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Rainshine and Adrien:

Part 1

_~written (and illustrated) by Rainshine Adams _

It had been a long day, and Rainshine was ready for a break from all the cleaning and cubsitting. The young aardwolfess had been promised the rest of the night free to herself until curfew, which arrived at 11:00, and she figured she'd like to spend it with her mate, watching the stars in the open country. She got in her family's car and drove over to Jedi's house, arriving just a couple minutes after 8.

Her lionbird answered the door, looking adorable in his pajamas.

"Hello, my love," she greeted him sweetly. "You doing anything tonight?"

He hugged her tight and kissed her but regretfully admitted that he hadn't been expecting her and was unable to join her for star-watching.

"I'm sorry, my darling," he said and kissed her between the ears.

"Don't worry about it," she said, hugging him once more before getting back in the car and pulling out of his driveway. I suppose I'll just have to watch the stars on my own tonight, she thought with just a bit of regret.

She looked out her window and up toward the sky. It was a clear night, perfect for star-watching. She sighed and drove out of town and into the hills. Abandoning the car on the shoulder of the highway, jumping the wooden fence around the horse pasture, and clambering up the hill near the center of the field, Rainshine dropped into the grass and went totally limp as she gazed off into the stars. Her mind wandered as those bright lights flowed through her brain, flooding her eyes with glitter and warming her to her toes. She had almost entered into a dreamlike state when a rapidly moving light caught her attention and dragged her back into reality.

"Holy shit!" she said aloud, adding silently is that a shooting star? But it seemed too close, like it was falling toward her, rather than off over the horizon somewhere with all the other stars. She followed it with her gaze, trying to keep it in sight as it sailed over the treetops and landed somewhere in the woods behind her.

The young hyena quickly jumped up and, after only a moment's hesitation, began to run back to her car, determined to find the meteorite. That thing could be worth a fortune on eBay, she thought outwardly, but in her heart she knew that she wouldn't sell it if she found it. Rainshine was a huge sci-fi geek, and it had always been her fantasy to own something that had fallen from space.

She hopped the fence twice as fast going out as she had coming in and fumbled with her keys, too eager to get into the car, too eager to get to the woods and find the meteorite. Once the car had started, she drove a bit too fast, but since there was no one else on the road, it didn't matter. There was a small dirt road leading part of the way into the woods where she was sure the meteorite had crashed, so she drove the car in as far as it would go before she had to get out and walk.

Since aardwolves can see well in the dark, she had no need to bring a flashlight, but she did find herself wishing for a warmer coat, as it was October and getting a bit cold out, especially so for an animal who loved hotter climates. She shivered and drew her hoodie tighter around herself as she stepped through the bushes and briars on her way to the heart of the wood.

When she could see some broken trees up ahead, she knew she must be getting close, and she quickened her pace almost to a trot as she approached what she was sure was the crash site. Stepping into a clearing, she could see a smoldering crater up ahead, and her heart beat wildly with excitement and ecstasy. This was what she had always dreamed of! She ran to the edge of the crater and stopped abruptly. What she saw before her was not a rock. In fact, what she saw was something she never would have expected in a million years.

A young man lay sprawled at an awkward angle in the center of the pit. He was completely naked and covered in ashes and dirt, and the first thought in Rainshine's mind when she saw him was Oh shit! Is he dead??? The position in which he was laying was so unnatural that she was sure he couldn't possibly be alive.

Very slowly and tentatively, she approached him, knelt down beside him, and strained to listen for a heartbeat.

"Well," she muttered to herself. "At least he's alive." Somehow this fact made it more difficult for her to decide what to do. Had he been dead, she could have simply run away from the scene and called the Police, but it didn't seem right to her to leave him alone so badly injured, even if the gruesomeness of the situation made her uncomfortable.

She gently touched his face and angled it toward her. He looked like a fox, she thought, but she couldn't see the colour of his fur through all the ash and dirt. He moaned and tried to open his eyes, but she could tell from his furrowed brow that he was in a lot of pain.

"Can you hear me?" she asked. "Hello? Are you conscious?"

The man opened one eye slowly and gasped, "What the hell happened?"

"I think you got hit by a meteor," the aardwolfess told him, trying to keep her voice calm. "How badly are you hurt?" She could see him wince in pain as she accidentally shifted his neck.

"My back..." he said. "I think... I think it's broken." He moaned again and started to slip back into unconsciousness.

"No, no, stay with me!" she said frantically. If he went unconscious again, he might go into a coma, she though. "You've got to stay awake. Can you tell me your name?"

"I fell..." he mumbled, only half-conscious. His voice was almost inaudible.

"What was that?" she asked, leaning her ear closer to his mouth.

"Fell from the sky... broke my back..."

"Your name," she reminded him firmly. "I need you to tell me your name."

He opened his eyes again and stared into hers, trying to grasp what she was asking him. He finally understood and told her. "Adrien."