Written by:

B.R.L.F.

Description:

Dani is running away from his home on Mars and discovers and meets a Kzinti alien on Jupiter while stopping on a moon. The Kzinti gets its name from what it does for its life, and this guy doesn't know what to do yet. Dani helps his new friend find his name, and some courage to stand up.

(Side note) Kzinti are a fictional alien race from Larry Niven's book universe called "Known Space" with the prominent example of Kzinti being from "The Man-Kzin Wars" book series. There's 15 books in the series so far, and it's a good read.

The Kzinti

Dani loved Retrowave music. On the bus route from Mars to Ganymede he wore his headphones for the three days it took to make it out there. The same old radio station playing on loop for three days. He didn't give a crap about his parents at home, wondering sick where he is, he wanted to get off that god forsaken planet, even it meant steal someone's ticket.

The bus was boring enough. When you're in deep space you can't get internet, the radio signals couldn't reach far enough. Music radio was the only option unless you had a device with enough storage for all of the videos and books and pictures you wanted to look at. Dani didn't want entertainment, he wanted a new home.

Between Ganymede and Mars, Dani had to come up with a plan to get on another bus free of charge. Maybe he could find a hitchhiker or a wannabe deep space explorer who could take him out to the Kuiper Republic. Out there was a job, and a new home.

Soon enough the bus arrived in Ganymede. There were two towns built on top of the small moon. If you looked directly above you, you could see the fading storm on Jupiter. Dani needed to find another cheap bus or a hitchhiker, not look at the sights. He stopped in the bar, looking for a quick drink. There he found someone he'd never seen before, an alien. A real alien. The humans were picking on the poor guy.

"Guy's c'mon give the dude a break" said a guy among the group of people harassing the almost tiger-like humanoid. It had the body of a tiger, but the tail of a rat. If it stood up it could be almost seven and a half feet tall. "Fine. Let's leave it alone." said the supposedly toughest guy in the group. The group of five went to another table to continue to mock and sputter at the alien.

Dani felt bad over at his table, and decided to walk over and sit near it. Dani didn't know what to expect and he didn't know what to do. He didn't know if the thing even spoke English. He sat down in the chair next to the thing. Its long fur shifted a little bit as he sat down.

"Hello. I'm Dani."

He stopped himself from saying anything else.

"Screw off kid I've been through enough."

It had a voice as deep as James Earl Jones. It was thunderous and menacing. Dani didn't get fazed by this. His own father was worse.

"I just felt bad that you were getting picked on and I just wanna try to help out a little."

"If you want to help, tell off those racist bastards over there."

"Your a tough looking guy! I bet you could beat the crap out of all of them if you wanted to."

"I'm not that kind of person. If I touch them I could start war."

"Okay, sorry. What's your name?"

"I don't have a name."

Dani was shocked to hear this. He was confused.

"How could you not have a name? Everyone's born with one."

"Kzinti don't get named like humans do. What you do for your life is what your name is. Imagine being named Smith."

Dani chuckled a little bit, everyone he knew was named Smith. But he was quiet to make sure he didn't get mad at him.

"Are you looking for a name?"

Dani wanted to help this guy any way he could.

"Yes. Name me a human name."

"Now wait. Lets keep it to your way, because I like the idea of being named what you do. I think that way is cool. Now let's think about this. What are you good at?"

"Sulking."

"C'mon dude don't be like this. Man up a little up."

Dani said hitting his arm slightly. He got slightly agitated and Dani sat quietly for a few seconds.

"What does it mean to 'man up'?"

This Kzinti learned to speak English, but didn't learn the slang of the modern age.

"It means to get tough and be aggressive. What do you like to do?"

"Beat people up."

"If you like to do that, maybe you should show those people who harassed you who's the real tough person."

"What do I do?"

"Well, you go over to them, and you tell them to apologize for making fun of you. After you're done, you'll find you're name."

"Okay, I'm going to do it."

The Kzinti stood up slowly, then turned around and walked over to where the five guys were sitting down. He stood over them like a colossus.

"I don't like you. You made fun of me. I want you to say sorry to me."

The supposedly toughest guy of the five said back "What should I apologize for? You killed my friends over California in the 80's."

"I killed no man. But I'm willing to change that if you don't say sorry." The Kzinti showed its extended claws as a threat.

The tough guy got up. His fading hair line more visible under the light of the bar.

"You're challenging me? Bring it o..."

Before the guy could finish his sentence the Kzinti punched the guy down with the back of his paw. He didn't want to scratch the guy, otherwise he could be arrested for drawing blood.

"YOU'RE DEAD YOU FAT ASS CAT." said the guy getting back up and throwing a punch.

Dani caught the punch and threw the guys fist on to the table. The table rattled with all of the moving silverware and plates. "YOU DON'T PUNCH HIM WITHOUT APOLOGIZING YOU SON OF A ..."

Soon enough, the four other guys were up and tackling the Kzinti and Dani. The bartender jumped over the counter and tried to hold back one of the people on top of the Kzinti. The two guys on top of the Kzinti were trying to weigh him down, but he threw them both off and onto the floor. He went over to Dani, who was on the floor getting his face punched in.

"Stop touching my friend. He's actually nice to me!" said the Kzinti as he threw him to the side.

Dani got up and wiped a bit of blood from his jaw. "Thanks man! Did you think of a good name yet?"

"Warrior. Because you encouraged me to be tough like one."

"Thats awesome!" Dani said as he was getting pushed down by the last guy in the group. The guys were already storming out of the bar out of fear of getting caught. Dani got back up after the last guy left the bar.

"Warrior, we should probably get going. We could get arrested for starting a fight."

Warrior looked down at Dani. "How about we get on my ship? I'll let you ride for free because you helped me."

"Sure. Lets go." Dani said, walking out of the bar with Warrior.