Hi! Thanks for clicking, I hope you enjoy. And I apologize for any errors or mistakes I missed in editing.
Fair warning, this story will have minor spoilers for Beastars if you haven't read the Manga.
Anyways, enjoy reading and have a wonderful day :D
It was late, later than I'd usually be out. But today's game had run longer than normal anyways. My opponent hung on longer than they usually do...
"You're leaving already?" Came the shrill voice of Sloan, the old crow running this ring. "Should I put your cut in a to-go bag?"
"I'm not hungry," I answered with a dismissive wave, drying my freshly washed hands. The scent of blood still thick on the black scales covering them, and the fur of my forearms. "Give my cut to someone else." I didn't know why, but today I just felt off. Maybe I'd grown tired of just eating meat, and didn't feel like selling it off either... Today I couldn't bring myself to take it at all.
"I hope you aren't losing your stomach for this work, number Seven." He always liked to put emphasis on that part, he knew it was a degrading title.
I paused briefly, biting my tongue before I said something that would earn me a beating. Before I continued on my way out the door, "I'm going for a walk to cool off, I'll be back before dark."
"Don't go wandering to the main streets, girl." One of the guards, a black bear named Orgo, chimed in with a mocking chuckle. "You'll scare the herbivores." I ignored him, and continued on my way.
My name is Seven, a product ID number. I grew up caged in the back alley markets, after being born here just over eighteen years ago. They were planning to sell me off as food at first, but that changed after I was examined. As soon as I could walk, they moved me from the livestock pens to the fighting pits. Somebody had an eye for good genetics... Or maybe, an eye for really really bad genetics.
My mother was a hybrid, half Black Caiman alligator and half Red Bearded Vulture. Evidently, she was quite a promiscuous woman. Selling sex in the Black Market, she screwed around too much and got knocked up by a Red Wolf. I can't really blame the guy, they are an endangered species after all, and everyone always told me that Mom was beautiful despite her mixed blood. They always told me I'd never be as beautiful of a woman as her.
Because throwing three different species into the mixing pot resulted in... Well, a mess.
I was born a nightmare, with fledgling avian talons on my toes and a heavy reptilian tail. My body mostly covered in reddish brown fur, aside from my rough hands which had black scales on top, and soft fur on the bottom. Just like my feet, they would eventually grow those sharp talons. I had feathers running down the back of my neck, shoulders, and down to the back of my elbows, blood red thanks to my vulture heritage. My face was mostly canine, with a soft reddish fur around my muzzle and pointed ears up top at the edge of where fur met feathers. But I had the reptilian eyes of my Caiman lineage.
I was thrown into the pits as soon as my talons grew in, people paid money to see which starving child would kill the rest first. I was the winner, I was always the winner... Eventually, I was upgraded from pit slave to sponsored fighter. I think they realized how dangerous I was becoming, after I started growing faster throughout puberty. I wasn't paid with money, I just wanted to be fed, and later they started providing me with an education... Though, I was never quite sure why.
And I had exactly two pairs of clothes. The tanktop and baggy pants I wore in the ring, now covered in blood and soaking in a tub, and another pair of the same thing. Which I was currently wearing as I walked away from the pit. I wasn't worried too much about my clothing, it was hardly the part of my appearance anyone focused on.
I was almost a celebrity here anyways, the star of the show. Everyone paid big money to see the freak tear apart whatever local or foreign hotshot who didn't know any better to not step into the ring with me.
And well, that's it. My life story, up until now anyways.
I'd walked along the back alleys, nearing the streets of the outer world. I liked to come here often, away from the smell of cooking meat and blood. I could hear cars beyond the buildings, people talking so casually and enjoying their evenings. It seemed so alien, and so much further away than just a few blocks.
"Hm?" My ears twitched, nose following suit. "That sound... The rustling of clothes, grunting... The smell of-"
"Agh! Did you just bite me!?"
"HELP!"
The first voice was a man, just beyond the wooden planks beside me. The second, was a woman it sounded like. Her scent was unfamiliar, but the males I'd smelled before.
"Shut up!" Followed by a loud thud, the woman releasing a pained cry before her voice was muffled. The planks were pulled aside, a secret doorway they used to get in and out. I blinked in surprise, watching as two male jaguars entered. Garbed in loose fitting traditional robes, the mark of one of the local gangs. The Madaragumi, one of the big four that controlled territory around the Black Market.
They were dragging along a smaller creature, a herbivore I'd never seen before. I hadn't seen many, actually, none that weren't in cooked meat form. She had a long angled face, with big ears, body covered in soft grayish brown fur. I think she had to be some kind of doe. She was struggling ferociously, tears in her eyes as they dragged her along. She was bleeding just above her left eye, where the flesh was starting to swell from some kind of blunt force trauma.
"What are you looking at, freak show!?" One of them barked at me, as they continued dragging her along. I averted my eyes out of instinct, like some conditioning I'd had beaten into me. They moved past me after closing the hidden door, the moment they did so I lifted my head once more to watch them.
That was the first mistake.
She was staring back at me, a desperate pleading gaze in her beautiful brown eyes.
"Hey!" I opened my mouth before I had a chance to consider the consequences.
They both stopped, the one with free hands looked back at me. "What? You got a problem? We're kinda busy here so piss off!" I knew exactly what was going to happen to her, she wasn't the first person I'd seen dragged away. This was just part of life here... But, why did this one encounter bother me so much?
"I killed panther today in the ring," I offered, "Trade you for the girl? The pelts worth a lot more than... Whatever she is." A bad deal, chances were it had already been eaten up by the others at the pit.
"Ha! Yeah right," The jaguar gave a laughing scoff. "This little elk is worth more than a meal a pelt, we're gonna get a fat ransom for this one." So they wanted money, I didn't have much but- "And then we'll eat her."
I tried bargaining, and it didn't work. I should've just give up. The Madaragumi weren't as large as the that lion pack, but picking a fight with an entire gang... The pit wouldn't be too happy about that. Even as I tried to reason with myself though, to try and drop this and just let the twisted nature of my world take its course, my feathers startled to ruffle, fur bristling. Why was I getting so worked up? Since when did I care about what happened here? "No, you won't."
That was my second mistake.
I watched as both Jaguars visibly tensed up, one reaching for the large knife on his belt while trying to keep the girl restrained with one hand. "Easy there..." His voice losing the aggressive edge. "You don't wanna do something you'll regret do you?"
I already was, baring my fangs at these cats. "Let her go."
"Screw this," The other jaguar spat, hand diving into his robe. That single movement was one I recognized, one that made my body move on instinct. I crossed the distance between us with a burst of speed, grabbing his arm by the wrist just as he finished fishing out a handgun. "Gnngh! L-Let me go you freak!" He ordered, digging his claws into my forearm with his free hand. They pierced into the skin beneath my fur, drawing blood.
But this kind of pain was nothing to me. I didn't respond, not verbally anyways. I instead grabbed him by the face with my other hand, before I turned and slammed him head first into the alley wall. The concrete cracked, blood marking the stone as his skin split. I let out a low, guttural reptilian hiss as I turned on the other.
"Jozu!" The remaining offender exclaimed, shaking as he pointed the knife at me. "St-Stay back! Take one step closer and I'll gut you!" He tried taking a step back, arm wrapped around the elk's neck as if she were his shield. I called his bluff, lumbering over the rapidly shrinking cat. "D-Die you monster!" He practically threw the girl aside, trying to put all his weight into stabbing me.
But the forward motion was sloppy, he was panicking. I smacked the knife out of his hand with one powerful swing, before slashinig open his shirt with my talons. Cutting clean through the cloth, getting into his fur and cutting the skin beneath it. He cried out in pain as blood started running down his body, he fell to his knees. Before he could cry out any louder, I smacked him upside the head with my tail. Knocking him to the ground and out cold.
It was over, quickly. My body calmed down, as I looked towards the frightened girl. She was sitting on the ground, watching me with fear still in her eyes. But there was a glimmer of hope, she was clinging to the idea that I was her savior. "You should get back to the main street." I said, offering a hand. "Come, quickly... I'll get you out of the back alley..."
She took my hand cautiously, fingers trembling and eyes exploring every bit of my twisted body. "R-Right..." Her voice shaking, breaths coming quick and frantic still. "Thank you..." She was trying to stop crying, but wasn't having much luck.
I nodded slowly, taking her over to the false fence, pulling open the boards to reveal the exit. "Just... Stay away from this part of town..." Looking beyond the alley ahead, I could see the outside world, cars passing by and bright lights.
"You're... Going to stay here?" She asked nervously, stepping through the doorway. "W-Won't those gang members... Try to get revenge?"
Yes, probably. "I'll be okay..." Reaching for the boards to close the gap, "It's better that I stay here... I'd just scare people out there."
"O-Okay..." She didn't try to argue, how could she? The way she was still trembling, she didn't want someone like me out there in the real world anyways. "Well... Goodbye."
I nodded slowly, "Goodb-" The soft metallic click, a chamber rotating, hammer locking into place. Every instinct screaming at me, but I didn't move, I stood right there. Between this helpless elk, and the jaguar I thought I'd knocked unconscious, aiming his revolver at my back.
That was my last mistake.
*BANG*
The first bullet tore through my right shoulder just below the joint.
"Aagh!" The girl cried out in shock, as I spread my arms wide to cover the breech.
The second gazed the right side of my ribs, only going a little beyond skin deep.
His aim was off, likely because of the head trauma. He was shooting at me from where I'd left him on the ground.
The third bullet tore through my right thigh. It didn't go clean through, leaving burning hot metal in my flesh.
It took everything I had not to collapse on that leg.
The fourth bullet pierced my tail while I tried covering my back, a bad attempt to protect myself.
She was cowering in front of me, covering her head and ears. She needed to run.
The fifth was higher, hitting my left side ribs. This time I could feel the bones getting hit, one... Maybe two ribs shattering.
It was enough to make me stagger forward, blood pouring from all five holes holes.
The sixth shot grazed my ear, catching the edge and deafening my ability to hear.
After that, there were no more bullets left.
I coughed roughly, blood running from my lips. My eyes were wide with shock before clenching shut tight, pain shooting through my body all over. I was frozen in place, fearing that if I moved at all I'd collapse to the ground. Nobody would come for me, not here. My death was nothing more than the loss of a paycheck to my employers. I'd be served as someones meal by tomorrow if the meat wasn't spoiled.
"HEY!"
"Hngh?" My eyes opening at the sound of her voice, and the feel of her trembling hands grabbing my own.
"COME ON!" Something changed, her eyes weren't filled with the same fear as before. There was something else, a burning intensity through the tears. I couldn't resist her command, stumbling forward, as she started moving towards the main street. My heart was pounding, my breathing labored. She was shouting, screaming at passersby as we reached the light of streetlamps. Trying desperately to flag down help.
The blood loss hit me hard, or maybe it was the lights or the sounds of the outside world overwhelming me.
But I collapsed, falling to the ground. Hitting the unforgiving pavement face first.
Staining it with my mixed blood. As more footsteps approached, more voices.
"Hey! A-... -ight?"
This numbness.
"I... -on't thi- she ca- hear m-"
I think... I'm dying.
It's so hot... It's soaking every inch of my torso.
"-old on! An ambulance is-"
Was someone talking to me? My ears were still ringing...
"Don't clo- your ey-! -ook at m-!"
The light finally faded from my eyes, and I knew for certain.
This entire evening, had been one big mistake.
