low

Part 1: Mira sat by the campfire. This was the third night she’d failed to bring any food (or a partner, as her packmates were so keen to point out) home. For Mira, tonight was her last on the plains. The hyena had grown up on the Savannah, and there expected to remain. Mira and her aspirations had never been well-suited for life among the grass, but family and tradition had insisted. Tonight was the final straw. She had little to carry; only some fabric that hardly deserved the title “clothing”. She set out before dawn, leaving nothing but paw prints. It would be at least a full day of travel before she reached the city her pack had traded with in the past. It was a wonder she stuck around with them as long as she did. That didn’t matter, now. She’d find something to do at Roqka. A job, maybe a mate, at least something other than her siblings and cousins steeling food out from under her. The rest of the trip was tiring, but she reached the city’s limits before noon the next day. She had nothing to trade, and her poor command of language made the prospective employers wary of dealing with her. It was now five days without food. Proper food, that is. Some was to be had in dumpsters and garbage bins. One kind stranger gave her half a loaf of bread, but that was consumed almost as soon as she had it in her paws. Weary, she found an alleyway and curled up for the night. Mira could hardly see the stars for the lights on the street. As she drifted to sleep, she heard a thump. A rhythmic, heavy thump. The fresh distraction stirred her, and she snuck around to find epicenter of these small quakes. Behind the wall of this building? What could be causing the ground to rumble like that from inside?

Part 2: Seeing a monster from 30ft was one thing, but having it tower over you at 2½ft is another entirely. At this distance, Mira could see the lioness’ pillaresque thighs, leading to chiseled abs that stuck out like bricks, wing-like sides, and boulder-sized pecs. On top of those pecs hung unnaturally large breasts that could feed dozens of litters of cubs. Sticking out at an angle, hung arms whose girth was only rivaled by her titanic chest. Fresh veins pulsed across her body like a map, pumping nutrients and oxygen to the tremendous slabs of dense mass she carried. Mira could smell the sweat wafting off the titan, and see it as it dripped off her fur. “Get up,” the looming giant ordered. Mira stayed put, gazing up in trepidation. “Do I have to ask you again?” Mira rose slowly, only meeting the feline’s orbicular breasts. “Want to tell me what you were doing there at the door?” Mira shook her head vigorously. “Casing the place for your pals again, bitch?” Mira looked confused, but stayed silent. The musclebound cat slammed her fist straight in the wall next to Mira’s head. “SPEAK UP, RUNT!” the behemoth bellowed. Mira shook her head and cowered. She felt a paw grab her gently trembling arm with such force that the hyena yelped in fear and pain. The cat needed no assistance to drag her down the street to a run down house. Cackling filled the air as they ascended the stairs. The cat kicked clean through the door, and made herself a hole large enough to stuff her oversized body through. “KIREN, I KNOW YOU’RE IN HERE!” the lioness roars, shaking the foundations of the ghetto. “KEEP YOUR GOD DAMN CORNER BOYS AND THUGS AWAY FROM MY GYM, OR I’LL FEED ‘EM BACK TO YOU.”

Part 3: The ambient laughter abruptly ends, leaving an eerie quiet. A rough, thin hyena walks down the stairwell. “Yeah, sure. Just let yourself in, bitch.” the wiry hyena says sarcastically. “Who’s the thot?” “Yours. Don’t play dumb, you little shit. She looks just like all of your girls, down to the fucking tatters.” “Yeah, nah. I don’t see it. Fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her before.” He looked down at Mira, covered in dust from the unplanned demolition work, and still shaking. “Where’re you from, girl?” Mira pointed back in the general direction of her family’s territory on the plains. “Downtown?” the other hyena asked. Mira shook her head and pointed again. “Hell, there’s nothing past downtown for 90 miles.” Mira nodded slowly. “You were out there in the fucking brush? No wonder you look like shit.” Kiren looked up to the lioness. “Nope. I’m not taking her, if that’s where she’s from. Those people still living out there? Fucking nuts. I don’t want anything to do with ‘em.” “You’ll fucking take her back, or nobody will be able to figure out where you end and she starts.” “Jeez, bitch. Like I said, I don’t deal with those plains cunts. Dumb as dirt, and most of ‘em can’t read or write. Hell, the last one I had could hardly put a full sentence together. Not going down that road again. Tell me this, meathead. Did she say anything when you were hauling her here? Do you even know if she can talk?” For a moment, the thoughts stirred in the lioness’ head. “… so she’s not one of yours?” “Congrats, Einstein, you figured it out. Only took you 15 minutes this time!” The lioness quietly picked up Mira and put the quaking girl on her striated shoulders, turned, and left through the same hole she made without a word. The two of them could hear Kiren shouting about the decimated door, but neither of them paid much mind.

Part 4:...