�You�re cool with me now, right?� Jake asked while staring at Tasha�s huge lion paws.
The thought that she may be a macro like Sandy made him real uncomfortable. If she was a macro, and had a problem with him, he could find himself under those huge feet. One stomp and that would be it. No more Jake, no more problem.
�Well after I got to know you and find out how nice you were� Yes I�m cool with you now. But you know one of those paw massages I keep hearing about would really help our friendship along nicely.� Tasha teased while wiggling her toes.
Jake sat down on the couch, picked up her paw, and started to knead its sensitive pads. Tasha closed her eyes and started to purr.
�You mean one of these massages?� Jake asked.
�Yeah.� Tasha replied and began to moan as bolts of pleasure shot up her legs.
Jake smirked, stopped rubbing, and got up off the couch. He then stood over Tasha laughing.
�Sorry Tasha, those are only for Sandy.�
Tasha opened her eyes and grabbed a pillow off the couch. She hit Jake in the chest with it playfully.
�You little tease!�
Jake just continued to laugh at her playfully. When they first met Tasha would have never let him touch her, much less ask him to rub her paws. However it was reassuring to know that their friendship could still develop, despite the interspecies differences.
�Shame on you Jake, that was mean!� Sandy commented from behind. She had entered the living room while Jake was on the couch but he didn�t notice.
Jake turned around and kissed her on the cheek. �I�m sorry baby, I was just playing around with her.�
�I know honey but it was still mean. I think you should make it up to her while I�m at class.� Sandy replied and handed him the bottle of lotion that sits on the end table.
Jake knew he wasn�t going to win this one. The last time she pulled a guilt trip on him like this, he ended up washing and waxing her car. So he sat down on the couch and placed Tasha�s paws on his lap. With Tasha and Sandy now staring at him, he started massaging lotion into them.
Tasha closed her eyes again and started to moan. Jake suspected this was the first time anyone had ever pampered her. And he could tell she was really enjoying the attention from the tight curling of her toes. Sandy smiled approvingly, kissed him on the cheek, and left for class.
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�Prejudice. The Webster�s Dictionary defines Prejudice as suspicion, intolerance, or irrational hatred of other races, creeds, regions, occupations, etc.� Professor Tahoe explained.
Jake sat back and took notes on the professor�s lecture. He thought it was ironic that the subject of prejudice would come up in his world cultures class the day after his little encounter with Tasha. He spent two hours rubbing lotion into her feet while thinking about how he broke down her suspicion of humans. Now he was learning about how humans have had those same types of suspicions for years.
However during the professor�s lecture Jake couldn�t help but notice the new student. His name was Joseph and today was his first day in class. He was new to University and no one knew anything about him yet. But what was really bothering Jake was the fact that the new guy had been staring at him during the whole class.
After class let out Jake ran into the new guy out in the hallway. He tried to introduce himself, but Joseph just gave him a disgusted look and walked away.
Now confused, Jake headed for the cafeteria where he promised to meet Tasha. After the paw rub he gave her, she insisted on buying him lunch. However as he approached the cafeteria a loud racket could be heard from the hallway. Once he arrived he found Tasha and Joseph arguing over something.
�Yeah you freak of nature have fun getting that out!� Joseph shouted and bolted out the door.
As Jake walked up, Tasha was frantically trying to get something out of her fur. He sat down on the bench next to her.
�Tasha what�s wrong? What did he do to you?�
She turned her head around exposing a lump of gum tangled into it, �That jerk walked up behind me and stuck this in my fur. What did I ever do to him?�
At that moment, one of the cafeteria workers walked up and handed Jake a pair of scissors. �There�s only one way you�re going to get that gum out of there.�
Tasha, who was now crying, looked up to him and said, �Do it Jake. It will grow back, eventually.�
Jake gently pulled on the fur and tried to cut out the affected areas. Tasha screamed out in pain as the gum got tangled up in the surrounding fur. It acted like glued ripping hair out of her head as Jake did his best to cut sticky substance out.
After the grueling five minutes it took to get all of the gum out, Jake hugged Tasha. He did his best to try to comfort her. However as he stoked the fur, the uncontrollable crying made his heart sink. The whole process of working the sticky goo out of was excruciating for her.
�I�m sorry Tasha.� Jake said in a weak guilt ridden voice. �I didn�t think it would be that hard��
�It�s alright Jake. It�s not you fault. You�re not the one who put that gum there.� Tasha replied in a strong reassuring voice.
Jake smiled and got up. �Alright let me take you home.�
As the two of them started to walk to the door a loud racket coming from outside caught their attention. A moment later Peter, a short squirrel fur, came stumbling into the cafeteria. He was limping on one paw and his face was bloody. Someone had beaten the crap out of him.
�Peter what happened to you?� Jake asked.
�That new guy jumped me outside. He attacked me for no good reason.� Peter replied and coughed up some blood.
A deep rage began to build up in Jake as he looked at Tasha and Peter. Both of them were nice furs that never did anything to bother that new guy.
That�s it! He was going to find out just what this guy�s problem is.
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�What in the hell is your problem!� Jake shouted aggressively at Joseph as he walked to his car.
�I just don�t like those furry freaks! Or those humans that hang out with them!� Joseph replied shoving Jake to the side as he walked by.
�Hey wait, I�m not finished with you yet.� Jake shouted as he reached out and grabbed Joseph on the shoulder.
Without warning, Joseph turned around and punched him in the face. The force of the punch knocked him to the ground. Jake landed on the hard concrete parking lot knocked the wind completely out of him.
As he lay disoriented on the ground, Joseph began to kick him. The sharp steel-toed boots he was wearing dug deep into Jake�s sides, cracking several ribs. However after he started coughing up blood, his attacker stopped and bent down next to him.
�Do you want to know why I don�t like your furry friends, I�ll tell you why. Because where I�m from we don�t let furry freaks like that walk around in public. That�s what the zoo�s for!� He replied, kicked Jake in the ribs again, spat on him, and walked away.
For what seemed like an eternity Jake laid there in the parking lot bleeding. Then he felt something moist on his nose and he opened his eyes. Tasha was standing over him, licking the blood from his face.
�Jake are you alright?�
�Yeah, I�ll be fine in a few days. How did you know I was out here?� He replied in a weak voice.
�Someone told me what happened. What you did for me... It was very brave.� She replied and kissed him on the forehead.
�Well if you ever need someone to get beat up for you at least you know who to call.� Jake replied with a grin.
Tasha lifted him up in her arms and carried him to the car. After driving back to his place, she gently placed him on the couch where he passed out.
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SLAM!!!
The sudden sound of the front door slamming woke Jake up. He opened his eyes just in time to catch a glimpse of Tasha running into the woods outside.
The clock read 6:17 p.m., only 3 more hours of daylight. What in the hell was she doing going into the woods at this hour?
Determined to find out what was going on, Jake forced himself up off the couch. His ribs still ached from the beating they took a few hours ago, but that didn�t stop him. After grabbing a flashlight, he was out the front door into the woods.
The sun was still shining enough light overhead to see clearly. The plan was to be in and out of the woods before it got dark. However after 25 minutes of searching, Jake began to worry.
�Please! No more! Pleas� AAAAHHHHHH!!!!� A voice screamed out in the distance.
The awful sound immediately caught Jake�s attention, whom followed it until a clearing became visible. The tortured screams of mercy seemed to be coming from it. Jake rushed toward the field as fast as his injured body would allow him and hid in the shadows along its boundary.
The voice belonged to Joseph, the bully from school, who was now trapped under a macro�s paw. Jake could have guessed whom the paw belonged to, but he felt compelled to look anyway.
Tasha didn�t even notice him. She was too busy enjoying Joseph�s suffering. A look of cruel satisfaction seemed to fill her face as she used her gigantic foot to gradually grind Joseph into the ground.
�So you like sticking things in my fur do you!� Tasha growled.
Jake watched as she slowly began to apply pressure again to her paw. Joseph howled out in pain. His eyes looked like they were going to budge out of his head and his mouth filled with blood. Then at the moment his body looked as though it was going to explode, the paw released the pressure.
Joseph sucked in a gasp of air and coughed up blood. �Please I�ll do anything you ask. Just stop, you�ll crushing me!� He moaned weakly.
�Oh don�t worry, we�re not going to kill you.� Another voice calmly said from the shadows.
�Please what do you want?� Joseph begged desperately.
Jake, who had be watching the whole ordeal from the safety of the shadows, stepped into the field. He looked up at Tasha again, who still didn�t notice him. However Sandy, who had also walked out of the shadows in which she was hiding, smiled innocently at him.
�So what are you girls planning on doing to him?� Jake asked.
�Oh we�re just teaching him the fur way of justice. You see Jake my people don�t believe in long drawn out trials. We just believe in the old Eye for an Eye system.� Sandy explained calmly.
�What!� Jake replied while grasping his aching ribs, �So you�re going to torture him?�
�Torture, of course not. This is just payback for what he did to Peter, Tasha, and you. A eye for an eye, a rib for a rib�� She replied and nodded at Tasha.
�Nooooo!� Joseph yelled as Tasha pressed back down on him.
The screeching sound of agony filled the forest. The nightmarish paw continued to slowly lower down on its victim until a soft crack could be heard. Then, as if on cue, it lifted completely off his body.
Joseph immediately cured up into a tight ball and began to cry. His mouth was now completely full of blood and he was holding his broken rib tightly. A look of absolute terror filled his face.
Sandy walked over to him, bent down, and whispered to him. �Now listen good you little punk. If you ever lay a hand on my friends or speak a word of what happened in these woods tonight�� Sandy looked back over at Tasha�s paw. �Do you understand?�
�Yes� please� anything� Just leave me alone. I promise I�ll never touch them again.� Joseph begged.
�Good.� Sandy replied with a satisfied grin.
She walked away from Joseph, looked up at Tasha, and said, �OK, let�s go home now.�
Tasha gently scoped her and Jake up in her hands. As she walked by Joseph, a small pile of dirt was casually kicked on his injured body.
�My god Sandy that was brutal!� Jake exclaimed.
�No, that was justice and it is our way.� Sandy explained. �That cockroach will never bully anyone again.�
Jake, immediately realizing that he had no chance of winning this argument, didn�t rebut her logic. Instead he laid down in Tasha�s hand and relaxed.
That evening the girls took him home, cleaned him up, and placed him back on the couch. Over the next few days the two powerful femmes nursed Jake back to health.
Although he wanted to, Jake did not bring up what happened in the woods again. After much soul searching, he came to realize that this was just something that he was going to have to accept about Sandy. Besides everything worked out for the best in the end.
Joseph managed to make it out of the woods and to a hospital. He never told anyone what happened to him and moved out of town the moment he recovered.
Tasha�s fur grew back as expected and her beautiful image was restored. Although the real healing for her seemed to happened that night in the woods, the fur was what allowed her to have closure.
Little Peter also recovered from his injuries. It didn�t take him long to return to his normal cheerful self, especially after he heard about Joseph.
That�s when Jake realized that the old Eye for an eye system might not be that bad. Yes it was brutal but it was fair. Joseph attacked and tormented several furs. In returned he was attacked and tormented by a fur. The way it should be.