Stray
Mako had never liked being around people. Being a Fauna had never been easy; you were considered more animal than human, you were shunned in public. Most Fauna took to the outskirts, living in dilapidated shacks. Others took to the wilds, living in colonies far away from the tyranny of humans.
Mako had not been so lucky. Slavery was also common with Fauna, humans viewing them as pets. And often times when they didn't want you anymore, they simply cast you out. She couldn't remember how old she'd been when her and her mother had been cast out...but she remembered the day her mother died, leaving her to fend for herself. She survived by scrounging food and clothing from dumpsters, taking shelter at the human children's playgrounds in the night or hiding in alleyways.
The humans had been cruel, kicking her away from store windows and throwing things at her to make her scurry away from their garbage. The Fauna 'pets' looked at her with pity, but could do nothing to help, and the ones camped around the outskirts refused to take her in.
"Stray" they called her. "Pet".
"Go back to your Master!" they'd mock her and cast her away.
But she had no master. No friends...no where to go.
And so she tried her best to survive, a thin girl of 16, on the unforgiving streets.
But today had been too much.
Starving, she had chanced sneaking into an alley and rooting through the dumpster by a grocer, hoping to find something still edible. After digging through moldy scraps far too rotten to ingest, she had come across a container of partially moldy strawberries.
She snatched it up and carried her treasure to the nearby park, hoping to find a tree in which to sit and enjoy such a rare prize.
But when she arrived, a group of boys were teasing a small girl on the playground.
The girl couldn't have been more than 8, with the boys easily being around her own age, tall and foreboding.
"Hey...! Leave her alone!" The words came out before she could stop herself, and she realized she had started walking towards them
The boys froze, turning to see whoever had dared call them out. Mako froze. What had she just done? There were too many of them for her to fight off, even if she could.
"What the hell did you say?" one boy spoke up, the tallest of the group.
"L-l-leave her a-a-l-lone!" Mako stuttered, clinging to her container of strawberries.
The boys turned towards her, and the little girl they had been bullying stared, wide eyed, at Mako for a moment for taking this chance to make a run for it. They didn't seem to notice, having found a new victim. The leader smiled.
"Well...looks like we have ourselves a hero." he began taking slow, menacing steps towards her. "I think we should teach you what happens to strays who think they can be heroes."
Mako turned to run, her squirrel-like legs prepared to kick in full force, but it was too late. She could feel her tail and grabbed and yanked back, causing her to lose her balance, her box of moldy strawberries flying from her hands and getting trampled by the group of boys closing in on her....
An hour later, Mako was curled up hugging her knees to her chest at the mouth of a storm drain tunnel, crying in heaving sobs into her knees.
She was covered in dirt and small scrapes, bruises already forming on her body. Her clothes were disheveled and torn.
They had done...unspeakable things to her. She could still feel them surrounding her, jeering at her as they held her down and beat and violated her.
And no one had helped. She had cried out for someone, ANYONE to stop it. Everyone had simply averted their eyes and kept going.
There hadn't been anything left to salvage of the strawberries; they had been trampled into the dirt, and now her stomach clench in pain.
But she couldn't go back out...not now, while the sobs racked her body and robbed her of what little energy she had.
Why were humans so cruel?
Mako had not been so lucky. Slavery was also common with Fauna, humans viewing them as pets. And often times when they didn't want you anymore, they simply cast you out. She couldn't remember how old she'd been when her and her mother had been cast out...but she remembered the day her mother died, leaving her to fend for herself. She survived by scrounging food and clothing from dumpsters, taking shelter at the human children's playgrounds in the night or hiding in alleyways.
The humans had been cruel, kicking her away from store windows and throwing things at her to make her scurry away from their garbage. The Fauna 'pets' looked at her with pity, but could do nothing to help, and the ones camped around the outskirts refused to take her in.
"Stray" they called her. "Pet".
"Go back to your Master!" they'd mock her and cast her away.
But she had no master. No friends...no where to go.
And so she tried her best to survive, a thin girl of 16, on the unforgiving streets.
But today had been too much.
Starving, she had chanced sneaking into an alley and rooting through the dumpster by a grocer, hoping to find something still edible. After digging through moldy scraps far too rotten to ingest, she had come across a container of partially moldy strawberries.
She snatched it up and carried her treasure to the nearby park, hoping to find a tree in which to sit and enjoy such a rare prize.
But when she arrived, a group of boys were teasing a small girl on the playground.
The girl couldn't have been more than 8, with the boys easily being around her own age, tall and foreboding.
"Hey...! Leave her alone!" The words came out before she could stop herself, and she realized she had started walking towards them
The boys froze, turning to see whoever had dared call them out. Mako froze. What had she just done? There were too many of them for her to fight off, even if she could.
"What the hell did you say?" one boy spoke up, the tallest of the group.
"L-l-leave her a-a-l-lone!" Mako stuttered, clinging to her container of strawberries.
The boys turned towards her, and the little girl they had been bullying stared, wide eyed, at Mako for a moment for taking this chance to make a run for it. They didn't seem to notice, having found a new victim. The leader smiled.
"Well...looks like we have ourselves a hero." he began taking slow, menacing steps towards her. "I think we should teach you what happens to strays who think they can be heroes."
Mako turned to run, her squirrel-like legs prepared to kick in full force, but it was too late. She could feel her tail and grabbed and yanked back, causing her to lose her balance, her box of moldy strawberries flying from her hands and getting trampled by the group of boys closing in on her....
An hour later, Mako was curled up hugging her knees to her chest at the mouth of a storm drain tunnel, crying in heaving sobs into her knees.
She was covered in dirt and small scrapes, bruises already forming on her body. Her clothes were disheveled and torn.
They had done...unspeakable things to her. She could still feel them surrounding her, jeering at her as they held her down and beat and violated her.
And no one had helped. She had cried out for someone, ANYONE to stop it. Everyone had simply averted their eyes and kept going.
There hadn't been anything left to salvage of the strawberries; they had been trampled into the dirt, and now her stomach clench in pain.
But she couldn't go back out...not now, while the sobs racked her body and robbed her of what little energy she had.
Why were humans so cruel?
