To Tame a Human

"This is number 7, we've found the runner, I'm on the southern end of the Christmas market" a tigress said to the radio, as she stomped the brakes.
For everyone else it was usual Tuesday, but for her, it was show time.
There was no way she's going to let him get away this time.
'The Runner' was a name for a suspect, approximately 1.8 meters tall, brown hair, dressed in blue overalls. He was a human who was evading capture for some time right now.
She already had enough of this bullshit, as he was basically mocking the whole Human control department.
Apparently he was fast, and nimble, and he wasn't afraid to bite hard.
Last time she almost had him was when he stole some mandarins from the market.
The worst part is, she almost didn't recognize him this time.
He was nonchalantly moving behind an older pair, although he had no leash, he had a collar so it seemed like he belonged to them, but about a minute ago, he changed directions, and went for the "Whiskas for adult Caucasians"
However the Tigress was adamant about catching him this time around, no more will she be mocked about losing him that time.
She quickly picked up her hat, pushed the hazards, placed the hat on her head, and picked up the snare from the passengers' seat and got out of the car.
Her uniform wasn't going to make it easy for her, but then again, if he sees her, it doesn't matter what she'll be wearing, because he already saw her before.
It hunt was on!

It was Tuesday, I was sure of it.
Its been nine months since I suddenly appeared in this shitty world, since then much has changed.
They never prepare you for this thing, not in school, not in basic training, not in games, not in movies....well maybe planet of the apes does.
That day three months ago, I was fixing my goddamn car, because the motherfuckin fuel tank was leakin. One moment, you have the empty fuel tank on the table, and you start to weld the hole back, then tank explodes, and your welder too, Boom, you're in the middle of a motherfuckin park in motherfucking city of alien animals, who tame the humans, I shit you not!
Well, I did the only reasonable thing I could think of, I hid in the nearby bush and observed the aliens. They were speaking English, and while English isn't my first language, I could understand them perfectly.
What I didn't understand was why every single human was mute!
Those bastards, they must've done some horrible things to those poor humans, they all act like mentally handicapped.
that day, I hid until night, and found a way out of the city and into the forest, where I discovered that humans live in wilderness here
There were three children in the forest, living in basement of some abandoned cabin.
Mute as fuck
I decided that i'll take care of them, because they were malnourished, they shown me that they eat berries and bugs, and anything that wasn't fast enough to escape them.
I decided to help them.
The best way was to steal food from the city, and so I did.
I did that for six months now, but right now it was much more important to continue stealing, as the winter came, the basement was cold, so we needed more blankets, and food was hard to find.
The children needed vitamins, and so did I.
The manadarins should give them the Vitamin C, but they need more nourishment.
This time I went for pet food, or food specialized for humans, however you wanna call it.

I was doing the routine approach, get to the outskirts, and then just tag in respectful distance behind someone, as long as they went in general direction in which I was heading.
Most of the time, it worked, I was going for the Christmas market. I knew from two days ago, that there is a stand with overpriced human food, and accessories for a human.
I was seven meters away from the stand, when I felt like a predator was stalking me.
'Fuck!' I thought, as I knew that my instincts are not wrong, they usually weren't, and when they were, better safe then sorry.
I rushed from an elderly sheep couple towards the stand.
The shopkeeper had a ten kilo pack on display, and was looking away.
Now was my chance.
I went for it, I grabbed the pack, hoping that it was sturdy enough for me to just yank it and carry it on my back.
This is where my physique was going to show.
While running away, I swung the pack on my backs, and continued running.
I was fit, besides I had a perfect plan, there were three spots through which I passed regularly, the dark alleys, maintenance entrances to buildings with broken locks.
"Hey!" The horse in the shop finally noticed I stole his shit.
it was five seconds too late for him, and I was sprinting towards the suburb.
You'll be surprised, but people make way for you when you are charging toward them and they consider you a rabid animal.
"Get him!" that's eight seconds too late for him.
I was leaving the market already, now to cross the road.
I still got the feeling that somebody was after me.
I looked back
Oh shit, its a tiger!
While I should've gotten used to the idea of seeing large predators standing on two, and paying you no mind, nothing gets your blood pumping like a tiger running after you with a snare on a stick.
I need to lose her!
I run into the traffic, cars braking like crazy, they hardly avoid hitting me.

I crossed the road in safety, meanwhile I heard the tigress yell something at me
Fuck that, I ain't gonna get eaten by a tiger tonight!
I run through the alleyway between buildings and then quickly change directions to left, and then quick right.
the pack is growing really heavy on my backs.
this cannot be 10 kilos!
Luckily for me, there was a safehouse nearby.
the lady was however behind me.
Fuck, this is gonna end up badly.
I'll either drop this, and me and children will starve, or i'll keep running with it and get caught.
I was slowly starting to panic. as I rushed toward the rear entrance of a panel house.
I went through the doors and locked them behind me.
Just as I locked it, I heard a certain angry tiger trying to open it. and cursing.
There was no time to lose!
I had to think, I cant bring her to the cabin in the woods.
I can't run the whole way to the cabins.
then it dawned on me
my route has three checkpoints, and the third one is abandoned garage. If I manage to drop my pack there, I can lead her away. The oldest kid, knows where it is and I told him to go there in case I don't appear at the cabin the same day I went to steal shit.
I had prepared some more supplies there. It was easy to steal big things, but lug them almost two kilometers to the cabin, was not, so I made a stockpile there, which I was slowly bringing home.
Now, I need to rush through the basement to the side entrance.
She'll expect me at the front
I rushed through the connected basements of this panel house, and went up at the second to last one.
Rushed through the doors, and pushed an old goat off some stairs.
Went through the entrance and rushed toward the second checkpoint.
The tiger was smarten than I thought, she was waiting in the middle of the street.
She looked more tired than I was, which is funny, considering that I lug extra 10 kilos
Sharp left, then right, then left, and then left. I'll not get caught.

That sneaky bastard!
When I thought I almost had him, he locked the doors behind him!
My sister's human has problems opening the doors by himself, yet the Runner has no problems locking them.
Damn him, I'll go around!
I ran toward the front of the building, he's not going to just hide there, I knew it!
we even had a meeting about this bastard
They said that he always rushed towards the forest, so its unlikely he'll stay there.
After about half a minute, he rushed through a second entrance, almost fifty meters away from me.
'Come on Lizz, you can't let him get away' I thought and once again forced myself to run after him.
he tried to lose me, but this time, I wouldn't be so easy to lose, I know where he's going this time around. He's rushing toward the garden, where I lost him last time.
I lose track of him, trying to run around the place. but it pays off.
He has to run through a small alley, between buildings, no way to escape if I appear from the front
I got to the point where I wanted to be, and I saw him jogging towards me, hiding behind a corner.
'now all I have to do Is stop him'
as I heard him approach, I went for a kill
I swung my snare on stick as a baseball bat. I was gonna hit him in the face.
I miscalculated and hit him across the chest.
The snare caught his free hand around writs and tightened as he yanked the snare out of my hands with his momentum
I tried to catch him with my bare hands because I had nothing else on me, no net, just the snare, the rest was in the car.
When I grabbed the bag of the food he carried and pulled it, he dropped it.
'what the hell was I expecting?'
Then he suddenly stopped, and turned around.
he took the snare and I kid you not, he found the button to release it, and took it off.
I was stupefied, that thing was humanproof!
he looked me in the eye
"Easy now boy" I said, It usually helps the humans calm, they are usually scared, but this one was feral! And then he charged!

I wasn't going to leave without the food.
the kids depend on me! And nothing will stop me from making sure that they can actually survive the winter!
My bruised chest was hurting like hell, and I was going to repay the kindness to this tiger.
She was smaller than me, and didn't look that strong.
First I charged at her with the pole in my hand, holding it like a sword. I took a swing at her head, but she ducked out of the way. and grabbed my hand. trying to make a restraining move on me
Now I know it wasn't very manly of me, but I bit her, hard in the back of her hand.
She cried out and let me go.
It was my chance to hit her in the head with the pole and get rid of her.
I was prepared to do it.
"Get away from Lizz you motherfucker"
I looked to the right, there was a Wolf rushing toward me with a taser.
Oh fuck, time to leave this place.
I drop the pole, grab the bag of 'Whiskas for adult Caucasians. Now with 50% extra for free'
Motherfucker, I was running around with 15 kilos?!
I quickly dart out before he even manages to get into the firing range.
Rushing toward the garage.
This is super bad
there are at least 500 meters between me and the garage, three streets and now she has backup!
I was tired, and it was harder to breathe now.
bitch hit me so hard! and I got mouthful of fur now!
I rushed through the street, once again causing mayhem in the streets.
Two hundred meters. I could almost see it.
I heard the two of them behind me!
Those motherfuckers don't give up do they?
I went to the side of the garage, where there was a window opened.
I just threw it in, and closed it. Hoping that they wont figure out where I dropped the bag. I rushed over to the building by the side, and went west.
The forest was to the north.
But that's it for me, there aint no way i'll get there today
Best thing to do is hide somewhere, preferably sewers.
'where is the open manhole when someone needs it?'
"There he is!" wolfy yelled
shit

I can't believe he bit me!
that motherfucker bit me! and wanted to hit me with the snare!
My hand is bleeding!
If there was any doubt about me not catching him tonight, its all gone.
I'll be the one who will walk him to his cage, and then i'll be the one who will suggest putting him down.
My colleague, the number 3 as was his calling sign on the radio, stopped him from doing just that.
His name was Steve however, and he wasn't as tired as I was.
We saw him disappear behind another house, he went around the garage.
then we lost sight of him for a few moments, when he suddenly appeared at the end of the street.
he was obviously tired
running toward the factories, but he dropped the bag somewhere.
I didn't care about the fucking bag, whiskas is shitty brand and I was here for him, I'm animal control, I'll leave the law thing to the FBI or whoeverthefuck wants to search for whiskas bag stolen by a runaway human
We chased him for another five minutes, until he made a mistake and took a left turn before the factory.
That road led to a dead end between two factories.
We rushed after him there.
You should've seen the look on his face when he saw that there was only wall, an old Meowcedes with no wheels and broken windows, and us.
"Come here you bastard!" Steve said, aiming the taser on him.
"End of the line!" I yelled at him, he looked both scared, and ready to fight his way through us.
"Sit!" Steve told him with authoritative voice
Runner looked like he was considering his options, but then steve shot at him with his taser, Hitting him in the stomach, and zapping him
This was the last time that Runner managed to shock me
After that he went on the ground, but pulled the needles out of his stomach and threw them away.
"How much" I asked
"ten milliampers"
Runner was on the ground, and I was going to put him in a snare.
what?
Runner managed to lift himself, and went on his knees, placed hands on the back of his head and stopped

the bastard put his hands on the back of his head and didn't move them.
It was impossible to put a snare on him, but he basically gave up. So after Nick, or number 9 arrived with his van, we placed him in hand cuffs, ankle cuffs, and put a cage on his face so he won't bite anymore.
Since Nick called the station, they were expecting us, even my boss shown up by the entrance to the cages
"So this is the Runner?" Katie asked,
she was my friend and worked as receptionist.
"He looks strong, a fine human indeed"
you could tell by the look on her face, that her mind was already in the gutter
"He looks like trouble" My boss said "But he's big I'll give you that"
The Runner wasn't resisting much, partly because he was all tied up, partly because we sedated him, just in case, so he was out cold.
When we dragged him in the cage, we removed the cage on his face, and the cuffs.
Then I went to get my hand checked, if this piece of shit had any disease, i'll kick him to death by myself.

The rest of the day was uneventful, the doctor stitched me, told me that I was otherwise okay, but that there will be scarring.
But I didn't mind at all, the Runner was off the streets, and he's not for adoption, its only a matter of time before the waiting period is over and we're allowed to put him to sleep.
After the doctor, I was allowed to take the rest of the day off.
So I went home and took a bath. It was only then when I realized how fucking tired I really was. The goddamn thing made me run laps around half of the city!
So after the bath I went to bed

THE NEXT DAY

When I came to work at 9:30 I went directly to the cages. There he was. Even though he had bed behind him, he sat on the ground. When I came closer to the cage, he didn't even raise his eyes to look at me
"Good morning Runner" I said mockingly, this time around I was the winner, and he was the loser. No more running around,

and then she came, she was proud of herself, I didn't need to look at her, I kept looking at the one single point in the wall I've deemed interesting enough to give it my undivided attention.
I came through the basic training, I knew that when I was captured, I was allowed to say only my name, rank, and date of birth, but every single human I've seen was mute, so I felt no need to give her anything.
I still don't know if these monsters did this to every single human, or if the humans were just that way here.
"You'll have to play nice from now on, you know?" She asked me, or did she? It felt like she was only trying to rub in that she caught me.
I wasn't going to give her the satisfaction, i'll just sit here, look at single point in the wall and not move a muscle. She thinks I'm a mute and unintelligent animal, so I guess she's just that pathetic.
'Gloating to a dog you've caught, that's really sad'
After a while she got bored of gloating and left.
This was a prison, a typical prison cell, except the fact that they didn't give me a towel, or spare clothes, they didn't even look through my clothes.
On the other hand I didn't have anything that could help me out of a prison cell, I had my wallet with ID and a few bucks
I had this collar, so if I wanted, I could hang myself´from the window and leave this world, but there's a camera across the cell, looking left and right, so unless I manage to strangle myself in a record time, they'll get me off.
As I was left to my own thoughts, I didn't notice a fox who was taking a peek at me from the doors. I didn't know her but she was looking at me like I would be looking if animal control managed to catch a fucking predator from those movies.
Sure, I didn't look like the normal household human, I was much too muscular for that.
After a while, she stood in front of the doors and said
"Hello runner, breakfast is here" and she put two bowls through the window at the bottom of the cell doors

Of course I didn't move at all, I wasn't going to give them a satisfaction of eating whatever they are going to offer me
"Come on!" and then she smacked her lips at me, as if trying to convince me to go and get myself whatever food was in the first bowl and the water from the second one
I turned my head, for the first time since morning, it made an unpleasant sound, and I looked directly at the fox, with the coldest glances I've ever given to someone
her eyes widened, but she didn't say anything and left.
I wonder whats going to happen with me?
I'm pretty sure that they wont let me just go after I serve my sentence
And if they are anything like the animal control back from home, they might put me for adoption, but I don't think they will, after all I bit the tigress.
Yeah, I know not my proudest moment.
So the day went on...
After several hours, the tigress came again, apparently to gloat once again, but she seemed surprised that I didn't move from the spot.
"Not gonna eat are you?" She asked me, I kept looking at the single point in the wall.
"What are you up to Runner? " She asked me like I was a person this time around.
"If you weren't hungry, you wouldn't be stealing food, would you?" Oh now she's a detective?
I gave her the look, I looked deep in her eyes, as if to challenge her
She didn't flinch like the fox did, it was a contest of stares
She broke the silence between us
"You know I was thinking runner, and now I'm completely decided."
Is she now? and about what? No matter, I'll just look back to my favorite place on the wall
"I'll make sure you will never bite me again" she said confidently, it was a threat in disguise.
So that's what it is? She's telling me that they will put me down?
I looked at her again, there was this smug smile on her face.
"that's right" she said, and I slowly started to stand up, and then I walked towards the cell doors.
She took a step back
"after we're done with you, you're up for adoption"

I looked at her, trying not to show my disbelief, just what kind of a sick game is this Tigress playing?
I gripped the bars and moved my face more towards her, but she was already standing out of my reach.
It was a clear challenge, and I even got up to acknowledge it.
She then took two steps forward, towards the bars, she was so close that I could actually headbutt her if there was enough space between the bars.
Her breath was minty, she had no parfume.
I could grab her through the bars, and try to crush her against the bars, what use would it be? She didn't have the keys, and from here I can see the desk with fox girl over there, while I doubt she'll be able to help tigress in time, but I'm pretty sure Foxy there had the keys.
" I promise" she said, and I certainly didn't like her tone, but I resisted the urge to spit in her face
'You promise eh? We'll see' I thought, she told me face to face, mere centimeters apart.
"Mlem"
What the fuck?
Did she lick my nose?
'C'mere you bastard!' I thought as I quickly reached with my both hands after her, but she already took some steps back.
"Come on Lizze, don't antagonize him, I'll have to put up with him if he starts making a mess" said the fox.
'Lizze huh?'
She turned around to talk to her colleague, while I pulled back in cell
"don't be like that, you know what I've gone through because of him" while she wasn't paying attention, I picked up the bowl with the water, and with a quick flip, I threw the water at her, of course keeping the bowl.
Splashing noise could be heard, as Lizzie was splattered with half a litre of water
"Hahahaha, wow!" The foxy said while the Tigress named Lizzie looked at her wet Uniform, which looked like a winner from Wet T-shirt contest.
Then she looked at me as I was slowly sitting down in my favorite place, looking at the favorite spot on the wall
"Now you've done it" Foxy said, but Tigress left without another word.

Later that day, by the evening Lizzie came again, this time with some Labrador dude, who had water hose prepared.
I guess this is her payback, so I stood up, ready to face it.
"Shower time" she announced, and the hose went off.
the water was ice cold, not to mention I was still dressed and didn't bring any soap with me, it was also very strong, so after my first attempt to face it like a proud human, I was hit in the stomach, and I buckled over.
I wasn't sure if there were going to be any torture methods, but since they kept concentrating the water on my face, I could pretty much say that they weren't washing me but waterboarding me.
As I was in a bad position from the start, I felt like I was beaten by a boxer, who then put ice on me.
I don't know how long it lasted.
"I guess you are clean now, clean and cool headed" Labrador said, while she stood there frowning.
After I was sure that its over, I tried to get up, the floor was slippery, so I slipped once. and banged my pinky on the wall.
I wasn't sure if it was humanly possible to feel that cold, I was also shaking.
I knew what I had to do, I had to take off my Clothes, otherwise i'll catch cold.
First unzipping the overals, then the t-shirt I was wearing.
While I was undressing out of the wet clothes, the Labrador went away with the hose.
She stayed, probably for the show, or possibly to say something sarcastic along the lines of 'Now we're even' or something like that.
I was already in my underwear when she finally spoke up
"Give me your clothes" she said and extended the hand towards me
'I beg you pardon' I looked at her like she was crazy.
"Come on, give them to me" she repeated and shook her hand
'No way, you'll want my boots and my motorcycle too!' I thought.
"don't worry" she said
I was feeling strangely cooperative after the shower, but I first retrieved my wallet before giving it to her, no funny business on my part
"What do you have there?" she asked, curious

cont.

Now that the clothes exchanged ownership, I spotted that he retrieved a black leather wallet from it beforehand.
"What do you have there?" I asked curiously, it wasn't usual that humans had pockets, much less wallets of their own.
Maybe it was his owner's?
Then again this one was a special case, he looked like he has been trained by some psycho to be the strong utility type, while also teaching him how to think things through.
While he, after some hesitation, gave me his clothes, he hid the wallet behind his back. Now I don't think that he's going to give it to me willingly, but I didn't feel like tranquilizing him for it now, not after what happened here
"You'll get them tomorrow" I told him, as if he would be able to understand that
he kept watching me, but didn't do anything else.
'keep your wallet and your secrets, I'll get them out of you soon enough'
After I put the clothes on the radiator, I went after Mike, the Labrador who was caretaker in the human pens
"So how is he?" Mike asked. "He cooled down a bit, but next time, try not to drown him please?" I replied
"I thought you wanted to punish him" Mike looked confused.I sighed a little "Yes, but not to traumatize him..."
"Lizz? To my office please" My boss suddenly said. I gave last look to Mike and I went to the boss' office
"Sit down please" He said, sitting in his chair already, so I sat down. I wonder what's this about, he doesn't do the 'to my office, NOW' often
"Have you read the Morning Kat?" he asked me immediately after I sat down.
"Can't say that I did, I don't read newspapers" I truthfully answered
"Well you should, there's your name in it" he said, showing me the newspapers from this morning. While I got my hopes up, it wasn't front page, but then again "Human menace caught" was pretty impressive title
"They wrote about me catching the Runner?"
"They call him Menace, but that's not it, read more."
So I did, there was info about what he did and where.

cont.

there was my name as the one who caught him, then there were several interviews with onlookers and those he robbed
..."they sympathize with him?" I wasn't going to believe this
"The thing is, he is publicly known." I knew where this was going to go, he's gonna say stuff about publicity, and getting more funding from the city, and blah blah blah
"...and that's about it" boss finished
Wait, did I zoned out for a moment?
"So, you want me to train men..Runner?"
"Basically yes, but expect frequent visits, you are representing the station now." the boss said, I wasn't sure if he was happy about it or not.
"Okay" I said. I didn't think that my threat that 'after WE are done with you' meant 'after I am done with you' but I guess that's whats going to happen in the following days.
"This is going to be interesting experience"

END OF PROLOGUE

To Tame a Human
CHAPTER 1: First steps

Minutes come and minutes go, there is nothing to do in a cage, I've been here for how long?
3 days now, apparently, and i still refused to cooperate with them.
I was wondering how are the kids, i hope they are alright.
I'm famished, there is food, but i'm trying to make them actually come in here and try to feed me via needle. Not that i would want to be poked with needles unnecessarily, but that way even though i'll be weak from hunger, they'll have to open the doors. Which will be my chance.
'I have to endure a little bit longer' I thought.
"Is he still not eating?" I heard a voice, probably belonging to the Tigress.
"He doesn't even drink, you may have traumatized him with the water hose" Foxy replied.
there was a slight pause, and then a sigh "Maybe" Tigress said "But maybe he's not hungry." she added
"I could hear his stomach rumbling all the way to here few hours ago again" Now that was true. I was about to bite my fingers off from hunger, and the food over there didn't help much.
Then footsteps, someone came to the front of my cage, i presume it was Tigress called Lizzie
"Settling in boy?" she asked me, once again she referred to me as a "boy" even though i might be actually older than she is.
'How long do tigresses live anyway?' was the thought for the day, but instead of just speaking to me, she sat down cross legged in front of the cage.
What are you up to ? I'm not interested in staring contests, i'm too busy looking at a wall directly in front of me.
"Would you like to hear a story?" she asked me.
Now that was something i wasn't expecting. I almost raised my eyebrow in a questioning look, but i managed to keep myself staring straight.
"Its my favorite book when i was just a kitten" she added. I have absolutely no idea what game is she playing with me, but its not going to work on me lady
" Its called Vinnie and the humans " she explained, and opened the book on the first page.
As I was reading my favorite book to him, he didn't move at all. He kept on staring on that single spot for about six pages without moving.
I know this book by heart, so i could afford to look up from the book now and then to look how Runner is holding up.
"that's when Vinnie first realized that his human friends were magical, and could speak to him" That passage was about Vinnie coming to an enchanted forest with his human, meeting other wild humans.
Right when i read that passage, Runner's muscles tensed up for a second, but then he relaxed again.
I wasn't reading him a book just to pass time with him, it was psychological. He has to get used to my presence, and studies show that reading to incarcerated humans reduces their stress and make them more social in the long run.
It didn't seem to have much effect on Runner though, but i liked this book so i kept on reading.
"...and Robin said 'I love honey more than i love anything!'" He changed his sitting position, no longer sitting in fetal position, staring at the wall, he turned and crossed his legs. Now it might have been nothing, but it felt like at least some progress with him.
Now that my job was depending on him cooperating and becoming an obedient pet, I had to do my best.
Suddenly a horrible sound, came from inside the cage. By the way he clenched his stomach, it could mean only one thing, he was starving.
I think it was time to sedate him and give him the IV solution
"I think we should end here" I said, but before i could close the book, he turned his face on me, looking at me not with his usual challenging look, this time around it was a sad look.
"Runner" I said in comforting voice. "I can't read if your tummy rumbles this loud"
He looked down, as if he was contemplating something.
"Your food is right here, if you're wondering" I said, pushing the bowls further in through the hole
"Come on, I promise i'll read some more if you eat" It looks like he's considering it again

She can't be serious, hell, i can't be serious.
Am I seriously considering to abandon the plan to break out of here just so i could listen to this parody to Vinnie the Pooh? Its just that, but the humans and animals are switched around!
But the story is slightly different anyway.
I've come so far, they'll have to come in and give me the IV today or tommorow max, if they intend to keep me alive.
I'll just last a little bit longer, although why am I not drinking?
'because the water could already be enriched with sugar, or they put something else in it, maybe to sedate me.
I really started to question myself, meanwhile the tigress who got me in this place was looking at me through the bars with a mix of worry and curiosity on her face.
'Take a picture it'll last longer' I wanted to say this to her face so much i could cry.
But there's place for everything, and right now, all I needed was to wait, but the time passes so slowly in here. Except when she was reading, that went way faster than i expected. I sat back to my chin on knees position and looked back at the wall
"Don't be like that Runner, if you don't eat you'll die" Now that didn't sound like a threat at all. It sounded like she was seriously worried about me. Or did it?
This place is mental, you could actually get used to the way of this treatment, they treat you like a dog, you get treats for behaving, and punishment for not behaving.
I'm not an animal, i'm a human being, i have my pride, my rights, my honor, it is my life to live!
I hardened myself, trying my best to ignore the pain from hunger, i did that so intently that i didn't notice her leaving, or actually returning with the fox.
"So you hold him down?" The fox asked, holding a box with a cross on it.
The Time has come, This is my chance.
I actually looked at them, and stood up, a little woozy from the sudden movement.
"No" Tigress said.
No restraint? This will b..
fmph
Ouch, what was that?
Dart?
He looked confused, then he looked at his shoulder and found the tranquilizer.
Not a bad shot, considering i was shooting from the hip.
He pulled it out, and looked at it.
"Now we'll wait" I said and we went to the table to prepare the solution
"We could've called Mike to hold him down, you know?" she said, but i knew better. Runner was a sneaky bastard, not to mention that he was bigger than Mike.
"Better not take any chances, we'll wait till he's out, then you can do your magic" I said pointing at the medical bag.
I went to check on him in about a minute, to see if he's out.
as i was afraid, he pulled the dart out, but he was already out cold. Thats why i didn't want to stay in front of the cage, he might have thrown the dart back.
"He's ready for you"
"I'm comiiiiing"
Since when was Lena so cheerful?
Lena came in and opened the needle box, meanwhile i decided to do a little snooping around.
By snooping i meant checking the wallet I've seen on him.
I checked his pockets, but it wasn't there.
Was Runner actually sneaky enough to hide it somewhere?
I quickly looked around the room, trying to figure out where he might have hidden it.
I quickly checked his bed, behind the toilet, nothing nowhere.
"And thats it" Lena said, putting a plaster on him
Maybe he hid it in his clothes, under the overals. I went to him again, sitting by his side, and started to unzip his overals, it was the one with the zip in the middle, going all the way down.
"So thats why you wanted to tranquilize him!" Lena said with dumb smile on her face
I stopped for a second and looked at her with confusion
"You really are a perv you know?" She said that straight to my face.
"What?" I asked
"He is a real hunk! So i can't blame you if you wanted to cop a feel"
"No, i didn't want to do that" I defended myself while feeling the blood running to my cheeks.
"Dont be like that, he's big and strong, if he is also hung, then he's perfect for cuddling!"

I wasn't going to let her accuse me of being humanophile, and although it was legal to do it with your pet, there were people who frowned upon it, me included.
"He had a wallet on him, possibly with info on him, so get your mind out of the gutters and help me find it" I snapped at Lena, who just smiled at me with her devilish grin
I searched for any hidden pockets on the inside of the overals.
Lena helped, well, at least she wanted me to believe that she was helping. Double checking empty pockets is understandable, but not if she insisted that i might have missed the pockets on the inside.
I'm pretty sure nobody has internal pockets in overals by the crotch.
"Would you stop groping him Lena?" I said, as i slapped her hand.
"Owie, now i wont tell you how big he really is!" she looked so childish, not to mention unprofessional.
"Where the hell did he hide it?" I asked frustrated that Runner managed to resist me so efficiently even when out cold!
"If i had a wallet, i would wear it on my back pocket" Lena piped in.
I swear to god, Its no longer about keeping Runner from hurting other people, now its keeping Lena from groping him to death.
"Lena..." I sighed
"Have you checked his back pockets?" She interrupted me
now that she mentions it, i didn't, since Runner was laying on his back
I tried to roll him but he was rather heavy
"Need a hand here?" I asked Lena who was standing there.
"I'll give him a hand! or maybe something more" she says while kneeling next to me
She isn't normally like this, She's meek and all but today its like she's chang....Riight...estrus...
After we rolled him on the side, i checked his back pockets, and indeed there was the wallet I was looking for.
"Bingo!" I said happily, opening the wallet. It seemed mostly intact, although the leather was already falling apart and there were several holes.
"What?" I opened the first pocket, and there were bills, money? What kind of money is this anyway?
It had structures on one side, and the other side had some bridge, while there was a number of how worth is, apparently Fifty something...
"What is this?" I asked Lena who was already trying to get into Runner's underwear, again.
"What?" She asked me, this time almost annoyed that i interrupted her
"Have you seen money like this?" I asked her, and handled her the Fifty thing
She looked at it and even sniffed it. "It says Euro and Eypo here, no idea what it is. Maybe its some game currency?" she said
I looked skeptically at her "Game currency? You trying to tell me that this human actually has level five warlock in Distressed Dragons and dungeons? (DD&D(Tm)) "
"I was thinking more along the way of Zonopoly"
Since she wasn't any help, i put the money back, be that whatever it is, its his, and i don't need it.
There was another card.
"oh hey, it looks like an ownership card!" I cheered, this human might have actually belong to somebody
First name, Rick, last name... that D.z...f? okay, I cannot even read the word, let alone say it out loud.
"We might have a street of the owner!" I exclaimed happily.
"Awwww" Lena sounded rather dejected.
I turned the card around,
He is B negative, if this card says the truth, because he's either 400 years old, or there is some undiscovered country in this world, where they have different year. The name of the country also didn't ring any bells, not to mention that it was hard to read.
There was something else, something like Drive.
Before i could investigate further, I looked on lena who was awfully quiet for a few seconds.
"By Gods, Lena!" I closed the wallet and dropped it as I was about to pull Lena away from him.
"I know its the time of the month, but there's a camera over there, remember? If you fuck him now, you'll lose your job!"
As I was pulling her off him, she protested, a lot.
"No fair, hogging him for yourself!" she said.
"He'll be up in a matter of minutes, he might hurt you!"

After I managed to get Lena out of the cage. I looked back to Runner.
I took the wallet, and placed it back into his pocket, where he had it the first time, no need to stress him about that, he already had enough.
so i turned him back over. He was unzipped and his t-shirt was pulled up, luckily Lena didn't get his underwear off, and while i was a little bit curious, i resisted groping him like Lena did.
I was more curious about the scarring on his abdomen. It didn't look like it was from a fight, but more like a precise cut with scalpel.
Either something was surgically removed, or his owner is going to get lynched by FETH (Furs for ethical treatment of Humans)
I zipped him up, and even pulled the pillow off his bed, and placed it under his head.
Then I went out and closed the doors behind me.
Its time to figure out who this Rick whateverthefuck is, why didn't he report that Runner ran away from him, and figure out where this ludicrous street is.
Its PooDle Maps Time!
I left the cellblock S and went to my table.
On the way i met Steve
"Hey Lizzie, didn't see, or hear from you all day, what sector did you get?" He asked.
Oh right, he doesn't know im not on patrols anymore, he's going to be doing the laps alone now.
"Boss said runner is my sole responsibility now"
"Did he?" He was surprised "That means i'll be all alone in streets? What if i get ambushed by scared human? Who'll help me ? I'm scared, hold me!"
"Don't be a dick, Steve." I wanted to walk around him when i realized something
"Do you know the street called like this?" I wanted to say the name, but holy hell, it was impossible.
"I need to write it down before i forget it" So i took a paper from nearby printer, and Steve provided me with a pen, i wrote it down and shown him.
"Zsh? what kind of a tongue twister is this?"
"I know, but Runner's ownership card had some Rick whateverthefuckwashisname living on street called like this"
"Someone owned him? Now there's a person i wanna punch. Let's check PooDle Maps maybe they'll help" Steve said.
It was on the agenda anyways, so we went to my desk to see what the computer can tell me
"Why dont you have the card with you?" he asked me while i turned on the computer, and a smiling cat through a window looked at me, telling me that "MeowOs is booting, MEOW!"
"He actually tried to hide it from me, maybe his owner was mistreating him so much, he wanted to avoid going back, so i thought if he woke up and somehow found his card was missing, he might go ballistic again" I explained, and in response i got a very concerned look from Steve.
"What?" I asked
"I know Runner is a big deal for you, but he's just a human, he cannot think that far, their brains are capable of learning, but not understanding connections. He isn't a real Furry you know." he said
I stared at him, with open mouth for a few moments, he is right, while Runner might seem like he understands or even thinks things through, he's just a human. "I guess you're right, but he's gonna be up about now, so no point going back for the card.
Maybe i was really losing it, but then again, i was chasing for Runner for about a month, maybe, just maybe, i was thinking that i was a policeman chasing a bank robber or something like tha...
"MEOW!"
A signal, typical startup tone for MeowOs has signalized that the computer is ready to do what needs to be done.
"Alright, lets check the adress" I said, but that wouldn't be Steve if he hadn't made fun of me for the littlest of things
"Uh oh, you clicked Meowternet Explorer, we'll be two hundred and three before this thing loads, why dont you use FoxyFire?"
I just sighed, did the magic Control alt delete, shut down the process, and opened FoxyFire.
It was faster than Meowternet, but when i opened Poodle Maps, it crashed
"Oh right, i forgot the compatibility issue"
So the first major problem with tracking Rick was opening maps
After almost five minutes of trying to set the compatibility, i remembered that for these occasions i have 'PooDle Stainless steel' browser
We fired it up, and i tried to write the adress down.
No results
What the ? Is there a typo?
"Maybe you don't remember it right, that's why we should have the card here" Steve was pain in the ass as always, but i was sure i remembered it correctly, My memory is without fault.
"Oh wait, there is a typo" I found the typo, i accidentally wrote Skreet instead of Street
This time PooDle maps started loading, and panned out, way, way out. Until the whole globe was seen, then it started zooming on a whole different continent.
As it zoomed some more, i was feeling a sense of dread, it zoomed on a road in the middle of nowhere, the house number pointed to an empty plot, no house, no barn, no nothing, so i switched to Earth look, and there was indeed absolutely nothing...
"Wow, press navigate to here" Steve suggested

The PooDle Stainless Steel froze up for a moment, to the point where a sad cat message box popped up with "PooDless.exec isn't responding right Meow, do you wanna terminate the process?"

before i clicked no, the Poodle maps zoomed out, and said that it should be no problem, if we wanted to travel 18933 kilometers by car, the instructions included 'taking a kayak across the Sea'
"We're boned," I said.
"Boned" Steven concurred
"Totally boned" Kate who heard us piped in
"We found Runner owner's address, its across the globe" Steve filled Kate in on all the details so far
"What about searching his name ?"
It might be worth a shot
"You can go to Ask.Fox and see what does the fox say."
Even though i wasn't a computer expert, and Steve who considered himself at least an apprentice when it came to computer magic, we both gave her the disgusted look.
"No-one uses Ask.fox anymore, Use PooDle Lizzie" Steve said.
Well, the PooDle is certain that nobody with this name exists.

"Now what?" I asked, but steve wasn't looking at me, he was looking at the boss right next to him.
He looked almost happy that we didn't find the owner.
"The Runner is getting more mysterious by the second." He said, and i already knew that the next Morning Kat newspapers are going to have an article called "Human menace, a mystery?" or something like that.
"PooDle doesn't know everything, Its entirely possible that this Rick guy just doesn't have access to the internet, and therefore no Mice'sFace profile." Steve suggested.
"Therefore, we should ask police for help" He then added after a few moments.
While the boss didn't seem super happy about it, he said "Excelent idea, I'll call them, give me the paper"
I hastly added the name of Runner's owner to the address, and handed it over to my boss.
It was unlike him that he would volunteer to do something like calling a police station for info himself, but then again, if he felt like there are money to be made, he always went for it.
"Sorry to interrupt" Katie said." But Steve, Miss Higgins is calling that her Pet Suzie is stuck on a tree"
Steve rolled his eyes. " Miss Higgins should keep her human inside, this is the fourth time this week!"
"Now now, don't keep her waiting" Boss said, while i was closing the tabs on PooDle Stainless Steel. Then he looked at me. "How is it going with Runner?"
"He should be awake by now, we gave him the IV with nutrients and the appetite stimulant." I said, hoping that he'll start eating now, that he is going to be properly stimulated.
"Good" he said and turned to address us all "Because in about five days, the Morning Kat will come here to make an interview and make some photos." and while Katie and Steven, who were by the entrance just whistled in excitement, boss turned to me and said " So i want him out of the Solitary block, and among the other humans in three days."
Fucking great, i'm one hundred percent sure this isn't gonna end up well

END OF CHAPTER

To Tame a Human
CHAPTER 2: The walk of shame

'Why is the world spinning again?' was the first thought I had in my otherwise empty mind, for some reason, i was laying somewhere, it was hard, but something soft was under my head, probably pillow.
I must have been on a ship, because the floor was rocking to the left and to the right. My head hurt like i was doing shots all night long.
I have yet to open my eyes, but i didn't want to rush it, these hangovers have to be treated seriously and with caution.
the rocking became more intense, but it was shaking left and right so fast. I now knew that i wasn't on any ship, i was just having vertigo, great, what the hell have i've been drinking?
I was pretty sure that if i open my eyes i'll puke like there is no tommorow.
So i lied down there some more.
I was feeling pretty weak, but i couldn't remember the yesterday's night at all
'Maybe i should call myself sick today.' I thought, but the thought of having to move from the couch and search for a phone was dismissed instantly.
I wasn't just dizzy, I was also hungry as hell.
'Great, someone gave me the weed and now i have munchies'
I had to open the eyes, but i did so slowly, expecting bright morning light to pierce my eyes and burn a hole through into my skull.
It was evening, or even night, i wasn't sure, but the light came from the adjacent room.
I was so out of it, i turned to my side, trying to see where this old couch ended.
'Oh?' I thought when i realized i was lying next to a toilet, so this wasn't uncomfortable couch, it was ground.
And out of fucking nowhere, a fucking dwarf with hammer decided to go berserk inside my skull. My vision was blurry as fuck, and I wanted to just go back to sleep, but the hunger was killing me, and i was so thirsty!.
I was so hungry that i would have no qualms about eating slice of pizza from behind the cooker, hell, i'll eat a dead mouse if i find one right now.
I started to crawl toward the light,

The light must come from some room where are people, or maybe from kitchen, god, i'll eat whatever is in the fridge, i would kill for some bacon, but i wouldn't say no to a can of beans, hell, i'll even eat spinach, or stale bread, anything!
My crawl was suddenly interrupted by a round object.
correction: A half ball object, made from glass
'That must be some kind of bowl, oh god, i'm never drinking again' I thought, or at least i tried to think, but god, i was so shitfaced i couldn't even think
I quickly probed the inside of the bowl with my left hand.
some dry rice, it was food, i was almost on the verge of tears
Some Asian deity deemed me worthy and blessed me with a gift of rice.
'I should get a spoon' i thought, but then i realized that there is no point in keeping decorum, i was absolutely wasted, also if i tried to get up, I would surely die from dizziness
I just grabbed a fist full of rice and put it in my mouth.
it was dry, so dry i couldn't possibly swallow it, but as I was reaching for another handful my hand touched something wet.
'It must be sauce!' I thought, and with no further delays, i grabbed the bowl, and tried to drink from it, now drinking from prone position was a little problematic and it was also quite messy, but eventually something wet entered my mouth.
It was water, who the hell serves rice with water?
I tried to concentrate on the bowl, but there seemed to be two of them.
'Huh, curious' I thought as i was eating the rice with water, happy to have eaten something.
Slowly the dizziness was going away, and my sight has been clearing, the headache was also going slowly away. Enough for me to actually realize that i'm more hungry and to reach for the first bowl again.
When i picked it up, i saw that there was some small slice of meat there.
'Them asians, hiding the meat under the rice!' Ha!
I picked up the meat and put it in my mouth.
Oh the taste was divine!

I'll have to find the cook, and i'll marry her, hell, I'll marry him if he's a dude, because if he can make stale meat so tasty, he's the best cook in the world.
I was lost in thoughts while i was stuffing my face and enjoying the delightful food, only after i was done with the food I deemed the surroundings worthy of my attention.
There's a bed behind me, toilet to the left, bars in front of...wait bars?
Why would there be bars in front of me?
I leaned forward, and looked through the bars, only to see on the far left corner of the illuminated room a fox sitting behind the desk, doing something on computer
Fox? That wasn't a dream?
Slowly it started all come back to me.
I was in a cell, caught by a tiger, or tigress, and then, i stopped eating to escape during the IV injecti...wasn't there a dart?
'You idiot, of course they would sedate you!' I wanted to yell at myself, and so i did
"Aarrghhh!" I yelled as I realized what a tool I was, I almost started swearing, but then i realized that every single human i've met couldn't.
I didn't notice it but there was a surprised scream coming from the fox
Some of them screamed once in a while, but that was the limit, oh god, I almost gave myself away!
Now i was thoroughly pissed off, i wanted to hit something, really hard.
The best adept for this were the bars, but hitting bars with fist was not a good idea.
So I hit them with all my might and open palm.
While that might've helped to reduce pent up stress, the ringing bars did nothing to soothe my headache.
then i gripped my head, trying to reach with my hands inside my skull and remove the horrible pain which once again came.
It was threatening to overcome me and push me back to black world of unconsciousness again.
"What was that?" A female voice asked. I didn't care to whom it belonged, i wanted silence!
"Runner woke up, he's belligerent" someone else said.
I wanted to tell them to shut up, but i couldn't! So i hit the bars again.

When i approached the solitary to see what was going on. Runner hit the bars so hard that in the ground, I stumbled backwards.
He was way too strong, I wondered if the cage was going to hold, then again that was reinforced steel!
"Easy there!" I tried to sooth him, but i'll be honest, i didn't want to approach the cell at all
When i spoke up, he hit the doors again.
After this sound, Lena hurriedly pulled the Tranquilizer pistol set which she had in the desk, and prepared a shot.
"Lizz here's the..."
Another punch to the cell doors, this time he left a bloody stain on it.
I figured this out. I turned toward Lena, made a shhh gesture and shown her the 'stop' gesture too.
Runner was obviously suffering, by the way he was gripping his head, I've seen this behavior on some other humans when we sedated them and they woke up.
They all had these symptoms of agression and even self-destructive behavior.
All he needed was silence, and more water, since he's all out apparently.
I tiptoed over to Lena, and made gestured for her to follow me out of the room
when we were out.
"Its the sedative sensitivity."
"but the dosage was right according to the charts!" Lena defended herself.
"Did you take into consideration that he was starving himself for three days?" I asked.
She looked down and said "I did not"
"So we need to let him rest, but he's gonna be thirsty, dissolve half a pill of DozeOff in the big bowl then bring it here, and some treats, but quietly, i'll take care of him"
She nodded, and i went to the room again.
I took the loaded tranquilizer pistol, and headed back to cage.
Now this was a sad sight.
He was on the bed, hiding his head under the pillow. The white sheets stained with his bloody fingerprints.
'In three days, among the other humans' I thought with despair
I wanted to comfort him, because this wasn't his fault, he wasn't being punished, so this suffering was unnecessary.
But now i just had to wait.

Before Lena arrived, he got up from the bed, gripping his head, and started walking in circles.
When Lena shown up, with a 'big bowl' which was basically 3 litre pot, and some "Gud Hummie" candy snacks, i was already prepared to do what needed to be done.
I took the snacks first, and then the pot, then i looked at her.
"Runner?" I whispered.
He stopped going in circles, and looked toward me, not at me, just in general direction...
He tried to look hard at me, but i guess his eyes couldn't adjust.
I felt sorry for him, the new sedatives we were buying, were supplied by the cheapest supplier boss could find, so.
"Have some water, it'll help." I whispered once again, and i went down and put the pot inside his cell as silently as possible.It still made the thunk noise, but not loud.
"Drink it, it'll make the pain go away" I whispered. There was no need to sweet talk him into drinking, he was parched, his lips chapped, there was no reason for him not to drink.
And he drank like he has never drunk before.
Right in front of the cell doors, he just squatted, and picked up the pot, and he drank.
He looked so cute when he drank too much and started coughing.
"Easy now." I said, but after his coughing fit was over, he started anew.
It didn't seem like he was planning to stop until everything was gone, but that's not possible.
He eventually put the bowl down and curled to fetal position by the bars, next to the bowl, holding his head again.
I decided to risk pushing forward, if i have to meet the boss' demands, I have to work with him now. He's suffering from bad sedatives, and he got small dose of pain-killers with sleep pills. Mild ones mind you, because we've already pumped him full for weeks to come, if we sedated him again instead, he could have slept forever
"Its all right now" I whispered,, in the most soothing tone i could muster.
"You've been good," I continued.

I don't know what really happened, i felt murderous rage few moments prior, the horrible throbbing headache was still there, my vision was still impaired, and i drank at least a hectoliter of water that tasted funny, so more drugs.
Even though i wanted to think about what was going on, i couldn't, my mind was going to explode any second now, but the pain was once again going away, like the first time, i hope it wont return like that ever again!
I wanted to cry, but i had no energy left.
The tigress was here, she was trying to sweet talk to me, something about being good or something.
Then there was this peculiar feeling, while my head was throbbing all over, my hair felt funny too. strangely warm, maybe i was running a fever.
It took me a minute to realize i was being petted, but i couldn't go angry again, i was simply too tired.
I was mustering all my remaining energy to put a stop to this, Up until now, i was covering my eyes with both my hands, but i lifted the right one and put it on the paw that was messing with my hair.
she did flinch a little, but said "It's all right, i wont hurt you"
I was so sleepy, it felt like i haven't slept for years.
I was about to fall asleep anyway, there's no harm in letting her pet me some more, was the last thought i had before i slowly started to drift to sleep, so i removed my hand from hers and let her pet me some more.
In the end, it was kind of comforting, i wasn't sure what was she trying to prove and i didn't really care, my mind was empty and my eyes were closed. I took the highway back to the dreamtown, but before imy mind completely shut down, i heard her say something more
"Tomorrow we'll go together for a walk, what do you say?" She asked and moved her hand from the top of my head towards the nape of my neck.
Sure whatever you say, i just wanna sleep.
Then, the world was taken from me by Mr. Sandman.

I usually don't dream, but these dreams about Some samurai, who claimed to be Tokugawa, here to avenge the bowl of rice, were weird to say the least.
The morning came too quick, but i doubt i could be well rested considering what happened yesterday, and in what position i slept in.
I raised my head slowly, afraid that the headache from yesterday would last.
It wasn't there.
Speaking of things that weren't there, certain someone who was petting me yesterday wasn't here too, and after a brief look, through the cell doors, the fox wasn't here either
Perfect time to take morning dump!
Since i've actually eaten something, I had things to drop.
So i sat opened the Overals, sat down, and immediately i regretted everything, while the deed was being done, a quick look around left me wondering where is the toilet paper?
Well, shit.
I flushed, and looked around the toilet, if it fell off somewhere during my fit of rage.
I found absolutely nothing.
I quickly checked my pants for anything that would allow me to clean myself.
Nothing.
Well, i still have some Euros in the wallet.
I pulled out my wallet, pulled out the smallest one i found.
Twenty euros...
I should feel like a rich man, wiping my ass with money, however that wasn't the way i've felt at all.
After that i flushed the bank note, and pulled up my underwear, and overals.
By that time foxy was looking at me through the bars, hiding in a corner.
Now this was demeaning, being watched by her wiping my ass.
She however seemed surprised.
"Hey Lena, Is he up?" Tigress said, not loud from somewhere, probably from the entrance
"He's potty trained" She said.
I'm what? Wait, does that surprise you ? Why would it surprise you that I'm potty trained?
"He's a smart boy" Tigress said, finally appearing in front of my cell.
"Good morning Runner" she greeted me with a smile.
'Another good day behind bars' I thought, but more people appeared behind her, there was a labrador, and a wolf.

"First thing first" she said, as she reached into her chest pocket and pulled something out of a box, it looked like a candy bar. the typical chocolate covered candy bar, however, it wasn't wrapped in plastic, so i wasn't sure what to think about it
"Come here" she said, with a smile, shaking the candy bar in front of me.
The labrador is giving me the evil eye and wolf looks bored, both of them are armed with Tasers.
Considering that this was some kind of trap, i slowly started walking towards the bars.
even if it was a trap, It wasn't like they were going to go away. So I was slowly moving towards the bars
She placed the candy bar on one of the flat horizontal bars, and left it there.
When i was within reach of the candy bar, i carefully took it from the bars, and then took a few steps back. Not wanting to be anywhere near the Wolfy and Lab.
I examined the bar, even smelled it.
I wouldn't accept that they are just giving me candy bars for fun, so i snapped it in half, it had caramel inside a crunchy wafer.
So i took a bite, and mmmm, this was some sugary goodness.
I ate both sides and then it dawned on me
I'm getting treats!
So, petting me, watching me on a toilet and now i'm getting treats! oh god, this isn't happening. my poker face faltered for a moment and i felt a sad frown climb on my face
She noticed it before i managed to straighten it
"Didn't like it? i'm sorry" she said with a sad face, but immediately she came with the shiniest smile I've seen in a long time.
"Now do you remember what I said yesterday?" she asked. Is that a trick question?
She didn't waint for my answer, not like i was going to give her one.
"We're going on a walk." She said, positively beaming.
Now it all made sense, the big dudes were here to pacify me if I tried anything.
The doors opened, and i considered dashing through them for a few moments, but It was no use, i would get tasered by Lab or by Wolf, even if i tried to wrestle the taser away.

She came inside the cell first, then the two canines, and Fox locked the doors behind them.
"Since its a first time, I'm going to put a cage on your face" She said like it was the most normal thing to do. Maybe it is here, but i dont wanna feel like Gimp, but when i instinctively moved away from the thing she was trying to put on me, the two guys flanked me and held me.
She fastened the thing behind my head.
There was no lock, so i was pretty sure that when she's not looking and the hounds are away, i'll just take it off.
Boy was I wrong.
"Now for the hands" she said,and the two dogs lifted me from the ground, she put a harness that looked like leather armor underpants.
I thought she said hands, but then she put leather bracelets on me, and chained them to the harness.
Bastards made sure i wouldn't be able to move at all. the chains were three centimeters long, so the best thing i could do is to scratch my belly button. but not release the cage on my head.
The dogs put me down again, and she, with the sweetest smile put a leash on me.
"Now don't look that sad, if you behave, next time we can go without the cage." She said.
Fuck, so what now?
She pulled me by leash, towards the exit.
At least I'll finally leave the cell.
The Foxy girl opened the cell doors and we walked out. The wolves were still flanking me, i guess they are going on a walk with us.
'So its just tigress and me, walking some dogs' my humor decided to show up again, only to vanish, allowing shame to climb in his place.
We walked left, to the desk, to the doors i've never seen through the cage.
"Look who decided to visit us" Tigress announced, there were at least three other beings in the room, i saw a Sloth in a suit, a cat, and a very old sheep, the sheep was talking with the cat before Tigress interrupted, the sloth came from the office that said Manager.
"Hello Runner" the cat said, tigress looked at me and said "Say hello Runner"

"he's just shy" she said after few moments of silence. The sloth looked at me but said nothing, while the sheep was looking at me with a mix of false smile, and fear.
"Miss Higgins, allow me to introduce you to the Human Menace" Cat said to the sheep.
Human menace, I'm a human menace?
"However we call him Runner, isn't that right boy?" Cat asked me, should i just bark or what?
The sheep looked reassured somehow, but she was still clutching her purse like it was shield that would protect her from me.
as I was thinking about how much protection does it really offer, unless its hiding a handgun, Tigress pulled my leash and we walked towards the sheep.
Oh dear god, please, if she's here to adopt me...
Tigress walked me through the doors leading to the front of this office, and i saw that the cat was sitting behind a sign saying "reception"
"If you want, you can pet him" Tigress said, i 'would rather if she didn't' i wanted to say, but i kept my mouth shut.
Please be too scared of me, this is too humiliating.
"Can I ?" she asked, oh god, she wants to, but she's 135 centimeters tall tops, I have at least half a meter on her, are they going to give her a stepladder or?
"Runner, kneel" Tigress said
'I beg you pardon?' I looked at her with disbelief
"Kneel" she said, but this time the dogs decided to help me by pulling the chain connecting my hands to the harness down.
I went on one knee.
"he's still in training " Cat said, yeah they are still trying to train me.
I decided to show just how really well trained i was, so i raised my head and stared daggers into the sheep, thinking about the last time i had a good kebab.
She considered petting me and then said
"Maybe next time, I'll need to head back to feed Suzie" she said, grabbed a bag from the table, presumably groceries and rushed out.
I thought so.
"That was interesting" the Cat said.
"Considering how big he is..." Tigress started, she was standing on my left.

"I meant the stare he gave her" Cat said
"What stare Katie?" Wolf asked, 'don't you dare reveal my last resort weapon called "Staring daggers" you goddamn house cat' I thought as i stared at this Katie.
"This one" she said, nodding towards me. I'll remember this Katie, don't turn your back on me ever again.
Tigress who was on my side and therefore couldn't see it, took a look on my eyes, i looked at her with innocent look.
"And its gone, he can stare daggers into your soul" Katie continued.
"Is that so Runner?" Tigress asked me, with a slightly concerned expression.
This is bad.
I look at her with my most normal look.
we looked at each other, then she pulled me up by the leash and said "Maybe you just find his eye color strange"
Whats wrong with my eye color? Wait, what color are my eyes?
"I dont think so, he just looks at you differently" Katie said, and then smiled "Maybe he really likes you"
Yeah, fat chance.
"Maybe" Lizzie said and petted me...
I didn't pay it any attention, or rather i was trying to ignore it, she already saw me at my weakest, however she's the reason i'm here so.
"Well, day is wasting" Wolfy said, maybe he was getting nervous from not eating the sheep, or maybe there was his favorite hydrant around.
Lizzie stopped petting me, and we went outside.
The air smells so fresh, nothing like the cells. I actually inhaled all the air, trying to enjoy the freshness
"So i guess you like it?" Tigress asked, well maybe if there was a beach, some babes would give me a massage i would like it, but instead, im being dragged around like a convict, chained and technically gagged. So no.
"So lets just enjoy ourselves shall we?" She asked, and we started walking, and by We, i mean me, two bodyguards and the tigress.
The animal control station wasn't in the center of the city, but we were still in the city, so we were passing a lot of furries, some of them dragged humans of their own, some of them stared at me.

"Morning Lizz" some kind of Gecko said while i was dragged through the city, i looked at him, he was dressed in a nice suit, holding a leash to a human female, approximately 19 years old, 179cm tall, she was wearing a Hashishash tracksuit, red one with white stripes. she had a red hair which has green stripe dyed in"
"Morning Billy" Lizzie greeted the gecko
"Who do we have here?" He asked, looking at me, the girl was holding back behind him, but she was also looking at me.
"This is Runner, he's new." Lizzie said
"Runner? I guess thats why you have the backup? Good morning to you too gentlemen."
"Maybe you heard of him, Morning Kat calls him Human Menace." Lizzie pipes in
"Ooooh" the gecko seemed surprised, while the hounds hounding me seemed to ignore anyone else, and concentrated on watching me.
"I've heard of you, Runner" He said, looking me in the eye, he was actually rather big himself, so we looked eye to eye.
"Maybe you could introduce him to your friend behind you" Lizzie suggested
Yeah, friend, some friend it is if he keeps her by leash! Perfect friendship!
"Malu, come say hello" he said. While the human walked forward, looked at me and opened her mouth. "E...O" she said, and i was stupefied.
"Woow, she can speak!" Lizzie was surprised and so happy, she petted the girl.
"Good girl" she said, "Well Runner here is a little timid"
I like how you spell 'Not Retarded but cautious' Lizzie, I wonder how would you react if you knew you can have intellectual conversation with me.
While i was lost in thoughts, Malu came closer to me, and she looked at me and even smelled my face, this is the first time any girl smelled my face, and then she did something unexpected.
I got a kiss on my left cheek.
"Oww she likes you Runner" Gecko said.
I looked at malu, with pity in my eyes, but she just went back behind the gecko.
They talked some more, but i ignored them, is this what am I supposed to become?
'Not a chance'

End of chapter 2

To Tame a Human
Chapter Three: Can't teach old human.

With a wave, I've parted ways with Billy and his pet Malu.
"Who was that?" Steven asked, and I wanted nothing else than to ignore his question.
"Father of my Ex" I said turning back towards the three.
Mike was surprised, Steven was surprised, and i could swear that Runner was even more surprised than those two.
"What?" I almost barked at them.
"Nothing, right Steven?" Mike tried to defuse the situation, mostly because unlike Steve who had no idea what happened between me and my Ex.
"No wait, i'm curious" Steven said, of course he was going to be curious.
"About what? About my ex?" I gave him an evil eye. I didn't want to talk about my ex, but then again, Steve is one of those furries that just keeps pushing for an answer until he gets it, and he will bug me forever until i cave in and tell him anyway.
Mike put a hand on Steve's shoulder, obviously noticing the 'do not ask' look.
I could swear even Runner would understand that look, as he took step back, and then Turned his head towards Steven, as if to see what he's gonna do now,
"Actu OUCH!" Steven cried out in pain and then slapped Runner hard that he started stumbling.
"hey!" I yelled at Steve, the hit was hard enough to yank the leash in my hand.
"Bastard stomped on my leg!" He explained, sure I've seen it happen, I was complaining about the retaliation.
"Don't hit him, he's just a human!" I said, while i wouldn't usually take sides, i was grateful for the distraction.
"He started it!" Steve have tried to defend himself.
"Enough!" I snapped at him, that seemed to shut him up, but i wasn't done.
"Bad Runner" I said and yanked his leash towards me. He stumbled toward me, but i did nothing else to punish him.
After this small fiasco we continued in silence.

We managed to walk out of the center of the city, and were now walking in sub urban area.
Steven was called on his phone, and headed back, only saying "Miss Higgins,this time i'll bring axe and cut the tree down myself!" before he left us
I've decided to prolong the walk a little
The bigger the human is, the longer walk he needs, that was the general idea, plus I didn't want to go back to the office so soon.
I really liked being outside, thats why i was usually the one who ran and chased the stray or dangerous humans.
Now it was just the three of us, Mike Runner and me, and Mike decided to break the silence.
I'm sorry about Steve, i know you had it hard with Joey"
"It's been three years now, but it still hurts talking about it" I said. Me, Mike and Steve were good friends, but some stories I shared only with Mike. Steve was the guy who would get up and murder Joey for abusing me when he got drunk, while Mike went and helped me through it and to get rid of Joey in a way that didn't include a bodybag and shovel.
His father knew nothing about this, and I was on good terms with his parents.
"Alright" Mike said, and we continued, but we proceeded only around 50 meters before the silence was broken again, this time it was however a call for help
We were on a corner of a street when I saw two humans fighting, one was on a leash, being held by gazelle, who was panicking, while her 170cm tall asian with black hair and bloody face was on a floor being hit and bit by a raggedy looking black man, with no leash.
There were neighbors looking at the scene, some through windows, some not, the problem was that the black dude was foaming at the mouth and was rather imposing.
"Hold Runner" I said while pushing the leash to Mike's hand, and prepared the taser I had with me for the event that Runner would do something stupid
"Wait!" Mike said but i was already dashing towards the fight.
I stood three meters away from the now abandoned asian as i shot him

And suddenly, for a few moments, the world seemed like i knew it from back home.
a fight on a street, and the police officer was rushing to taze a black dude.
While i was being held by Labrador, who was slowly advancing with me towards the fight, i saw something that made me fear for the worst.
As Tigress shot the black dude, and tazed him, the flailing asian dude, in his attempts to hit the black dude on his back, hit him where the taser needles were lodged, he touched them, got shock and as he yanked the hand, the wires dislodged.
I knew what was gonna happen.
Mike was holding me good ten meters away from the fight, preparing his own taser with free hand.
The black dude stood up real fast, his bloodshot eyes turning towards the tigress.
The asian dude must've reduced the current through close physical contact.
I quickly kicked Mike in the shin, he wasn't expecting that. and let go of me.
I had a plan, that involved me going from solitary to low security prison after i pull this stunt!
I rushed forward, while my hands were cuffed and my head was muzzled, i only got one thing to work with and that was momentum.
Tigress pulled out pepper spray, but the black dude already grabbed her by hand and she had to defend herself with a free one, as he was trying to bite her.
I was briefly considering who i was going to ram.
If i rammed the tigress, i might be able to run away from here, but then again i was chained, and there is no underground human resistance that could open the lock, or saw through the chains, so I did the best thing i could, I shoulder rammed the dude, he took the tigress with him through the fall, not letting go of her. Now they were on a floor, I wanted to kick him in the nuts, but he suddenly let go of her, and grabbed my leg.
With no way to stabilize myself, i fell on him, now face to face, he wanted to bite me. Luckily i was already wearing the "anti bite" cage, so while i couldn't bite him, he couldn't bite me.

He was about to bite me in the muzzle but he suddenly, we both toppled on the street. Out of the corner of my eyes, i saw the gazelle checking her human with worried expression.
and then i saw blue
Some blue clothes lying on the rabid human
It has to be The Runner
Suddenly the rabid one let go of me and punched the runner on his side while also trying to bite him
I couldn't pepper spray him now, and i didn't have the snare with me.
Mike was limping towards us, having his taser aimed on Runner's back.
Runner raised his torso, as he basically sat on the rabid one's chest, and smashed his head full force in the other human's face.
Horrible noise rung out, a nose has been broken, and the rabbid human screamed, while punching runner.
Runner leaned back again, his forehead bloody
Once again he slammed his head down onto the rabid one.
The rabid one's punches were growing weaker, and his face was a bloody mess.
I got back on my feet, and found my taser on the ground, I picked it up, and reloaded
"Are you okay?" Mike asked, aiming at Runner's back, but he didn't shoot yet.
The cartridge clicked and i was once again ready to fire.
Runner brought down his bloody head down upon the rabid one, this time it cracked again and the rabid one stopped moving.
Runner leaned back for another attack, but he looked at the defeated opponent, and remained upright, his eyes unfocused, his face, mask and neck bloody, but his opponent looked much worse, his nose was smashed, the foam at the mouth was mixed with blood, and his eyes were rolled back.
I was shocked.
The whole neighborhood was shocked.
On the sidewalk wasn't just one, but three bleeding humans, asian one was being craddled by gazelle, Runner was sitting on the defeated rabid one. While two officers from animal control were standing there aiming at the two remaining humans.
Runner attempted to stand up, he stood up, and fell backwards back on his ass.
"Holy shit" Mike noted and i agreed

I could complain that i was dizzy and my head hurt, but then again, that was to be expected when you headbutt your opponent into submission.
I wonder if i have a concussion.
My legs were shaky when i stood up and gave up immediately afterwards.
I got so much blood in my eyes i couldn't see properly, but i couldn't wipe it away, because of those fucking chains holding my hands.
I hope i wasn't infected by whatever the dude had
My side was hurting, maybe i have broken ribs.
I could hear labrador saying something, but i couldn't figure out what it was.
My whole world was spinning.
Suddenly, something dry touched my forehead, i had my eyes closed so i couldn't see, but someone is wiping my face.
"Nggh" I groaned, the forehead was stinging like hell.
"Shhhh, hold still" So now i know its Tigress
She then wiped blood from my eyes.
"Mbulance for three injured humans..."Now i also know what the lab was saying
damn the ringing in my ears
She wiped enough blood that i could open my eyes, it was like i looked directly into the light bulb, but then the picture cleared and i saw tigress with worried look in her eyes
'Who would have thought that i would be happy to see a tiger sticking her face in mine'
When she cleaned me enough, or when the tissue was so bloody that it couldn't do anything else, she looked me in the eyes but didn't say anything. I wanted to stand up.
I hate sitting down, so I crossed my legs, and tried to move forward so i can get on my knees.
But i was pushed back down by the Tigress
"No no no, sit and be still"
'Lady, I don't have time to sit around.' I thought and i repeated the process of trying to get up.
This time however, i managed to get on my knees. She didn't try to keep me sitting this time around, instead she helped me up.
I was almost ready to thank her, but i realized that I shouldn't talk, i was actually really used to not speaking to anyone anymore.
It's been so long i wonder how my voice sounds.

before ambulance arrived, neighbors, after being completely sure that the danger is over, went outside, some brought first aid kits, gazelle was just shocked.
Asian dude looked like he has seen better days, but he'll live, probably.
The Black dude was still out, lying in a pool of his own blood.
The funny thing was, that while the Fennec, that helped up the asian dude get patched up, didn't seem so eager to help me out. On the other hand, i was standing up, my leash being held a Tigress, and i was all bloody, hands chained to my waist and wearing a hanibal lecter mask on my face. Plus, and lets not forget that.
I was the last man standing. 'Last Man, furries don't count! '
The animal control had no extra handcuffs, so they just guarded the defeated one.
It felt good, i wasn't in a fight for so long i forgot how sweet the victory is.
First on the scene was Wolfy, inside a patrol van.
Once again he provided an insight that no other could.
"This looks like a murder scene to me, are you alright?" He asked the Labrador.
"Except the shin, i'm alright, give me the cuffs." Lab said.
Oh right, i kicked him pretty hard to let me go. I'm glad that he didn't taze me back then, that would've been a huge disaster, not to mention a huge setback.
When wolfy came to us, Lab was hand and ankle cuffing the black dude, he then went to the car to get another face mask, but then he reconsidered and just waited
"What happened here Lizz?"
"The one you see in his own pool of blood was attacking the little one, when i moved to taze him, he got free and attacked me, Runner here took him down." She said, while putting a plaster on my cut forehead.
"what? in his chains?" Wolfy seemed surprised
"He used his head" she said. "No idea how he got away from Mike though" Now she gotta ask the real questions.
This is where i would like to confess that I kicked an officer to get free, but certain labrador managed to say "He kicked me in the shin, hard"

The Ambulance arrived, there came two Siamese cats in red paramedic suits, and a Platypus
Now if there was something i have never seen while i was here, it was a platypus.
First the platypus went to the unconscious dude, and the first Siamese cat went for the Asian dude. The second one came warily towards me.
There goes the whole "what happened" story, but this time around, it was actually useful for when they heard the story, each of them suddenly became more wary, went for gloves, and platypus brought a case with some injections.
'Please be rabbies shot' I thought.
"Hold him steady please" I was the first one to get the injection. She rubbed alcohol on my shoulder and while wolfy held me tightly, as if i might wanna start attacking again, Tigress supported me, because right now I wasn't the most stable one. The injection was long, That thing could go through my shoulder and spurt from the other side!
She was going to put it in, 'now lady i don't know you well enough, you seem like a nice cat so before you Impale me on your thing, how about buying me a dinner first?' fucking humor decided to show up again, but then i felt a faint stinging sensation on my shoulder. 'Please don't go all the way!' I thought, luckily she was telepathic or just had common sense, but she put just the tip in.
Meanwhile everyone else who got into the fight got vaccinated.
"I think this is enough for the first walk" Tigress said.
Now pardon me, and my shitty humor, but this thing didn't make me exactly laugh, but it was enough to make me rapidly exhale twice in a row.
"Looks like he was having fun" Wolfy said.

The ambulance took two of us, the asian dude and me.
Platypus decided that he was dangerous and had to go in a van.
This was also the first time i drove in an ambulance for two.
Gazelle was with us, and so was Tigress. sitting in chairs by our beds
Tigress questioned how it happened, and gazelle went with the 'he ran to us out of nowhere' story.

Both me and Asian dude were tied to the beds
I felt like i was in some sick bondage porn, because the number of leather straps on me kept on increasing.
We arrived at Hos...Wait this isn't a hospital, this is veterinary station!
Nontheless, they wheeled us in, first thing I noticed was that the doctor was a Hammerhead shark, now i've seen everything.
He seems not to worry about my excessive bondage gear, flashed a flashlight in my eyes, looked in my ears, probed my ribs, and when i flinched, he said i should go to X-ray.
'When in doubt, Irradiate!'
So i was wheeled on the bed, i was still attached to, into another room. Then they X-rayed my side, and my head.
Then I waited and bled silently in the hallway, all from the comfort of my bondage bed.
Tigress was with me all the time, she looked worried about me, but didn't say anything, until the corridor was empty.
"You were very brave there Runner, Thank you for your help" She said, looking at me.
Now this is the perfect time to tell her to 'not mention it' but then again, No talking.
The doctor takes us in again.
"Good news is, nothing is broken, but his forehead requires stitching."
Now I aint the best doctor in the world, but i think you should've stitched me up BEFORE you sent me to X-ray, that way i might have been in non-bleeding state for thirty minutes now you bastard.
"So I'll stitch him up, you'll have to make sure he doesn't remove them, they will fall out in two days"
"He's been sedated yesterday" Tigress said, and the doctor asked her about the sedatives.
"Now that shouldn't be a problem." he said after confirming some things.
Before too long, i was once again in a dream world, apparently they don't do local anesthesia here.

When I woke up, i was already in bed, this time around however, it was the bed in a cell I knew.
My forehead was itching so i wanted to scratch it, but i found out that while i dont have the mask, i still have the harness.
fuck

I was in my boss' office, reporting what has happened.
"So what exactly happened? The black man belonged to Mr. Adams, who has reported the man missing for a month., now i have the carcass lying on the table, and a man coming to pick it up."
So they had to put him down?
He seemed to ease down when he heard the whole story from my mouth.
"Yes, Mike said that Runner kicked him and rushed to aid you" My boss said.
"This isn't typical rebellious human behavior, if he was smart he could have ran away" He continued.
"Yet he came to my aid, and when the other human stopped moving, he stopped too." I said.
Yes, i can see where my boss is coming from, this is no longer about a dead rabid human, its more about a peculiar choice Runner made.
"It seems He has bonded with you" Boss said and i couldn't say otherwise
"I have an idea" he suddenly said, and i didn't like the way he smiled, I bet he has one of those incredible ideas how to gain popularity, and in turn more money.
"I'll call the Morning Kat, to postpone their interview because of his state" He explained to me, this isn't like him to explain his strategies.
"They will be interested how he got those injuries, I'll explain how he defended you, They will surely agree to postpone the interview"
Now thats one less thing to worry about, at least for a time.
"But if it would be possible, I would like to tell them that the officer who was saved, is now taking care of him personally, at home
"I'm not sure" I said nervously,
I mean, I know him, but then again, the last time he got chance, he bit me.
I was a little hesitant, alone with Runner?
"I'll need to think about it" I said to my boss, who didn't seem to like the answer
"He's injured and he needs a less stressful environment" He said, but then again, we're talking about Runner, its not like i haven't brought other humans from the station home. But Runner?

There was so much to consider, sure i had a room prepared for such an occasion. Then again, Runner thinks like no other Human
"What will we do if he runs?" I asked the boss a very serious question.
"I've read the report from the hospital, he is going to have hard time moving faster than walk." He was hell bent on convincing me to taking Runner home.
I can't blame him, if he's going to call the news, only one thing sells as good as murder stories, and that thing is stories that make you go 'awwww'.
Then again, it might go from Awww to gasp real fast if he manages to sneak out, I don't have bars on windows.
"How long?" I asked him, trying to play for time.
"Two days to get him out of the worst, then he can come and meet the other humans." he said with a broad smile
"Why, it almost seems like you don't want the human who, according to your own words, saved your life, in your own home" Now he struck a nerve.
I may be cautious, but I am not ungrateful. Runner had plenty of chances to just wait until mike is occupied, or just kick him and make a run for it.
"I guess I should go tell him the news." I said, and just as the smile spread on Sloth's disgusting face, i added "But I want the tranquilizer from the solitary, no use for it if no one's there"
"By all means" He said. This is why i was so conflicted about my work. I like working with humans, I like chasing them, but i hate this son of a bitch manipulating me, and making our work harder for no reason, and when he actually has a reason and gets the station more funding, he could actually spend it ON the station.
I left the boss' office, normally Katie would ask me how did it go, but when she saw me seething with rage, she knew, and didn't say anything.
Its not like i hate the idea of having Runner at home, i'm just cautious. I just hate how that sloth bastard manipulates me.
I went to cells, and to Runner's cage.
"Runner? Come on, we're going on a trip" I said with a smile

End of Chapter

To Tame a Human (Director's cut Edition)
Chapter Four: Behind Enemy Lines
I perked up when Tigress called my name, or should I say my nickname?, She seemed to be rather angry, but she cracked a smile nontheless.
'Look, if it's about me battling another human for your sake, don't flatter yourself, I did it only to get out of this hellhole' I thought, but she said something completely unexpected.
"We're going on a trip" with that fake smile sent a chill down my spine. It was a smile that was meant to reassure me, but i knew something was off.
Is she going to have me put down? Maybe they decided that I was too agressive? 'I didn't think this through, if i killed the dude, am I going to face a firing squad?' I was obviously not very happy about the whole prospect of losing one more human right, this time the right to continued existence.
You see, that was a reason why I wasn't really appreciative of her approaching me with a leash.
Then again, she was alone this time, no extra lapdogs to hold me. It would've been a perfect chance to just rush past her and run away, but I'm keeping that possible scenario for a better chance, especially the one where i would have my hands free.
She came to the bed where I was now sitting, having a leash in her hands.
As I was weighting the options, I quickly realized that by resisting now and attempting to run away, I might put my previous work into danger, but i still moved backwards as she was reaching with the clasp towards the ring by my collar.
I may have overdid that, because while she was leaning forward, cooing with words like "there there" and "Don't worry" and other stuff, i was leaning progressively more backwards until I hit the wall with my head, and that was NOT supposed to happen.
Pain decided to give me a quick visit and my brain exploded into billions of small needless, trying to puncture my skull from the inside.

I cried out in pain, trying to reach my head with my hands, I however only managed to reach the leash in her hands, the chains didn't give way, so I hit myself with my elbow into my bruised side. By this point i was the only one holding the leash as she jumped backwards

Now that was another source of pain I cried out in pain again, clutching the leash like some sort of idol, that would allow me to get rid of the pain, it did no such thing.
So instead of not putting any resistance, i managed to hurt myself to the point where I was resisting without any reason.
Tigress stood there, not sure what to do. Probably wondering what was i trying to do.
While the head was still hurting like hell, it was time to set some basic rules between me and my tigress warden.
After all I was a human being, humans don't belong on a leash, This time i was sure I'm going to do it, I'm going to stand up, throw the leash on the ground, and tell her that 'Leash Is a No go'
I've had the scenario planned in my head, but instead she sat on the bed right next to me.
"Are you alright Runner?" She asked, carefully checking my head where I hit it. "You have to be careful!" she said, rubbing my shoulder.
'Goddamn this tigress and her womanly wiles, how can she disperse my rage with such simple means?' I looked up to her, and then i sat up straight. Still clutching the leash.
She didn't seem to mind that i was holding the leash, instead she reached for the clip, and attached it to my collar. Goddamn it, this is what i've been trying to avoid all this time! "Now give me the leash, Runner." she said in authoritative voice, opening a palm of her paw, waiting for me to put it there. I looked at the paw, at her, at the paw again, and stood up, still holding the leash in a clear gesture that signaled that I won't'

I wasn't facing her, but I heard a sigh coming from behind me. "Runner" she said, coming in front of me, while i was holding the leash with one hand, and desperately try to reach the clip on my collar to get rid of it.
"Without Leash we cannot go anywhere" She said, looking towards Fox who was standing behind the closed doors.
"She won't let us leave if I don't hold your leash you know?" She said nodding toward the Fox, who put on a mask of a dastardly antagonist from children's show.
I appreciate the effort you put up to this little demonstration of why do I have to give you the reins to my life, but I'm not a mentally handicapped human to be convinced by such tactics, besides, i saw something.
I provided my own solution, I walked towards the cell doors, where the grinning fox stood, when i approached the doors. Fox was taking a few steps back, as if to get out of my reach.
I saw it correctly, she was obviously clinging to a child-book antagonist with all the flaws included, forgetting the key in the cell doors was a blunder of atomic proportions, and if this was a movie. Critics would be having a field day about this scene in particular
while still holding my leash by my waist with left hand, I extended right hand as far as the chains allowed me through the bars, and turned the key.
You should see her face, a devilish grin was exchanged by a sudden realization, then came disbelief, doubting of reality, and then shock.
With a click, the doors unlocked, and i slid them to the side, while looking back at tigress.
Unlike Foxy here, Tigress was a little more action oriented. No doubt she knew I could operate a lock, I locked her out on our last chase. She put her hand under the collar, there wasn't a lot of space, for a hand, so it was most unpleasant. She then grabbed the Leash which I was still refusing to let go.
She didn't say anything this time, but she pulled my head towards hers, frowning and staring daggers.

If she was going to assert authority by staring me in the eyes, I have one thing on my Revenge bucket list that I needed to cross out.
Mlem I licked her nose, just like she did back then, Now it was her turn to be confused, and the 'staring daggers' look turned into weirded out look.
The atmosphere was thick, but then a laughter came and took all seriousness from it.
"Ahahaha" Fox was laughing, she found something funny in a super serious situation like this?
"What?" Tigress asked, looking away from me and looking at her.
"He's smart! He must've thought that you wanted to get out, so he got you out." She explained the situation from her point of view. Now it wasn't even close to what was really happening. I wanted to show the tigress that tricking me won't be so easy!
'Don't mistake my mute threats of escape for a perfectly thought out plans to show that I actually wanted to help her somehow!' that's just crazy! But then the hand underneath my collar removed itself, and I could see doubt in her eyes. Maybe the lick ruined the moment, but we were even now.
"Still, Its impressive to see him actually work the lock" She said, reaching for the key in the doors and taking it out.
With this, Tigress yanked the leash once again, trying to get it from my hands, but I wasn't going to give in. We stared at each other, once again, trying to defy her, that is until the goddamn fox didn't break that thing too.
She went to desk, and I thought I got rid of her, Standing in the doorways, I took a step forward in an attempt to leave the cell.
"I'm not taking you anywhere without the leash Runner" She said, once again adamant about it, but she knew better than try to use force, for even though i was injured, i was still bigger and heavier than her. Thats when Foxy came, snapped fingers behind my head. I instinctively looked around, she did something on my neck and said "There"
I turned back, unsure what happened.

Tigress was smiling, and I felt like an idiot.
First thing i noticed was that she was holding a leash, and that the leash I was holding was suspiciously limp.
'The goddamn fox switched the leashes?' Now I wasn't a man to surrender my cause, its either Victory or defeat, but now and then, even a man like me must admit that, just like now, He has been defeated.
"You can keep the leash" She said with a smile, my head hanged low, and i was lead out of the cellblock towards the offices again. This time however, she wasn't leading the way, I was going with her side by side, keeping her eye on me the whole way.
"I didn't think you would take him right now" A sloth emerged from the offices, now this was interesting piece of information, where is she taking me ?
"I figured that it would be better to do it tonight" Tigress said, now I don't know what does she think I am, but I'm not a man that is into leashes, collars and 'doing it tonight', I would rather if you asked me for a dinner, you know, get to know me better, just putting a leash on me and mentioning that we're going to do it tonight to your colleague isn't going to cut it for me.
"And what's with the leash?" Sloth asked once again, nodding towards me holding the leash while she had me on another one.
"One of the reasons I didn't want to take him, he doesn't listen." She said, meanwhile I looked around, we were standing in an office space, next to me was a printer machine and a stand with someone's cup of cold coffee, and newspapers underneath it.
Now this caught my attention, there was a photo of me, with a "Human menace caught" and boy, that photo was not flattering at all. I had unkempt beard and instead of smiling for the camera, they probably made a photo of me while I was running for a while.

I leaned in to read the article, I didn't get far because the Sloth pointed out that "Look, he recognizes himself" in a slightly amused tone. Tigress wasn't however that happy, she was probably still angry from our power struggle five minutes back.
She pulled on the leash, trying to get my attention, but I managed to read a line that was highlighted with green permanent marker. 'It is really sad when humans have to resort to stealing food' and after some more text, the highlighted text continued with 'I hope they find proper owner for him. I might take him in myself - The owner of the robbed stand'
For a second I tried to remember who it was. I think it was a horse, but i'm not sure anymore. The good thing is, he did not appear here with adoption form. Who knows what kind of a weirdo would he be.
"Runner? Runner?" Someone was calling me, not to mention tugging me by my leash. I turned around to see the tigress looking at me,
"Let's go" She said, my mind was slow this time around and i was desperately trying to remember the horse man so i just went ahead, leading her towards the entrance.
"Look how happy he is to get out of here" The cat said and waved me goodbye.
This was suspicious, to say the least. I was outside, holding a leash that wasn't attached anywhere, and looking around.
"Come on, this way" Tigress said, and we walked around the station, why is she taking me to a parking place? Last time they drove the Van In front of the station.
As I was worried where am I being walked, we passed at least five cars until we've reached the last one in line.

It looked like Rambler Wagon the one from fifties, and i have to say, it was little rusty. but it looked decent enough. She opened the fifth doors and let me inside the trunk, it was spacious, but for a moment i was wondering why didn't she let me onto the seats. I mean, I could buckle up there. Then again, there were bars between the cargo hold and passenger's area, so I guess she didn't feel like letting me near her when she drove.
Wise choice if i may say so, she locked the trunk, and we drove off.
The trip took almost twenty minutes, and during that time, I thought about this rationally, first, I am not going to be put down, second, she's probably taking me to her home, third, even though the cargo hold was relatively empty, I found some serious stuff here.
Except for emergency triangle, some extra light bulbs, there was also first aid kit. And where is first aid kit, there are scissors for cutting the bandages, now I wasn't in need of bandages, but those bonds were pissing me off big time.
I opened the first aid kit, fetched the scissors, and decided that the leather cuffs might be the best place to start. It was relatively hard to make the first cut on them, but from then, it wasn't that hard. Twelve minutes in, the leather cuff was destroyed, and with one free hand, the other cuff soon followed suit. That way I was left with free hands, and a chain with two broken leather cuffs hanging by my waist.
The car slowed down and pulled into driveway, I hastly put the scissors back into the first aid kit, and placed it back where i found it. I put my hands into the cuffs, pretending that they are alright.
I looked outside the window to see where we were. It was some sub urban area with rows of identical houses... This one was numbered 151.
She came and unlocked the doors, letting me out. "Come on we're here, this is where I live" She announced, as I got out of the trunk, hands put together to keep the broken cuffs from slipping off.

She closed the trunk behind me, and I kept looking around. It was a big house, i wonder who lives with her in.
She then lead me towards the doors, and unlocked them, when we entered, I've got feeling that It might be the first change that is for the better.
"Now this is my home, come, I'll show you around. " She said, with a mood that has improved a little bit, she however still pulled me by the leash. When we entered the house, the first room was just a closet for shoes, there she took off her shoes, and undone the Velcro on mine, so i could slip out of them.
When i took them off, she put them on a carpet and we entered the main corridor.
"Now here's a living room, sorry for the mess" she said, and opened the doors into a perfectly clean living room.
This is a thing that was apparently universal in every community, you apologize for the mess and make the visit feel like shit because they've lived in greater mess and didn't feel ashamed of it, until now.
then she lead me through the living room, right behind the corner was kitchen and a dining room, then back to the corridor.
"And there's the toilet" she pointed towards a room right next to the stairs
Then she took me upstairs, there were five rooms rooms upstairs.
"This is my room" she said, pointing at the room. "Directly across is bathroom and here's another toilet, your room is over there, come i'll show you." By now she seemed back to her normal self. When we walked to the doors, i half expected to see a room with a dog bed, carpet, and thats it.
There was a normal sized bed, and right behind it was a writing desk, across those two was a wardrobe, and i shit you not, even an old Cathode ray television.
Am I finally going to sleep on a normal bed? enjoy at least semi-normal life?
I walked inside the room and looked around, she walked to my side, and looked around with me.
"I hope you like it" she said with a smile.

Now I'm not an emotional man, you know, but this is the first time in the 9 months where i've been living like a wild animal, that someone actually went out of their way and allowed me to live like a human again.
"Aaand you don't need the leash anymore" She said, and took the leash off.
I turned to face her, her brilliantly yellow eyes and hugged her, i don't know why she did this for me, but i thanked her the only way i thought was appropriate.
"whoa whoa, its alright" she said, obviously surprised, but after she found out that i wasn't going for a bear hug, she gently hugged me back.
I wanted to say thank you, but she had to ask the question that would ruin the atmoshpere.
"wait, what happened with the cuffs?"
oh shit, i fucked up, no matter. I broke the hug and she looked at my free hands, and at the broken leather cuffs hanging on the chain from the harness.
She once again looked shocked.
"What? how did you do that?" She asked me, checking the cuffs where they have been clearly cut open.
I guess the jack is out of the box, so i might as well take off the harness, which i handed over to her.
"But" she said, looking at the broken harness.
Then her expression turned sour.
A frown appeared on her face and she raised her voice at me
"Runner do you have any idea what you've done?" Now the question wasn't too hard to answer, but i kept my mouth shut.
"Do you have any idea how expensive these are?"
No I don't because i'm not into the whole bondage thing, but i guess around forty bucks for both?
She continued to scold me, but i wouldn't have none of it, so i hugged her once again.
"Don't hug me!" she said, trying to push me away from her, but gently, she wasn't seriously trying to get away from me.
besides, when a girl says don't hug me, and doesn't try to get away with all her might, she wants you to continue hugging her.
"What am I going to say to my boss when I bring this thing in?" She asked this time sadly.

I held her for some time in silence, but then she tried to get away from me for the second time "Okay, that's enough, let go Runner"
Sure, this time i actually let go, she looked at me as if she's seen me for the first time, then she smiled and said "Boss was right, you are a mystery!"
I smiled, I hope i didn't disappoint with my story.
It however feels like i'm forgetting something
now what it could possibly be.
"I'll go and make something for dinner, what do you say? are you hungry?"
Wow, i was kidding with the 'treat me to dinner' thing back then! However, now that i think about it, why the hell not.
She however didn't wait for my reply, and said "Okay, come on, you can help me."
Now i'm pretty sure this is a trick, While I was capable of doing things myself, i couldn't let her know just how intelligent i really was, but I think she already got a pretty nice picture of what I am really capable off.
We went to the spacious kitchen, and she opened the fridge to check whats inside.
I looked with her, and I wasn't sure what to made of this.
All the fridges i've seen in my entire life were filled only to 70%, this is actually the first time i've seen neatly sorted fridge that was packed to the brim, not a single centimeter was unused.
"hmmm" she said, looking all over the place.
"I know, lets make Redridge Goulash" she says.
Lady, I have no idea what that thing is so I'll sit this one through.

It was incredible change, how she went from 'wrestling the leash' out of my hands forty minutes back, and now trusted me to be around her without any restraint.
Maybe I just give great hugs, but that can't be it.
I stood there, watching her work.
If i was a mystery, then her way of thinking was a freaking enigma, hell I wouldn't let myself go around like that.
Then it dawned on me.
I always saw her in her uniform, so i didn't really notice that she still have her belt with Taser and pepper spray
I see, she is prepared for everything

In a matter of minutes she managed to occupy the whole kitchen, and the kitchen was huge.
Her movement seemed random, one time she was slicing the tomatoes, then she was preparing the meat while moving across the kitchen to check whateverthefuck was in the pot on the stove.
If anyone could actually explain her movement it would be Robert Brown.
The last tomato sliced, the meat prepared and the pot was doing whatever the pot should do.
It was actually very interesting.
In a matter of minutes, she managed to get to the point where the only thing she was doing, was gently stirring the thing.
"Its almost done" she said, and i was looking forward to this.
In a few moments, the goulash was done, no stirring needed, and she provided one deep plate and one bowl.
When she filled the bowl, she looked like she realized something.
"Oh gosh" she said, and looked at me, like she was sorry. "well, no going back now." she said, and reached for a cloth and put it around my neck, like a bib.
"I should've thought about this." She told mostly herself.
I see now where is the problem, she thinks im incapable of eating the goulash myself.
Well, i think i can surprise her once more.
She led me to a table, and sat me down. then she sat next to me. Placing the bowl in front of me.
While she had a fork and knife and a spoon, on my side there was nothing, you could say that THERE WAS NO SPOON
I was surprised about this fact, just a little, but then she did something i haven't expected at all.
She took the fork and tasted the goulash, and then she took a spoon, and placed it in my bowl, then she attempted to feed me.
I was so surprised by this, that I actually opened my mouth, and i was rewarded by a goulash, which was very tasty.
The delivery method however, wasn't perfect.
I know humans are dumb in here, but being spoon fed was, unexpected.
Like I'm some kind of kid.
Oh fuck i forgot about the kids!

END OF CHAPTER

Chapter five: Denying defeat.

How could I forget about them?
'Its been what? a week already? I hope they managed to get some stuff from the garage.' I thought as I zoned out for a moment, completely forgetting what was going on around me. I had to come up with a plan on how to get out of here
"Thats a good boy" some voice said, and i felt hot and spicy taste on my tongue.
Thats right, i was actually being fed before i spaced out. I chewed and found the taste incredible.
However the joy from the exquisite meal, compared to what i usually ate, was diminished by the now sudden realization that if the kids decided to stay inside instead, or something horrible has befallen them, then they are currently starving.
It probably showed on my face, because Lizzie looked a little dejected "It Doesn't taste good?" she asked me, but i couldn't do it to her. True, it has been mostly her fault i got caught.
And then she had me blasted with water, and then she held me thorough the night. Even though i try to blame everything on her, its impossible, she's been nothing but nice to me since I saved her life.
She got a spoonful from her dish and placed it in her mouth, tasting it for a moment, but then it looked like she was struck by lightning "It's too spicy for you?" She asked me.
I usually like spicy food! It wasn't her fault, the food was perfect, but how to tell that to her without saying anything?
The easiest way was also the most demeaning, hope that she continues feeding me, or i could go the better route and try to drink it from the bowl, but then again, it was rather hot unless she cooled it down for me.
Choosing not to surrender, I took the bowl in my hands, and put it to my mouth, she kept on watching me, slightly glad that i decided to continue, slightly amused by the way I chose to confront the bowl. The meat will be slightly problematic, but I'll manage!

cont.

damn it was hot, I'll surely burn my tongue, but it was either this or being spoon-fed and I couldn't do that.
She looked at me, like she realized that I'll burn my tongue and hilarity and mess would ensue, but if she wanted that, she's in for a shock. For I drank the goulash to the bottom, and then let the meat slide in my mouth.
Then I glanced at her with a victorious smile while still chewing.
She smiled with the most radiant smile I've seen on her, and petted me behind my left ear. "So is my food better than what we serve at the station?"
Sure thing, its always a pleasure to eat home cooked meal, but there are more urgent things to take care of. The best thing I could actually do is leave when she goes to sleep, that way I'll be able to run and see the garage, and bring something from it to the forest if I have time. However, the running would be painful, thanks to the bruised ribs
No matter, it was something I had to do.
I was thinking all this while looking at her eating. It was actually also amusing, Just how she had to hold liquid in her mouth, small chins and protruded muzzle meant that liquids would be rather hard to handle, but apparently, it was still possible to make the "kissy" face and eat or blow at the spoon and more.
While I waited for her to finish, we were sitting in a silence. I did nothing except planning the trip and looking at her face, she seemed too into the goulash, because she never looked me in the eyes during the dinner.
When she was done, it was up to her, as the host, and the owner of the building to decide the next course of action, and because I needed her to lower her guard, I complied without any resistance, well almost.

cont.

After the dinner, she loaded up the dishwasher with the dish and a bowl, meanwhile she sat me down on a couch and made me watch TV. While my plan was almost ready, I was suddenly shocked to see a human in TV, he was saying something about a horrible murder, but his mouth was distorting when he spoke.
This caught my attention, as I was trying to figure out what was going on. The story was about a detective trying to solve a crime, but there were no furries in sight, which was troubling.
Are they broadcasting something from my reality? Or what is this?
The show continued, and Lizzie eventually entered the living room once again, asking me "What are you watching Runner?" In a furry typical manner, when they don't expect any answer from you at all.
I just kept watching as this James Hands was asking a black dude about the info of a certain stolen car.
There it was again, the black guy's eyes were scared, but his mouth was smiling in an unnatural fashion, it looked like the mouth was not even his part!
"Oooh Humanopolia, I like that" Lizzie informed me, as she sat down next to me, petting me once again.
"I wish you guys could actually talk" she said, as the James Hands was running around with a mexican dude, complete with sombrero, solving the mystery.
Wait, so let me get this straight, i'm watching a movie where people talk and act like people, but its not possible? What the.
Then it dawned on me, why the mouth looked so incredibly suspicious. It was animated.
This was soul crushing. What you considered normal is now a science fiction, and the fact that they went and made "animal movie" where you saw your old world, was...
I could feel it, a manly tear forming at my right eye, luckily I wiped it away before Lizzie could've noticed it.
There goes my world, with credits rolling and a list of actors. James Hands was played by Sparky and dubbed by his owner called Willie.

cont.

My mood was now exceptionally fucked, there were only two lifelines I still had the kids in the basement, which i still had to check upon, and a tigress who held me by my shoulder in a typical 'Theater style yawn' style hold.
If she was a human, I would swear that she was hitting on me, but not for a sole purpose of getting into my pants, and it wasn't unpleasant, quite the contrary. No matter what, though, there is going to be a lot of tears when I leave tonight.
I hope I'll manage to sneak out unnoticed.
The evening goes on, and we spend watching the TV, until she yawns and suggests the following
"Its getting late, how about we take a shower and go to beds?" she said as if it was the most sensible thing to do, and I couldn't agree with her more. I was actually rather happy to go and take a shower, a cherry on top of a cake, and if this evening can be described as something, it would be CAKE.
"Come on" she said, already standing up, pulling me with both hands from the couch.
And thus we went towards the bathroom, together, I went to the doors, but she entered first. Being a true gentleman, stood outside, facing wall and not looking at her.
"What are you doing? How am I going to wash you if you are standing over there fully dressed?" She asked, taking off her T-shirt.
Now this is something I haven't signed for. I am a man of simple principles, separate the white clothes from colored before washing, wet your toothpaste before brushing, don't go into showers together with naked tigresses, that sort of things! So i raised my hands in a 'Better not' gesture.
"Come on, don't be shy!" she said, as she pulled me inside the bathroom, already only wearing underwear.
Then she started fiddling with zip on my overalls. Now It might surprise you, but I wasn't really looking forward to it.
Even though I had no real means of defending against the shower which we were going to take together, I felt bad about it.

cont.

I knew I was doing a bad thing by the time she was undressing her bra, and i was standing there with T-shirt and underwear.
It wasn't sexual. It was like she considered me as a dog, and I thought that going in there is really disrespectful towards her, because she has no idea that I'm not actually on the same mental level as usual dogs.
The underwear disappeared on the ground, and I was standing there, both hands covering my intimate region.
She however, had no qualms about being naked in front of me, and even though I was a real gentleman and tried to avoid this situation, I'm a man, and when a man has an opportunity to look at boobs, he has to fight with his whole soul not to take a peek. Looking straight ahead, my gaze not wandering, but my mind was one step away from falling straight into the gutters.
She took me by the hand and led me inside a spacious bath... While I was being led, I couldn't help but notice where her tail begins, and the perfectly round butt she had, not too muscular, but not too flabby, and it would fit perfectly in my hands
'What the hell are you thinking about?!' I yelled at myself mentally, as I sat on the corner of the bath, while she was regulating the temperature, looking away from me.
"Now that should be about it, what do you say?" She asked me as I reached into the stream, it was nice and warm, maybe on the hot side of warm, but pleasant nonetheless.
"Good, now, stand up. " She said, showering her ample bosom.
Lady If I stand up right now, there might be circumstances that would require answering.
She gave me the uncertain look, and then reached for my right hand, presumably to pull me up.
I was however covering my crotch with both hands, still not used to the idea of being seen, so when she reached for my hand, I smashed my legs together, still covering myself up.
She kept looking at me, this time around as if she was scanning me, probably to figure out what was wrong with me.

cont.

"don't tell me" she said, concerned look on her face. "Your previous owner molested you?" she asked.
What?
"I'm sorry, i didn't know" She said, giving me a hug, while I was sitting, which didn't help at all.
Who would molest me? I didn't have any owner before.
"I just wanted to wash your back" She says, while still hugging me.
Okay, I guess there is no going back now, especially when I'm already in the bath with you and your perfect 38F's are already in plain view.
I slowly stood up, trying to figure out what is the square root of 32, in an attempt to control bloodflow.
"Now turn around" she said, touching my shoulders and pressing them in a counter clockwise directions, as if it wasn't obvious what she wanted me to do from just saying that to me.
Then I heard a plastic bottle being opened, and something spurting.
Then I felt a cool sensation on my backs, she was massaging the shower gel in, and even though i told myself that I would most certainly not enjoy this. It was too hard to resist.
She was excellent at washing my backs, her soft paws felt awesome on my back, she was however pushing hard, and that helped my tense muscles to ease up. She even did the shoulders and lower back.
"You know, If you told me in the morning that I would be washing your backs in my shower tonight, i wouldn't believe it" She suddenly started, just as she was soaping the lower backs.
"But." I knew she was going for a but, there has to be 'but' in this kind of announcement.
"Even though I tied you up, you went and saved my life." That I did, and looking at the purple bruise by my side, It didn't go smoothly.
"I wanted to thank you Runner." She said, as she was washing the soap off. Suddenly the atmosphere went dark again, for I knew that I was leaving tonight, and no matter what she did, or what she says is going to stop me from running away.

cont.

"All done, turn around" she said, and I turned around. "Now I'll wash your front" she said, and I saw the bottle this time. It was something called "Human body wash TC 200ml for both genders"
she then rubbed it on my chest.
"You know, I was actually considering adopting you myself." she continued, staring at my chest, which was now soapy and smelling like cinnamon.
I sure as hell am not going to be a pet, even though it seems many times better than how I've been living till now.
"But I think you have greater potential, if my boss agrees, and I go through the right paperwork, then maybe" She said, this time stopping, and looking me in the eyes.
"Maybe you could work with me, as an Assistant Human." She said, and I watched her eyes.
Then she fell silent, carefully washing around the bruise.
She was silent when she washed my stomach, but my hands holding my groin were not going to allow any passage, so she skipped that place.
"But if that doesn't work out, I still want you here, you understand me Runner" she said, but this time, I decided to cut this short. After she rinsed me with water, I looked over the many bottles lying on the small shelf by the shower, found one that said "shower gel" With a fine looking Rat Lady washing her arms.
She looked at me, reaching for the bottle, and asked "What are you doing?"
Returning the favor of course! but I didn't tell her, since the no talking and all that.
I opened the bottle with one hand, and placed it on her shoulder, slowly pushing her in the counter clockwise direction
"Ooh? are you going to wash my back too?" She said almost teasingly. Of course I would.
I put the gel between my hands, closed the bottle and placed it on the shelf again, rubbing the gel between my hands, I started with her upper back, the fur felt strangely nice under my hands. It was almost as if i was washing someone's very long hair.

cont.

When her upper backs were done, I went for the shoulders, gently rubbing the gel in the fur.
She obviously enjoyed it, because she went "mmh" when i went to the shoulders.
This however had an unforseen consequence of me getting stimulated.
However, I wouldn't have any of it, so in a few seconds, I put my dick between my legs, and held it tightly in a painful position, knowing that it would deflate in a matter of minutes.
Then I went back to the shoulders with some more gel, I continued to the point where i was basically washing her back and giving her a backrub, and while the 'crossed legs' thing was working somehow, her enjoying the backrub was counter-productive.
"Where did you learn that Runner?" She asked me when I was massaging the nape of her neck.
I didn't, I'm just doing what feels right.
When I was done with the neck, I went for lower backs again, and while it might seem easier, it wasn't for the tail suddenly appeared and tried to touch me on every possible occasion.
When I was done with her lower backs, she turned her head and asked "What about the tail?"
'Sigh, of course she's going to want me to wash her tail too' So, once more the bottle was opened, and once more I decided to indulge her.
The base of the tail, was a little... very problematic for me. As I've once stated, I do respect her greatly, but I didn't want to grope her, but this thing literally started right above her butt, so touching the butt was inevitable.
It was very nice butt mind you and if she liked me for who I am, and not for her idea of semi-sentient pet, I wouldn't be able to stop trying to grab that.
The tail was soon done, but what followed was both unexpected, and I should've expected that from the beginning.
After I washed the gel of her, she turned around, and gave me a hug.
"I knew you were special from the first moment I saw you, I just didn't know how special" she said, face to face with me.

cont.

"Now would you be willing to wash me from this side too?" She asked innocently, and I knew that I was in trouble.
So I did as she asked me to do. However, I took a liberty of only staring at her perfect breasts. I did what I could to avoid touching them.
She noticed my struggle but didn't comment on it, same way for washing around her crotch, there was a place which I wasn't going to touch. This was a slippery slope, she was a real eyecandy, and I was considering how bad would being a pet really be.
While I was lost in thoughts, her eyes wandered a little lower than my eyes, and my chest, and a little lower than my stomach too.
Too bad for her, I was already back to the normal, hoping and almost praying to gods that I would remain flaccid for the minutes to come.
When I rinsed her however, she embraced me.
"You are wonderful Runner." She said, giving me a kiss on my cheek.
It took all my concentration to not push her away...without using hands.
The shower was getting foggy, and while the showerhead was smoshed between us, I was getting slowly cold, but I hugged her back.
"We should probably get out of the shower" she said after she was done hugging me.
I would concur wholeheartedly if I could, but I kept my mouth shut as she got outside, pulled a towel and placed it around her butt, leaving the tail outside.
I left after her, and while i was getting out of the bath, she fastened the towel around her waist, taking another towel to dry me off, but then she stopped and smiled.
"Show me how special you really are" she said as a challenge, and handed me the towel.
Oh, I will show you how special am I
I took the towel, opened it, and as she was looking at me with an expectant smile, I threw the towel towards her.
She wasn't expecting that, so she took it face first.
Then I went and rubbed the towel on her while she was yelling and laughing at once
"Stop, it tickles!" She yelled as I dried her shoulders, even from underneath.

cont.

She was staring playful daggers at me, but dry playful daggers.
Then I proceeded to dry myself with the towel I just used on her, pretending like nothing has ever happened.
She took new underwear from the nearby basket, but since I had nothing to change into, I went for my old underwear. Besides, It has been recently washed, by a hose.
After that, I took my clothes and went towards my room, but once again I was stopped.
"I turned on the heating only an hour ago, its going to be cold till morning, and I don't want you to catch cold." she said.
I won't catch cold, besides, there is a trip I'm still undertaking, but you are not making it easier for me.
"And leave the clothes here, I'll wash them for you tomorrow." she said, putting my overalls on the basket.
I was getting a faint idea where this thing is going.
"How about you sleep in my bed tonight? hmm?" She asked, and I knew that this is going to be problematic.
Well, I guess It wouldn't hurt, so I shrugged, and let myself be led into her room, which was right next to mine.
It was twice as big, there was a gigantic bed in the corner, the rest was made with Spruce, the table, the wardrobes, it even smelled like a forest.
"Come on in" She said and she pulled me towards the bed, already turning the lights off.
I was following her, since she knew the room better than me.
"Climb in" Now she didn't need to tell me twice, I was already intent on doing just that, and when I climbed in under the blankets, she followed suit, however, I choose the side that wasn't next to the wall
"Good night Runner" She said as she tightly hugged me from behind.
I knew this world was upside down about a lot of things, but me, being at least thirty centimeters taller and being a smaller spoon was new for me.

cont.

She even went as far as to put her paws underneath my shirt while holding me from behind, now I knew i was safe, she wouldn't be able to hold me all night long, because the matress wasn't super soft, and she put a hand underneath me.
That hand will eventually lose all bloodflow and she'll try to remove it, when that happens I'll be free.
"You are the best, Runner" she said, removing the left hand and started petting my hair, I also felt a third appendage which startled me to no end.
Wild Tail appeared out of fucking nowhere and rubbed my leg.
I was hell bent on not falling asleep.
As the time continued onwards in its relentless race, her petting slowed down a little, and the tail stopped moving altogether.
Good, now I will count to one thousand, and I'll leave.

cont.

300 was the number I reached, before she said "I love you" and licked my hair. Now I didn't think she was a sleep talker, but she obviously was.
550 She removed her hands from me and turned around.
750 I got face full of tail as she somehow managed to climb into the corner.
850 she was talking from her sleep, however just saying "tut tut" managed to quiet her down.
990 If I count ten more, I'll fall asleep.
So I slowly climbed out of the bed, as silently as I possibly could.
"Where are you going Runner?" She asked me a question, but it was too dark to figure out if she was sleeping or just half asleep, I decided to take the risk and answer her
"Just to the toilet" I hope she was half asleep, or fully asleep, otherwise there will be hell to pay.
"Mmmhm" She said and hugged the pillow more.
Now, when that was out of the way, I left the room, and closed the doors.
After that I went to the bathroom, and dressed myself, silently of course.
Then I went downstairs, the walk took about 3 minutes, because I remembered how creaky were the stairs, so I did my best trying to be sneaky.
When I reached the bottom, I went for my shoes, and after they were tied, I decided to go through the front doors.
(Click)
Locked, of course, and I didn't see the key
So I turned around and went to the toilet, there has to be a window!
There was, so i climbed out of it, looked around and went off into the night to check the garage and the kids, giving one last thought to the Tigress who was so nice to me, and who will wake up alone in the morning.
Well, It was very nice while it lasted. Maybe I'll pay her a visit someday.

End of Chapter

To Tame a Human

Chapter Six: Every good deed

I don't know the precise time, I haven't looked at the clocks when I left, but I knew one thing.
Right now, I was racing against the sun and my body.
When the sun goes up, she'll wake up and she'll kick up a fuss about where am I, and the hunt for me will begin anew.
I would hate to be in her shoes right now, but there's nothing i could do about it.
It's either her being disappointed, or kids dying of starvation. So when I had to choose, I choose Somalia, and went to see how the kids are doing.
The cities at night were usually scary to people, but not to me. First, nobody would want to rob me, because I'm a human, a lowlife runaway pet, so unless I meet some sadists, no one is going to pay any attention to me.
Only one problem was present. I was far away from any landmark I knew, she lives in a part of the town that I hadn't explored yet, mostly because it seemed to be residential, and stealing from houses was bound to attract more attention.
My plan was therefore head towards the center of the city, and that was easy to do, because of all the high-rise buildings were situated near the center.
I wasn't going to sprint there though, it was more of a jog, but I couldn't afford just walking, but running any faster was incredibly painful.
I'm pretty sure that quack who called himself a doctor had no idea if my ribs were broken or bruised, some Dogtor he was
The Idea of dogtor amused me, even though I no longer remember if he was of canine species or actually feline, or whatever the hell he might've been.
The road was clear, lighted by street lamps, but some of them were flickering.
I got the bad feeling from this, it seemed more like a bad horror story.
Except that I wasn't a helpless lady.
I had to avoid one or two late night walkers by ducking into alleyways or completely changing directions, but this part of the town was quiet.

cont.

The Real deal will become problematic when I reach the center, which is bound to be busy with nightlife.
The best bet for me would be to reach Christmas market, from there I can navigate anywhere I want, and there are signs all across the city pointing towards the destination.
It was funny to actually realize that the Christmas market was merely a tourist trap, hence all the signs pointing towards the biggest attraction.
As I managed to get closer to the city, I realized that here's the start of the Real deal, as I saw patrolling police car...
If they spot me, they will surely call animal control, and the hunt will start early, leading to bigger problems.
Looking left and right all there was, was a trashcan to my left, and some twenty steps forwards was an entrance to a residential building.
the police car was going to spot me any second now, so I decided to play it cool, by the trash can was a plastic bag with something, so I picked it up take a few steps away from the trash can, and when I saw that the police officers in the car have spotted me, I walked towards the trash can and quickly sniffed around it, then placing the bag down, wiping my arms on my overalls and confidently started striding towards the entrance
The car had windows down, so I heard one of them saying "I wish my human was this smart, I am the one taking trash outside." and then laughter from his colleague.
I reached the doorknob while they were already past me, luckily they didn't stop to check out what I was doing. I grabbed the doorknob and pressed myself towards the door, as If i was opening them, the police car made a right turn and I let out a sigh of relief.

cont.

I let go of the doors and resumed my route towards the center of the city, my quest has just begun and I didn't want to abandon it. However, as I turned the corner, I saw why were the police patrolling here, there was a night club. Not one of those exclusive ones where you have to wait in line until there was space inside, no, one of those where bouncer was just making sure that when you get out of the club, you will piss off, or at least puke on building across the street.
I decided to go around it, no reason to go right in front of the night club, that was just asking for trouble.
So I had to cross street and use the alley between the other two buildings, easy.
When I reached the alleyway, I once again cursed my luck.
I spotted two figures, and judging by the "Shut up you bitch!" and whimpers, it was either theft or rape in progress.
Now I was a man on the run myself, but I still have a moral compass, which was telling me that I should be a white knight and save whoever was getting mugged and/or raped.
I started walking silently towards the pair, they were partially hidden by a wall, So I had a plenty of space to go around them, if I wished, but that wasn't me. If I would turn blind eye to this sort of behavior, then I might as well renounce my humanity. Helping each other is what that meant for me.
The guy was drunk wolverine, and even though Hugh Jackman comes first to mind, this had at least a little bit more fur than him.
The woman couldn't be seen over his shoulders. but his trousers were already around his knees, and he was holding one leg that didn't belong to him.
Now how to approach this situation, he was a furry with big claws so just grabbing him around his neck and trying to "make him sleep" seemed like a good idea to get my hands torn to shreds, So I had to improvise.
I walked silently right behind him, he was too distracted to notice me.

cont.

"Now you are going to take me balls deep, enjoy my cock bitch." He said, and I thought that what was going to follow is going to be mindblowing orgasm, without any orgasm involved.
He was approximately as tall as me, So I had no problems reaching the side of his head, and then slamming his head to the wall behind which he was hiding.
"Ungh!" he made an inarticulate sound and tripped over his trousers falling backwards.
My side decided that it was appropriate to remind me that I was injured, and punching was out of question.
So one quick stomp in his groin made sure that he was going to be immobilized for quite some time, he started yelling and cursing
Quick look at the woman revealed very shocked zebra in now dirty black dress and ripped panties hanging around her ankle.
She didn't say thank you, or anything, she however continued crying and hastily dressing herself.
"You shit" wolverine cursed, trying to sit up, I turned around and kicked him to the side of his head, this time he was out cold.
Suddenly, I was attacked from behind, someone grabbed me, and held me tightly against soft bo...
I'm sorry, let me rephrase that... I was hugged from behind by a crying zebra who was taller than me, she must've have at least two meters twenty!, and boy she was strong.
How the fuck does a lady this strong manages to get herself almost raped in the a dingy alleyway was beyond me.
"Thank you" she said, and kept hugging me.
I grabbed her hand, and started walking towards the entrance of the alleyway through which I intended to exit in the first place.
She hesitantly followed, giving no resistance.
I half wondered if the wolverine did the same thing, just silently dragging her somewhere.
She was silently sobbing, probably still shocked, but also reeked of alcohol, which might be of some use to me.

cont.

I can surely drag her towards the police station which was nearby, or I could drag her towards the police station which was near the Christmas market, which would allow me to go through the main street without being actually suspicious, that way she can help me and we'll be even.
Well, at least, that suspicious. I was pulling her hand, and was not on a leash.
"Thank you" she said in a sobbing voice as I was pulling her towards the center.
"You...you saved me from..." Yeah lady, I don't think you need to tell me what you almost went through. Then again, the words got caught up in her throat and she started sobbing again.
Three streets on, and I slowly started to recognize the place.
The good news was, that I knew where I was, and the bad news was that the garage I was heading towards, is going to take me clear across the city anyway.
The bad news was, she was slowly gaining her composure and therefore started asking questions.
"Where's your owner?" was the first one, and she actually picked up the pace, trying to see if I have a collar.
"No collar? Are you a stray? " was the second question, now If i want to keep this thing up, I better make sure that her train of thoughts is disrupted a little.
So I turned my head and nodded. This confused the poor Zebra to no end.
You could actually see it on her face, she was questioning if I nodded accidently, or if I acknowledged that I'm a stray, but strays are usually more wild than tame one's, not to mention dumber, so understanding was out of the question.
If she was smart, then she would also doubt herself because of alcohol.
"You are a stray and you understand me?" Well, that didn't take long, I hoped that she would be conflicted about this a little more.
I looked at her again, and nodded again. Hoping that she'll think about this some more, the more silent she is, the better, and we managed to cross the road again, so it was only six or seven streets till I reach the closed Christmas market, ten before the police station, and If i can go straight, without hitting the checkpoints. I'll reach the garage in forty minutes.
"That's so cool." Her hand left my hand and I was once again hugged from behind.
"I was so scared back there that he would rape me!" she said, and I felt her bust around my shoulders.
"How will I ever repay you?" She asked, nuzzling the side of my face.
Maybe I made a huge mistake trying to drag her along, she was much stronger than me, intoxicated and god knows what else.
"How about I take you home? I'll adopt you, you'll have anything you want, ANYTHING for my hero" Now lady, I don't like the way you said the last anything.
"What do you say?" She said, rubbing her hands all across my chest.
Great, I save her from being raped only to be raped instead, just great.
But then she touched my bruised side and I jerked forward with painful yelp.
"Oh I'm sorry, did I hurt you?" She asked, her eyes welling up again.
I was afraid, that If I give her the truthful answer, she'll hug me again, trying to apologize, and I would suffocate between her breasts.
So instead, I grabbed her paw, and started walking again.
"Where are we going?" she asked this time around.
Now lady, I could tell you what and why am I doing, but you are surprisingly coherent for a drunk person, so I'll limit myself to answering yes or no questions.
"Oooh, are you taking me to your den?" What?
"but if you want to do that, you can come with me. I'm sure that my place will be better suited for those things" Lady if someone hears what you are suggesting...
Slowly, I was beginning to suspect how the attempt to rape took place, either she was a really big masochist, or she was really horny. possibly both.

cont.

I turned around, and with an offended frown i shook my head, hoping to put an end to those kind of remarks.
"No? Then where are you taking me?" Now it was her turn to be confused. However, I wasn't very good with computers, so telling her "police station" through yes and no, was impossible through binary.
However, the solution appeared once again on its own. As I reached the police station I wanted to reach, pointing towards it.
"A Police station?" She looked at the building, and then at me, slowly realizing why I took her here.
"Thank you, for everything." Oh god here we go again, a hug, this time from front.
I was pushed towards her by the sheer force of the hug. I hugged her back this time, hoping that it would calm her down, but she grabbed my butt, and when I looked up to sound my protest, I was kissed.
Oh god, no, NO!
I mustered all my strength in an attempt to push her away from me.
But not before my mouth was violated by her tongue.
When I put at least some decent distance between the two of us, she said.
"If you ever need anything, or reconsider my offer. I live on Edback Street, number 149. " She said, and then gave me a wink and started walking towards the police station.
What a crazy Zebra, no way I'm getting anywhere near her in the near future.
Now I needed to reach the garage, and if possible, find some mouthwash on the way there.
The rest of the trip was uneventful, as I left the city center and the hour was getting late, the streets were completely deserted.
When I reached the garage, I found out two things.
First, the garage was still there and it wasn't completely empty, the blankets were there, and few oranges were scattered around, but there was no sign of the huge 15 kilo bag, which would've been impossible for the kids to carry away. Something happened here

cont.

Grabbing the blankets, I figured that the place was compromised, and packed up all the remaining stuff I could find, made a sack out of the blanket, and decided that I'll look for a different hiding place next time.
Right now, the destination was the basement by the forest cabin.

End of Chapter

To Tame a Human

Chapter Seven:... Rather than to bow one's head and succumb.

When the garage was properly looted and everything was prepared, I took off towards the forest.
The First snow this year started to fall, just to spite me, it wasn't just the small snowflakes which usually appear when it first snows that year, no.
It was slightly bigger than that, and by slightly I mean passing straight through the 'a lot of snowing' into 'Where the fuck did this came from?
I shivered, even though I was fully clothed, and I had a blanket on me, while holding another blanket with supplies on my shoulder, it was cold.
the snowing is going to hinder me to no end, but my resolution to meet the kids was unshaken. Besides, I still had some supplies to deliver to them.
The whole trip should last about fifteen minutes on foot, and that gave me time to think about the current situation.
If this is the winter that we should live through, we're screwed.
I wonder if the kids are still alive, they might have froze to death, they might have starved to death, someone might have found them, something might have eaten them!
That's precisely correct, something might eat them. While the furry world out there was full of animals, there were many wild animals out there too. I kind of understand why the dogs and wolves and even wild cats are in the forest and not domesticated like in our world.
How would you explain it to your neighbor who is a Dalmatian, that you, as a Deer, have a pet on a leash which shares the same lineage as your neighbor.
That's possibly why the humans were more popular pets, there were not a lot of primates, and monkeys might not consider humans their relatives, but come to think about it, I haven't seen any monkeys so far.
Movement.
I saw it, out of the corner of my eye, something moved over there.
I was almost at the forest, which will make me harder to track from the furries, and easier to track by the ferals who live in here

cont.

The movement went out of my sight and I had no idea what it was, maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me again.
I wonder if there are any feral furries here, and if they are, what would non-feral would do with a feral furry?
As I was thinking about it, it became apparent that if there are any feral furries, they leave this forest alone for I haven't seen any, or they are hiding. If I would meet a furry in a forest, it must either be a furry who has a cabin in the forest, or a hippie, hell bent on hugging trees.
I stopped, I was walking through the forest, but I saw paw tracks in the recently fallen snow.
they were going towards the cabin, and because the layer of snow was rather thin, it couldn't have happened more than twenty minutes ago.
I wasn't a perfect tracker but I knew that this wasn't a cat paw, but rather dog or wolf paws, and there were quite a few of them.
I picked up the pace, still going towards the cabin.
The paw marks turned left and away from the cabin, so I was partially glad that the kids might be okay, but I was also scared about this place now.
If those were wild dogs, or worse, wild wolves, then we're not safe here. I might be able to defeat a man in a fist fight, but I'm injured, and I never even tried to think about fighting a wolf with my bare hands before, much less a pack of them.
the ruined remnants of the cabin were now in plain sight.
I thanked the gods that the cabin seemed relatively same.
I was shaking with cold by this point. When I took on the overalls back in march, I thought that it was still a little chilly outside, but I wasn't planning on wearing them for nine months.
I walked towards the basement entrance, and knocked on the doors in predetermined pattern to signal that It was me. while wiping away the snow blanket off it.
while wiping the doors, I noticed that they weren't locked from the inside.

cont.

That was a bad omen, I knew the kids were not the sharpest tools in the shed, they couldn't even speak, but I taught them how to lock those doors and insisted that they lock it whenever I go outside.
I entered the basement, it was very dark, but not completely so my eyes needed to adjust a little bit.
What I saw both made me glad that I'm back and made me afraid and sad.
out of three kids, I only saw two, huddled close together and sleeping, there was no sign of the third one.
they had all the clothes and other fabrics I've brought back during my numerous trips to the city piled on top of them, but the basement was wet and I might even say slightly colder than the outside.
Looking over to the side where I usually stockpiled the food, I found very little, some dried up apples, some snacks, a few granules from the previous human approved food packs I brought, but not the last fifteen kilo one, meaning that someone else might've robbed the garage.
This will not last more than four days.
If snow keeps falling, we'll get stuck here, and then we will wither and die. Or I'll have to hunt, and I'm not a proficient hunter. I'm not even capable of fishing myself.
What should I do?
The older kid woke up, and looked at me like he has seen a horror, but then he realized who I was, laughed loudly, which woke the youngest kid, and ran towards me, giving me a hug.
The fact that there was only the oldest and youngest one, means that the middle one is missing, or worse.
when they hugged me, I said "That's right, daddy is home" and they haven't let go of me for quite a while.
When they let go of me, and I gave them a questioning look and asking "Where's your brother?" the both of them just looked to the ground, sad, but not being able to tell me the details. The fact that they were sad meant a lot, but the older kid pointed towards the doors, which meant that the middle kid left.

cont.

"When, when did he left?" I asked, pointing at the hole in the roof through which sun was often shining.
The answer hit me like a truck.
the youngest one shown me number two with his fingers.
Now I wasn't a skeptic, but I don't think that the kid could last two days out in the forest, maybe if he went to the city, he might've been picked up and adopted, which would mean that he is...
he... might still be alive, and well fed, and..
How come I haven't thought about this?
How dense I was?
If that kid is dead its solely up to my idiocy, and inability to let go.
That Is the answer. That's the only answer I needed.
I quickly rolled the blanket on the floor, and nodded towards the few oranges and some candy bars and said "EAT" in a tone that didn't allow any questions.
My authority over the kids was limitless, they followed me to best of their abilities, because I was the strongest, and the smartest, and I provided food.
They ravenously went for the food, I also needed to eat, so I wasn't holding back.
This was the ideal answer to the survival.
First we need to eat up, and then I'll prepare.
While the kids were stuffing their faces, I stood up, went to the corner where they've slept, and picked up some torn shirts and other stuff I brought them back. Then I went outside, this time inside the cabin.
The cabin was abandoned, and fell on itself long time ago, but some of the stuff was still intact, wooden chairs by the wall, the stove was there too, but the table and the bedroom were obliterated, only a few pieces of fabric were what remained of the bed.
I didn't care, I went for the stove, opened it and took the matches which were stashed there for months, along with a flask and a bottle.
That was the only container which was also water proof to some degree, and I didn't want the kids to play with the last set of matches there was, much less with alcohol, and I didn't want to deal with the shit they'll shit after tasting the lamp oil.
I opened the box and found four matches, one of them shorter than the other three, broken in half, and of course there were two bottles, one with alcohol, and one with lamp oil, the alcohol one was a pocket flask and the lamp oil was half empty, but it's better than nothing.
I took the pack, putting it inside the pocket, the flask and the other bottle went right after it, then I went to the chairs, which were still partially protected by the remnants of the roof.
Kicking one, it immediately yielded to my attempts and shattered.
Grabbing the legs and tying them together with the ripped T shirt, and then proceeding to do the same with the second one, I made makeshift torches in a manner of minutes.
The kids didn't try to get out and see what I was doing, but I heard a squeak of surprise every time I broke something.
Last thing that I needed was a leg from the table, which I pried off.
The wood was old, but thick, so it broke off with splinters, but still long enough to act as a club, and pointy enough to cause a lot of discomfort to anyone who might think about being funny.
Now, it was time to go back.
However, the commotion which I caused has consequences which I had to face.
There was a dog, I saw him, looking at me from distance.
I didn't think about fighting it right now when my hands were full, so instead I dashed towards the basement entrance.
The hungry dog was rushing to take a bite off me, but since the doors were still unlocked, I slipped in, and locked them behind me.
The kids were hugging the wall, and I was slowly backing away from the doors.
Angry barking and some tugging did nothing to convince the lock to let the intruder inside.
I however wasted no time. I looked over the food which was left here, rolled that into the blanket again, and then looked at the pile of fabric which was used as a makeshift bed.
Quickly deciding that there's no time like the present, I started to check which clothes were still useable and which were just tattered shreds.
In haste I started to dress up kids in excessive clothing.
They were looking at me with confusion and fear, but I had no time to explain, not that it matters.
Even if I did try to explain, it wouldn't end up with them actually understanding, and the less opposition my idea gets, the better.
When the pile of clothes was done, and only tattered shreds remained, I added the fabric to the makeshift torches.
The whole process took long enough for the dog to give up and possibly leave.
when they were fully clothed, they looked like the fattest kids I've ever seen, but at least, they'll be protected from the weather, and possibly the dogs might have some problems chewing them if it ever comes to that.
With a final look around, I gave the oldest kid the club made from the table leg and a torch to the other one.
When I unlocked the doors, I pulled out the matches, and soaked the fabric on the torches with lamp oil.
Funny thing, I thought that the lamp oil which I stole in... august? was it august? I'm not sure... was going to help me if I ever managed to get the stove into the basement, for cooking and heating purposes.
Now it is going to burn all at once.
Torches lit, the kids were very anxious about them.
Not because they realized that they might also be flammable with all those clothes on, but because they feared fire like every animal.
After I motioned to follow me, we exited the structure.
the trip I'm going to take them on, isn't going to be the most pleasant one, plus with the hungry animals, it might not even end well. But we're armed, we have some supplies and we will most certainly reach our destination.

cont.

There's no going back now. I however felt like an apology was in order "I'm sorry kids. If I have thought about it a little more, you would be safe and sound right now, but because of my idiocy, your brother is missing. I'll try my very best to make it up to you." I said to them, but a speech this long along with the sheer number of words they didn't know just made them confused.
"I promise" I said, and started walking

End of chapter

To Tame a Human
Chapter Eight: It is a sign of strength to cry against fate

The march has begun, and the cabin was still in sight when we ran into the first problems.
The wild dog came back, growling menacingly and approaching us in clearly threatening manner.
I was however still advancing towards the edge of the forest, the kids were right behind me.
The dog might try to attack us, but even though he might have been hungry, the torches and the flames were scaring him.
As we were marching towards the city, the hound's desperate attempts to get near the last of us, who was also holding a torch, were getting more and more common, first he tried to sneak up on the kid, but then he abandoned the idea and tried to rush at him, but one swing of the torch always made him retreat.
Now it was getting more and more common. So I took the chance when he was making another feint at the kid and rushed towards him with my torch, the dog panicked and tried to run away, but i managed to hit him across the hind leg with the burning torch.
I don't know what caused him to yelp like that, maybe it was the searing heat, but maybe it was the force of the impact. However this time around, he started to retreat for sure, or maybe the better term would be "Limp home"
Seeing the problem resolved, I wanted to get on with the trek, but the loud laughter which bordered with yelling, almost made me jump, the kids were happy that the assailant was gone, however it is not a good thing to go 'yay' in the middle of the forest, where wolves are stalking, dogs are barking and god knows what else is here.
a single "shhhH" with appropriate gesture calmed the kids down. While they might not known my reason for doing so, I was still the leader and leaders are to be obeyed.
Thus we ventured forward.
I was pretty sure that the border of the forest was going to be in sight in about five minutes, that's when the shit hit the fan.

cont.

"aaah!" yelled the kid in the middle, pointing to the side, from where wolves were advancing upon our position.
This is bad.
I pushed the kids more towards me, huddling together.
Now what was the advice for fending off wolves? It most certainly wasn't lie down, that was for black bears, climbing a tree might've worked if the kids could, and I wasn't going to test this right now.
The wolves were growling and barking, that made me realize what might actually work.
"Graaah!" I yelled at the top of my lungs and started advancing towards them.
Keeping the kids right behind me, the wolves were slowly trying to spread out, but the ones i was approaching were backing away too.
They'll try to flank us, and attack the kids, not a chance!
I quickly looked around, there were some trees, big ones at that, but we were a small group, It would be much better if there were three trees that would allow us to cover our backs, however, there were only two trees next to each other and too far away from me, to successfully hide everyone's back there.
"rawr" I heard from behind me, the kids were trying to imitate me.
Thats the spirit, I yelled at the top of my lungs and lead the group toward the big tree, there I pressed the kids against it, and me too.
The wolves formed a semi circle, but none got behind us, mostly because we were covered from that angle.
The torches were also a huge boon, good thing I had that Idea.
The wolves were however not backing away, while scared by the torches, which we've kept waving in front of us, they weren't going to leave us.
There were a few meters between us when I realized that our only chance is going to include burning our supplies.

cont.

I looked around, there were few branches on the ground, but nothing too fancy. I took the sack made out of blanket, and yanked it so the supplies fell on the ground, a few apples and such. First thing I did was wait for the wolves to gather around us, then I took the stick from the oldest kid's hands.
He was rather reluctant to give it away though, but I needed it, picked one end of the blanket with it, and set the blanket on fire.
Holy shit, that blanket caught up like a toilet paper, giving the torch to the kid, I rushed with a burning blanket on a stick towards the wolves, flailing with the thing around me like a madman.
the scared wolves started to back away, the kids were protected as long as the torches were burning and I was there, running with a flaming flail.
But as I was running, one of the wolves came from behind me and tried to pounce on me.
I turned around with the burning blanket just in time, the dog pushed me over, but i landed on the backs, while I desperately tried to grab the wolf, but I was stuck between the burning blanket and desperate wolf who was trying to get away from the blanket too.
The heat was unbearable, it burned my hands but i managed to find enough strenght in me to roll over, with the wolf who was panicking now, and trying to get untangled from the blanket.
There was no escape for this wolf however, I stood up, and quickly looked around to reorient myself, and rushed towards the tree where the kids were.
The wolves were on retreat, even the one who managed to claw his way through the remnants of the blanket.
He however wasn't going to survive this anyway because his fur was on fire, and even though he rushed away, the flames were clingy mistress, hell bent on taking away everything from him.
The wolves have dispersed, or at least it seemed so.
There was a sharp stinging pain on my left hand, it also felt incredibly hot.
Oh shit my sleeve is on fire!

cont.

Quickly dropping to the ground, I tried to bury the hand in the little snow that has accumulated over here through the night
It was a good idea, and might've saved me from more horrible injury, but there were consequences.
My sleeve was burned up to my elbow, the hand looked no better, the hair was gone, and the skin was red and irritated, and hurt like hell.
the palm of my hand where I had to hold the blanket when i was pounced was no better off
I'm pretty sure my eyebrows are also singed.
there's no going back now, I picked up myself from the ground, and looked around.
No wolves, good.
I looked at the few supplies I had, lying in the snow.
The apples were shitty anyway, but I will take the plastic wrapped stuff and stuffed it in my pockets.
The march continued.
The kids were rather nervous when we walked towards the exit of the forest.
They were always like this, which was one of the reasons I never brought them to the city unless it was possible to avoid it, the garage was the furthest point I took them, and I only took the oldest and the middle kid, so it was possible that it was youngest' kid first time outside the forest.
After walking some distance away from the forest, I was absolutely sure that we'll not be followed by the fire fearing animals.
besides, the horizon was lighting up, soon the sun will rise.
I threw the torch to the ground and with a little bit of snow, I managed to put the fire out.
You should've seen the fight the youngest one put up when I tried to do the same with his torch.
Neither of them was too keen on leaving their weapons here, but the club was also discarded.
God I was tired, tired, and hurting bad.
However, If I wanted to sneak through the city, this was the only way.
At first, My plan was only to reach the city and thus ensure the survival of the kids via the shelter.
However, as I thought about it more, the recent encounter with zebra opened my eyes.

cont.

Not everyone in the city is going to be a good person to a human kid, who knows what would Zebra do with them, or they might be owners who would like to abuse them.
No, there was only one person in this whole city on which I would bet.
But I had to reach that place, and although I have Vague idea where in the city was her house located, the best bet would be to back trace my steps.
That however meant going straight through the center of the city.
Now that the sun was illuminating things, this will no longer be a piece of cake, besides I cannot just tail behind the furries this time, because I have two kids tailing me.
This is going to be hard

I made my way towards the garage, which was the first checkpoint when going inside the city.
and it was the easiest place to get to, all I had to do was to simply lay low as I approached it. Nobody ever seen me while going there, so why should it be different this time around?
As expected, the garage looked just like I've left it back then.
Entering it was no hassle, I quickly ushered the kids in and locked the doors behind me, there I took a look around the garage, hoping to find that first aid kit I found here the first time I discovered this place.
After ten minutes of searching, I gave up, there was no medkit here, plus the burning sensation was intensifying.
We had to go, if there was any chance on reaching Lizzie's house without being seen, it was getting thinner with each passing second.
We exited the garage in a haste. I didn't even care this time around, by the side of the road, I looked quickly and rushed across the almost empty street.
Lady luck favors the bold, but I guess my luck was running out.
After running through the alley, I appeared on another street, and a fucking goat appeared right over there too.
She backed away, fetching her mobile phone.
This is it, the animal control will be upon us if she finished the call.

cont.

She was three meters away from me, so I rushed towards her, and grabbed the phone from her hand, while she screamed on top of the lungs.
"Hello, Kian's city pound how may we help you?" I heard through the speaker.
I can't talk now, the goat will hear me.
Pressing the hang up button, I threw the mobile phone on the sewer grating.
"MY phone!" a certain goat yelled, but since she was alone here, nobody paid her any attention, well maybe the people in the houses did, but there was no way for me to stop them.
My hand hurt like a motherfucker during the whole ordeal, but luck was on my side and the phone slipped inside.
That will stop her from calling the pound.
I quickly rushed over the street, this time barely avoiding a speeding truck, the kids were okay, and so was I so it was time to move on.
Then, I reached the panel house where I've evaded the Lizzie for the first time.
I had to reach the rear entry, before someone notices me. And this time around, i actually managed to do it.
when Inside, Me and the kids were getting a breather when we heard it.
It was an explosion, but from far away.
God, that sounded like a bomb went off, I opened the doors through which we've came in the first time, and looked around. but nothing was out of ordinary, but judging from the cries of "what was that?" and "It came from the west!" I knew our chances of running through the city unnoticed is now not possible.
Whatever blew up, ruined our chances. However we cannot stay here, there's bound to be somebody using this exit, we had to go.
I waved at the kids to follow me, and they did just that.
This time around I didn't mind the onlookers, I just rushed through the streets as the people were more interested in what has happened over the horizon.
There was also a lot of humans running, some of them dragged leashes behind them while the others were only collared.
It seems that the early birds who took their humans for the morning walk have lost control of them.

cont.

I kept on jogging, the kids trailing behind me, hoping to gain as much advantage from this situation as possible.
When I reached the center, news helicopter passed overhead, not to mention the sirens from the firetrucks filling the air.
"there's some more!" someone yelled just as I was rushing towards the alley, someone spotted us.
quick glance around told me that it was nobody else than the Labrador.
"You go get them!" someone else said, I didn't recognize the voice.
This is insane, are the pound working around the clock or what?
We had to hide, the kids cannot outrun the labrador, not to mention that my plan goes to shits if he recognizes me.
I took a sharp left, and the older kid took right after me, but the younger one looked around at the pursuer and missed the turn.
I noticed it too late, as I was speeding towards the alley next to the night club.
I looked around only to see the last remaining kid crying its eyes off.
I would carry him and allow him some rest, but not with my hands now, there were hints of blisters appearing on them already.
If it was labrador however, there is still chance, that I'll find the kid at the pound.
The alley was right where I left it, however the rapist was gone, otherwise it was the same good alley , good for hiding, or being cornered.
I got on the street, and the kid was mere seconds behind me.
there were cars driving down this road, but there was nowhere to hide.
This was the final straight road.
However just like the cars already speeding towards their destinations, the people were getting ready to go to work, or trying to figure out what was that loud boom anyway.
I grabbed the kid's hand and tried to weave through the crowd.
Nobody paid me much attention, maybe they thought that my owner was nearby or I didn't look like a threat to them.
however pushing them away was a real pain, mostly because of the state of my hands.

cont.

While trying to get away from them, I heard the pieces of conversation, the sole topic?
"They say it was an airplane crash!" or "There's no way a plane will explode like that, they had chemicals for making the chem trails!" and other variants, most of them were consulting what the huge screen on the side of the building said. It was one of the tall screens for advertisement, but it was playing news reports now
Plane crashed not far away from the city it seems, well no matter. This changes nothing.
We've got through the worst of the crowd, it was easy to figure out where the crowd would end.
Precisely at the point where it became hard to look at the screen
Pulling the kid behind me, I went into the area where I started this night.
However a police car rode by us, eyeing us warily.
"....I've got two strays on the Edback street" he said to the radio and pulled over.
"Acknowledge car Five-O, catch them if possible." was probably the answer, i just heard the radio and saw the guy running after us
No way I'm going to get caught here.
Me and the kid changed directions and ran into one's house garden, we'll try to lose him in the gardens.
Weaving through the various stuff each and every last person had lying in the garden, we then came to a fence.
I helped the kid over it, however my hands didn't like it at all. I then climbed right after him as the beagle was approaching us.
"come on, we'll get you back to your owners." He tried, but I was already behind the fence.
I then rushed back towards the street. It was full on running time again.
Then I went onwards, running as fast as I could, only to realize that this time around I need to be slower because of the kid.
I looked back at the kid who was on the brink of collapse.
This is the final stretch, I'm not losing you, kid!
I knew what had to be done.
I stopped, and motioned to the kid to jump on my backs, he did and held around my neck tightly.

cont.

I grabbed his feet, which was painful once again and ran as fast as I could.
No idea where the cop was, so I looked at the house numbers.
127
129
131
Fuck I'm close, what was the number I was looking for?
Thats right 151
Only a few more houses.
I've got so far!
147
I was huffing and unable to run anymore, I was walking, luckily nobody was chasing after me, maybe the cop gave up
149
Now I don't wanna say something ominous, but this house, which was right next to the house where I was headed, was making me feel like i've forgot something, something important.
No matter, I still proudly walked on, when I reached the 151, the car was still in the driveway, the sun was peeking, and that meant that it was around 5 or 6 o clock, now I don't wanna be the guy, but I'll probably get no sleep today.
First helping the kid climb into the still open toilet window, and then climbing right after him.
SAFE!
I was safe again! I felt so relieved right when I closed the window.
I exited the toilet and the kid carefully went after me.
I was about to ascend the stairs, but then I saw a sleepy tigress looking at me with disbelief in her eyes.
"What...the fuck...is going on Runner?"
I looked left and right, motioning to the kid to stay behind me.
She walked down the stairs, looking at me like she's seen a ghost, and then looking behind me at the kid.
"Who's the pup?" she asked, walking right towards me.
I turned around and, while dragging the kid, i walked towards the dinning room
"Stop! Runner stop when I'm talking to you!" Now she was positively angry, but there was a certain precaution I needed to do before we proceeded
I pulled the chair and placed it apart from the other ones.
Lizzie was yelling "What the hell?! What the hell happened to your clothes? Wha...what have you done?" she asked me looking at the hand, but I motioned for her towards the chair.
She ignored the gesture and went on to check my arms.

cont.

She even took her in her paws and examined them up close "How did you manage to burn them that badly?!" She was going to be hysteric in a moment.
Mustering all the strength I've got left, I took my hands from hers and pushed her in the chair.
"hey?!" she protested, but she was sitting. "What the hell is wrong with you Runner" was the last question she asked, and I grabbed the hand of the kid and looked him in the eyes, and then turned my head back towards Lizzie
"You needed to sit down for this" I said, for the first time I spoke to her. My heart was pounding like I've just betrayed everything I've stood for.
She looked at me with her jaw dropping, like she's seen an alien speak for the first time
"I..." I said, not managing to do this the right way, I had this speech prepared, the ultimate price
"I need your help Lizzie" I said, looking her in her brightly yellow eyes.
"It wasn't a dream" she said, placing her paws on her face, rubbing it.
"No it wasn't, I had to sneak out." I explained, taking a deep breath.
"I'll answer all your questions, but I need your help first" I said, her eyes darting from me to the kid.
"I need you to adopt two kids." I said plainly, motioning towards the one who was with me
"The second one is going to be at the pound. If you do that for me, I'll." Here goes nothing.
"I'll surrender myself to you, I'll obey you without question, and do whatever you want."
Fuck...

END OF CHAPTER

To Tame a Human

Chapter nine: The animal talks

Several seconds have passed since I made my offer, and she was just staring back at me. Time wasn't as important as it was when I was getting here, but my patience was running out along with my remaining energy.
"No, no no, this is a dream" she went all denial on me. However who hasn't seen this coming from a mile away?
"It is not a dream Lizzie, you are awake!" I said, and reached my hand towards her.
She fell from the chair and crawled backwards until she hit the wall
I knew what she was feeling, I felt the same way when i entered this world for the first time.
Scared, everything I knew was a lie, or it was altered to suit the needs of this twisted world.
"Okay, think about it." No rush, the kid is going to be at the pound and the second kid was scared of her just like she was scared of me.
"Come on" I said and motioned for the kid to follow me
"W-where are you going?!" the tigress asked, the fear still very obvious in her voice.
"I'm going to wash my hands, undress the kid and then give him his first shower, then I'm going to find some first aid kit to take care of my hands, wanna join?" The question was a very important. It may not seem so but I needed her more than she thought.
However as no reply came from behind the table, I just said "Suit yourself" and went off, pulling the kid right behind me.
I was thinking about taking care of my hands first, but if I manage to find some soothing gel or whatever she might have around here for burn injuries, I'll have to bandage it and then trying to shower a kid for the first time might not do me or my new bandages any favours
As we ascended to the second floor, I already heard some movement in the ground floor
I really hope she does the smart thing and does not call the cops or anything.
If that happened, I'll just have to pretend that I've never spoke before, and she'll be taken to the crazy house.

cont.

As we entered the bathroom, I took the first layer off the kid, and then the second.
Poor guy must've been overheating big time in here, but he didn't catch a cold, or wasn't bitten by the wolves.
Better safe than sorry, that's what I had on mind when I made them wear all their clothes. The second thought behind all this was much simpler, now that I've got through almost all layers, I'll be able to check which clothes he might wear the second I get him out of the bath.
It would be rather suspicious to be a tiger girl with one neatly dressed human and one kid that looked like dumpster incarnate.
The kid was rather reluctant to let go of his last article of clothing, which would've been a loincloth if I haven't forced them to wear normal underwear months ago.
Just as I lead the kid into the shower, I saw out of the corner of my eye someone peeking from the doorway.
I decided not to press the matter now and took the showerhead. Turning the water on was a shock for the kid, who probably never saw how indoor plumbing worked, so he did the same 'crawl back till you hit the wall' routine a certain tigress did moments ago.
"shhh" I tried to calm the kid down, adjusting the temperature.
here I thought I would have only one pair of scared eyes glued on me, but there were two, however I could do something about the kid's one really quick.
motioning for him to come closer, he crept forward, but as soon as I could reach him, I grabbed his wrist.
He instinctively closed it in a fist, but didn't fight back
then I showered his hand.
He was utterly confused, probably going with a mindset dictating that water is only cold.
can't blame him, he lived his entire life in a forest. Which is however why I need to wash him as soon as possible.
Slowly I came with the shower towards his arm.
the warm water seemed to have made him happy.
Plugging the bath, I showered his head, and sides.

cont.

By the looks of it, he was actually paler than it may have seemed, no wonder, living in a basement for this long.
"Can....can he talk too?" A question came from the doorway. I didn't turn around to look at her, thinking that it might scare her even more.
"No, As far as I know, I'm the only one." I said, suddenly feeling more gloomy.
Maybe it wasn't meant to be this way, maybe I was supposed to become stupid and obedient like everyone else, why did I know how to do stuff? How did I get here, in this world ?
I tried not to think about it, while reaching for a shampoo.
"N-not that one" She said, and I looked at her, she slowly and carefully entered the bathroom, and then handing me a different bottle
I might've been able to read and do stuff other humans couldn't, but I'll be damned if there was any difference between the two bottles. "Why not the other one?"
"Because he's a different race than you" She said, her fear now mixing with a hint of amusement.
I looked at the kid, and looked him over like i've seen him for a first time, messy dirty hair, blue eyes, thin, pale, but nothing out of ordinary. I would've let this matter slide if he was mongoloid or negroid, but he was Caucasian, just like me.
"I don't see a difference" I admitted, she took the bottle from my hands and pointed to the small print saying that this is for Caucasians, specifically Aryans.
I looked back at the kid, and I wouldn't have noticed it before, but there was a small hint of blonde among the dirty hair.
While I looked at the kid, the kid looked at the tigress with fear and curiosity, and tigress was now looking all over me in amazement.
I opened the bottle, the cover was a little hard for me to open, bringing the pain back to my palms.
"I'm sorry, could you wash his hair please?" I asked Lizzie, who looked at me like i've spoke for the first time, again.

cont.

"I burned my hands earlier, shampoo might not be the best idea" I said showing her my arms.
She went pale for a second, and then out of fucking nowhere: "I'm sorry!" she apologized.
However she didn't take the shampoo and instead went outside.
What the hell was that all about?
Well it seemed that she's now in her room, judging by the footsteps suddenly being muffled by carpet.
I looked at the kid, and back at the shampoo in my hands, and I wondered what will be less painful, trying to teach a kid who has seen hot water for the first time try to put shampoo on his head, or do it with second degree burns.
What I had to was however much easier than I first thought it would be.
Lizzie came back with a box slightly larger than an average first aid kit for cars.
When she opened it, I was treated to a sight of a real field first aid, even with sewing set, there was also this spray which you apply on sunburn or other kinds of burns.
She took the spray, revealing four condoms below it.
This first aid kit got all bases covered it seemed.
"Just...just spray this on your hands, it'll make the pain go away." she explained, and I graciously exchanged that for the shampoo. While placing the shower head in the shower head holder
While I moved away from the bathtub to spray my hands, she was now spurting the shampoo in her paws.
I heard a whine and turned around to see the kid on the verge of tears, once again trying to get away from the tigress.
"HEY!" I yelled, managing to surprise both of them. While the kid stopped dead in its tracks, the tigress jumped away.
I walked over to the shower, both sets of eyes back on me.
"gimme your hand" I whispered to lizzie, who ,while reluctant and once again scared, offered me her hand.
"This is Lizzie" I said to the kid, dragging her hand towards his head, and then placing it on his.
"She's good" I said, letting go of her hand and slowly moving my own hand away.

cont.

the kid shook, but didn't dare to defy me, and Lizzie took the opportunity to pet him, and then with her second hand spread the shampoo on his head.
"there's a good boy" she cooed for a second and I could swear that she smiled for a split second, while I was spraying this Panthenol thingy on my hands.
the lefty was blistering, while the right hand was only slightly burned, but hurt roughly the same.
She looked back at me, and anger appeared on her face.
"You..." she said, and I probably knew where this was going
"I didn't want to go to the shower with you, remember?" I hope I'm right, if she's angry about anything else, this will just put more fuel to the fire.
"You could've said something!" she murmured, still angry but it seems that I've found the problem.
"and then be sold to circus, or for experiments to the government." I added. "No thanks, that's why I held my mouth for almost a year now. I never said a word in worse situations." I said, bandaging my hands.
"then Why now? What made you change your mind Runner? Why start speaking now?"
For a second I was going to correct her, for my name is not a Runner, but I'll tell her my name later.
"Because of the kids, I promised them that I'll take care of them, that's why I'm willing to give it all up, because I cannot help the other kid that's in the shelter now, but you can." And my only bargaining chip was me, myself.
"Are they yours?" She asked, and I shook my head.
"No, I found them when I first... came to this world. Believe it or not, but in my world, all humans are like me, and dogs and cats are our pets." I said, which made her frown a little, but she turned around to wash the kid's hair.
After I was done bandaging myself up, the kid's hair was actually getting bright and blonde, the grime and mud have been removed and only a nice looking kid remained.

cont.

"So, Lizzie, what do you say to my offer? If you agree to help me, we'll pick up the second kid and I'll do whatever you want." I said, but I thought that giving her a little more incentive might not hurt " I can cook, take care of the house, I can even fix the muffler on your car." I said and she looked at me. "What will happen if I refuse?" She asked.
Now it was my turn to frown. "Then I'll thank you for everything you've done for me, move back to the forest, and attempt to break out the other kid on my own" There was no point in lying to her, besides all my cards were already on the table.
She turned the water off, earning a sad "awwww" from the kid. Then she walked to me and looked me in the eyes. "And let the Runner run away once again?" She asked, it seemed like a joke, after all this time.
I kept silent, as she was mulling this over in her head.
"It'll be hard not to boast around that my human can talk and do all kinds of things." She said with a smile, and I smiled too.
All the weight fell from my shoulders and I gave her a hug, disregarding the pain in my hands. "Thank you, thank you very much for everything"
She didn't say anything, but then she gasped, and I felt something wet clinging to my side.
The kid got out of the bath and hugged us both too.
"I guess he likes you." I said, and she chuckled.
A few moments later I decided that this needs to stop, otherwise my clothes will be both destroyed and wet.
"Time to dry you off " I said and grabbed the nearby towel and started drying him off.
"should I go and make a breakfast, before I go and adopt the three of you ?"
"No" I said, handing over the towel. "It's time to show you what I can do"
with that I slinked out of the bathroom, and marched downstairs.
from the time when she was cooking for me, I knew pretty much what was in where in that kitchen.

cont.

I wasn't big on making grandiose breakfasts, but there were no cereals, so I decided to go with two slices of bread, with butter, some tomato, some salami and some salad on it.
thinking about it, cooking was never really my strongest point.
But I prepared three plates with a total of five nicely decorated breads.
While Lizzie might be used to the idea of me being able to think for myself, she'll need to realize that the kids are just her regular humans.
"Breakfast!" I yelled and I could hear the stomping already. The kids were taught that "Breakfast and Dinner" were the commands that meant 'get over here for food, otherwise nothing will remain'
The kid was the faster one of the two, however he was only dressed in an underwear, one sock and a shirt. Lacking pants or any other substitute for them.
The kid stood right in front of me, he knew that he wasn't allowed to eat anything unless i specify what he can or cannot.
I trained my kids hard.
The loser of this race appeared with a pair of tracksuit pants which were obviously the missing part of the kid's attire
After a few moments I helped the kid in the pants, and then I sat him at the table.
I also wanted to give a good impression of myself in front of the Lizzie.
So I pulled the chair and allowed her to sit down, then pushing her to the table
"Thank you" she said, impressed.
"I bet in your wildest dreams you didn't imagine this scenario.
I know I didn't.
"no" she said, and after that we ate in silence.
The kid was the fastest one, because he only got one slice of bread.
After the breakfast, it was time to do business.
"So, how are we going to go about it?" I asked, and Lizzie looked at me, thinking.
" I think..." she started "I think I know what might work"

End of chapter

To Tame a Human

Chapter Ten: Boss Fight

"Really? A leash? Do I really have to wear that thing again?" I asked, not really happy about this part of the deal.
I was mentally prepared to do whatever she wanted to do with me. However I did forget about the leash.
"Why? Is that a problem?" She asked me playing dumb.Of course she had to remember our power struggle in the cell.
"It is very demeaning" I told her with straight face. There were more problems with the leash.
Lizzie looked at me like she have seen me for the first time in history. I have got a feeling that only now has she realized I might be a thinking being.
"I never thought about it that way" She sounded almost apologetic, however she was still holding the collar in her outstretched hand.
"No matter how intelligent you are, I cannot go back with you wearing nothing. I will have to explain the destroyed cuffs."
"Not even if I obey your every word?" I went and started to haggle. Hoping that i might be able to keep the blasted leash away from me.
Collar was one thing, but even with just that, I felt like a gimp
"Every word you say?" Now she looked mischievous. I knew this is going to be some sort of trap, but I had no choice, I had to play along.
"Yes, every word." I said, my voice trailing off in the end.
I was doing this for the kids, but that didn't mean I would enjoy this. There were even parts of me that considered leaving and running away after she adopts the kids.
"Then my first command is." She announced, looking at the kid by my side, who was already wearing a leash and was now playing with it.
"To wear a leash" She finished the sentence.
I sighed, and took the collar with the leash. Fastening the thing around my neck with great disdain.
"Now let's go, I'm already late for work thanks to you Runner." She said, reaching for the leash.
I was holding the end of the leash. Hell bent on not giving her the leash.
"Runner" She asked me, with a hint of anger rising in her voice.

cont

"What? I'm wearing the leash" I responded with an innocent smile on my face.
"Let go of the leash" She commanded, boy now that she knows I can talk things will start to get interesting.
"But that way I might run away, not holding the leash would beat the purpose of wearing it." I pointed out.
She didn't find it amusing, not at all.
"Then give me the leash, so I can ensure that you won't do that." She tried to negotiate.
"Sure, hold it with me, my safety from running away will be doubled!" I couldn't suppress the chuckle.
She also couldn't suppress the smile completely, but in a matter of seconds her frown, or should I say pout? I'll need to figure out this spectrum of facial expressions.
"Fine" she resigned after the stand-off crossed the four minutes mark.
Just like that, we took off towards the car.
It must have been very comical sight. Imagine it: Tigress holding a leash to bigger human, who is holding a leash to a small kid. Obviously the tigress was the boss, but the kid wouldn't obey the tigress, only the man.
It could be described only as the Chain of Command, however with no chain present, it was promptly degraded into Leash of Command.
I was offered a honorary place in passenger's seat. However i had to decline, for the sole purpose of taking care of the kid in the back.
It will be his first ride in a car, so somebody should hold him down if he decides to freak out and flee.
I buckled him in and buckled myself in, and we took off.
"So Runner, How come you can talk? Are there any others like you?" This question was long over due, and I did promise that i would answer all her questions.
"I already told you, from a different world. IT seems like this world is some alternative to my world. Everything seems same, yet there are small differences all over the place, not to mention the fact that our pets have four legs." I started to explain, wondering what really happened to my own world, my house, my girlfriend, my family.

cont.

I wonder if I'm just missing from my world, or if I died there and somehow appeared here.
"As for the others, it is impossible for me to know." I said, which made Lizzie look in the rearview mirror at me.
"What do you mean?" She asked, and I sighed
"If i met someone who could talk, i didn't say a word to him and he did the same, maybe all of us can talk, or maybe I'm the only one. I can't be sure.
"Oh" That's all she said.
"Besides, the fear of what would your people do to me if they found out, that i can talk. Can you say with 100% certainty that some scientist will not come and try to dissect me to see what's different from the other humans?"
Scary thought, I shuddered at the mental image of humans dissecting the aliens from a certain Sci-fi series.
"So I guess we'll talk only when we're one hundred percent sure that we're alone." She suggested and once again looked at me through the mirror and I nodded silently.
"Remember our last chase?" She started after a while, and I knew this conversation will turn sour.
"Yes, I do, and before you start, I regret biting you, and I apologize" I started off with an apology, better safe than sorry.
"I almost forgot about that" she said, her eyes dimmer while remembering the bite. Damn it, me and my big mouth.
"I wanted to ask you where did the food go?" She then continued.
"I hid it in one of my dead drops. Every time I get chased, I have to drop the stuff and retrieve it later." I explained, without actually revealing the place of the dead drop.
"Wow, you really thought about it didn't you?" The gleam in her eyes was back, she seemed impressed by my deeds.
"I had to survive and feed three kids you know." I said, and suddenly remembering the second kid.
"Three?" She asked, but when she looked at me, she realized that it was not an easy matter for me and decided to drop the subject.

cont.

The rest of the trip was uneventful, save for the kid almost breaking the glass with his head as he pressed his (now clean) face against it to see better.
"Here we are, our beloved station." She announced as she flipped the turning signal and started to pull into the parking place behind the building.
Lizzie was first one to get out of the car and opened the doors for me.
"End of the line disembark!" she said as she reached for my leash.
While I managed to unbuckle both me and the kid before she opened the doors, she almost caught me off guard. Luckily, my swift maneuver managed to secure the leash firmly in my hand before she could claim it for herself.
"Do we really have to do this?" She asked, but i remained mute. It was no longer secure place, and I didn't want to draw any attention to me.
"Come on!" She resigned and we all went outside, resuming the Leash train routine from before.
I was dragged towards the entrance, and in turn i was dragging the kid.
the kid seemed to be more nervous than before, maybe he knew whats going on inside this building. He might even sense his brother there.
Once I heard that animals can sense each oth
No.
No no no no
I did not just go there!
Fuck, they are just uneducated, they are not animals!
I frowned at my own thoughts and with that frown I entered the building.
It seemed like everyone else was here already, or maybe they sleep here, I dunno.
"Morning Katie." Lizzie chimed as she saw the cat at the reception.
"Good morning Lizzie, hello Runner." She replied and then looked over the counter at the last member of our group, the blonde kid.
"Oooh where did you find that one? Awwww he looked at me!" Nice entrance kid, she's already melting, now would be a fine time to ask her for a phone number you know what I mean?
Lizzie didn't go through the counter, instead she headed towards the Kate
"Hands off, I saw it first!" She said and then giggled.
"Awww." Kate pretended to be heartbroken.

cont.

"But seriously, I want the kid, so hand me the adoption form." She said, leaning over the counter.
"Oh-kay!" she said, not sure where Lizzie was going with this, but she handed over the adoption form.
"You gave me only one." Lizzie looked at her and winked.
"Don't tell me you want to keep Runner" She laughed and Steve, who just entered from the cell block headed over with "Morning Lizzie"
"Hey Steve! Lizzie is going to adopt Runner!" Katie nonchalantly yelled.
"WHAT?!" someone yelped, it wasn't Steve or Katie or Lizzie.
It was Mike the Labrador.
"HA! PAY UP MIKE!" Steve cheered and headed over to the seated Mike.
"Son of a bitch!" Mike cursed loud enough for everyone to hear.
"What's going on?" Lizzie asked the cat, but it was obvious to me.
"They made a bet about you adopting Runner or not." The cat explained in slightly lower voice, but Mike wasn't going to remain silent.
"Nice going Lizzie, you cost me a hundred bucks!" Mike complained.
"Why would you bet a hundred bucks on me not adopting Runner?" Lizzie asked, but before Mike could reply, a sloth appeared.
"Keep it down, will you? Oh Lizzie, to my office please."
She almost managed to protest, about having not one, but two humans on leash, but the boss quickly added. "Steven, take care of of those two."
So my guardians were exchanged. However for a fleeting moment, nobody except me was holding my leash, that was the most relaxing moment I've experienced today.
The happiness was suddenly gone when Steven came and grabbed my leash, he even went as far as to grab the kid's leash.
He shouldn't have done that, because by the moment the leash left my hand, the kid started crying and acting up.
Steve was trying to soothe it with "Now, there there." And similar nonsense.
However I, as the proud adoptive dad of this kid, could not stand idle.
While the Steve was going down to crouch and pet the distressed kid, I rammed him with my shoulder.

cont.