Boop Runaway Prologue Dimitri Jack and Dimitri were walking down the street, Jack stopping every five seconds to attack a rodent. “I wonder what we’ll do today,” Dimitri murmured. It was a surprisingly hot day in the Netherlands, causing the homtures there to be very uncomfortable. “Well, I guess we could find a vernid nest,” Jack scoffed. “You’re so violent. I would’ve released you if I weren’t so scared you’d commit genocide.” Dimitri teased. “Maybe I already have.” Jack laughed at Dimitri’s horrified expression. Jack’s ears suddenly perked up. “What’s wrong?” “I heard… shouting. Arguing.” “Oh, well that’s normal.” Jack paused. “No, it’s not,” he whispered. “Bud, are you okay?” The nearly-black-blue wolf darted into the nearby woods, not even waiting for his companion and so-called ‘owner’. Dimitri sprinted after Jack, cursing under his breath as he smacked away branches. Jack was fast, being a wolf, but Dimitri could keep up. After about two minutes of running, Jack and Dimitri ran into an Asian girl yelling at a gray and white wolf. “Zano, you’re an imbecile!” The girl shouted, causing the two wolves to flinch. Jack stood up on his hind legs again, making the new pair to notice them. The gray and white wolf suddenly turned into a human. Well, mostly. Upon his silvery hair sat his gray and white-tipped ears, along with curly black horns tangling around his ears. He had slits for eyes and fangs peeking out of his mouth. The boy’s white tail twitched as he glared at the girl. “Who are you?” She hissed to Jack. “Who’s asking?” Jack retorted. “Kalonia. Kalonia Whu. This useless homture next to me is Zano, an arctic wolf. I come from the Los Anglian Empire. I assume this is the Netherlands?” Dimitri scanned the stranger. She was a short yet skinny girl. She had sand skin with black glasses. She wore a casual-yet-professional-looking outfit consisting of a white, short-sleeved shirt, a tan over-the-shoulder purse, black jean-like pants, black-rimmed glasses, and black dress shoes. Her clothes were tattered, but Dimitri still thought she looked beautiful. “Er, Y-Yes, it is!” Dimitri stammered, backing away from the possibly dangerous homture. “Why are you here?” Kalonia paused for a second, as if thinking of an excuse, then answered, “I was exiled from my country after some….. particular experiment-- experiments….. escaped.” “Experiments? You’re a scientist, aren’t you?” Jack grumbled. Jack never talked much about his past, but Dimitri knew it had something to do with being created or changed in a lab. Kalonia nodded, staring at the leaves below her feet as if she wanted to stab them with a knife. “I was the head scientist at Kleatures, known throughout the land for creating powerful homtures and the like. I made mixes between lizards, tigers, falcons, equines, rodents, and others. If it weren’t for me, Los Angeles never would have become the vast empire it is today. My sister was foolish when she banished me. Surely her country will crumble without my presence and guidance.” The woman grumbled. “How did you get here, Mrs. Whu?” Dimitri questioned. “Don’t call me miss! I’m in my twenties. Now, who are you?” The dutch college-aged student could imagine the puns in Jack’s head before they came out. “WHU are you?” It was rude for Jack to make fun of others, but Dimitri still couldn't help but laugh. He cupped his hands over his mouth, hoping to stifle the noise, but Kalonia had already heard it. Kalonia grimaced at Zano, who was snickering to himself. The young homture looked at his feet, ashamed of himself. “I’m sorry about Jack,” Dimitri mumbled, his thoughts racing as he attempted to conjure an apology. “But anyways, I am Dimitri Peeters, and this homture next to me is Jack.” While Jack frowned at the term ‘homture,’ Kalonia grinned, the light reflecting off her eyes seemingly trying to pick him apart. “A failed experiment, hmmm?” Kalonia cooed. “You know, most of the failures that are anthropomorphic revert back to their old ways.” Dimitri had never seen Jack with such a worried expression before. “T-That’s not true! I-I’d never… Would I?” Jack continued to stammer as Dimitri tried to calm him down. “I wonder what went wrong during your creation,” Kalonia started listing hundreds of different events that could happen, each one worse than the last. Zano looked at the ground once again, his ears folding back with shame. As Dimitri stood up, Jack scoffed in realization. “You’re not even a scientist anymore! I wonder how YOU messed up! Did you get someone killed? Did you make--” “Shut up,” Dimitri ordered, making Jack jump. “Look, for now, you need a place to stay, so let’s just get going.” End of prologue Chapter 1 Two years earlier Cindy Cindy looked up at the ceiling. She dreaded having to wait for when Ikosa was going to walk in. Couldn’t those dumb scientists just test her and get it over with?
“Hey,” someone said, quietly shutting the door behind them as they entered. “So, uh, you’re testing with Oramon #001.” “Oh, hey, Meara,” Cindy mumbled, “Why Oramon? Did she do something bad again?” Meara adjusted their admin badge, smiling coldly when it was straight. “Now, Cindy,” Meara said, “You know what happens to Homtures who misbehave, don't you?” Cindy shuddered. “Yeah, I do…” Why is everyone so terrible? Can’t we just teach each other to do better instead of… killing those who do wrong? She thought as she followed Meara. The pair shuffled through the hallway, not saying anything as they entered a large chamber. “Yeah! Testing with Cindy Mindy! Let’s go!” Cindy blushed, embarrassed when Oramon used the strange nickname. “I-I told you not to call me that,” the homture whined. Oramon ran up to Cindy, somehow managing to perform a mix between an elbow and a bear hug as she wrapped her arms around Cindy. “O-Ow! You’re squeezing too much!” Meara grumbled something about how unprofessional homtures were before turning away to sit next to someone Cindy could only barely recognize. The woman was tall and looked quite a lot like Kalonia, but with much fancier clothes. “Wait, Cindy, can’t you recognize her?” Oramon asked, an eyebrow raised in confusion. “No. Should I?” “Yeah. That’s Queen Klaida.” Cindy stared, wide-eyed, at the figure. Cindy never would have thought that she’d have to show her skills to the queen. “So these are the homtures you informed me about, sister? They don't seem very interesting.” Klaida called across the room. Kalonia stared at the floor as she came up with a response, “Yes, they are. And if you want to see interesting ones then you would be looking for the failed experiments. They serve no use to us.” Oramon opened her mouth to argue, but Cindy covered it. She wasn’t going to let Oramon throw away their citizenship like that. If they did, they risked being sold off… or worse, being killed. Once she knew Oramon was calm, Cindy removed her hand. Cindy wasn’t sure if this supposed test would affect Oramon and her or Kalonia’s rank, but she still wanted to do good. “So, what are we supposed to do?” Cindy asked, eager to get the testing over with. Kalonia nodded, facing Meara, “You’re going to prove that even… more rebellious homtures are capable of protecting others.” She explained. Oramon elbowed Cindy again as she whispered, “Bro I just realized everyone here except Meara is a CIS female.” Cindy sighed, “Why are you like this?” “I guess I’m just a fountain of information!” Meara opened a door, and two homtures -- homtures that were seemingly starved, Cindy noticed -- stepped out. They were sisters and clearly cared for each other. “This is Blackstar and Gigi,” Meara explained as she pointed at the girls, “In this test, they will protect me and you will protect Kalonia. You’ll play like you would Capture the Flag, but with teams of two, limited space, living people as your flags, and time before and during the session to build defenses and plans.” Cindy studied the siblings. Both had pale skin, black hair, a black, feline nose, black, fuzzy ears, and a black tail. Blackstar was taller and stronger, and her confident stance with her head and ears pointed up gave her an extra few millimeters. Gigi was leaning on her sister for support, her small nose twitching as she smelled the air. TO-DO: Have Chyba / Virhe / Laphos / Kuskure / Hiba / Kesa / Kato / Kesi / Hapa / Aldaa / Galati / Phoso / Kukan / Napaka / Qalad / Kosa / Xato exist in this. Finish chapter 1 EXTRA STORIES/PIECES: #1 Oramon’s Hate This takes place after Cindy’s escape, but before Kalonia arrives in the Netherlands. Please note that Oramon IS a major character, despite her…. casualty. Thank you. Oramon frowned, looking outside the small window reminded her of how little she knew of the world. That one time she had been lucky enough to feel the golden sunshine warm her was one of the few things reminding her that there was still hope. That and Cindy was all she had left. And they just…. left. She knew that the Escapees didn’t mean to ditch her but… It still hurt. “So. What’s the next horrible experiment you’re going to run on me?” Oramon hissed as Kalonia entered the cell. “With your recent attitude I suggested simply using your fur as a coat, but alas! My dearest sister is simply too kind to do that.” Kalonia slumped down next to Oramon, filling the homture with sudden warmth. “Love ya too, Whu,” Oramon grumbled as she saw the needle in Kalonia’s hands. The scientist stared at the ground, guilty. “You were the first, you know. Oramon, #1. Kal, I can’t believe it’s been eight years.” “If I’m oh so important, then why are you going to give me class C amnestics?” Oramon counted how long the deafening silence lasted. Two minutes and 32 seconds. That was quite a long time, considering how impatient Oramon was. Too long.
