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 3

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2015

Alex blinked blearily, staring at the bathroom mirror. A feline in a rumpled t-shirt with black, white, and orange fur blinked back. By the markings, it was clearly a tiger, one of the largest, fiercest felines in the animal kingdom. Alex didn’t feel particularly fierce right now. If anything, Alex felt slow, groggy, and depressed. The first two were understandable since the young cub had woken up only a few minutes ago and the sun hadn’t yet risen above the horizon. The latter, well... that was a long story.

The tiger cub sighed and turned around, fumbling at the shower faucet, turning it all the way to hot, then peeled off the enormously oversized black t-shirt. It was one of David’s many t-shirts that had been given a temporary reprieve from being thrown in the garbage bin, serving instead as his daughter’s night-gown. Alex rarely wore anything else around the house nowadays, and didn’t even wear that much while sleeping.

Alex let out a yawn as the shirt hit the floor, then turned back around to look in the mirror once again, now without any clothing. As expected, Alex’s chest was still flat as a board. The feline sighed, then picked up the small orange bottle on the counter, popped the lid, then carefully poured a single tablet out. The small, pink pill was a testosterone inhibitor, designed specifically for hermaphrodites whose hormones were out of balance, allowing their feminine attributes to fully develop during puberty.

The next order of business was getting a glass of water with which to wash the pill down. The tigress picked up the small glass from next to the sink and filled it halfway up. While picking up the pill, pinching it between thumb claw and index claw, Alex noticed that both claws needed filing; they were getting a bit too sharp. Unfortunately, shi had no time for that right now, so that would have to wait until later this evening. The tiny pill went down the hatch, along with the half glass worth of water.

By that time the shower was steaming, so Alex turned the water temperature back down to where it should have been, waited a second, and then climbed in. After turning around a few times to soak hir fur, shi reached for the bottle of citrus-scented fur shampoo.

__________________________________________________

Nearly two hours later, Alex stopped at the school office, yelling “See you at lunch!” The tiger cub waved at Azalea as the purple and orange-furred rodent continued deeper into the school along with the rest of the uniformed students. The dress code requirements were strict enough that it made the entire student body blend together. Everyone wore sweatshirts and polo t-shirts, khakis, skirts, and backpacks in shades of gray, and occasionally navy blue. The only real splashes of color amongst them came from students’ feathers, fur, and scales, like Alex’s own vibrant orange-striped fur. The tigress had just re-dyed the russet stripes in hir fur over the weekend, using a richer shade of orange than it naturally was. Alex had jokingly asked to try neon orange while at the store, at which mom had given hir ‘The Look’.

The young tigress pulled the metal door open and stepped into the office, careful to pull hir tail away as the heavy door swung shut. Considering how sore Alex was, the last thing shi wanted was to add a bruised tail to the list. Mom and dad had decided that it was time for hir to get ‘back in shape’ after being stuck indoors for the past four months thanks to a bad fall while snowboarding and later by a couple of bullies. Alex shied away from that thought and looked around the school office.

Alex was surprised to find a reptile was manning the front desk, and was no bigger than shi was, though the green-scaled lizard was clearly fully-grown. The little lizard behind the desk pulled the headphones off its head and asked “Yes?” in a pleasant, mezzo-soprano voice.

“Um... I was wondering about the after-school activity form. I was thinking about soccer, but it said that some sports require a pre-participation physical examination...” Alex said, hir voice trailing off, unsure of how to phrase the question. The surprise of seeing a reptile this far north had completely disrupted hir train of thought.

The secretary raised a scaled eyebrow, waiting for a second before realizing that the poor child had no idea what the exam was for. “It’s just called a sports physical. Your pediatrician will need to fill out a form with your physical stats and certify that you don’t have any problems that would prevent you from playing sports, such as hypertension, cancer, or recent severe injuries. Here, let me get you the form...” she said, reaching down into a cabinet to pull it out.

“What sort of severe injuries?” the little tigress asked with a sinking feeling in the pit of hir stomach.

“Broken bones, surgeries, that sort of thing,” the secretary answered, pulling out the form and setting it on the counter between them. 

“Oh... Umm... I recently broke my leg and ribs. I’m having the plates removed next week, though.” Alex said, hoping that the secretary would say that was fine.

The lizard raised her eyebrow once again, leaving one claw touching the form on the counter. “I’m sorry,” she said, trying to sound comforting. “You can try talking to your pediatrician about that, but... I wouldn’t be surprised if they say no, dear. If you’re thinking about soccer, you can always wait to sign up until the spring. There’s two soccer seasons, after all.”

The young tigress sighed, shoulders hunching slightly. “Okay,” Alex said, turning around and reaching for the door handle.

“Are you sure you don’t want to check with your pediatrician?” the lizard-woman asked, picking up the form off the counter.

Alex shook hir head and pulled the door open, then stepped back out into the noisy hallway, headed towards hir locker to put away the books shi wasn’t going to need until after lunch; they weighed too much to haul all of them from class to class throughout the day. The thought of being unable to play soccer with Azalea weighed heavier than all the books in hir backpack.

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A few hours later, Alex set the cafeteria tray down at the table next to Azalea. Mom had gotten side-tracked this morning and forgotten to make lunch and had given Alex a few dollars to buy lunch instead. Today’s entree consisted of cheeseburgers (or veggie-burgers), fries, and steamed broccoli with ranch dressing. The fries had big green flecks on them. 

“What’s with the fries?” the young tigress said, holding one of them up to examine it.

“Garlic, parsley, and rosemary,” the jerboa-squirrel hybrid replied before munching on one of her own fries. “Don’t knock them till you try them. The worst thing that happens is I get to eat them for you, like a good friend.” 

Alex stuck the french fry in hir mouth and chewed on it cautiously. It was surprisingly crispy and delicious; a far cry from the usual mushy flavorless fries shi was used to at Byrom Elementary. These fries didn’t even need sauce.

The tigress was even more surprised to find that the cheeseburger was topped with tomatoes, lettuce, pickles, and onions like you would get in a fancy restaurant. It even had some kind of brown sauce. The feline touched it with a claw and then tasted it, pleasantly surprised to find it was a sweet and tangy barbeque. “Is this… normal?” shi asked.

“Yes. I mean, I like my mom’s homemade fry sauce on a burger, or anything really, but this is a close second,” Azalea confirmed, lifting an eyebrow a little as she watched the feline testing their food, wondering just what they were fed back at their previous school.

After a moment’s consideration, Alex pulled out hir phone and started typing. A moment later, the phone dinged. Alex tried to snap a photo of the lunch tray, but the photo that appeared had a squirrel paw covering half the picture. The tigress sighed and glared at Azalea, then took a second photo and sent it instead.

“Sorry. I picked up the habit of messing with my sister when she does that. Something about Instagram popularity and food porn.” Azalea went back to eating her lunch rather than teasing tigers.

“Mom didn’t believe I was serious when I asked if I could just get cafeteria lunches instead of bagged lunch, so I was just taking a photo to prove to her that it’s actually good,” the tigress explained, putting hir phone away. “This is way better than what I had at the last school I went to. They had different colored piles of goop for half of it and the other half was mystery meat between two pieces of bread, or something that might have been week-old pizza squares.”

“Oh man. I’ve heard some horror stories about school lunches,” a sandy haired rat sitting across the table said, looking up from her meal. “There’s one story from my old school before I moved.” She started smiling as her pink eyes glanced from Alex to Azalea and back.

“Jennifer, no!” Azalea protested, contemplating if it would be worth the detention to climb across the table and muzzle the rat. She didn’t want to hear that story again.

“Jennifer, yes!” the rat replied, her smile growing upon seeing her friend face-pawing. “There was a mouse boy at my school that lost part of his tail to one of those heavy metal doors, like the ones we have,” she said, pointing at the cafeteria entrance. “It was a windy day and he wasn’t quick enough. As he went through the door, the wind suddenly picked up, throwing the door shut. WHAM! It took an entire foot of his tail off. Blood was everywhere. Only, by the time the wind died down enough that they could push the door open again, his tail-tip... was gone. Nobody ever found it. We all knew the truth though; it was the lunch lady. It was extra meat, after all, and meat’s expensive. They say that she took it, froze it, and the very next day... ground it up and and made burgers out of it,” she said, trying to be dramatic, serious and scary all at once.

Alex tilted hir head slightly and asked “Really?” in a bored, slightly exasperated tone before rolling hir eyes.

“What? The burgers tasted just like rat tails.” Jennifer paused for a moment, before smirking and adding “Trust me I know.”

“Don’t ask,” Azalea chimed in, before Alex had a chance to speak up or Jennifer had a chance to gloat.

Alex rolled hir eyes again, then took a few bites of the cheeseburger and fries while listening to the chatter around them. After assuaging the worst of hir hunger, the tigress took a sip of milk, then waited for a lull in the conversation before spilling the bad news. “The lizard-lady at the front desk told me I’d need a sports physical in order to participate in soccer. I don’t think I’ll be able to get a doctor to approve it, at least for the fall soccer season. I won’t even get the implants removed till next week.”

“I mean, you could still try. There are a few spots that you could try out for.” Azalea sat down her milk carton thinking for a second, only for Jennifer to pipe up.

“Implants? Like cybernetic implants?” Jennifer asked, raising her eyebrows. “You really have implants?” The rat looked the tiger up and down, searching for a sign of any metallic additions.

“Yep. I’m a cyborg,” Alex replied with a perfectly straight face. “I just need some parts replaced, is all,” shi explained before taking another bite of the delicious cheeseburger.

“Darn Necron wannabe,” Jennifer grumbled, digging through her pocket and pulling out a ring of keys with a magnetic hanger. “I’m not afraid to magnet you!” she jokingly threatened.

The feline quickly reached out and snagged the ring of keys out of the rat’s paw before the rat even realized what had happened and then stuck the magnetic tag on the side of hir chest, where it stuck fast. Alex then calmly took another bite of the cheeseburger while the keys jingled faintly.

“Damn both of you,” Azalea said, fighting back laughter and shaking her head. Once she was able to pry her palm from her forehead, she tried to continue with the soccer conversation. “There are three, not super-active positions that you could play. Poacher, libero, or maybe the enganche, since you’re pretty technical minded.”

“Hehe. You said positions,” Jennifer said with a snerk at Azalea, then looked back at her keys. “So what really happened?” she asked Alex, looking over at the now far more interesting feline.

“Just what I said: I’m a cyborg. I just need some parts replaced,” Alex said nonchalantly, doubling down on the chosen explanation. As an afterthought, the feline pulled the keys off and slid them across the table to the rat. “Unfortunately, that won’t happen till next week and I’ll need some time to recover. So the street doc at my chop shop probably won’t approve a sports physical in time for soccer season,” shi said, dropping some of the terms dad had mentioned when he was explaining some silly game called Shadowrun a few days ago.

“I swear to some god, I’m going to muzzle both of you goblins,” Azalea huffed as she looked from one to the other. “And once you’re all tuned up and got your firmware updates,” she said with palpable sarcasm, “I can start teaching you more about soccer again.”

Rather than speaking Alex gave Azalea a thumbs up, since shi had just stuffed hir mouth full with the last of the delicious cheeseburger.

“I’ve always wanted to be friends with a Decker. They could come in handy,” the rat said, trying not to burst out laughing at the annoyed face that Azelea was making.

Alex shook hir head. “Street Samurai,” the tigress corrected before turning back to Azalea. “I really don’t know anything about soccer except what you taught me a couple days ago. I suppose not being able to play until spring will give me enough time to learn all that stuff and pick a position to play.”

“Fair enough. You can always come to practice. Watch, learn, laugh as we run wind sprints ‘til someone pukes,” Azalea stated, grinning as the tigress suddenly stopped nodding and glanced askance at her.

“Street Samurai is pretty cool, but not as cool as a Rigger,” Jennifer commented, tossing in her last two cents before getting up to take her tray to the drop off.

Alex finished off the last of hir fries, then stood up to follow the rat. “Gotta go get my books,” shi said to Azalea with a wave. “I’ll see you in art class. Later!”

“See you then,” Azalea replied, waving back. “Watch out for random monster encounters,” she called out as the tigress walked away.

__________________________________________________

Alex dropped hir backpack next to the desk and smoothly slid into the seat. The tiger cub was one of the smallest kids in the class and by far the youngest. Shi had barely turned ten; everyone else was twelve or thirteen. To the feline’s left sat a big brown bear boy who spent half the class leaning against the wall in a post-lunch stupor, and to hir right sat a mountain lioness who had bleached her fur to near white and spent most of her time staring into a pocket mirror and touching up her blue eye-liner and burgundy lipstick or taking selfies when the teacher was facing away from them. Directly in front of Alex sat a black-feathered bird with vestigial wing-arms. Not having fingers didn’t keep them from holding a pencil with their thumb-claw along the side of their wing, but they needed space to either side of their desk so as not to hit other students with the rest of their wings when writing.

Alex quickly unzipped hir backpack and pulled out a pre-algebra book, notebook, homework sheet, and the thick packet that the teacher, Mr. Donnehue, had given hir as catch-up material when he’d found out that Alex had skipped fifth grade completely. The tigress flipped it open to the section shi’d done last night, knowing he would look at it when he came by. After roll call, the blue jay walked around the room, quickly passing out graded homework from monday and picking up last night’s homework. 

As Mr. Donnehue passed Alex’s desk, he stopped and knelt next to hir, pulling out a red pen, then looked over the packet. Unlike the student in front of hir, the teacher had taloned hands with yellow scaly skin that went up past his elbows. It took him no more than a few seconds to glance over the sheet and mark each of the questions with checkmarks. “Good job,” he said, noting that shi had gotten them all correct. Then he stood back up and handed back Monday’s graded homework and picked up last night’s homework before continuing through the rest of the classroom. Alex glanced at the score, noting shi missed a half point before shoving it in hir backpack. 

When the blue jay returned to the front of the class, he set the pile of homework on his desk and picked up a remote, turning to the large screen at the front of the room. The TV screen flickered to life, showing the slideshow for today’s lesson. Alex loved listening to him. He wasn’t physically expressive, but he made up for it with a well-trained tenor voice that reached all the way to the back of the classroom. Supposedly Mr. Donnehue also taught Choir class. Sometimes Alex got so lost in the melodic way he spoke that shi lost track of what he was talking about. It was almost the exact opposite of the Social Studies teacher, whose monotone drone would nearly put hir to sleep.

Alex quickly picked up hir mechanical pencil as class started, flipping open the notebook and started jotting down notes as Mr. Donnehue began explaining the concept of solving problems that had ‘variables’.

__________________________________________________

A bit over an hour later, Alex was sitting in a different classroom, trying and failing to understand just what Mrs. Viaene was talking about. The yellow and brown-feathered old bird was going on and on about network topologies. Alex didn’t even know what a topology was, much less what the differences were between ring, star, and mesh networks. Nevertheless, shi wrote it all down in hir notebook, confident that dad would be able to explain what it all meant later that evening, like he usually did. 

It was a bit disconcerting that the other kids in the ISTE class seemed to be following along just fine, even the heavy-set brown bear who’d slept through math class and was now sitting at the front of Mrs. Viaene’s class. He raised his hand and asked something intelligent about ethernet configurations that Alex couldn’t even begin to understand; shi had no idea what an ethernet was. Before Alex could muster the courage to raise hir hand, the bell rang. 

Mrs. Viaene quickly pointed the remote in her hand at the television, displaying the homework page numbers they were supposed to do tonight. Alex quickly jotted it down in hir notebook before quickly shoving it into hir backpack and darting out the door. Shi needed every last second to get from one side of the school to the other for Art class in order to make it before the bell rang.

The little tigress rushed out into the hallway, trying to dart between the rest of the students, most of whom were much, much bigger. In the last two days shi’d come to the conclusion that it really sucked being the only ten-year-old in a school of kids who were mostly twelve to fourteen. Alex was used to being one of the biggest kids in Byrom. Now the tiger cub was barely as big as the birds and rodents. Some of the older students here were absolutely enormous and it made getting through the hallways downright dangerous.

As the tigress ran down the hallway, shi accidentally bounced off the chest of one of those much bigger kids as she turned a corner, then veered to one side and tried to pelt down the hallway. Alex barely made it another foot before shi came to an abrupt halt as hir backpack was grabbed from behind. The feline’s legs slid out from under hir and Alex hit the ground with a thud. The blow knocked the air out of hir and set hir ribs to aching.

A gray-skinned elephant glared down at Alex from above. “Yo! The fuck ya think ya goin’, kitty-cat?”

The tigress groaned as shi rolled off hir backpack. “Art class, on the other side of the building,” shi gasped out.

“Fuck that. Slow yo’ skinny little ass down and watch where the fuck ya going, cause if you run into me again I’ll make yo furry ass into a rug. Got it?” the elephant asked angrily, reaching down and pulling Alex up by the back of hir shirt before shoving hir against the wall.

Alex bobbed hir muzzle nervously, looking up at him. This kid was so big he made the colt in Theater class look small. He shoved hir again before turning around and walking the short distance to the turn in the hallway before turning the corner and disappearing from view. The tigress carefully rubbed hir collarbone before bending down to pick up hir backpack. 

The tigress continued down the hallway, this time at a slower pace and with a great deal more caution. Somehow shi managed to reach the doorway to the art class just as the bell rang and quickly darted across the room to sit next to Azalea. The purple and orange-furred rodent already had her sketchpad out.

The squirrel-jerboa hybrid kept scribbling for a moment or two longer before looking up at the tigress that was sitting next to her. “You look... fluffed,” she noted, seeing how fluffy the cat’s orange and black-striped tail looked.

“It’s nothing,” Alex replied, gently rubbing hir collarbone for a moment before unzipping hir backpack, pulling out a sketchpad, and setting it on the table.

Azalea cocked her eyebrow at her feline friend. “Alex, you’re not that good at lying. Your tail looks like you stuck your dick in an outlet. And I know with cats, if the tail’s fluffed, something happened and they got spooked. I have a pet cat after all.”

“You have a pet cat?” Alex asked with more than a bit of curiosity, looking over at the squirrel. Having feral pets was unusual. Or at least, shi thought it was, having never met anyone who had a pet feral. “I didn’t see one when I was over at your place a couple nights ago. What kind?”

“Uhhh, she’s a... cat. I don’t think that she’s any special breed. As for not seeing her or her sister, they are both super-shy. That and she is a black cat, so she could have been right next to you the whole time,” Azalea said, carefully nudging her friend. “Now stop avoiding the question and tell me what fluffed you. Do I need to put someone in their place?”

“No,” Alex protested. “I just was running through the halls like an idiot trying to beat the bell and ran into someone. Don’t worry; it won’t happen again.”

“Allllex...” Azalea said irritably. She closed her sketch book and glared at the tigress. “Tell me what happened, or I will do something unspeakable,” she threatened, then changed tactics, acting friendly and supportive. “You know you can tell me anything. And I mean that; I’m here for you.”

Alex went quiet for a moment before speaking. “I went around a corner too fast and ran into someone. Big. An elephant. I didn’t hit them that hard, but... when I tried to run around them they grabbed my backpack and I fell on my ass. Then they picked me up and shoved me against the wall and told me to watch where I was running. That’s all. Okay?”

“Okay, but that’s not cool. I think I know who you’re talking about. Curses about every second or third word?” she asked, not giving Alex a chance to answer as she already knew the answer. “I know that last school that you went to wasn’t the goodest, but this school does not slide with any bullying. And I mean any,” Azalea stated, putting her hand on her friend's shoulder.

“If anything else happens, I’ll let you know. I promise,” Alex said placatingly, just as the teacher, Mrs. Stanton, started calling roll.

“I will hold you to that; I know where you live after all,” Azalea whispered jokingly as they listened to the teacher calling roll, replying with ‘here’ when her name was called.

The spotted skunk continued down the list of names, glancing up from the list and looking over the rims of her reading glasses. Mrs. Stanton was a little on the shorter side of her species, but that wasn’t the first thing one would notice about her; many of the white spots in her pelt were dyed bright and random colors. She would occasionally let people pick colors for them as a goal for doing good in class or other events. “Alex?” she called out, looking around the room.

“Here,” the young tigress called out, raising hir paw so the spotted skunk could see where the voice came from. Being so much smaller than the other students, Alex was kind of hard to see through the crowd, especially for someone as short as Mrs. Stanton.

The teacher finished going down the list of students before setting her clipboard on her desk and picking up the remote. “Each and every one of you has been working very hard over the past few days. Most of you have already finished this week’s assignments,” she said. “So today, I’m going to give you all some free time.” 

Mrs. Stanton turned the television on, displaying a show about painting that was giving tips about using oil paint and layering. “You can work on your remaining assignments for the week or you may draw, paint, or sketch a subject of your choice. You may chat with each other as well, but try to keep it down,” she said, then returned to sitting at her desk.

Alex looked a bit confused. The tigress had literally never had a teacher just not teach. “Is this... normal?” the feline asked Azalea, in almost the exact same tone shi had used at lunch.

“Kinda. Mrs Stanton likes to keep things loose and free. Something about keeping the juices flowing,” the hybrid said, waving her hand before opening her sketchbook and flipping to the page that had her attempt at drawing an owlbear. “Don’t think that she will let you slack off in this class. She can be really strict if she needs to be.” 

“Huh. Okay,” Alex said, flipping open hir own sketchbook. “Was she serious about doing assignments? Like, can I work on my math homework or something?”
 
“She typically wants you to do art, though I haven’t heard her fussing at anyone for doing homework. Also, that’s looking good,” she said, looking over at Alex’s sketchbook.

“Thanks,” Alex replied, looking at the crystal bowl with bananas and apples on the page in front of hir. It wasn’t actually half bad, just boring. The tigress decided to go with their gut instinct and flipped to a new page. For some reason shi wanted to do something architectural, but natural. A building. Maybe in the mountains. Alex quickly sketched out a few lines for the sides of the building, then put in a line for a mountain ridge in the background, then a couple of dozen hatch marks along the mountain for trees. It wasn’t long before shi lost hirself in the artwork, tuning out the television playing and the other kids chatting.

__________________________________________________

Unlike most classrooms, the theater classroom had no furniture in it at all; that sort of thing just got in the way. Everyone was sitting on the thick gym mat that covered the floor of the entire classroom. Now that the final bell was about to ring, signaling the end of the school day, Mrs. Johnson was quickly marking down attendance.

The opossum was dressed, as usual, in a silken dress-shirt and a dark, knee length skirt. The students had already become accustomed to her slightly odd mannerisms and dextrous gesticulation; she probably had the most active hands of anyone in the school, constantly using them to add emphasis to her words. Not that she needed much emphasis; she was a very skilled orator, thanks to her training as an actress before she had taken up teaching.

“Tonight’s homework is to stand in front of your mirrors and practice each kind of facial expression we discussed today. Anger, anticipation, disgust, fear, joy, sadness, and surprise! Feel the emotion, then try to make a face to match it,” she said, just as the bell rang. 

The kids all quickly stood up, hustling to the front of the room where their backpacks were sitting against the wall. After picking them up, everyone headed out the door to join the rest of the mass of students that were getting ready to leave the building.

“Sooo Robo-tigger, wanna hang out this weekend or something? Maybe have a sleepover and do some soccer stuff?” Azalea asked as they got to her locker, her practiced fingers putting in the code.

“What? On Friday night? Or Saturday?” Alex asked, blind-sided by the question. The tigress stopped and waited as the squirrel got the books that she needed out of her locker. “My house or yours?”

“Well, it would have to be, like, Saturday afternoon. My sister has something that she’s dragging us to do during the day,” the fluffy hybrid said as she finished gathering up all the books that she needed, haphazardly shoving them into her bag. “And your house. I kinda wanna see the inside and snoop around. It sounds like fun.”

“Uh... I’ll need to ask permission, but my parents should be okay with that,” Alex said hopefully, leading the way down the hallway. Upon reaching hir locker, the feline quickly spun the dial clockwise, counterclockwise, then clockwise again, then yanked on the latch. The door fell open and she grabbed the two books shi had left there before lunch and then slammed the door shut. 

Alex fumbled with hir backpack as they walked down the hallway towards the front of the school where the buses would be starting to line up. Their bus was one of the last to leave; supposedly to give the students time to get on it. The drive from Prairie Flats to Winter Creek was easily forty minutes, so missing the bus wasn’t an option.

Both of them waited outside until the bus arrived, then climbed on with the usual suspects from their bus stop, along with the other forty or so students that lived in Winter Creek. The driver, a burly elk, kept a sharp watch to make sure nobody got on the bus who didn’t belong and took a headcount to make sure nobody was missing. Once everyone was on, he closed the door and waited until traffic cleared a bit, then pulled away from the school. 

Considering how long the bus ride was, many of the students took the opportunity to do some of their homework on the ride. Alex and Azalea were no exception, both of them pulling books out of their backpacks along with papers and pencils and getting to work as best they could with the uneven bouncing of the school bus as it headed up the twisty mountain roads.

__________________________________________________

“I will, mom,” Alex called over hir shoulder as shi stepped outside and closed the side door behind hirself. A moment later shi was lacing up hir hiking boots and taking the steps down to the driveway two at a time. The tigress landed on the driveway and started walking down towards the road, taking a right this time. The road only continued for a bit before ending with a pair of red and white striped barricades with signs saying ‘END OF ROAD’. Beyond them was a short patch of gravel that ended where the trees began.

Alex could name a few of the trees here, like douglas-fir, spruce, and pine, and had seen aspen groves further up the mountain as well, but the rest of the trees were unfamiliar. The tiger cub picked their way through the woods, simultaneously irritated by and grateful for the closed-toe hiking boots that shi was wearing. Open-toe shoes were far more comfortable for digitigrade feet. On the other hand, the dead pine needles hid patches of soft mud too well to avoid. As the mud squelched underfoot, Alex was glad shi wouldn’t have to spend a half-hour washing hir foot-paws after getting home.

The smell of wet pine needles and pine resin filled the air as the tigress made their way through the dense foliage at the edge of the forest. Once shi made it past the first dozen yards, the underbrush thinned and the ground began to slope upwards, simultaneously making it an easier and harder trek.

Five minutes later, Alex noticed it was suddenly brighter and paused to look around. Further up the slope, a gap in the forest canopy illuminated a massive downed tree laying across a rocky outcrop. The stump where it had broken off stood easily ten feet tall and three feet around. It looked like the perfect kind of place to take cover from a sudden rainfall, or even pitch a tent for camping. It definitely deserved an investigation.

As the tigress approached the rocky outcropping, a slight musty scent tickled hir nostrils, something totally foreign, but that shi felt like shi should recognize. It was like deja vu in reverse. Along with it was the faint scent of trash, like a dumpster in summer. Alex furrowed hir eyebrows, irritated at whoever had left garbage out in the forest.

There was a wide depression under the fallen log between the stump and the stone outcrop that the log rested against. Several white rocks littered the area mixed with a dense bed of ancient pine needles. It wasn’t until shi saw the antlers strewn on the ground that she realized they weren’t rocks at all. The hair on the back of hir neck and all along hir tail suddenly stood on end. That was when the feline realized what both of the scents were.

Alex slowly took a few hesitant steps backwards, hoping that the creature that claimed this den wasn’t home. Shi never knew what prompted it, but some instinct made hir look up, meeting the intense stare of a large feline crouched atop the log. Its muscles were tense, primed to pounce. For a split second, neither of them moved, startled by the fact that one of them had been discovered. Then a twig under Alex’s shoe snapped. It pounced.

The tigress watched in terror, unable to move as it dove towards hir. At the last second Alex brought hir arms up, crossing them over hir head. The impact slammed the tiger cub to the ground. Sudden panic made Alex thrash, knowing shi might die. Somehow shi managed to rake hir claws over its face and it rolled to one side, hissing like a broken steam valve. Alex’s face, arms, and part of hir hip and legs stung like fire.

The tiger cub rolled in the opposite direction, trying to ignore the burning sensation. Alex was in a far worse position, but the feral feline didn’t press its advantage, instead glaring at hir with its ears back and hissing menacingly. Alex cautiously scooted backwards, and it took a half-step forwards. Alex repeated the motion. This time the feral raised a paw as if to swipe, but didn’t move.

That was when Alex realized that it didn’t see hir as dinner, but as an intruder on its territory. The tiger cub carefully moved one foot behind hirself and sat backwards, slowly standing up while moving backwards, staring at it in case it decided to pounce. The fully-grown feral mountain lion probably weighed a third more than shi did.

Alex continued to slowly back away, watching it and hoping shi didn’t trip. It had nearly disappeared from view when it moved forward again, taking several steps forward. Alex panicked once again, this time turning and sprinting down the hill as fast as shi could, expecting any moment to feel it slam into hir back and begin shredding hir to pieces. As the tigress ran, the sharp pains faded to a dull ache. Alex knew shi was injured, but didn’t dare stop to check how bad it was.

The tiger cub didn’t slow until shi reached the top of the steps that led from the driveway to the deck that wrapped around the front and side of the house, hitting the side door with a thud. Alex grabbed the knob and twisted hard, pulling the door open just enough to slip inside before slamming it shut again behind hirself.

Alex’s mother, Raenne, looked up from the dinner she was preparing, getting ready to scold her daughter for slamming the door. That was when she saw the torn, blood-stained capris and white t-shirt that was slowly turning red. The older tigress immediately grabbed a pair of shears and the towels hanging from the oven handle and sprinted across the room, asking what had happened. The younger tigress panted for breath for a few moments before gasping out “Mountain lion.” 

Raenne checked to see where the blood was coming from, noting a few shallow gashes on her daughter’s forehead and several deep cuts on the underside of hir arms, the source of the blood dripping steadily from Alex’s fingers that was forming a puddle on the tile. She quickly used the shears to turn the towel into tourniquets and tied them tight around Alex’s elbows, then pulled her daughter’s shredded pants off, finding a few more shallow gashes along hir right hip and left thigh. After confirming Alex had no other life-threatening injuries. Raenne sighed and pulled out her phone, dialing 9-1-1.

__________________________________________________

David arrived home to a veritable sea of flashing red, white, and blue lights. If he hadn’t already been expecting it, courtesy of a call from his wife, he’d have been terrified.

He could see small blood-spatters across the white cement driveway and up the stairs to the first floor deck. The two bloody child-sized paw-prints on the half-opened side door and the smear of blood on the doorknob sent a chill down his spine. He pushed it aside and stepped inside, noting the pile of bloody clothing and muddy shoes that lay just inside.

A fireman walked out of the house, nodding to him. Two members of the local police were standing in the dining room area with David’s wife, and a pair of EMTs in scrubs were in the living room, both kneeling in front of the sofa where his daughter was sitting on a blood-stained towel, wearing only underwear and a pair of tourniquets around hir elbows.

“Okay, one of you fill me in on the kid’s condition while the other tends to them,” a female badger ordered as she stepped around the tall white tiger and approached the young cub. Without even a glance at the officers in the other room she loudly added, “and somebody get Gerald Erikson down here if you haven’t already called him.”

David turned around to see who had entered, noting a short, pudgy badger in jeans, and a button-down shirt. Despite the lack of uniform, she clearly had some sort of standing to be ordering emergency personnel around, seeing as one of the officers immediately pulled out a phone and started dialing. He ignored the medics and walked over close enough to get his daughter’s attention. His daughter looked dazed, almost like shi was in shock, fur mussed and matted with drying blood. “You okay, love?” he asked once shi looked in his direction.

Alex nodded, then added “Arms hurt. Mom said I need stitches.” Shi went quiet again as the EMTs started checking the makeshift tourniquets and the badger-lady knelt in front of the leather sofa. David nodded and walked around behind the sofa to put his hand on his daughter’s shoulder, knowing shi wouldn’t be very talkative around strangers unless he was right there for moral support.

“Dr. Willison,” one of the EMTs said, nodding to the badger. “We have a feral mountain lion attack. The child got raked on both arms; deep lacerations, but not deep enough for sub-cue stitches. The feral got them on the hip and thigh also. The one on the forehead is superficial; already taken care of.”

“Good. Get ‘em cleaned up while I glove up,” the badger said, helping herself to a pair of gloves from the EMT’s bag and slipping them onto her paws. They’d already pulled out some of the antiseptics and other things that would be needed.

The tall, white tiger stood behind the sofa, simultaneously watching the EMTs and listening to his wife talking to the police officers in the kitchen. “Alex wasn’t outside for more than ten minutes tops,” his wife was saying, “so it can’t have been very far. Shi said it was up the hill past the end of the road here and mentioned a big rock coming out of the ground with a fallen tree leaning against it and bones strewn about.” 

David turned and watched as the police officer who wasn’t on the phone dutifully noted that down as part of the statement, then turned back around and tuned out that conversation as the EMTs and the badger began digging through a large bag full of medical supplies, quickly pulling out a pair of clippers. The badger-lady seemed to be doing most of the work.

After examining the tiger cub’s arms for herself, the badger took a set of clippers from her bag. Looking the young tiger in the eyes, she introduced herself as she took the child’s left arm in her paw. “My name is Amanda Willison, the on-call physician for call-outs today. Though I would prefer it to be on better terms, it is a pleasure to meet you. It looks like you ran into a buzz saw, but it’s not nearly as bad as it could have been. I’m afraid you’re going to need some stitches and you’ll be missing some arm fur for a while.” 

Twisting the arm slowly and gently to further assess the injuries the badger added, “I’ll shave your arms, then the EMT’s here will be giving you several shots of local anesthetic to numb things a bit and we’ll clean these cuts. Unless we find something more serious than this looks, we’ll get you stitched up and put some bandages on.”

“Okay,” Alex said, nodding slightly as the doctor quickly shaved the matted, blood-stained fur off the underside of her forearms. The tiger cub watched as one of the EMTs quickly prepped a pair of syringes and administered the analgesic. It burned like fire wherever they injected it, peppering her arms with needle shots. After it took effect and hir arms started to go numb, the EMTs started scrubbing the wounds and applying antiseptic.

“Talk to me, kid. What day is it?” Dr. Willison asked, pulling out a pair of forceps and a package of nylon sutures and watching the EMTs finishing up the prep work. Knowing that the kid would have to lay down, she grabbed several of the nearby towels and spread them on the ground in front of the couch.

“Wednesday?” Alex replied a bit hesitantly, looking up at the badger lady and wondering why they would ask that.

“Now, what’s your name?” The badger asked, opening the pack of sutures and using the forceps to pull them out. 

“Alex,” the cub answered. “Alex Andreyev.” 

“Okay, Alex. I need you to lay on your chest here on the floor. I know it’s not a fancy hospital bed, but it will do,” she said as she and the EMT’s helped her down to the floor.

“Okay,” the tiger cub said, laying down on hir chest just as they instructed. The whole room seemed to swim as shi moved, like it was made of Jello. The movement made hir nauseous. “Whoa.. I think... I’m gonna be sick.”

Before Dr Willison could say anything the EMTs had her lifted up a little and placed a weird muzzle-like bag over her mouth. “Go for it kiddo,” he said.

Alex closed hir eyes, fighting back the nausea. “No, I’m fine... Just... everything’s... weird.”

“You’re going to feel some pressure in your arm, try to keep as still as you can,” the badger requested as she got started on stitching the child’s arms up using a simple interrupted suture. “Say Alex, what’s your mom’s name? And your dad’s too,” she asked, shooting her assistant a look.

“Mom? Uhh... Raenne,” Alex replied. “Like the stuff that falls from the sky, only it’s spelled different. Dad’s name is David. I think... that’s from the bible. Or something...” The tiger cub tried to ignore the strange tugging sensations in hir arm that went along with the pressure and the strange tingling from the analgesic. If not for the guy in the green scrubs holding hir arm down, shi was sure the doctor would have tugged hir arm right off.

“Now… What did you say your name was? David?” she asked, making a note of Alex’s confusion and deliberately using the wrong name to address the child. “Go get the Ringer’s solution,” she told the other EMT, as they got up to go out to the ambulance.

“Alex. Or Alexandrea. Or Lexi. My best friend calls me that,” Alex answered. “Only she can’t call me that anymore ‘cause she lives in Oregon. Except on the phone.” It was very hard to think, and shi was definitely having a tough time speaking. It was hard to pronounce certain words. 

It took quite some time to stitch the tigress up, as there were two pairs of four gouges on each arm. Meanwhile, the other EMT set up an IV pole, hung a bag of clear fluid, and injected an IV catheter into Alex’s forearm above where the stitches were. After the stitches were done, they loosened the tourniquets and made sure that there wasn’t anything worse than some light seepage before wrapping hir arms in gauze followed by some kind of bright blue rough and sticky bandages.

“Alright. That has you all patched up, though it took over a hundred stitches to do it,” the doctor stated, looking up from the tiger cub to catch the parent’s attention before turning back to the child. “I want you to keep the IV in until the bag’s empty,” Amanda said as she and the EMTs helped the child back onto the sofa. “It’s going to take a bit, but you need to rest anyway. Keep the bandages clean and dry and change them at least once a day. Drink plenty of fluids to avoid dehydration and help keep your skin soft and pliable; it will help lessen the feeling like the stitches are pulling until the wounds close up. Eat extra protein for several days to help replenish the blood you lost. Give yourself a few days before you try lifting anything heavier than a book so you don’t tear the stitches. And count yourself lucky that there wasn’t any bone damage.”

David watched as his daughter nodded in agreement, wondering if it wasn’t lucky to not have a worse injury so much as being unlucky to have been injured in the first place. The poor cub had already dealt with a broken leg, broken ribs, and punctured lung already this year. He couldn’t help but wonder what was next.

Amanda caught movement from the corner of her eye and glanced towards it to see a coati who looked to be in his mid-fifties walking into the house. “Your boys missed something on their rounds, Gerald,” she shouted at the older man accusingly, standing and facing him. “This child paid the price for their mistake and I am not happy about that.”

“My ‘boys’ as you call them,” the coati shot back, equally annoyed, “are not perfect any more than you are. I am sorry the young one was injured, but perhaps someone should have done more about teaching situational awareness, care, and caution when rambling about in the wilderness. We are a mountain community, Amanda, and any fool should know that the forest around this town is inhabited by ferals that do not always look kindly upon our intrusion into what they consider to be their turf.”

“While that is true,” the medic responded, staring the tawny furred man in the eyes, “the Eyes of the Forest are charged with keeping a specified perimeter around the town clear of those hazards. Are they not?”

“They are indeed,” the coati agreed. “But again, we’re not perfect and we can’t always get to the ones that encroach on that perimeter to hunt. We are the ones trespassing in their home, not the other way around. I will have my boys go and deal with the intruder and we will increase patrols in this part of town. But I still think it may be prudent to inform these people to take greater care when out in the woods as a precaution.”

David definitely didn’t like the way the older man seemed to be accusing him. Then again, the coati did have a point about using caution while walking in the woods. The tiger looked over his shoulder at his wife and met her gaze, then raised an eyebrow wondering if she’d heard. She nodded and said “Pepper spray,” just loud enough for him to hear over the argument between the medic and what he assumed was a forestry service agent.

“That is not a bad idea,” the Coati said, pausing his argument with the doctor and glancing at the two adult tigers in the room. “Make it clear that it should be a last ditch effort, as it could in some situations provoke a feral more than deter it. I will concede the point that your child should defend themselves, but it is just as important, if not more so, that they also learn to apply a higher degree of situational awareness in the woods surrounding Winter Creek. For their own safety, the child needs to pay extra attention to their surroundings. Most feral species around here will avoid contact if at all possible.”

David frowned at the cantankerous and vociferous old coati. “Uhh... I’ll make sure shi keeps an eye out then. That is, if I ever let hir step foot in the woods again,” he added.

“I don’t think sequestering her indoors is necessary. The main thing she needs to do while out in the woods is not be a cat. Make a little noise, so the wildlife knows you’re coming and have time to get out of your way,” Gerald added before he turned and headed for the door.

David raised an eyebrow, watching the old man leave. Then he sighed, looking around at the EMTs, police, and doctor. He was sure that wrapping all this up was going to take a while.

__________________________________________________

After the last of the first responders left, Raenne went back to making dinner and David spent a few minutes cleaning the side door and wood deck, then chucked the pile of ruined clothing in the trash. Luckily Raenne had put down towels by the front door so blood hadn’t been tracked all over the great room; cleaning that much carpet would have taken hours. He picked all the towels up from all over the room and spent a few minutes pre-treating them before throwing them in the laundry machine, making sure to set it to cold before starting it.

By the time David was done, the IV drip bag was mostly empty. Alex needed to get the drying blood out of hir matted fur and there was no way shi could shower on hir own right now, especially with hir arms bandaged as they were. “Okay, love. Let’s go get you cleaned up,” the white tiger said, waiting for Alex to stand up and steadying hir with one paw when it looked like shi was going to fall over. “You okay, love?” he asked, worried.

“Just dizzy,” Alex replied once shi had gotten hir balance again.

“Make sure shi doesn’t fall. The dizziness is from blood loss,” Raenne explained from the kitchen. “I’m making beef stew tonight; supposedly it’s good for that kind of thing.”

After David finished scrubbing Alex down with luke-warm water, he had to towel hir off as well, seeing as the house didn’t have full-body fur-dryers yet. They were scheduled for installation later next week. The tiger gave his daughter another of his old t-shirts to wear around the house before bed.

The beef stew that Raenne prepared was delicious, as usual. Alex ate slowly, but finished the entire bowl. Seeing as it looked like the poor child was on the verge of nodding off, David suggested they go upstairs to the den and watch a movie, just in case shi fell asleep early. As he’d suspected, Alex nodded off within minutes of sitting down on the futon. David paused the movie and carried Alex next door to hir bedroom and tucked hir in, then went back to watching the movie with his wife.

Raenne curled up against him, tucking her legs against the back of the futon. He wrapped his arm around her, and held her tight. It wasn’t very often that the two of them had much time alone together, now that Alex had taken to sleeping in their bed once again. 

The movie credits were just starting to roll up the screen when the two tigers heard the doorbell ring, their ears twitching towards the open door. David raised an eyebrow as his wife stood up, then followed her downstairs. 

Both Raenne and David were more than a little surprised to find a child at the side-door, especially since it was close to dusk now. It was a young carnivore of some kind with tan fur, a dark muzzle, and big circular ears. If not for the round ears, David would have guessed it was a canine of some kind. The child was practically dancing with nervous energy, barely contained within its green t-shirt and blue jeans.

“Hey, hey, sorry to bother you,” the cub said, speaking so quickly that both the tigers could barely keep up, and with an odd accent that David couldn’t place. “I saw that you had a bunch of flashing lights and police cars and an ambulance and even a fire truck here earlier, and then mom and dad were watching the news and they were talking about how a kid here in town was attacked by a feral cougar and I was wondering if it was someone who lived here,” the kid said, finishing up with a nervous chuckle.

Both Raenne and David looked at each other for a second and then back at the cub on their doorstep. His wife spoke first. “Um, yes. It was our daughter who was attacked. Shi was pretty badly injured, but shi’s stable for now. Shi’s sleeping right now.”

“Oh, okay,” the cub said with another nervous chuckle. “I hope she gets better soon. I’ll come by later and see if she’s better. Maybe we could play sometime,” it added with a short laugh. “Bye!”

Both the tigers looked at each other again, then watched as the child pelted down the stairs and ran down the street. As Raenne closed and locked the door, David asked “Umm... What was that? I’ve never seen a dog with round ears and I can’t place the accent.”

“Hyena,” Raenne answered. “I’m guessing the cub’s parents are from Zimbabwe or South Africa, judging by the accent.”

“Huh,” David said. “I didn’t know you could tell apart accents like that.”

The tigress shrugged. “The South African accent is pretty distinct, kind of like Australian. It’s not quite as pronounced in Zimbabwe,” she explained while heading down the hall towards their bedroom. “I’ve got a knack for recognizing accents, but I can’t mimic them. One of the guys in my unit could do accents from all over the world. Some of them are pretty hilarious, like cockney rhyming slang.”

As they reached the bedroom, Raenne began to unbutton the flannel shirt she was wearing. “You know, it’s been a few days since we’ve done anything,” she mused. “We’ve got at least an hour before we normally turn in for the night. Think you’d be up for some fun?” she asked, looking at him with a smirk.

A smile grew on David’s face. “You have no idea how much I’ve been wanting to have some fun,” he replied, already unbuttoning his shirt.

__________________________________________________

Thursday, September 3rd, 2015

The squirrel-jerboa hybrid glanced around the bus stop, seeing all of the usual people there. All except for one. She didn’t see Alex around, but didn’t think too much about it. The tigress had probably talked their mom into giving them a ride. Azalea also remembered the younger feline saying something about getting plates or implants or something removed, but couldn’t remember when that was supposed to be.

Azalea shrugged as the bus pulled up, hoping that was the case as she and the rest of the kids climbed aboard. She took her normal spot and had to admit that it was a little weird not having the striped young cat sitting next to her; they’d been sitting next to each other on the bus since school had started. As the bus started pulling off she pulled out her phone and shot Alex a text, asking if they’d got a ride or something and to remind them of their upcoming sleepover.

The bus ride, much like the rest of the day, was boring and drawn out. She was a bit worried when the tiger didn’t respond to the text message and grew more worried when she didn’t see Alex at school, especially after overhearing some of the students talking about a kid getting attacked by a feral mountain lion. She doubted that Alex was that unlucky, though. 

That was, she doubted it until lunch time rolled around and she reached the cafeteria where they usually met up, since they didn’t have morning classes together. Azalea scanned the large room, particularly the lunch lines and their usual table. The tiger wasn’t there. She pulled out her phone, called Alex’s number, and waited.

The tigress in question rolled over in bed, listening to the phone ring. Who in the world would be calling in the middle of the night? For a moment Alex wondered why there was light streaming in from the window over hir head. Clearly it wasn’t in the middle of the night. Furiously blinking to clear the sleep from their eyes, the cub reached out to pick the iPhone up off the nightstand, only realizing as shi did so that hir arms hurt like hell. It didn’t stop hir from answering the phone though. “Hello?”

Azalea cocked her eyebrow hearing Alex’s slurred voice coming through the line. The tiger sounded... drunk. Or what Azalea imagined someone who was drunk would sound like. “Alex? Are you okay? Did you drink the adult apple juice?”

The tigress had no idea what the second question meant, but shi could at least answer the first. “No. Arms hurt,” shi said tiredly, fumbling with the covers and struggling to sit upright. Alex stared at the bright blue athlete’s tape that wrapped both hir arms from elbow to wrist. “I got blue bandages though. God, I’m so tired. Am I late? Did I miss school?”

“Yeah, you did. It’s lunch time.” Azalea paused, a bit more confused now. “Alex, why do your arms hurt and why are you tired? Did you try to make friends with the wildlife?”

Alex suddenly remembered what had happened, vividly remembering the moment the cougar had leapt from the tree. The memory was so intense that for a moment it felt like shi was reliving it. Pain shot through hir arms as the feral struck, and wailed. Then the memory faded, and shi was staring at the bed-sheets once again. The sudden relief that shi wasn’t going to die was so intense that Alex started sobbing.

“Alex... Hey! Snap out of it,” Azalea called out. It was slowly dawning on her that her friend was the one on the news. “Breathe, it’s not going to hurt you.”

It took a moment, but Alex finally got hirself under control at just about the same time that Raenne finished thundering up the stairs and burst into the room. “I’m alright, I’m alright,” the tiger cub repeated more than a few times, simultaneously trying to placate both hir mom and friend on the phone. After sniffling a few times, Alex held up the phone. “You tell her,” shi said.

The older tigress took the phone, glancing at the screen to see who was calling. “Hi, Azalea. This is Raenne. Alex’s mom.”

“Afternoon Mrs. Raenne. I’m gonna hazard a guess that Alex was the one that was on the news?” Azalea asked, still hoping that she was somehow wrong.

“If you’re referring to the feral mountain lion attack, then yes. Alex went out hiking last night and wasn’t gone for more than ten minutes before shi came inside and slammed the door, clothes shredded and dripping blood everywhere. Shi’s stable for now. We’re keeping hir home for a few days to recover,” the older tigress explained.

“Oh, thank God,” Azalea sighed. “Wait. I mean... not thanking God that she was attacked; that she’s safe. I’m guessing the sleepover is off? Unless you need someone to help take care of her,” she said, changing the subject.

“Sleepover?” Raenne asked, raising an eyebrow. “Alex didn’t mention anything about a sleepover. But yeah, I don’t think a sleepover will be on the schedule for a few days at least. Maybe next weekend,” the older tigress said. 

“But mooom,” Alex whined.

Raenne gave her daughter ‘The Look’, then continued to speak. “I can take care of Alex. Thank you for the offer, though. Actually, if you’re at school, do you think you can pick up Alex’s homework at the office after school gets out? I already called them and explained what happened and they said they’d have the teachers put together a list of homework for hir for the next few days.”

“I can do that,” Azalea said. “I’ll bring her homework over. Does she need anything else, like from her locker? Like her stash of catnip?”

“Catnip?” Raenne asked, raising an eyebrow at her daughter. The kid just looked confused, so Raenne just assumed it was a joke. “Ha. No, we’re good. Do you know where we live? I drive over to your place to pick it up if you would prefer.”

“I’ll bring it over. I just need directions. A jog will be a good way to get started for soccer season,” she said, pulling a small notebook out of her pocket.

Raenne rattled off their address, then gave instructions for the brief walk from the bus stop to their house. “We live in an A-shaped house atop a three-car garage,” she said, describing the house. “There’s a staircase going up from the driveway to the deck around the house. Just come up to the side-door at the top of the stairs.”

“I’ll be there after school. See you then. Tell Alex I said ‘bye’,” she said as she finished writing down the address.

“See you this afternoon,” Raenne said, hanging up the phone and then staring down at her daughter. “Azalea said ‘bye’. It’s about time you got up. You’ve been sleeping for the past fifteen hours.”

Alex flushed slightly, hir ear tips angling outwards. “Sorry.”

__________________________________________________

Azalea stopped immediately after getting off the bus and slipped her shoes off, preferring to go barefoot whenever possible. She kept a brisk pace as she jogged from the bus stop to Alex’s house. The weight of her books and the slight uphill slope made it a little more challenging than she had expected. About halfway there, the squirrel-jerboa hybrid picked up the pace, practically running up the street through the neighborhood. Eventually she came to a stop at the house just before the end of the road, panting for breath as she pulled out the scrap of paper with Alex’s address and double-checked the house number. 

After confirming she was at the right place, the squirrel headed up the steps to the wrap-around deck and knocked on the side door. As she waited, she looked around, taking in the view. Alex lived in a relatively new development in the Aspen Glen neighborhood, at the edge of the Winter Creek valley where the mountains became too steep to build on. This side of the house faced the forested mountain-side, which began only a few dozen feet away. There was something about being this high up that felt really good, making her tail twitch in the breeze.

Alex’s mother opened the side door and then stepped back, revealing the great room that occupied the front third of the house. It encompassed a living room, dining room, and kitchen, all under an open atrium that highlighted the glass windows that spanned the entire front wall from floor to ceiling. The older tigress was wearing a flannel shirt and cargo pants, just like she had been the first time Azalea had met her. 

“Hi Azalea. Come on in. Just leave your shoes by the door,” Raenne said, inviting the purple and orange-furred squirrel inside. Alex was walking down the stairs just inside and to the side, wearing a navy blue t-shirt that was big enough to be used as a dress. The shirt was slipping off one shoulder and the young tiger’s fur clearly hadn’t been brushed yet.

“But I didn’t wear shoes,” Azalea quietly muttered. The hybrid looked down at her bare feet before carefully wiping them on the welcome mat and stepping in. “Hey Mrs. Raenne. Hey Alex. I brought you prizes,” she said, walking towards the feline that was coming down the steps.

“Hey Az,” Alex said, reaching the bottom of the stairs just as Raenne closed the side door behind the young squirrel.

As Azalea got a good look at her friend, the damage that the feral mountain lion had done became readily apparent between the gauze and blue athletic tape covering her arms, the listless eyes, and the sluggish movements. “Man, you look rough,” she said, pulling out the folders that she’d picked up at the office. “You gotta stop having these random encounters without me to save you.”

“Yeaaah...” Alex slowly agreed, then blinked and accepted the folders that the squirrel handed over. “Thanks,” the tigress said.

“How you feeling?” Azalea asked, watching the feline's movements. Alex was normally quick and graceful, but right now it looked like a stiff breeze would knock them over. “You know this is going to make a hell of a story.”

“Sore and tired,” Alex said, using hir free hand to rub the fur on the side of hir face. “I slept, like, fifteen hours... and I’m still tired.”

“Well, I mean, cats do like to sleep,” Azalea teased, smirking as Alex rolled hir eyes.

“True, but this time it’s ‘cause of the blood loss,” the older tigress explained as she walked past the two cubs and into the kitchen. “Do either of you want anything to snack on?” she asked.

 “I would love a snack honestly, whatcha got?” she asked, following Raenne into the kitchen.

“Fruits, nuts, yogurt, quesadillas-” the tigress started rattling off foods.

“I like nuts,” the squirrel-hybrid interrupted, tail fluffing at the thought.

“In the bowl,” Raenne said, pointing at a crystal bowl filled with mixed nuts on the dining room table next to a matching bowl of mixed fruit. “Oh, and same thing I tell Alex: If you eat the candied pecans by themselves, you’re going to be making the next batch.”

“Don’t threaten me with a good time,” Azalea said as she took a seat at the table, happily munching on the different nuts and fruits, noting they were the exact same bowls that Alex had drawn for Art class. “I don’t mind helping in the kitchen,” she added.

“You don’t, huh? Maybe you and Alex can do some cooking together during that sleepover you mentioned, whenever it is,” Raenne suggested as she pulled open the refrigerator, pulled out a package of red meat and set it on the counter. “Are you vegetarian? I know some rodents are, but others aren’t,” the tigress asked as she started preparing for dinner. 

“Not a vegetarian. I mean, I like veggies and tofu, but meat is good too. No diet restrictions or anything,” Azalea replied, wondering if Alex had fallen asleep on the steps or something.

The younger tigress walked into view a moment later and sat down at the table, folding hir arms and resting hir head on them, watching Azalea snack. “How was school? Anyone miss me?”

“Boring as all heck, and yeah, we missed you.” Azalea started smiling. “Especially that one guy that has a crush on you. You know the one,” she joked, speaking loudly enough to make sure that the tiger’s mom could hear too.

“Oh?” Raenne asked from the kitchen, raising an eyebrow at her daughter.

Alex just looked confused. “Someone has a crush on me?” she asked.

“Maaaybe,” Azalea said as she brushed her paw off on her pants before reaching over and very carefully patting Alex between the ears.

Alex flinched slightly. “Careful there; it got me on the forehead too. And the hips and thighs.”

“That thing did a number on you. At least you're still in one piece, it would really suck if something happened to you.” The jerboa hybrid sighed.

“What do you mean ‘if’? Something did happen to me,” Alex protested, reaching out and picking out a single candied pecan, holding it up with a pair of claws, then sticking it in hir mouth. 

“And it’s not the first time either,” Raenne said. “If it keeps up, we’re going to cover you with bubble wrap. Then Azalea will have to roll you around from class to class. Your dad’s seriously thinking about not letting you go out in the woods. Even with bear spray.”

Alex glanced to the side, clearly thinking. At this point shi was starting to believe that might be a good idea; the idea of going out in the woods now filled hir with apprehension.

“Getting attacked by a mountain lion is a once in a lifetime kind of thing. I mean, you’re not going to get struck by lightning twice.” The hybrid paused, thinking. “Hiking is good for you. You just have to be careful... And make noise so stuff knows you’re there. We can get you a jingly cat collar. And I’ll go in the woods with you. To protect you,” she added with a smirk.

“Going out in pairs is probably a good idea. So is wearing a bell,” Raenne said, setting down her knife and picking up her phone, presumably to see what she could find on Amazon with regards to pet collars. “Hope you don’t mind wearing a pet collar, kiddo. Any color preferences?”

Alex rolled hir eyes and gave a deep sigh. “C’mon Az, I’ll show you my room,” the tigress said, sluggishly getting out of the chair and walking across the great room to the stairs.

“Lead the way,” Azalea said, looking around the main room as they made for the stairs. “Do you need help going up the stairs?”

“No. I’m fine,” Alex said, slowly trudging up the two short flights of stairs.

“I mean, I could carry you up. I’m that strong,” the crossbreed joked, flexing her biceps before following Alex up the stairs and watching the tiger’s striped tail swing from side to side. As she did, she caught a glimpse under Alex’s shirt and quickly realized from the sight of bare fur that Alex probably didn’t have anything else under it. Azalea blushed, but couldn’t keep from staring. By the time they reached the top of the landing, the squirrel was walking a little oddly.

Alex stood panting at the top of the stairs, surprised at how difficult it had been. After a few moments, the tigress gestured around at the open area at the top of the stairs. “This is the game-room. We’ve got a ton of board games,” shi said, pointing out an old bookshelf stacked with board games next to a brand-new couch and coffee table. “Around this corner is a reading nook,” shi continued, gesturing to the right, where the room opened up to the left and right, ending with the railing that overlooked the great-room. Then the feline turned around, gesturing to the left. “My room’s the one on the left. The den is the one on the right.”

“Time to see what kinda trouble you get up in your room. I feel like you probably have a really clean room,” Azalea mused as she walked into Alex’s room, looking around. It was surprisingly spacious, despite having a large desk, bookshelves, nightstands, and a twin bed. The bed had piles of white pillows and a fuzzy black blanket that had an odd sheen. The bookshelves were filled with brain teaser puzzles, action figures, colorful plushies, lego sets, sports equipment, RC cars, and even a few actual books. The desk had a fancy looking black computer with lights on it that constantly changed colors, even on the keyboard. As Azalea had guessed, the room was spotless. Far too clean for a kid’s room. The bed didn’t even look like it had been used, despite the covers having been thrown back.

“It’s even cleaner than I thought it would be,” Azalea said, walking over to the bed and sitting on it. “Are you sure you spent like fifteen hours sleeping in this? The sheets aren't even wrinkled.” Azalea ran her hand along the black top blanket. “Oooh, this is comfy. Yeah, I can see sleeping in it for fifteen hours.”

 “Well, I woke up in it. I don’t remember falling asleep in it though.” Alex shrugged, walking over to the overstuffed leather chair in the corner and sitting on it cross-legged. “This was originally the master bedroom,” she said, pointing at the two doors along the wall. “So it’s got a walk-in closet and a bathroom. Mom and dad took the downstairs den and split it into a bedroom for themselves and a nursery for the twins.”

“Twins? Your mom’s pregnant?” Azalea exclaimed, raising her eyebrows. The tigress nodded. “So you’re going to get to be a big sis,” the jerboa-hybrid said, looking around the room. “I didn’t know you snowboarded,” she said, commenting on the snowboard, boots and bindings propped against the corner behind the chair Alex was sitting on.

“Oh... yeah. That’s how I broke my leg earlier this year. All better now,” Alex said, sticking out hir right leg and wiggling hir toes, accidentally flashing the poor squirrel.

“Alex!” The poor squirrel squeaked out. She shifted in place, blush burning on her cheeks and ears. “Showing me the beans like that, and on the first date,” she blurted out, looking up at the ceiling.

Alex blinked in confusion for several seconds, not understanding why showing paw-pads was inappropriate, before shi figured out why the squirrel was staring at the ceiling. The tigress blushed furiously, gripping the hem of hir shirt and making sure shi was covered. The tiger cub snagged the neckline with hir other paw and pulled it out, glancing downwards, then letting out a high-pitched squeak. “Oh my God. I thought I was wearing panties,” the tiger cub muttered, pulling hir legs up under the shirt and wrapping hir arms around them. “I’m sorry,” the younger cub apologized, hanging hir head and rocking slightly. 

“D-Don’t worry about it. It happens to the best of us,” Azalea said as she reached over and pulled a pillow onto her lap. “I mean it’s not like it’s something that I haven’t seen before. I mean, I’m not saying that I’ve seen yours before... I’m gonna shut up.”

The tigress kept hir head buried against hir knees for a few moments, then carefully stood up, walked over to the closet door and slipped inside, closing it after hirself. A second later the feline stepped out, wearing a loose pair of gym shorts. The insides of hir ears were practically scarlet from embarrassment. “Sorry,” shi muttered. “Anyway... I don’t spend much time in here, except for playing computer games. I spend more time in the den playing video games and watching movies,” Alex explained, stepping out the door and into the den.

“I mean, movies are nice,” Azalea said, watching the tiger leave. She sat there for a moment before moving the pillow. “This isn’t the time. Go down and stop thinking about her like that,” the squirrel quietly fussed at her lap. After a moment she stood up and followed the tiger cub into the den. Several leather beanbags sat around the room and a leather futon was pushed up against the far wall. Opposite the futon was a huge television sitting on an entertainment center along with several video game systems.

The squirrel quickly made her way into the room, snagging one of the many blankets draped over the back of the futon and flopped down on one of the bean bags, pulling the blanket over her lap. “Sooo, wanna watch a movie or something ‘til dinner?” she asked, looking at the tigress.

Alex tilted hir head. “I didn’t think you were staying until dinner. Let’s go ask mom if that’s okay. Did you okay it with your moms?”

“I can ask. You go ask your mom while I call mine,” Azalea said, reaching into her pocket for her phone. 

Alex jumped off the couch and walked out towards the balcony, bellowing “Mooom! Can Azalea stay for dinner?”

__________________________________________________

Friday, September 4th, 2015

The iPhone sitting on Alex’s desk suddenly burst into song, a male tenor singing the lyrics “I just wanna be deep in your love; and it’s killing me when you’re away-” 

The tiger cub sitting at the desk dropped the pencil shi was awkwardly holding and quickly picked the phone up, answering the incoming call. “Hi, silly stoat. How’s it going?” shi asked, trying to sound upbeat despite hir aching forearms.

“Hi Lexi. I’m sorry, I meant to call you earlier, but I forgot...” Elizabeth replied, panting slightly as if out of breath.

“It’s okay. I was going to call you tonight if you didn’t call me first.” The tigress stood up from the computer chair, walked a few feet, and flopped on the bed. “They started getting serious about handing out homework this week. I’ve been doing, like, three hours of homework a night.”

“Really? That’s a bummer,” the little stoat on the other end of the line replied.

“It’s not too bad, really. School’s okay, other than the fact that the bus route is, like, an hour each way, and that I don’t know anyone else, and... and that you’re not here,” the tigress said with a slight catch in hir throat. Shi missed Lizzy terribly; the last month had been miserable. The most recent injuries hadn’t helped.

“Oh Lexi… I miss you so much,” Elizabeth said, her voice going a bit hoarse. Alex knew Lizzy well enough to know the little stoat was about to cry. Then again, Lizzy was pretty emotional and would cry at the drop of a hat.

“I miss you too, silly stoat,” the tigress said with a sniffle, rolling onto hir back. “I’d give anything to be over at your place right now. Not having a sleepover on a Friday night is... weird.”

“I know...” Elizabeth said, her voice trailing off as if she was going to say something else, but didn’t. For a moment the two of them were quiet. 

Alex debated for a moment whether or not to tell Lizzy about the feral cougar attack. Shi didn’t want the little stoat to worry, but still felt it was something shi should share regardless. 

“Lizzy-

“Lexi-”

The two of them spoke almost simultaneously, then went quiet again.

“You go, silly stoat,” Alex said, sniffling quietly before rolling onto hir side and snagging a pillow to rest hir head on.

“Oh, Lexi… I… I don’t know how to say this, but I have to tell you. Promise you won’t be mad, or sad?” Lizzy asked.

Alex sniffled again, then took a deep breath, hoping this wasn’t something serious. “Okay, I promise. What happened, silly stoat? You sound like you killed someone or something,” shi joked, trying to lighten the mood.

“Well... it’s about Chris...”

In earlier conversations, Lizzy had told how she and Chris had met and had some similar interests. Then apparently the two had gone on vacation together to a farm owned by Chris's family. Based on that, they were clearly growing pretty close. But Alex still had no idea why Elizabeth would ask not to be mad or sad. Alex waited a moment for Elizabeth to continue speaking, wondering what this was all about. When she didn’t, Alex prompted her with “Yeeaah...” 

“Well, she’s coming over tonight, for a sleepover,” the little stoat said, sounding a bit hesitant.

Alex blinked, going silent. When the tigress still lived in Oregon, they’d been having sleepovers every Friday night for years. It had only been in the last few months that they’d decided to start ‘going steady’ and those sleepovers had become... heated. Was the little stoat implying that she and Chris were... 

The tigress pushed the thought from hir mind; it was a bit too much for hir to think about right now. “I’m really envious... I wish I could be there with you two,” shi finally said. It wasn’t completely true though; Alex wished shi was there at Lizzy’s instead of the web-footed stranger. The tigress went silent once again, unable to think of anything else to say.

Elizabeth broke the awkward silence, but her next words didn’t make it any less awkward. “Lexi, I- There’s something else. It’s why I asked you to promise not to be sad... or mad.”

“Lizzy, I promised. I’ll never, ever be mad at you. I love you. I’ll try my best not to be sad, okay?” Alex said, trying to reassure the little stoat. It was true, too; the tigress might get mad at Chris, the mysterious web-footed stranger, but not at Lizzy.

“Okay,” Elizabeth said, going quiet for a moment. “It’s... well... she’s a hermaphrodite, too. Like you... ”

Alex frowned slightly, but didn’t say anything. Finding out that the other cub was a herm wouldn’t possibly make hir mad or sad, so why... Oh. It was just as shi’d suspected. Elizabeth must have started dating, or intended to start dating her new friend. Alex’s chest tightened. It was hard to breathe for a moment, like being punched in the gut. The tigress didn’t even realize shi was crying until shi felt the tear roll off the fur of hir cheek and fall to the pillow beneath. 

The tiger cub took a deep breath after a moment, wiping their eyes with the bandages wrapped around their forearms. Alex felt lonelier than ever, now, but knew that if shi started crying, Lizzy would too, and shi didn’t want to make Lizzy cry ever again. The feline locked those emotions up tight and stuffed them in the proverbial closet in the back of hir mind. “So... you want to be... in a relationship with her,” Alex stated, hir voice completely devoid of any emotion.

“I- Yes,” Elizabeth confirmed.

The emotions Alex had just stuffed away suddenly fell right back out of that mental closet. The tiger cub’s heart felt like someone had ripped it out of hir chest, stomped on it, and then shoved it back in, then wrapped hir chest in duct tape. Alex could barely breathe, and it hurt worse than anything shi could possibly imagine. Worse than breaking hir leg, worse than getting beaten by those kids at school, and worse than hir lacerated arms. The tigress almost wished for a moment that shi was dead. But still... Shi loved Elizabeth; shi would never, ever say a harsh word to the little stoat. There wasn’t a mean bone in Elizabeth’s entire body, and she didn’t deserve harsh words from anyone, least of all her best friend in the whole world.

The little tigress tried to take another breath. It helped a little, but not enough. Still, shi needed to speak, to let hir best friend in the whole world know that it was okay. They were living half a continent away from each other now, and they would have to move on eventually… but it hurt so badly to have been replaced in less than a month. Alex felt as disposable as a plastic bag, a piece of garbage to be thrown away when someone else with a dick came along. After a moment shi finally found hir voice again.

“It’s okay,” Alex said in a near whisper, trying hir best not to cry. “We’ll always be best friends though. Right?” the tigress asked, voice cracking slightly on the last word. The answer didn’t matter; shi was only asking to reassure Lizzy that everything was okay, even though it wasn’t.

“Always,” Elizabeth said. “You’ll always be my best friend, Lexi. That will never, ever change.”

“Okay,” the tigress whispered. “Best friends, forever?” Alex asked, saying the same words shi always said. They no longer held any meaning. They were just the words shi said at the end of every call with Lizzy.

“Best friends, forever,” the little stoat replied.

Back in hir room, the tiger cub pressed the red button at the bottom of the screen and set the phone down. Already curled up on hir side, Alex tucked hir knees to hir chest and cried.