Chapter 1: The Long Way Home

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Hello ladies, fish, and gentle dogs, I hope you can enjoy my first published hybrid story, this has been my longest writing yet, (and is currently still in progress of being written!) 

It will be a truly special ride that I hope everyone can enjoy! 

All members will show up and be important to the storyline, so if you're favorite isn't here just yet, don't worry! They'll be here soon!

And with that, enjoy!


"I know that look." Your face immediately goes into your hands. The sigh is audible and loud. But it's never enough to dissuade your boss.

"We don't have any more room and you're the only staff member with no hybrids." You can feel the smile even though you can't see it.

"Chan, I've told you a thousand times I don't have time for a hybrid." You take your hands off your face only to slump back in your seat and whine. You think about kicking your legs out for good measure but think better of it... This time...

You had just been putting on the finishing touch on the paperwork from the zebra hybrid that came in when Chan had come to the front desk looking excited but wary. That face can mean a lot of things, but it mostly means Chan is begging you to take home one of the adoptable hybrids that have been abandoned. No matter how many times you tell him you don't have the room, energy, or emotional capacity to take care of a hybrid, he always insists.

Yes, everyone does find it weird that you work at a rescue shelter and don't have a hybrid companion at home. When you tell them you don't have a hybrid (even though you do have a lovely beta fish named Taemin!!!!!) they look at you like there's something positively wrong with you. There was even one time you got told you must have just been pretending to like hybrids to get a partner. Which like?? Aren't there plenty of other perfectly good things you could lie about instead? And pay a lot less in schooling fees for??

"But you'll really like this one I promise. And..." His head hangs low for a second, and you can hear him shuffle his feet for a second, before making direct eye contact with you. "We really are out of room, so he's stuck in an examination room."

"What do you mean we've run out of room?" You know you have at least three extra rooms for strays and anyone needing an overnight stay. You pull up the system while Chan continues on.

"Well, we had those kittens that got abandoned, so that took up room three. Then there was the emergency bulldog surgery, that needs overnight observation in room four. Then there's the lemur hybrid that was found abandoned that's been refusing to eat in room 6." He counts off the rooms on his fingers, and a check with the system confirms that there really will be no rooms left for the hybrid tonight. "We won't even have the examination room for him once Mrs. Lim brings in her Beardie hybrid for her checkup."

"I don't know Chan... You know I'm not good at taking care of anything long term. You remember when I tried to keep those plants alive? It took one spider and I never kept it up. All the poor things died." It still makes you sad, the idea of throwing away life just because you had gotten scared of a spider. You had a responsibility to those plants and yet...

"But you keep Taemin alive just fine! It'll only be for one night anyways. Just until we can open up a room for the little guy."

"Taemin stays in his tank and basically takes care of himself. A hybrid isn't like a fish, they come with a lot more feelings. The last thing we need is a broken hearted hybrid that stares at me with hopes of a full adoption I could never fulfill every time I come into the office afterwards. I can't do that to another hybrid Chan."

"It's just one night, and you'd not only be doing me a huge favor, but you'd be keeping an abandoned hybrid from sleeping on the freezing floor of the office in a cramped cage."

You stare into Chan's eyes, for whatever reason, today, you can feel your walls crumbling.

Well... One night wouldn't be so bad. You guess. As much as you would love to shove the hybrid on someone a bit more qualified than you, there really wasn't anybody else and you knew that. Plus putting hybrids in a room together without knowing their histories is a recipe for disaster. And even then it can be dangerous, as you never know what an unknown hybrid could have illness wise that could spread to other hybrids. It was just a disaster either way.

Though... Leaving a hybrid that's already traumatized to spending the night in a cold office is not going to happen on your watch. Maybe you can make up for the failed garden. It's only one night anyways right?

-

When Chan lead you to the examination room there were a couple things you were expecting, a scared traumatized hybrid, maybe one with lots of wounds from a street fight, or even a small kit that needed special care. What you were certainly not expecting was the small, but fully grown, calico hybrid.

The most surprising thing of all, was how the clearly tattered boy attached himself to Chan, while the wolf hybrid was one of the most friendly people you knew, most of the first time patients were terrified of his wild genes. Wolves are on the top of the food chain and even most other predators weren't willing to look a wolf in the eyes. But this small cat had no problem clinging onto the wolf. His smile was big and wide as he wrapped his arms around the other boy. Chan didn't look taken aback by the boy clinging to his coat, instead welcoming it openly. You imagine it was rare for Chan to get such good and kind interactions.

At least the hybrid you were supposed to take home seemed quite friendly. While you couldn't guarantee his temperament just yet, the way the boy's eyes sparkled when he looked at Chan sent affection running through your body. You sigh, Chan really was such a menace.

You step closer to the pair, and Chan seems to finally remember you were in the room as well.

"Felix this is Y/N who will be taking you home today"

"It's so nice to meet you Felix!" You say, smiling and extending your hand a bit slower than you would for a hybrid who came in for a check up, just in case you accidentally scare the small boy sitting on the table. Though quite to your surprise the boy grasped it in both his hands and shook it quite violently for such a tiny being.

"It's so nice to meet you!" He said, smiling from ear to ear in a way that was a little shocking for a boy who looked like the world had chewed him up and spit him out quite a few times. "I can't wait to go home with you!!"

Your smile falls a bit in the corners even though you're trying to keep the happy façade at the mention of home... You hadn't even cleaned the house...

Wait... He wouldn't eat Taemin would he???

Your tumbling thoughts are stopped suddenly as a hand lands on your shoulder. "Welp! I'll let you two be heading on your way. Y/N I have some stuff at the front desk for Felix that you can take with you. We ran out of 'take home a hybrid' kits so you might have to pick some stuff up but nothing that should be too major. And since you're doing me a huge favor I'll send you home with some dinner money." Chan gives you a wink, and you give him back a smile that's more grimace than anything else.

Just another day at the Stray Kits hospital you guess.

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