Well this is the first chapter of a hopefully 10-12 chapter long story. I will try to get chapters up every one to two weeks, and will try to keep a minimum length of at least 3000 words per chapter. I... do not really have much to say about the story itself; first time I have ever uploaded something of this length, or a chapter of an unfinished story, so I suppose I am a little nervous. X3

Anyways, please tell me what you think, and if you have constructive criticism please tell, because this story is meant to be a learning experience for me. :3 I want to make mistakes and learn from them.

So... without further rambling, please enjoy. :3



“Good morning Ash County, and what a fine morning it is,” a masculine voice bellowed out from the old CRT TV, bursting through the soft electric hum. “Don’t you agree Stacy?”

“It sure is nice Liam. That summer mugginess is blowing away, and here to tell us more is Cindy with the weather.”

“Thanks Stace! Yep, it’s been one warm summer but things are finally beginning to cool down. Countywide we will be seeing temperatures in the high 70s, though Greenburgh will be in the low to mid 80s. Breezes up to seven miles per hour should help cool them off though,” Cindy’s chipper voice spoke out.

The dark furred figure laying in, or more on, their bed opened her eyes just in time to see the screen transition back to Liam and Stacy, a tiger and red squirrel respectively. She smiled at their familiar, friendly faces as they smiled back at her as per the morning routine. Whatever they were saying now was a blur as the black furred individual swung her legs off her mattress and put her paws to the ground. She looked down to the comforter she sat on; it was too hot to sleep under it, but at least didn’t need to make the bed.

Rising off the bed, she stretched her arms upwards to greet the brand new day. The stretch only served to remind her of the stiffness in her back and in her crotch, both of which she tried to push out of mind. ‘No time to worry about a bad bed or things I can’t control,’ she told herself, and reluctantly shuffled into her bathroom. After popping in her shower token she put the water as cold as it would go and stepped in.

After the cold shower had calmed her nerves, among other things, she finally stepped in front of the mirror to see the project she had to deal with today. In the fogless mirror she clearly saw a black panther face looking back at her. This gal did not look so bad, she thought; ‘Sure, a big nose… slightly disconcerting magenta eyes… big fangs… few whiskers are too long, no, I’d like me if I met me. I’d trust me,’ she said to herself, dragging her finger over each finger as she did. Though, then she sadly had to move her finger upwards.

She dragged her finger along the ridged surface of one of the symmetrical large black ram horns that protruded from her head on either side. Even with her whole body being black, the horns stuck out in their darkness compared to her charcoal fur. Like every morning, she tried to brush her long black hair to cover them, but they were so big the tops still showed.

‘Guess it’s another hat day. Really hope that my volumizing shampoo kicks in soon,” she told herself as she exited her bathroom, back into her living and bed room.

She approached her portable closet and after unzipping the canvas door spotted exactly what she wanted: a gray skirt suit with yellow shirt. Once she was dressed and her unmentionables were tucked away so as not to disrupt the flow of her skirt, she smiled to herself. She thought the outfit was pretty on its own, but the light and warm colors worked together to make her blackness more of a highlight.

She grabbed her purse, stood alert, and looked at herself in her vanity mirror. All that was left was the final touch. She looked at her multitude of hats hanging on the wall, and selected a wide brimmed yellow hat, something looking like it was out of an older time, and plopped it onto her head. There. She straightened her drying hair and gave herself an affirmative nod.

‘Look at that. I don’t see a Qereshim, nope: I just see a regular panther, like any other person,’ she complimented herself, though let out an annoyed grunt when her hair disobediently split around her hors. ‘That shampoo can’t work fast enough,’ she muttered with a sigh.

Taking one last look at the single room that contained everything she owned, she flipped off the TV, and exited into the mild morning air. Taking a big whiff of the air, smelling the many trees, still green despite the oncoming Fall, she sighed and carefully trotted down the creaky stairs to the parking lot, and then to the bus stop.

‘It’s going to be a good day. I look fine, and I’ll do just fine. Nothing to worry about, I have this. It’s going to be a good day.’

~
Even as she lifted hefty boxes filled with donations, the horned panther smiled; despite her ears being covered by her hat, she could clearly hear the sound of children playing inside the church. Even if she had to move boxes from the clean white sidewalk to the back of an impatient raccoon’s truck, she could not help but let her eyes drift to the window near the front of the church, allowing view into a small sitting room. Her eyes quickly fell on the source of the noise: a group of around six children all playing together on the top of a table, the tallest of them barely being three inches tall. The panther let out a sigh of contentment at the scene.

The children were kicking a black and white checkered ball around a soft white doily, in deep contrast with the cherry wood table that it resided on. It was almost hard to keep up with the white ball on the white surface, especially from so far away. But even if it was hard to tell who was winning, not that the panther knew what game they were playing anyways, the children were easy to watch.

The horned panther’s eyes were in constant motion, zipping from child to child as they ran, kicked, dived, and sometimes even used their heads to bounce the ball and keep it in play. At every single laugh, giggle, and squeak of excitement made the smile on her face grow, becoming almost a grin.

The cardboard box of donated clothing almost slacked in her black paws during the moment, but she regained her grip in a jolt once the little ball flew off the round table. What happened now? Who was going to get the ball? How could they even get to the ground to retrieve the ball? Perhaps, I should get it, she figured. Her eyes widened at the possibility, but before she could even set the repurposed computer box down a red fox in a long black skirt and white blouse came into view to save the game.

Even as the game was saved, the panther could not keep her ears from drooping down. The disappointment was short lived, because once the church fox turned away from the children, she and the panther locked eyes. When the sister gave her a soft smile, she was not able to hold on to any negative feelings, and just returned the smile. At least the game was saved.

“This would go a lot faster if you would help me, y’know,” the raccoon growled as he had already loaded several hefty donation boxes into the trailer of his truck. The panther instantly stood alert.

“Oh, my apologies sir! I was just, uhm, sorry,” she sputtered out, hurriedly moving the box she was holding into this raccoon’s truck. She repeated the process for the few remaining boxes that the worker had not gotten himself while she was slacking. “Really, sorry about that, but thank you very much for coming here to pick up these donations; I hope they, uhm, are helpful,” she added, showing a smile that might have been sheepish if it has shown less of her fangs.

An unimpressed “Mmhmm” was all she got in return as the coon sealed the trailer and left, leaving the charcoal furred woman coughing in a cloud of fumes. She waved her dark paw in front of her face as she huddled over, trying to get back the floral and oak scented air she previously had.

“You don’t see many of those old trucks here on the North side. I’m surprised he’s even allowed to drive that south of the tracks,” came a warm voice from behind the panther. Performing a quick 180, she got her grin back again as her eyes took in a middle aged snow leopard standing there.

“Father Alpine!” the one with more black fur exclaimed as she rushed in for a hug. Her long, slender tail rose up, curving at the point between her shoulder blades when she felt him hug back. “I didn’t know you would be back already; I wish you would have called,” she said with eyes of playful accusation.

“Now Marianna, I’ve been back less than a day; surely you have more to do than talk with me. I should be asking you what you’re doing here: first day off training, and you’re here moving boxes?” he asked, setting his eyebrows low and together, almost becoming a single black unibrow on his white forehead.

“W-well I was just stopping by on my way to the Benefits Office; I mean, it’s on the way. And Sister Gabby is busy with the children, and Brother-“

“But the pick-up man didn’t need help at all, it was his job,” Alpine interrupted. He let go of Marianna and looked her in the eye, rubbing a hand on his paling black chin.

“W-well… a-after saying hi to the Sister and Brother, I noticed him noticing me and… w-well I wanted to help,” she meeped out at his sternness. Despite being the bigger blacker feline was shrinking back from him.

He let out a small sigh, but gave a comforting smile. “You’re a kind person Marianna, but that doesn’t mean you can win them all,” he soothed. His minty eyes fell onto his watch, making him add “you’re pushing this mighty close, you should go. We can talk after scripture study on Wednesday.” He patted her shoulder with his salt and peppery hand.

While his reassurance soothed her, the time hit her like a ton of bricks. “Goodness, you’re right. Yes, I’ll see you then Father, thank you,” she said, and with a smile, took off into a confident power walk. ‘Alright, I can do this.’

“Take care, Marianna,’ he called out from behind her. But moments later her ears flicked around backwards to catch his voice again. “Oh! Just making sure: will still Sequoia be joining us this Sunday?” He called out louder as Marianna ambled padded away.

Marianna’s foot did not land on the red brick street properly as her body tightened. With an awkward hop she caught herself before she tumbled. After an internal sigh at her safety, she yelled back “Maybe! We’ll see!” see over her shoulder and continued; she went from a plod to a fast trot.

~
First day, first customer! Well I guess they would not really be a costumer, because this was not a restaurant or store of any kind. Possibly the word would be client, but it is not like I am their case manager, Marianna thought to herself as she eagerly awaited helping her first person by herself. She straightened all of the papers on her desk into neat little stacks, put her refillable bottle of water under her desk, and made sure all of the pictures attached to her cubicle walls were straight and easily viewable. The tip of her tail twitched as she heard the sounds of footsteps coming towards her specific little three and a half walled structure in this large room.

A pair of large black antlers rose over the wall of the cubicle, and a hulking male elk entered through the doorway, taking a seat when the surprised panther gestured to the chair. The plastic and metal creaked under his weight, and his black fur shown in dark contrast to the tan cubicle walls. A meaty hand came down to the table, presenting a medical application.

“O-oh, uhm, good morning sir! How are you?” Marianna asked after managing to shake her shock at seeing such a large horned person. Not that he exactly had horns, she noted, but his antlers were of a dark color and similar texture to one of their horns. She wondered if that made it easier, not being as different as the rest.

“I was laid off from my factory job in South side. I’m not well,” the elk spoke in a deep, gruff tone. He used two of his thick digits to shove the application towards the panther, eyes narrowing in impatience. “I need to apply for medical benefits.”

“Oh, well, sure thing sir,” Marianna said with as much of a smile as she could muster. She took the paper and looked over the many small boxes filled in; she found it hard to read his handwriting. Must be those big paws. Still, pulling up the appropriate page on her computer, she began copying his information down. Every time the dark elk tapped, or slammed, his finger into the desk Marianna jerked and started typing faster.

“I don’t understand why I need to be here for this,” he said in an even deeper voice, staring down the ever speeding up panther.

“W-well, we just need you to s-sign several forms to verify some i-information for us is all, it’ll only take a moment,” she stammered, typing as fast as possible without making spelling errors. Her thick black claws hit the keys with a noticeably loud “clack.”

“What a waste of time. You government lackeys keep calling me back down here for more and more god damned petty things. Trying to make it as hard as possible for us aren’t you?” He provoked, leaning closer to the desk and practically casting a shadow over Marianna.

“I-I’m sorry that you’re experiencing difficulties sir, but I can assure you it’s nothing intentional,” she squeaked. She internally praised god when she was finished typing, and quickly reached to her printing, snatching up the forms it produced and handing them to the Elk. “O-okay, just signature and date on each of these, and you should be receiving notice of your acceptance into the program within seven business days.” She managed to stop shaking in her boots and smile again.

“Tch, heard that one before,” he growled, scribbling his messy mark on all three pages. Without waiting for confirmation, he rose to back to his intimidating height, and left the cubicle, calling back with a snarky “see you in two weeks.”

Once he was gone, Marianna let out the huge pocket of air she forgot she was keeping in her chest. She grabbed her bottle of water and took a greedy gulp, and leaned over her desk, rubbing her temple. It was too soon to already have an unhappy customer or client. She didn’t have much time to collect her thoughts before she was informed via intercom she had another visitor. Straightening her pretty hat to make sure her ears were still covered, she sat alert. Surely things would go up hill from here, right?

~

To be fair, the day actually did get progressively better from there. It did not get astoundingly better, but it still got better. The wave of people after the elk applying for their benefits who Marianna helped were all at least a bit better. From disgruntled middle aged women to kindly old people, the panther had to deal with a wide variety of people, but at the least each one was politer than her initial charge. She noted that, unlike the first person, each of them was normal, and wondered if that meant something. Hopefully he was just unhappy with his situation.

Lunch time could have gone a bit better, Marianna noticed. The other employees that shared her lunch time were all too busy to eat lunch with her, which was a little disappointing, but it was not the first time she ate lunch by herself. Though she did catch herself wondering why exactly everyone was so simultaneously busy at a time when you take a break.

The day slowed considerably post lunch, which was not a terrible thing since it allowed Marianna to file some paper work on some previous charges. It’d been almost an hour since her last visitor, and just before her shift ended before she was buzzed about another person coming. She lazily neatened her desk as she waited for the person to enter… and nothing happened. At ten minutes the panther began to worry, biting her black lip and wondering if she did wrong when-

“Sorry I’m late! Think I could get a hand?” A quiet, sort of high pitched voice called out from… somewhere.

Marianna’s eyes scanned her cubicle, looking all around before they settled there on the floor, not terribly far from her desk chair, amidst the cheap blue carpet stood a micro arctic fox waving up at her. The panther’s purple eyes expanded as she took in the sight: scanning over her smiling face, noting the pretty contrast between her white fur, black leggings, and red dress and hat, not to mention the fact that she stood at only three and a half inches tall, Marianna guessed.

“Heehee, are you okay up there? Cat got your tongue? Then again you are a cat and you have your own tongue so I guess so,” she brought the black pads of her white paws to her face covered her mouth as she giggled at her own joke. Marianna snapped to attention and smiled herself.

“My apologies miss, I should have been paying more attention. U-uhm, and sure, just…” she trailed off, setting her hand down on the ground, palm upwards. She was prepared to see the micro recoil, but was surprised to see her instantly climb into her palm instead. The goofiest of grins spread on the panther’s face, which she had to use her free hand to cover. Showing a micro all your teeth can not be a good way to start a dialogue.

As she very slowly lifted the fox away from the ground, she could not help but just be amazed at this moment. Her body was so light it did not even weigh her hand down. Her black leggings felt so incredibly soft against her own black pads. Best of all was that smile plastered on the little fox’s face. She wished she could make the moment last longer, but it would probably get creepy if she did, so she slowly sat her hand on her desk, where the white one disembarked.

“Woo, thank you for the lift ma’am. I don’t think I coulda bared climbing up here after that walk,” the almost pure white fox said with a tail swish.

“W-wait, you had to walk all the way here? But that’s so wrong, you’re supposed to be escorted. How can they expect-“

“Oh no, it’s nothing like that ma’am! The man at the front desk was busy with a grumpy Gus, and rather than interrupt him I said I’d walk. I just underestimated the distance,” she giggled with the slightest of blushes able to be seen through her white fur.

“O-oh, sorry, heh. I just worried that, well, it’s my first day here, and I am not really sure how my employees are about… this sort of thing,” she awkwardly explained. She moved her hands to her keyboard, fingers finding their home keys after a few attempts. “So, what can I do for you today, Miss Sorenson?” She asked while swiping her eyes to the screen now and then to make sure it was right. It was not written in entirely familiar characters.

“Oh, you can call me Leah. I think the only time anyone calls me ‘Miss Sorenson’ is if I’m in trouble,” she said with a small hand wave. “But, I’m just here to file my application for financial aid at Greenburgh City College for the upcoming year,” she spoke proudly, standing on the desk with her arms confidently on her hips.

“Filing for financial aid… isn’t that something you would do at the school itself?” Marianna asked and raised an eyebrow.

“W-well…” Leah started, bring her hands in front of her to twiddle her fingers as her pride was replaced self-consciousness. “See, I sort of… waited until the last minute, and the financial aid office is closed now. I’m also too small to use the drop box, and my lappy’s in the shop. Soooo, this is kind of my last resort for getting the application in their inbox by today… yeah, I messed up,” she admitted, almost getting even smaller with each word.

“Aw, well, it happens to all of us. I forgot to attach the Student Information Form and didn’t realize it until last week,” she chuckled and looked over the application already sent to her computer b the front desk. “Well this should be easy. Are you certain everything is there?” She moved her eyes back down to the fox on her desk. She did not even stand as tall as the cup holding her pencils. So precious.

“Of course everything’s in order! This is my first time ever going to college, and I can’t mess it up! Minus the part where I messed up a little today,” she beamed, and moved in to better see the screen. “Yeah, like, really all you have to do is attach it and send it I guess… I’m sorry I’m making you do something so silly, I just didn’t have any other choice,” she apologized, moving rather close to Marianna and leaning into her forearm to better see.

Marianna’s ears perked up at the sudden contact, and she was happy she brought her hat, because the insides of her ears were becoming mighty red. “It’s really no problem at all, Leah. My job is helping those that need help, and this counts in my book. Here we go,” she said, following the fox’s instructions and attaching it to an email, writing who it was for, and sending it. She smiled, and signed out of the computer. “My shift is over, so… would you, uhm, like a ride back out to the f-front?” She asked awkwardly, trying to keep her face composed.

“Oh, I’d love that! I’ve done enough walking today,” the fox giggled, and promptly got back into the panther’s hand before even being prompted. “A friend said he’d pick me up from the coffee place next door. Could you drop me off there, please?” She asked while sitting on the black pad, preparing for movement.

“S-sure,” Marianna purred sheepishly. She was more focused on making the ride as comfortable as possible. Picking a micro up for a moment is one thing, but walking around with them? What if she made it too bumpy? Oh God, what if she dropped her? Instant regret pumped through her veins as she stood and started carrying the fox. As she walked through the valley of cubicles she used her other hand to create a bowl of sorts, making taller walls to protect Leah. First day, there is NO way I will hurt my first micro, she reasoned.

Leah seemed perfectly content at least, which made Marianna less tense. Just sitting in the padded panther paws, she peered over the edge, her tail thumping. Marianna wondered if it was because she was seeing things at a much taller perspective, but found it adorable either way.

“So you’re going to GCC to?” Lean finally broke the silence, tilting her head backwards to look up to the panther’s face.

“Hmm? Oh, yes I am. It will be my first semester of college too. When I was, uhm, a bit younger, I had to get a job, so I did not have the time to go, but I’m finally ready now,” she whispered down to the micro, resisting the urge to give her a pet with her thumb.

“Oh wow, that’s cool! I hope we get some classes together or something,” Lean squeaked up, before just leaning into one of the sides of the makeshift hand bowl she was in. But suddenly something jolted her awake, at about the time Marianna reached the exit. “Oh my goodness! I can’t believe how rude I was. I got so distracted I… no, no excuse. So, what I should have asked before, what is your name, ma’am?”

Upon reaching the exit, Marianna used her shoulder too push it open, keeping her hands as steady as possible. She smiled softly as she stepped into the evening light. “Please don’t be hard on yourself, you had to walk God knows how long, I would have forgot too. But my name is Marianna, and it is nice to meet you.”

“Well, even if it took me too long to say it, it’s great to meet you too, Marianna. I hope we see each other at college,” she said cheerfully.

“Heh, me too.”

~

Marianna entered her apartment that night, flipping on the lights first thing, trudging to the kitchen like attachment to the living room and putting the groceries from the hefty bags into her fridge and pantry. It was an alright day, she thought. Sure work has its downs, but it ended on a high note. The rest of the time after work was not particularly exciting either, she supposed, but she wouldn’t let that get her down.

Tossing the empty paper bags into a cupboard, she padded across the room, stripping down to her bra and panties. It was still pretty warm, but not oppressively so like most of the summer. Still too hot to wear much to bed, she reasoned as she flipped off the lights. Or go under the covers, she thought as she crashed down onto the squeaky frame, her six foot frame making the bedframe protest the drop.

She lay in the absolute stillness and darkness for just a minute, before fumbling for her remote, and flipping the television on. Sighing to herself, she nuzzled into her pillow and closed her eyes as the room become just a bit less black and quiet.

“Good evening everyone! Welcome to the Really Late Show. We got a really good show today. Fresh from the set of our award winning television series… I mean our OTHER award winning television series is…”