Dirty Paws

Electric here.

This is a idea that has been nestled in my mind for a LONG time.

So please, do not steal.

Also, I recommend listening to the song "Dirty Paws" by Of Monsters And Men on repeat because its a great song.

Narrator's note- Introduction to the Species
These creatures have humanlike intelligence. They aren't at technology level yet, but they have bow&arrows and swords.

But, to get a full grasp on this species, you need to imagine this.

So, take any real animal (no mythical creatures like dragons, sorry) that has legs. Let's use a lion as an example.

Now, make this lion bipedal. A lion, standing on his back legs only.

Now slap on some clothes.

I know what you must be thinking. ''Furries?! I thought this was going to be an amazing, unique species!''

First, they are not furries (though there's nothing wrong with furries). And that's not all to the species anyways.

Now, take a special attribute from any real animal- a dolphin, a elephant, you name it- and add it to this character. Lets use SaberTooth Tiger fangs.

Getting the special attribute only happens when they reach the age of 13- they age by human time.

So this bipedal lion was just a bipedal lion for the first 13 years of his life. But on his 13th birthday, his fangs grew in.

Rather quickly.

But, you cant just give a attribute like that. No, you must create a small flaw. But also a upside.

The fangs are smaller then a normal SaberTooth's would be. But they are still frightening enough to make someone faint dead away if this lion is chasing you.

Also, readers, feel free to ask me questions in the comments. I will answer them here.

Reyn

Trevek

Trixie

(more characters coming soon)

Chapter 1
~Reyn~

Reyn yawned as the noonday sun gleamed overhead. She really was tired, after a day of running through a forest. She saw a tree shading a patch of ground, and decided it was a nice place to sit down, just for a bit. Her golden fur shined as the sun beat down on it, and turned a dark dijon color in the shadows.

As Reyn sat against the tree, her eyelids drooped, and before she knew it she was sound asleep.

~Trevek~

Trevek watched as the dog creature settled against the tree and fell asleep. He grinned as he bounded over silently, his tail flicking. On closer inspection, the doglike creature was based around a golden retriever, with a scorpion-like tail. She was wearing a green, long-sleeved coat, dark blue pants, and a green hat that shadowed her face. Trevek stared at the hat. That would sell for 5 yellow beads! Quickly, he scampered up the tree. He leaned down, ready to snatch it. His grip almost slipped, but he extended his claws and the hat was his. Trevek bounded away, snickering.

~Reyn~

Reyn woke up to sunlight shining on her eyes. Wait. Sunlight in her eyes? How would that be possible with her hat on... Reyn came to a startled realization. Her hat was gone. She darted up and started looking for it, while putting a paw over one of her eyes.

About thirty minutes later, Reyn was still searching, and still couldn't find it. But then, she heard a rustle from the bushes. As Reyn turned around, a blue-eyed, grey tabby faced her. He was wearing a dark blue shirt with brown trim, and purple pants.

"Hey, miss. Looking for a hat?" He held out her faithful green hat. Reyn snatched it back, and put it over her face, her tail wagging slightly.

"Thanks," she said.

"What's your name?" the cat asked.

"Reyn." she replied. "You?"

"I'm Trevek, but-" he finger-gunned- "You can call me yours."

"...I see you know how to flirt." Reyn answered.

Chapter 2
~Trevek~

Trevek honestly didn't know what had compelled him to give the hat back to Reyn. Or to start up a conversation. But he did know that he had practiced that pickup line for days, and it might pay off.

They met at the same place for a few days afterwards, and Trevek thought of them as official friends now.

After the third day of hanging out, Reyn asked him something.

"Hey. I want to know if you want to go somewhere with me," Reyn said, her head slightly tilted.

"Details first, miss. Where's this place, and why do you want me to come?"

"I'll tell you when we get there." Reyn answered cryptically. "And why I want you along, well, your my friend. And I can't do this alone." Reyn then added, "Its a long journey. If you don't want to come... that's fine." She seemed to wilt a little on the last sentence. For some reason, Trevek felt completely compelled to come with her. "Of course I'll come!" he said, and then he remarked, with a fancy flourish, "Who would I be to reject the offer of one alike you?"

"Quit the flirting," Reyn muttered. Trevek only winked. "Anyways, we're all set. We stop by multiple lakes and rivers on this, and I know how to hunt." Reyn looked up to Trevek. "As do you, I'm sure."

"One of the first things that my mother taught me." Trevek agreed.

"And, I have a map." Reyn pulled a square sheet of paper out of her coat pocket. "Once we get to Lake JudaTree, I'll know where to go." She pointed to a dense forest on the map. "We'll need to go north through Stargazer Forest. A few Woodlander packs are scattered in there, but none should bother us.

"What about humans?" Trevek blurted out. Reyn looked at him, but not skeptically. "What about them?"

"I know that humans are mostly extinct now. But. Doesn't matter." Trevek covered up. His mother used to tell horrifying stories about humans- about how they could kill a whole species, like the dodo bird. How that had burnt whole forests. How they even treated each other unfairly. And how they still might be roaming around nowadays. But most of that had to be fake... simple stories to keep young kittens from going to far away from the home. Right? Trevek shook the memory out of his head. "Well. No time like the present to start, eh?" he said, giving his trademark grin with a wink and a ear tilt. Reyn nodded. "I suppose your right."

"Wait. Don't you have a family that cares about you? I mean, we cats are solitary creatures, we start off on our own once we get our ability. But you? Don't you have a pack?"

Reyn didn't answer and looked at him with a sort of sadness, although, with her face mostly shadowed, he didn't have much to go with except her mouth. Trevek decided to keep his mouth shut about family topics. ''Maybe they died. ''He thought. "Well, lets go!" Trevek said, and they started walking

And the adventure began.

Chapter 3
~Trevek~

Throughout the walk to and through Stargazer Woods, Trevek and Reyn learned things about each other.

Green and gold were Reyn's favorite colors. Trevek's favorite colors were blue and brown.

Reyn's favorite food was cooked chicken. Trevek liked fish, cooked or raw.

They both disliked rodents.

And Reyn and Trevek both believed that humans were still around.

"Hey," Reyn asked him as they were walking. "You said you felines were on your own when you got your ability. What is it?"

Trevek grinned and held out one of his arms. He poked underneath it, and see-through webbing shifted.

"You know the thing on flying squirrels that allows them to glide? That's what these are." Trevek scurried up a tree, and jumped off, spreading his arms. Instead of crashing to the ground, he glided and swerved around trees before coming to a delicate stop in front of Reyn. "Impressive, right?" he said, with his trademark smile and wink. Reyn smiled, but didn't give any comment.

"Well, onward!"

~Trixie~

As the fox creature scurried through the forest, she repeated in her head what her mother had told her to collect for the family. ''Blackberries. Blackberries. Blackberries. ''She clutched the small basket in her paws as she was entranced once again by the sunlight- speckled leaves of emerald high above. As she kept walking, entranced by the view, she didn't notice how far away she was straying, until the sun was getting low. When the emerald-greenness of the leaves turned orange and red, did she see that...

"I'm lost?" she cried out. She didn't want to be alone in the dark. She was afraid of the dark. her ears pressed against he head, and she looked around nervously. As the sky turned darker and darker, she headed multiple ways, calling out. But nothing showed up.

The sun finally set, and Trixie would have been blind in the dark, if not for a faint glow in the distance. Trixie headed towards the light, and soon heard a male and a female talking. About her age, thirteen.

"I know how to cook!" a male voice insisted. The female snorted. "Cooking and burning aren't synonyms. Let me." A few minutes later, the male inhaled. "That... that does smell good."

"Told you." A pause. "Genius."

"Why thank you," the male replied, and soon both of them were laughing.

Trixie stepped forward a little, and snapped a branch (I know so cliché). Their heads turned.

Trixie stepped forward again, and caught view of their faces. One was a grey tabby with a transparent webbing stretching from his arms to his legs, and the other was a golden retriever with a scorpion tail, with a hat shadowing her face. "Hey," said the cat. "Who are you?"

"Tr-trixie." Trixie stuttered back shyly.

"Come on, sit down with us." The golden retriever offered, and Trixie nervously sat down on a log.

"I'm Trevek, and this is Reyn," the cat warmly stated. "Is your home near here?"

"A-actually... I'm lost." Trixie's ears wilted in embarrassment.

"Trixie," said Reyn, who's voice was soft, "me and Trevek here are actually going on a little journey. I'm keeping the final destination secret, but if you want to come, your free too." Reyn smiled.

Trixie pondered her decision, and decided that, since she was already lost, what did it matter if she spent a few more days missing from her family?

"Sure," she replied. "But first, may I have some food?" She remembered the basket in her paws. "I can season those rabbits with these." She pulled out some blackberries and started rubbing them on a rabbit. Trevek stared- he probably hadn't had much of anything that was seasoned. Once she was done, Trevek grabbed the rabbit, bit into it, and his eyes widened. "Thish ish delishosh!" he said, mouth slightly full. Reyn and Trixie laughed.

"Well, lets eat!" Reyn declared.

~Reyn~

A few minutes later, they were all dining on cooked rabbit. The smell attracted a few foxes and some raccoons- nothing that Reyn couldn't scare off with her sharp bark. But after they were done, a low growl pierced the shadows left behind by the dying embers of the fire. Reyn barked, but it just growled back. Trevek quickly restarted the fire, and the flames illuminated the faces of three wolves.

Reyn, Trevek, and Trixie all froze. A million thoughts zapped through Reyn's head. ''Wolves. Their canines, like me and Trixie, they might not attack us. But what about Trevek? He can climb up a tree. But what if they attack Trixie? Wolves eat foxes. Can Trixie climb? Would it be cannibalism if they ate a dog? Will anyone die?''

Reyn whispered to Trevek. "Go climb up a tree. Wolves can't climb. I'll distract." Trevek nodded. She then turned her head slowly to Trixie. "Can you climb?"

"Yes, but not that quickly. I'm better when someone can help me up."

"Trevek, Trixie, I'll cause a distraction. You two climb up a tree and get away from danger." Reyn whispered. They both nodded.

"But what will the distraction be?" Trevek asked, concern lining his face.

"You'll see."

Reyn suddenly leapt, snarling and swaying her tail, and the wolves charged to meet her. Trevek and Trixie both ran backward, and Trevek leapt up an old cedar, Trixie soon following. Reyn spun around, tail out, and caught one wolf in the throat, snapping its life away. The second one kept fighting, but the third one went around to chase Trevek and Trixie. Trixie slipped on the tree as Trevek hopped up onto a branch, and the wolf snapped at her feet. Trevek reached a paw down to help Trixie up, and she grabbed onto it. She was almost all the way up, when the wolf closed its jaws around her tail. Trixie shrieked.

But Reyn skidded over, switching to all fours for the time being, and grabbed the third wolf by the throat with her teeth, freeing Trixie's tail and killing it. She turned around just in time to see the last wolf pounce on her, biting into her arm.

Trixie, who was now safely up on the tree, gasped in horror as Reyn's fur was stained red.

Trevek let out an unholy caterwaul and pounced on the wolf from the tree, taking it by surprise. He swiped at its eyes, blinding it, and dragged his claws over its chest and sinking them in deep, piercing the heart.

Trevek turned around and saw Reyn cradling her arm.

"Are you alright?" he asked, sitting down beside her and wiping his paws clean on the leafy foliage.

"Yeah..." Reyn said, grabbing a large maple-leaf and wrapping the red teeth-marks. "It doesn't hurt too much now."

Trevek nodded, and heard Trixie come down. "At least the camp is still intact."

Reyn got out huge clumps of moss, and organized them into little beds.

"This one's for you, Trevek," she said, pointing to one on her right. "And that's for you, Trixie. I'll sleep on this one."

As they settled down, an owl hooted, and a deer bleated. The three fell into an uneasy sleep.

Chapter 4
~Trevek~

Trevek woke up to Reyn shaking him awake. "About time. Its almost noon," she stated. Trevek stretched and yawned. "I'm a cat," he slurred, still half-asleep. "We need more then average amounts of sleep."

"You're just making that up, you goofball!" Trixie called from a tree, grinning. Trevek got up, stretched again, and ultimately flopped back down. "Too tir-"

Trevek was then soaked with ice-cold water. He jumped up, and landed on all four of his feet, his back arched and his tail sticking up. Reyn stood over him, smirking, holding a skin of water. Trevek got up and attempted to glare at Reyn. Reyn only tilted her head, her smirk still plastered onto her face.

As he went to dry himself off, Reyn barked after him, "You look like a wet weasel!" Trevek rolled his eyes and marched into the forest as Trixie giggled from her perch.

~Reyn~

Reyn started to gather all of their items, sweeping them into a large leather bag. Trixie picked a few non-poisonous berries and tree nuts, gathering them in a small leather satchel. Trevek, now slightly dried and really puffy, brought back a quail.

"Glad to be of your assistance," he said with a low bow and his trademark smirk, although looking a little watered down from wounded pride.

"You look like one of those fuzzy bumblebees," Trixie said jokingly, hopping down from the tree.

"So you mean, I make honey?" Trevek winked.

"I mean, if you suck up nectar from flowers and barf it up with a million others who look like you to serve a queen, then, yes, I suppose," Reyn answered, glancing up at him while re-adjusting her hat.

"You have a point there."

After Reyn finished packing their items, she pointed them in the direction they needed to go. "Soon we'll run into Vortex River. It starts as a normal river, then its waters pool into a crater and swirl around. Then the water reaches the other end of the river and keeps going," Reyn explained. "I hear its a very good place to catch fish." Trevek's ears twitched.

"Lets get going, shall we?" Trevek said.

"We shall," answered Reyn, and the three started walking out of the forest.

Chapter 5
~Reyn~

A few hours of walking and sore pads, they finally got to Vortex River.

"..Woah," Trixie breathed. Woah was a good description.

At first, the river glided and curved in the pit it had dug, through thousands of years of erosion. The waters were relatively calm, and a few cattails waved at the sweeping ripples.

Then, it suddenly dumped into a pit with a loud crash. Whitewater sprayed up, gleaming iridescently in the sunlight.

Through the natural curves of the pit, the water spun around, creating a whirlpool that seemed to be silver. On closer view it was many, many fish, flapping around and trying to escape the liquid prison.

Finally, the roaring waters reached the other edge of the river, churning and rushing up with the few lucky fish that followed the current. The water kept rippling across, normal as it was before.