The Animals

Chapter One:

The Camp

-...-

At first, he felt twigs poking at his fur, and for a moment, it felt like needles. Not yet again, Jerome shifted a bit, and another realization came to him. It was really, really cold. Shortly after that, he woke up, and sat up to find himself alone. He was surrounded by smells he didn't recognize. The sun was going down, it was getting dark slowly, and when Jerome looked around, he didn't know where he was.

“Momma?” Jerome's voice was soft at first, as his chest sank. He looked around, taking a few steps forward. There was no reply.

“Daddy?” Jerome called out, this time raising his voice a little. Tears formed in his eyes, and began to shiver. There was no reply.

“M-Mitch!?” Jerome cried out, and when he got no reply from any loved one at all, the tears fell down his face, and he started to cry.

The 5 year old cried, looking around, his sobs pretty much the only sound heard other then the light wind. He was alone, scared, and he was probably hungry too. The growing darkness also freaked him out. He was out in the open, and after a moment of hopelessness, something in his head clicked. The voice of the animal inside him told him to find shelter. A place to hide from the cold and the darkness.

Taking a few small steps at a snail's pace, Jerome walked to the edge of the circle-like clearing he had woken up in. He pushed pass a bush and found himself out of the clearing. He saw more and more forest, and a slope going down just a few feet away. Scanning the area, Jerome realized that it was lighter farther into the forest then where he was now. Drawn to that area, he became hypnotized, and couldn't help but walk towards it in search of a place to be.

“Ah!”

A tiny yelp came from Jerome as he tripped and fell down the slope, something that had escaped his mind far to quickly. It had been bit more steep then he thought, and he tumbled down it, grunting and squeaking as so. When he reached the bottom, he laid on the ground, scratched up and dizzy, and he didn't get back up until he remembered the light. He was getting tired and his limbs were shaking, but like a brave little bacca, he kept on going.

Jerome walked on at a slow pace, paranoid of his surroundings, scared that something would jump out, but also hopeful that it could be his mom or dad or Mitch. Still, he passed the trees and bushes, careful not to step on anything that could hurt him farther. He crossed his arms in attempts to help the cold, but that didn't help much.

Time went on, and Jerome couldn't find any place that looked unfrightning. The light seemed to get farther and farther away, as it seemed to get colder and colder too. His crying at stopped, but tears still dripped from his chin. The sun was almost completely gone, and Jerome knew that in a matter of half an hour, it would be completely dark. His heart beat faster to the thought that he wouldn't find his way out.

Another ten minutes or so had passed, and at this point, the poor child's steps were hardly even an inch apart. His eyes were closing and he couldn't help but feel sleepy. The noises of the night started to appear, and for some odd reason, he began to feel better. There were frogs and crickets, and even though there was still the light wind, hearing other animals made him feel safer. The stars also appeared sooner or later, and looking at them made Jerome happy. Momma said they would watch over him, so he believed her.

Jerome stopped walking, and sat down at the roots of a tree. He made himself comfortable and looked up at the stars, hardly able to keep himself awake. His stomach growled for food, and his heart ached for his family but the stars and the singing of the frogs and crickets helped him ignore it. He sniffled and shivered, but the animal voice in his head told him he was alright for now.

Jerome dazed off for awhile. He came back to his senses when he heard a noise unlike the others. Something was in the bushes a couple feet away. Confused, and slightly freaked out, Jerome shifted so that his feet were as close to him as they could get, his knees high up so that he could rest his chin on them. His eyes stared at the bushes, and they didn't move until it stopped.

There was laughter, and out of nowhere, two bodies rolled out from the bushes. Jerome jumped, his sudden movement making the other two stop like deer in headlights. Once Jerome realized nothing was attacking him, he focused himself on figuring out who or what the two were. To his surprise, a fox and a blue bird were playing, and had been spooked by him.

“U-uh...” Jerome tried to say something, but couldn't.

“Um...Hi there.” The fox said, stepping to the side of the blue bird.

Jerome's eyes widen when the fox talked to him. He never really interacted with wild animals, and when he did, they never responded to him. To hear a fox talk was unreal. And the two realized Jerome's surprise.

“He understands.” The fox smiled.

“Of course he does, he's a bacca!” The blue bird replied.

Jerome tilted his head. “How did you know?”

The blue bird flew over to Jerome, and the fox followed.

“My name's Jason.” the bird said to Jerome. “Who might you be?”

Jerome paused, but shook his head. “My name's Jerome.”

“I'm Ian!” The fox said.

Jason took a good look at Jerome and could tell that he was lost.

“Where's your home? I don't believe it's anywhere around here. I'd think we would have met you before.” Jason asked.

“Uhh...Um...” Jerome gulped. “I'm lost. I don't remember which way is home.” Tears reappeared in his eyes.

“What do we do?” Ian whispered to Jason, his head dipping closer to the dirt ground.

“We can't leave him here.” Jason whispered back, then turning back to Jerome. “I can help you if you'd like!”

“Really?” Jerome asked. “How?”

Ian tilted his head to the side. “Are you going to fly up and take a look around for his home?”

Jason frowned. “I wish, but it's a bit too dark for me to do that. In the morning we can, but for now, I think our friend here shouldn't be out in the cold.”

Ian's tail went up. “Oh! We're going to take him back to the camp?”

“We can't leave him.” Jason replied.

“Where are we going?” Jerome asked, confused. His stomach growled again, and Ian chuckled a bit.

“We've got food and a warm place to sleep, and there are lots of other animals so you won't be alone!” Ian answered.

“We've got a camp with other animals. You can stay the night with us and then we can get you home!” Jason added.

“Oh.” Jerome smiled. “Okay.”

“This way!” Ian turned, and was determined to lead the way.

Jerome got up and followed the fox, Jason flying from tree to tree behind the two. It wasn't a short walk, and Jerome found himself glancing around as it got darker and darker. But then, Jerome saw a light, a flickering light, coming from the distance. It was small, but Ian was walking right towards it. There was an area of thick bushes that the three had to get by with narrow space, but once they did, the area opened up, and a camp appeared. Jerome's eyes widen as he looked around.

The camp wasn't a large space, but there was room to walk around. In the middle of the area was a small contained fire, and a bunch of leaves that appeared to once have food on them. There were dens, some made out of sticks and leaves and found objects, while some carved into the ground. Up in some of the trees surrounding the place were carved in dens. Jerome also saw animals. Different kinds of animals.

“What do you think?” Ian asked Jerome.

“It's...It looks cool.” Jerome said, still amazed.

Some of the animals turned to look at him, and Jerome felt shy. Ian stood by him, though. Jerome's stomach growled again, and Jason looked at the food pile.

“Where did the last of the fish go?” Jason asked. “There was a small pile when we left!”

Jerome turned to see one of the animals that was walking out of a den laugh. It was a fluffy wild cat with light brown, almost a light red or pinkish, fur. “Tyler took it.”

“That's Kyle.” Ian told Jerome, whom sat down.

“Hold on, Jerome.” Jason turned to Jerome, and then turned to fly into the den that Kyle had walked out of.

“Where's he going?” Jerome asked Ian.

“That's the big den that took us weeks to dig. That's where Tyler , Husky, and Sub sleep.” Ian said. “Tyler is a tiger, Husky is a wolf, and our friend Sub is a small deer.”

“A tiger? And a wolf and a deer? How do they get along?” Jerome asked.

“We're all friends here.” Jerome turned to see a new voice. Hanging a few feet away from a web connected to a branch, was a spider. A Banana spider to be more specific.

“Whose this?” Jerome asked, shifting to the side.

“My name's Brice.” The spider said. “Who might you be?”

Jerome noticed other animals listening in, such as a snake and a crow. A mouse and a squirrel listened on from afar as well. All the eyes made Jerome nervous. When Jerome didn't reply, Ian did so for him.

“This is Jerome. He's lost, so me and Jason thought that he could spend the night here with us.” Ian announced to those who listened.

“Oh. Well, we'll get you home. Don't worry about anything.” Brice reassured Jerome.

“Alright!”

Jason came back and dropped a half eaten fish in front of Jerome. Jerome looked back at the den to see a tiger walking out of it. The tiger licked it's lips and then yawned. Then the tiger looked at Jerome, making Jerome look back to the fish.

“Y-you took this from the tiger?” He asked.

“Don't worry about it. Tyler eats when he feels like it, which is normally after everyone else. He's had three or four other fish, so it's not like the cat is starving.” Jason said.

“Are you sure?” Jerome asked.

“Tyler's a cat. He doesn't care.” Kyle said with a purr and then a laugh.

With that, Jerome sniffed the fish. It had been caught a couple hours ago, but was still pretty fresh. After a bit of hesitation, he picked it up and bite off a bit. It was raw, unlike how mother cooked it, but he liked it none the less. But then he realized some of them were staring at him. Animals didn't pick up their food with their front paws to eat. Jerome was eating like a human. Jerome put the food down.

“What's the matter?” The mouse walked over.

“I just...i..uh..” Jerome couldn't speak.

“Eat how you please. You were raised by humans. Embrace that.” Seto supported him. “Unless you don't want to.”

“I've never seen an animal in human clothing.” A squirrel judged, sitting on top of one of the dens close by.

“Oh, shut up, Hwnt. He looks adorable.” A raccoon sitting a feet away from the squirrel said.

“That's Hwnt, the squirrel, and Zombi, the raccoon.” Ian smiled. “And Seto, the mouse.”

“Don't forget about me!” A green snake slivered over. “I'm Bashur!”

“H-hi.” Jerome replied.

“My name's Shelby if you ever need me.” A small butterfly flew over, and Jerome smiled at her soft voice.

“I guess since we're all introducing ourselves, my name's Ant.” Said a crow, flying down from a branch above.

Jerome nodded his head to them, and gulped. “So..many animals.” He said to himself.

“There are more of us.” Shelby said. “But they are asleep.”

“Really?” Jerome asked.

“Well...” Ian turned to Brice.

Jerome continued to listen as he ate at the fish.

“Since you seem interested, Sub and Husky, the deer and the wolf, are asleep.” Ian repeated.

“Ty the owl is asleep in the trees.” Brice said, looking up a the trees, Jerome following his gaze.

“We have a bee named Sky, Alesa the cardinal, Clara the rabbit.” Jason added.

"Okward the frog.” Tyler added on to the list from afar.

Jerome gulped down a piece of fish. “How many of you are there?”

They looked at each other, and then finally Seto gave a number.

“There are 18 of us in total here.”

“Wow.” Jerome softly gasped, looking around the camp again. He then yawned.

“You look sleepy.” commented Bashur.

“I think we should find you a place to sleep now.” Shelby then said.

“Oh! I know a place our guest can sleep!” Bashur grinned.

“Yeah, I think there is enough room for you with Bashur in their den.” Seto said.

Jerome yawned again, and nodded his head. He was super tired. Bashur and Seto showed Jerome the way, and Jerome found himself in a den where it was partly dug into the ground, but the roof of the den was made of sticks and large leaves. There were cut pieces of fabric too. Inside the den, there was Clara the rabbit, sleeping quietly. When the three squeezed in, Clara's ears twitched, and she lazily opened her eyes to see the three.

“Clara. This is Jerome. He'll be staying the night with the camp.” Seto introduced them.

Clara yawned. “Welcome to our den, Jerome.” And with that, she shifted back into getting back to sleep.

Jerome found space to sit down, and when Seto left, Jerome laid down on his side, facing the den wall. His legs and arms were curled up and his rested uncomfortably on the ground. He found this all odd. A group of different animals living in peace, talking to each other. A snake and a rabbit in the same little den without one eating the other. How did a tiger even get here?

But, Jerome liked the mystery. He liked the discovery of something different. He liked their openness to him, and he was glad he was here instead of sitting by a tree alone. Besides, they gave him food, and there was warmth. A fire, funny. And they promised to get him home. With these nice thoughts, he looked forward to getting home to Mitch tomorrow. And that alone helped him get to sleep. He didn't feel at home, but he did feel safe. He was a strong bacca. He could wait. He could do it.

-...-

Tyler had watched the three go into the den, and when Jerome was out of sight, Tyler approached the fish that Jerome had left on the ground. He didn't finish it, so Tyler leaned down to do so. Kyle watched, rolling his eyes.

“Tyler!” Brice said, spinning the web to meet Tyler's low height.

“What!? He didn't finish it!” Tyler defended himself, chewing on the fish.

“You're going to get fat eating so much.” Kyle commented.

“Fat and happy, I think.” Tyler replied. “Besides, I know you want this fish.”

“You're right.”

Suddenly Kyle rushed over and tore a bit of the fish off quickly, sprinting off , out of reach of Tyler. Brice and Kyle laughed.

“Whatever!” Tyler sighed. “I'll get back at you for that.”

“Oh I'm so scared.” Kyle played the threat off.

Brice looked between the two cats and yawn. “I wouldn't say that, Kyle.”

“Yeah yeah.” Kyle said, licking his lips after finishing the bit of fish he stole.

Brice retreated back up the web, and Tyler eyed down Kyle. Seto reappeared from the den to see the two, and then the pretty much finished food. He rolled his eyes and then went back to his small den, shared with the sleeping bee cardinal, and later, butterfly. It was getting late, and if they were to keep their promise to the bacca, they couldn't sleep in.

-...-