Hunter

If you think back and reflect your life, you are always unsure if you are a lucky guy or not. You grew up in a church in a farming area. The priest gave you the name Gray. According to Sister Wool, the nun responsible for raising the orphans, you were found alone in the nearby forest by one of the farmers. The wolf-people are said to abandon weak puppies so they don’t weaken the pack.

Growing up as a member of a predator species was not a cakewalk. Society is split in three different groups. Members of predator species like wolves, foxes, boars, vultures and so on are viewed as aggressive, rather savage people. because of this, they live in packs, isolated clans and nomad groups. There are plenty of stories about attacks on peaceful villages by such groups.

The largest group, who is currently ruling most parts of the known world, are humans and so called >domesticated< animal people. They live a rather peaceful life in relatively secured settlements. The humans are usually leaders but they care for their underlings. There are some cases of humans treating the furries like lower beings or even slaves, but that’s a very rare minority. In most cases, Humans and their furries live in a peaceful symbiosis. And they even try to integrate predators in their society, like in your case.

The last group is not feared like your kind, but equally hated. They are called the pests. Insect people, rat-people and other wild-animal people who reproduce very fast and are seen quite hard to integrate in society. There are of course several peaceful furries too, who just prefer a life in the nature, but they are not enough to for an own group.

The whole rest of the village was populated by typical farm-furries and some humans. Sheeps, like sister Wool, cows and bulls, rabbits, chicken and even a family of squirrel-furries from the forest. As the only predator-furry, the other village people tended to avoid you. Some even demanded you to be sent to another orphanage in one of the big cities where more guards and some successful domesticated predators could keep an eye on you.

Sister Wool was always nice and caring towards you and the other orphans, but even she couldn’t completely hide her fear towards you. The other orphans were also a quite difficult case. You were four children who lost their parents one way or another. There was a bird-girl who was found alone in the wilds like you, but she was not a predator, a cat-girl (not considered a predator for some reasons) and a rabbit boy who both lost their parents in the last war.

The rabbit boy refused to sleep with you in the same room at first and even after he accepted there was no other room in the church, he retreated into a corner every night and it took hours for him to sleep. Over the years it became better with him and when you were both teenagers, he even talked to a new orphan boy about you being no danger.

This all may sound pretty harsh and probably it was often, but there are a lot of happy memories too. There were some farmers who took care of you getting enough meat to eat. As a carnivore, you could only consume bread, fruits and vegetables to a limited degree before getting stomach problems. Other people often took some time to talk to you or teach you some things. They did it mostly out of kindness and hope that you find a place in society.

In the end you even got a job. The local hunter, an older human man, quickly acknowledged your talent as a born hunter. Your body was designed to be quick, strong, persistent and your senses outmatched these of most other furries. You also showed a talent in tracking and scouting. So, when you were old enough to work, you left the church and began living at the border of the forest.

For the following years you earned you money by hunting and assisted the local authorities by keeping bandits and wild furries on distance. You also helped travelers who went missing in the forest, even if some almost got a heart attack wen your wolfish face appeared.

All in all, you think you had a rough childhood, but in the end, you still had it not too bad considering your situation. You are currently 22 and a respected member of society. And one sunny day while you took a break under a big walnut tree and carve a small wooden sculpture with your sharp claws, you had no idea that your life was soon going to become much more exciting.