Young Writers Society

But it’s not really like that

Welcome to Freeze Town, the barbaric and old-fashioned capital of the North. Here, mauled by blizzards and the longest, darkest nights, werepeople of predator species are shunned. The predators (affectionately nicknamed 'preds' or 'chompers') are forced to wear tame collars that deliver shocks whenever their emotions become too strong so that the predators are ‘safe’ to be around. Usually, the two groups can co-exist - though the prey-types are still afraid, and the predators still wear their collars.

Recently, following a series of incidents of predators gone wild, discrimination has increased drastically. Though the prey-types outnumber the predators, they become even more afraid. Hate crimes and police brutality increase.

One group of werepeople have had enough. They start investigating the attacks and find something far darker and more powerful than they’d ever imagined.

The Werepeople
A race of beings with two physical forms - one human, and one animal. It can be any animal. The werepeople don’t have any specific powers. They can transform at will and aren’t affected by the moon, but are affected by extreme emotions. Excitement, anger, happiness, joy, fear, or other such feelings can cause them to transform. Their other forms have about the same size and proportion as the actual animal.

Setting
Freeze Town is a city high in the Arctic circle. It borders the Northern Ocean that freezes over during the winter, and there are two big rivers that run through the city. Each winter, the sun sets for half of the year. Each summer, the daylight lasts for months. The poorer areas are generally inhabited by the predators, who are outnumbered by the prey ten to one.

Tame Collars
The tame collars, given at a ceremony when a predatory wereperson is 6-9 years old, is a collar that does not come off, apart from in medical emergencies. It has a light on it that shines either green, yellow, or red. Green is good, yellow is a warning (and the collar will beep whenever a yellow light is needed), and red warrants a shock. The collar can be triggered by any strong emotion.

The Police
Exaggerated and unfair force is common against predatory werecreatures by the police, who are primarily big prey-types, such as elephant, buffalo, caribu, giraffe, and horse. If prey-types are arrested, they will usually be only handcuffed. If a predator is arrested, they will be met with unnecessary force and then they are either muzzled or handcuffed. In the event of a savaging, a noose is first used to secure the werecreature. Then they are muzzled and tranquilized and transported to a specialized holding facility.

Rules
-general storybook rules apply
-swearing is allowed if necessary
-romance is allowed
-don’t write sex scenes. It can be implied instead.
-no godmodding

(yes, this is kind of based on Zootopia)

Code: Select all

[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Age:[/b]
[b]Gender:[/b]
[b]Sexuality:[/b]
[b]Up for Romance:[/b]
[b]Predator or Prey:[/b]
[b]Species*:[/b]
[b]Physical Appearance of Human form:[/b]
[b]Physical Appearance of Animal form:[/b]
[b]Temperament:[/b]
[b]Brief Backstory:[/b]


*What species is their non-human form?

Tom Sutcliffe

Tom pulled the hood up further, both to hide his collar and shelter himself from the rain. People hurried to shelter under the shedding autumn trees as he carried on, as unrelenting as the rain itself. It wouldn't be long before the rain turned to sleet, and then to snow in the cold midnight of the poles.

Beyond the railings of the park, the gritty grey of the city loomed in a haze of low winter cloud. Huge cooling towers spewed smoke and plumes of water vapour into the sky. It was only half past two in the afternoon, but already everything was blueish in the impending twilight.

He passed through the gates of the park, hearing a scream muffled through the rain. A scream, and then a deep, throaty roar. A shudder ran down Tom's spine, right down to his designer, tiger-print underwear.

Is this another savaging?

He turned like a fighter jet to see a whiteish blob, bear-shaped and following fleeing werecreatures. A polar bear had gone savage.

His collar beeped and shocked him. He didn't even flinch before he was bounding forwards toward the bear. If anyone had a chance against it before the police arrived, it was him.

Clementine Fernkit

Clementine pulled her beanie lower over her ears and scampered over to the shelter of some trees. The rain felt cool on her skin and she took a deep breath of the crisp autumn air. From her shelter Clementine zipped up her earthy brown coat and continued her journey before the rain turned to sleet. She made her way down the path thinking of the warm meal that would be waiting for her when she got home.

She adjusted the strap of her bag to rest more comfortably on her shoulder and smiled. A beautiful blue glow signaled the approaching twighlight despite it only being 2:00 in the afternoon. Clementine loved that color. It filled her soul with peace and she felt as though she could stare at it forever.

Moving away from the trees she turned into the path that led through the park. She began to hum happily as she went. Suddenly a scream assualted her nearly making her drop her bag. Wasting no time she hung her bag on a tree branch and ran around the corner.

A giant polar bear stood in front of her growling and sending terrified creatures running. Clementine gasped as her own collar protested her fear. Without warning a large Siberian tiger leapt toward the polar bear. He snarled and jumped around to distract the savage bear. Clementine bit her lip and watched in horror as the bear's paw connected with the tiger throwing him back. Groaning she turned into a fisher and leapt into the fray. Her small body propelled her forward and her size allowed her to weave around both the tiger and the bear. She jumped onto the bear's back and swiped at him with her claws. Making eye contact with the confused tiger she winked and sunk her teeth into the bear's neck. The polar bear shook his head ferociously sending her flying past the tiger. She hit the ground with thump and staggered to her feet. Racing back to the other predators she weaved around the bear's legs to trip him.

Her sensitive ears picked up the sirens of police cars before they arrived. Rolling her eyes she pounced at the bear once again.

What are they going to do? Arrest me?

Jake Harrison

Jake gave a huff as he rubbed the back of his neck. It had been a long day at the Supermarket and now he had to get home to write a paper for his history class. "Maybe doubling up on classes wasn't such a good idea," he muttered to himself. But what else were they to do. Him just getting accepted to the college had been a miracle and it wasn't like they were helping him with any scholarships. If he didn't double up there was a chance that they would pull his admission and kick him out.

We're preds boy, he could hear his father calling over his shoulder. We dig in and we fight back. But you can't fight back with fists. Gotta fight back with smarts and determination...and we Harrisons have plenty of both.

I'd say the Harrisons are more stubborn than determined, his mother would chime in with a coy smirk.

The same smirk that was on his feline features now. Paper bag in hand, filled with the groceries he bought after his morning shift ended. He pulled his jacket up a little more, the rain dampening his fur and sending a shiver down his spine and through his tail.

He held the bag a little closer to him to try and shelter it from the rain when he heard the screams and roars. He could see into the park from where he stood and caught the sight of a large polar bear fighting with a fisher and anther man facing off against it. The scream of sirens came flying by Jake as he kept his head down and just tried to get home. He had cold food in his bag and he needed to get it into the fridge before it went bad.

"You there! Freeze!" a voice yelled from behind Jake.

As he slowly turned he could see that one of the cars had stopped and its occupants were now out of the car. Even with the red and blue lights flashing into his eyes he could see the Tazer guns that were leveled on him.

"Come on man," Jake said with a tired sigh. "The guy you want is in the park. I'm just trying to get home."

"Get on the ground!" the other officer ordered.

"I've got cold food in this bag. I really need to get it home and into the fridge."

"We have a call about a Pred with white fur going savage. You're coming with us. If you don't comply we will us force. Now get on the ground!"

Jake sighed as his head fell in defeat. These officers saw what they wanted to see. In their eyes he was the blood thirsty savage they were ordered to apprehend. "Alright. Alright," he said as he raised his only free hand and slowly got to his knees. Setting the bag down he sprawled out onto the wet ground, the dirty rain water soaking into the front of his shirt and pants.

The officers moved closer and quickly jumped on him, driving their knees into his back, like he was going to suddenly jump back to his feet. Jake gave out a grunt of discomfort, the light on his collar going from green to yellow from the sudden spike in his irritation before if fell back to green.

"You don't have to be rough," he muttered as they roughly forced his compliant hands behind his back and cuffed his wrists together. The clasps of the cuffs pulling at the fur on his wrists as they caught in the metal.

"Now shift human," the first officer ordered.

"I can't," Jake replied.

"You want me to Taze you! I said shift human now!"

"I can't! I have a mediccccc......" Jake wasn't able to get the word out as he felt every muscle in his body tighten at the same time. The barbs of the Tazer sunk into his shoulder and he convulsed on the ground, nearly biting his tongue.

They picked up his still twitching body and threw him into the back of the police car and sped off toward the precinct.

"Just my luck," he growled into the leather seat. "No way I'm gonna finish that paper now."

Sebastian Sutton

Seb had just been minding his own business, trying to be as inconspicuous as he could as he crept through the park in the rain. He hadn't stopped to shelter like most of the other people had - he'd anticipated the bad looks he'd get, how they'd set his collar onto yellow. He'd decided against it.

Instead, as he was creeping like a patch of damp across a wall, a man had gone savage, shifting into his huge polar bear form and proceeding to chase and maul countless other people. An admittedly cute redheaded boy wearing a collar, who looked about his age, attacked the bear. He was followed by a lithe fisher. Somewhere outside of the park, police sirens screamed and flashed blue and red. Perhaps another arrest?

Police vans screeched onto the grass, armed officers leaping out and firing tranquilizers at the bear. They shouted at the two preds attacking ("Get out, chompers!"), pushing them aside as they lunged forward with a noose, snaring the bare around the neck and pulling it to the ground.

Seb winced and rubbed his neck and face absent mindedly as they shoved a muzzle onto the groggy bear. He remembered how much it hurt, how rough the police were. He'd only been apprehended once before - but once was more than enough for him.

He watched the two preds step back, unwilling to go on. He needed information about the supposed worsening of police discrimination to bring back to his family. He had to keep them safe.

Tom Sutcliffe

Tom was pushed aside by a police officer as they rushed the bear and restrained him. The muzzle they tied roughly on made Tom's stomach turn with disgust anger. He approached the fished who'd helped him, flashing her a confident, slightly dogged grin.

"Thanks," he said, "but I really did-"

"You two are coming with us."

Tom spun around to stare at a female, collar-less officer. She gestured to Tom and the fisher.

"Just for questioning," she said, "now, come on."

Tom shrugged and followed her to the police vans, knowing he had no choice but to go. The fisher dragged along, too. He glanced behind him after they got to the van. A blondish-haired, collared young man was trying tentatively to escape without being noticed.

"You!" The policewoman barked, "pred! Over here. You can join 'em, too."

And so it was. The drive was held in the kind of intimidated silence that kept Tom - and, he presumed -, everyone else from speaking. The policewoman would mutter into her radio every so often, he'd exchange extremely awkward looks with the predator newcomer periodically, and he just looked dead ahead.

What was his mother going to say?

She'd be so angry. All his life, he'd been taught to avoid the police, stay away. Keep the family safe and honorable by living within the law. Don't cross the police, do what they tell you. Stay safe, my beautiful son.

And there he was, pulling up to Freeze Town Police HQ with two predators he didn't know after attacking a savage polar bear. He is led like a criminal up the ramp to the waiting room.

The building was a big, modern, concrete box with lots of glass and warm, golden lights that contrasted perfectly against the blue of the polar twilight. Inside, the waiting room was a mix of clinical hospital, and warm waiting room. Pot plants and shackled criminals sat side by side, huddled by radiators.

"There." The policewoman led them to a group of seats between the window overlooking the city and a potted baby palm tree.

"Now, wait." She sauntered off to the reception desk as proud as a lioness with a kill.

Tom shuddered and did exactly as he was told.

Jake Harrison

The entire ride was uncomfortable. The seat that Jake was in was too small and he was forced to ride with his knees in his chest. It made sense when you were trying to prevent criminals from slamming themselves against the walls. But for people trying to be compliant, it was just uncomfortable.

Jake sighed as the police car pulled up to the station. A building of concrete that, for many, was a symbol of safety and justice. To Jake, it seemed like just another oppression on someone that was different. But there wasn't much he could do about it.

The cuffs around his wrists still pinched at the fur trapped in them as the door was opened and a can of mace was shoved right between his eyes. "You gonna be good? Or should I just make sure you're compliant?" the officer growled.

Jake stared him down for a few seconds, his bright blue eyes unwavering and showing no fear. But it was better to get this over with than to get maced. He knew what the stuff did, and with his heightened senses it would be a hundred times worse.

He lowered his head and drooped his ears back in a submissive fashion as he was wrestled out of the car. Hurried up the steps with insistent shoves as the officers wanted to get in out of the drizzle. Pushed face first through the doors and then dropped into a chair at a desk with yet another officer that didn't look pleased to see him. The way the seat was made, the cuffs were now digging into his wrists.

"Name," the officer said, his fingers on the keyboard.

"Jake Harrison," Jake replied. His father always said to comply as much as you could. It was probably the only thing keeping the room full of officers from jumping him.

"How about you shift human for me bud?"

"If I explain to you why I can't are you gonna Taze me like these two?" Jake replied nodding to the officers behind him. He was answered with a swat to the back of his head.

"Officer Miller!" a voice boomed over the dull roar of the room. The chief had caught what the officer had done and motioned for him to come see him. Now.

"These officers Tazed you?" the interviewing officer asked.

"At least one of them did," Jake said as he heard the door open again. This time with two men and a woman. He recognized one of the men and the woman as the pair of Preds that were facing off against the Savage. A female officer told them to take a seat just a little ways away. "After they cuffed me I might add."

"That true?" the interviewing officer asked.

"Miller used his Tazer on him," the officer responded.

"Before or after cuffing him?"

"Don't really remember."

The officer typed away at the keyboard before looking to Jake once more. "Why can't you shift human?"

"I have a birth defect that prevents me from shifting. I'm stuck like this," Jake said squirming in his seat, trying to get comfortable.

"What is the charge? You didn't call it in."

"We got a call of a Pred with white fur gone savage in the park. We saw this guy walking down the road near there and brought him in."

"The call said a bear with white fur."

"So the callers got the species wrong. He was in the area. He has white fur. Gotta be him."

"Then why did they bring him in?" the interviewer asked pointing to the door, where they were bringing in the sluggish, but still fighting, polar bear. "This guy isn't even struggling with his restraints and apart from not being able to shift do a medical condition, he has been fully compliant."

"What's it matter? A Pred is a Pred. Maybe he got the other one riled up."

The interviewer jabbed his thumb to the side, signaling the officer to leave. He rubbed the bridge of his nose as he muttered something under his breath. "I'm sorry but I'm afraid that I still have to process you through the system before we let you go. Get evidence, testimonies, and what not."

"I get it. Procedure and all. Now that you arrested me you have to make sure I'm innocent. Can you at least loosen these cuffs? I'm starting to lose feeling in my fingers."

The interviewer nodded and motioned for Jake to turn. Spinning in the seat, Jake turned to give the officer access to his cuffs. He was facing the three in the sitting area and he gave a small nod of greeting before he swiveled back and sat in the chair, answering several more questions. What was he doing? Where did he work? Why was going through the park? Did he have a criminal record? Did he have any criminal aliases?

Jake made someone in the sitting area laugh as he responded with, "Yes. In the criminal underworld the call me 'The Pink Chimichanga'"to the last question.

The interviewer gave him a look and then typed aloud. "No known aliases."

Clementine Fernkit

Clementine frowned as she was led along with the tiger to a police car.
"I don't understand," she said to the officers, "why do we have to come?"

"Be quiet pred!" one of them hissed in response, "you saw the whole thing and we could have arrested you regardless for disturbing the peace."

Law enforcement is great!

Clementine and the tiger where shoved into the back of a police car. She sat uncomfortably in the cramped space and thought about talking to the tiger. She tried to think of something to say but a glance at the officers deterred her.

Soon the car pulled up outside the station and the two predators were forced into the concrete building. They were marched right into a room with a white tiger who did not look like he was having a good day.

"That true?" the interviewing officer asked.

"Miller used his Tazer on him," the officer responded.

Clementine felt a surge of fear. She felt herself turn pale.

"Before or after cuffing him?"

"Don't really remember."

The officer typed away at the keyboard before looking to Jake once more. "Why can't you shift human?"

"I have a birth defect that prevents me from shifting. I'm stuck like this," The tiger said squirming in his seat, trying to get comfortable.

"What is the charge? You didn't call it in."

"We got a call of a Pred with white fur gone savage in the park. We saw this guy walking down the road near there and brought him in."

"The call said a bear with white fur."

"So the callers got the species wrong. He was in the area. He has white fur. Gotta be him."

"Then why did they bring him in?" the interviewer asked pointing to the door, where they were bringing in the sluggish, but still fighting, polar bear. "This guy isn't even struggling with his restraints and apart from not being able to shift do a medical condition, he has been fully compliant."

"What's it matter? A Pred is a Pred. Maybe he got the other one riled up."

Clementine fought the urge to run. Every instinct she had told her these people were going to harm her. Despite being a predator she knew when was the time to run. The light on her collar flicked yellow as she fought her anxiety.

The interviewer jabbed his thumb to the side, signaling the officer to leave. He rubbed the bridge of his nose as he muttered something under his breath. "I'm sorry but I'm afraid that I still have to process you through the system before we let you go. Get evidence, testimonies, and what not."

"I get it. Procedure and all. Now that you arrested me you have to make sure I'm innocent. Can you at least loosen these cuffs? I'm starting to lose feeling in my fingers." The white tiger said.

The interviewer nodded and motioned for him to turn. Spinning in the seat, Jake turned to give the officer access to his cuffs. He was facing the three in the sitting area and he gave a small nod of greeting before he swiveled back and sat in the chair, answering several more questions. What was he doing? Where did he work? Why was going through the park? Did he have a criminal record? Did he have any criminal aliases?

He made Clementine laugh as he responded with, "Yes. In the criminal underworld the call me 'The Pink Chimichanga'"to the last question.

The interviewer gave him a look and then typed aloud. "No known aliases."

Clementine covered her mouth with her hands to stop giggling and took a few deep breaths.

Everything is going to be fine. You will not be harmed.

She repeated the thought like a mantra. She knew she could handle herself but could not help but jump at the thought of yet another electric shock.

"Well I think that is all for you Jake" the interviewer said to the tiger.

"Now I want to ask these two some question" the man said simply.

Clementine grinned. She was calm now and had only one thought.

Bring it on!

Washi

Washi was flying over the park when it happened, a polar bear gone savage. She quickly angled her wings down to land behind the tree line. She cautiously peeked out from behind the trunk of a tree to see what would happen. A tiger wereperson ran into the attack, but otherwise nothing much happened. The police came shortly to restrain the savage polar bear. They muzzled him and cuffed his hands so that he wouldn't be able to attack anymore and it took several tranquilizer darts for it to calm down at last.The electric collar beeped and shocked her as she felt mounting distress to the poor polar bear. She hardly noticed it, as she so often got shocked these days. Washi hoped that the bear wouldn't be blamed for any injuries that might have happened during the attack.

Sebastian Sutton

The ride there was uncomfortably spent squished between the fisher and the pretty boy who'd first attacked the bear. Every time the van shifted too much, his collar would shift to yellow and beep in a way that most probably annoyed the other passengers.

They were marched like prisoners of war into the police station, and were sat on creaky chairs that made Seb too afraid to move, anxious about drawing attention to himself. He was so on edge that his collar would switch to yellow whenever anyone in uniform walked by. This drew more dirty looks, which set him even more on edge.

The fisher-girl kept on laughing at the strange tiger-man being questioned at the desk, which made Seb shift uneasily in his chair and then freeze when it squeaked. He'd also awkwardly glance sideways to the red-haired boy who'd attacked the bear intermittently, and then stare straight ahead again.

It continued like that until the tree of them were handed slips of paper to complete. The paper demanded the usual details of them (full name, date of birth, place of residence, gender, species, ect). They’d barely had time to fill the forms out before they were carted off into separate rooms for questioning.

Seb was confronted with the usual questions.

“Why were you there?”

“What did you see?”

“Did you know the bear?”

Seb kept his eyes firmly on the table as he was interrogated for fear of rousing his captor’s anger. It was something he was terrified of doing. He remembered what happened last time he’d roused the wrath of the police. The light on his collar beeped. Seb jerked at the shock, looking up just enough to see the officer tense and make a move with his arm that could have been to the weapons on his belt.

“Calm down.”

His tone wasn’t comforting, and nor did it try to be. It was an order and a warning, simultaneously. Seb drew in a shuddering breath and waited as his collar retreated back to green.

The questioning continued, as stiff and formal as an uncomfortable new suit, until he was herded back out to the waiting room like a lamb to slaughter.

“Now, go.”

But he didn’t. His plan was to wait for the other two, and maybe even to talk to the Pink Chimichanga. There was something going on. He could smell the distinct scent of a conspiracy. Growing up in a dark place taught him that smell very, very well. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

Sebastian Sutton was going to get to the bottom of things.

Tom Suctliffe

Tom followed a tall female officer into a small room. A Dictaphone and a detailed-looking form sat at the little table. Harsh white light fit for surgery made Tom's eyes sting. He prayed briefly that it wasn't the beginning of a migraine.

He took a seat and answered the questions. He put on his best, most respectable voice and made sure to look confidently into the officer's eyes. He didn't want to intimidate her - but he also didn't want her to intimidate him. He wanted there to be a mutual understanding: they were equals. Yes, he may be wearing a collar designed to make him safe to be around, and yes, she may have fastened to her hip at least five different ways to kill him, but they were equals. He wasn't going to let that go - not for anyone.

“Why were you there?”

"I was walking back from school. Quickly, because it was raining" Tom replied, maintaining eye contact.

“What did you see?”

"I saw a man turn savage. He shifted into his other form when he was sheltering with the other people. He attacked. I tried to stop him. I figured that I'd have a chance, y'know, with me being a tiger and all."

"Were you sheltering with them?"

"No."

"Why?"

"I don't like being out after dark."

“Hmm. Did you know the bear?”

"No. I'd never seen him before."

It continued for a while longer, mostly backtracking and making sure Tom hadn't omitted anything. He was allowed out and told to leave, in a way that was softer than he'd expected from such an officer.

Outside, the other pred was in the waiting room. Tom's eyebrows furrowed ever so slightly. What are you waiting for? He was the one whose collar always beeped, the one with no kind of control over his emotions. His eyes followed Tom as he approached.

"Were they okay when they took you in?"

"Yeah." the pred replied, eyes darting around. This guy isn't okay. "I'm just... waiting."

Doubts rose. Maybe he'd seen something that Tom hadn't. Maybe something was happening, something it would be unwise to miss. The whole affair had an untrustworty undertone.

Tom took a seat beside him.

"I'll wait too."

Clementine Fernkit

Clementine calmly followed a male officer into a separate room. Her collar thankfully remained green as she was given a chair and assaulted with bright lights. She growled slightly to let the officer understand her discomfort, not that she thought he would care.

I am in control. She thought confidently.

The officer took the seat opposite her and turned on the recording device.

“What were you doing at the scene of the crime?” He asked staring at her.

“I was walking home from school and I saw the skirmish in the park. The tiger looked like he could use some help trying to stop the polar bear so I decided to try to distract the bear.”

He seemed annoyed at Clementine’s response and shifted in his chair.

“It is not your place to interfere with a savaging.” He stated evenly.

“I believe in helping where and when I can,” Clementine answered. Her blue eyes shown with an intensity that sent a shiver of fear down the officer. Despite her collar still producing a green light the cop’s hand went to his weapons.

“Why were you out in the rain instead of under the trees?”

“I enjoy the rain” Clementine answered pleasantly.

The officer rolled his eyes and leaned over to her.

“You are a predator you can’t enjoy the rain, you probably just liked how the prey sheltered under trees so you could pick them out more easily.”

Clementine stiffened at his words. She had never been accused of any crime and was not about to start today. She mimicked his posture and tone of voice to deliver her response.

“I can like anything you can like, and I am not a criminal of any kind. I am a Fisher girl who does not appreciate the appropriation of stereotypes by a pudgy man pretending to enforce the law.”

She stared into his eyes for a moment and then put up her innocent little girl façade.

“Are we done here?” She asked sweetly after a few more questions.

“Just about” the man answered coldly.

Nodding she rose to leave.
She never even saw the blow coming, the next thing she knew she was on the ground and her head felt like lead. Shocked she tensed anticipating then next impact. Even though she knew what was about to happen she was powerless to stop the kick to her stomach. She gasped for breath and curled herself into a ball as the final kick connected with her body.
The officer pulled her to her feet and leaned her against a wall. She tried to process what had just happened but came up with nothing. Confused and expecting another blow Clementine’s fear returned to her shifting her collar to yellow.

“You may not speak that way to an officer of the law Pred,” he hissed in her ear.

She tried to stop shaking but her body would not obey her.

“Now we are done here,” the cop informed her. He opened the door and led her back to the waiting room.

Jake Harrison/Oliver Guff

Jake hated having to wait cuffed, like he was some kind of criminal. He hadn't done anything, never had done anything. He was a pred, which already put him in dangerous waters, and he couldn't shift out of his animal side, it was like life decided to play some sort of practical joke on him...

...and he was sick of it.

He took a deep breath when he realized that his frustrations and anger were getting the best of him. He closed his eyes and concentrated on his breathing. Lowered his heart rate and slowly let the anger and frustrations go.

"Jake Harrison!" Jake heard an irritated voice say. Looking up his ice blue eyes fell on Officer Miller. "Come on, Pred. You're free to go." Jake stood as the officer took his arm and lead him toward the releasing area. He was roughly shoved forward and motioned to turn around.

The officer that was there began working on the getting the cuffs off, and Jake took note that Officer Miller had pulled out his baton. Either it was a counter measure, or Officer Miller didn't like the ass chewing that he got from the chief and blamed Jake.

Most likely the latter, Jake thought.

Jake saw the flick of the officer's wrist just as he felt one of the cuffs come loose. Jake shot his freed hand up and caught the steel baton just before it connected with his skull. His ears back and his eye glaring like daggers into the officer's.

"There's an old saying. 'Don't be the one to piss off a tiger.' You're about to find out first hand what that is," Jake growled. The officer snatched his baton away and put it away when he noticed a few more officers coming into the area.

Jake sighed as he rubbed his wrists where the cuffs had been digging in. The woman officer that had uncuffed him lead him back to the front desk, where he took note of the tiger man who had been fighting the savaged polar bear and the other man that had been sitting with him in the waiting area.

Just as he made it to the desk, they brought the fisher woman for her to be let go. The way she held her stomach was enough to note that she either tried to fight back, or someone got rough with her. He sighed as he began going through the paperwork to get his belongings back.

"Jake!" a squeaky voice called out. A shorter guy with a mop of bright red hair rushed in. His dark blue eyes filled with concern behind his glasses. "I heard there was as a savaging. Are you okay?" he asked as he began checking Jake this way and that for any injuries.

Jake's hands took hold of the red haired man's with a gentleness that disguised their strength. "I'm fine Oliver. I was arrested by....mistake," Jake explained.

"You can't be serious. Who would think you could go savage like that?" Oliver stated more than asked as he smoothed out the wrinkles on Jake's shirt before he realized what he was doing and pulled his hands away.

"Just a mix up of information on the radio." He turned to the woman behind the desk, collecting the items that she set on the counter for him. "Can I get the bag of groceries please?"

"I have no bag of groceries on this inventory report," she responded.

"You're kidding me."

"Sorry," she said turning the report to Jake. "I have a wallet, set of keys, and name tag. No groceries."

"You're telling me that after I got falsely arrested and Tazed,..."

"You were Tazed?!" Oliver exclaimed trying to interrupt before Jake continued.

"That those officers just left the bag of groceries out in the road while it was raining?!"

"Jake, it's alright. We'll just pick it up on the way home."

"Oliver...by now the cold stuff has gone bad and the rain has ruined the rest of the stuff in there. Of course, that's assuming that any homeless person in the area didn't snatch it up first. That was eighty dollars of my check for food we need."

"It's okay. I can ask my mom for some cash to tide us over," Oliver offered.

Jake waved his hand. "No...I can't ask your mom to put herself out like that. I'll...I'll talk to Mr. Scott and see if he'll let me get an advance in food on my next paycheck. He's usually pretty good at working with me."

Jake frustration could easily be seen. He was on the verge of fuming. He could have made it a bigger deal but first he was a pred and two he was in a police station that he was just released from. Yelling and making a scene would just get him a night in a cell.

"Besides I need to get back and work on that history paper. You mind helping me with that?"

"Sure Jake. No trouble at all," Oliver said looking up to him from his nearly five and a half foot stature. His blue eyes holding something close to endearment to the white tiger beside him.