Set The Price

Author: Unknown… Just kidding! Hahh… I'm sitting right here. REIKON! *little flag goes up*

Disclaimer: Let's see… All the characters here are made up, so I don't really need to do this. However, if anything else that some bigshot company owns happens to make an… er… appearance, I do not own that particular item/object/subject/whatever.

Summary: It is the future. Humans live in fear of animals. Animals live in fear of nothing. Hybrids live in fear of everything. These hybrids, made up of human and animal DNA, have been subjected to the horror that is real life in its most dangerous state: War. A war where tactics are not used, dead bodies soil the earth, and blood stains everybody's hands, even those too young to attend school (a.k.a. the Pure). And sometimes… sometimes those who are outsiders are the ones who can save us from ourselves.

It wasn't as though there were no humans left. There were some, just not many. Most of the humans lived in fear of the animals. The true animals. The ones who did not need to fear humans anymore.

The tables had turned gradually, and no one had noticed until it was too late. It started with a couple of freak animal attacks, and gradually the number grew so enormous that the controversial rumour of the Earth's population being cut in half might actually have been true. There were also rumours that the populations of each type of animal doubled. These rumours had no argument. It was true.

There were also many new, astonishing creatures that resembled both humans and animals, but were neither, fully.

No contemplative person (or animal) ever figured out exactly how these beings ever came about. Some think that some animals evolved quickly and became like humans because since the whole ordeal started, animals and people had been either closer than ever, or farther apart.

Others think that humans, being around certain animals too long, started to develop animalistic qualities.

Whatever the reason, the effect of the "mutation" could not be reversed, at least not so easily. And most did not wish to try. People were afraid of the mutants. Animals did not trust them.

They were alone.

Alone in a world of suspicion. A world of mystery. A world of war.

Totally, utterly alone.

Serandi was his name. A mutant. One of those who had to make a living alone. He stretched wearily, extending sharp claws that slowly poked out of his feet and hands before he quickly retracted them again.

His eyes opened with the speed of a turtle, revealing sharp yellow eyes with dark slits down the middles and hair-thin lines and dots decorating the iris. They were angry, intense eyes that hid things deep within.

It was hard living by yourself. You may think it is, and assume it is, but you know nothing until you are thrust into a world where terror lurks around every corner, and you are judged before given a second chance.

Hardly any of the hybrids, as they liked to call themselves, had any pride or self-esteem left. Some of the newer additions, maybe… They thought it was all fun and games, flinging themselves from tree to tree to tree and running almost tirelessly all the time. The fun and games would wear off eventually, and their self-esteem would become depleted, as it happened with all others.

Clothing was not necessary for the hybrids, as Serandi found out early in his teenage years. He was very self-conscious and was worried that people might see too much if they ever saw him, but then his fur started growing shaggier around his lower waist and leg area. Hybrid fur was generally not soft, more scraggly and wiry. Yes, most hybrids were self-conscious, but like most people, learned to shrug it off without a care. The only problem was that aside from not caring was other people thought, which was a good thing, was not even caring what they themselves thought, which was a bad thing.

Serandi turned over on his branch, his stomach resting downward, rubbing against the harshness of the bark. This was his tree. Where he lived. This explained the various scratch-marks embedded in the thick bark. Light scratches expressed a need to file down claws or boredom. Deep gashes expressed anger.

And there were a lot of deep gashes.

It was stupid, this whole 'war' between people and animals. And just because he was both he was shunned and kicked to the dirt. He never really wanted to play the superiority game anyway.

His hand had thick, furry fingers that contained sharp claws. His body wasn't stocky, but he wasn't bony. His body was made to be agile, like his animal counterpart, the tiger. In some ways, he was quicker than a tiger. He was smaller, able to squeeze through small spaces, and could climb trees, which tigers were unable to do (being so heavy). He also was smarter. He had a human mind and thought like a human. He could strategize; an area the tiger was not familiar with. And he was quicker than a human, too. He had good hearing, night vision, and could climb trees faster than any five-year old on the playground. He could also fight without weapons, something humans weren't too good at.

Stripes did not decorate the whole of his body, but were scattered like human freckles. He had a few alone his spine, and some radiating just around his eyes like sunrays. The majority of stripes were on his tail. Some were like scratches on his arm, and others like large art-like patterns on his legs. Almost as if done by a skilled painter.

It's just another day in hell… Serandi sighed. He stretched once more and shook himself out of sleep like a wet dog might do. With a quick jump, he had landed on his feet on the hard ground and made his way to the river to take a bath. Nobody liked a smelly hybrid.

Nobody liked a hybrid anyway.

Water was calming, relaxing. The essence of water was to serve as the main liquid that kept the human (and animal) body functioning. Their bodies were mostly made of water being the infamous reason and known fact.

But aside from water's thirst-quenching purpose, it also served as being bathing-worthy.

Serandi's fur became flowy and alive in the water. He swam around, enjoying the cool sensation and the way it made him feel clean.

When he rose to breathe, shooting up out of the water like some sort of mystical creature, he threw his head back, tossing long, brown strands of hair flailing about.

Water droplets flung everywhere, like only in a dream. Ripples spread outward like wildfire and created a sort of radial effect. Water splashed upwards, following the motion of his body.

It was like a scene envisioned by a painter or daydreamer.

Serandi sighed. Bliss was here, finally. The cold, cruel world he'd known all his life was gone for a split-second, but it all came crashing back when he realized he was being watched. He felt another's presence nearby, watching him from the trees. Perhaps an animal? No, animals were good at creating a 'virtual shield' that made their movements and presence hard to detect.

Still…

Sometimes you just get a nagging feeling in the pit of your stomach that tells you you're being watched.

Serandi lowered himself into the water slowly, scanning the area around him with keen eyes. So far, he'd spotted nothing.

Then, all of a sudden, the presence was gone. He relaxed slightly, but scolded himself for doing so when he remembered that the perfect moment of attack would be when your opponent is relaxed and not ready. His muscles instinctively tensed up again, and he slunk to the opposite shore with is body as low to the ground as possible in a defensive crouch.

He would just have to be careful.

It was unspoken law out here, where even the trees seem to watch you closely.

If you didn't protect yourself, you'd be dead. There was no room for compassion anymore. Especially love.

It had died long ago.

~*~*~

AN: Hi. I don't normally do original work, so this is a change for me. I swear, I've been losing all my ability to write slowly. I've been trying to work on an original piece for the past couple of weeks, but my sentences always turn out so short, choppy, and hardly as descriptive and flowing as I'd like them to be. Well, I hope you enjoy this. :-P I'll try to work in it the best I can. In the mean time, R&R MY FICCIES!!!!!!

Hoy! You steal my idea and you burn in hell, flamers! DAMN BABOYS! Hehe… I'm learning Tagalog.