Welcome to Gaia! ::

Prologue

Earth. 2579 AD. The whole world is in chaos. Encouraged by extremists and the now scarce fossil fuel supply, whole nations went to war with one another. Unlike before, everyone was for themselves. The international organization, the United Nations has long since failed and now only pacts between neighboring nations have been honored.
In this global unrest, many weapons the world nations have pledged not to use anymore came into the light of battle once again. Nuclear mushroom cloud explosions carpeted the world while chemical and pathogenic weapons of war beat down whatever has been left standing.
Caught in the crossfire of humanity’s war, many other species died. In the end, only humanity remained of the multi-cellular animal species in the world. Yet even then, the human race seemed to be on its last legs.

Call it justice from Mother Nature or a freak accident; humanity itself began to change. Men, women, and children, exposed to radiation and irradiated bodies of dead animals began to transform. Nobody was spared from this, as hands became hooves, paws, fins, or claws and bodies became scaled, feathered, or furred. Still, not even this bizarre twist of fate stopped Man’s inherent warlike nature.

In Ortigas Center, Pasig City, in the country of the Philippines, a fox boy clambered back into his refuge of the now-ruined SM Megamall, carrying with him a sniper rifle, a pistol, and some cans of food. This kid looked left and right as he climbed the rubble heap leading to the entrance of his makeshift refuge. When he entered the building, he quickly hid behind a fallen slab of concrete, hoping that in the event that he was spotted, he could fool the people that saw him.
It was a tough life for the boy, hiding from the invaders and the gruesome end he would face if he was found. His country had fallen when a neighboring nation attacked it, launching a nuclear arsenal and claimed the country as its own. It was during these attacks that the child was changed, mutated into an arctic fox while he was looking at a stuffed arctic fox in a museum. The invaders quickly dispatched a curfew on the local population, forcing people that can work to do so in factories to produce food and weapons of war for the oppressors. Many of the people of the land called to arms, escaping the net of the invaders and establishing a freedom-fighting force. This fox boy was one of them, being able to escape into freedom. He managed to flee into the building while a rebel group attacked the factory he was forced to work at. In the chaos, he ran away and fled into the building. Unfortunately the fox hadn’t seen any members of the resistance; only the invader’s patrols.
He managed to get these weapons and food items from a supply cache for the patrols. The kid hoped that he could find the main resistance and join them, more so without the invaders detecting him. If worst came to worst, the fox kid also wished that he could escape safely, confident in his skills with both the sniper rifle and the handgun.

True to the saying about best laid plans, he was spotted on his last excursion. The patrol, after spotting the fox, stealthily followed him to the building. As the boy made his way to his improvised home inside the ruins, he heard a shift in the rubble. Turning behind him, the fox could make out a shadow that moved quickly out of the light. Fearing the worst, the boy quickly dove behind a concrete slab, hoping that his scent would be masked by the scent of the still decaying bodies of those that perished in the mall’s collapse. This seemed to have had no effect as he could now smell and hear them mumbling to each other. The boy started to pant, fear gripping him. He dropped his rifle on the ground and held his pistol. The soldiers heard the fall of the gun and thought it was a sign of surrender. He heard one of them speak.
“Come out of there with your hands up!”

He knew then what the soldiers were thinking. His thoughts went back to the times he was back at the factory, the suffering he endured. He didn’t want to go back, but there was no escape for him. The boy calmed down and gripped his pistol, steeling his nerves. Then, with the cool head style of an action hero, the boy popped out of the rubble and pointed his gun at the first soldier he saw. The soldiers were surprised by his action, giving him time to fire and dive back. He shot two bullets. The first bullet hit the concrete near the soldier; the next one hit the soldier in the arm. With the soldier, a tiger, growling in pain the other soldiers fired back. The boy did his best to hide himself as he peeped out of the slab and fired back; with the pitch-black surroundings looking like it was lit to him due to his fox eyes. Time seemed to slow down as the bullets whizzed past him or hitting the concrete slab. As the firefight continued, he started to hear a female voice.
Trias.... The boy was surprised. Someone was calling his name. Trias.... This made the boy hesitate, giving a chance to the sniper of the patrol. This sniper quickly fired a round at the boy, hitting him in the right shoulder. As he fell back to the ground, wincing in pain, everything began to look brighter. He then could hear the voice again. Trias. As the brightness began to blind him, he saw the silhouette of one of the soldiers above him with gun trained in between his eyes. As he became blinded, he heard the voice again. Trias, if you do not wake up right now, it’s the Principal’s office for you.

Unh…. W…what happened…? Trias slowly got up from lying down to being seated, shaking his head with his eyes closed. I guess they must’ve brought me in the infirmary.... Trias slowly opened his eyes. ...Or not.... Trias saw a fine fog when he opened his eyes. The fog was up to his knees. Trias slowly got up and took a look around. All around him, he could see only a dark sky with ghostly white lights illuminating the horizon. These lights seemed to move in a slow wave while they reached towards the sky, reaching only two meters up. ...Please tell me this is a dream and this isn’t limbo or something.... After a while, to his surprise, Trias heard a reply.
"No...." The voice was from a woman. Her voice was soft, yet stern. Trias looked around again, trying to find whoever spoke. He then heard the voice again. "This is not a dream, and this isn’t limbo or whatever you call the plane between life and death either...."
"O...kay...." Trias looked around again, feeling disoriented. "So then...where am I and why am I here?"
"Why do you ask me?" the voice asked back, and Trias decided to just face forward in the last direction he looked.
"Because it seems you know more about this place than me, and maybe more."
"Why do you ask me still?" Trias just closed his eyes and took a deep sigh.
Seems like she’s not gonna be much help... This place looks ethereal.... Too ethereal even.... I don’t think this is an alien spacecraft, but I don’t think I’m on Earth anymore either.... Then again, could be a very, very large room in a laboratory and I’m the lucky test subject or something.... Trias decided to start walking away. After a few moments, he heard the voice again.
"Where are you going?" Trias continued to walk. A few moments later, he heard the voice again. "Where are you going?" Ignoring the voice, the boy continued his march. After a while, he heard the voice again. "Where are you going?" This time, Trias decided to reply.
"Where am I going?"
"Questions are asked to find meaning, not create confusion."
"Yet you wouldn’t answer mine." Trias continued on his course.
"Why do you want to know?" Trias continued to reply to the voice in a polite tone. He had no intention of getting this person angry at all.
"I’ve been brought from my little classroom inside my little school inside my little city inside my little province inside my little country inside my little continent and inside my little planet into this place. I do have a right to know why I’ve been brought here and where this place is, am I correct?" He didn’t hear a reply. Shaking the unnerving feeling that this person might have a death ray, or something worse, trained on him, he continued his march. While moving on, he felt an uneasy feeling that someone was walking behind him. Turning around, he saw no one. Hmm.... Trias continued his walk. After a while, the sensation felt stronger. He turned around again. This time, as he looked around, the fog began to part. A few feet away from him, he saw what was giving him the goosebumps.
Trailing behind him was a little white fox. Looking at it a bit more, Trias could see it was the same fox that he saw outside his classroom. He shook his head and then squatted a bit so he could be in level with that fox.

"Hello.... Nice to meet you face to face... Since you’re here and that lady wouldn’t speak to me, care to tell me where I am?" To his surprise, the fox sat down and opened its muzzle. It then began to utter words; human words.
"Does it matter?" The fox was speaking to him, using the same tone and voice of the boy. This got Trias surprised, knocking himself off-balance and landing on his bottom.
"Wha-?!" He looked at the fox, tilting his head.
"You asked. I spoke. Is there something wrong?"
"Erm.... Animals aren’t...known to talk...human, I mean...."
"Again, does it matter? Here I am, speaking to you in the human English tongue. Besides…didn’t you want to have a talking fox? Or more importantly...." The fox sported a sly grin. "Didn’t you...want to be...me...?" This got Trias’ attention as his eyes grew wide.
"What the-?!" Trias shook his head, scratching behind his right ear. "S-sure, I had those thoughts but it’s...just a fantasy!"
"Does it matter?" Trias looked at the fox. He knew the fox was going to say something that would push what he just said out the window. Deciding to beat the fox to the punch, Trias spoke ahead of it, taking a deep breath first.
"You’re here and speaking to me...that in itself is a fantasy...yet here you are...perfectly real...."
"I see you’ve caught on quick. Everything here is real, though how fanciful it seems.... Even your hidden desire...." Trias looked at himself.
"But I’m not-."
"In time…. You’re not ready to embrace it yet...." The fog once again rolled in and then he heard the woman’s voice speak again.
"Now then.... Awaken...." Trias then began to feel hazy, and then lost consciousness once more

When Trias regained his consciousness, he shook his head. Great…. Where am I in this time? He then opened his eyes, and saw darkness. There was no horizon at all as the blackness of both sky and ground equaled. Looks like a new room…. Trias got up on his two feet and took a good look around. Everything was the same: pure black for as far as he can see. Yep…minus all the décor. Well…. This is getting old…and irritating…. Was interesting at first but now…. Trias took a sigh as he turned around. At least there’s no-. Trias froze as he saw something bright on the floor. As he looked at it, he saw it. It was the fox again, swishing its tail and looking at him intently. Trias let out an aggravated sigh. “…This is getting annoying, you know that?” not getting a reply, Trias kept his gaze on the vulpine.
After the brief eye-to-eye period, the fox stood up. It then spoke to him. “Trias…what is it that you desire?” Being a bit calmer than earlier, Trias took a deep breath and replied.
“What I desire? You already know what I desire.”
“What is it that you desire?”
“Right now, I desire to get this all done and over with. If this is a movie, I’m beginning to pity the audience.”
“Is that really what you desire? Your heart says otherwise…. Listen to it…the time is nigh…. What is it…that you desire?” Seeing that this would get nowhere unless he really did say what he wanted deep down inside, he took a deep breath. Deep down, he wanted to be like the arctic fox, having its traits and appearance. Call it crazy but it was his secret desire. Trias knew the fox already knew it but it seemed to him that he needed to acknowledge it himself verbally.
Trias then spoke, taking a deep breath before he said what he really wished. “I desire…to be me…what I see myself as, and what I know deep down that I am.” The fox then started to fade as it walked towards him. As it faded away, it spoke again.
“Be ready for your desire…. Trias Seres Rozano…for now it will come….”
At those words, Trias felt something push at him, pushing him backwards, away from the fox. As the fox vanished, lights began to appear in the blackness. Catching rays of light passing by the corners of his eyes coming from behind, he turned around to see what was causing this. As he faced the source, the bright light blinded him for a few moments. After a while, the light receded. In its wake, he saw the Earth. Well…It’s official…. Looks like I’m not at school anymore…. As he watched the blue planet, he saw rays of light coming from behind him again. Turning around again, he saw a dazzling display.
In front of him was the system’s sun, shining bright. Around it though was spheres of light of all the different hues of the rainbow, creating a giant rainbow with the star. As he was transfixed on the display, he was surprised when he saw the blue planet pass beneath him, along with its crater-crusted satellite. Not wanting to be surprised again, he turned around again, just in time to see Mars pass beneath him.
After a few moments in his high-speed interstellar journey, he saw the asteroid belt. When he saw the space rocks, a feeling of dread came upon him as he went straight for the field. Oh snap…. While moving through, more rays of light shot out from behind him. Curious, he turned back around and looked at what transpired.
The rainbow was still there, but more streaks of the lights shot through. As he watched one of them pass, he saw something peculiar in the light. In the orange ray, he saw a red panda. It looked like it was running, carrying the beam of light as it ran. He looked at the other streams of light, and he saw roughly the same thing: animals running. In their movement, the light moved with them. His curiosity kicked in as he followed their movements with his eyes, hoping to see where they were going. As he turned around, looking ahead again, he saw a massive asteroid in front of him. Gyah! Instinctively, he curled up, shielding himself with his arms and legs and closing his eyes as tight as he could. When the time that he thought that he was going to collide with the celestial body passed without him experiencing any new sensations, he slowly opened his eyes. Woah…. He slowly got out of his curl to better see around him. He was inside a passage coursing in the asteroid, with the rough walls slowly spinning around him as the asteroid spun on its own axis. He could see this all clearly as some of the animal lights followed him inside the passage. These lights slowed down, matching his pace to illuminate the whole area. This provided a majestic show as the orange, red, and yellow lights painted hues of the twilight inside the passage. As he looked in amazement and awe, he felt the presence of a bright light coming from behind him. As he turned around, he saw the same fox as earlier, now in a bright white light. “Umm…this is beautiful and all, but what’s going on?” the fox just looked at him. Without moving its muzzle, its voice replied.
“Calm yourself and enjoy it all. What is to come will come, but now…just enjoy the trip. You’ll only experience this now…. By all means…forget that I am here.”
Okay…. Sensing that the fox won’t say anything else, Trias just turned back around and looked ahead. Soon, he was out of the passage and out of the asteroid field. He knew he was, because in front of him was the mighty giant gas planet of Jupiter. Exiting the asteroid, he felt a force push him towards the side of the gas planet. Soon, he was flying next to the planet, just a foot above the rings of the planet. It was as the astronomers say it was made of: dust with ice and rock. He knew because he skimmed his right hand through the ring as he passed, creating a ripple in the dust. As he left the planet, he looked at the rings, noticing that his wave has now vanished. Surprisingly as he looked at his right hand, not a single speck of dust remained on his hands. Looking on, he saw Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. No force pushed on him, so he was not able to get the chance to touch their rings. As he neared the dwarf planet Pluto and its moon Charon, he saw where the lights were going to. As the gap between the two bodies widened, he saw a bright circle of vividly colored lights. With his direction of movement, he knew he was going to go into it. After a while, he noticed the light behind him slowly fade. When he looked behind him, Trias saw the little fox suspended in space, not moving at all. Curious, he spoke. “Fox? What is something the matter?” Before his body touched the circle, his body stopped moving in space. There, the two beings floated, looking at each other. The fox then spoke.
“Trias…my time is up…but yours has now begun….” The fox began to grow brighter, to his surprise. “Embrace your new life…. Everything….” The fox’s light became blinding to him. Trias shielded his eyes.
Wha-? What’s going on?!
“Begins….” The whole blackness of space lit up in the same white hue as the fox. “Now!” Suddenly, the fox dashed towards Trias, creating a sonic boom in its speed. As it hit Trias, it vanished into him. The force of the impact pushed him right into the circle, where the lights converged on him and sped him light years away, forming a tunnel in front of him. Inside that tunnel, he could hear the calls of many animals; from yelps to meows, from neighs to bleats, from roars to cries, from clicks to bellows, he could hear them all in there. The whole tunnel pulsated in a dazzling light as Trias could feel the speed on his body. The sensations though were too much for him, and he blanked out yet again. In his mind though, he could hear the fox’s voice whisper its last words to him. “Everything begins now….”

After a half hour, Trias finally came to. Feeling a bit groggy, he looked around to get his bearings. When he looked down below, he thought he saw Earth. Cute…. They put up that display just to bring me back here…. What’s next? Rubber animals and psychedelic music? He then looked at himself. Hmm…. Well…looks like I’m now glowing like them…what now? He looked around some more, getting a feel of the place. After a few minutes of staring at near identical stuff as his own system, he heard a voice.
“Trias…are you ready?” it was the woman from earlier. Trias sighed, since he really had no options.
“I am ready as I ever will be.”
“Then, Trias Seres Rozano…awaken!”

Chapter I
Ang Sinugdanan…Polar Fuchs….
((If you want to know what that means, it's "The Beginning...Arctic Fox". The last part is German while the first part is from a language here in my country called "Cebuano"))

Wha…. What just happened…? Am…am I awake? Trias was slowly regaining consciousness. The first thing that came back to him was his sense of feeling. …it seems I am…. But…why do my feet and legs feel…damp…? And the sun…. Feels a bit…strong…. Am I near an ocean or something…? He tried to move but he couldn’t move a muscle yet. His other senses began to return to him. …Wait…. I’m hearing waves…. Yes…no mistake about it…waves…sea waves…. I guess it’s the waves that are making my feet and legs damp…. ...Hmm… That smell…. Yes…salt water…. He then heard something else besides the waves.
“Hey!”
...Was…was that a voice…?
“Hey!”
Yes…it was a voice…. A girl’s…. Not the same one as the one I heard in that foggy room….
“Hey! Are you okay over there?!” Then, his vision returned to him as he slowly opened his eyes.
The first thing Trias saw s he opened his eyes was sand; white beach sand. The next thing he saw were plants a bit ways afar from the beach. Then, he saw feet kicking up sand and stopped in front of him. Looking at the feet, the boy noticed something strange. The feet were human in shape, but no skin was exposed. Instead, there was what seemed to be golden brown fur. The legs of the feet bent a bit and he saw hands and shorts, with a slender tail dangling behind with a tuff of brown at the end. The shorts were tucked beneath the knees so they weren’t loose and didn’t reveal anything not needing to be revealed. The hands as he looked at them were the same as the feet: human in shape and yet covered in golden brown fur.
I..I…Is…is this real…?! A-…am I beginning to see things?! He then got a surprise as the legs pushed away as the owner of these appendages lay down right in front of him, looking at him. The face was equally covered in this golden brown fur and looked like it was of a female lioness, with brown wavy hair. …Gya! Surprised by this sudden sight, Trias went on instinct. At that moment, he regained control of his body, thanks to the fear that went tough him. Quickly, Trias tried to get up. He stumbled midway due to the sand beneath him and he landed on his tails in the damp sea water. Surprised by this pain, he let out a yelp but then something dawned upon him. Wait…. With that trail of thought in mind, he looked behind him and saw the source of this pain. T-tails?! He hastily looked at himself. Fur?! So it wasn’t a dream!

The lioness crept up closer to the fox, looking at him curiously. This female had the same characteristics as the fox: human yet animal. She had the basic anatomy of a human but with a fully furred body with a bit of a lioness’ face, ears and tail. Her hands and feet’s fingers were a bit bigger, hinting of a possibility of movement on all fours. She had imperial jade colored eyes and these were gazing at the fox. Her short brown hair swayed a bit in the wind, along with her red T-shirt and black shorts. Behind her, a silver colored Egyptian Mau watched her with her tail swishing here and there. The cat was wearing a green shirt with jeans. This cat scratched behind her right ear while leaving her long, light yellow hair relatively undisturbed. The cat sighed and then spoke, closing her amber eyes.
“Fantine…. I…don’t think it’s a good idea to get close to that fox….” The lioness looked at her.
“Why, sis?” The cat just shrugged.
“I’m just getting a weird vibe….”
“Well, somebody’s gotta get this fox back to thinking straight, right sis?”
“…Just…try not to leave him too emotionally scarred for life, okay?”
The lioness nodded to the cat. She then swiftly crawled to the fox on all her fours. Once close, she then quickly pushed the fox off-balance and deeper into the water. The fox landed in the water with a splash.
“…Fantine, you DO realize that he wasn’t wearing any ear plugs…right?”
“Uhh….”

“Say….” Trias looked at the girls, letting go of his tails. While the girls were talking to each other, he was closely examining his body, familiarizing himself with it.
“Mmm?” Unconsciously, his ears twitched. Fantine noticed it and giggled at the sight. Beside her, Jessie replied.
“Since you don’t have anywhere to go obviously…why don’t you stay at our place for a week or two…until you get yourself back on your paws now.” Trias was surprised by what they have said, even though it was welcome news.
“A-…are you sure about this? Don’t you think I might be a burden…o-or a hassle?” Jessie shook her head.
“It’s no hassle at all. It’s nice anyways to have a man around in the apartment for once.” Trias, still a bit shocked, quickly bowed his head.
“T-t-thank you!” He did a series of three bows before looking back at them. At that moment, he saw the two girls giggling at him. The fox looked at them quizzically, tilting his head. The lioness then spoke up.
“You look cute when you do that, you know?” That made Trias blush, which obtained more giggles from the sisters. Fantine then jumped at Trias, catching him by his left shoulder. She then started to nuzzle Trias’ neck, which got the fox’s eyes to grow wide. “Now you’re gonna sleep with us!” Both the fox and the Mau were looking at the lioness. Jessie then spoke up.
“Erm…. Stay with us…. What you said…sounded wrong….” Trias nodded quickly.
“Y-yeah….” Fantine looked at Trias like a kitten does, then at her sister.
“So…no poofy foxy to sleep with in bed?” Trias hastily spoke up.
“I-I’m sure that whatever you have lying in the living room is comfy enough to sleep on.” Trias looked at Fantine, then at Jessie, then back at Fantine. Jessie nodded, still a bit surprised by what her sister has just said.
“Y-yeah. We have a couch there that you can sleep on.” Fantine then looked back at Trias.
“But the bed’s much softer…. I promise not to move too much….” This got both Trias and Jessie blushing. Trias promptly replied.
“I-I’m sure the couch will be fine. I’d be stepping the line if I slept with you in bed.” Even though he didn’t mean to, what Trias said made Jessie blush even more. Jessie then spoke up.
“Yeah….” She looked at her sister and then at the fox. “Well then…. Right now, we should bring you back with us, but….” She stared Trias down. Trias’ clothes were a mess; damp with grains of sand clinging onto it. His fur was equally bad, with some of the sand interlaced now within the fur. “We’d better get you dry….”

Trias looked at his self, only noticing why Jessie said that. “Yeah…I guess….” He then looked up as he was trying to get the sand out of his hair and ears. “Sun-drying’s going to take me a while, even with this sun….” As he was about to look at the two ladies, something peeping out of the canopy in the tropical forest behind the girls caught his attention. Taking a look at it, he saw a giant fox peep out from the foliage. It wasn’t looking at them, but was facing to the left. He then heard Fantine.
“Hey Trias….” Trias took a glance at the two girls then at the fox. He then did it again. Puzzled, the two girls looked behind, and gasped at what they saw. “Oh…my…goodness….” The girls looked at each other, Trias looked at the girls, with his right ear twitching.
“…What’s wrong?” The girls looked at him. Jessie then replied.
“…That is a giant…fox….”
“…Yeah…?” Jessie shook her head.
“…They’re one of the strongest fiends in these parts….”
“…Ouch….” Trias instinctively replied, even though he had no idea what the Mau was talking about. Jessie then returned her gaze at the fiend, with both sisters taking a defensive stance.
“But them materializing around here?! I don’t remember any battles or murders that occurred near this beach….” Then, the fiend fox started to trot away towards the left. Fantine gasped.
“Wait! Don’t tell me it’s-.” She looked at her sister, with Jessie sporting the same look of panic. Jessie quickly reached into the left pocket of her pants. Digging out a cellphone, she quickly pressed a button. The phone had some parts extend, with one end reaching up towards her ear and the other at her muzzle. She then dialed in a number and waited, with Fantine monitoring the movement of the giant fox. After a while, she then shouted into the phone.
“This is Jessie Tella Risten! We’ve got an emergency on our paws!... There’s a giant fox heading toward the city right now!... What…? I’ve only confirmed one fox, but we’ve got to assume there’s more of them! Yeah, I’m heading there pronto!... Yeah, I know me and my sis’ vacation time are going to be cut short by this, but this isn’t exactly something we can simply ignore while we go sip some mango juice at the beach, okay?! …I don’t care if we won’t get an extended vacation after this; lives are at stake, you jackass! …What...? Well, that’s good then! Tell Sarah to meet us up on the outskirts towards the beach then! …Jessie out!” With that, she pressed a button on the phone again. As the phone returned to its original form, the owner plunged the phone back into her pocket. Jessie then looked at her sister. The two of them quickly darted towards the city, heading left like the giant fox.

Trias held the rifle in his paws. Looking at it, he noticed that it looked very similar to a modern Earth rifle, based on the “space-age” design of a previous rifle. As he gripped it in his paws, he knew it was the same since he toyed around with a BB-gun version of it while he was still living in Earth. Feeling like he saw an old friend, he nodded at the ladies. Trias then held the rifle as if he was going to fire, looking down the sights of the weapon. He nodded yet again. Holding the rifle at the ready, he looked at his companions. “How many shots per magazine?”
Jessie nodded back at him. “You’ve got thirty per round.”
“Just give me some more ammo and I’m good here.” Sarah nodded at him, while Fantine handed the fox two more magazines. The red panda then looked at the fox in the distance.
“Well, looks like big, bad, and nasty’s waiting for us.” She then gripped the two things she took out from behind her tightly; a pair of short swords. “Let’s get a move on!”
The quartet ran down the street, passing crowds of fleeing people. The pandemonium seemed to be widespread, with parents cradling their babies close to their bodies and grasping their children’s hands tightly as they urged their kids to continue running. There were too many people for Trias to discern any particular species out of the group, added to the fact that he just took only a glance at his sides while he continued to run. In front of him, the two sisters were talking to each other.
“Where’s the rest of the Guardians?” Fantine looked at her sister.
“They’re already out trying to put a lid on the situation.”
“I know…but all these people….” Jessie shook her head.
“This must be a group that just ran on their own. I’m pretty sure the police and our fellow Guardians are doing their jobs.”
“…Yeah….” After a while, she looked at Sarah, who was leading the group. “Hey!”
“What is it?” Sarah replied, not looking behind with swords held backhand style.
“Have we got any word from the military yet?”
“They’ve already mobilized. They’ve got troops here, but their big guns aren’t here yet.”
“Any word when they’ll come?” Jessie asked. Sarah shook her head.
“No word yet.” Suddenly, the fox in front of them began to stagger. “It seems the one in front is soon to be toast. What’s the word, ladies…and gent? Sorry ‘bout that, Trias.”
“Uhh…it’s nothing Sarah….” Trias replied.
The group started to slow down. As they slowed down, they began to look around, trying to spot a fox for them to eliminate amongst the cityscape. After a moment, Jessie abruptly stopped. Noticing this, the rest of them followed suit. She then pointed at a small street to their right, whilst looking at her comrades. “There! I think I spot one over there!”
“Well….” Sarah said, spinning her swords in her paws before grasping them again. Fantine, Trias, and Jessie looked at the red panda. “What are we waiting for? Let’s go!” The group then ran down the narrow road in that direction. Just as they were about to go down that lane, they saw something else.
What the group saw there made them stop in their tracks. Fantine then spoke up, with a slight tone of horror in her voice, covering her mouth. “By the Almighty One….”

The street in front of them looked like a warzone. Here and there, buildings lie in ruin with some reduced to rubble. The paved road was littered by the debris, with some slabs reaching several feet in height or length. Though a shocking sight, this was not what caught their eyes.
In the midst of the rubble lay the unfortunate people that weren’t able to respond quickly to the warning. Here and there, they were spread out among the concrete, wood, and steel. Many of them look dismembered, with streaks of red scattered on the pavement, rubble, and some of the buildings.
Trias stared at the scene with his mouth open, trying to make sense of what he’s seeing in his mind. He then closed his eyes. At the same instant, his ears drooped. He shook his head. …what the heck did I get myself into…? After a while, he heard Sarah’s voice.
“Hey! Fox face!” Trias then opened his eyes, and saw the red panda looking at him face-to-face. “Are you ok?” Trias took a look around. Jessie and Fantine were looking at him, both sporting a face of concern like Sarah’s. “I know…this all looks wrong, right…?” She then turned to look around at the rubble and buildings. “No amount of movies or games can really prepare you for a sight like this. You shouldn’t actually see this sight at all. But here it is…and you got to live with it.” She then held Trias’ left paw with her right. “Come on. We’ve got to finish those fiends off, so we don’t have to see more of this, ‘kay?” Trias nodded to her. With a nod, she looked at Fantine and Jessie. “I hope I don’t have to give that same pep talk twice now….”
Fantine shook her head. Jessie nodded. “If you mean us, you know how long we’ve been Guardians too now.” Sarah then gave a nod.
“So then, let’s get back to business!” The group then started to make their way through the ruined street, with Fantine and Sarah leading the way. As they made their way through, they spotted survivors of the rampage. Here and there the survivors sat, taking refuge among the buildings, their cries reaching the ears of the group.
“Dad?” from the corner of his eye he could see a lynx boy seated on the entrance stairwell of a building on the right side of the street. This boy gently pushing the body of a male desert wolf slumped on the topmost step, without any sign of life. “…Please wake up…. Dad? ...D-…D-Dad…?”
“Mommy….” To his left, an osprey girl, severely bruised, seated on the step of what used to be a store. The girl’s clothes were torn, with the fabric darkened by the dust. Near her was a Komodo dragon boy, trying to comfort her, though he too had his shares of the scars of the attack. “Where’s mommy?... Danny? Where did mommy go?”
“Nancie.… Mommy’s….” this conversation too was masked as the passed a trio consisting of a female cheetah, a male bison, and a female rhinoceros. The rhino was apparently clutching her left wrist, with the hand hidden from view, though from the pool of blood beneath her, one can get an idea what happened.
“Sasha…please calm down.” The male pleaded. The rhino responded in agony.
“Calm down? Vann, I just lost my bloody hand to that fox! How the heck do you think I can calm down, huh?!” the cheetah held her shoulders, looking at her in the eyes.
“Sasha…. Please…listen to Vann….” As the group passed out of earshot of them, Trias heard Jessie’s voice.
“Hey.” Trias looked to his right. Next to her was the familiar feline. “You ok?” Trias nodded.
“Y-yeah…. I’m ok.”
“It’s still hard to take in, isn’t it?” Trias nodded, looking forward.
“Yeah.”
“Well, all I can say is try not to let it get to you too much.” Trias looked at her again.
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve got something to do. If you let the whole atmosphere get to you, you won’t be able to do it at all.”
“Detach myself, you mean?”
“Yeah…but not too detached. Otherwise, you’d be worse than the giant foxes we’re gonna try to beat.” Suddenly, Sarah shouted, snapping Trias back into reality.

After a few moments of waiting, Fantine finally came back holding another rifle in her arms. As soon as she gave it to him, Trias started to take a good look at it. This rifle had the characteristic look and feel that one would expect when you think of a sniper rifle, with the exception of the hand grip, which resembled a pistol’s. Looking down the scope, one question popped out in his mind. “Where’s the ammo?”
Sarah giggled a bit as Fantine took out two magazines for that sniper rifle. “I knew you were going to ask that.” Trias looked at Sarah as he held the rifle at the ready.
“…Mmm?” the red panda just shook her head.
“Nothing.” Fantine then started to talk as the lioness looked at the top of the nearby buildings.
“Anyways….” The trio looked at her. “Where should we set ourselves up?”
After a minute, the quartet was racing up the flight of stairs of a five-storey apartment building, their footfalls echoing throughout the hallways of the hastily evacuated building. Nearly a minute later, the panda and the fox passed through the door leading to the rooftop and onto the concrete surface. As the two sisters were just coming onto the roof, Trias was already mounting the rifle on the waist-high perimeter wall on the roof, facing one of the giant foxes. Sarah was right next to him, taking out a pair of binoculars from her right hip bag. The two cats watched on as the red panda and fox got themselves ready.
“I hope this works….” Fantine spoke up, as both Trias and Sarah looked through their respective lenses. “Don’t know how much the city will last with those things still around….”
“We just got to have faith in this Fantine.” Sarah replied, not taking her gaze off of the first giant fox she saw. “So, Trias…you ready?”
“Yeah….” Trias replied, nodding and closing his left eye.
“Okay. Which one have you got targeted?”
“The one directly in front…can’t tell the distance. Can’t also seem to see where the head is….” Through his right eye, Trias could only see the rust-orange fur of the fox. He tried to move the rifle around, but to no avail.
“Try zooming out. Tell me when you’ve found the head.”
“Erm…how do I zoom out on this thing again?” Sarah sighed, rolling her eyes.
“It’s the knob on the right side of the rifle scope.” Trias was now adjusting the focus of the scope as Sarah voiced her concern. “Are you REALLY sure you know what you’re doing?”
“Sorry…I remember how to do this…just don’t remember how to zoom in and out…. I see the head now.”
“Just go and shoot already. I’ll tell you if it goes down or not.”
Without showing any confirmation to what was said, Trias continued to aim down the rifle. The fox he was aiming at was moving its head a lot, which forced Trias to try and anticipate its movements. He was trying his best to not show his nervousness, but the view he was seeing was shaking a bit due to his trembling hands. Sensing the fox was moving slowly; the boy took a deep breath and aimed at the fox’s left eye as the fox looked down to the boy’s right. He was about to squeeze the trigger, when he realized something.
“…Hold on a minute.” All three ladies looked at Trias, surprised at what he just said.
“What is it?” Sarah asked, looking at the boy, a bit agitated due to the suspense.
“…How far do you reckon we are from the fox?”
“Let’s see….” Sarah looked through the binoculars again. “I’d say…close to a kilometer?”
“…I don’t know now if I can hit it….”
“What do you mean?” Fantine asked, apparently a bit confused.
“I don’t know how far this rifle can hit…and I’m not really sure on the aim adjustment….”
“Well, just take a wild guess then and shoot it!” Jessie blurted out. “It’s nearly toppled another building!”
“Oh, r-right….”
Trias looked down at the sight and at the fox again. Luckily for him, the fox was standing still; apparently some other Guardians were trying to kill the fox themselves. He took aim, and took a deep breath, closing his eyes. When he opened his eyes, he aimed the sight up, so the last notch on the bottom of the crosshair was level with the fox’s eye. With an exhale, he squeezed the trigger and took the shot. It did not look clear to Trias, but after he heard the rifle shot, he saw the fox’s head move a bit and then drop out of sight.

“…Well, looks like you got it.” Sarah said to Trias. Looking through her binoculars, she could see the fox close its eyes and bend its head low. It then fell down on the buildings behind it as it began to disintegrate into sparkles of white light. “Nice shot…that’s a kill.”
“Thanks.” Trias replied, heaving a deep sigh of relief as he pulled back on the bolt of the rifle. “I thought I would’ve missed there.” He pushed the bolt back, ensuring that a new bullet was in.
“Yeah…I noticed…Mr. Shakey-paws.”
“Sorry if you were expecting a top-notch sniper beneath this amnesic fox.” Before the red panda could say anything, Fantine spoke up.
“Well, that would’ve been suspicious if you were now, foxy. Anyhow, you handled it better than me anyways.”
“Thanks….” Sarah then nudged Trias on the leg with her foot.
“There’s a fox not too far to the left of that last one. You think you can take it?”
“I think so…how far is it from us?”
“I’d say…half a kilometer.”
“Okay….” Trias began to move the rifle to the left, panning his view though the sniper scope. He only moved it a bit until he saw the fox Sarah mentioned. When he saw it, he noticed something. “This one likes to move…and we’ve got some wind.”
“Wind’s going to make it hard?” Trias nodded.
“I don’t remember how much I got to adjust for wind….”
“Well…I say give it your best shot. If ever, that fox can’t smell us from here, I think.”
Trias gave a nod to Sarah as he sighed. Man, I seriously wish I REALLY knew what I am doing…. Sighting down the scope, he tried to center the crosshair on the fox. After a few moments and a buildup of confidence, he moved the rifle up, making the head of the fox visible halfway between the cross and the bottom edge. Here goes nothing…. Trias moves the rifle a bit to the left, ahead of the fox, trying to adjust for the wind. He then took a deep breath and squeezed the trigger.
The bullet went flying towards the fox. Unfortunately, he undercompensated and missed the head of the fox completely. Instead, the wind pushed the bullet right into the fox’s body. The fox let out a snarl of pain as it looked to its left for the source of it. And then, all heck broke loose.