‘The end of the world’ that’s what the people back then called it when it was all happening. The oceans rose, the land disappeared, the sun became a danger that burned everything that it saw, and every day brought a new storm. Life was a difficult and constant struggle, the things that people had learned over the years to take for granted became scarce and many lives were lost.
Then, just when the struggling masses didn’t think things could get any worse, the ten thousand year ice storm came up the land and froze everything. Treasured resources became even more scarce, and constant fighting over the little that was left tore the survivors apart. Even more lives were lost, and common sense dangled by a very thin thread.
The hardships that had destroyed everything from what it once was did not last forever. After a long time the snow and ice finally gave way, and new lands rose from the waters, new life came to the world and the people that had managed to survive through the hardships the carelessness of their ancestors had caused were given the chance to live again.
The new land though a blessing compared to the scorching sun, storms and ice that came before it, was still different from the times of human prosperity, the world though more fruitful was still harsh and primitive, and the people could not so drastically change the land to suit their needs as what had been done in the past, as that is what had caused the world to end. Instead it was the people who would have to change in order to suit the land’s needs.
The great animal spirits that governed over nature and guided mankind became concerned of man’s plight, and offered to help man. They told man that they had lost respect for the land, nature and all living things, which is why they could no longer live so easily upon it. If they wished to survive man must become beasts and live in the way that nature told them to. If they could do this task they would survive and prosper once more.
Not all accepted the idea, there were some that turned the spirits offers down in the belief that man was and always should be above beasts. All others, who were willing to renounce their wrongs and live out the roll nature would give them, accepted the animal spirits offer, and man became beast, growing tail and fang and becoming as primitive as the new land.
Though most of humanity had become beasts and lived with nature and as it told them to they could not forget what it was that they once were. Many longed for the easy and conventional lives that their ancestors before them had, for the progress that made their minds more than that of an animals, for an existence greater then just that their role in nature’s circle of life could give them. Those who thought this way soon began to act on these ideologies, and as a result did not remain within the wilds for long.
Cities were built, and before long everything that existed long ago existed once more, and life once again became comfortable. Just as comfortable in fact as the world had been before it had come to its unfortunate end. This of course raising concerns, people were not so neglectful to forget what had happened to them the last time their race was lucky enough to live like this, many began to wonder, ‘Was the world again about to meet its end?’
The loud sound of gunshots can be heard from inside the walls of a large city, the sound breaking through the dark night and waking anyone that could hear them from their sleep.
Many creatures in uniform shield themselves behind walls and rubble to keep from being hit by bullets, a large jackal that commanded them issuing his orders as a truck delivering a fresh batch of soldiers skids to a stop and begins to unload near him. “Do not kill subject 1502! Just keep him from leaving the city! That is your priority!”
The soldiers quickly take their positions and begin to fire at the targets, one of the men letting out a yelp when he is hit with a bullet from the opposing side, their commanding officer looks at the wound in both shock and disgust. “How are they managing to hit us?”
A skunk dressed in a military uniform that almost always was seen by the general’s side, looks up to his commander as he begins to explain the situation. “Conner is acting out, that’s really the only explanation for it.”
Across from the army’s rang of fire among the small group that the bullets are all being aimed at, a grey wolf with a scared right eye reloads the handgun that he had just emptied, he glances back at all the people he was right now facing, this situation impossible for him to deal with on his own. He takes a second gun from his side handing it to a female fox who is cowering behind a broken wall, her hands over her head as bullets pelted the wall she hides behind, the grey wolf speaks up to get her attention as he held the weapon for her to take. “Help me out here! You want to get out of this alive don’t you!?”
The fox looks toward the weapon that is being handed to her, an even more horrified look filling her face. “I don’t know how to use a gun!”
The grey wolf glances over the broken wall that the two of them are hiding behind, making sure the enemy was still keeping their position and not moving towards them. “How could you not know how to use a gun? You’re a member of the government military aren’t you?”
The fox holds her hand to herself as she begins to explain. “I’m a scientist that works for the military! I’m not a soldier like you!” She screams as shots are fired and bullets begin to chip away at the wall the two of them are hiding behind. “This is crazy! What am I doing here anyway!?”
The grey wolf looks back to her after firing several shots at the people that attacked them, and then ducking back down behind the wall. “We’re attempting to outrun the military and get out of the city, you know… just thought I would bring it up again since you’ve forgotten, now are you going to give me a hand or not?”
The female fox reluctantly picks up the gun, as horrified as she was with the situation she wasn’t about to let herself get killed. “I don’t even know how to begin to use this thing! How did things end up this way anyway!?”
The grey wolf places his arm upon her shoulder as he quickly pushes her along with him when there is a break in the gunfire, the two of them quickly run to the other side of the broken wall where a black wolf sat crouched on the ground, his whole body shaking in fear, the grey wolf getting his attention by patting him on the back, making the black wolf open his eyes and jump back with a start. “Time to start moving Yula.”
The fox silently stares into the white eyes of the black wolf her companion talked to. “Yula… this is what this is all about… all this fighting and bloodshed is because of him…”
Yula nods his head as he gets to his feet the two of them begin to run as fast as they could through the buildings of the city they were in, trying to find a way to escape both it and their pursuers.
“My life used to be normal… how could it have possibly come to this!?” Up until two weeks ago everything was so normal for her that life was mundane, what she wouldn’t give to return to that right now. To be woken by that stupid alarm clock she hated, go to that dumb job that drove her up the wall, heck to even have to endure another pot of Fitz’s horribly strong coffee sounded nice right about now.
Two Weeks Earlier
An old alarm clock with quite possibly the most annoying ring you could imagine goes off, waking a figure sleeping in the bed an arm’s length from clock, an annoyed moan filling the air as the sleeping figure slowly begins to push herself out of bed, switching the alarm off and letting out a long yawn as the fox stretches out her arms and tail.
She grumbles to herself as she pulls her body out of bed, heading towards the bathroom for a morning shower to help wake her. “Come on Eve, you know what to do by now, today’s the same old day as every single one before it.” Eve knew the schedule by now, wake up, take a shower, eat breakfast, go down and help her father open up his museum, start her shift and work maintaining the family business until the end of her shift, which gave her just enough time for a quick lunch before she took off and headed towards her real job.
Eve, though already old enough and well off enough to live on her own, lived with her father in the museum he and his family had owned since… well, since the building was built. Though at one time a successful and treasured monument the museum was now nothing more than an old building, history was not a huge attraction to the young or old and the museum was not only always short customers, but workers as well, so Eve took it upon herself to help her father out with his business, filling in for whatever job they happened to be short of. For the last few weeks that job had been as a museum guide for when the school groups came over.
Eve locks the door to her living quarters within the museum after finishing her shower and breakfast, she passes by several other rooms that were similar to hers and running over to the elevator that would take her down to the lower levels where the actual museum exhibits were.
Eve was not the only person that lived here in her father’s museum, there was of course her Father, who was a hardworking and kind man who in his youth played the role of a treasure hunter and grave robber, helping to fill the museum with all kinds of interesting artefacts. Eve’s older sister Gracie also lived there, and that was no understatement, Gracie hardly ever left the museum let alone her living quarters, and not because she was lazy or didn’t like people, but because she was always sick and was forced to spend most of her time in bed unable to do anything.
The elevator comes to a stop on the main floor, the doors opening and greeting Eve with the strong scent of coffee… and not the nice smell you want to wake up to, the over potent smell of what she would often called ‘death coffee’ which she swore was so strong it was more similar to syrup than water. She lets out a groan holding her nose, she had always liked coffee before, but now since tasting this nightmare version of it she hated it. “Great… Fitz is back…”
The last person that lived in the museum was Fitz, a guy who idolized her father as the treasure hunter he was and followed in his footsteps so diligently that her dad took him in when he was only a boy and proudly raised him as his apprentice. So when Fitz wasn’t out robbing graves or conning tribes to trade with him old historic artefacts, he was here, doing the same as Eve was and helping out her dad with running his beloved museum.
To say that Eve and Fitz did not get along was an understatement, the two were polar opposites of one another in every possible way imaginable, the things that Eve liked Fitz disliked, while the things Fitz liked Eve disliked in return, but whenever Eve’s father was around the two got along as well as lifelong best friends… well they didn’t actually get along at all, they just acted like it when around Eve’s father, as both respected and loved him equally, and it upset the old man when the two of them fought.
Eve enters the staff room, glaring over at a raccoon who sat leaning back on a chair with his feet upon the lunch table, a mug of coffee in his hands. The fur on Eve’s back stands up as she growls over at him. “Why haven’t you been eaten by wild animals yet?”
Fitz frowns as he looks over to Eve. “Why hasn’t the sunlight melted you into a steaming pile of ooze yet?”
An elder fox who used a cane to help him walk enters the room, grinning at the both of them. “Good morning Eve! Good morning Fitz! It’s good to see the two of you already greeting one another.”
Eve turns to her father with a smile. “Yes father! I was just telling Fitz about how great it is to have him back here!”
Fitz nods his head agreeing. “And I was telling Eve that I missed her the whole time I was gone. The Eden of the North is a historic and interesting place that is filled with great treasures, but was nothing compared to seeing her smiling face.”
Eve’s father grins happily. “Oh how nice! You two get along so well you should get married. Wouldn’t that be great!”
Eve laughs as she waves her hand to her dad. “Oh dad don’t tease me like that!”
Fitz chuckles in agreement. “Yeah, we’re practically brother and sister!”
The elder fox leaves the room, both Eve and Fitz letting out disgusted and horrified groans at the thought.
Fitz takes a huge gulp of his coffee before looking back to Eve. “So, anything interesting happen while I was gone?”
Eve frowns back at him. “Nothing that you would find interesting, so if I were you I would start scheduling my next trip so that you can leave as soon as possible to prevent getting bored.”
Fitz looks back at her annoyed. “Har har.”
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