Kennel 175 - Homer - Male - 4 Years Of Age - Unknown Species (Elephant/Griffon/Canine?)
- Residing in kennel 175 is Homer, a male of four years. It's not known what true species he is, for he was birthed in a testing facility. Nothing pure ever really comes out of that place. Rarely are they born without defects. He was intended to be a flying, fighting machine, but instead he was a sweet, land creature. His wings aren't very strong since he rarely uses them, but they can carry him for a brief period. The trunk replacing his nose is handy for reaching places. His tusks were supposed to be to attack, but Homer would never really use them. When put in the battle facility, he would find some way to avoid actually fighting. He often managed to befriend the other creatures. His thick elephant skin beneath the fur allowed him to withstand quite a few hits. Dismayed, scientists just left him in a cage and cared for him. Some had a soft spot for him. Others were annoyed they spent so long engineering him only to be so happy-go-lucky. No matter how hard they tried to make him fight, they didn't break his spirit. He did become hopeful for them to leave him alone, but since he didn't know anything outside of the facility, he was fairly happy there. You can't wish for something if you don't know it exists.
Happy - Optimistic - Entertaining - Excited - Childish - Energetic - Curious
- Joyous is an understatement when it comes to the level of happiness Homer feels on a daily basis. The glee that he feels really has no reason behind it. He's just so optimistic that he can't see much to be sad about. He prefers being happy to sad. It's easier to amuse, and being an entertainer is all he really cares for. He's got the tendency to make others laugh with goofy looks and jokes. His carefree nature helps him not really care what people think of him and care only if he's amusing himself, which he generally if. He's easily excited and childish as well. Energy is usually constantly tugging on him to do something, be it running or stretching, but rarely does he use his liveliness to do work. His vigor does allow him to keep up on journeys and run quickly in the spur of the moment. He doesn't see it as helpful, though, even remembering his past. He just sees it as something he does. Nothing he does really requires an explanation to him. He's easily excited and curious about everything, finding joy in simple toys like old cans and sticks. That makes him easy to care for, which his traveling companion has been grateful for. He does have a serious side, however.
Created - Tested - Simple, Quiet Life - Round 2 Of Testing - Escape
- (Creation)
Violence is, unfortunately, very common, especially in war. Human casualties are sad and cause feelings of lose in their friends and family. But surely, animals don't have feelings. Not enough to measure up to ours. That mindset is what created Homer. If they could use animals - preferably animals that are "ugly" - they could keep humans from feeling this loss again. Fighting with cute animals would make people find them inhumane, so if they bred animals... animals unseen, so therefore unloved, no one would care. This is where the idea took off from. Gathering DNA from several animals, they would mash it together and somehow got a creature out of it. Sometimes they were too mean or too... not right. They would put them right to sleep, or maybe gift them to a staff member if they were truly in love. Only the highest members of staff were even given a creature, however, so many were just killed. Staff lived on site and helped care for all the animals. One day, a team was together discussing a war animal over coffee. They decided upon an elephant's thick skin for defense, an elephant's trunk for smelling, elephant tusks for fighting, dog claws for fighting, a somewhat small stature (around four foot) for agility, and wings to aid with agility and for fast travel. However, they could not come up with a personality and, thus, argued about it. They went ahead and planned a date of creation, enough time to gather supplies and finish planning out their animal. He was named after a family member of one of these members that had recently passed away, a younger sibling. On the arranged day, they gathered only to realize they'd not some up with a personality. So as to not disappoint their supervisor, they went ahead with it. The five gathered in the lab, supplies needed laid out on the table. Each had a job - three of them were to actually put together the DNA, one was to take notes, and the other was prepared to get the animal when it came together. Into the machine everything went, and on the other side, and small Homer appeared, prancing around. John, the man with the job of gathering him when he came out, scooped up the small creature. He was heavy for his size, but that was expected. They would be monitoring him over the next few months to shape his personality, make sure he was growing and teach him. John and a female on the team, Madison, fell in love with him. They couldn't help become playful and fun with him. The others were a bit like this as well - which is one reason they were friends. Few people in the facility were liked that. They treated him as a dog. He grew up to be fun and playful. They didn't mean it to be this way. They'd hoped he would become a fighter because of their love, but it didn't work too well. He didn't like fighting. All he did was make friends or take the beating from them. He defended himself sometimes, but he tended not to. They felt as though they had failed, so they stopped testing him for awhile to just care for him. They'd try again sometime.
- (Escape)
Years ago, there was a big storm. Lightning struck trees, caught fire and there was a threat of other bad weather. Atop one of the most rugged mountains was a testing facility. Some people believe that mythical creatures, things such as chupacabras and bigfoots, stemmed from there. They may not have been entirely off. As wildfire spread through the hills, panic rose among workers. They all left hurried - save one young man. He released all the gates before running out the door. Even if the creatures inside may be dangerous, he didn't think it was right to leave them there to burn to a crisp. He too left and the building was deserted of humans. Inside, dozens of creatures were left alone. None of them had any experience with living in the wild or even really roaming. They were all fed by the staff and taken into their own personal yard. Now, thunder cracked above head and hearts were pounding. Claws skidded on the tiles and yelps of terror echoed throughout the place. Sitting nervously in his cage was Homer, shaking. Outside his cage were flames reaching up to the ceiling, moving down the hall and spreading into his area. He pulled himself up and looked to the wooden slate that separated him from the outside world. Standing at 3'10", he didn't know if he would be strong enough to break, but he felt adrenaline rushing through his body. He backed up until he felt the fire heating his thighs. Then, he charged at the wood, slamming into it. He didn't break it but he did damage it. A few more tries of that and he broke through, emerging onto a dirt plain. Fire was spreading rapidly, but he rushed through the smokey evening air. The chain link fence was separating him from freedom. Other animals had found their ways into the courtyard as well, but they hadn't a clue where they were to go either. A small body suddenly slammed into him, hardly taller than a foot. It bounced off of him and looked frantically up. It wore a skull and had no skin or muscle on it's tail. Before it could scamper off, Homer trapped it with his paw. It let out a cry. "Calm down, I'm just trying to help you." he demanded. The creature wouldn't stop wailing. Homer groaned and covered it's mouth with his tail. "I'm Homer, who are you?" he slowly released it's mouth. Without a wail, it replied. "I'm Kix..." the small thing replied. Homer had come to the conclusion it was male and nodded. "Come on, follow me. I've got a plan." he trotted slowly, Kix running at full speed beside him, towards the chain link. Homer quickly explained his plan of digging a hole to Kix. He would have flown, but his wings were wet and it was difficult to fly in the rain. The small animal did this obediently and Homer was careful not to hurt him as he quickly dug. The yard was burning. Other creatures had already escaped into the wilderness. There were places where the fences was mangled, but they were too close to the flames for Homer to feel safe. The flames grew closer, spreading across the once-lush grass. Kix squeezed under the fence and they continued to dig on both sides. Fire creeping closer, both had a good amount of fear. Homer was unsure of why Kix was waiting for him, but he would later realize it was because such a small animal couldn't survive on his own. The hole was hardly even a decent size, butHomer slid through, scratching himself a bit but emerging overall fine. Behind him, the fire was crackling, spreading rapidly in all different ways. Other animals were struggling. He wanted to help them, but he then realized he needed to help someone else. Someone that had just helped him. Looking over at Kix, who stared at him with scared eyes, Homer grabbed the scruff of his neck and started running. He continued until he reached somewhere far enough away that the panic could hardly be heard. The crackling of fire was quiet, a mere murmur in the distance, and the screeches crying for assistance were left behind. The run was a bit rough for Homer. He wasn't used to carrying others and especially not used to running on rough terrain. He set Kix down gently and sat across from him. "Well, uh, that was... something." Homer awkwardly began conversation. "That was scary." Kix replied. It was at this moment he finally took a look at the canine. He was young and fear was still clearly visible, even with sunlight fading. "We're safe now." Homer replied. "Now." Kix mumbled, glancing back up the mountain that they'd come from. Both stared off at it for awhile. Perhaps reliving memories, wondering what was going on. Neither had been out in the wild before... what did they do? Sleep was the last thing on either's mind and their stomachs were churned from the fear. "We'll look for a place to stay." Homer nodded to affirm his plan. He may have been a bit weary, but he wasn't ready to stop. Kix nodded. Hesitantly, they both stood and smelled the air. Elephant trunks can scent water from twelve miles away, but since he wasn't completely perfect, Homer's sense of smell was less then that, and deceived him sometimes. He stood on his back legs and waved his trunk in the air, hoping to gather all options. The closest on seemed to be uninhabited. While they couldn't tell for sure, Homer hoped his nose was up to par today and they started towards in. The sun was setting over the horizon. That was worrisome, for they'd never really been in the dark. It was already frightening the pup that there was a chance of no light. There was always some sort of buzzing light on at the facility. He was getting tired too. Now that the shock had worn off, his eyes drooped and he yawned often. Homer looked over at him compassionately. He had always wanted a family... now he had someone to care for. That was close enough. They pushed on until they reached a small pond. If you could even call it a pond. It was small, so much that Homer could jump into the middle with one leap, but it was adequate. They went to the water's edge, thirst taking over. Homer blocked Kix from it and took a drink of his own before allowing the pup to. Kix nervously took a drink of water, not sure why the older creature had kept him from drinking with him. Homer noted this. "I wanted to make sure it wasn't contaminated. Nothing against you." he assured him. There was a ledge that looked down on the pond.Homer thought that if they could perhaps dig that out, it could serve as a nice house. Today was not the day for that, though. Both had sore paws and Kix was clearly ready to sleep. "Want to get some sleep?" Homer asked. Kix nodded. They settled in against the ledge, sleeping beside each other. Homer stayed up, watching to make sure nothing happened, but soon found himself falling asleep too. The next day they started working on a home and they settled there, Homer promising to travel to find Kix's family someday soon. He didn't know if this was just because he wanted to cheer him up or if he truly did want to keep moving. It'd be nice to find the family, but he honestly didn't want to give up Kix... this was as much of a family as he had.