Chapter 1: Prologue
"...All you carnivores are MONSTERS!"
…
"Mmn…"
The young lion's eyes slowly begin to open. Darkness fades as his eyes adjust, his pupils dilating. He realizes he's lying face down, the floor cold as he's sprawled on his stomach.
From the right side of his head, a dull pain throbs. It takes a moment or two before he finally decides to drag himself from the ground, a restrained groan escaping his lips.
The lion winces as a sharp pain shoots through his head as it turns upright, his vision blurring as a lightheadedness assaults his senses before he goes down. He manages to catch himself, his arms shooting out in front of him preventing him from face-planting, and pushes himself up onto his knees.
He feels lost. His sense of direction is completely skewed—not that he has a good one to begin with. Though, it didn't take very long for him to realize, after seeing the long desks and benches arranged in a semicircle around an aisle of stairs, that he was currently on his knees in a lecture hall.
That's right… he muses. I'm at school.
The young lion shakes his head slightly as he cradles his forehead in his hand. He tries to recall exactly why he was laying on the classroom floor, and how he even came here to begin with…but he draws a silent blank.
Frustrated, he forces himself to think harder about what happened, through the constant throbbing pain in his head. Bits and pieces finally begin to resurface in his mind: A thin trail of blood… A loud crash muted by heavy doors… low and deep growling… a small yelp and a quivering voice… That voice… it belonged to—
"—Tem!" the young lion exclaimed out loud, his sudden outburst echoing through the empty lecture hall.
He sucks air sharply between his teeth as pain radiates from the right side of his muzzle. He tenderly touches his best guess of the source, his hand meeting warm and wet fur—but something wasn't right. He quickly jerks his hand away from his face. Was that…flaps of his skin?
"What the…?" His voice fades to a whisper.
His eyes track to his fingertips, something dark-red coating each digit... It was his own blood, he realizes—or at least he hopes it is.
Did I... scrape against something…? he thinks, trying to make heads or tails of the situation.
Crash!
His thoughts are short-lived as his body stiffens, ears shooting straight up and cocking instinctively towards the racket. As a bright light suddenly bursts through the doors, the young lion raises his arm to shield his eyes as the orange-red light from the sunrise beamed through the opening. He also hears the unmistakable sound of footsteps coming down the stairs.
His eyes squint against the light blinding as he tries to see who was coming towards him. His pupils wane as they adjust once more, the figures of what looked like a gorilla and a medium-sized alligator in blue uniforms and caps coming into focus.
The two pairs of eyes stare at him for a bit before they shift their gaze, settling onto someplace behind him. Their mouths hang open and their faces twist into a mixture of disgust and horror, their silent gasps louder than any scream. The young lion blinks, taken aback by their sudden shift.
The alligator quivers and suddenly reaches for the side of his belt.
"F-f-freeze!" he shakily commands in a shrill voice.
It takes the young lion a moment to process what's happening, as he blinks away what's left of the dizziness and wills away the pain. The shiny barrel of a gun comes into focus, shaking almost uncontrollably in the reptiles' scaled hands. Confused, the lion begins to shrink back in fear, his ears tucking down flat against his head.
"H-hands! Hands where I c-c-can see 'em!" the reptile shouts, his facade of authority given away by the judder in his voice.
"Wa-wait… what are y-you…" the young lion stammers as he slowly attempts to get to his feet.
"DON'T MOVE A MUSCLE!" The alligator retorts, waving his gun wildly at the lion.
The lion lets out a small yelp as he falls backwards, the combination of the reptile's loud command and the waving firearm causing his legs to give out below him.
What's going on?! His mind races as he begins to scoot backwards, looking frantically around the lecture hall, time seeming to slow around him. To the left of the alligator he saw the gorilla talking quickly into the radio strapped to his chest, saying something about backup. He continued to slowly inch away, fearing for his life, a tightness squeezing his lungs as he began to hyperventilate, until the tips of his fingers touched something wet and sticky on the floor.
The young lion didn't want to look. He really didn't. He had enough to deal with without any more surprises, his anxiety through the roof. Unfortunately, his natural curiosity takes over as he slowly turns his head towards the back of the room.
"Hey! I told you not to move!" the alligator repeats, steadying his grip on his weapon a bit better, but his shout falls on deaf ears.
The lion couldn't help but stare in wonder at the sight behind him. The feeling of attempting to interpret an unusual and abstract piece of art hits him at first, but panic soon swells from deep within as he begins to register exactly what he is seeing. That a strewn pile of flesh, bone, and an assortment of torn clothes and fabric from a school uniform lay behind him. His limbs suddenly grew cold and his heartbeat drums loudly in his ears.
He looks down to his trembling hand to find the pads of his fingers touching the edge of a drying pool of blood. Flashes of vivid images began flying through his mind: a gun held up by a clawed hand, an older male lion with a bright and goofy grin, that grin suddenly tinted bright blood red after a muffled bang ringing through his head, the young lion's own hands becoming crimson before—before a bright, young smiling alpaca steadies in his mind.
"WAAAAAAAUUUUUUGGGGGHHHHH!"
The young lion's roar echoes throughout the lecture hall, the booming sound a chorus of his voice harmonizing to any who could hear, amplifying his emotions. The alligator squeals, accidentally pulling the trigger and falling back on his tail from the recoil. The bullet thankfully misses its mark, but the sound of the gunshot was completely drowned out by the terror-filled wails of the young lion.
Both the gorilla and alligator can do nothing but stare in utter bewilderment at the spectacle of the screaming animal as he teared at his light-brown mane. After what felt like over a full minute, the young lion's howls faded into broken sobs and moans.
"Uh...hey, kid?" the gorilla nervously calls, tentatively stepping towards him. "Um… you're gonna have to co—"
"BLEAAAAARRRGH… !"
The primate's sentiments are left unfinished as the young lion retches violently on the floor, the mess spilling over his blue vest and vertically-striped dress pants—some even splashed onto the gorilla's shoes.
The large feline then falls to the floor on his side before quivering a bit and finally growing completely still as he loses consciousness.
It takes yet another few moments before the gorilla reaches for his radio once again, a flat look on his face, as the contents of the lion's last meal dripped off of him.
"Uh, this is 5-0-6-3. Forget the backup. Just… get the paramedics in here," he huffs.
"Copy that," a garbled response comes through the speaker of the radio.
He sighs as he approaches the young carnivore—making sure to avoid the puke on the ground—before noticing a strap coming out of his back left pocket. Curious, he tugs it out to find an I.D card attached to a lanyard.
His eyes flick back and forth as they skim through the text of the card, learning that the young carnivore was identified as a liliger—a rare type of lion with some tiger ancestry—and was named "Rob."
The ape sees a profile picture accompanying his information; the liliger with apricot-colored fur, a face freckled with dark-brown spots, a fairly-curly light brown mane, and soft, gentle greenish-gray eyes.
A bit perplexed, he looks at the passed out animal and then back at the I.D picture. The gorilla then realizes that his fur and mane has become blanched in comparison to the photo.
"Oh…" he quietly exclaims, a look of heartfelt pity sinking into his features as he understands immediately what brought about the drastic change. He and his partner had arrived ready to confront a powerful and dangerous carnivore. But now, he finds himself feeling a deep sympathy for a scared and traumatized kid–and a student, no less.
With a long sigh, the gorilla pulls the rim of his hat down, walking back slowly to his companion who was still stunned on the floor as the sounds of several sirens slowly crescendos in the distance.
Author's Note
Hey, there! Thanks for reading! I gotta give props to Paru Itagaki for creating such a rich world and story that is "Beastars". I always imagined a story where events coincide with the original plot, but is also its own thing, kind of like in the "Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth" series (highly recommended by the way!). Plus, I love big cats, so it worked out perfectly.
Hope you all enjoy it!
(Edit 11/16/21): So, got a friend to help me out as an editor (not super official, of course) so there will be a few fixes and changes from now on in the next and later chapters! He has actual experience in that department, so I'm sure I can improve even further with his help!