# Whitebay: New Start

Author: Celyn
Tags: City, Puma, Story Series, Zepaltus, loneliness

#1 of Whitebay

A young puma anthro'morph struggles to find his place in the Tanzekan megalopolis of Frontier City. Overcome with feelings of loneliness, gazing down at the city below his high-rise apartment brings him a sense of dread. Something weighs heavily on the feline's mind.
...
Hello! This is my first submission to SoFurry. Yay! I hope it pleases at least someone. I tend on making a series of stories with this character. He has been fun to work with so far.
The story takes place on a planet called Tanzek. Tanzek is a densely-populated planet in the Zepaltus System and was the system's first planet colonized by humans. With humans came anthro'morphs, genetically-engineered anthropomorphic animals, which is what Alek is. This is my first story based in Zepaltus! It's so exciting. ^^ Hopefully writing it out will get me a feel for the worlds.
See you next time!

Alek Whitebay reclined back in his rickety bed, heaving a sigh along the way until he hit its pillow.&nbsp; He peered up at the ceiling, polluted by neon light pouring in from the streets below, the puma's tail swaying and twitching from side to side.&nbsp; "How can one be so lonely in a city of millions?"&nbsp; Another sigh.&nbsp; He rolled over onto his side, gazing blankly at the wall across from where he lay.&nbsp; Boxes of old junk littered the floor, piling high against the whitewashed walls.&nbsp; Alek knew there was nowhere to put all this stuff.&nbsp; He felt cramped.&nbsp; "I guess it's true what they say about apartments in Frontier City," he thought as his eyes gradually lidded themselves.

* * *

The apartment bathed in a new, more natural light.&nbsp; Alek opened his eyes, blinking the sleep away.&nbsp; A new day, a new start.&nbsp; Wasn't that what this is all about?&nbsp; A yawn crept out of the feline's mouth as he rose from his bed, stretching with a growl.&nbsp; He crawled out of bed and prepared for the day.&nbsp; Hopefully, finding work in Frontier City wasn't too difficult.

Out in the streets, Alek looked up at the city.&nbsp; He preferred it during the daytime.&nbsp; It was lonely, but a lot more bearable.&nbsp; The puma took to the pavement towards Contact Square.&nbsp; He bustled past humans, anthro'morphs, zalkan, all sorts of creatures with a noticeably quickened pace.&nbsp; His eyes never lifted themselves from the sidewalk laid out in front of him, with the exception of the occasional, speedy glance at a street sign.&nbsp; A million thoughts ran through his mind all at once.&nbsp; His heart raced, sweat dripping from his pawpads, pupils dilated.&nbsp; He couldn't handle much more.&nbsp; The noise of the city drove deep into his skull.&nbsp; Alek stopped short, clenching his fists and slamming his eyes shut.&nbsp; His breath, bated.&nbsp; "I can do it...&nbsp; I can do it...&nbsp; I can do it..."&nbsp; A mantra ran itself through the feline's mind.

"I can't do it."

* * *

Back in the apartment, Alek cooked himself a quick frozen meal.&nbsp; He sat at his desk to browse StellariumNet.&nbsp; Half-lidded eyes gazed deeply into the screen as the puma picked at his food.&nbsp; Connecting.&nbsp; He simply pushed his food to the side.&nbsp; He wasn't so hungry anymore.&nbsp;

The sun set over Frontier City, and the faint glow of the outside world poured into the dark room.&nbsp; Alek grimaced.&nbsp; He hated it.&nbsp; Browsing StellariumNet turned up little fun for the anthro'morph.&nbsp; He looked down at the desk, over to his uneaten dinner.&nbsp; His ears splayed.&nbsp; Alek couldn't fight off his grimace, and just put his face in his paws.&nbsp; They said it would be good for him to move to Frontier City.&nbsp; They said many things.&nbsp; None of them proved to be true so far.&nbsp; He shook his head in his paws.&nbsp; With a start, Alek stood and paced near the windows, looking down over the streets.&nbsp; It was too noisy.&nbsp; Too bright.&nbsp; Too...&nbsp; everything.&nbsp; Too lonely, especially.

A knock at the door.

Alek gasped slightly, frowning.&nbsp; He rubbed the back of his head and crept up to the door, peering through the small looking hole.&nbsp; It appeared to be a human out there.&nbsp; Male.&nbsp; Light brown hair.&nbsp; Glasses.&nbsp; Another knock.&nbsp; Alek stepped away from the door, and hurried towards the bathroom as quietly as he could.&nbsp; He sat on the toilet, ears splayed, and brow furrowed.&nbsp; Yet another knock.&nbsp; The feline sheathed and unsheathed his claws several times, digging into his knees.&nbsp; It was no good, he couldn't do it.&nbsp;

After some minutes, Alek ventured out into the other room and looked down at the bottom of the door.&nbsp; There appeared to be no shadow coming from the hallway.&nbsp; Slightly relieved, Alek sat in his bed with his face in his paws.&nbsp; He glared down at the floor.&nbsp; What has become of him?&nbsp; He closed his eyes.&nbsp; Tears formed, welling up inconveniently.&nbsp; He wiped them away.&nbsp; What the hell happened?&nbsp; He dug his claws into his face.&nbsp; "Goddamnit!" he roared, swiping his paws across his nightstand as he stood, swaggering.&nbsp; "Damn it all!"&nbsp; He ran his paw across his head and paced some more.&nbsp; The puma walked up to the windows and put his head against one.&nbsp; Thunder rolled in.&nbsp; Alek sighed and went back to his bed, crawling into it for the night.

So much for a new start.

Source: https://sofurry.com/s/qmyylpEm