❤️💜39k BOIII IDK WOT WE'RE GONNA END THIS BOOK ON--💜❤️

---Pallete's POV----

"So...what's your backstory...?"

I blinked, looking up from the dust pile I'd made to see Goth staring curiously at me, his eyes scanning over me curiously. "Huh?"

"Your backstory." He shifted closer to me, leaning forwards eagerly. "I mean, you don't have to tell me...but I'm curious. Like how did you end up on the streets, what happens to your parents. You know, that stuff."

I sighed, the force of my breath blowing away the small dust pile I'd made. "Well...I don't actually know what happened to my parents... As soon as I was born I was dumped in an orphanage. Clearly my parents either didn't plan to have me, or they just hated me. From as far back as I remember I've been in that orphanage, with other given up kids. Kids unwanted by their parents. The very people that are supposed to protect you for life. I grew up with a small gang of friends. Two of them were human, and one was a tiger. The very same tiger that chased us down that alleyway and is now my enemy. He was called Dimitri. Then there were two humans, one girl and one boy. Jenny and Dylan.

Dylan was an incredibly small boy, even though he was young, he was much smaller than everyone else at the orphanage, and was basically the size of most people several years younger than him. One of his skills though was climbing things, so every now and then the orphanage matrons would look up to the rafters of the ceiling to see the small boy sat up there, smirking down at them. Dylan was ten when I last saw him, four when I first met him.

Jenny was never someone to mess with. Our orphanage was full of sexist beliefs such as girls are weak, shy, and dependent on men. Oh boy, Jenny was the complete opposite of that. She was five when I met her, eleven when I last saw her. She was famous throughout the orphanage for frequently beating up the other boys that mocked her, or irritated her. Once she even broke some kid called Jack's nose." I laughed softly at the memory, smiling weakly.

Goth looked up at me, seeming incredibly engrossed in my story telling. "What about Dimitri? Was he always dangerous and cruel?"

I sighed, shaking my head. "No... when I first met Dimitri he was eight, older than all of us. He acted as our main protecter, the leader of our little group. He was forever getting into fights, giving and earning many beatings. His arms and back ended up with barely any furr on them by the time I last saw him. He was fourteen then.

None of us liked the orphanage. I had been there since I was born, but Dylan, Jenny and Dimitri came in later, abandoned by their families, or having lost their families. Dylan's family all died in a car crash, and having no other relatives to go to, he had to go to the orphanage. Jenny's parents had adopted her, but then couldn't handle her boisterous nature, so they gave her to the orphanage. Dimitri had abusive parents that drank every day and beat him. They were his only family, so when people found out about his ill treatment they took him away, locking his parents up and taking him to the orphanage."

"So what happened for you to end up out of the orphanage...?" Goth asked, tilting his head to the side as he listen, waiting for more of my backstory.

I rubbed the back of my neck, trying to remember. "Well, we spent six years in there as best friends, doing absolutely anything for each other. And as those years went on, we grew to hate the orphanage with a passion. The matrons were always scolding us for being cheeky and doing things we shouldn't be. I can remember so clearly that one night, after all the lights were off and we were supposed to be asleep, we all met up in the girls dormitory because Dimitri said he'd came up with an idea that we literally couldn't refuse or deny.

We'd all met up there, slipping past the night patrollers watchful eyes to meet Jenny, all crowding around Jenny's bed as we waited to hear what Dimitri had came up with that we'd apparently definitely agree to. I can remember all of us being sat cross legged on the mattress as Dimitri cleared his his throat, preparing to tell us his master plan. Oh boy, we weren't expecting him to say what he did next."

"What did he say?" Goth asked, leaning closer to me.

I sighed, smiling and blushing slightly as he leaned against my shoulder. "He told us he wanted to escape. Pull off a break out."

"Really?!"

"Yup. I can remember being so shocked at the idea, but after he'd explained his plan, it actually sounded like freedom could be possible. We agreed to his plan, and before we even registered what we'd done, we were on the move. We'd waited a week to escape so that we could prepare everything. We saved bits off food from our meals when we ate, such as yogurt pots, fruit, anything packaged - like snacks, and as much water as we could in plastic bottles. None of us apart from Dimitri could remember what the proper outside wolf looked like. And even Dimitri's description was hazy. Sure we could go outside into the orphanage grounds twice a day, but we soon got bored of it, craving the sight of the tall, dark pine tree forest in the distance that seemed to stretch out for miles.

When the night of the break out came round we all met up in the girls dorm again, getting Jenny before we snuck down to the kitchen. The kitchen is where all the keys are, and it conveniently has a door in it that leads right out to the outside grounds. We'd quickly grabbed a few more packaged or tinned foods before going through the stressful pain of sorting through about fifty keys to find the one to the door we were at. I remember how every little noise made us panic, thinking that someone would walk in and ruin our whole plan completely.

And then that's just what happened... The orphanage cook walked in just as Jenny inserted the right key into the lock, immediately calling out and making us panic. Dimitri threw a frying pan at him before shoving as all out the door, screaming at us to run. We all sprinted across the grounds, jumping up and climbing as we reached the tall fence. They had barbed wire all around the top for most of the area, but the other day Dylan had seen a spot where the barbed wire reels didn't quite meet, leaving a small gap. A small gap was all we needed.

Dylan jumped up first, practically running up the fence he was so fast. Like a squirrel. I went next, then Jenny, then Dimitri. I remember catching my arm on the barbed wire at some point, resulting in a deep cut on my arm that's left a scar I still have today. The cook nearly grabbed onto Dimitri, but he scratched him in the face before scrambling over with us.

As soon as we were over the fencing and out of the orphanage grounds we ran, sprinting as fast as we could to the forest in the distance we'd stared at for so long. Once in the forest, we kept running, desperate to escape. If we'd have got caught in the woods it would have been all over for us. But all being young, our stamina levels weren't the best. We eventually slowed, panting heavily as we went from sprinting to trudging wearily, all our adrenaline lost. We made camp in a little clearing, and slept there for the night, having no idea what tomorrow would bring. I-If I had known what would be in store for us the next day...I would have never left the orphanage..."

"Wh-What happened?" Goth asked, seeming concerned. "D-Did your friends get hurt?"

I inhaled sharply, giving a weak nod. "The next day we had been traveling through the woods like normal, trying to find our way out and stumble upon the nearest town. At some point we took a break, and Dylan climbed up a tree. Now Dylan had never really climbed trees outside of this size, but soon enough he was high up in a pine tree, trying to get a better view of our surroundings. None of us had seen the hornet wasp net. So when he kicked it with his foot and broke some of it by accident, they were on him like a wolf on a deer.

I can remember watching in horror as he screamed, trying to bat them away with his hands. And then our worst nightmare came true. Dylan overbalanced and fell, sent screaming as he smashed into branches before slamming into the floor, his body crumpled and twisted out of proportion. I remember running over to him only to see his once blue eyes full of life staring dully up at us, unblinking. He was dead.

That's when the reality of what we'd done kicked in. We were forced to carry on, knowing that Dylan wouldn't want us to mourn him and give up on our objective. None of us were strong enough to carry his body, so we had to leave him there in that clearing. We covered his body in flowers, attempting to make it look a bit like a burial. And then we continued, trying to find a village or town.

And then Jenny met a fate far worse than any of us could have ever imagined.

We had all been running, trying to leave the memories of Dylan's death behind us when suddenly shadows were running by our sides, growls and snarls escaping them. The thought of accidentally crossing over into a predators territory hadn't even occurred to us. Before we knew it we had wolves after us, snapping and biting. And when one grabbed onto Jenny's ankle...there was noting Demitri or I could do...we just kept running, leaving our best friend screaming in agony and fear as the wolves tore at her flesh like she was made of noting but raw, tender flesh.

We didn't stop running or look back, and we didn't even coincider the option of climbing trees. Eventually, after what felt like days, we made it to a town. Craitown. Dimitri and I immediately made two burial remembrances for Jenny, carving some words into a tree by the boarder. Then we went into Craitown, hoping to finally get our perfect life. But things just kept going downhill. No one let us work for them. No one wanted to help two scrubby orphan boys. We both ended up in Elms block, being forced to live on the streets.

And then came the event that ripped Dimitri and my friendship forever. We had been exploring an abandoned building, innocently looking around and having a bit of fun when it suddenly started collapsing. With the two of us inside. We both tried to run out, but Dimitri got his foot stuck. He called out at me to help, but as I turned around and looked back at him, seeing the building ceiling cracking massively, I turned back and ran, tears streaming down my face as I left him. The building collapsed a few mere seconds after I escaped.

I assumed Dimitri died in there. But three years later I robbed a guy in the square. As soon as they noticed, they whipped around, and we both instantly froze. It was Dimitri. But he had changed. And not just physically. His first reaction was to attack me, saying that I'd betrayed him by leaving him in that building. He even blamed me for Jenny and Dylans death...we've been enemies ever since..." I trailed off, having nothing else to say.

Goth frowned, seeming to have tears building up in his eyes. "P-Palette I'm so sorry...I-I had no idea you'd been through so much..."

I smiled weakly, wiping away my own tears along with his as I hugged him to my chest. "It's okay Goth...It's okay...."

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2,040 words--

Dammmmnnnnnnn

MaN i CrIeD wRiTiNg ThAt--

I'm so sorry Dylan-- forgivemepls--

And I'm so sorry Jenny-- youdontreadthisbookbutohwell

AHHAHAHAHAH LONGEST CHAPTER IN THIS BOOK SO FARRRRRRRRR

I luv writing backstories :3

AND SHOUT OUT TO @MIDNIGHTUK AKA JENNY

ShE wRiTeS bTs StUfF--

OH AND ALSO--

Sum more of my Neko Cross design that no one asked for--

-Jess-