Pablo

Pablo stared at the cat beside him. It wasn't asleep, but its eyes were closed, its chest moving weakly against the floor. It was Lenky.

This stupid, hideous cat. He had almost killed Kento, one of the best specimen of the lab! This cat was surely a danger to the others. It would kill all of them before the scientists could turn them to cyborgs. Pablo had known it since the very moment Avery found that she-cat and that lynx in the woods. He knew the cat would probably be a good cyborg, but the lynx... there was something weird about it. After they found out the she-cat was expecting the lynx's kit, then there was no point in keeping it. It had been killed with poisoned food. When the kit was born and DNA tests were made, they discovered it was a rare hybrid, a combination between two extremely different species. Felis catus and Lynx rufus. Of course the biologists had gone crazy. A big amount, actually 99,99999999999% of them (A/N: WHAT???) hadn't even heard about that. But Pablo only thought about the war. The war that had taken his father and brothers away from him. The war that had killed his mother. He only thought about killing that man with his bare hands.That man, I mean, the man who started all of this. Whose father was killed by the TimeMachine.

Pablo's cousin.

Lenky

Lenky slowly opened his eyes. It was total darkness. He blinked, trying to accustom his eyes to the dark. He was in a small cage. Much, much smaller than his cage in the cats' room. He still couldn't see most of the room he was in, but it was cold and silent. He sniffed the air. He could smell humans, rust (probably because of the cage), cat food, and...

...dog.

–Oh, my...– Lenky had only heard about dogs. Jane had told him an ancient lynx legend about the first leader of the tribe and a dog.

Before the humans appeared on the planet, when lynxes ruled the land and the tribe had just been formed by Buck, the very first leader, a dog desolated the world, killing every living creature he could find. All of the lynxes were desperate, begging Buck to defeat the horrendous beast, saving all of the creatures and restoring the peace. Buck gathered his best warriors and went after the fierce enemy, hoping they could at least survive. In the battle, many of the honorable warriors died, leaving the leader alone and weak against the strong canine. When all hope was lost and all efforts seemed worthless, Buck prayed to his great feline ancestors not to let the dog hurt the rest of the tribe. The wise spirits gave Buck what he wished. They fought beside him, not literally, but by giving him the strength of a tiger, the courage of a lion and the wisdom of a leopard. He won the battle and the animals were now free from the evil tyrant. But, since the dog had bitten his tail hard with his razor-sharp teeth, it became short. And that's why lynxes have short tails until today.

This legend gave Lenky shivers. If a dog could kill all of the best warriors from the tribe, it could easily do the same to a young cat like him, without any efforts. Lenky knew what sharp teeth could do. He just didn't scream and cry like crazy because he knew that the dog would probably be in another cage and wouldn't be able to even come close to him.

Thought too soon...

Lenky continued to sniff, trying to catch any other smells. He could just smell dog. There was something weird about the smell. It seemed near. Too near. Dangerously near. Then he finally realized:

The dog was right behind him, in the same cage.

Lenky had to hold his muzzle tightly closed, so he wouldn't be able to scream. The huge beast was asleep, snoring loudly and moaning.

Lenky swore to himself that was the moment he had been the most scared in his life. There was a dog, a DOG right in front of him, who could wake up and tear him to pieces at any moment. Lenky's heart was jumping like crazy in his chest and his legs were shaking with the thoughts of the razor-sharp teeth.

The dog moved a little. Lenky almost fainted. The big canine yawned. Lenky's heart went crazy. The dog blinked and slowly opened his eyes. Lenky could hardly breath. The brown canine looked at Lenky a bit surprised as the cat's eyes grew wide as he feared the worse. The dog only burst into laughter and said:

"Calm down, little fellow. I'm not gonna hurt ya. I'm Fang. What's your name and, may I ask, what are you doing around here?"

Lenky didn't know how to react. The dog had... spoken to him? That was weird...

"Hey, cat, what's the problem?" The dog asked. "Are you mute...or deaf?" He added, making signs with his paws.

Lenky gathered enough courage to answer:

"M-m-m-my n-n-na-name is L-Lenky. And, i-if you haven't noticed, I-I'm locked in a cage."

"Of course I've noticed! I was just asking what you have done to be in here. I did something terribly wrong. Then the humans locked me here... and I never got out."

"What have you done?" Asked Lenky, a bit more interested in Fang's history.

"I... I... ... um..." Fang seemed anxious about this question. "I beat up another dog... who I didn't like... and  *sigh* a-accidentally... k-killed him.

Lenky let out a gasp at this answer. 

"The reason I didn't like him was that he was a bully. Not only to me, but to young defenseless puppies who had lost their moms. I just couldn't bear to see them suffer... so I just attacked him. And I ended up in this cage, just because the humans thought I was dangerous..."

"Because of the attack, right?" Lenky said

"Mostly, but since I'm half dingo, they..."

Wait just a second here! Did Fang just say that he's half dingo? No, no, no Lenky must have heard it wrong! That meant Fang was a hybrid, like him. Finally Lenky had found a resemblant, someone who could really understand him and had been through all that he had been through. That brought Lenky a little bit of hope: he wasn't alone.

"Uh... Lenky?" Fang said, interrupting Lenky's thoughts. "Hello? EEEEEaaaaaarth toooooo Lenky!" 

"Sorry, Fang, I was just thinking." Lenky replied.

"Okay, then now tell me about you. What have you done to be stuck in here?" Fang continued.

"Fine. But why all the sudden interest? I'm only a cat who was locked in the same cage as you were. Why would you want to talk to me?"

"Do you think I've had any opportunities the past few months while I was locked in here?"

Both dog and cat just burst into laughter, Lenky thinking that was the funniest thing he had ever heard in his life. After they stopped laughing, Lenky tried to catch his breath and said:

"*ha, ha* I think.. *ha, ha*... I think we have a lot in common."

"What do you mean, Lenky?"

"Well, let's just say you are looking at the rarest animal in the known world."

"And why is that?"

"Presenting you Lenky, the half-lynx cat!

Fang's eyes widened. He jumped to stand up, his eyes glowing with amusement.

"Really? I mean, I never met another hybrid before! It's awesome! Please, tell me everything."

Lenky and Fang just stood there, talking for hours and hours. It seemed to Lenky that he had finally found a real friend, someone he could just talk and laugh for hours, and simply forget life. Lenky was so happy. At least, until Fang came up with that subject...

"Do you have any siblings? You know, I would really like to meet more hybrids, if we could only get out of here..."

Lenky's smile disappeared. He looked at the ground, trying to hold back his tears. Fang noticed. 

"Um... did I say anything wrong?" He asked, his cheerful face now saddened.

"It's just... I had a sister... an adoptive sister... but she was taken away by the humans..."

"Oh... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."

"No, it's fine. I guess she was taken away to the 'battle field', as the humans say..."

Fang looked thoughtful.

"Hang on, Lenky. I think I know how to get your sister back!"

"What?"

"Yeah, we only have to sneak into this room they call 'Pablo's office', get a paper they call 'map' and run away from the lab."

"We ONLY have? And how do you know this stuff?"

Fang gave Lenky a mysterious glance and answered:

"You'll eventually find out by yourself" He yawned. "I guess it's time for a nap. Good night, Lenky" Fang lied down and curled himself up, beginning to fall into a deep slumber. 

"Good night" Lenky lied down too, closing his eyes.