A groan came from the darkness as the man awoke, "ughh uh...where am i?" he said slowly standing up as he rubbed the back of his head. As his hand met the back of his head he felt a sticky substance mat down the fur in between his paw pads and gasped bringing his paws to his eyes to see blood, red and sticky, clinging to him. Shaking he moved a paw to the wall closest to him steadying himself as best as he could. Slowly he took inventory of his body, the only thing that hurt was his head, nothing else. No broken bones, no cuts, no gashes, only the stinging pain in the back of his head. Shaking his head widely he try's to think, try's to remember. "w..whats my name" he says to himself finding that he could not remember his own name. He looks down and sees his naked foot paws covered in grim and dirt matting his black fur down as he looks around.
He was in an alleyway filled to the brim with garbage of all kinds. Dirty diapers littered the ground along with garbage bags leaking with a revolting liquid which hit his nostrils with its repugnant odor. Stumbling out of the alleyway he finds himself in a dark city. Rusty piped hang in the air as water and sewage flow down the sidewalk into the grating that covers the entrance to the sewers. The night was filled with the stench of rot and death as the man stumbles more down the sidewalk, his hand trailing on the red crumbling bricks of a building.
Panting the man grabs his head as flashes of pictures flash before his eyes accompanied by screams of a woman. Groaning he picks himself back up and rubs his bloody paw on his torn pants. looking around he sees a glowing sign to a restaurant and quickly stumbles in the bell jingling with his entrance as people look his way. "may i help you sir" a young looking leopard asks him. She was at least five feet with long brown hair trailing down her back, her spots were black shooting out of her yellow fur as she looks up at the man and gaps. Her uniform rumpled as she hurried up and grabbed his arm leading him to a chair, "oh my sir are you okay do you need any help" she says the concern in her voice prominent as she quickly gets him a glass of water.
He grabs the glass and downs it in one go panting as the woman looks at his wounds, "oh my that is a large cut ill go get something to clean it up you just sit here" she says running off into the back. looking around the man sees a family staring at him, the woman and man had looks of disgust as if he was a monster. looking down he finally notices one particular fact that leaves him stumbling out of the chair. "w..wah" the man says falling on his ass as he holds his black paws up to the light, "i...i have paws" he says just noticing this obvious fact, "b..but how" he says looking over his body with armament. Somehow he knew he was supposed to be human and these paw should not be here. Quickly he gets back up lifting a napkin holder to his face and gasps. His large snout was prominent, black fur coated his face as his large ears twitched with each sound, he gasped lightly as he traces a scar from his eyes to his cheek. Oh his eyes, they were large, gold rings nearly covering his entire eyeball barley any white to be seen. "My god" he whispered under his breath as he looks behind him to see a tail pointing to the ground, limp.
A quick crash was heard from the back followed by a curse as the young leopard came rushing out, a large box with a red cross in one hand and a wet washrag in the other. "here hold still" the woman says gently wiping the blood away as the man flinches from the stinging pain. With great care the woman carefully bandages the cut and puts the supplies away sitting next to the man, "now is there anything else that's hurt" she says, the man shaking his head in reply staring at her beautiful blue eyes and her long snout. "How" he says almost out loud as the leopards ears twitch, "how what sir?" the woman asked her look of concern only deepening. Shaking his head the man stares at the woman, "how did i get here" he says out loud still staring at the woman.
A bout of confusion crosses over the young woman's face, "why you walked in the door, are you sure your okay" she says reaching up to pat eh man on the shoulder. Nodding the man sighs, "that is not what i meant but thank you for helping me" he says noticing the rumble of his voice vibrating his chest gently as he sighs. The woman nods and gets up, "if you need anything just ask" the woman said and walks off to tend the other customers.
Sitting there with only his thoughts the man sighs trying hard to remember how he got to this strange city. He was met with only blank slots were his memories were and the only things he could remember were vague and foggy, like pictures not quite fully developed. He sat there for hours, the clock behind the counter ticking away, as slowly the sun rose over the desolate city.
Fog covered the windows as the man felt a tap on shoulder, startled he turned around only to find the young woman, he later found out who's name was Susan, standing there with her hands raised up, a smile on her face,
"whoa there, just thought you might want to know that the place is closing up soon" staring at the mans face she blinked, "do you have a place to go to sir" she asked, the man replied a soft "no" causing Susan to frown, "well that's no good, this probably isn't a good idea, i mean you could be a murderer for all i know, but...why don't you come with me. I got some old closed from my exe that might fit you, and we need to take a look at that cut on the back of your head; so what do you say?" she asked holding out a paw to the man. The man looked at he paw then back up at the nice woman and nods taking her hand and letting her help him get up. Slowly Susan help the man out of the restaurant and down the road to her small blue car.
