Daniel wakes to a pounding on his door, "Daniel! Up! Get out of that bed before I drag you out!" Julian's voice echoed through the hallway beyond his door, ringing into his room.

His room is a simple one, smaller than most in the facility, though reasonable size for his few needs. A shelf for his few belongings, a mattress, a rather small brown teddy he'd always had, an old beat up pillow it lays on, a small desk for homework and a small clock, and a door in the wall were all this tiny room held. He'd always had this teddy, as it was the first thing he knew of anything.

"I'm up! I'm getting dressed!" With what little courage he had, he responded with an attitude to this woman, and the clothes he had were worn and slightly tattered in places.

"Don't you give me any lip, mutt, or I'll paddle you in front of the rest of the students here!" Empty threats were her specialty, but Daniel was afraid of her nonetheless. As she said he should be, 'filthy mixed breed'. So, he dresses as quickly as he can manage, without looking scruffy.

This young cub is what most people could call 'special'. The obvious one being that he isn't human, not in the slightest. Well, in the slightest if you include that he does stand on two legs and had two arms, but that's about all there is. Aside from that, he knew how he was special. Only one other cub in residence in the facility knew, but we'll get to her a little later.

This cub is indeed a mutt, of the feline variety. All the other cubs were the purest of their breed, a fair few were of the orange persuasion, though most of them were snow leopards, like Julian. He is a mix of at least four, if not more, feline varieties. The most prominent is a tiger, stripes covering his dim orange fur, dotted with leopard ring link spots. He also has cheetah dot spots, mostly on his legs. His tail and back are a blend of all four varieties' patterns, but, again, the tiger is most prominent. The orange color in his fur, however, is not like most orange feline breeds. It is paler and dimmer, much like that of a lion, which is his fourth variety. His tail's tip, though, was not a big tuft like a lion's. His underside, his belly, was creme colored, like a tiger's white blended with the light brown of the lion. His eyes a dark brown, like his hair, which was always a mess.

"Ok, I'm dressed, Miss Julian," he announces, as he wanders, paws in his pockets, out his door. A pair of ratty, yet clean, baggy pants adorned his spotted legs. These pants were of an odd green, a gross color by anyone's standards. It looked like pea soup, after it had spoiled, been eaten, vomited, mixed with water, and finally cooked in a vat of pig urine, finally applied to the pants. Pockets covered the pants, making it easy to hide things. One pocket in particular, under his right knee on his calf, held his small teddy. His shirt, a three-sizes-too small blue tank-top, was stretched across his torso, squeezing out the sides his fur. It came up a small bit from his pants, showing his undergarments and his bellyfur.

"Good, get your tail downstairs and eat something before school."

At least he gets to choose. He wanders through the hall way, looking up at the high ceiling. At least, it seems high to this little cub, being no more than seven years old. No one knows quite when his birthday is, but not many actually cared.

Daniel gets to the cafeteria a bit late, of course. Julian liked making him late. He likes sleeping, and usually loses track of the time. He shrugs, and meanders through the crowd of happy cubs laughing and making fun.

"Hey mutt! You're late!" One boy yelled at him. "The kitchen's out of food." The group of boys sitting around him starts laughing. Daniel is their prime target, these bullies. Most of the cubs were already wearing their school uniform, some wearing other shirts they like.

"Yeah, like you're out of brains." Daniel shoots back. Before the boy can retort, he winds the rest of the way around the tables to the serving station, grabs a tray, and waits in line; he's the last in line now, everyone else had gotten here before him. Passing the refrigerator box, he grabs a double carton of chocolate milk.

Once his turn comes, the man who serves the cubs their meals, a lion, frowns down on him, "What'll it be, Danny?" This lion knew everyone's name, but wasn't the brightest bulb in the box. Julian'd hired him to cook, nothing else. And cook he can, the cubs love his cooking, which is probably a good thing as Julian doesn't like cooking for such 'ungrateful snots', as she'd say. She only likes to cook for her family, and even then it takes some convincing.

Daniel looks down at the pans under the heat lamps and protecting plastic wall things, considering his options; he could have some macaroni, scrambled eggs and toast of a bread of his choice, or a bowl of oatmeal. "Oatmeal, sir."

"Sure thin'." And he grabs a ladle and scoops some from the pan into a bowl, placing it onto Daniel's tray with a dull 'clack'. "Spices?"

Daniel shrugs, "Cinnamon."

The lion nods, and grabs him a shaker, "Thar ya go, boy, dun't spill it."

Daniel nods, making his way back to the tables. He looks around, the tables nearly all taken, but one seat. The one seat next to the only girl he felt he could talk to; Julian's daughter. Her name is Nadine, and, as previously mentioned, the only one in the facility who knows just how special he is. He likes her. He lightens up a bit when he sees her, his tail no longer drooped and dragging on the ground, but instead lifted and active.

Her father, Artemis, sits next to her, eating his own meal. Artemis is usually quite nice to Daniel. "Hey, Danny, have a seat." Artemis indicates the empty seat to the other side of Nadine.

Daniel shuffles to the table and sits down, setting his tray on the table with a dull 'clack'. "Hi, Nadine. Mister Artemis, sir."

Nadine, as the daughter of Julian, is the most well-treated cub in the facility, unfairly given first pick. Julian is always rather nice to Nadine, who she says is the only cub there who know her manners. She likes Daniel.

She was a shade lighter tan most snow leopards, a whiter white, with a fluffy tail. Artemis, Julian, and all other snow leopards were a dustier gray color. Her fur was also the softest of any cub; she likes to keep it that way. Soft green eyes shine from her pretty face, holding a sweet smile toward Daniel. Her dark black hair brushed neatly by her mother, long enough to reach her shoulder where she wears a light rose colored t-shirt, with her blue school uniform skirt.

On her tray, a plate of scrambled eggs and toast, along with a glass of pulpless orange juice. "You got a cinnamon shaker, I like cinnamon." She nods, and takes her fork and loads it with her scrambled eggs.

"Hmm, cinnamon oatmeal, looks delicious." Artemis says, licking his chops.

Daniel lets out a silly giggle, "No, you can't have any." He sticks out his tongue at him as he grabs his spoon and scoops a mouthful.

Artemis chuckles lightly, "Darn, it looks so good."

"It is, you should get some." Daniel says as he nods, and Nadine giggles, munching on her toast.