Caged with the Animal

[Kayito-san]

The blue truck rumbled slowly across the loose gravel backroad, as it twisted around the knolls and hills it had been carved into. Allan wiped some sweat from his brow. Hell of a lot of trouble for some stupid shack. He was only coming up here to scope the place out. Technically he owned the land now, as infuriating as it may have been to reach. He braked quickly at the top of a small hill, looking down. The road here was eroded on one side, leaving a nasty crevice about a foot deep right at the crest of the upcoming hill. After a moment of careful consideration, he crawled over the gouge in the earth, back tires spinning momentarily, then finally lurching onto the last stretch of road. He turned the corner around a peaky hill and slowly came to a stop next to a small, somewhat run-down cottage. Although it hadn't been used in a while, the only noticeable damage seemed to be the chimney, which was crumbling near the top, and the disintegrated tool shed which sat some ten meters away. The rest of the cottage had been boarded up, windows and doors included.

He hopped out of his truck and turned off the ignition, grabbing his sack from the passengers' seat. He set it down near the front door, made another trip for the small crate of food, and locked the truck, then flipped through the set of keys, trying each one in the ancient steel lock. At last it opened with a click, and the door swung slowly open. He pulled a crooked crowbar from his pack and began prying the nails off of the windows to shed some light on the dusty interior. After the second of two windows had been exposed, he slid his bag into the doorway, as well as the crate of food supplies, and looked around. The place was still quite dark, even with the windows open. It was as cold inside as it was outside– Allan closed the door. Yet there was hardly anything in terms of insulation. Allan picked up a nearby oil lamp, shook it gently to test for fluid, and then lit it. He walked forward and gently placed it on the table, finally looking around the rustic cabin.

 

[Mouse]

The cabin was indefinitely worn, but it couldn't be considered completely abandoned. Though the legal owner was unaware of it, the cabin did in fact have a current resident. The woman, if that was what you wanted to call her, had slipped into the cabin through a loose set of boards in the wall in an attempt to escape a bad thunderstorm. Physically speaking, she was in deed a female, but by no means was she a normal woman. Her body had a few additions as well as difference from a human body that made her seem rather . . . cat-like. Whether it was the noticeable ears coming from the top of her head, covered mostly in black fur, but tipped in white, or the long fur covered tail, following the same color pattern as the ears, growing from her lower back just above her rear, it was quite clear to see that saying she was different would be a gross understatement.

The girl had been asleep, her body curled into the fetal position, on top of a small, tattered rug in one of the back rooms. One of her ears flicked slightly and perked up, her acute hearing catching the sound of the door creaking open. Her eyes would flutter open, looking about the room as though she thought someone had entered her area. Slowly she rose to her feet, her body only covered by a short, single-strapped dress she had made an old, white curtain she had found laying about, and then ventured out into the next room to search for the sound of the commotion as she heard the boards being pried from the windows.​