Hey everyone! It's been a long long time since the last upload, but here's the next chapter! I've been busy with my final semester at college and now working full time, but here we go at last. This is a commission for Siegmar, thanks for the patience!


Want to read the rest of my stories or start from the beginning? Check out the whole series here: https://www.furaffinity.net/gallery.....dWorld-Stories


Word Count: 4519


Wildworld Another chapter (current work)




For a moment all Danielle and Brock could hear was silence. Then suddenly a deafening cacophony of cheers, whoops, and yowls erupted through the speakers, the noise so intense that both of them started clawing at their collars in an attempt to separate themselves from the noise. It was like an earthquake and their ears were the epicenter.

“CAN YOU GUYS SHUT UP?” Danielle roared into her collar, pawing at it angrily, “ DON’T FORGET WE HAVE SENSITIVE EARS!” The immediate noise died down, though it persisted in the background. At least it was reduced to a tolerable level.

“S-sorry,” Flash’s voice piped through, much softer. “We’re just really excited that you found them.”

“What, you and the entire island?”

“N-no, just all of us here at base. There’s about 10 or so of us. But could you elaborate on what you found again?” Danielle sighed. She started pacing around the building, talking as she walked.

“Well, it appears to be a small shed of some sort.” She glanced up and down the sides. “Place looks abandoned. But they’re in there. At least if the scent you gave us is correct.”

“Well, I suppose it is possible someone’s captured another pair of clouded leopards and is keeping them there.” Flash mused, “But the odds of that are extremely unlikely due to them not being native to this region. Either we’ve found them or we’ve stumbled on some animal trafficking organization. … Could be both.” She shuddered when he said that, moving with more urgency.

“Well, that’s the good news.” Danielle stopped.

“What do you mean by that?” The response was delayed, and Danille felt like a bomb was about to go off. “Is there bad news?”

“Unfortunately.” She heard Flash taking a deep breath. “Soooo, our tracker puts you about a mile from the Bluestar lab facility.” Danielle nodded.

“What’s so bad about that?”

“That’s too close for our retrieval team to move in undetected. You’re…. kinda on your own.”

“WHAAAAT?” Now it was Flash’s turn to have his sensitive ears assaulted by a fresh battery of noise. From the angry yowls echoing through her earphones, Danielle could tell the other cats were listening and didn’t approve. She could hear the cheetah faintly whimpering in the background. She almost felt sorry for him. Almost.

“What do you mean we’re on our own! We can’t get them out!” Josh growled, voice fizzling in and out of static. “We don’t have thumbs! What do you expect us to do?”

“Just shut up and I’ll tell you.” The other cats quieted down, waiting for a for tense seconds. Finally, Flash stammered “Erm… I don’t know. Break down the door or something?”

“Fat lot of good that does us!” While Josh engaged in a one-sided argument with Flash, Danielle turned back towards surveying the structure in front of her. It looked like it was about to fall apart on its own, even without the aid of 300 lb. animals kicking it down. The mortar barely clung to each cinderblock. It was like a sad, elderly antelope, simply waiting for the inevitable predator to do it in. Still, she reasoned, if it was enough to trap Cecil and Brittney for this long it must be stronger than it looks.

Putting her nose to the ground, she could pick up other scents too. Older scents with varying strengths, and many unfamiliar ones as well. She could pick up traces of many other animals that had been here, though the clouded leopard scent she first picked up was by far the strongest. It was actually quite amazing how much her nose could pick up. Her human self would have never even detected the scent, let alone determined its source and location.

She padded around to the door, staring down the padlock like the villain in an old western movie. It stood still while she paced, like a bank teller refusing to give up his precious shipment of gold. No matter. She would crack it eventually.

She was still eyeing the lock up and down when Brock, Josh, and Abigail caught up to her, startling her.

“So this is the place?” Josh asked, running his eyes over the structure. “Have to admit I’m not impressed.”

“Poor things,” Abigail huffed, “How long do you think they’ve been in there?”

“I…” Danielle suddenly found herself at a loss for words. “I’m not sure. I hope they weren’t spending all this time locked up…”

“Probably better than roughing it out here.” Josh replied, surprisingly nonchalant. “These past few days were absolute hell. I’d rather be locked up in a cage all day than have to hunt for my food.”

“Like in the zoo?” Josh suddenly perked up before looking away from the others, only responding with silence. Abigail was about to go check on him when Danielle spoke up again.

“We need to find a way to break in.”

“Can’t be that hard. That building looks like it wouldn’t survive a stiff wind.” Brock chuffed, pacing around the door and sniffing the lock. He swiped at it a couple of times with his paw but it didn’t budge.

“Brock, can you break it? You’re the biggest one here. Try and kick it down or something while the rest of us look for a way in.” Brock nodded and turned so that his back legs were closest to the door. Then rearing up on his forepaws he thrust his legs backwards, hitting the door with a loud thud. The door shook like a startled child but didn’t move. Danielle frowned.

“Just keep at it.” She told Brock, who set up for another kick. “The rest of you, start looking for other ways in. We don’t have a choice.”

Like soldiers they spread out as thuds began ringing out on the door. Danielle started looking away from the building, in hopes of finding some miracle tool they could use to pry it open. Luckily, they didn’t need it.

“I think I got it!” Brock chuffed proudly after a final thud and the clattering of wood dislocated the door from its hinges. The noise caused all the cats to leap backwards, perched in defensive postures as if assailants were about to pop out from every direction. Danielle half expected alarms to go off and lasers to start shooting up the place. But no further security measures revealed themselves, apparently whoever owned the place figured remoteness alone was enough to stave off thieves and prowlers. Slowly and cautiously, they slowly advanced to the door, lying like a wounded animal waiting to be devoured by a pack of hungry wolves. Still it stood defiantly, but that only lasted a few more kicks before it gave up entirely, splitting in two and collapsing in an exhausted heap on the dirt floor.

Danielle crept in first, the low light barely a hindrance to her cat eyes. There was only one room, filled with clutter and dusty equipment. A sink, some cabinets, and counters overflowing with gizmos that one couldn’t name without consulting a science textbook filled up most of the space. A torn table of elements clung for dear life to one of the walls. While most of the equipment looked new, the fine coat of dust indicated it hadn’t been used in awhile. But two things in particular stood out to her.

One was the row of cages lining the far side of the room, two of which appeared to be occupied. The second was the figure chained to the wall in front of her.

The figure before her seemed to be neither man nor beast, his anatomy a warped fusion of twisted features and inhuman attributes. His head was vulpine, his barreled chest and thick tail resembling that of a fox. His arms and legs appeared to be mostly human, though his pawed feet carried the digitrade stance of a fox. He was naked, but covered in a thick coat of red and white fur with streaks of black on his tail and paws. He appeared to have been sleeping, but his eyes slowly opened as she walked in. They grew large as he realized he was face to face with a wild leopard. He gasped, his voice raspy like it was filled with dust.

“S- steady there, kitty. I s-swear I’m not food.” Danielle had to keep her mouth from opening in shock. She was having difficulty processing what she was looking at, which only made the fox-man more anxious. He frantically yanked at his chains, trying in vain to free himself from his bondage.

“P-please, I’ve been pumped so full of chemicals that I’m probably poisonous. Eat something else.” This took Danielle by surprise.

“What?” The fox-man’s eyes bulged as he shook his head in disbelief.

“D-did you just talk?” Danielle nodded.

“So animal men can hear us too. Welcome to team beast!” The fox-man only seemed to get more frightened.

“Are you o-one of his creations too?” Danille paused, tilting her head curiously. Behind her, the other cats padded into the room.

“What do you mean?” She asked, deep down wondering if she really wanted to know.


“The Doctor’s. He put me in here. He’s created many more of us too. You can talk, so that’s why I thought-”

“Oh.” Danielle was at a loss for words, and it was the only thing that left her mouth. There were so many questions, she didn’t know where to start.

“You were human, weren’t you?” Josh asked, padding up beside Danielle. The fox man timidly nodded. “How could you tell?”

“We were human too.” Josh said matter-of-factly. “Though I don’t think we’ve met this “doctor” of yours.”

“Wait, what kind of cat are you?” The chained up man asked, eyeing Josh up and down. “Aren’t you some kind of cold-weather mountain cat?”

“He’s a snow leopard.” Danielle responded as Josh looked on uncomfortably. “We’re not native, we’ve come to find our friends. We tracked their scent to this building.” The fox man’s eyes widened with realization.

“Oh, the other leopards? There’s two of them in those cages over there. Man, there are so many different leopards out here…” The fox man trailed off as Danielle turned her attention to the other side of the room, where Brock and Abigail were poking around the cages.


“Any luck?” She meowled over to them. Abigail nodded.

“We found them, but they’re not moving. I hope they’re not…”

“Sedated.” The fox man interjected abruptly. “They’re fine. The doctor likes to keep his charges drowsy so we don’t escape. They’ve been out for a few hours so they should be waking up in a couple minutes. But they’re not dead. At least they shouldn’t be.”


“What’s your name, fox thing?” Josh asked, prodding him with a paw. “Your human one.” The man sighed, shoulders drooping like a wilted flower.

“J-Jonathan. Or Jonah. I think. It’s been a really long time so I’m not sure.” At this Danielle’s heart started racing. Would Cecil and Brittney even know who they were? Would they know their own names?”

“How much do you remember?” She blurted quickly, faster than she would’ve liked. “Did he mess up your mind at all?” Jonathan’s face fell, his eyes fixated on something in the distance.

“He did a whole bunch of stuff. I can’t remember most of it. But I’ve seen others never come back. They go completely feral. I-I…” his voice trailed off as Danielle shot her head towards the cages, fear coursing through her veins like adrenaline. Jonathan could see the distress in her eyes, in the way her muscles tensed as if ready to lash out.

“Don’t worry, your friends were recent pickups. He hasn’t got to them … yet. I think. But who knows with him.” Danielle rushed over to the other side of the room, pushing aside Abigail to make room. Sure enough, amongst the pile of metal cages two medium sized cats snoozed, each one in a different cage. The scent all but confirmed they were the ones they were looking for. Danielle pawed at the lock but it wouldn’t budge. And unlike the weather-worn door, the metal bars looked strong and sturdy. She huffed in frustration. When would they wake up?


Fortunately for them, it wasn’t long before the two caged cats begin to stir, though to the others it felt like a lifetime. First their ears twitched, then their tails, until finally their eyes crept open like a groundhog cautiously emerging from its burrow. Immediately Danielle pressed her head against the cage, anxiously calling out for her friends.

“Brittney! Cecil! Are you all right?” Brittney opened her eyes and let out a confused meowl. She started sniffing Danielle’s muzzle as Danielle pawed at the cage.


“Brittney! Cecil! Are you okay? Are you even alive?” The two clouded leopards cocked their heads in curiosity before turning towards each other. Their faces looked blank, and Danielle feared the worst. Then suddenly Brittney’s muzzle opened slightly and several choked words escaped between her teeth.

“You… smell familiar.” Danielle pressed her face against the cage like a window shopper gawking at a fashionable handbag.

“Brittney! It’s me! Danielle! Can you hear me?” She watched as the clouded leopard sniffed her again, then suddenly her eyes seemed to fill with life.

“Danielle? Rrrr-what the hell? Grragggh!” She pawed at her muzzle in frustration.

“Sorry.” Cecil spoke up for the first time, scratching the back of his head with his hind leg. “We haven’t talked Engrrish in a long time. It’s harrrrd to…shpeak.”


“Are you okay? Why are you in here?” Danielle was as relentless as a battery of cannons assaulting a fort. The two cats simply managed a nod.

“I can’t rememberrr much.” Brittney groaned, as if talking was giving her a headache. “We were out in the forest and we caught this one goat and then…

“It was a trrap.” Cecil interjected, shaking his head. “We found some prey but then something knocked us out. We’ve been here for….” He paused, looking introspectively down at the floor. “Crap, I've lost track of time completely.”

“ Actually…. How long HAS it been?” Abigail had padded up next to her,the others scrambling behind Danielle to get a look at their friends. “It’s been much longer for me and Josh, but we haven’t been really keeping track have we?”

Danielle pondered this for a moment. Life at the zoo had been a blur, each day melting into the other. She could remember seasonal changes in the weather, but she couldn’t point out any particular day in her time at the zoo. And there were clues on the customers as well, seasonal attire and special holiday decorations that lined the walls of her enclosure. Yet somehow it all faded into mush in her memory. For some reason she’d simply stopped caring. She grunted as she tried to focus her mind. It was right on the tip of her consciousness…

“About a year.” Josh said nonchalantly, squeezing up in between Danielle and a mess of shelving. His body rubbed up against the tables, causing several empty vials to fall over like dominos. “About a week before we left my class had their zoo trip again. Mr. Hopkins was the same as ever, that buffoon. I made sure they all got a good look at my tail end.” The others looked at him with amazement. He simply shrugged in the best way a quadruped could.


“I could have the dates wrong, the might’ve changed it for all I know. But give or take a week or two, I’ve been a giant cat for … about a year now.” His expression suddenly gloomed over, his eyes glazed over in thought. The others watched as he slunk out towards the back of the building like a wounded dog.


“Has it really been a year?” Abigail asked, before letting out a mild chuff. “Though Josh shoving his butt at the crowd WAS funny. I had no idea that was our old schoolmates.”


“It… doesn’t matter how long we’ve been out here.” Danielle said, wanting to change the subject. “We just need to figure out how to get Brittney and Cecil out so we can scram.”

“I can do it!” They suddenly turned to see the fox man had called out from behind them. Danielle hadn’t realized he could hear their conversation. Seeing their focus turn on him, his confident expression broke.

“I- I mean… I could get them out. I still have my hands and all. I just need y’all to free me from these chains here and I can help.” He pointed his finger to the cuffs restricting his hands and legs, all chained to the wall. Fortunately, the old cuffs were no match for a few powerful swipes from a leopard, and the terrified fox-man soon found himself free, chains lying scattered on the floor. He smiled.


“Th-thanks.” He stammered, rubbing his wrists and ankles with his paws, flinching as he did so. “I’ve been chained up for weeks. Anyways, got something to ea-”


“Cage. Open. Now.” Faced with the bared fangs of an African leopard inches away from his nose, Jonathan rose his paws up in surrender.


“Ok, ok. I got it. Just give me a minute.” He stood up slowly, wincing as he did so. Struggling to find balance on digitigrade legs, he leaned against the wall as he made his way across the room.

“Faster.” Danielle growled, watching him like a prison guard.

“Just give me a minute, okay? It’s the first time I’ve ever walked on these things. Plus I haven’t eaten for 3 days.” He grumbled as he stumbled his way to a derelict looking cabinet right next to the cages. Danielle wondered if the man’s painful reaction to every step was a dramatization or genuine. With transformation you never could really tell. Finally he opened one of the cabinet drawers, shuffling around before pulling out an ancient looking bronze key. Appearing satisfied, he sauntered past the watching felines as he painstakingly knelt down beside the cage, jiggling the key in the equally ancient lock.

“Huh. Wrong one.”

‘Seriously?” Danielle growled, almost taking a swipe at him. Jonathan grinned.

“Nope. Just kidding.” With that there was a clicking sound and the door popped open, swinging out like a wooden fence. Brittney and Cecil tentatively poked their heads out, as if testing to see if their newfound freedom wasn’t a mirage. They sniffed the air as their ears flicked around atop their heads. Finally Brittney stepped out, then Cecil. Danielle couldn’t be prouder. The feeling lasted only a moment.

“They got to you too, huh?” Brittney asked, rubbing her nose up and down Danielle’s flanks, capturing her scent. The leopard smelled of many things… but somehow despite the lengthy separation there was a distinctly unique characteristic about the way Danielle smelled. Something that, human or cat, somehow stuck with her. Elsewhere Cecil was discovering the same thing as he slowly wandered amongst the others. Daneille, meanwhile, looked like she wanted to shrink away in embarrassment.

“Um… yeah, I guess they did.” Her mind flashed back to that night when they all snuck into the zoo. How could she be so naive? So stupid? She wondered what their lives would be like if they’d decided to stay home that night. Would she be studying for exams on a desk covered with Sherlock Holmes books and sci-fi movie posters? Would she be candidly typing up Mr. Ratworth’s retirement party for the school newspaper? Would she be asleep, safely curled up at home under several layers of blankets? She sighed. Now wasn’t the time to focus on the past. “What happened to you?”


“Probably similar circumstances to yours.” Cecil quipped from across the room. Evidently his language skills were already improving. “ Except we wound up… where are we exactly?”

“ Indonesia.” Abigail spoke up this time. “At least I think. But somewhere in that general area.” Cecil nodded.

“I figured as such. Based on the species of fauna we encountered I assumed we were somewhere in South Asia. But there’s surprisingly a lot of ground to cover when you’re as small as a clouded leopard. And the rainforest is surprisingly devoid of well-known landmarks.”

“I overheard Indonesia.” Danielle stated, rolling her eyes at the other’s lack of perception. “They talked about it quite a bit on the plane. Sumatra to be exact. We flew into a place called Medan I think.”

“You flew here?” Cecil asked inquisitively. “So you didn’t come from the same place as us?” Danielle shook her head.

“They got us at the zoo. We were there until a couple days ago when we went to get you.” Cecil and Brittney’s eyes opened wide with surprise.


“They kept you locked in a cage this whole time? That must have been horrible!”


“Horrible? Not as bad as duking it out in the wild for several months. Getting here was an absolute nightmare!”


“It’s not bad once you get used to it. I don’t know if I could ever get used to living in a zoo…. “



Suddenly the conversation was interrupted by the collar radios sizzling to life as the voice of an impatient cheetah crackled through.

“What’s going on? Did you find them?”


“Yup, they’re safe and sound.” Danielle chirped happily as the recently liberated clouded leopards looked at the collar in confusion. Danielle turned back towards Jonathan, watching the whole scene unfold with a blank expression.





“Are you guys having fun?” Flash’s voice crackled again through the intercom.

“Of course,” Danielle replied sarcastically. “I’m having a ball. I’d much rather be here than your cushy camper.” Flash replied with an equally sarcastic chuckle.


“Hardee har har. Well you all need to get a move on so we can all get out of here and go home.” Cecil and Brittney’s eyes both shot open in surprise.

“Home?” Danielle nodded.

“Back to the park. We’re adding some brand new features that are pretty epic. Walkways between exhibits, cooled rocks for the snow leopards, and some new enclosures. We can all hang out again.” Cecil and Brittney glanced at each other.


“Wait… so we’d just be going back to another cage?” I don’t want to go back if we’re just going to be locked up again. I’d rather stay put.” Danielle’s face fell like an elevator that just snapped off its cable.


“Wh-what?” Was all she could stammer.

“I have to agree with her.” Cecil mentioned guiltily. There was a lump of lead in his throat. I can’t go back to being in another cage.”

“What? Are you serious? But it’s barely a cage! There’s plenty of room to roam around, and they feed you daily, and there’s lots of toys and stuff to play with-“ Danielle stopped mid-sentence as what she was saying hit her like a freight train. Was she really that enthusiastic about life at the zoo? Was she endorsing the life that she had been forced into without her consent? Suddenly her own words made her want to vomit.

Brittney and Cecil stared at her like she’d just announced that she was the Queen of England.


“Don’t tell me you like living at the zoo.” Brittney rolled her eyes. “Wasn’t it your idea to investigate the park in the first place? Danielle didn’t respond, her stomach churning like a cement mixer. This wasn’t going how she’d planned.


“Don’t tell me you like living in the wild.” Danielle shot back. “If we return to the states we can get them to work on a cure. Maybe we can go back to our old lives.”

“Do you really think they’ll let you do that?”


“What do you mean?” Danielle’s previously confident aura had faded entirely. She felt like she was losing control. And when she lost control, scary things happened. This time it was Cecil who rolled his eyes.

“Don’t you get it? Why would they turn us back?” He held up his paw as if trying to count fingers before realizing that was a useless gesture instead slamming his paw on the ground for effect.

“What would happen if they turn us back? We go to the police, they go to jail, and WildWorld gets shut down. Everyone’s miserable. What would you do in their shoes? Best to keep your victims in a state where they can’t talk.” Danielle hung her head as Cecil continued.

And that’s if they even regret what they’ve done. They likely have no intention at all at turning us back. These are messed up, sick people we’re dealing with. I’m not walking back into their captivity.”

“I … “ Danielle stammered, extremely unsure of herself. “I’m not sure…”


“ I just want to be with my friends again.” Danielle turned towards Brock, surprised that he spoke up. “I don’t care what body I’m in. I’m just glad we found each other.”

“I’m didn’t know you had such a sentimental side.” Brock’s stupid grin turned into a confused expression.

“What d’ you mean? Of course I’m a friendly guy. I love my friends. I’m all about friendship and whatever.” Danielle stared blankly at him for a few seconds until Cecil spoke up again.

“Well why don’t we go run off and live in the woods together?”


“WHAT?” Exclaimed everyone in unison, including Jonathan who’d been patiently overhearing the whole conversation. Cecil simply bletw it off and continued.


“It makes the most sense for all of us. We leave here and just build new lives on the island. There’s plenty of prey for all of us, even the larger cats. And with all of us combined I’m sure we can fend off the tigers.”

“TIGERS?!” Everyone exclaimed in unison.


“ I’m not spending the rest of my days fending off tigers.” Brock frowned. “I’d rather go back to the zoo.” The other cats nodded in agreement.”

“I don’t think I’m suited for the jungle.” Josh quipped. “I’d be roasted alive in this stupid pelt.” Abigail nodded with him. Cecil frowned.

“Well we came here to rescue you, so that’s what we’re gonna do. We can figure out the rest once we’re out of this hellhole.”


“It’s about time.” Flash sounded like he’d just swallowed a lemon and was trying to pretend that he hadn’t. We can’t be here forever.”


The comment made Danielle’s insides churn. COULD she stay here forever? Before she had time to properly focus on those thoughts the sounds of snapping twigs outside snapped her ears to attention. She whipped around, instinctively in a defensive posture, the fur on her neck fully on end.

“Is something wrong?” Apparently Flash could hear the low growls bubbling up from the bowels of her chest. The others had noticed as well. But not fast enough. Before she could yell at them to get out two figures had entered the building. The first was Dr. Smiles, dressed in a flannel shirt and jeans. The second was Warren Gould. Dr. Smiles looked briefly shocked, then smiled like he was a kid in a candy store.


“Well well well. Looks like the gang’s all here, no?”