What's This?
The soulful, heart-pounding blare of alternative rock echoed in the hollow steel hangar bay. One lone fighter-type ship sat docked as a small, black-and-white feline boy laid underneath working at it with a wrench, the music originating from a rusty old boom-box.
He didn't look any older than fourteen and was dressed in ragged street-clothing. His dark coat shone with an amazing softness that looked unbecoming of his otherwise scruffy appearance. Something under the fighter beeped, and he rolled out from underneath and sat up to investigate the flashing green light on his wrist communicator. His eyes were a strange silvery-blue bordered by teal and a thin rim of golden yellow towards his lids. He blinked as he listened to the message that appeared on the communicator and beamed excitedly. Quickly, he scrambled to his feet and scurried through the narrow-growing metal corridors.
His heart pounded with anticipation as he raced to a small room lit by a television screen. Sitting on an old recliner was a middle-aged, much larger and overweight male black cat. His left ear was shriveled and scarred, and his pale yellow-green eyes held an intimidating stare. His garb was not very dissimilar from the younger cat's.
"Reggie!!!!" the feline boy crashed into the huge mass of fur.
"I'm eating, come back later." Reggie replied bluntly.
"But Re-
"Let me show you something, Felix." He calmly shoved Felix away a small distance and held up a half-eaten sandwich as if he were auctioning it away, "What is this?"
"A tuna salad sandwich?"
"A tuna salad sandwich." he nodded, "I have been looking forward to this sandwich all day. It's my special little treat for a day of honest, hard work, and you crashing through these noisy hallways like the warped little maniac you are is squandering the whole moment."
Felix rolled his eyes in disbelief. Reggie was the laziest man he'd ever met and wouldn't know the meaning of 'honest hard work' if it left a bad taste in his mouth after sucking down all the food he ate in a day like a vacuum cleaner. He was just being dramatic in the hopes that he'd leave him alone to his precious food and TV, but this was far too important.
"Yeah, that's great and everything, but be an authority figure for five minutes and watch this." he scuttled over to a side desk and pulled a laptop over with him. He set it on his older friend's lap and flipped it open, fiddling with the keyboard to open the message.
"I said no, Felix, I'm tired. I don't want to think about work."
"Just sit there and watch it. I promise it's worth it!"
The kitten watched as his friend's expression transformed from sheer boredom to mild interest, a feat for the feline man.
"All right, fine, we'll see what this Lorenzo person has to offer."
"Yay!" Felix squealed and streaked away jubilantly through the halls, "We're going on an adventure!!!"
"How very strange that we'd be offered such a task. Surely he must be aware of our criminal record. Everybody is." mused Leon, his curled tail coiling even tighter as he thought, "I don't like the feel of this, Wolf. Something's fishy."
"Don't go twisting your tail in a knot now, Leon," came the smooth tone of Panther, "He did say he was looking for someone who wasn't afraid to go to certain lengths to get this precious trinket of his. It must be quite the item if it's that well guarded."
"That's the thing!" Leon screeched, "We don't know any of that! What does that even mean, 'certain lengths'?"
"He's probably implying that we have to steal it. It would explain why he came to us. He could just pin the blame on us if things go awry. Quit being so paranoid about this and relax."
"And you would agree to that with full knowledge!?"
"I never get caught."
"Quit bickering, you two." growled Wolf, who'd grown tired of listening to his companions ever since he cut off communications with the antique collector, "We agreed to do his dirty work, so let's just see what we're dealing with. Let's go for a ride."
The three slipped through the halls of Sargasso Hideout, nodding a greeting to the simian workers they passed along the way to their Wolfens.
The blinding desert sun of Titania was particularly hot today. Not even the native wildlife dared make a move to venture outside as the boiling sand baked the few shrubs sprouting from the parched ground to a suffocating crisp. From a small shack connected to an old den of some sort, agitated shouts could be heard.
"No, no, you're doing it all wrong! You're supposed to twist it like this."
"Don't touch it! I can do it myself; just keep reading me those instructions."
"Fine, step 6: Connect the two blue wires—I said blue, moron!—and seal them together."
"Don't get snippy with me! I wouldn't even need your sorry help if it weren't so hard to see."
"Are you almost done fiddling with that thing? It's so hot in here!"
Three canine men, a fawn-colored Sheltie, an Australian shepherd, and a Jack Russell Terrier, sat seething with irritation instigated on by the stifling heat. The shepherd was knelt beside what looked like an old AC unit with the Sheltie bent over him with the user manual. The Jack Russell flopped over a shabby sofa melodramatically, his tongue lolling.
"Well my goodness, Flik," groaned the shepherd to the terrier exasperatedly, "Maybe if Tak just read the instructions without the unwanted opinions thrown in-
As he tugged at the metal innards, the contraption gave a groan and clunked noisily to life. The two hurried to its front and sighed relieved as the cool air blew away the trapped heat out from under their fur coats.
"There, see?" he brushed himself off, "You can count on ol' Ziggy to fix your clunkers."
When he got no response, he deadpanned. "A 'thank you' would be nice."
"Now, now, Ziggy, let them have their moment." mediated an older and large brindle Great Dane as he walked in from the stone den, "You know you are always highly appreciated."
His gleaming yellow eyes and scarred face made him a terrifying sight despite his placid expression. He ripped off a chunk of tough, peppered-beef jerky with sharp and powerful fangs like it was a piece of paper.
"You two," he tapped on Tak's and Flik's shoulders, "Stop daydreaming about snow storms and get ready to go. Bree's landed us another job."
"You mean we're leaving?" Ziggy was beside himself, "But I just fixed that thing! The heat'll warp it, and it'll be all out of whack again by the time we get back!"
"So just take it with you to the ship then." said a younger she-mutt with soft brown fur, a curling tail, and gentle yellow eyes.
She wore an orange spaghetti-strap top with baggy tan shorts and brown sneakers. She didn't look like their leader, but the way Ziggy eyed her said otherwise, and he nodded with a meek smile.
"Good idea, Bree."
She smiled back and nodded to him before braving the sun and sand.
Bone followed behind her. "I want to see you all on the Rogue Star in an hour. We're leaving then." he called out behind his shoulder to the remaining three.
Ziggy turned to mechanism off and sighed. "All right, you lot, grab an end and help me haul this thing to my Loner. I think it'll be just small enough to fit in the cargo hatch."
Tak and Flik groaned but complied grudgingly.
Shrieks and screams of bloody murder ricocheted off the metal walls and shattered the ears of all present aboard the Blue Egotist. A kholi, a strange feline-and-canine creature with tall, erect ears, large glowing eyes, and two sleek tails with fluffy tips, streaked down a wide hallway and burst through the open door of the mess hall, his fiery red eyes ablaze with worry and bloodlust, which puffed out his gray coat underneath his reminiscently militaristic black uniform. He deflated instantly upon seeing a young white ewe being held at bay, and screaming very fitfully, by a taller and much more foreboding crow holding what looked like a pudding cup in his other wing.
"FARELLO!" she hollered, her red eyes staring daggers into his as he tousled her violet locks, "Give me back my pudding!!!"
"Is that any way to ask your dearest friend, Trey?" he gulped down a spoonful of gooey sweetness, "Try again the proper way."
The kholi rolled his eyes thoroughly annoyed, swiped the cup away from Farello's black feathers, and broke them up.
"Orpheus!" Trey did her best to sound affectionate, "You'll indulge your leader with a pudding cup, won't you?"
"Of course," he brought it down, only to bring it back up the minute she reached for it, "Only if you promise to stop screaming like a banshee."
"DONE! GIMME!" she bleated and squealed happily when it was placed in her palms.
Trey stuck out a pudding-coated tongue to the crow. "See, Farello? Orpheus is nice!"
Farello seemed to grow melancholic. "Forgive me; it's my way of showing my faith and adoration in you and your abilities as leader." he sniffled emotionally, "I wish, and have always wished, for nothing more than your success."
Orpheus rolled his eyes. Farello had pulled this stunt before. He meant most of it, but the emotion behind it was all fake.
"Yeah, whatever," he mewled, "Just keep it down. Oh yeah, Trey, remember to give your answer to that Lorenzo-dude before the day's out."
"Okay!"
"That's key for 'right now' since you apparently can't take a hint." He goaded her irritably.
"Don't push it, Orphy." The sheep scowled as she mouthed another spoonful of pudding on the way out.
As the door slid open, a feminine, dusky brown rabbit and a white pup with unusually long ears and fiery orange roots peeking out from underneath his floppy cap collapsed inside, the support from the door suddenly gone.
"Really, guys, snooping?" Orpheus asked.
"We heard screaming." The rabbit dusted off her frosty blue mini-dress.
She would have been a pretty sight if she wasn't, in fact, a he. Abel was a cross dresser, and a very good one at that. Why he did it was beyond the kholi's comprehension. It was weird, awkward, and very creepy, but Abel was an excellent medic. That was all he needed to know.
"Besides," the canine boy added in his thick German accent, "It's our ship too. We can do what we want."
"Fascinating," Orpheus muttered bored, "Well, I'm going to the bridge now, bye."
"Dang it, Roth," cried Abel once the grouchy kholi was out of earshot, "If you had been listening like you were supposed to, we wouldn't have gotten caught!"
"It's not my fault you didn't have a back-up plan! You know my ears aren't as finely tuned as yours, nosy!"
"How much are we talking exactly?"
"That is to be determined when and if you give me the 'Serpent's Coil'." Lorenzo answered as a projection on a computer screen.
"I don't know if I like that answer, Sebastian." warned a gray she-wolf.
Her turquoise eyes were bordered with a simple pair of glasses. Silver hair was pulled back into a long, low pony-tail with bangs framing her white face. She wore a white t-shirt underneath a brown combat vest along with skin-tight brown jean shorts that stopped well above the knee.
Sitting around her was the rest of her team, a red fox, another gray wolf, a very foreboding black jaguar, a coyote, and a cougar. All of them were men except for the coyote.
"It doesn't matter how much you like it, Miss Grayfang, it's a fact."
"And what do you mean if we get it to you?"
"It's a very treacherous terrain filled with sometimes very dangerous wildlife. I don't exaggerate when I say you may not return."
"That sounds like a challenge." she grinned mischievously, "We accept."
"Thank you all, Animus."
The room was comfortably dark where a young, brown-and-white she-wolf slept fitfully among the tousled bed of quilts. She squinted and groaned when the light from the outside poured in through the now open doorway.
"Timber, you've been sleeping the day away in here." A male border collie spoke softly but firmly, his voice holding a slight Irish accent, "You still have to give your answer to the antique ram."
"Yes," Timber moaned out and buried herself in her bed again.
"No, to him, not me." The canine man ripped the blanket off of her.
"Can't you tell him for me? I'm tired."
"No, you're the leader. That's what leaders do."
"Fine." She sighed and gave in, "Will you prep his frequency and hail him in a few minutes then, Zeke?"
"Of course."
"Okay, I'll see you in a bit."
He left her to prepare for the day.
When Timber appeared on the bridge, she was in a brown t-shirt and jade green pants. A pair of large brown shades adorned the top of her head of shoulder-length brown hair like a makeshift headband. Her yellow eyes scanned the bridge vaguely, almost as if she were simply checking to see if everything was as she left it the previous night.
"Look, she's up!" remarked a brown she-kholi with bright blue eyes in mock amazement.
"Good morning to you too, Faye." Timber shrugged it off casually.
"Ready when you are, Timber." Zeke called out with an over-dramatic wave of the hand.
In the light, he was easier to see. His black and white coat displayed a clean, glossy shine, and he had one bronze-hued eye and a powder blue eye. He wore a simple collared brown buttoned shirt left open to show the white undershirt beneath along with blue jeans and white sneakers.
Timber smiled amused and then went blank.
"What?"
"You're answering that Lorenzo-guy's query."
"Who?"
"That guy that called us yesterday? There was a meeting about it."
"Was I there for that?"
"You called the meeting!" Zeke slapped his muzzle in disbelief.
"I did?"
"Yes!!!"
"Oh," she paused to think, "Okay then, what are we answering with?"
"JUST SAY YES!" both Faye and Zeke roared.
Author's Note: Weee! Lots of lines! I tried to make these short, but I absolutely HAD to introduce the other teams that have been hired for this seemingly innocent task (Oh me, oh my, what on earth could he possibly be up to? :3) . It'll make the other chapters WAAAAAY easier for me to write. Thanks for reading!