I'm Not an Animal (Slow Updates)

Chapter 1

"The Great War was fought five hundred years ago. The two sides fell upon each other in a great battle and many thousands died. This was all because the Predatory Cats were thought to be demonic and unworthy of a place among us. Now that the past is behind us we know that the are not the monsters we thought them to be." We'd only heard this speech a thousand times.

"Miss! Why aren't there any Predatory Cats anymore?" Asked Fliss, one of the Flamingoes. She had a group of pink-haired cheerleaders follow her every move. She wasn't that bad, and often sat with our group at lunch.

"Because the Predatory Cat gene was nearly eradicated in the war. Now, it's barely in our DNA at all, so it's really rare to be a PC." PC was the classification name for Predatory Cat. There are several others, such as BoP, Birds of Prey, PB, Prey Birds, FB, Fancy Birds, HD, Hunting Dogs, LD & LC, Lap Dogs and Lap Cats, and a lot more. The boy who had spoken was Daniel, a Hyena. He shifted into his animal form and 'laughed' at Fliss and her cheerleaders. The girls changed into to their Flamingo forms and backed him into a corner, screaming at him.

"Girls, settle down!" Miss Carter called from the front of the room. She changed into her animal form, a wolf, and howled loudly to silence the class. I rolled my eyes and lowered my head to my history textbook. "As I was saying," Miss Carter said, shifting back, "the war ended, and the BC gene was nearly eradicated. It isn't likely that you'll find a big cat anywhere, but this being a small town it's even less likely." Another name for Predatory Cats was Big Cats, BC.

"My mum's friend's daughter changed into a Big Cat." Lewis said quietly. We all turned to look at him. "She disappeared a week later. Even her mum didn't know where she went. I think she was taken away."

"That's nonsense Lewis. I'm sure she just vanished for a bit." The bell went just as she finished speaking and we closed our books. "Homework is to study up on how the war was won." That was easy, we knew the whole story off by heart. "And I want five book references on the subject. At least." The class groaned. Half of them had never been to a library before. At least it might help me find out what my Spirit Animal was. It's said being exposed to information on the animal, or the animal itself, will make your SA reveal itself.

I hadn't been to the library in a while, so I could probably find something for myself as well. Plus, there was a small bookstore in the back. Most of the books went for only a few dollars, and sometimes not even that. I might find a book about my animal.

I pushed the door open and my friend Misha ran down the hall towards me. "Hey, Tora!" She called. The hallway was so crowded that she couldn't get through, so she changed into her animal form, a Capuchin Monkey, and swung across the roof lights. She clambered past a few other monkeys who had made the ceilings into highways and dropped down next to me, shifting as she did.

"What's up T? Any closer to finding your SA?"

"Oh, I wish. You're so lucky you found yours. And I'm glad you figured it out when you did, having a monkey in the camp dorm was awesome!"

"Yeah, that was the best camp ever! Especially when I was up on the roof and dropped down behind Mr Millard. That was the funniest thing. You should have seen the look on his face when he turned around and saw me!"

"Priceless!" I cried, making my way to my locker. "Hey, I have a spare next. Do you have a class, or do you want to go to the library with me? I have to find five book references for history."

"I'm free. I needed to go to the library anyway." I pulled my satchel out of my locker and slid my books in. I grabbed my purse from the very back and shut the door, clicking the lock. We walked up to the office and signed out.

"Be quick, you still have two lessons after this one." Mrs Jaya smiled.

"We will." I pushed the glass door open and walked out onto the warm, Summer air. We ran down the road to the library and I dove into the History section. I quickly found five books that focused on different parts of the War. "Hey Misha, I'm going into the store, okay?"

"Okay T!" She called from three racks away. A little girl with grey cat ears shushed her. The girl then changed into a cat and curled up on a beanbag. I held in my laughter and opened the door, walking into the shop. Everything was the same as the last time I'd been in here. I was about to leave when a little book caught my eye. It was only the size of a hand guide, but I'd never seen it before. I lifted it up, only to find the cover slipping off to reveal and orange and black cover instead. I slid the false cover back on, then bought the book. I threw it in my satchel, borrowed out the books I needed and ran back to school, eager to read the book.