WARNING: This story may contain content of an adult nature. If you are easily offended or are under the legal age to view adult content in your area, please exit now. This text is intended for adults only and may include scenes of sexual content or graphic violence. Reader discretion is advised.

Zavarka
by IndigoNeko, Cormenthor, and TaintedThylacine

Chapter 1

Saturday, August 15th, 2015

Alex had discovered the hard way that wearing skirts was a huge mistake, at least while pretending to be a girl. All because of that one mistake, Alex had been forced to move over a thousand miles from home, leaving everything the young tigress had known and loved behind.

After the disaster at Byrom Elementary School, there was no way that the young tigress was going to pretend to be a girl again. Or a boy, for that matter. Alex was done pretending to be anything. That meant abandoning the traditional binary gender norms, including pronouns like ‘he’ or ‘she’, ‘him’ or ‘her’. The proper pronouns for a hermaphrodite were ‘shi’ and ‘hir’. While they were spelled differently, the third-gender pronouns were pronounced like the feminine pronouns, except by linguists, scientists, and medical professionals, where the distinction mattered.

It also meant trying to find clothing that wasn’t too masculine or too feminine.

Alex wasn’t sure shi liked the new clothes shi was wearing; they made hir feel like a boy. The new hiking boots shi had gotten for hir tenth birthday a week ago were pretty comfortable and didn’t look half bad, considering that they didn’t have open toes like hir preferred digitigrade footwear. The baggy cargo shorts shi had gotten at the beginning of summer looked terrible though and didn’t go with hir usual tight-fitted t-shirts at all. Capri pants and skate shoes were more hir style. Fashion for hermaphrodites was surprisingly tricky business.

On the other paw, Mom seemed perfectly at home in the hiking boots, cargo pants, and thin flannel shirt she was wearing and it was obvious that she wasn’t a boy despite having her head-fur cropped short just like Alex’s. Maybe it didn’t really matter what kind of clothes you wore. Then again, Mom also had a pair of assets that Alex didn’t, and probably wouldn’t for another year or two. Hopefully those assets would appear sooner rather than later.

Alex let out a depressed sigh, watching from the shade under the maple tree in the front yard. The pair of enormous draft horses from the moving company and the two tigers that were hir parents continued to move furniture out of the back of the enormous moving truck that had all of their worldly possessions. After eight hours in the car, the young tiger was tired of sitting. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a whole lot that shi could do except walk around. Mom and Dad had forbidden hir to do any sort of carrying, lifting, or anything else strenuous for at least another month, to give hir broken ribs and leg time to heal. At least shi didn’t have to wear a cast or brace on hir leg anymore.

Turning around, the young tiger glanced around the neighborhood. The houses looked to be fairly new, with lots of tall glass windows and steep roofs. All of them had pine siding and rustic wooden handrails on the decks. Some of them didn’t even look to be occupied. Mom had said something about this being a ski resort town, and that some people owned houses out here that they only used for a few months out of the year. The concept that some people were so rich that they had houses they didn’t even live in was mind boggling. Hopefully not all of them were winter homes. Maybe if shi was lucky there would even be other cubs living in the neighborhood to play with.

Their own house wasn’t at the edge of the neighborhood, but pretty close. The street only continued another two hundred feet, terminating in a fence with red and white striped planks with a sign that read ‘end of road’ in big capital letters. Beyond that was nothing but trees, just like parts of Oregon. The trees were a little different though; scraggly pine trees instead of bushy ones and lots of maple, aspen, and birch trees. And there were mountains in practically every direction shi looked, which was pretty awesome. Just looking at them made hir itch to go exploring. It might even take hir mind off the fact that Elizabeth was over a thousand miles away now. 

Even though shi had just talked to Elizabeth half an hour ago over the phone, shi missed the little stoat terribly. They’d been best friends for nearly half their lives, spending nearly every weekend together for the past four years. The loss wrenched at hir heart, knowing shi wouldn’t see Elizabeth in person except maybe during school vacations. Now they were hundreds of miles apart, all because of a handful of bullies. The pain in hir palms suddenly broke her reverie, piercing through the haze of sorrow and anger. Shi carefully opened hir paws, hoping shi hadn’t reopened the cuts hir palms again. The Band-aids on hir palms were still clean, so shi must not have. After shi had accidentally sliced hir palm-pads open from clenching hir fists yesterday, Mom had filed hir claws down. 

“Mom?” shi shouted across the yard as shi saw the older tigress come out the front door to get  more stuff out of the truck.

“What’s up, kiddo?” Raenne yelled back. 

“Can I look around the neighborhood?” shi asked, hoping that a walk might make hir feel a bit better. 

“Sure. Just make sure you drop a pin on your phone’s map here, so you can find your way back. Actually... come over here, I’ll put the address in for you,” the older tigress suggested, walking across the driveway, towards the big maple tree where her daughter was standing.

Alex stepped over, unlocking hir phone and handing it over. Raenne took the phone and quickly brought up the contacts, entering the new address under Alex’s entry, then updating it for her own and David’s entries as well. She handed the phone back over. “There you go kiddo. If you get lost, just ask Siri to give you directions home.”

“Okay,” Alex said, pocketing the phone in the baggy cargo shorts. “Love you, mom.”

“Love you too, kiddo. Make sure you’re back in an hour for dinner,” the older tigress said, pulling Alex into a hug.

“Okay,” shi replied, squeezing hir mom in return. Shi watched as the older tigress walked back across the lawn and up the ramp into the moving truck. With a sigh, Alex turned and walked over to the street. The streets here were in surprisingly good repair for a tiny little town up in the mountains, though none of them seemed to have sidewalks.

The tiger cub continued to glance at the buildings as shi walked aimlessly down the asphalt road, then turned down another street. The houses down this road were a little older, but all of them were two stories and most of them had garages, some with nice cars parked out front. A couple of kids, a calf and a dog, were playing basketball in a driveway a few houses down, using a portable basketball hoop. Further up the street, three younger-looking cubs were running around in swimwear, playing in the sprinklers of someone’s yard. At least there were definitely other cubs to play with. 

The two kids playing basketball waved as Alex walked by. Shi returned the wave, but didn’t say anything. As much as shi wanted to join them, shi was under strict orders not to play any sports, at least until school started. The young tigress kept walking, eventually coming to the end of the street. 

Alex continued walking, randomly picking a direction. The houses here were a little smaller, intermixed one and two-story houses with the occasional older car out front. It kind of reminded hir of the neighborhood that Elizabeth lived in, except there was no walled-off three-story house at the end. Shi hadn’t expected to see anything like that, anyway. Even in the neighborhood where Lizzy lived, the Stouffer’s house was unique.

A few minutes and two more turns later, Alex realized shi had finally made it out of the residential neighborhood, and was staring at the intersection of a busy two-lane road, the first one shi had seen with sidewalks. Across the street was the entrance to an upscale apartment complex or townhouses of some kind. The young tigress pulled out hir phone and brought up the maps app. After a minute of poking around, shi realized this was the main road through town. Further up the street would just lead to more suburbs and the other direction led to a business area, about a mile down the road.

As much as shi had hoped that this would cheer hir up, it didn’t seem like it was working. With yet another sigh, the little tigress pocketed hir phone and turned to retrace hir steps.

__________________________________________________

Monday, August 17th, 2015

Alex bent over and touched hir toes, stretching hir legs out before standing back up. The forty-minute long car ride into Prairie Flats seemed to take forever. Tugging hir snug t-shirt back down over the hem of hir capris, the young tigress followed hir mom across the parking lot to the front entrance of the Johnathan Adams Elementary School. The boundary lines on the map were rather confusing, but supposedly this school was the one that served students from Winter Creek.

The school had a very modern look to it, with lots of glass. Almost like a modernist’s version of an art deco style. Alex kind of liked it, or would have if hadn’t been painted sky blue. It was a bit too garish for hir tastes. 

Raenne held the door open as Alex caught up, motioning hir inside. None of the lights were on, but that didn’t make much of a difference with how much light all the glass windows let in. Once inside, the older tigress looked around, spotting a map on a wall just to the left of the main doors. She walked over to it and peered at it for a moment. “Now where’s the main office... Ah, there we are. Let’s go, kiddo,” the older tigress said, taking off down the hallway. 

They stopped a couple dozen feet later, Raenne turning and knocking on a doorway labelled “Main Office”. The older tigress straightened her navy summer dress and adjusted the purse hanging from her shoulder, then pushed the handle down and stepped in.

Sitting at a desk behind the front counter, a pika in jeans and a white blouse glanced up at them as they stepped in. Alex looked around, spotting a couple of chairs that were too small even for hir in the corner next to a table with a bunch of jumbo blocks on it. There were a few other chairs as well, mostly sized for adults.

“Good morning. How may I help you, Mrs...?” the pika asked as she stepped around her desk and walked toward the counter.

“Andreyev,” Raenne introduced herself, holding out her paw. “Raenne Andreyev. I called about an hour ago, regarding registering a new student.”

“Ah yes, Mrs. Andreyev. Assistant Principal Carlson is expecting you. Please, have a seat and I will let her know that you have arrived.” Turning back towards her desk she added, “it should only be a few moments.”

“Okay,” the tigress said, turning around and sitting down on one of the chairs next to the door. After a moment, her daughter sat down next to her and pulled out hir phone.

Alex unlocked hir phone and pressed the continue button, resuming the game shi had been playing on the drive from Winter Creek; a port of some ancient console game called Chrono Trigger that Dad had installed on hir phone ages ago. Normally shi didn’t play games on hir phone, but shi had forgotten hir 3DS. Actually, shi’d grown to like this one; the plot was kind of cool.

The secretary picked up the receiver of the phone on her desk, speaking quietly for a few moments before returning the handset to its resting place. “The assistant principal will be right out.”

“Thank you,” Raenne said, resting her purse in her lap. “Put that away, Alex. You don’t want to make a bad first impression,” she whispered. Alex didn’t reply, but shi did tap the button to turn the screen off and slid the phone into one of hir pockets. 

Moments later the door to the right of the secretary's desk swung open and a mountain lioness stepped through, followed closely by a larger, older, male brown bear. As the pair drew closer to the two tigers, the lioness spoke up: “Mrs. Andreyev, I’m Cynthia Carlson, and this is Mr. Edward Engles, the principal.” 

“Good morning, Mrs. Andreyev, and... Alex,” the brown bear said with a smile on his muzzle as he offered a paw to the older tiger female.

Both Raenne and Alex stood up as the two approached, and Raenne shook paws with the brown bear, then with the lioness. “Hello Mr. Engles, Mrs. Carlson.”

“We can begin the paperwork to register your daughter Mrs. Andreyev, but after looking more closely at hir records from Byrom Elementary, we would recommend that you allow us to give hir a short battery of tests before placing hir. I believe shi may be an excellent candidate for the accelerated learning programs,” the larger bear said, glancing at the younger tiger. “Hir grades and achievements speak highly of hir independence in class, and eagerness to learn.”

“Thank you,” Raenne said. “Shi was going to be placed in the Talented and Gifted program at Byrom this year. Are you okay with taking a few tests?” she asked, turning to look down at her daughter.

“Sure, I guess,” Alex replied with a shrug. It’s not like I had anything better to do, shi thought to hirself.

“Alright. Alex, if you would follow Mrs. Carlson down the hall a few doors down,” the principal suggested, gesturing. “I’ll have a chat with your mom here while you’re taking those tests.”

“This shouldn’t take very long,” the lioness said, speaking as much to the little tiger as to hir mother. “Just a few simple tests, math, writing, reading and science to get a better feel for hir actual abilities and interests. Hir records from Byrom were helpful, but we prefer to have a better understanding of our students and how we can best meet their educational needs.” Turning towards the door to the hallway she glanced over her shoulder. “Follow me if you would, Alex. I’ll try to not bore you too much with this stuff.”

“Okay,” the tiger cub said, following close behind as the lioness left the room. Shi had never seen a mountain lion in person before; Mrs. Carlson’s fur was a pretty shade of sandy brown that got darker near her tail-tip. As they walked through the hallway, Alex peered around, taking note of the various rooms they passed. If shi was going to go to school here, shi might as well learn the layout at least.

After they had passed several doorways the lioness stopped just past a partially open door and turned to face the younger tiger as she said, “Here we are. Have a seat in one of the desks in the front row and we’ll get started. No sense in dragging this out any longer than needed, right?”

“Sounds good to me,” Alex agreed, walking into the room and sitting down at the first computer.

“Excellent,” the lion woman said, taking a seat at the teacher’s desk. “Depending on how you do with these exercises,” she began, the sounds of rapid typing filling the otherwise empty room, “your studies for the next year could be a bit more varied than you are used to.”

“Okay,” Alex said glancing over hir shoulder, then turning back around to face the computer as the display flickered to life.

“Alright Ms. Alex,” Mrs. Carlson said as she leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms over her bust. “You’re all set. Take your time. There are no time limits or anything, Not all of the exercises are problem solving. Some will ask for your likes and dislikes, your opinions on certain subjects and things like that. On those questions, just be as honest as possible. They may seem weird or silly, but they help us to learn more about you, and about the things that interest you so that we can get you placed into the right classes.”

Alex was half paying attention to the mountain lioness as shi started reading the first question on the screen: ‘Which of the listed activities do you think would be easier to write a report about only after taking part in that activity?’. Alex reached over to use the mouse, selecting the third option. “I see what you mean by weird or silly,” shi murmured.

Approximately half an hour later, Alex typed in the answer to a question on calculating the volume of a triangle given the length of the hypotenuse and one of the angles, wishing yet again that shi had a calculator. Surprisingly, the next page on the screen said to inform the instructor that shi had finished. Shi turned around in hir chair, looking for Mrs. Carlson.

“Run across something that’s giving you trouble Alex?” the lioness asked, leaning forward and resting her forearms on the desktop.

“No, ma’am. It just said I should tell you I’m done, is all,” Alex replied, covering hir mouth as shi yawned. “It would have been a lot easier with a calculator. I don’t like doing radian conversions in my head,” shi added. Dad had taught Lizzy and hir how to do that sort of stuff over summer vacation, giving them a brief overview of geometry before he’d had to start working.

Raising an eyebrow at the little tiger’s comment as she typed rapidly on the keyboard in front of her the assistant principal said, “I can understand that. You didn’t have to go so quickly though; it’s more about showing us what you know than being fast. Give me a moment then we can head back to the main office and your mom.” 

True to her words, it only took a few short moments for the lioness to complete her task and send the young tiger’s answers off for evaluation by the school's computer system, the results of which would be sent to both her and the principal's terminals after evaluation. “Alright, that’s taken care of, and Mr. Engles and I should have the information shortly after we arrive at the office. Let’s head back. I’m eager to see where you will fit into our little group here,” she said, rising to her feet.

“Okay,” Alex agreed, stretching hir arms, then wincing as hir ribs gave hir a twinge. Shi stood up and stepped out into the hall through the door that the mountain lioness opened for hir, yawning again. “Sorry I keep yawning. I guess I need a nap or something.”

“Not a problem,” the woman replied, swinging the door shut behind herself as she followed Alex from the room. “Staring at computer screens for very long puts me to sleep too.” Taking the opportunity to stretch out a little herself she added, “so does sitting for very long, or the room being too hot. Just a few reasons I prefer to not be in my office if I don’t have to be.”

The pair reached the main office a moment later, the lioness holding the door for the young cub before following her inside. “Just have a seat there with your mother for a bit. I need to look over your evaluation with Mr. Engles. Then we’ll get you set up for the coming school year.”

“Okay. Thank you,” the young tigress said, sitting down next to hir mom. 

“So, how was it? Didn’t seem like you were gone that long,” Raenne noted.

“It was okay. Oh, I got to use some of that geometry stuff dad taught us last month,” shi said, remembering a couple of the harder math questions like the one at the end. 

“Oh, good.” Raenne replied, draping her arm over Alex’s back. “I spent a bit of time talking with Mr. Engles after I filled out a couple of forms. He seems like a pretty nice guy, and a good principal,” she said quietly. 

“Good,” the tiger cub replied, leaning against hir mom and closing hir eyes. Shi was definitely tired today and the headache hadn’t gone away yet. It was probably the altitude difference. Mom had explained all about that yesterday when shi had complained of having a slight headache.

After a few minutes the principal and assistant principal emerged from the older bear’s office, both of them with a perplexed look on their faces as they walked around the counter. The bear snagged one of the chairs to the tiger woman’s right, spinning it around and pulling it close but not too close to the tiger woman. He straddled it as he took a seat and leaned into the chairs back.

“Well, Alex’s results were... different than we expected,” the lioness began as she pulled another of the chairs over in front of the tiger mother and her daughter.

Alex straightened back up, blinking. Shi was really looking forward to the ride home; shi really wanted a nap now. The tiger cub covered hir mouth as another yawn overcame hir.

“I assume that’s good, right?” Raenne asked, rubbing Alex’s shoulder to help wake the child up.

“Overall, I would say it is indeed,” Mr. Engles said. “Hir records from Byrom painted a rather glowing recommendation of hir abilities academically. A well deserved one, as well. However, I have to honestly say that I am not fully certain that this school could provide the challenge shi needs or deserves, even in the AP and GT programs.”

“There is an alternative, if you would be amenable to it Mrs. Andreyev, and if it would be agreeable with Alex,” Mrs. Carlson added.

Alex rubbed hir eyes, trying to pay attention. “What alternative?”

“After looking these over,” the bear said, jiggling the small sheaf of papers in his left paw, “I would recommend that Alex be skipped ahead. To be honest, we both feel shi would be better served by being advanced to the sixth grade, and we highly suggest that shi attend Scott Carpenter Middle School this coming year.”

Raenne blinked, slightly shocked, then looked down at her daughter for a moment before looking back at the principal. “Putting a ten-year-old in sixth grade... Is that wise? Shi’s already a year ahead.”

“That’s why I said ‘if it’s agreeable with Alex’. I think that only shi knows if shi would feel like shi fits in or not. Academically, it would afford hir far more choices in classes shi can take as well as being a far greater challenge for hir. But ultimately the decision has to rest with hir,” the principal stated.

The little tigress looking up at hir mom for a moment, then back at the principal with a worried expression. “I wouldn’t get picked on, would I? Being like... two years younger than everyone else... and a hermaphrodite...” she said quietly.

Raenne wrapped one arm around Alex’s shoulders and pulled hir close, a steely expression in her eyes. She met the mountain lioness’s eyes for a moment, then the bear’s, but didn’t say anything.

“That age difference is the reason I would suggest the middle school I mentioned. It’s a private school within our system and I know the headmaster there personally. I can assure you that any sort of bullying or other forms of intimidation will not be tolerated. As far as you being a hermaphrodite Alex, in the state of Colorado, and in Prairie Flats especially, being targeted for your gender will not go well for anyone attempting to do so. The school boards here have worked diligently to defend the rights of minorities,” the bear reassured them.

Raenne nodded, feeling a bit more reassured, and gave her daughter’s shoulders a squeeze. Alex let out a soft sigh. “...I don’t really care one way or the other. It’s not like I’ve got any friends here, so it doesn’t matter,” shi said with a shrug.

“You’ll make friends quickly enough. Just be yourself,” Raenne said, trying to reassure hir. The older tigress looked over at the two faculty members. “If that’s what you’d honestly recommend, then I’m okay with it. I assume that since it’s private, there’s a tuition fee of some kind?” she asked, leaning forward slightly.

“Yes. A very modest one, intended to cover costs incurred by students through their independent studies. They have a more free form and open style of teaching environment there...” the bear began to explain.

__________________________________________________

“Alex? We’re home.”

The young tigress blinked, peering around. Apparently shi was still inside the car. The young tigress yawned and undid the belt buckle, then opened the door and slid out, closing the door behind hirself.

“Come help me with the groceries, kiddo,” Raenne called from the back of the car.

A few moments later, Alex followed hir mom through the door next to the garage. Exercise equipment filled the front half of the garage, and some of the blue mats from their previous house’s basement had been laid out in the back of the garage, next to the utility room. The area behind the utility room was stacked with hard plastic cases and the rest of the rolled up mats. While Mom closed and locked the door, Alex walked past the rack of free weights and up the stairs, hoping the paper bags in hir hands wouldn’t tear.

After depositing the two paper bags on the kitchen island near the top of the stairs, Alex noticed a large metal device sitting on the wood-burning stove in the living room. The ornately carved silver vessel had a pair of handles on either side, a spigot on the front, and a bowl sitting on the top holding a matching silver teapot.

“Mom, what’s this?” the young tiger asked, pointing at the device on the living-room stove as hir mom stepped into the kitchen.

“That’s a samovar. It’s used for heating water and making a tea concentrate called zavarka,” the older tigress said, setting another pile of groceries on the kitchen island. “You pour some of the zavarka in the teapot out into a cup, then fill the cup with the hot water from the spigot. You can adjust how strong your tea is by varying the ratio of zavarka and water. Once winter comes around and we have the stove on, I’ll keep it topped up so you can have tea whenever you want.”

“Oh. Neat,” Alex said, quickly getting out of hir mom’s way and stepping out into the empty living room. Mom and Dad were still looking for furniture that would fit the new house a little better. All their old living room furniture was up in the second floor spare bedroom along with the television. The young tigress walked past the wood stove next to the living room stairs and up to the second floor landing which was just as open and empty as the living room was.

Alex took a left at the top of the stairs, heading towards the back of the house where the two upstairs bedrooms were. Stopping at the back of the hallway, Alex looked longingly into hir bedroom. As tempting as it was to go flop on hir bed and fall back asleep, shi knew it would make it that much harder to sleep tonight. Fighting back a yawn, the young tiger turned into the spare bedroom and grabbed one of the controllers on the shelf under the television, walking over and sitting down on the sectional sofa, figuring shi could spend a few hours playing video games until dinner, just to pass the time. All the games shi used to love, even Forza, seemed like a waste of time. Nothing was fun anymore; just... boring.

Four long hours later, Alex went through the system menu and shut down the console, heading downstairs. It was surprisingly easy to hear Mom yell from the kitchen, probably because of the open atrium at the front of the house that overlooked the kitchen, dining room, and living room.

“Hey, kiddo,” Raenne greeted hir as Alex made hir way down the living room stairs to the first floor. “I hope pizza is okay again.”

“Really?” Alex groaned. They’d had pizza for the past three days; first on the road Friday night because it was convenient then again for the past two days cause it was the only restaurant in Winter Creek that they knew delivered.

Raenne laughed. “Just kidding; I made chicken tikka masala. Couldn’t you smell it?”

Alex sniffed a moment as shi reached the living room. Now that mom mentioned it, shi could definitely smell it. “Sorry. I guess I wasn’t paying attention to my nose.”

“Well, your dad should be here any minute now, so-”

“I’m here,” they heard him call from the garage. A moment later David stepped out of the stairwell that led down to the garage, walking into the kitchen and setting his messenger bag on the kitchen island. The white tiger quickly walked over and gave Raenne a kiss, then turned around as Alex walked up to him, wrapping her arms around his waist and holding him tight.

“What’s up with the hug of death, kiddo?” David asked, stroking the fur on the back of his daughter’s head.

“Nothing,” Alex murmured, not letting go. Shi nuzzled his chest for a moment, then finally stepped back.

“Nothing, my fuzzy tail. What’s wrong, kiddo?” David asked, squatting and taking hold of his daughter’s hands. 

“Just sad, I guess. I’m tired, and my head hurts, and... and I miss Lizzy,” the young tiger said, hir lower lip trembling as shi tried not to cry, finally admitting what had been bothering hir all day.

“Oh, Alex,” David said, pulling his daughter close and wrapping his arms around hir. “Why don’t you give her a call after dinner. Then we can watch a movie. The Avengers, maybe?”

Alex swallowed, fighting back tears, then nodded. “Okay,” shi agreed, sniffling.

__________________________________________________

Three hours later, David turned the television off and both he and his wife stood up, followed a moment later by their daughter who had been sitting between them. The two older tigers shuffled out of the room, heading over to the stairs that led down to the first floor living room.

Alex flipped the lights off, then paused just before walking into hir own bedroom. “Dad?”

David paused, looking back over his shoulder as his wife continued downstairs. “What’s up, kiddo?”

“Can I sleep with you two tonight? Please?” Alex asked plaintively.

David raised an eyebrow. It had been well over two months since Alex had last asked to sleep with them. Then again, shi had spent most of that time sleeping with Lizzy. “I don’t mind. Raenne?”

The tigress paused at the landing near the bottom of the stairs and looked up at them. “Huh?”

“Alex wants to sleep with us,” David explained.

Raenne raised an eyebrow as Alex appeared at the top of the stairwell next to her husband. “Is that a problem?”

“Apparently not,” David said, resting one paw on his daughter’s shoulder. “Go on, kiddo,” he said, gently nudging hir towards the stairs.

“Thanks,” Alex said with relief, following hir mom down the stairs and through the living room, turning down the hallway to the master bedroom and the other bedroom they were going to use as a nursery. Dad turned the lights off as he followed along behind hir and Mom.

Alex followed Mom into the master bedroom. Strangely, it was actually smaller than the two upstairs bedrooms, though it did have it’s own attached bathroom. Mom was already undoing the flannel shirt she seemed to wear all the time now and peeled it off. Alex did a double take when shi saw mom’s belly. “Mom!”

“What?” the tigress asked, turning around, holding the flannel shirt.

“When did you get fat?” Alex asked, having completely forgotten about the pregnancy.

Raenne glared at Alex for a split second, balling up the flannel shirt, then threw it at the cub’s head. “Blame your father,” Raenne muttered, unbuttoning the stretch-waist cargo pants she was wearing and letting them fall to the floor.

“Sorry, not sorry,” David said as he walked into the room. “You said you wanted another kid.”

“Yeah, I said that four years ago, not four months ago,” Raenne said as she finished peeling off her sports-bra, throwing it at him.

“Careful Alex. It’s probably better not to antagonize her. She’s got an entire closet full of clothes she can use as ammo,” David whispered, unbuttoning his shirt.

“Sorry, mom,” Alex said, embarrassed that shi had just called hir mom fat when the tigress was anything but. Shi peeled off hir t-shirt and looked around. “Where’s the hamper?”

“Right over there,” Raenne said, picking up her pants and underwear, tossing them into the corner of the room next to the dresser where a hamper was hidden.

“Oh,” Alex muttered, tossing hir t-shirt in right after Dad tossed his own clothes into the hamper.

Raenne threw back the covers and climbed into the bed, followed a moment later by David on the other side while Alex lagged behind, taking off hir capris.

“Alex?” David asked, waiting as his daughter paused, thumbs in the waistband of hir panties. “You’ve never tried boxer-briefs or boxers, have you?”

The young tigress shook hir head. “I don’t think so. Why?”

“You’d probably find them a heckuva lot more comfortable,” David answered. “I’ll pick some up for you on the way home, so you can try them out. Maybe a pair of flannel shirts and cargo pants like your mom’s been wearing too. They’re really comfortable around the house, especially when it’s cold. Heck, I’ll get myself some.”

“Oookay,” Alex replied, still a bit unsure about switching wardrobes.

“Trust me,” David said as Alex finished taking off hir panties and tossing them into the hamper as well.

“Pick up some solid white polo shirts and navy sweatshirts and tan khaki pants for Alex as well,” Raenne added, picking up a martial arts supply catalog from the nightstand and flipping through it. After a moment she set it back down with a strange expression.

“What’s wrong, mom?” Alex said, climbing onto the bed and crawling up between hir parents.

“Nothing. Just realized I don’t have to order any martial arts gear ever again,” the older tigress answered, picking up the magazine and tossing it across the room towards the small trash can on the opposite side of the dresser from the hamper. It hit the wall with a thwap and fell into the can with a metallic thunk.

“Oh,” Alex said, realizing that mom was still irritated. Shi climbed under the covers, then lay one hand over hir mom’s waist and snuggled up against her chest. “I’m sorry I called you fat. I forgot you were pregnant.”

“That’s okay, love,” Raenne said, laying an arm against Alex’s back and pulling hir tight.

“So... if you’re pregnant... can you still have sex? Or will that hurt the babies?” Alex asked, curious.

“That is a good question,” David muttered. “I asked that myself ten years ago.”

“Yes, I can still have sex,” Raenne answered. “However, I have to be very careful when having sex with someone who’s especially large,” the tigress said, glaring at her husband on the other side of the bed. “If he were to penetrate my cervix, it could break the placenta, which would cause me to go into labor and give birth, even if the baby isn’t ready to be born. Why? Did you want to have sex?”

“No. I mean... yes, but I was just curious, is all,” Alex replied, looking up at hir mom.

“What about Lizzy? Are you still in a relationship with her? Or did you call it off when we moved out here?” Raenne asked.

“Well, we talked about it the last night we were together. We didn’t know if we could actually have a relationship while living in another state, so we just decided we’d be best friends,” Alex replied.

David rolled over, interrupting them. “Those are called long-distance relationships. They’re not recommended though, and it usually doesn’t work out.”

“Oh,” Alex replied. Maybe they had made the right choice then, just staying best friends.

“As long as you’re not cheating on someone, then yes, we can have sex if you want,” Raenne said, running her paw down Alex’s arm. “Just remember, you can’t ever let anyone know.”

“I know,” the young tiger replied.

“Anything you have in mind?” Raenne asked.

“No, not really,” Alex replied. “I just couldn’t sleep well the last few nights.”

“Well, I’ve got something in mind if you don’t,” David said, flipping the covers down, then sitting up and pulling his nightstand open. The white tiger pulled out a small tub of lube and quickly unscrewed the lid, scraping a gob of the waxy white substance out before closing it and putting it away again. He scraped a small portion off his finger and held it out to his daughter.

Alex raised one eyebrow slightly, but held hir hand out, watching as he wiped the small amount on hir palm. It quickly began to liquify, turning into a small puddle on hir palm pad.

Raenne also raised an eyebrow. “Horny, are you?”

“Yes,” the white tiger replied. David was running his own palm over his rock-hard cock. His erection had started growing the moment Alex had said shi wanted to have sex. He’d already come to terms with the fact that he was a pedophile. At least he was able to control himself now, more or less. It wasn’t like he was going to go scouring playgrounds to abduct and rape little kids, but there was no way he’d turn down having sex with his daughter... as long as his wife was okay with it. The tigress had made it abundantly clear that if he ever did anything with anyone other than her or Alex, or even with Alex while she wasn’t there, he might not live much longer.

“Well, I suppose it has been a few days,” Raenne said.

“A few?” David asked incredulously “It’s been nearly a week. Do you have any idea what it’s like, sleeping next to the hottest woman in the universe every night and not having sex with her?”

Raenne laughed for a few seconds, then shook her head while smiling. Meanwhile, Alex’s eyes widened as shi watched hir dad stroke his thick, long penis; it had been a few months since shi had seen it, and nearly forgotten how huge it was. It was hard to believe that it had been inside hir at one point. Alex realized that shi was growing stiff too, just looking at it, and glanced down at hir own smaller member, then quickly rubbed hir oil-slick palm over it.

Just as shi was about ready for whatever Dad had in mind, Alex let out a squeak as shi felt his broad paws wrap around hir waist, pulling hir into his lap. The young tigress could feel his dick against hir lower back, sliding against hir fur. 

“Relax, love,” David whispered, pulling hir against his chest as he leaned back against the pillows. “Comfy?” he asked.

Alex lifted hir but a moment and flipped hir tail, then sat back down, leaning against him. After a second shi nodded. “Mmm-hmm.”

“Kay,” he said, kissing the top of hir head and moving his paws from hir waist down between hir legs. He wrapped one paw around hir dick and gently slid his other underneath hir testes, running his finger-pads across hir downy-furred pussy.

Raenne sat up in bed, then rolled over so she could watch as her husband slowly masturbated their daughter. For a ten-year-old feline, especially for a hermaphrodite, Alex was surprisingly well endowed, taking after hir father in the dick department. That was probably a side effect of the precocious puberty that had jump-started hir male development. Until Alex’s hormones balanced out once again, they had hir on testosterone blockers. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too much longer, seeing as shi’d finally had the first of hir menses... on hir tenth birthday, no less.

David continued to slowly pump his fist up and down over his daughter’s shaft. It was actually pretty much the same as when he did it to himself, except that shi was a bit smaller. He let the fingers of his other paw dance over hir female sex, gently rubbing hir outer labia for a minute before he spread them apart, rubbing his index finger from the entrance to hir vagina up over hir clitoris, just behind hir balls. Hermaphrodite anatomy was sometimes a toss-up with regards to which parts were actually there, but Alex had turned out just fine.

As hir dad’s fingers danced over hir feminine folds, Alex closed hir eyes and leaned back against hir father’s muscular chest. Shi hadn’t realized how tense shi had been over the past several days until the muscles in hir chest went slack and hir shoulders relaxed. The young tigress let out a contented sigh, focusing on the hir father’s gentle hands against hir sexes. Shi could feel hir flower growing slippery as his fingers travelled over each surface of hir delicate folds, between hir inner and outer labia and softly rubbing against her clitoral hood and the tiny nub of hir clitoris. 

“He’s really good with his hands, isn’t he?” Raenne asked, noticing the relaxed look on her daughter’s face.

“Mmm-hmm,” Alex agreed.

Raenne grinned, moving her own paws down towards the narrow slit between her legs, rubbing her own finger over her sex. She had grown wet just from watching. The tigress carefully slid her index finger into her vagina, noticing just how tight she was and remembering that she’d forgotten to look up vaginal stretching exercises, not just in preparation for the twins’ birth, but so that it didn’t feel like her husband was shoving a tree up her cooch every time they had sex. He was only a little over eight inches long, but that was huge for a feline, even an evolved one. Raenne was one of the few unlucky tigresses who were built more like their feral cousins down there, and was simply too small for him.

David continued to delicately stroke his daughter’s sexes for the next minute, feeling his own member throb against hir back, aching for attention. He was sure he was leaking pre-cum all over hir fur. They could clean that up in the morning, though. 

Once he was sure his daughter was aroused enough that sex wouldn’t be too painful, he pulled his hands away, resting them on hir waist and giving hir another kiss on the top of hir head. “Ready, love?” he asked.

“Hmm? Oh... yeah,” Alex said, putting hir paws down on his hips and lifting hirself up a bit. Dad put his hands under hir butt and hoisted hir up. Shi felt his dick slide down hir back and over hir tail before it sprang forwards a couple of inches. The young tigress reached one hand between hir legs and used it to guide his tip into position. “Go slowly, daddy. Please? You’re really big.”

“I will, baby,” David replied, letting hir down just enough that he could feel his tip against hir slick sex. Luckily his shaft was still slippery with the lubricant they’d used. Oil-based lubes lasted a long time, and since they didn’t need to bother with condoms, it was far better for nocturnal activities. Alex’s IUD practically guaranteed shi wouldn’t get pregnant, and it wasn’t like Raenne could get any more pregnant than she already was.

The white tiger slowly lowered his daughter, letting hir weight push hir sex down over his thick shaft. They’d only done this a couple of times before, and that had been months ago. He was used to being careful fitting himself into tight spaces though, and his wife was actually tighter than his daughter was. His penis throbbed as he felt hir preteen pussy around the upper half of his shaft. Maybe it was the taboo nature of it, but there was something incredibly arousing about having sex with someone as young and as small as Alex was. 

Alex slowly drew in a long breath as shi felt hirself stretched nearly to hir limit around hir father’s thick shaft, and it kept going deeper and deeper. Shi hadn’t had anything other than Elizabeth’s fingers or tongue in hir vagina for months now, and nearly forgotten just how intense the sensation was of having something so large inside hir. Every time shi thought he was all the way inside, he loosened his grip a little more and more of his thick shaft slipped inside of hir. Another two minutes later, shi felt the pointy tip of his penis press against something that didn’t move out of the way. “Stop,” shi gasped.

“I am. I felt it too,” David said. He only had about two inches left outside of hir; about the same as he remembered from the last time they’d had sex. Alex’s passage was definitely longer than hir mom’s, despite being only half-grown. With any luck shi’d be able to take his entire length in a few years. If shi decided to continue sleeping with them, that was.

Alex felt the stretching sensation fade after a few more seconds and the sensation shifted from discomfort back to pleasure once again. Daddy’s dick continued to flex slightly every so often within hir, and shi wondered if he was doing it deliberately. “Okay,” shi murmured. “Just go slow, okay?”

“Okay, love,” David replied, leaning back again. Alex leaned back against his chest and his biceps relaxed a little as hir weight shifted. He continued to hold hir bum, using his hips to slowly move his shaft within hir tight pussy. Even with lubricant, shi was still incredibly tight, and the friction made his cock tingle.

Raenne continued masturbating, watching as her daughter rode her husband’s thick shaft. Normally she was fiercely protective of her husband. Apparently that didn’t apply to their daughter though, and Raenne smiled as she continued to run her damp fingers over her wet sex. With any luck Alex would be able to give her some attention tonight too; the older tigress loved her daughter just as much as her husband, and thoroughly enjoyed having a dick to play with that didn’t leave her feeling stretched beyond capacity.

The white tiger continued to slowly drive his shaft in and out of his daughter’s slick, warm insides, over the next five minutes, trying to maintain a steady pace. He met his wife’s gaze and gave her a loving smile. “Sorry babe. If I had a hand free I’d try helping you out.”

“That’s okay,” Raenne replied, taking her hands away from her sex and rolling over, lying next to him against the pillows. She leaned over to give him a kiss. Apparently he’d had the same idea, turning his head to meet her. Their noses touched and Raenne pursed her lips, meeting his. “Love you, honey.”

“Love you too, babe,” David replied, softly. It was a strange sensation, kissing his wife while fucking their daughter. He suddenly realized that his climax was creeping up on him and turned to whisper in his daughters ear as well: “I’m getting close, love. Want me to keep going?”

“Yeah,” Alex said, tilting hir head up to look at him. “I wanna feel you squirt in me, daddy,” shi added. It had been a long time since shi had felt that.

“Okay, love,” he said, feeling his penis twitch at the lewd words coming from such an innocent child. Not so innocent, actually, considering that shi’d had sex with hir best friend Elizabeth literally every night, and a few times a day as well, for nearly two months straight. He could still remember the first time he’d walked in on the two of them having sex together, the two of them tribbing while Alex stroked hir penis. Worse, he could still remember the sight of the adorable little stoat’s glistening pink slit as she had cleaned the coverlet of the mess they had made and the feel of her palate sliding over his glans as she had swallowed his cock all the way to the root. The feel of his thick shaft through the fur of her throat in his hand as he’d used the tiny girl’s esophagus like a flesh-light was something he would never forget. The memory was enough to drive him over the edge.

Alex felt hirself drop all the way on hir father’s shaft as he let go of hir butt, gripping hir hips and pulling hir down against him. Shi let out a gasp as his pointed tip pressed firmly against hir cervix and began to spray warm fluid against hir insides. It kept going on and on, leaving hir feeling like a balloon being filled on a faucet. It probably wasn’t that much, but it sure felt like it. The young tigress hadn’t realized shi was so close to hir own orgasm, and the strange sensation was enough to trigger it. Hir stomach fluttered and hir vagina clamped down around his penis, milking it for even more of his sticky, gooey semen.

Raenne realized what was happening and tilted her head to one side, watching as her daughter’s stomach muscles flexed in time with her orgasm. For a moment she was worried Alex would ejaculate as well with the way the tiger cub’s penis was flexing, but shi didn’t... at least, not completely. A few drops of semen dripped down from the young hermaphrodite’s penis, pooling on hir belly-fur, something that the older tigress had seen previously. She reached over and dipped her finger in the puddle, wondering if it still tasted like watery, slightly salty chai. After dabbing her finger to her tongue, she licked the rest of it off, realizing as she did so that her husband was watching. “What?”

“Nothing,” he said, shaking his head slightly.

“Shi tastes strange, is all. Like the ocean with a bit of Oregon Chai mixed in. I noticed it last time, and wondered if I was imagining it. Try it,” she insisted, dabbing a finger back in the puddle.

David leaned back a little, a slightly disgusted look on his face.

“Oh don’t be a baby, it’s not like I haven’t swallowed at least a cup of your cum by now. It’s not going to hurt you, ya wimp,” Raenne said, holding her finger out. Alex turned hir head to watch, curious. Shi already knew what it tasted like.

The white tiger cautiously stuck his tongue out, trying not to gag at the thought of what he was doing. Raenne ran her finger-pad along the tip of his tongue, watching for his expression. For a second all he could think about was that he was literally tasting someone else’s cum... only, it was his daughter, so maybe that wasn’t so bad. After a second he realized his wife was right. There was definitely saltiness to it, like the ocean, but there was also some slight sweetness and the faintest hint of spices like clover, ginger, and cinnamon. He ran the tip of his tongue over the roof of his mouth, trying to figure out all the flavors. “What the hell? How?”

“I dunno,” Raenne shrugged. “I’ve never heard of it before. Maybe it’s ‘cause we put spices in everything shi eats,” the tigress guessed.

“Weird,” David said, shaking his head. “Okay, love,” he said, hoisting his daughter off his lap. “You wanna do anything with your mom?”

“Uh-huh,” Alex, nodded as hir father lifted hir to one side. Raenne scooted over to make room as David deposited their cub between them on the bed. Alex could feel hir father’s gooey semen oozing out of hir flower, turning chilly in the cool air of the bedroom and turned to one side to keep it from dripping on the sheets.

“Come here, love,” Raenne said, reaching over and helping her daughter as Alex turned towards her. She spread her legs as Alex rolled over her, lying chest to chest. 

Alex nuzzled her mom’s beautiful breasts, wrapping her arms around the larger tigress’ chest. “Oh, you were right by the way, my chest has been feeling a bit funny over the past month. I think my boobs are starting to grow.”

“Good,” Raenne replied, stroking the back of Alex’s head. “Don’t look in the mirror every day or it won’t feel like there’s any changes. Wait a couple of weeks every time. And let me know when you want to start wearing bras so I can go buy you some.”

“Mmkay,” Alex agreed, pushing hirself back a bit. The young tiger’s masculine appendage was throbbing; Dad’s had gotten hir nearly to the point of squirting before he’d filled hir with his thick penis. Shi felt hir penis slide against hir mom’s wet slit.

Raenne put her hand against the cub’s chest with a short hiss. Alex stopped, looking up, clearly wondering what shi had done wrong. “Always make sure it’s okay with your partner before you have sex with them. Ask before you enter,” Raenne stated. 

“Oh,” Alex said, realizing that shi hadn’t done any such thing. “May I?”

“Yes, love,” Raenne replied with a smile. “As long as you remember to always ask first, no matter who you have sex with.”

“Okay, mom,” Alex agreed, glancing back down between them and making sure shi was still in position. Shi carefully pushed the tip of hir member against hir mom’s slit again, and gently pushed inside. Mom was just as tight and warm as Elizabeth was and, without a condom, far wetter as well. The young tigress gently pushed hirself deeper into hir mom’s passage, careful not to make any sudden moves. A second before Alex’s hips bumped against hir mom’s, shi felt the tip of hir penis press against the back of hir mom’s passage. “Is that okay? For the babies, I mean,” shi asked. Alex didn’t want to hurt them at all.

“That’s fine, love,” Raenne said. “You won’t hurt the babies. Your dad might, but you’re just fine.”

“Okay,” Alex said, relaxing again. The young tigress held still for a moment, enjoying the wet warmth of hir mom’s channel. It was definitely different from mating using a condom, and felt much better. Too bad shi couldn’t have mated with Lizzy like this. Maybe over winter break shi would get a chance to go visit the little stoat and try it.

The young tigress pulled hir hips back and began to rock in and out of hir mother’s passage, keeping hir weight on the bed as much as possible. The slippery warmth was delightful, causing the tingling in hir belly to start up again. As shi moved hir hips, shi could feel hir dad’s cum dripping down hir vulva and balls and onto the bed sheets. Hopefully it wouldn’t leave a stain.

Raenne smiled as her daughter continued to massage her insides, filling her up in the most delightful way. Alex was the perfect size... at least for now. If shi took after hir father, eventually that wouldn’t be the case. The older tigress carefully moved her paw between the two of them, gently rubbing at the sensitive patch of skin above her slit where her clitoris would have been if not for the heritage trait that made her pussy look like a feral’s. Her daughter kept pumping away as the tingling sensations started to grow within Raenne’s belly.

“I love you, mommy,” Alex whispered out of the blue, trying not to go too fast.

“I love you too, kiddo,” Raenne replied with a smile. Honestly, she felt pretty blessed that Alex had turned out to be such a good kid most of the time, despite hir occasional snarky comment. Hopefully Alex would remain that way despite the sudden upheaval in hir life. She gently rubbed her paw against the side of Alex’s face, watching the cub pant with exertion.

Alex closed hir eyes for a moment, basking in the warmth of hir mother’s love. Shi was glad shi’d convinced hir parents to let hir have sex with them; shi loved the sense of closeness that came with it, like cuddling times ten. Shi rubbed hir face against hir mom’s hand and continued to gently buck hir hips.

Another minute passed in relative quiet, interrupted only by the occasional soft squishy noises and Alex’s soft panting. David lay his arm across his wife’s shoulders, watching their daughter do her thing, and smiling as Raenne began to softly moan. He knew she was nearing climax; she did the same thing for him whenever she was totally relaxed, usually after a massage and when he was buried to the hilt in her ass; she generally preferred anal with him, probably cause he was so large. He waited another half minute or so, then reached out with one paw, grinning, and tweaked her nipple, twisting it slightly.

Raenne gasped and her eyes shot open at the unexpected sensation, then felt her hips buck as her orgasm finally hit. She closed her eyes again and let out a long moan, feeling her vaginal passage ripple around her daughter’s phallus.

Alex immediately realized what was happening and tried hir best to keep going. Shi was on the verge of hir own climax when hir mom’s started, and continued to thrust for another ten seconds as the tingling sensation at the base of hir member got stronger and stronger until finally shi felt hirself reach the point of orgasm. As hir mom stopped quivering beneath hir, shi pushed hirself in one last time and held hirself motionless as hir penis twitched and began spurting rope after rope of warm white semen against hir mother’s cervix.

The older tigress sighed as she felt the wet warmth pooling at the end of her vagina. “Oh, God that was good. Thank you, love,” she murmured.

“You’re welcome, mom,” Alex whispered back, feeling a wave of exhaustion wash over hir. Shi carefully rolled to one side, falling on hir back against the bed between hir mom and dad. Shi felt dad sit up and snag the covers, pulling them up over them. 

“You know, maybe dad should have sex with me instead so he doesn’t hurt the babies,” the young tigress muttered, still worried about them after what mom had said. Shi yawned and added: “Love you... both...” as shi closed hir eyes. After three days of restless sleep and nightmares, the young tigress slipped from waking to dreaming before either of them could respond.

__________________________________________________

Monday, August 24th, 2015

School started earlier in Colorado than it did in Oregon. While Lizzy wouldn’t be starting school for another two weeks, Alex was walking up the road to the main street that shi had found on hir first day in Winter Creek, adjusting the straps on hir backpack as shi went. There were no schools inside the little town, so the children attended school down in Prairie Flats, nearly forty minutes away. Worse, since there weren’t many students in Winter Creek attending Scott Carpenter Middle School, the bus only ran a limited route to pick them up, and it was almost an hour-long bus ride each way.

The long bus ride was a two-edged sword. On one paw, it meant that shi had a dedicated period of time in which to do homework, which meant shi could do whatever shi wanted once shi got home. On the other paw, it meant shi had to get up for school while it was still dark outside, and the sun was just barely rising when shi got out to the bus stop. It was cold enough that shi could see hir breath in the air, even in the middle of summer. Shi had a feeling that standing outside waiting for the bus in winter was going to be very, very cold. Hir usual capris and snug t-shirt weren’t going to cut it. Shi was glad shi had hir crop-top jacket on.

Surprisingly, there were actually a handful of children standing out at the corner where the bus stop was. All of which were as big or bigger than shi was. The tiger cub cautiously approached the corner, hoping that nobody would notice hir presence, or at least ignore it.

Jason Myers nearly vibrated on his foot-paws as he stood with the group waiting for the bus. The young beaver was always excited about the oddest things, and the first day of school in a new place was no exception. His parents had nearly had to tie the boy to a tree when they got the notification that he would be attending Scott Carpenter Middle School. Now he stood fidgeting and barely able to stand still. The small tiger creeping towards the group caught his attention. “Ummm… I think someone missed the other bus, Jerome,” the boy stammered to a slightly older mountain lion beside him.

“Who what now?” Jerome asked, the mountain lion cocking his head to the side slightly.

“Her,” Jason replied simply, extending a paw in the tiger’s direction.

Alex hung hir head and sighed as shi saw one of the older children pointing at hir. There was no help for it though, so shi looked back up and kept walking towards them. Maybe if shi didn’t say anything, they’d ignore hir. Shi didn’t particularly want to talk to anyone right now.

“If she did, she did,” a white furred skunk girl said, giving the smaller tiger a quick glance. “Either way, leave her alone Jason. Not everyone can deal with your brand of hyper.”

Alex walked up to the group of older cubs, standing quietly. After a moment, shi pulled out hir phone and a pair of earbuds, sticking one earbud in hir left ear. Then shi started up Chrono Trigger while shi waited for the bus.

“Morning Brandy, Jason, the rest of you,” a snow-white polar bear boy said as he strode up to the group with a raccoon girl trailing along right behind him.

“Mornin’ Steve. I see Cindy is still tattooed to your ass,” the skunk girl said with a snicker.

“Bite me, Brandy,” the raccoon girl responded, rolling her eyes.

“I think you just want Steve snuggling up with you instead, Brandy,” a purple and orange-furred malabar squirrel said with a snicker as she walked up to the group. Her fluffy tail was pressed close to her back, obscuring her backpack. She paused, looking at the rest of the group. “Did we get someone new?” she asked, looking at the small tigress, and then peering at the phone in the tiger’s paws. “And one that has good taste in games.”

Alex looked up at the squirrel that had walked over to hir, and gave a quick nod of acknowledgement, then looked back down at hir phone. Shi was currently watching some kind of cutscene that explained how the world in the video game had been destroyed by something called Lavos.

“Ummmm. Hello?” the malabar squirrel asked, tilting her head a little. “Not a big talker?  Or just lost in the game?”

“Uh... Both, I guess,” Alex replied, pausing the game and looking up. “Hi,” shi said, freezing as shi realized that all the other kids were staring at hir, eyes darting from person to person.

“Well I guess I should introduce myself... and some of the goobers,” the squirrel said, smiling.  “I’m Azalea, professional warrior, Queen of fighters... and a few other amazing accolades,” she said, putting her hands on her hips.

Alex continued to glance around for a moment. It didn’t seem like they were making fun of hir, but Azalea definitely fit the category of ‘weird’, in hir opinion. Shi didn’t particularly feel like playing along, but not responding would be rude, as would ignoring them and playing games. “Alex,” shi replied, sticking the phone in hir pocket and taking the earbud out. 

“Well, it’s nice to meet you,” Azalea said brightly. “And don’t worry, this group is pretty tame,” she said turning to the group.  “Twitchy there is Jason, skunky is Brandy, teddy bear is Steve, the one stuck to him is Cindy, and the almost-lion is Jerome,” she said, pointing out the different people in the little group.

Alex nodded to each of them. “Are all of you going to Scott Carpenter Middle School?” shi asked.

“Yea, the whole group. There’s probably another dozen or so from Winter Creek that don’t ride the bus. Their parents’ drive them instead,” the mountain lion said with a slight sneer on his muzzle. “Bunch of pansy mama’s boys.”

“Button it Jerome, I swear you’re gonna let that big mouth of yours overload your skinny tail this year,” Steve said.

“Why would they drive? It’s a waste of time and gasoline,” shi said, shaking hir head. “The bus is going anyway, and it’s almost an hour each way...” the tigress trailed off, puzzled.

“Most of them have parents that work down in Prairie Flats or Denver, like mine do. They always want to drive me too but I’d rather ride the bus,” Cindy said, holding Steve’s arm a little tighter.

“That’s only so you can be with your teddy bear,” Azalea said, rolling her eyes.

“Just don’t get comfy in your street clothes,” Brandy chimed in. “We got a reprieve, but we’ll have to start wearing the uniforms by the first of next week.”

Alex glanced over at the white-furred skunk... Brandy, if shi remembered right. “Oh, that’s right. They mentioned uniforms when we were registering. I forgot to ask... I know the boys wear pants and girls wear skirts. What about hermaphrodites?” shi asked, peering at the skunk and mountain lion cautiously, testing the waters. Shi’d at least find out real quick if shi was going to get harassed, in which case shi’d just turn right back around and walk home.

“Fair game either way, though it’s not just herms. Everyone has free choice of which uniforms they wear, as long as it’s an official school uniform and within the dress code,” Steve answered, pulling the racoon girl in front of himself and wrapping his arms around her waist.

“It kind of sounds like someone has had to deal with asshats to me,” Jason said as he fidgeted with his paws. “You don’t have to worry about gender discrimination stuff at school, they don’t allow it.”

Alex noticeably relaxed, hir shoulders lowering. “Good to know.”

“Long as it meets the school code, no one is going to care what gender you are, how you dress or anything like that,” Azalea said.  “Long as you’re not a dick to people, you’ll fit in.”  She started to say something only to be cut off by a voice yelling to them.

“I’m not late for once,” the voice called out. A white rat came running up to the group.  “I made it! I told someone I could make it on time,” she said, panting for a moment before smiling to the group.

“And there is the last of the group,” Azalea said, rolling her eyes a little. “Alex, meet Squeak.”

“Jennifer! I have a real name. Squeak is just my game name,” she said, poking her tongue out.  “Nice to meet you.”

“You too,” the tigress replied, nodding at the newcomer. Then shi narrowed hir eyes, looking from Azalea to Jennifer. “What game?” shi asked, spotting a bus coming down the road towards them.

“Mordheim. Or any of the Warhammer games. They don’t call me ‘Queen of the Skaven’ for nothing,” the rat said happily.

“Nerd,” Azalea said, shaking her head a little. “This is why I stick to the less soul-consuming games.”

“That coming from someone that lives at the arcade,” Jennifer said, poking her tongue out.

Alex tilted hir head to the side, looking down the street at the oncoming bus and making a mental note to leave the house a few minutes earlier. As shi heard the squeal of powerful brakes, shi straightened back up and tucked hir thumbs underneath the straps of hir backpack. 

“You did just make it in time, Jen. Okay people, Jason first then the girls. Jerome and I will bring up the rear,” Steve said as the bus squealed to a halt in front of the group, the door flopping open with a thud. 

“Cindy’s rear,” Azalea said with a laugh as she watched the group starting to file onto the bus.

“Whatever,” Steve replied, rolling his eyes. The slightly smaller beaver boy bounded up the three steps into the bus, throwing up a paw to deflect the folded paper triangle that sailed directly at his head.

“James Horn, one more of those and your mother will be hauling your tookus for the next month,” the burly elk in the driver’s seat bellowed as he stared into the oversized rear view mirror above his head.

Alex got into line, noticing as shi did that shi was easily the shortest of the group; a far cry from when shi had been at Byrom Elementary, where shi was used to being one of the tallest in hir class. Everyone else in this group was probably two to four years older than shi was though.

“I got this,” Azalea said as she got onto the bus and started seeking out one of the empty seats, doing her best to keep from hitting the floor, or someone in the face with the bush that she called a tail.  She quickly snuggled into one of the seats, curling her tail into her lap. It almost looked like she had some kind of feral animal sitting there.

Alex didn’t waste any time, hopping into the seat in front of the squirrel and taking off hir backpack, setting it on the floor. Shi waited quietly for the bus to start moving again, staring out the window at the houses and trees.

“Sooo... Just move here?” Azalea asked, peeking over the seat at Alex.  “Or been here and this your first year at this school?” the squirrel continued, resting her head on the seat as she watched the few others getting a seat.

“Uh... Yeah,” the little tigress said, turning around and leaning against the side of the bus. “Just moved here last week. Was supposed to be going to Johnathan Adams Elementary School, but after I took the tests they wanted to put me in sixth grade and recommended Scott Carpenter Middle School instead,” shi replied with a shrug.

 “Well, I get to be like one of the first to welcome you,” the squirrel said, smiling.  “Umm... Mind if I sit with you at the next stop?  I can tell you about the town and stuff.”

“Sure,” Alex said, smiling for the first time since leaving Oregon. “I’d like that.”