Katheeri

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

"Hmm..." said Bohdan, digging his fists into his pants pockets. "I do remember Corneria having research stations turned small hamlets somewhere in the nearby area." He then turned to Korben, looking up into the sky, wondering where the column of fire had gone. "Korben, are you with us?" asked Bohdan rhetorically.

"Huh? Yeah," answered Korben, looking back to Bohdan.

"Are there any Cornerian research stations here?" asked the dragon slowly. Korben shrugged his shoulders, a sign of his lack of knowledge. Bohdan rubbed the side of his head.

"Oh, my God..." he said frustrated.

[Renardfrost]

Renard slid back a plate on his gauntlet, fiddling around with a wrist mounted communicator, commonly seen on cornerian soldiers or members of various mercenary groups. ( otherwise known as the second-best 500 credits he's ever spent.)

The screen would soon flicker to life and point him in a direction.

" Nearest one is a good ten clicks north of here. We should probably get back to the ship so we can get there in relative comfort."

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

Bohdan looked around, his eyes darting between the four cardinal directions. He then shrugged his shoulders. "That is all," he said, going back to Elizabeth's position by their hovercraft.

"All she wrote," said Korben, following Bohdan.

[Zaphyr Stone]

END OF CHAPTER

---

This RP is going to be restarted! Please see the discussion board for more info, and be ready for the new intro!

[Zaphyr Stone]

PROLOGUE

---

Grimy droplets sprang up as swift and heavy footfalls agitated the myriad of puddles left in the wake of the constant rainstorms shadowing the abandoned Venomian outpost on Zoness. An adolescent feline ran for all he was worth down the wet corridor, raindrops stinging his muzzle and blurring his vision. He could hear voices up ahead and could only pray he wasn't too late.

The boy stopped on the catwalk above the old hangar bay. Down below was the altercation he was looking for. A group of thugs surrounded a wiry and scruffy coyote, their leader handling the business at hand.

"You think I don't know who you are, Chevalier?" The old dog gave a toothy grin, "You've got a pretty price on your head. I know some officers on Macbeth who would be willing to look the other way on some important transactions in return for your arrest."

"You mean to tell me you sent me halfway across Lylat for some stupid jewels just so you could take me in?" The coyote rolled his eyes with a sneer, "If you wanted to see me that badly, you could have just asked."

"All part of the plan." The man barked a laugh, "You just fell perfectly into it."

"Well, I hate to throw a wrench in this flawless plan of yours, but if you turn me in, you lose my services in your future endeavors." He scoffed.

"Don't overestimate your worth, Antoine. There are plenty of hired hands who can do your job. And cheaper too. You did good work for a while, but you're now more useful to me behind bars. It's just the way this business works. You understand. Oh, but don't worry." He grinned, "We'll take care of the kid for you. He's in good hands."

Fury sprang through Antoine, and he lashed out. His clenched fist swiftly collided with the dog's jaw, and a flurry of fists and boots came down on him in response. Flashes of color ran through his vision as he was beat back down, and when they let up, he was a crumpled heap on the gritty steel flooring.

"It's too bad." The old dog sighed, pulling out a blaster from its holster at his side, "I was planning to turn you in, let you live out your days in some prison nicer than your own house." Antoine heard the hum of the battery cell as it powered up, "But they didn't say they need you alive. And you've officially tried my patience."

Panic surged through the boy watching above, and without hesitation, he leapt down from the catwalk.

"STOP!"

Blood roared in his ears as he landed on the man with the gun and rolled aside with him. He heard the blaster fire off a round, but it simply left a scorch mark on the wall behind Antoine. He remembered the shocked looks on the faces of his now former colleagues. The fall should have broken his legs at best, but he had survived it. There was a flurry of frantic shouting as he curled himself protectively around Antoine, who could only groan weakly. Gunfire rattled off metallic barrels. There was a flash of blinding light, and then there was nothing.

 

CHAPTER 1 (ONE MONTH LATER)

---

Zefran bobbed his head serenely to the electric beat streaming to his ears through the wireless headset pressed to his temples. The adolescent ginger-furred cat's tail swayed gently to and fro as he stood patiently in the crowded monorail. People from all walks of life pressed in close, each wrapped up in their own little worlds. He tried to imagine what each person was doing with their day, painting a picture of lives so vastly different from his own. He caught the eye of a schoolgirl his age and smiled, but her unimpressed laugh as she turned to talk to her friend only left him embarrassed and disappointed.

Turning his attention to the monitor above, his eyes widened at the news reel on display. The female anchor was giving some kind of commentary on a surveillance clip. He was on TV! Quickly fumbling with the nodules on his headset, he turned it to the frequency of the monitor.

"-ens. This footage from an abandoned Zoness outpost has turned heads with what appears to be something out of a fairy tale. While little is known about the altercation taking place, you can clearly see what appears to be wings spring from the young man's  back before the footage cuts out. This eerie footage has taken social media by storm, and many are commenting that this boy in the clip has striking similarities to the fictional race, Katheeri. Investigators are reluctant to jump to this conclusion and are focused more on the altercation itself, in which they have identified several wanted criminals. Could the Katheeri be real and among us? Not likely, but that doesn't answer the question of what exactly happened on Zoness."

Zefran gulped, carefully looking around. No one so much as blinked, and he breathed a small sigh of relief. It would take a lot more than that to raise suspicion. And thanks to the holo-emitter concealed in the pocket of his hoodie, he could move about freely under the guise of a regular cat.

His phone buzzed in his jeans pocket, and he pulled it out to see a text that simply read "Home. NOW."

Zefran rolled his eyes. Antoine had seen the news as well. He would come back, but when he was good and ready. He hardly ever got the chance to go out, and he wasn't going to waste it. The monorail slowed to a stop, and he got off when the doors slid open. Buying a pack of licorice and a bottle of cream soda from the vending machine at the station, he switched his music back on, left the station and walked out into Corneria's world-famous Memorial Park.

[Sylono]

One way or another, this man would be dead, Shepherd would see to that. For roughly three months he had eluded the Cerinian, in that time he'd narrowly escaping his with his life by the sacrifice of another, or simply positioning himself where she wouldn't be able to reach him without serious consequences. The vixen had to thank the stars that her handler had been patient enough with her less than stellar progress so far, either the target in question made a habit of eluding the other operatives before, or Shepherd's last run in with the man with a death warrant was the closes enough to inspire one last act of confidence.

Whatever the reason, the cerinain clone discarded those thoughts, the answer didn't matter now. Pulling to a curb in front of an old building, Shepherd stepped out and took a moment to examine the place. It was a hotel that would never stand up to code, by all accounts it should probably have been demolished, but it had one thing that gave it value, at least to those historically inclined.

Underneath the building was a bunker, made during the Lylat war in preparation for an invasion of the Cornarian city, maybe even before, whatever. 

To Shepherd this place would be a tomb when she left. 

Shutting the vehicle door behind her, the vixen waltzed up to the building and tested the door. Not locked and by the lack of any noticeable clicks or twangs, it wasn't booby trapped either.

Was he mocking her or was this a mistake born of desperation?

Slowly, she let herself in and closed the door. The inside seemed worse than it's exterior, water damage and an age of abandonment took their toll, add the evidence of vermin she was seeing and this place would seem a good spot to duck in and hide from whoever was hunting you.

Shepherd allowed herself a smirk.

Assuming you weren't being hunted by a Cerinian.

---

Finally reaching the last fleet of stairs into the basement she immediately investigated the sturdier metal corridor, here too age had given it's unfair treatment, with barely functioning lights that gave the hallway an eerie feeling which made the vixen shiver. She turned a corner and heard an audible juicy bite, immediately she turned and faced what ever had made that noise.

She immediately recognized the figure standing in the dim light as her target, a weasel, she never had a name to the face she'd been hunting all this time. The bastard had enough close calls with her that she'd have his smug look burned to memory, now? Now he just seemed shocked.

The two froze, each waiting for the other to act first. Shepherd drew her blaster, only to receive a face full of the fruit that the weasel had been eating, but the foolish move worked well enough that the best the vixen could do was fire blindly in the man's direction and retreat around a corner.

After a quick wipe down of her face, Shepherd raised her weapon, ground her teeth and doubled her efforts to now avenge her hurt pride.

Giving chase had become a ritual at this point between the two, but if she'd have her way today, it would be the last time. Eventually Shepherd heard the weasel's running stop, followed by a loud metal on metal clang. When she had finally reached the source, she groaned.

A large, and presumably thick metal door stood between her and the weasel. It seemed he was still intent on putting obstacles in her way, though, this time however rather than frustrating smug sense of victorious satisfaction she could sense fear. If she had the time she might have taken a moment to revel in it, the vixen had already had wasted enough time hunting the mustelidae down, chances are her handler was running out of patience.

"I wonder what last ditch effort he has waiting on the other side." Shepherd muttered to herself as she reached for the second weapon she had hidden under her clothing, a photon blade. The second of the two hummed to life, and she jabbed the weapon into the side of the door, with explosives being a bit too audibly noticeable (that and she certainly didn't trust the hotel above to not come down on her head) she'd have to melt her way in.

A couple minutes in, it was proving to be an arduous task... just then, her efforts were interrupted by beeping. Reaching to her belt, she unhooked her communicator and grumbled as she fiddled around with the thing before finally hitting 'accept transmission'. A small holo-gram came of a wolf through.

"Shepher-" The wolf on the other end began, but his greeting was cut short by a very impatient vixen.

"I only need a few moments longer, leash, you're less than a minute away from the news you desire." Sure, it was a tiny bit of an exaggeration, but what he didn't know, didn't hurt him.

She could always fake a bad signal.

"You have him?! Then fin..." The canine stopped himself, then with a shake of his head he recomposed himself "Damn it, no, you're being reassigned."

Shepherd fixed the holo-projected wolf with a glare, reassigned? She was taking care of a loose end on his behalf, a job she wasn't being payed for, all those nights eating the disgusting fauna on Titania, that shivering cold that was Fichina and that near suicide trap that was Sargasso all to be put back on damn milk runs and local bounty contracts? 

"Ridiculous." Shepherd snarled, "There's a merely door between he and I, that slippery rat faced turncoat has practically soiled himself and you want me to-"

Her rant of frustration was cut short by a growl from the wolf on the other end.

"Yes! Er... No, of course I don't want you let the bastard live, this is..." The wolf, 'leash' as Shepherd called him,  "This takes priority, an order directly from the Matriarch herself."

At that, the vixen went quiet.

"Your position isn't secure enough for me to give you a debriefing, I've known that weasel long enough to know better, I'll send you an encrypted file." She was only half paying attention to what the man was saying, if he noticed, he wasn't saying anything. "As for him, I'll have someone else on him."

Shepherd mumbled out a partially aware 'goodbye' in response to whatever he said after that. The Matriarch had given her a direct order, this was something big for a clone like Shepherd, she wasn't near trusted enough to engage with anyone but her leash, and possibly a single exchange of words between her and the leash's... uh, leash? To have the Matriarch select her, even if it was simply because she was the only one available (which... not that she'd admit it, wasn't an unlikely story.), was an honor among her siblings.

Oh, just how much she wanted to gloat right now. Taking one last look at the door, the fox sighed at the anti-climactic nature of this assignment, then made her way out while examining the file. Her pride in her own selection for service deflated significantly.

"Oh, how wonderful, I've been promoted to myth chaser."

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

Pawel did not even know about Sandoval's until his sister told him about it last week. She claimed that their food truck had the best roast beef sandwich in all of Memorial Park. Now, Pawel was indeed skeptical, since many food trucks could be found in the largest park in all of Corneria City, and many of them served sandwiches. But as he walked away from the eight credit sandwich, he took a bite, and instantly turned from skeptic to believer.

"This is drugs," he said to himself. He continued eating, and glanced up at a massive telescreen overlooking a portion of the park. This was intended for people within it to breaking news or simply to entertain them. However, on this occasion, the telescreen showed news. News about an incident on Zoness. News about a possible sighting of the mythological Katheeri. Pawel stared at the screen, eating and walking, paying no heed to the young cat he was about to bump into.

"Oh shit, sorry," he said as he collided with the feline.

[Tiger Carson]

"So much for reliable news." Hawk said as he watched the screen in Memorial Park with the rest of his team while standing under a tree with his arms crossed.  He was wearing civilian clothes which consisted of a green t-shirt, blue jeans, and boots at the moment, as they weren't on a call. "You'd think that such a reputable source would be above spreading rumors."

"Just because it's a myth, doesn't mean that it should be ignored." Tiger replied to the bird, relaxing on a towel in the grass.  He was wearing a red t-shirt with blue jeans, and a pair of brown hiking boots. "Besides, you never know what it could lead to.  It's the job of investigative reporters to be talking about anything unusual."

"He's right, Hawk." Zera, who was wearing a purple halter top, with green knee length shorts and a pair of red boots, and laying on her stomach on a towel next to her brother to let the sun warm her orange striped back, said to Hawk. "Things have been quiet lately, other than the odd bit of criminal activity here and there.  This could be some good activity for us all, assuming we're on the short list."

"I doubt Star Fox would be called in for myth chasing." Jeena, who was wearing a purple sports bra style shirt, purple jeans, and white sneakers, added.  She was sitting on a bench with Kola and Copper. "Though I don't think we'd be called in to deal with this either.  We're kind of above myth chasing, I'd rather spectate and see what comes up."

"I dunno." Kola, who was wearing a white tank-top, yellow shorts, and blue sneakers said. "I've been hearing some grumblings in the spy community that the CDF is getting pretty interested in this."

"Well, Generally Pepper could send out those who are of a low profile." Copper, who was wearing his flight uniform, but with a trench coat and a fedora, said. "I kind of know the old dog.  If the CDF doesn't go for it, someone will.  Which is enough reason for the CDF to send a low profile team.  Which, we do qualify.  But I seriously do doubt we, of all teams, would be chosen.  We've been doing escort missions for five months straight."

"A perfect reason for us to be getting some different action." Tiger said, "I'm getting tired of going on escort missions and chasing down drug lords and war criminals." That was when he got a beep from his phone which he then pulled out of his pocket, and looked at the screen. "Well, speak of the devil." He then put it up to his ear. "What is it General?" At this, everyone looked to Tiger, and spoke at once, "General?!"

"Yeah, uh huh." Tiger said as he listened to General Pepper's voice. "Yeah, uh, no, this line isn't exactly secure.  Let me get something to make it so." He then got up and walked over to their pile of bags, and he rifled through his bag. "Damn it, where is that thing?"

"It's in my bag." Zera said as she got up, walked over, and pulled out a holo communicator device that had a slot for a smart phone.  It was a device of her own design, and could be put onto a secure line of communications.

"Thanks sis." Tiger said as he put his phone into the slot, and a small holo screen of General Pepper popped up, with the rest of the team walking over, and crowding around a bit to get a good view.

"Star Tiger, is this line now secure?" General Pepper asked.  IT must have been important if the line was specifically requested to be made secure.  Tiger looked to Zera who gave a thumbs up.

"It is General." Tiger said, "What's this about?"

"I'm sure you no doubt have seen the news." General Pepper started, "We've been trying to keep it quiet until we could find a good team to investigate this.  It's probably nothing, hence why we didn't contact Star Fox, who are currently on the other side of the Galaxy on business.  But we still need someone to look into the Zoness incident."

"Great." Hawk said, "Bet you we were at the top of the list, huh?"

"Middle, actually." General Pepper admitted, which got a nasty looking scowl from Hawk as a response. "But you are one of the most reliable teams.  You'll be compensated for your efforts, whether this turns out to be nothing at all, or something of great import."

"Understood General." Tiger said, "We'll get started right away.  You have any leads for us to go on?"

"Just what the news has reported so far." General Pepper said, "Go to Zoness, and begin your search there.  Unless your ship has picked up any strange signals?"

"Not from what MARK says." Zera spoke, "He hasn't detected any strange energy emissions since about that time one month ago.  And even then, because we were on an escort mission at the time, he couldn't get a good beat on it.  So we had him dismiss it."

"If you still have it in your records, I would recommend going over it." General Pepper said, "It might contain some valuable clues, if you can narrow it down enough.  Right now, you have your orders, Star Tiger.  Good luck, may Lylat and Corneria guide you well."

"We'll be in touch, General." Tiger said as he and his team saluted, "Star Tiger, over and out." General Pepper saluted in return, and the transmission ended.

"That son of a bitch!" Hawk then burst out angrily. "Middle of the list?  The Macbeth damned middle?!"

"Hawk, stay calm." Tiger said, "We didn't get into anything huge like Star Fox has.  We weren't even a team during the Lylat Wars."

"Huh, well, I think this whole stinkin' situation is stupid." Hawk said with irritation. "Mythchasers, that's what we are?  I tell ya, if the Katheeri were real, I'd love to have one come right up to us and say hi.  I dare the fake race to do it!" The team simply shook their heads, letting Hawk rant a bit.  So much for a day to rest and relax.

(Props to Robert Monroe who came up with the Pantheon of Lylatian Gods head canon I used here.)

Edited May 26, 2017 by Tiger Carson

[Zaphyr Stone]

Zefran stumbled back a few steps as the dragon knocked into him. The string of red licorice hanging from his mouth fell out, and he crouched down to pick it up. 

"It's okay, I wasn't looking either." He mumbled, examining the candy with a shrug and popping it back into his mouth, "Five second rule."

His eyes widened as he got an actual look at the man. He had never seen anything like him before. Thick scales, massive leathery wings, how could he walk about so plainly? He felt a twinge of jealousy, but he was more curious than anything.

"What are you? Can I ask that?" He laughed to himself, "Guess I just did."

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

Pawel chuckled at Zefran's question, while he himself was recovering from the collision. Luckily, his roast beef sandwich was safe from both the ground and his clothes: a red and white biker jacket, grey t shirt, black jeans, and black boots, along with an ornate gold Ogniemite medallion with a ruby in the center. Pawel regained his composure.

"Well, I'm basically a dragon. My people call themselves Sclavs. Why, never seen one before?"

[Zaphyr Stone]

Zefran shook his head innocently, eyes round with curiosity.

"Where are your kind from?" He asked, completely forgetting he didn't know this man and probably shouldn't be engaging in deeper conversation with him.

He couldn't help himself. He felt starved for interaction, and Antoine was still giving him the silent treatment.

"...I tell ya, if the Katheeri were real, I'd love to have one come right up to us and say hi..." The young tom caught a piece of someone's rant nearby.

Not waiting for the dragon to answer, he smirked and waved his hand with a loud "Hello!"

There was no way they would believe him, and they would likely just brush him off as some idiot kid. He was fine with this. It would be his own inside joke. As long as he had his second skin, he was invisible.

[Tiger Carson]

Hawk looked towards the kid, and indeed, brushed him off. "Buzz off kid..." He said to the tom cat.

"That was kind of rude." Zera said to Hawk. "Just a kid being mischievous."

"And you think I'm in the mood for jokes?" Hawk asked with an irritated tone to his voice. "This whole job is a joke...  Might as well get on the trek, least we'll get paid..." Zera frowned and shook her head as the others did the same, beginning to pick themselves up, and pack up.

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

"Well, we're from..." Pawel was suddenly stopped by the feline going off on a tangent with another stranger. His statement soon trailed into nothingness.

"We're from Ruthenia," he said to himself.

[Kurt]

Sven rubbed his lightly bandaged forearm under his uniform as he exited the hospital. The implant had gone smoothly and they allowed him to leave to continue his daily duties, however he paused a moment in the lobby to see a report on the news, a supposed spotting of a mythical Katheeri.

"About as absurd as that race of hairless Apes." He heard a feminine voice behind him, the voice belongings to none other than Captain Owena "Now none of that Schutz." She stopped him before he could salute. "New orders." 

Sven opened up the yellow envelope and scanned over the paper. "How long do I have to get ready sir?" His eyes looked up from the paper for a moment 

"You leave in 10 minutes, report to the armory and grab your equipment." The rather short Whippet turned and began to walk away "Don't disappoint me Private."

[Dr. Orange]

Aleksandr exited one of the buildings near the park. A coffee shop on the base of a high rise close to the park. A stern scowl and a heavy sigh carried a coffee mug through the streets. Something was bothering him. It might have been his eye, he needed to run a debug on it. He was enjoying the day. It was not too hot, the place was lively. No one wanted to kill him. That all adds up to a bountiful day. He sat on a bench and savored his drink. He noticed someone bump into another and exchange some rude words. The nerve of some people he thought to himself. Oh but who doesn't love a little bit of conflict?

[Sylono]

While the new assignment was disappointing, Shepherd committed herself to exhausting all avenues and options available to her. Mainly to cover her own backside in the event that, however unlikely it was, the myth wasn't some falsified aftereffects movie magic nonsense.

Once out of the building and into her vehicle, the vixen took a moment to set her holo-com in a secure spot on the dashboard, swapped it's features to an on-board virtual intelligence and inputted instructions to alert her to any keywords on any insecure lines. Starting up the vehicle and finally taking off, Shepherd silently reasoned that she was probably not be the only operator of her organization to be working on this. That in mind, considering the covert nature of the organization, it was likely they weren't the only ones mobilizing bodies to investigate matters.

The Cerinian considered also keeping tabs on notable groups, perhaps piggyback on any successes they might stumble upon, ultimately deciding that if she had thought of it then someone else did as well and was already capitalizing on it. With half her attention on her driving, and the other shifting through a database of mercenary groups in the city (noting with some irritation, that her face wasn't among the listing), Shepherd hadn't realized she'd been absentmindedly following traffic, which was leading the fox toward memorial park.

[Zaphyr Stone]

Zefran snickered at Hawk's reaction, turning back to Pawel. "Sorry, I'm kind of all over the place today. I'm not used to seeing so many people in one place." He smiled sheepishly, "Anyway, I should go. Nice talking to you!"

He side-stepped around the dragon and made his way down the path again, coaxing another string of bright red licorice from its package.

From a bench nearby, a white wolf sat reading the paper. He had seemed particularly engrossed in his article until the ginger tom passed him, pale yellow eyes watching him carefully.

He watched Zefran make his way to a swing set at the empty playground and have a seat to enjoy his snack.

"He's here." The wolf murmured into an almost invisible earpiece hidden by his hair, "I can see it's him."

"Understood." A young feminine voice answered him, "Proceed with caution. You have a lot of people in your area. Don't make a scene."

"And when have I ever done that?" He chuckled.

"Do you want the long list or the short list?"

[Naza Sutera]

Amelia had just finished watching a video on her smartphone, a clip of the latest news story on Corneria Central News Network's on the network's YouTube page. She found the story interesting, but she was a woman of science, and didn't believe in fantastical things with out hard, damning evidence, despite her being an Anthropology major with lore of Katheeri being a part of her curriculum. But there was a twinge of interest in whether or not this was a hoax.

"...That kind of scientific breakthrough would change the concept of the universe as we know it," Amelia said absently

Her Uber driver though she was talking to him. "I'm sorry, what'd you say?" he asked, looking at her in his rear-view mirror.

"Oh, nothing, I'm just talking to myself." She looked out the window and saw that she was in The Square, a short ways away from Memorial Park. "You can stop here."

"Alright." The driver pulled over at the nearest pull-off to let Amelia out. She gave the driver a generous gratuity before exiting the compact hybrid car.

"Thank you!" she said before he pulled away.

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

Pawel shrugged off that encounter, rather taken aback by the abruptness of it all. He went to sit down at a nearby bench, finishing his roast beef sandwich and throwing out the container in a waste receptacle. He grumbled as he sat, suddenly reminded of a huge annoyance the day before. He glanced around, masking his anger beneath a stoic cloak of peace. His foot tapped against the ground in impatient ire. He suddenly began to loathe the environment around him.

A little boy with the blue balloon holding his golden retriever father's hand.

A husky officer of the Black Guards dressed in her resplendent uniform, with her beaver right hand man beside her, on patrol.

A raggedy-looking tykeriel, maybe fresh off the boat from the Magyar Empire.

The mutt lady stepping out of a car, phone in her hand.

Fucking yuppies, thought Pawel.

[Tiger Carson]

Hawk gave the kid the stink eye for chuckling at him, but decided not to pursue giving the kid any crap.  He wasn't worth it anyways, at least, Hawk believed so on appearances.  He then went to get his bag, which was the last one on the ground.  Each of them slung their bags over their shoulders, and began to head out of the park, just so happening to be heading Zef's way due to the fact their civilian vehicle was over in that direction anyways.

Each of them took notice of the people at the park, but for the most part, didn't pay them any mind.  Even the Ruthenian was ignored by them for the most part.  They simply had no reason to talk to anyone, unless some kind of trouble was to arise.

[Zaphyr Stone]

The white wolf tucked his paper under his arm, noting Zefran's location carefully. He only had one shot to do this right. Rising from the bench, he made his way slowly towards the swing set.

Zefran sat on a swing, enjoying the nice weather. He was given ample shade from a nearby tree, and the smooth electronic music calmed him. His phone buzzed again, and he pulled it out to see Antoine was now calling him. He groaned. It wasn't going to be a nice call. Tapping the receive button, he shook off his headset and brought the phone to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Where the hell are you, boy? Didn't you see me text?" Came a husky voice with a deep southern twang.

"I'm at the park. I wanted to walk around first." Zefran answered with a level tone.

"That's not how that works, Zef. When I say come home now, I mean come home NOW."

"Why are you being such a dick!?" Zefran hissed into his phone, "Nothing's happening! No one so much and blinks when I walk past. I'm fine!"

"Let me tell you something, boy!" Zefran winced as he raised voice rang through the receiver, "No one looks at you because of that damn holo-emitter I spent three bounties-worth on so you could enjoy the freedom you're takin' for granted! And I don't give a-"

He was suddenly cut off as a loud bang and noisy clattering muffled out angry shouting. His eyes went wide with worry.

"Antoine?" He mumbled, "Antoine! Damn it!"

He stuffed his phone back his pocket and launched off the swing to get back to him. He had been in such a rush of adrenaline, that he didn't see the white wolf until he ran into him, the force of the impact was strong enough to knock the device from his hoodie pocket and send it clattering on the gravel. The force was enough to dirsrupt it, and Zefran's disguise fizzled out to show a creature that was somewhat cat-like but vastly different otherwise.

The wolf stood stunned for a moment, clearly not expecting that. "So...that's how you were hiding."

"What?" He looked dazed and confused until he spotted the small device on the ground and flew into a panic. "Oh no, nononono!" He scrambled for the emitter and punched the buttons on the front. It merely buzzed defiantly in response, and he realized with growing fear he was attracting attention, more and more eyes burning holes in them as they tried to figure him out. It was beyond unsettling, and suddenly, all of Antoine's warnings came back to him. They were going to take him away. He would never see the sun again. He tried hard to push it aside. If he didn't hurry now, he wouldn't see Antoine again.

In a blind panic, he ran down the path disguise-free. Nothing else mattered right now.

"Hey!" The wolf called out to him with a frustrated growl.

[Tiger Carson]

Star Tiger took note of the scuffle, and saw the "cat's" holographic disguise be thrown off. "What in Fichina's name?.." was what came out of Hawk's mouth.  He saw it, but he wasn't believing it.  He then rubbed his eyes, and looked again. "I don't believe it..." Then the kid, who was clearly unlike any Lylatian they had seen, tore off in a sprint.  Tiger then started to go after him.

"That's not a normal Lylatian." Tiger said, "Move it, and keep an eye out for anyone who might try to do him harm.  We've got to get to him before someone else with no good intentions does!" The rest of the team started running as well, Jeena and Hawk being the only ones to still be gawking, neither one believing what they were seeing.  But Jeena was the first to give her head a shake, getting into the game.  She then looked to Hawk, and bopped his head.

"Come on, birdie, let's move!" She then darted off, with Hawk rubbing his head and running after.

"Y-yeah..." He said while bringing up the rear.

 

(Once again, referring to Fichina as a god head canon goes to Robert Monroe.  Will try to make sure to credit him when making reference to that head canon in the future.)

Edited May 26, 2017 by Tiger Carson

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

Pawel sighted the cat he bumped into once again, although this time he looked different. He looked like that things on the news earlier.

That Katheeri.

"Huh," uttered Pawel, somewhat perplexed. He then noticed a group of people run off towards the boy as he ran, who was in turn followed by a scruffy-looking guy. He easily recognized the group. "Star Tiger," he grumbled. "The stick is almost as far up their asses as Star Fox's." He shook his head. Leaning back, he debated whether to follow the kid to make sure he was safe or not.

"Don't do it Pawel," he said to himself. "It's just gonna get worse for you." After a few moments of sitting completely still, he suddenly bolted up. "Goddamn..." He got up and broke into a sprint. However, he was far behind the ridiculous cadre of pursuers, and needed a speed boost. He found one from a bicycle a child was riding on.

"Hey, kid!" yelled Pawel, stopping in front of the child. "How much does your bike cost?"

"200 credits. What's it to you?" asked the child. Pawel pulled out his wallet and unleashed 300 credits.

"I'll give you 300 creds for it," said Pawel.

"Deal!" replied the child elatedly. He got off. Pawel mounted it, and sped towards the Katheeri.

[Naza Sutera]

Amelia threw away the wrapper to her spinach, mushroom, and grilled chicken piadina. She watched the news clip again on her phone as she walked, occasionally looking up to make sure she didn't accidentally bump into anyone.

"Strange sightings on Zoness leave investigators scratching their heads as the plot of this desolate world thickens."

Amelia smoothed her fringe bangs out of her eyes, watching and listening closely to the report. The anchorwoman continued.

"This footage from an abandoned Zoness outpost has turned heads with what appeared out of a fairy tale. While little is know about the altercation taking place, you can clearly see what appears to be wings spring from a young man's back before the footage cuts out."

Amelia's crystal blue eyes glittered as information reflected off of them, glued to the 8-inch handheld screen as she watched the video footage of something from the legends of civilizations long past. She was currently studying stories of a long lost race as a part of her curriculum. But it couldn't be real, could it?

Her brown high heeled knee-high boots, which had the legs of her dark skinny jeans tucked into them, clacked rhythmically as she walked. She came to an abrupt stop and looked up at a felid teen sitting on the swingset. Looking back down at her phone, she continued listening to the news story.

"This eerie footage has taken social media by storm, and many are commenting that this boy in the clip has striking similarities to the fictional race, Katheeri."

"Katherri," Amelia repeated, as if testing the word for validity.

It was getting a little toasty, so she took off her pinstripe A-line blazer, revealing a neat grey satin blouse which was layered by an Elizabethan-style corset. She flipped her long wavy tresses behind her shoulders and continued listening.

"Investigators are reluctant to jump to this conclusion and are focused more on the altercation itself--"

Amelia's attention was caught by a commotion that was happening not fifteen feet in front of her. The guy who was on the swings. He had run into a Wolven man and the impact made him drop a device. She was about to continue listening to the news report when something strange caught her attention. There was noise in the young man's appearance, as if he himself were an image you were trying to see through static on a TV screen. He picked up the device and fumbled with it. And then the image of a young felid teen in a hoodie disappeared, revealing an odd yet familiar appearance.

"What the fuck??" Amelia swore without thinking.

The young man made a run for it, with the Wolf man yelling angrily at him.

 

 

[Dr. Orange]

Aleksandr watched the scene from afar. He had just gotten back to his thinking, disappointed nothing came out of the transgression. Eye still bothering him, he tapped at it thrice to see if he could nudge it back into correct operation order. It didn't work but kept him occupied for the few seconds of bliss from the irritation. Then he heard the hiss of something fizzing out. With only one eye working he turned to see the sight before him. Legend. He watched eagerly as the unknown being frantically grabbed a device and ran away.

But the other, the Wolf, he looked uncanny familiar. But he was also an unknown to Alek. That bothered him more than the eye, who was he? Then he remembered his eye was out. Quickly he returned it into working-ish order and followed the pursuit. 

Then came the team running after the wolf and the kid on the bike. "Ok Ok, getting a little more interesting." he thought.

He watched the collection run off down the walk. He just stood to watch, flagged down a taxi, and with a "Follow those misfits." He was off.