Episode 2: The Deer Girl
"My name is Sarah, I'm a Hybrid of a Deer and a Wolf. I mostly take after my dad but, I still have some of my Mom in me. For instance, my little deer tail wags whenever I'm happy, I have REALLY sharp teeth and I even have my Mom's eyes."
The young Faun stands on a stepping stool and wags her tail as looks into her bathroom mirror. She opens her mouth wide and sees her sharp teeth, then begins to feel sad and self conscious as she closes her mouth and places her hands over her face. Her mother walks in and simply hugs her though, comforting her in her time of uncertainty, the mother then tickles the child and causes her to giggle.
"My Mom is Grey wolf and a proud one at that, she told me my dual nature was a blessing and that I was gifted because of this. My Dad didn't treat it any differently then she did, the only difference is that now he thinks I'm destined to be just like him…The Next Beastar."
Sarah narrates as she stands in front of the apartment she lived in with her Mother preparing her for school, her father then opened the front door and was revealed to be one of the two Beastars, Louis the Red Deer. He wears his father's glasses to compliment the Suit he now typically wears, he adjusts his tie as he approaches his wife and Daughter.
"He's the CEO of the Horns Conglomerate and one of the Beastars that protect the city from the problems that the world faces. He and Mom used to go to the same school as I do, that's probably why they signed me up."
The Mother approaches Louis as he continues to mess with his Tie and grabs it from his hands as she adjusts it for him. She straightens it, then leans in as she kisses him prompting him to smile as he walks towards his daughter, he kneels down and pats her head as he simply tells her "I'm sorry about missing your recital yesterday, but I promise once I get back from work, we'll go to that theme park you like so much." causing his Daughter's deer tail to wag rapidly.
"My Parents are awesome, both as parents and as people. As much as I enjoy going to school, I always dread it in the morning, the Teachers are actually kinda ok, It's the Classmates I have trouble with. They like to bully me because I'm a Hybrid, I always take different paths that the students usually take so I don't grab any unwanted attention, which was hard since they segregated the schools into two parts, one for Herbivores and another for Carnivores…I just wish I knew one these halls like to be used by these jerks."
She walks down the hall of Cherryton High and passes by a group of kids, unfortunately she is cut off by them as one of them notices her. It is revealed that they were the very bullies she would run into, they mock her because of her odd choice of path taking and begin surrounding her as they ask her a barrage of questions. One of which was "So why the mask? You afraid of getting sick or something?" as one of them rip the mask off her face and blows into it like a tissue. The Fox bully chuckles at this act, but his blood runs cold as he finds out why the mask was used, she was panting heavily, leaving her mouth open enough to have her teeth seen, she covered her mouth and panicked as she rushed to grab a spare from her backpack.
"Most of the kids I run into are total jerks…"
She found one and placed it on her face but the bullies already saw her teeth and began to mock her even further.)
Fox Bully:"You're a Hybrid!?"
Bear Bully:"She's one of those freaks, so what do you think she is, Half Deer and…?"
Cougar Bully:"Probably Crocodile with THOSE chompers! Did you see them?"
Fox Bully:"What else are you hiding in that bag of yours?"
(The Lead bully says and smirks as he reaches for Sarah's backpack, but she huddles it in fear as took a step back from the approaching jerk. Unfortunately one of the others grabbed it when it was close enough to him and ripped it away from her as he opened it to peek inside and grab at its contents. After he pulled out a book, he tossed the bag to another as they took a turn to rifle through her stuff, the Bully who held the book chuckled as he looked at it and said "Looks like her teeth weren't the only things sharp, check it out." as he tossed it to the Lead Bully. He read its cover and said "Honor roll, ey?" as he tossed the book back to the girl and knocked it out of her hand just after she caught it.)
Sarah:"Please, just leave me alone!"
(She pleads with the Bullies as they continue to go through her belongings, but they just kept going as one of them grabbed her and held her against the wall.)
Lead Bully:"What's the matter, freak? Your lunch in here or something?"
Bear Bully:"I bet it's some dead rats or something!"
Lead Bully:"Nice call, let's find out."
?:"HEY!"
(They all turn to see a Rabbit boy standing there, fists clenched and eyes with a fiery rage.
"Well…Most of them…"
The rest is obvious as it then cuts to the day after next as the two Hybrids are sitting in the Garden club, they discuss their heritage further as they were getting to know one another better.)
Aki:"So your dad is Louis? The CEO of the Horns Conglomerate!?"
Sarah:"Yeah, he's a pretty cool guy…What about you, who's your dad?"
Aki:"Legoshi."
Sarah:"The Grey Wolf!? That guy's a legend, I didn't know he had a kid."
Aki:"He has two, me and my little sister Winter."
Sarah:"Is…she like you?"
Aki:"Not really, she takes after dad more than mom in appearance but her fur pattern is basically one-for-one with Mom, she even has her eyes."
Sarah:"Lucky, I'm an only child."
Aki:"You wouldn't be saying that if SHE was your sister."
(Aki continued as he had Flashbacks to moments when they were younger.)
"She always takes my stuff without asking and she constantly gets attention from Dad, not to mention the way people always look at us. Whenever we go out and do something, people are always surprised that we even know each other, let alone related."
Sarah:"So why did you come to the club to eat yesterday?"
Aki:"My Mom told me that she used to be a part of the gardening club, but left when she graduated. She made it sound like there wasn't anyone else to take care of the garden, so I figured it was abandoned."
Sarah:"You're mom's Haru, Right?"
Aki:"How could you tell?"
Sarah:"That was the name of the last student who used to attend the club, in fact the club was shut down afterwards so we're not really supposed to be up here."
Aki:"Really? My dad used to be a part of the Drama club, he doesn't talk about it much but when he does, he shares having a lot of fond memories of the students in the group, Especially Louis."
(Aki continued his reminiscence of his father's stories as Sarah thought to herself, she was distracted by a conversation she remembered having with her parents a couple of nights ago about Aki.)
"Now I see why my parents reacted the way they did."
It flashbacks to her having dinner at home with her parents.
The Husband and Wife were having a chat about a specific thing that bothered them from work whilst the Daughter simply picked at her food, almost completely unaware of the subject being spoken of.)
Mother:"Some of the Executives at work are worried as to why you were late to your last few meetings. Is everything alright? You seem distracted…Or you know, more distracted than usual."
Louis:" …Juno… I've been looking over the last 3 cases of Predations I found and I'm trying to piece together what relates them, and Nothing…It's…Getting to me."
Juno:"I can tell, you're usually great at keeping your schedules and appointments."
Louis:"I know, and I'm sorry if I've been easily distracted lately, it just seems like these Predations are becoming more and more common somehow. I thought the BlackMarket being demolished would bring an end to it…It's just gnawing at me as to what's causing this rise… and why after all these years?"
Juno:"I know, I just wish you wouldn't stress out so much about it though, the last thing we need is you shedding your horns before schedule again."
Louis:"You're right Juno, I should just do what I can from my end and just be happy that the criminals are still being handled by Legoshi."
Juno:"You know, I wish you'd call me your wife sometimes, or at least honey. Something fun you know?"
(She says while wagging her tail, but Louis was still lost in thought, staring at the food on his plate. Juno's tail eventually ceases it's patterned movement as she tries to bring her husband back to reality.)
Juno:"Louis?"
Louis:"Huh?"
Juno:"Is there anything you might be forgetting?"
(Juno tilts her head to their daughter, inciting Louis to ask her the usual. It was clear something was bothering her too, like she got into trouble and all because of an accident.)
Louis:"So, Sarah…" (grabbing his daughters attention) "How was your day?"
(Sarah just tilted her head back down at her plate as she simply muttered an answer to her father.)
Sarah:"It was good…"
Louis:"Nothing interesting happened?"
Sarah:"Not really…"
(Juno and Louis looked at one another before they stared back at their child and asked one more question.)
Juno:"Sweetie…is everything alright? You seem bothered."
(The Faun dotted her eyes back and forth between her parents and finally spoke as she explained what distracted her.)
Sarah:"…There was this guy at school, he stood up to a bunch of bullies for me but, I think he got in trouble because of it."
Louis:"Well I hope you at least showed some form of gratitude for him…"
Sarah:"I…ran away…"
Juno:"Honey, it's ok to be afraid…But you must understand that not everyone frowns on Hybrids, why there are even some schools that teach Hybrid children."
Sarah:"But what about Melon? The first famous Hybrid and he turned out to be a terrorist…"
Louis:"That's because Melon had issues, you HAVE a family, people who care about you. Besides, the mask protects you from bullies most of the time, right?"
Juno:"I still think we should talk with the principal about these bullies, this is the 3rd school and she still has been treated this way by animals like them."
Louis:"I still stand by my decision, we don't need to draw anymore attention to her than she already has. Besides the mask already hides her Carnivore features…Not like she needs to wear a mask anyways, you're the daughter of a Beastar and your family is famous, you should be treated like a Princess from that alone."
Juno:"Don't wanna draw anymore attention, eh?"
Louis:"Attention that she doesn't deserve."
Juno:"Well regardless, next time you see this young man, you should say thank you for his bravery."
Sarah:"Ok, Mom."
Louis:"So who was this boy anyways? He give a name?"
Sarah:"No, but he looked weird…Like he was a Rabbit with scruffy grey fur and was freakishly tall, he also had a long fluffy tail…The fur alone looked like it belonged to a Dog."
(Both parents stop and drop their utensils at the description of this boy alone, they look at each other and then back at their daughter as they lean in and ask further questions.
Cuts back to the present as the two continue to talk further.
Aki was still going on about his dad's stories, or more accurately what little his father DID tell him, Legoshi sounded secretive about his past life and the only source of reference Aki and Winter got about their father's adventures was from their mother. Meanwhile Sarah was still thinking to herself as she stared at this Hybrid boy.
"I spent so much of my life hiding from others because of what I was, I never even thought that maybe another kid could be going through the same thing as me. If half of the stories my dad told me about Legoshi are true, this boy grew up with one of the most amazing animals on this planet…I guess that's just another thing we have in common, that and our half wolf genes."
Aki was already done talking as he drank from a bottle of water, Sarah felt like she needed to explain herself further to him as she spoke.)
Sarah:"Sorry for running away by the way. I…Never really had friends before and I was afraid that me being a Hybrid would…You know…"
Aki:"You shouldn't have to be afraid of what you are, especially not since you're something special."
Sarah:"Now you just sound like my mom. Both my parents were socialites and have enough friends to make up an entire city, I always had difficulty making some because of my Teeth, people were always afraid I was going to bite them."
Aki:"So your dad's THE Beastar, that's pretty cool."
Sarah:"Your dad is too though, my dad handles the public and politics while Legoshi handles the criminals and underground of it all."
Aki:"I doubt it, he retired years ago and got a job as a Janitor for a Hospital, I don't know who the guy who's fighting those thugs are, but my Dad's not him."
(Aki says this with enough confidence to actually confuse Sarah into not knowing whether or not the Beastar Legoshi really was retired, but she then remembered all the stories her father told her about him, she then considered with certainty that Legoshi was still one of the Beastars, only this time his actions are kept secret from his family. Sarah decided to let secrets remain as she pondered what reason the legendary gray wolf could have to possibly keep this illusion up.
"Is Legoshi retired?…No, my dad's not the sort to make stuff like that up, especially since it's someone he talks so respectfully about. But why would he keep this secret from his son…Is that why my parents were shocked to learn about Aki? Did Legoshi even tell them his kids even exist."
Cut back to the night of her family's dinner once more.
After the Family spent the rest of the dinner talking about this boy and what Sarah knew of him, eventually her bedtime approached and she retired to her room, leaving her parents to talk further about the situation without her presence.)
Juno:"So, Legoshi and Haru have a child…That's cute."
Louis:"Why would he hide this from me? We're supposed to be partners in this."
Juno:"To be fair, I noticed you guys started to drift apart, I'm surprised Legoshi even had the time to have a kid with how busy you've both been with recent events."
Louis:"I figured he would've at least mentioned it, why didn't he tell me?"
Juno:"Have you told him about Sarah?"
Louis:"He was my Best man at our Wedding. I figured it would've been obvious if we had a child."
Juno:"Free's still miffed about that, though knowing him and the rest of his team, it kinda makes sense that you'd want them to keep their excitement to a minimum."
Louis:"Bailing them out alone cost a fortune and hiring them cost me investors."
Juno:"But the payoff was worth it, tons of investors came and even some of the others that fled returned once they saw the attention it brought the company…Which is funny, because even you said so yourself, the last thing on your mind when hiring them was stocks."
Louis:"…I need to talk to Legoshi when I get a chance, I want to know why he would keep this secret from us."
Juno:"You're not thinking what I think you're thinking…Are you?"
Louis:"Just imagine it though, the next Beastars being Hybrids of Carnivores and Herbivores? That would do wonders for Society alone."
Juno:"Just make sure it's something that they BOTH want…I know you Deers can be very pragmatic at times…but stubbornness isn't all that great when it comes to the feelings of others."
(She chuckles as she gets up and heads to their bedroom, which she does while leaning in and kissing her Husband on the cheek. Louis scoffed at her comment earlier, but felt rattled as he looked out the window and noticed his reflection being eerily similar to his dad, he then immediately took off his father's glasses and pocketed them before heading to bed himself.
All the while, at the top of a building during the dead of night, a large muscular Panda bear stands on the edge of the roof. He looks through a pair of binoculars as he studies whatever the view lands on, eventually Legoshi is revealed to join him as he perches over the edge.)
Gohin:"You're late."
Legoshi:"I was busy with some home stuff, sorry."
Gohin:"Well, you're here now and that's what counts."
Legoshi:"Is everything ok, usually you're mad if I'm late."
Gohin:"Yeah…I guess I learned something interesting."
(Gohin says as he passes the Binoculars to Legoshi, prompting him to look for the very thing he was looking at. Legoshi then uses the same device to see whatever had Gohin's attention that night, but he is shocked instead when Gohin asks him a simple question.)
Gohin:"So how're the kids?"
(Gohin says, causing Legoshi to drop the Binoculars out of pure surprise. Gohin catches them as they fall though, careful to not alert any unwanted attention from the environment they were in.)
Legoshi:"You knew?!"
Gohin:"Your wife told me, even told me about the fight he had at school…So how come you didn't? I would've been a lot more lenient with the schedule then if I knew you had a family."
Legoshi:"…I want them to have as little to do with this part of my life as possible."
Gohin:"What we do affects the world, what makes you think the world won't affect them in return?"
Legoshi:"If I can help it, I'm going to do everything I can to give them a life better than this."
Gohin:"Well you have to keep in mind that you can't stop everything, the fact that you managed to keep this secret from them for so long is amazing on its own. But you have to face facts, you can't keep this from them forever."
(Legoshi contemplated Gohin's words about this double life he lives, but before much can be thought about it, Gohin grabs his attention for the job at hand.)
Gohin:"Now come on, there's a Jackal nearby and he's got a bag of something that happens to be the perfect size and shape of a small Rabbit, and I doubt groceries struggle in Burlap."
(They both leap down and get to work like they usually do.)
