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Etherial groaned, waking up from a troubled sleep, sore from her uneasy slumber.

“Sweetie? Are you okay?” her mother called in. “You were yelling in your sleep.”

The dragoness rubbed her eyes, focusing on her hands. She had had a dream, unsettling and disturbing, but for her it had felt... right. “I’m okay Mom! Just a bad dream.”

She sighed, reality setting in once more. The sounds of the city washed over her as she prepared for the day. She showered; dressed in a nice blouse and a clean pair of jeans; ate a large breakfast; patted her slightly sagging belly; and gave both her mom and dad a kiss goodbye.

“Love you sweetie!” her mom called out as her daughter headed out the door. “Have fun at school!”

Etherial gave a false smile. “I’ll try Mom!” she called back as she headed down the walkway.

The walk to school was as uneventful as could be expected for a Predator in a Green Zone. Prey were attacked and killed, and occasionally she would have to step out of the way of a fighter, secretly wishing she could fall under the sharp claws and teeth of the vicious creatures. More than once Prey walked to her hoping to become her next meal. She always declined, saying “I am sorry, but it’s not my place,” before rushing to the city proper. Pred and Prey walked among one another in peace there, and the violence of the Green Zone she called home was soon forgotten.

“Etherial!” a familiar, squeaky voice called out. Looking up from the sidewalk, she smiled as her friend Kyle, a fennec fox, jogged towards her. “Kyle!” she shouted back, a grin splitting her face.

She hugged the small boy tightly. Despite being the same age, she had a good two feet and two hundred pounds on the young man, towering over her best friend. “Sleep well, lizard?” he asked, giggling gently before seeing her expression. “Oh… that bad?”

“Yeah, I had that dream again,” she sighed, her mind turning over the same dream that had haunted her for the better part of a decade. “I just can't shake it. Every time I start feeling good again it happens and I'm back to the beginning,” she said, hugging her tiny friend.

“Hey, it’ll be okay. I’ll be here for you Eth! I promise,” he assured, patting her arm in a comforting way. After a moment, they broke the tight hug and Kyle nodded towards the school building. “Come on, let’s go before we’re late for class.”

Arriving before the tide of students, Etherial made her way to her locker as several near her were being cleaned out. Sighing sadly, she grabbed her supplies and headed to her first class.

---

DING! DING! DING! DING!

Etherial bolted up from her daze. The lunch bell had rung and the students were already making their way to the cafeteria. Etherial made her way to the end of the line where Kyle was already waiting for her. “Did you see what they have on the menu for Preds? There’s deer today! And sheep!” he said gleefully.

“I saw Kyle. I don't think I’m very hungry today,” she replied, interjected by a hungry growl of her stomach. “Oh, I just don’t want to eat that stuff…”

“I know Eth, but you need to eat. I can get it for you if you want.”

She nodded, staring straight down at the floor as she made her way to a table. A few minutes later, Kyle walked up carrying two plates, one stacked high with fresh meat and one at a more manageable size. “I got you a bit of everything, and plenty of sauces to cover it up, okay?” he whispered, gently rubbing her chin.

“Thank you Kyle.” Her mouth watered despite herself, her hunger starting to get the best of her, and she tore into the meats with her sharp claws. Kyle had doused them in her favorite sweet sauce, nearly sickeningly, but the less she could taste, the better it was for her to get it down. Soon after she finished her meal, her groaning belly bulged out gently.

“Full, Etherial?”

She nodded and Kyle took her plate up for her. “Thanks Kyle,” she said as he hurried away.

Her eyes drifted upwards, and she stared out at the other tables littered across the cafeteria. Creatures of all kinds of species sat in groups, and their chatter filled the large room. Most dug into their meals with fervor, while some others held back and ate their meals at a slower pace.

Her eyes moved from a group of shrews to the Jocks’ table. Huge creatures, both Predator and Prey, sat together and roared as they cheered for their most recent win. Etherial stared at the massive group and watched as the Predators wolfed down their food with vigor. Only a couple of them consumed their food at a reasonable pace, and the dragoness caught a slower-eating tiger out of the corner of her eye. Squashed between a boar and a foxtaur, the tiger shook a bottle of hot sauce onto his deer meat, licked his lips almost nervously, and tore into the meat with his razor-sharp teeth.

Etherial gulped as she watched them. As she looked away from the other tables, her heart gave a pang of sorrow.

It was only a few more minutes before the end-of-lunch bell rang in her ears, and with a heavy sigh, she headed off to her next class, Kyle quickly rushing back to her side.

The rest of the school day went without a problem. But the strange dream wouldn’t leave Etherial’s head, and more than once her mind tuned out the lectures the teachers gave. Etherial couldn’t describe the amount of relief she felt once the last bell rang.

She headed back to her locker to put away some of her textbooks and take what she needed for her homework before bolting out the doors to find Kyle. As the afternoon sun warmed her scales, she saw the fennec fox just beside the steps to the school.

The two of them automatically began walking away from the school, Etherial leading the way. They were silent for a while, until the both of them stepped back into the Green Zone. Etherial wrestled with her words for a moment before she took a deep breath and steeled her nerves.

“Hey Kyle…” she began. “Um… I was wondering… would you, um, would you like to hang out with me after school today? And I wanted to thank you… for earlier.”

“For what Etherial?” He looked confused, and rubbed his arm up her side.

The dragoness averted her gaze, a blush spreading across her face. “Fo-for getting the food for me. I don't think I can… not anymore. It’s just- I can’t do it!” She took a deep breath before looking back at her friend. “Will you stay with me and… help me through another meal?”

He looked up, quite shocked. “Etherial, I will always support you, but I can't always be there to help you eat your meals. You have to eat you know…” He sighed, his eyes darting back to look at Etherial’s face. “Is this about your dream?”

For a moment, the dragoness was silent. The two of them paused their walk and stared up at Etherial’s large house. Etherial unlocked the gate to the house, and Kyle slipped inside. After the dragoness stepped in and closed the gate behind her, she swallowed nervously and turned back to her friend as they walked up to the cozy home.

She nodded. “Yeah. I've been seeing a counselor. I think… I think I may… I may be Prey, not a Predator,” she stammered out.

“You… think… you’re... Prey?” Kyle said slowly. She nodded in reply, sitting on the stairs in front of her house. “Etherial… your family lives in a Green Zone. If you tell them…”

She sighed, her hands clenching at her sides. “I know Kyle! If I tell them I’m more than likely their next meal… Not that Mom would keep me if I told her.” She buried her face in her hands and a groan of utter misery echoed out of her throat. “I don't know what to do Kyle. I’m… I'm not me! I can't be a dragon, not when I can't even look at a Pred… without feeling like food.”

“I… I don't know Etherial,” Kyle said grimly as he sat down next to her. The fennec fox put a comforting hand to her side and leaned against the dragoness as she gripped her head in her hands. “I’ll do whatever I can to help you though. Maybe I could help find a nice shrink that can help get you through this…”

An idea struck him, and the fox immediately brightened. “Or maybe we could go to a Prey League and talk to some of them,” he offered, a small smile appearing on his face.

“Can we- can we do that please?” Etherial asked quickly, hoping that she would be able to find some help there. Her heart leapt at the possibility of finding someone that could help and understand her.

Kyle slipped his hand into hers and stood up. “For you, anything! Come on Eth, let’s go see if they can help you.” He pulled his phone out of backpack and quickly searched for the nearest Prey League. “Let’s see… Ah! Found one!”

As Etherial stood up, he tugged the big dragon along, following the directions listed on his phone. “It’s a couple of miles out, so we better get going.”

Etherial nodded and picked the small fox up. She put him on her shoulders, carrying him through the Green Zone and back into the city proper. It took them awhile to get to the Prey League, almost twice the thirty minute walk to their school. All along the way, Etherial felt her heart pound in her chest. Maybe… this could help her come to terms with her dream...

“Okay, that’s… I guess that's it?” Kyle said, looking up from his phone, a confused expression resting on his face.

They looked at a small, nondescript building with a Prey Heart sign on it. It didn’t stand out in appearance, but those who knew what the building represented would immediately pick it out from anywhere on the street.

“It seems so,” Etherial said as she gently put him down. They walked into the building, and Etherial gulped as she stepped through the door.

A couple of small Predators and a whole array of Preys sat in the lobby seats. Many of them looked at Etherial with naked fear in their eyes, and the dragoness did everything she could to avoid their gazes. Etherial marched straight to the receptionist at the head desk, Kyle at her side, and waited as the receptionist looked up from her paperwork.

“What seems to be the problem sweetie?” the older bunny woman asked, her words as soft and gentle as her grey fur.

Etherial shook as she struggled to say the words. Her heart felt as though it were being squeezed between two stones. “I-I think… I think I’m Prey,” Etherial squeaked, quickly looking around to see if anyone else had heard.

“OH!” The bunny looked surprised, but not judgmental. “I know exactly who you need to see. Come with me if you would sweetie? Your friend can come as well if you’re comfortable with that.”

Etherial nodded. She grabbed Kyle’s hand, and the two of them followed the bunny to a small, pale-blue room. There was a nice desk at the far end, and a couple of plush, comfy chairs surrounded the front end of the desk. Etherial and Kyle sat down in the chairs, both of them nervous as to what was going to happen next.

The receptionist pulled out a clipboard and pen before turning to the dragoness. “Alright, Miss…?”

Etherial shifted anxiously in her seat. “It’s Etherial, ma'am.”

“Etherial,” the bunny finished. “Now, I am going to ask you a couple of questions before the doctor comes in to speak with you. If you are ok with the question, then I ask that you answer it as honestly as possible. If you aren’t comfortable with the question, then you may skip it and talk directly to the doctor about it later. Okay? Does that seem alright?”

The dragoness nodded her head, and the bunny smiled. “Okie doke, first question: Why have you come to visit us?”

Etherial took a deep breath, and let the words come out of her. “I believe I am Prey, not a Predator.”

The bunny nodded and scribbled on her clipboard. “Next, how long have you felt like this? How long have you felt like Prey, Miss Etherial?”

“I’ve felt like this since I was… hell, six I think. Not long after first grade,” Etherial said softly.

The bunny asked a few more questions, each time marking down the answer. It went on for a couple more minutes before the bunny marked the last thing down. “Okay Miss Etherial,” she began, “the doctor will be here to see you in just a few moments.”

She turned to Kyle, sensing the nervousness of the small fox. “Are you okay here?” she asked.

Kyle snapped to attention. “I'd never hurt her ma’am! I promise!” he squeaked out, pushing away from the bunny and Etherial. After a moment and a few deep breaths, the fennec fox calmed down and awkwardly looked back at the receptionist. “Yes, I-I’m fine ma’am. Thank you for asking.”

As the bunny left the room, Etherial slipped her friend’s hand into hers, and both of them could feel the other creature’s anxious heartbeat. “So… you’re a hundred percent sure about this Eth?” Kyle asked, the fox’s voice barely above a whisper. His lips twitched, and the fox did what he could to hide his fangs from her.

Etherial nodded and let out a slow breath. “Yeah, I’m sure about this, but I don't know where I’ll go next after this… I guess I could run away if things get really bad!”

A knock sounded at the door. “Miss Etherial, may I come in?” a singsong voice asked from behind the door.

Etheiral and Kyle immediately straightened in their seats. “Y-Yes!” Etherial stuttered. This was it, no going back now...

A tall, lanky otter walked in and smiled warmly at the two as she sat down at the other side of the desk. “Hi you two! My name is Doctor Lilly Brookstone, and I’ve been working with the Prey Leagues for a good amount of time. I’m here to help you with whatever you need help figuring out,” the otter chirped, her smile gracing her russet-furred face.

“Now,” she said, turning to Etherial, “You said you believe you are Prey?”

“Yeah…” the dragoness admitted. “For years now.”

The otter smiled and stretched out her arms. “Well, all kinds of creatures are welcome here at the Prey League, so you have nothing to fear. You won’t be judged or bullied for the way you feel or who you are while here in this building. We are all here to support you and any decision you make.” She laid her paws back on her desk. “Now, may I ask why you feel this way?”

Etherial sighed and for a moment, the dragoness was at a total loss for words. “I think I feel this way partly because of a dream I’ve been having…”

The doctor leaned back in her chair and took out a couple sheets of paper. “Miss Etherial, will you tell me a little more about your dream? Perhaps we could talk through it together and figure out what it means?”

The dragoness nodded and relaxed a little in her chair. “The dream starts out where I’m at school, but I leave class early… I head for the cafeteria, where the other students are.” She shivered. She had only told one other creature of her dream, and she felt anxious now that she was sharing it to someone else.

“I see,” Dr. Brookstone murmured as she wrote something in her notes. “And what happens next?” she asked, her soft words coaxing the dragoness to continue.

“I... go in back to the kitchen… an-and they…” It took a moment for Etherial to compose herself, and after a slow, deep breath, she continued. “They skin me,” she finished. “They skin me, take my hide and wings...”

Kyle winced, and the little fox rubbed Etherial’s side to comfort her.

“They give me a nice dressing, surround me with all fruits I like, and serve me up for the other Predators, for Kyle, for the whole school. I ge-get taken apart piece by piece. I usually wake up not long after.” She relaxed back in her seat, happy that the describing-her-dream part was over.

“And how does that make you feel Etherial? Afraid? Scared?”

“Right… It makes me feel right? Like it's what I’m supposed to do.” She struggled with her words for a moment before going deeper. “It brought up a lot of questions… and I found out that I didn’t fit the ways of a Predator. I don’t like eating other Prey, and it’s so hard for me to walk around and feel like I’m hiding myself from who I really am. I just… I’m not a Predator. I’m a Prey, and I know it. Deep down, I know it.”

Kyle squeezed Etherial’s hand tightly, the young fox helping Etherial keep herself calm.

Dr. Brookstone smiled at her. “Well, only you can be sure of who you truly are on the inside, but I do believe you are Prey Miss Etherial.” The doctor nodded her head. “We have a couple of creatures that come in from time to time, and they know exactly how you feel. They struggle with their identity, and they work to find and express themselves through the Prey League. Understand that you aren’t alone, and that there will be plenty of creatures that feel the way you do.”

The otter stood up and walked out from behind her desk. “I'm sure this isn't an easy thing for a dragoness, and the Prey League will be willing to provide all we can to help you through this.” Dr. Brookstone reached out and shook Etherial’s hand. “While, admittedly, it isn't all that much, we can offer a safe place to sleep and therapy for you if you need it.”

“I don't know,” Etherial said as she looked down at her claws. “My family lives in a Green Zone. I haven't told them yet, and we’re incredibly poor as it is… To tell them I’m a Prey…” She swallowed before looking back up at the otter. “I’ll… I’ll see about it Doctor. Thank you for talking with me.”

Both Etherial and Kyle stood up and headed for the door, each creature wondering how they would be able to explain Etherial’s situation to her parents.

“Wait!” the doctor cried. Both the dragoness and the fox stopped dead in their tracks and turned back around to face the doctor.

The otter quickly darted back behind the desk and opened a drawer. She took something out, a small necklace, and carried it over to Etherial. “A gift from me to you. I've found that it helps many Prey to remind themselves they aren't fake.”

Etherial looked at the necklace. It was a simple necklace overall, one small enough to hide beneath clothing yet still stay close to the wearer. Two interlocking P’s, one inverted so the loops could connect into each other, took up the medallion, and it warmed Etherial’s heart at the sight of it.

She slipped the necklace on, and the second after it was on, she felt at peace. She was still worried about what would happen if she told her parents, but she felt… complete. More like herself than she had in years.

“Thank you,” she said to the otter.

Dr. Brookstone smiled. “It’s no problem Etherial. I wish you luck with your journey, and if you need someone to talk to, don’t be afraid to drop by and see me.”

After that, the dragoness and the fox headed out of the Prey League and stepped into the early evening moonlight. As Kyle pulled up his phone to find directions back to Etherial’s house, the dragoness lifted the fox onto her shoulders. “Thanks for coming with me Kyle. I really needed this.”

The little fox smiled down at his friend. “Like I said Eth, I’ll be there to support you through it. Now, let’s head back to your house.”

They started back, Kyle once again giving the directions to where the two of them needed to be. After a little while of Kyle giving directions, the fox shifted on Etherial’s shoulders.

“Are you gonna tell ‘em?” Kyle asked from atop her shoulders, worry heavy in his voice.

“My dad...Yeah, I think I’ll tell him about it.” She was silent for a minute before she spoke up again. “Can I stay at your place tonight? I think I want to spend tonight with a friend.”

Kyle nodded as he petted her horns gently. “Course you can Eth! We'll just say its a sleepover. Mom’s pretty pro-Prey, so it shouldn't be an issue. Though you’ll probably have to get your stuff before you sleep over.”

Etherial smiled softly, and her hand went up to grasp the medallion around her neck. “Thank you.”

---

Etherial crept up the stairs to her room, hoping she could quickly grab her stuff and then get back outside so she could head over to Kyle’s house. The fennec fox was currently outside the house, waiting for Etherial to get what she needed without getting in the dragoness’ way. From the soft snores echoing through the hall, Etherial could tell that her mother was already fast asleep.

“Etherial, sweetie? Is that you?”

Etherial nearly jumped out of her scales, and the dragoness whirled around to find her father at the bottom of the staircase. “Y-yeah Dad, it’s me. Ca-can you come to my room for a second please? I have something important to talk to you about.”

A concerned look appeared on the older grey dragon’s face. “What's wrong sweetie?” he asked quietly as he climbed up the stairs and followed his daughter into her bedroom.

Etherial sat them both down on her bed, and the dragoness grabbed his hands. “D-d-dad, you can't tell mom this. Not… Not ever. I don’t think she’d like it, and I don’t want to lose you guys.”

Her hands trembled as she pulled her necklace out. She held it up for her father to see.

“I… I’m not a Predator dad. I don’t feel like one, and I’ve been struggling with this for years…” Etherial sniffed and her voice cracked as fear flooded her veins. “I’m a Prey dad.”

“Etherial… Baby girl… This is a Prey League medallion,” he said slowly, looking at his cowering daughter. For a moment he was silent before he wrapped his arms around Etherial. “Oh sweetie!”

He hugged her tightly, and Etherial saw tears shining in her father’s eyes. “I’ll get you some money. Your mother can’t see this… she’ll…” He tripped over his words for a moment. “I’ll take care of her baby. You just stay safe, okay?”

He gave her a kiss on the top of her head before getting up and leaving the room. He came back a few minutes later, a small shoebox in his hands. He opened the box, and a few hundred dollars in cash rested inside. “This is all we can spare sweetie,” he said softly. He took out the cash from the shoebox and handed it to her. “Please be safe for me.”

Etherial hugged her dad back, and the dragoness felt some of her stress and worry evaporate. “I promise Daddy, I’ll stay safe. I’m going to be sleeping over at Kyle’s tonight, and I’ll call you when I can.”

Her dad smiled as his daughter let him go. “Alright, sweetie. Have fun at your friend’s house, and don’t stay up too late now. It’s a school night.”

Etherial nodded, and as her father left, she grabbed what she needed from her room and threw them into her backpack. As she snuck out of her room, she caught her father, dressed in his pajamas, waving goodbye to her from his room. The dragoness waved back, and then headed down the stairs and out the door.

Kyle stood just outside the door, drool leaking out of the corners as his stomach let out a hungry growl. He shook his head to banish the daydreams of a wonderfully meaty meal and grabbed the dragoness’ hand. “Etherial… we should go. I’m absolutely starving...” he groaned, his stomach giving another hungry growl to back up what the fox said.

Etherial grinned as she followed the fox out the gate and onto the sidewalk. “Alright, alright,” she said. “I got the stuff I need, so all that’s left is to head to your house and eat a late dinner.”

Kyle pulled Etherial along, and as the dragoness followed her friend, her heart filled with hope and fear. This was the new beginning she needed, and even though she had no idea of what would happen next, she knew that she made the right choice. She felt ready for anything that would come her way.

But for right now, it was time to spend the night with a friend and have some fun.