The streets of Black Harbor were empty, and the skies were clear. The afternoon sun left a bright haze across the city that I’d thought was lost long ago.

One…

Two…

Three…

Taking a deep breath, I darted out from behind a huge block of cement to chase after the rabbit I’d just seen. At least ... I thought it was a rabbit. Being human no longer meant being at the top of the food chain. The Scalers now held that title. And what did they eat? EVERYTHING!

So when something furry scurried out in front of you, you nabbed it. There was no other way. It’s an eat or be eaten kind of time, and I chose to do the eating.

Some Anthros thought the best solution was to become a pet. Then there was no need to hunt or scavenge.

I’ve heard the stories. I could never… yuck. Who would want to be used, defiled, relegated to wearing the leash of a Scaler?

The pets did enjoy the luxuries of living in the Towers with their electricity, running water, and overabundant supply of food. But you’d have to survive being the property of a Black Sapphire. The ones who were disappointing often landed with a resilient splat on the ground … some fifteen stories or so below the occupied floors. Scattered remains left for the hungry. My stomach growled loudly reminding me that I was one of them … one of the hungry; not looking for scattered remains. Back to the hunt.

I swore the rabbit ducked into a pipe. Dropping down on all fours, these light brown eyes of mine did nothing for my sight. I couldn’t help but squint, clenching my teeth along with every other muscle in my body to reach inside the dark space. It had to be trapped in there. The other side was pushed against a steel beam leaving nowhere else for the critter to go.

“Now that is a position I love to see all of my pets in,” a voice leered from behind me.

Snatching my hand out, I took off running. It didn’t take me long to break into full speed, but I knew it would only delay the inevitable. Leave it to me to simply think about pets and their cushy existence, only to have a Scaler land a couple feet away from me. I couldn’t hear him anymore. The sound of my own breathing, my feet scraping and skidding across the ground echoed around the barren buildings. I couldn’t keep this up for long, so I ducked behind a wall, crouching to get closer to the ground.

“That was sweet,” the same voice chuckled, “Are you done now?”

I turned around to see a familiar face. He always lurked around the underground hideaways collecting Anthros like … well like pets. His wings wrapped around him like a coat. It made my skin crawl. Those long black fingernails twirled in a circle before pointing to me and then motioning for me to come closer. I stayed exactly where I was, desperately scanning my surroundings for the nearest exit.

The Scaler’s pale complexion contrasted against his wardrobe like a ying-yang symbol. His strands of blonde hair were almost the same shade as his skin. His dark purple eyes grew wide as they took in the length of me. I slowly rose to my feet and began backing away from him until I hit the wall.

“Easy, Scrumptious,” he laughed, “I won’t bite… unless that’s what you’re into.”

“I don’t want any trouble,” I called out to him. It was then that I saw another one behind him. He donned the same black wings draped over him like a cape. His eyes darted around as if they weren’t supposed to be here, or like someone was coming. Someone came alright.

I’d seen him every once in a while; caught a glimpse of those brilliant blue eyes. Those eyes swallowed my entire soul as if I’d dove into the bay off of those Black Harbor docks. But he was one of them. He was a Scaler, and I wanted nothing to do with any of it. I just wanted to live my life. I wanted to hunt my rabbit and finally taste a piece of fresh meat. I wanted to get the hell out of here.

Bold Blue Eyes was riding a black motorcycle, trimmed in chrome with a motor that revved louder than I’d heard any of them roar. His jeans hung off his body just right, and that shirt he wore didn’t do much to disguise how ripped his muscles were. A healthy body like that told me all I needed to know.

Anthros, the men, they struggled to eat and didn’t look like him in the slightest. Most of them weighed less than I did, unless they were pets of course. That other one? Dressed in black? Who preyed on anything without scales? He was skinny like most men I knew. However, even with his slender frame, I knew not to test him. I could feel the strength as he motioned toward me. I could see it in the way he defied Blue Eyes, but he wasn’t one to be disregarded.

Watching him scale from that rugged, handsome hunk of flesh into a ravenous beast of scales and wings did something to me I never thought it would … it impressed me. He sped from his bike to the one appearing to hide behind Skinner, grabbing him and forcing him into the air. Skinner took off into the sky as well. Curiosity certainly made me wonder how Bold Blue Eyes would handle the two of them, but that was the least of my concerns.

I watched them for a moment before I realized I stood directly under them. At any moment, flames could erupt, they could fall, or even worse … they’d remember they were fighting over me and come to claim their prize. Well, I wouldn’t be the prize pet to either of them.

Taking one glance at the bike, I decided that it would be the quickest way out of here just in case skinny Skinner broke away from the Black Sapphire tossing him across the sky. It begged me to take it for a spin. At the very least, I could take it to get away from the duel going on in the skies.

It took me awhile to get the thing started. My training up until now had been reserved to pictures and rough sketches. It’s rare for any Anthros to get a live test drive. Luckily for me, it roared to life just as its owner roared into the air. It sounded painful, but that was no concern of mine. My life was my priority, and right now I had to get out of there.

Riding through the ash paved streets of Black Harbor felt amazing on that motorcycle. I didn’t have to keep my eyes plastered to the sky. Stepping on stones, glass, and pebbles were an afterthought. The wind whipped through my hair and the sun beamed on my skin. Peace washed over me.

By the time I arrived at what had been home for the last few years, the sun was higher in the sky than I ever remembered it. Somehow Scalers doing battle in the sky made it an even brighter day. Perhaps it’s because they weren’t hunting us for a change.

With one and a half floors, the building looked like the shell outside of a complete crater, a waste of space. It’s a good thing Anthros didn’t live above ground. A solid door stood erect in the cinder block wall. It was thick. It was black. It was heavy. A doorbell sat discreetly next to it. Pushing it, a voice erupted from a hidden speaker, “What do you think you’re doing with that thing?”

“Jasper, come on, let me in! I can’t hold this thing out here for long!” I told him desperately sneaking glances over my shoulder and to the skies above.

The soft sound of the lock clicking out of place let me know to take a step back. That heavy black door never opened, but the eight by eight space in front of it did. It dipped down into the tunnels just under the foundation of the abandoned building I stood in front of. The square piece of steel, masked as cement, allowed me to roll the motorcycle down into our humble abode.

Yeah, humble was the word for it. The dark walls wreaked of sludge that seeped down from the street after the rain washed away the battles of the Scalers. A string of L.E.D lanterns lit the long tunnel which brought me to another thick black door.

Jasper didn’t wait for me to knock. His bald head gleamed, even in the dim lighting of the tunnel. With an eyepatch over his left eye and one long scar that traveled from the side of his face down to his neck, he held the door open wide for me to roll the metallic beast into our domain.

A single ladder stood in the center of the receiving room of sorts. It stretched up to a manhole cover dozens of feet above us. Two streams of daylight found their way through the grates of the steel plate cover, letting the smallest bit of natural light stream into the room. You could never tell how deep underground you were going with that tunnel. But it didn’t matter, it kept us off the menu and comfortable enough just to survive.

“I almost caught a rabbit,” I smiled to Jasper.

He was my caretaker for as far back as I could remember. I didn’t have parents. I didn’t have siblings. Sure there were others who came and went as they pleased, but I had a Jasper. He’d always been there for me, and I couldn’t remember a time when he wasn’t.

Jasper was kind of tall, taller than me at least. He reminded me of that old children’s tale I used to hear about. I even saw pictures of it once, a jolly old guy in a red suit that delivered toys one night a year to every kid across the globe. It was a wonderful tale until the Scalers showed up and ate the reindeer. That was my Jasper… the jolly old man, not the Scaler. He brought me gifts and kept me alive for more than one night a year. And today? I managed to bring him something for once.

“Are you serious, Whisper? Come on now! Instead of a rabbit for us to eat, you come back with a hog you can barely ride?” he chuckled. “Where’d you find that anyway? It looks pristine.”

“It is. The owner was more or less occupied defending my honor, so I decided to take it for a spin. I didn’t have a way to give it back. Sooo,” I shrugged waiting for him to say he loved it.

“Bring it back to where you got it,” he shook his head as he ran his hands over the handlebars. His eye was absent of gratitude.

“Why? We can break this down! Sell it for scales, food, money, lights! We can use this!”

“We’re not breaking this down, and as a matter of fact, you don’t touch it anymore. You probably got your scent buried in the clutch. I’ll bring it back, and you’d better hope its owner doesn’t come down here looking for it!”