pond. Once he was right in front of it, Bao Bao put up both his hands and leaned into the bush, almost like he was climbing into it. With both hands and his head in the bush, he fished around until he uncovered something at the base of the plant.
To his confirmation, the source was indeed metal, a long object seemingly made of gold that Bao Bao could identify as a sword. He did, after all, see swords before, courtesy of his adoptive father showing off several ones he owned whenever they had time together. He reached down and pulled the weapon by the hilt and flat side out of the bush, accidentally falling onto his rear when he pulled it out too hard. Taking one last glance at the golden sword in his hands, Bao Bao then trotted back to Mao Mao with it in tow, seeing the black kitten still sifting through the bushes.
“Is this yours?” Bao Bao interrupted Mao Mao, holding the golden sword by the hilt in both hands with the actual blade still touching the ground. He extended the item to the black kitten as Mao Mao turned around to see.
Mao Mao widened his eyes as he saw the sword. “Geraldine!” he cried, taking the sword from the puppy and hugging it affectionately, even using one hand to caress it like a little pet. “I thought I lost you forever!”
Bao Bao tilted his head in curiosity as to why his adoptive brother was talking to an inanimate object like that. On the other hand, Mao Mao turned his eyes to the Shiba Inu puppy with a curiosity of his own. “You found it?” he said to the puppy in a nicer tone this time around.
Bao Bao thought about telling the kitten about how he sniffed around in the garden after noticing the first smell of it. Before he could say anything, however, his ear perked at catching the faint sound of his adoptive father’s voice talking in the distance. Shin Mao wasn’t calling out to him, but Bao Bao wasn’t sure how he wanted to proceed with a conversation with an unfamiliar brother alone. At that moment, he much rather wanted to be with a grownup, and who better than the cat who took him to his new home to be his father? He ran past Mao Mao to go back into the house.
Left with only himself and Geraldine, Mao Mao realized he didn't get to thank Bao Bao. He began to ask himself if he was being too hard on his adoptive brother.
Category Story / Fanart
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 100 x 120px
File Size 62.1 kB
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