AN: I BLAME MONSTERMONSOON FOR MAKING ME FEEL INSPIRED!
Behold the "Feral AU" where everything is sent in a zoo and all the main cast are now animals because it sounds cool! Please note that the "cover" for this story, or whatever you call the image that goes with the fic, was also drawn by MonsterMonsoon! (They have really good art!)
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The tiny rabbit felt her heart pound in her chest as she scampered back and forth, desperately searching for the familiar brown hair that belonged to her owner amongst the dozens of other humans. Feet hit the stone pathway and she was forced to dodge in order to avoid getting trampled on.
Several times the purple top hat, hand crafted by her wonderful owner, nearly fell off her head, but she managed to catch it every time, fixing it and then going back to her search.
Unfortunately for the terrified creature it was only getting busier as time went on, making it more and more difficult to find the person she was looking for. From what she understood the popular zoo would be closing soon, which meant she had very little time to locate her owner before it was too late.
Please, I don't want to be here all alone! It's too loud and scary!
A startled shriek broke the air, startling her out of her thoughts, and she looked up and met the terrified eyes of a human woman.
"IT'S A RAT!" The woman yelled, quickly backing away from the, now offended, rabbit.
The tiny creature was so caught up in her anger that she did not notice the approaching shoe until it was almost too late. The sound of wind moving snagged her attention and she turned around just in time to narrowly avoid the kick that would have sent her flying. She yelped and scrambled backwards, tripping over her ears as she tried to escape. The man who had tried to hurt her seemed to be winding up for another kick, so she did the only thing she could do in this situation.
She ran.
The young rabbit sprinted to the nearby bushes, practically throwing herself into them once she got close enough. She panted and whimpered, tears building up in her soft blue eyes. Why, why did everything have to go wrong?
She did not mean to get separated from her owner! All she wanted to do was look at the weird animals in the cages, but now she was lost and alone!
Another soft sob escaped the fluffy creature as she curled herself up into a ball, whimpering as she tried to hide from the loud, scary world outside the bush. Suddenly a soft, familiar sound made its way over to her hiding place.
Wait, what was that?
Her ears shifted as she tried to focus on the distinct noise that had caught her attention. It was hard to pick it out with all the background chatter going on, but eventually she heard the noise again.
It was coming from outside of the bush...
The rabbit let out a huff, made sure her hat was still sitting on her head, and cautiously approached the leafy barrier. Once she got close to it she pushed her way through and looked around, trying to figure out where the noise had come from.
This time when she heard it she realized it was a shout. Her head snapped to the left as she tried to figure out just who was shouting, and why it sounded so familiar.
There!
Lo and behold off in the distance near the main gate the young rabbit spotted her owner. The young girl, with hair the same shade of brown as her fur, was being pulled towards the entrance of the zoo by her parents. Her mother was trying to console her as her father told her that they had to leave, but the child was having none of it.
"Hat Kit!" The girl cried out, looking back and forth as she desperately tried to find her pet. "Hat Kit!"
The rabbit, no longer caring about the danger she had previously been in, sprinted forwards, paws hitting stone once again as she raced to catch her owner before it was too late.
"I'm here!" She cried out, more than aware that her owner could not understand her but wishing that just for a moment the human could. "Please, don't leave me!"
However no matter how quickly she ran she could not seem to catch up to the fleeting figures in the distance. The family made their way through the entrance, one of the last groups to leave, and then the zoo guards sprang into action.
Seconds later the lights near the entrance went out, a sign that the zoo was now officially closed, and the heavy metal gate slowly swung closed.
She panted and tried to run faster. She could make it, she could make it-
Slam!
The gates were closed, and she was now all alone.
She did her best to stop, paws skidding and sliding across the stone path, but she tripped and nearly fell over. She stood back up and looked at the imposing darkness that now surrounded her, and the odd silence that had engulfed the zoo.
Sure she loved going on adventures in the forest near her home, exploring the landscape with her owner, but this was too much for the already frightened rabbit!
Hat Kit whimpered once again, trying to see if she could somehow squeeze under the gate that now blocked her path. Unfortunately due to the way it had been built there were spikes that pointed towards the ground, blocking any small creature that might want to try and get through.
Which meant she was trapped.
Hat Kit started crying.
She wailed and sobbed, curling up into a ball as the horrible situation set in. She was all alone in this stupid spooky zoo, and her owner was worried about her but worst of all she was alone-
"Why do you weep, little one?"
Hat Kit yelped and jumped up, bumping into the heavy gate at the sudden voice. She looked up and a startled shriek escaped her. In front of her was a cat! A cat had snuck up on her, well a very scruffy looking one, but a cat nonetheless!
She was going to die!
She whimpered and curled up against the gate that had trapped her here, squeezing her eyes shut, terrified of what would happen next. She could sense the cat walking forward, feel the tension in the air. Her hat was soon knocked off of her head, making another soft sob escape her as she cringed.
This was it!
Suddenly something rough was pressed against her forehead and dragged upwards. She flinched, surprised at the sudden movement, but instinctively calmed down when the action was repeated several more times.
Moments later it dawned on her just was the strange, soothing sensation was.
The cat was licking her!
"Ewwwww." She groaned, backing away and shaking off the gross saliva that had gathered on her fur. "You licked me!"
The cat chuckled and backed away, giving the disgruntled rabbit some space. "I apologize, little one, but it looked like you needed it."
Hat Kit huffed and glared at the cat, who then started laughing some more when he noticed the look being sent his way. She huffed once again.
"I'll jump on you, and it'll hurt!"
"That I do not doubt, little one." The cat replied, trying to hide his grin behind one of his paws.
"Yeah!" Hat Kit smiled, previously fear dissipating as she interacted more and more with the feline. "I'm super strong so you better be scared!"
This time the scruffy cat could hide his laughter and threw his head back, chuckles echoing around them.
Now that she was no longer terrified she could better make out what the creature in front of her looked like. He was a black cat and far more scruffy than she first thought. His fur was messed up, she could see several scars that ran back and forth across his sides, one of his ears was missing a chunk out of it, and when she looked up she noticed one of his eyes was closed, a thin jagged line running over it.
"I understand my appearance is frightening." The cat began, previous mirth gone as he caught sight of the look on her face. "It is an unfortunate side effect of the travels I have been on and the places I have seen."
Hat Kit blinked. "You go on adventures?"
"I suppose you could call them that." He vaguely replied, turning around and pawing at something behind him. Before she could even open her mouth to ask what he was talking about, he continued speaking.
"Now I believe this is yours." Her new friend said, carefully knocking a familiar purple object back in front of her.
It was her hat!
"My hat!" She cried, a smile appearing on her face as she bounced up and down. However she paused, remembering just why she lost it in the first place. "Wait, why'd you take it in the first place?"
"Like I said it looked like you needed comforting." The cat grinned, moving forward so he could help nudge the object back onto her head. Once the top hat was secure he stepped back so he could get a better view of what she looked like, nodding to himself in approval.
"It looks very nice. Where did you get it from?" While the question was innocent in nature, all previous energy immediately drained out of the rabbit, leaving her weary and sad.
"My owner made it for me." Hat Kit muttered, glancing at the stone beneath her paws. "But then I lost her and now I'm all alone."
"So that is why you were crying." The cat realized, sympathy filling his eye as he moved forward to nuzzle the rabbit. When he was done he stepped back and looked at her once again. "And now I assume you are looking for a way out?"
The sorrowful bunny nodded, looking up at the cat with hope in her eyes. "Can you help me get out of here?"
"Unfortunately you are much too weak to use my exits." The scruffy cat purred, pacing back and forth in front of her. "But there may be others who can help you."
"Really?" Hat Kit breathed, bouncing back and forth in excitement. "They can help me get home?"
"I do not know for certain, but it is worth a try." The feline paused and turned to face the rabbit, single eye glowing in the darkness that surrounded them. "However, you must be careful, not all those who live here as nice as I am. Stay on your guard little one."
Hat Kit gulped, easily imagining what horrors lurked in some of the enclosures. While her owner and her family had been visiting the zoo they had not seen every single exhibit. Heck, they had spent most of their time looking at the fish, because fish were cool!
But now she would have to explore the dark and scary zoo, but maybe the cat could come with her. She opened her mouth to ask but as soon as she did the cat shook his head.
"I apologize little one, but I have business to attend to, so we must part ways for now." He sighed, wincing when he caught sight of the tears that were already appearing in the tiny rabbit's eyes.
"But this will not be the last time we see each other." He hastily added, sighing in relief when the tears faded. "I shall check up on you and help whenever I can."
"Thank you!" She cried out, bouncing forward and happily nuzzling the cat to express how grateful she was. Once again the feline chuckled, more than a little amused by the energetic rabbit's actions.
"Now little one, I believe it is time to begin your journey." The cat announced, nudging her forward with a paw. "Remember to be careful and stay on guard, do not trust too easily!"
"I won't!" The rabbit replied, looking at the massive zoo in front of her. It was certainly a large area to explore, and there were a bunch of enclosures she had to check as well. A part of her wanted to just explore the fencing around the zoo and see if there was an exit she could find on her own, but she discarded the idea.
Not only would that probably take a suuuuuper long time, especially considering how small she was, but there was also the high risk of running into any humans who might still be in the zoo. Humans who would take her away from her one chance at finding her owner and put her somewhere else, and if that happened...
Hat Kit would never see her home again.
Suddenly it dawned on her that she had forgotten to do something when meeting the helpful cat.
"Uh, hey mister cat, I forgot to ask what your name was!" Hat Kit shouted as she turned around to find the mysterious feline. "So what's you-"
He was gone.
Hat Kit blinked, tilting her head to the side as she took in the empty space in front of the gate.
Well, that was certainly strange, but it seemed oddly fitting for a creature as... strange as he was! Besides, she could always ask whenever she saw him again!
Hat Kit shrugged to herself and turned to face the silent zoo. Well, it was time to find a way out of this place, and hopefully see if someone could help her get out!
Surely with her luck she would only run into the nice animals, and not the mean, scary ones!
Right?
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AN: So I hope you guys enjoyed that introduction (yes I plan to write more) and once again I'd like to thank MonsterMonsoon for the awesome story idea!
Please leave a review telling me what you think and I'll see you in the next chapter!