FSE

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"And this is where the monkeys are when it's a hot day like this." a zookeeper explained. A male zookeeper with dark brown hair covered by a tan hat, complete with matching tan shorts and a t-shirt with pockets. The man had a thick pair of glasses on, as well as a brown mustache, and rather hairy legs- but it was to be expected of a guy. He escorted a new zookeeper around on her first day and showed her the ‘ins' and ‘outs' of the place. It wasn't quite summer yet- school was still in, so the zoo the pair were in was pretty empty, save for employees.

"Looks a little dirty." The woman replied. The woman wore a suit that matched the first zookeepers own outfit almost perfectly, it was just designed to suit her body much better. She wore a tan hat, tan shirt, shorts, and unshaven legs because, hey she was a woman. She had blonde hair that went down to her shoulders; but she lacked a mustache and the glasses; in fact, her face was quite clean with only minor blemishes. She had a modest B cup and she currently looked over the monkeys with her brown eyes. They were inside a small U shaped building. The building was pretty plain with light gray floors and dark gray walls on one side, while the other showed off the monkeys. The monkey interior had a background design of the jungle, while the inside of the pen had trees, water, and a couple of hanging toys, nothing really super fancy. Between the monkeys and the zookeepers was a thick panel of glass.

"Well, good thing it's part of your job to clean out the interior of the exhibits then, isn't it?" The male zookeeper said with a toothy grin. "You'll be dealing with all sorts of animals, from aardvarks to zebras, and- well okay not everything in between. You've been here before, haven't you, Samantha?"

"A couple of times, Jim." The woman, Samantha, replied to him. "I haven't seen everything though, like the wolves and the snow leopards are always hiding. I can find the tiger- he's got this HUGE place, but the snow leopard? Half the size yet can't see him."

"We don't have interior, shall we call them, showrooms, for all the animals. During the colder or really hot days, they'll typically be kept in a place inside, or they'll be hiding. If you want to see that snow leopard that bad though, let's see if you can't convince it to come out." He chuckled and exited the building with Samantha.

It was actually quite a warm day outside- not in the 80s, but definitely upper 70s. Unfortunately for the zoo, many buildings lacked air conditioning, too. Many of the animals outside were kept in metal fences, but the fences were large in size for most of the animals. Each of the enclosures for animals kept outside also had free access to water, as well as a small shed or large pile of rocks with a small tunnel which serves as a ‘hideout' for them, and actually DID include air conditioning inside those tiny hiding spots.

Jim led Samantha to the snow leopard exhibit on the path. The exhibit was a little lower than eye level and largely consisted of rocky terrain with dirt on the ground. The rocky terrain went up above eye level, high enough that most people on the other side of the fence couldn't see the very top. There were a couple of trees in the exhibit, but they were placed on the far side. There was a small pond with a drop of about one foot downwards. Samantha could also make out a small staircase that went up to a platform, and that platform wasn't far from the rocky terrain top. On the opposite end of that exhibit were plenty of trees and on one wall was the entrance for zookeepers. "He might be hiding in there." Jim pointed to what looked like a large stack of rocks on the far side that looked almost like a tiny house, though the entrance to it couldn't be seen. "It's a tiny cave that dips down a few feet. It's dark, cold, and I imagine he'd love it on a day like today. Want to feed him?"

Samantha glanced around at the exhibit briefly. For a hot place, it didn't look terrible for a snow leopard. She knew they preferred colder mountainous areas, but it was for their safety they were in a zoo. "Do you think I'm ready to feed a carnivore?" she asked and turned her head to Jim. She was both excited, and nervous at the idea. She loved snow leopards, but she didn't want to get hurt on her first day.

"I'll monitor you the whole time so nothing happens. Come on." Jim walked over to the building attached to the snow leopards cage, took out a key, and opened it up.

Inside the building was pretty plain with three other exits that were labeled as to where they went- one lead to the snow leopard, the other went to the tigers, and another lead to the bears. Each one had a large cage set up near the door big enough to fit the proper animal inside of them, and at the center of the room was a large refrigerator and freezer, twice the size one might have in their kitchen. The floor, the walls, the ceiling, all solid concrete with modest lightning from windows overhead and a single light bulb over the fridge.

Jim walked over to the refrigerator. He put some gloves on from a nearby glove box, opened up the fridge, and pulled out what looked like an oversized raw steak that dripped red liquid onto the floor tile beneath them. "You'll be feeding him this. It's specially prepared meat."

Samantha was well aware how the food was stowed- she learned such things earlier. The food was heated up, and then slightly chilled. It was processed JUST enough to take out things that might have made the animals sick. She took a deep breath and did as she was told. With that breath, she smelled that food- it smelled almost like a steak, but with the way it looked, it didn't look nearly cooked enough for her particular tastes, and it'd be rough to chew with her teeth. With a pair of gloves on, Samantha went over to the door and took the food from Jim. The food felt like a lukewarm steak in her hands, and not at all appetizing to look at with its redness. She opened the door with her free hand and stepped into the snow leopard enclosure.

Samantha glanced around left and right as she walked in. Her body trembled lightly. She was fascinated with snow leopards, but at the same time, to be so close to one was also scary, plus she had no idea where it even was- it was in the enclosure with her, sure but...where? "Where do I...with this?" Samantha asked Jim as she held up the food.

"Set it down near the cave entrance and step back." Jim said. He held the door open slightly, just enough to talk to Samantha, but not quite so open for anything to run out of there. "He should step out and eat; you should be just fine- just no sudden movements."

Samantha almost tiptoed her way through the enclosure. There wasn't much in the way of tiny rocks, it was all huge rocks and dirt, and right now she was on the dirt. She glanced over to the path she first saw the exhibit and saw that nobody watched her at least. She took another deep breath before she made her way to the front of that tiny cave. Samantha couldn't make out anything inside that cave- it was completely pitch black, but she could make out that the path did sort of dip downward. She set down that food, as instructed and stepped back a good twenty paces, about halfway between the cave, and the door she took to enter the exhibit.

At first, it almost looked like the creature was asleep. It took a good five minutes for the snow leopard to emerge from its hideout. The snow leopard's head emerged and glanced out at Samantha. The snow leopards head was largely white fur with a few black spots that were smaller the closer the spots got to its nose. The face of the snow leopard largely lacked those spots except around the mouth, and its light aqua blue eyes stared at Samantha. The snow leopards pink nose twitched, as did its whiskers, before it looked down at the food. From there, the rest of its body slowly emerged. The rest of its body was a mixture of white with gray on its back with black spots randomly assorted on its body, though very few on its furry white belly. Its paw pads were thicker than a human's hand. Its tail was a little more than three feet long, while its body measured a little bigger than five feet- it was almost as tall as Samantha, and that didn't include its tail.

The snow leopard made its way to the food and lowered its head. While it continued to look at Samantha, it leaned down and began to eat.

Samantha couldn't believe her eyes. The snow leopard looked so beautiful, and she didn't even have any fences in the way, she was closer than any visitor ever could have been next so such a magnificent creature. "Can I...can I pet it?" Samantha asked, her tone was that of a loud whisper, quiet, but loud enough for Jim to hear.

"You should let him sniff your hand first," Jim said, though after a quick pause he added. "Without the gloves- and you should move slowly. Imagine if you just bought a housecat, you have to be slow and gentle. It's the same thing with him, except it's much more dangerous if you startle him. You can also call him by his name- Snow."

"Snow." Samantha smiled lightly at that. It was a pretty name, even if the name was still kind of simple for a snow leopard.

As instructed, she took her gloves off and tossed them in the direction of Jim. She then inched her way forward to Snow, whom still kept his eyes on her the entire time.

Snow's eyes only briefly stopped looking at Samantha to see the gloves get tossed, but in less than a second, those blue eyes went right back to Samantha. His sharp feline teeth ripped the food apart and his front paws held the rest of it down. The closer Samantha got to him, the more his front paws revealed their white claws.

"That's a good boy..." Samantha said quietly. She leaned down and shifted her hand forward ahead of her body. Inch by inch, she moved closer to the snow leopard until her hand was less than a foot away from his head. She was just so tempted to feel that creature- his fur looked so soft and smooth, she could see just how short the fur on his back was, and how long it was on his belly. She could see that huge tail of his that she just wanted to put between both of her palms, but she resisted. She held as still as she could and waited for Snow.

By the time Snow ate half of his food, he paused in his eating. His head rose up to Samantha's hand, and his nose twitched as his whiskers rubbed against the back of her hand. After a moment of this, he went right back to eating. His eyes didn't seem to pay nearly as much attention to Samantha this time now, just the food in front of him. His belly gently touched the dirt as he sat down. He looked a bit more at ease and that huge tail of his flickered left and right slowly.

"That's good. Now, try to pet him- but avoid his head." Jim said in a loud whisper from where he stood. It looked like he had one of his hands down at a holster on his belt- a tranquilizer gun. It was a tiny thing with only one bullet, but it did its job in case things went wrong. "Try to keep an eye on his head and his tail for any emotional changes. If he looks nervous, get back over here. Otherwise, just imagine him as a really huge house cat."

"A huge house cat with fangs big enough to bite into my skull." Samantha mumbled. She still found the creature fascinating, but it was still a whole new level to be right next to it. She inched her way beside the snow leopard and her fingers gently reached out to his back. She placed her fingertips, and then her whole palm on the back of the snow leopard, and she smiled slowly. The fur felt so smooth and fine- forget house cats, this fur just felt absolutely wonderful, she wouldn't mind rolling around in that fur until it covered every bit of her body! Her hand slowly moved down the snow leopards back before she raised her hand up and petted him again from the front legs, down to his back ones. She couldn't believe what she was doing- she petted a snow leopard, the animal she absolutely adored for its beauty, grace, and of course it's slight hint of danger.

The snow leopard let out a noise that sounded almost like a large lawn mower from his throat. It was faint, but it was definitely there. He raised his hind legs slowly from the petting, and stretched out his front legs past the half eaten food. The petting felt good, good enough for a purr, a purr much louder than any house cat could have produced. His purr stopped on occasion, but it was only for a brief period when he inhaled, although his inhaling was sharp, his exhaling was slow, and when he exhaled, that was when he purred. The purr was intermittent, even when he was exhaling, as if his body hadn't QUITE evolved to do it perfectly, but as far as snow leopards went, he was clearly as happy as he could be.

"W-wow..." Samantha couldn't believe how loud snow leopards actually purred. It was deep, almost primordial purr that sounded so much like a low engine, but it was definitely a purr. She saw that tail of his flicker slowly, and his eyes gently close. She carefully moved closer yet to this beautiful creature, and continued to pet him with one hand.

The snow leopard, rather suddenly, plopped down onto his side and exposed his belly to Samantha. He continued to purr when he breathed out, and he stretched his body while his eyes were half open. He licked his chops from the food, his purr stopped for another brief moment, but it continued shortly after.

Samantha had studied very lightly on cats. She knew that an exposed belly meant that the snow leopard trusted her quite a bit, and that feeling a cats belly was a very good feeling, so a snow leopards belly must have been at least ten times better, it was ten times better to pet his back compared to a house cat, after all. With less hesitation, her hand reached down and felt that belly. The fur was a bit longer, but it also felt fine. It felt like Samantha petted a cloud itself, and since that fur was white- well it was all the more appropriate. "Oh you're such a soft kitty- a big soft kitty." Samantha said in a voice between that of a whisper and her normal tone. The more she spent with this snow leopard, the more comfortable she was getting. She wouldn't mind petting him like this all day long.

Snow, as the snow leopard was called, quickly reached out and grabbed onto Samantha's arm. With his claws slightly revealed, he held onto her arm and pulled it to his face- which then he opened up his mouth and nipped at her arm. His light bite went so fast- too fast for Samantha to pull her arm back in time. At the very least, the snow leopard did let go after he nipped at her, though he left some visible marks on her.

Samantha yelped as the snow leopard, not only grabbed onto her arm, but bit her! Sure it was light, but it was still painful. She pulled back as the snow leopard held onto her and it left a visible trail of a scratch down her arm- with small bite marks at her wrist. "W-what was that for?!" So much for her quiet and slowness- she raced to the door that Jim held open and rushed through. "Close it, close it, close it!" she shouted in a panic.

Jim rolled his eyes and closed the door behind him. The snow leopard didn't even chase after her- it just watched a little puzzled as she ran off. "His tail twitched a bit before he did that- he wanted to play with you, that's all."

Samantha's heart went a mile a minute. "Playing? That bite hurt." She showed off her red marks- they didn't appear to be bleeding, but they did certainly hurt her. "Those scratches hurt, too." She let out a frustrated sigh as she looked at the snow leopard door. Maybe it was just playing around, but she didn't want to be near a creature that went from loveable, to scratching and biting in a fraction of a second- especially a beast that large.

"Do you have a house cat? The two of them act quite a lot like each other; the difference is a house cat is much smaller." Jim said with a shrug. "Well, anyways come on- let's head over to the giraffes. Feeding them is much easier, and they're herbivores so you should be just fine around them."

Samantha nodded with a small frown on her face. Just because a snow leopard ‘played' with her, didn't mean they still weren't fascinating creatures. Maybe if she just gave it a day, she'd try again tomorrow with it, and maybe study a bit more.

The rest of the day Samantha went about with Jim and learned about the various other animals she'd have to take care of, and the duties. A lot of it basically involved feeding, and cleaning poop. The job wasn't that thrilling for a zookeeper- though she did get the opportunity to be closer with the animals; she kept her distance from many of them, even the herbivores such as the zebras. Every now and then she would pass by the snow leopard exhibit, and during that time she'd glance in there to see what was going on- sometimes snow was asleep, sometimes he was out and about, just walking around, and other times he was nowhere to be seen- likely in the den. Each time Samantha walked by, both Snow and her made eye contact at least once- when he was out of the den anyways, but she was quick to walk away when he saw those deep blue eyes.

When lunch time rolled around, Samantha walked by that snow leopard exhibit once again and paused when she saw that snow leopard eye to eye. She looked around and noticed there were a few children and adults, but nobody seemed to be paying attention to the two of them. "You're still pretty...I guess if you were just playing, then maybe I could-"

Something was different with Snow this time around- before Samantha could even finish her sentence, he leapt to the metal fence with his paws on the cage- his claws visibly stuck right out from the cage. His ears were down, and his tail twitched wildly as he roared- in less than a few seconds, he had silenced Samantha and wanted to get SOMETHING, and based on where he stared at and where his claws were- it was aimed right at Samantha.

Samantha jumped back at his sudden reaction! What was wrong with Snow? Snow was all lovely and cuddly one moment, then ‘playful' the next, and now he seemed extremely angry. "F-fine, be that way- Jim can take care of you, I don't need your wild emotions." Samantha said in a huff. She stomped her feet and walked away from Snow, as if she had just some sort of argument with the creature. Sure, snow leopards were still her favorite animal, but she barely understood them, much less this particular one. She'd go away and eat her lunch; she wouldn't even approach Snow, or his exhibit, at least until dinner time. She simply explained it off to Jim that she was too nervous, which Jim understood pretty well, especially since it was only her first day on the job.

When Samantha walked away, Snow's claws retracted and he landed on all four feet. His ears were still on the back of his head as he watched Samantha walk away. When she was fully out of sight, his ears returned to normal, and he turned away from the cage. Snow then just went right to his den for a brief period after that. Throughout the rest of the day, other people came and saw his exhibit, and to them- he just behaved like a regular snow leopard would. He gave no other person any sort of special treatment. He didn't move close enough for him to get petted by anyone, nor did he express any interest in all in the people. Only when Samantha dropped by on occasion did he take notice in any human at all, but the communication between the pair was slim to none.

By the time dinner time came around, it was closing time for the zoo and the sun already started to set. Zookeepers worked from 9AM, until 6PM, although they had plenty of time to just walk around and merely check on the animals- long hours, but forgiving duties, overall. Unfortunately for Samantha, it was feeding time for the animals before the zookeepers could leave- and that meant Snow had to be fed once again. It felt almost like déjà vu for her- she found herself in the building that went to the snow leopards exhibit once more, with Jim at the fridge. The rest of the day mattered so little to Samantha, it was just the times when she was around the snow leopard that truly meant anything.

"So, do you want to try feeding him again?" Jim asked. He wore those all too familiar gloves and held the fridge open for food. "I don't think he'll scratch you if you just feed him and walk out after- just be casual and calm about it." He leaned against the door with a smile on his face.

Samantha stood at the entrance to that building. She gently kicked the cold concrete floor with a grimace on her own face. Her eyes stared down, and she slowly shook her head. "He leapt at me angrily earlier today." She said, quietly. "If the fence wasn't between us, I don't know what would have happened to me. I just...I don't want to deal with him right now." Her lower lip trembled slightly. Only part of her wondered why she was so upset about Snow and his attack, no other animal mattered. The giraffes, the zebras, the bear, not even the tiger that was so friendly earlier that she felt its sandpaper tongue on her wrist, with help from Jim of course. It was just Snow- Snow was the only thing that meant anything to her, and not even she could fully grasp why, but she didn't question it.

"I know you're nervous." Jim closed that fridge and walked over to Samantha. "But you can't let that get to you- think about why he might have been angry. Maybe he wanted to see you, but he was frustrated because the fence was in the way. In all of my years as a zookeeper, I've never heard Snow behave like that- even during that time a deer ran around the zoo, Snow didn't even flinch." He put an arm on Samantha's shoulder- thankfully he hadn't touched any raw food yet, so his hands were still quite clean.

"I don't think he'd be that smart." Samantha said, quietly. "I don't want to risk it. I just...I just don't." Samantha didn't bother to even glance at Jim in the eye when she said that. Maybe Jim was right, but she didn't want to take that chance. "Since these are the last exhibits, do you mind if I just head home now?"

Jim shoulder shrugged. "I don't see why not. Go home and get some rest- but tomorrow you have to come back and feed him, okay? Part of being a zookeeper is being one with the animals, all of the animals, including snow leopards. He has a brother and a sister that they're considering transferring over here as well, so I expect you to kiss, make up, and feed him."

"And clean up his poop?" Samantha asked, still as quiet as before. Of course it was a dumb question, but hey- part of a zookeeper's job was to pick up after animals. Plus, she needed to think of some sort of thing to say to help her feel better, no matter how minor.

"And clean up his poop." Jim confirmed with a chuckle. He patted her back before he went over to the fridge and grabbed Snows food. He went out the door to Snows exhibit, and left Samantha alone in the room.

Samantha waited in that room alone for a moment. Maybe Jim was right- maybe Snow just wanted to be with her, but why couldn't he show another way of wanting that rather than just look like he tried to attack her? One thing was for sure, she was going to get nowhere just wondering. She left the building and exited the zoo to go back home. The parking lot was largely empty, so finding her small red car was a breeze.

Samantha didn't pay that much attention on the drive home. She lived along the lines of 20 minutes away from the zoo, but she just couldn't focus very well. Before she knew it, she made it home to her one bedroom apartment. It was a tiny place, she lived by herself without a single animal, but as Samantha climbed the stairs to her third story home, she felt like she needed some sort of company, maybe a cat.

The apartment complex was about average- the hallway carpeting was purple with odd ‘sprinkle' decorations on it, with stained white walls and a ceiling. The entire place smelled of cigar smoke, not that Samantha smoked, but so many other tenants did.

Her own place had the basics- a small white couch and television with a laptop that sat on the coffee table, a kitchen, and her bedroom with a bed, dresser, and bookshelf. She also had a bathroom, but Samantha still found it so hard to focus on a lot of details.

"What is wrong with me?" Samantha plopped down on the couch and put her palms on her lowered head. The only time it felt like anything even mattered to her was when she was around that snow leopard, everything else was just...just...details she couldn't give a crap about. She just couldn't find herself caring about her car, her home, nothing else mattered, just that snow leopard.

Samantha tried to take her mind off of Snow with a hot shower, but even in the shower, she kept thinking of all of that fur- she glanced down briefly at her arm and saw those scratches. With a sigh, once she finished her shower and she wrapped a towel around herself, she put some hydrogen peroxide onto her scratches and noticed the bubbling. "Infection, great...dumb snow leopard." She mumbled to herself. She took a quick glance in the mirror which, while a bit fogged up from her shower, she could at least see her small face and her wet hair. "Whatever...just...let it go." Samantha told herself with a deep breath. It was still pretty early for her to go straight to bed, but at the same time, she still couldn't quite focus. Since she wasn't going to go out for the rest of the day anyways, she put on a white shirt with gray pajama bottoms, and took a seat on that couch. She'd spend much of the night on her laptop from there; and she looked up snow leopards and their behaviors, if only for curiosity's sake. She also kind of wanted to see if she could befriend one perhaps, but all she got for search results was something about a stupid leopard gecko. "When the internet doesn't help you that much, you know you're in trouble." She told herself with a small roll of her eyes.

She then noticed a website about training and taming big cats. Samantha looked farther into what that website said. "They can be trained to be tame around humans, but they're still hunters and can attack..." she read, directly off of the website. Snow leopards were definitely big cats. "I guess...so long as I'm careful around him..." she rubbed that scratch on her arm nervously. Big cats also played, and they looked like they attacked when they played, although Samantha tremendously doubted Snow played when he leapt at her, she still couldn't get it off of her mind. She glanced at the clock and noticed it was already quickly approaching 10PM. "Oh dear. Internet, you really do take up a LOT more time than I realize." She closed the laptop, and went off to bed.

Samantha went to her bed, covered up, and went to sleep. Her sleep was only slightly disturbed and she was finally able to get rid of those thoughts of that snow leopard, if only briefly. As she slept, that wound in her arm healed up quite well- but in the spot of the wound, thin white fur grew out in two thin stripes were the scratches were- and a bit more where the bite mark was. The amount of fur was actually quite small- about twice the length of arm hairs, and twice as thick. It wasn't something that could have passed for an infection, but just...well it was hard to know exactly WHAT it looked like, aside from some extra arm hair.

Samantha woke up the next morning with a stretch and a yawn. She had enough time to get herself ready before her job, and she went straight to the bathroom. Samantha took a deep breath as she looked at herself in the mirror. "You can do this. You can feed the snow leopard." She told herself. As she looked at herself in the mirror, she double checked that wound. It had not only healed, it had already...grown arm hair in its place. The concern for her was that she didn't have any arm hair at all, but now she stared at thin white hairs that trailed down her arm where that bite once was. "Injuries shouldn't heal like that..." she told herself. She couldn't quite ignore it, but it was so minor that she just grabbed her shaver and shaved her arm clean quickly. Underneath the fur appeared to be a thin gray stripe along her skin, and Samantha just passed it off as a healing wound. She dressed herself up in her familiar zookeeper outfit, and went back to the zoo. She decided not to pay that spot any special attention- it wasn't bleeding, and despite it looking weird, it didn't do anything else. If the weird spot grew, then perhaps she could see a doctor about it.

Samantha pulled her car in the parking lot and went to the zoo. Much like yesterday, it was a bit hard to pay attention to details. Well, that and it was the morning, which she wasn't entirely focused on other things. She made her way into the main zoo building, and over to the kiosk where guests normally obtained information from.

The entrance to the zoo itself was a large green building with three paths that branched to the left, right, and straightforward. To the left was the cafeteria, to the right sat the gift shop and the greenhouse garden. Straight ahead was there the main zoo was, and between the paths to the zoo and the other places was a stone pillar on one side, and a circular information kiosk on the other. It was this kiosk where Samantha checked in for her job, and she was told to go right to that building next to the snow leopard from the employee that sat inside that booth.

"Great. Jim doesn't want me to waste any time, I see." Samantha said with a frustrated sigh. She left the building through the exit that went to the zoo- and headed straight for that other small building from before. Samantha paid little attention to the other exhibits she passed. It felt like a repeat of yesterday, where little else meant anything other than that snow leopard, not even the people she saw mattered. It was a little before the zoo actually opened too, so the only other people she saw were employees anyways.

Samantha walked over to that exhibit once more and, upon a quick glance, she could not find Snow. She imagined he was in that small den again- snow leopards tended to be more active during dawn and dusk, and it was currently neither at the moment- that sun wasn't quite high up in the sky, but about halfway there with a few stray clouds. Samantha entered that hot building and saw Jim. He stood there, right next to the fridge, and he had a pair of gloves at the ready. Samantha knew what Jim was going to say, and today? She was ready. She was still a bit nervous, but when it felt like the only part of her day that really mattered was that snow leopard, she couldn't simply continue to try to ignore or avoid it.

"Care to try again? I can stand right next to you this time if you're that uncomfortable." Jim asked Samantha. "Also, how's that scratch of yours doing? Any better? You know we have antibiotics and treatment centers for that sort of thing here- our on-site veterinarian can deal with human problems as well as people problems." He smiled a bit. "Just don't go losing an arm- he can't reattach that."

"Not very reassuring." Samantha said with a heavy sigh. She put on gloves and picked up what looked like a giant brown steak that was both raw and dripped with...fluids of some sort. "The wound is doing fine- so fine it not only healed quickly, but got covered in small hairs that I had to shave." She sounded incredibly sarcastic in her tone- and considering that growing hairs from a wound in a day seemed like a virtual impossibility, that sarcasm could have easily been taken as such. "Regardless, I'm going to try alone. Just stay by the door again or something." She wanted to sound brave, but her rapid heartbeat and shaking hands indicated she was anything but. She walked over to the snow leopard door exhibit and, food in hand, went out to that exhibit once more.

The exhibit was unchanged from yesterday- that rocky terrain, that small pond of water and that den that Snow was undoubtedly located inside. Samantha made her way up to the den and waited out there while she dangled the food in one hand. She waited outside and yet, nothing seemed to come to her. "Snow? Are you in there?" She started to get a bit nervous again as she recalled that one time Snow was upset. It only happened once out of all the times she saw Snow, but as they say- once bitten, twice shy.

Snow couldn't have been hiding anywhere else. The color of the rocks in his exhibit didn't allow him to camouflage quite as well as he wanted. The zoo had likely set it up that way for him to be spotted better, but he was smart enough to know otherwise. Indeed he was in that den, but at the scent of food and something else, his eyes shot open in the darkness of that den, and he saw Samantha out there. He slowly moved out of the den and towards Samantha with his front half slightly lowered, and raised his tail tip. The suns position made him fairly easy to spot if one looked at the den, which Samantha was very much doing, and he was soon right into her view.

At the sight of Snow, Samantha took a deep, shaky breath. Her own reaction towards what she did in front of an animal meant many things depending on the animal themselves. It looked like Snow was in a position where he was ready to leap, so she slowly lowered her front half and set the food down on the ground. She then stepped backwards and slightly to the side, over to where the door to the exhibit was. It was about then she had no idea where Jim had gone off to- did he leave her alone? She glanced back at the door and saw that it was shut, and Jim was nowhere to be found near it. Well, she did request to be alone, but she had hoped he would at least monitor her.

Unfortunately, Samantha forgot one important rule of working with large animals- never drop your guard. The moment Samantha turned her head was the same moment Snow pounced, not for the food, but directly for her. He slammed her to the dirt ground with his paws right on her elbows, and his hind paws just above her feet, as if he knew exactly how to keep her pinned down so she could barely move. Unlike many times when Snow once hunted prey, he did not have his claws out- it was merely his paws that kept Samantha down.

Samantha wanted to scream- but she thought that might make Snow do something much worse than just pin her down. She fell down with ease and hit the ground hard. Luckily the dirt was softer than rock so it didn't hurt too much- but now Snow had her full attention. She stared up with wide eyes at Snow's blue eyes. Her heart beat rapidly and her breathing quickened. She recalled snow leopards, and other big cats, would often bite down on their preys neck to kill them- was Snow going to do this? Was she going to die in this zoo under Snow? "P-please..." she whispered. "Don't...don't hurt me."

Snow leaned down right in front of Samantha's face. Their eyes met each other; Samantha could feel Snow's hot breath and wet nose, as well as those whiskers on her cheeks. He lowered his head right down to her neck, he opened up his maw slowly and exposed those huge fangs...and he licked her neck. That sandpaper tongue of his licked it again and again. His fur brushed up against her cheek with every single lick of Snow's tongue.

Snow's fur and whiskers tickled Samantha. She still felt those shaky nerves, but they quickly melted away underneath Snow's fur. She smiled faintly from those tickling sensations and the warm fur on her cheeks. Those paws were still incredibly heavy on her, but without claws, it was just a lot of weight on her and little else. "O-okay I get it. Y-you can get off of me now, apology accepted." Samantha said with a small, but still nervous, laugh.

It was almost as if Snow understood exactly what she said. His paws stepped off of her arms and moved to the side. Paw by paw until Samantha was free to move where she wanted. Those licks of Snow's moved down to her shoulder before he gave a brief pause and glanced at her briefly, as if he wondered what she was going to do next. That tail of his flickered slowly, but it stayed rather low. His tail didn't quite touch the ground, but it was close.

Samantha let out another sigh, this time of pure relief. "T-thank you Snow. I really have to go take care of the other animals, okay?" she reached up and still moved slowly, but stroked Snow's head. His head was hard, but it was underneath a very small layer of fur. "You feel as beautiful as you look, you know that?" she stroked her with the same arm that had the wound from yesterday. "I just wish you wouldn't bite me to play with me- see what you did?" she raised up that arm that petted Snow and showed off that wound, although it quickly healed, the marks were there like some sort of odd colored scar.

Snow looked at that arm of hers with a nearly quizzical look. If he could have shrugged, it looked like he would have, and he nuzzled that scratch with his head, and a deep purr that sounded like Samantha was sitting next to a lawn mower. Snow's eyes half closed as he rubbed with only a gentle force.

"You really are sorry." Samantha said with a small smile. She tried to pull her arm back, but snow grabbed it with his front paws and fell to the ground with it- as if he were in love with that arm of hers. His claws were out, but only slightly- enough to scratch, but not bleed. "Ha o-okay you've made your point- I really have to get going, but I'll drop by later, okay? Can you please let me go?" Samantha lightly tugged her arm. She didn't want to scare Snow, but at the same time, she was a bit worried that Jim would comment about her work ethic if she stuck around too long, or maybe worried- but if he was THAT worried, then he would have waited for her in the first place.

Snow let go of her arm finally. He stopped purring and rolled over to expose that belly of his. His eyes gazed at her half open, while his paws reached forward- not holding onto her anymore, but it looked like he stretched.

Samantha smiled down at Snow before she stood up and finally left that exhibit. She rubbed the arm that Snow nuzzled, as well as her neck. She couldn't quite see it- but the fur along her arm, not only quickly grew back, but now she had more fur along her arm and shoulder. The fur was thin and looked almost like body hair, but it was largely white in color, and Samantha wasn't old enough for that kind of hair yet. She turned her head at the exhibit exit door and noticed Snow was finally eating his food. With a small sigh, she opened the door and left the exhibit, only to find Jim right on the other side of the door, with a toothy grin. "Sorry I took so long." Samantha said nervously.

"I peeked out the door now and then to make sure you were okay." Jim replied happily. "When you've worked here long enough, you really get to know the animals. I can tell Snow REALLY likes you. Why, it took me a good three months to get Snow to NOT growl at me when I fed him, and you made fast friends in less than three days. Be like that to every single animal and you'll be the best zookeeper this zoo has ever had." He took a quick glance at her arm. "You might want to wash up before we see the other animals though- I see he shed on you."

"Every animal behaves differently." Samantha rubbed that arm with the fur a little nervously. She glanced back down at the wound and noticed the fur not only grew back, but there was more of it- thin trails of fur that looked almost like an old mans arm, but the skin underneath the fur was pinker than a person's own. Compared to her other arm that was hairless with a light skin tone, the two arms definitely had visible differences. "Right, I'll uh...I'll meet you near the monkeys, okay?" Samantha held onto the arm with the hairs and did a quick walk away over to the bathrooms. There were quite a few bathrooms in the zoo, and the closest ones weren't that far from the arctic exhibits. Samantha went into the women's bathroom, and looked at herself in the mirror.

The bathroom smelled like...a zoo. The floor was heavily stained with brown skids, while the gray walls were at least largely clean with large, although crude, paintings of zebras. A single countertop sink lined up one wall with small metal faucets above it spaced out just enough for a person to elbow their way in to wash their hands- while the sink itself angled downwards back towards the wall and had a tiny opening for the water to slip through. The toilets were well maintained compared to the floor and smelled lightly of lemons.

Samantha wasn't worried about using the bathroom; she was worried about her arm, and glanced at that large mirror above the sink. She looked at the reflection of those arms and kept looking down at those hairs on her arm, and tried to wash it off with water, but the fur stuck on her. She recalled she just shaved them off in the morning without so much as a secondary thought and that she'd have to do that again too. For that hair to grow back to quickly though, that was alarming. "It's not something any doctor would find concerning..." she told herself. It couldn't have been infected; it would have looked much worse- this just looked like kind of a pinkish arm with some hair, nothing more. "Maybe...I'll just try to ignore it for the rest of the day." She told herself. Bodies changed all the time- it wasn't like the hairs hurt her or anything, and it was so incredibly minor that she could just wear longer sleeves if people bothered her about it.

Samantha went about the morning and did her best to ignore the hairs on her arm. They didn't get in the way enough to bother her physically; it was largely mentally that it bugged her. She would periodically poke the pink skin and didn't feel any increased or decreased sensitivity. Something deep within her mind told her the arm kind of looked like snow leopards fur, and if that fur didn't come off, then it must have been HER fur, but that just sounded outright ridiculous. She worked her hardest around the rest of the zoo, which coincidentally didn't involve her going near the snow leopard exhibit either. It was only around lunch time when Samantha grabbed herself a small salad, and went back to see how Snow was doing.

Snow spent the morning doing what snow leopards in exhibits normally did, not much of anything other than prowl around. He still was about as friendly towards other people as he was yesterday, which wasn't very much. He was out and about though, which was surprising since a snow leopard was generally more active at dawn and dusk, but here he was in the afternoon wide awake and moving about. Each human that passed by, Snow glanced at, but quickly turned away and back to doing whatever he might have been doing when that human wasn't any human he had interest towards. When that particular human was Samantha though? When she finally dropped by that afternoon? He pounced towards the exhibit fence. It wasn't in a manner of last time, this time it was a much friendlier pounce. He landed right next to the fence, and pressed his body hard against the fence, he almost put his whole body weight into that thing. Long strands of fur pushed on the other side of the fence, and he purred as loud as a lawnmower just like that. He paused only briefly to inhale, and then continue to purr when he exhaled.

Samantha couldn't believe what a change of heart Snow had so quickly. Yesterday he was ready to attack her, now today he was being more loveable than ever. She finished up that salad of hers, and tossed the plastic bowl into a nearby trash. She was tempted to go into his exhibit, but she was reminded about the hairs on her arm. She glanced down at that arm once more, and the new fresh scratches Snow did. Sure, she knew Snow likely made those scratches on accident- they didn't hurt, but until she understood why the fur was on her arm, she was hesitant to visit Snow, even if at the same time, she very much wanted to just get into that exhibit and cuddle with him.

When Samantha's lunch break was done, she went off to work on the rest of her zookeeper duties. Sometimes it was with Jim's help, other times she did it alone. Her schedule as a zookeeper was pretty easy to understand- it was basically a checklist of things she had to do, feed animals in the morning, check on animals periodically, clean up exhibits of waste, and feed the animals once more during dinner before she left. The crowd came and went; it was never busy enough that it was difficult to move around at the very least. It was still so incredibly hard for her to focus on anything else but Snow, but every time she was reminded of Snow, she was also reminded about the hair on her arm. As short and little as the hair was, that alone made it harder to want to see Snow. What might happen if she saw him again? Did he cause that hair? Was such a thing even POSSIBLE? Her mind raced with questions as she did her job.

Before she even realized how much time had passed, it was time to feed the animals their dinner, and she met Jim in front of Snow's cage. The sun began to set once more, and that crowd slowly dispersed to the exit.

"Ready for another quick round of feeding before you leave? I took care of the other animals; Snow is all that's left." Jim said with an innocent smile. Snow couldn't be found in that exhibit- though it was likely he was in the den, or fairly decently camouflaged and a quick look wouldn't reveal him.

Samantha was eager, almost too eager to feed him, but she recalled the hair on her arm once more. She glanced down at her arm briefly, and then she looked into the snow leopard exhibit. The dirt and the rocks and that lone den, Samantha wanted to put more things into that exhibit and make it larger. "He's very nice and very lovely, but I shouldn't." she said quietly. It wasn't that she was afraid of him; it was that she was afraid of...well she didn't want to outright say it. How could she tell him that she was nervous because of hairs on her arm that reminded her of Snow? She just couldn't get the proper words out.

Jim half frowned. "You know, I can tell Snow likes you- it's very obvious. I bet you could walk into there naked and he would absolutely adore you!" he paused at that, before he quickly added. "Not that I'm implying anything. Still, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." Samantha said, almost too quickly in response to Jim's question. She held onto that arm with the hairs, and her palm felt the tingle of those hairs on her. "I just- I..." maybe it was a lapse in judgment, or maybe she was afraid she was going to get in trouble. Maybe, maybe she could just feed Snow quickly. In and out in five minutes. She didn't have to spend any time with Snow, just toss him some food and call it a day. "Okay, I'll feed him." It was as if she had an argument and just lost, the argument was not with Jim, nor with Snow, but her own mind. Her mind that battled with her to tell her that those arm hairs weren't natural, that Snow must have caused it- but at the same time, how Snow was virtually the most important part of her day, and how so little else mattered.

"I'll watch you the entire time if that helps." Jim tilted his head slightly, with a concerned look on his face. "But I'm sure he likes you enough that he won't hurt you anyways." He walked over to that building next to the exhibit, and let her inside.

Samantha wasn't afraid of getting hurt by Snow- that was now the least of her worries. She was afraid that something else might happen to her arm- it wasn't Snow shedding, it was something else. Samantha put on those gloves, grabbed the food with her non-scratched arm, and went into that exhibit once more. She walked out there with the arm outstretched, and her eyes and ears alert. She glanced over at the wall of rocks to one side- Snow wasn't there; she glanced to the other side, no Snow to be found. She kept her back right at the door that led into the exhibit; she wasn't going to be caught off guard this time.

Snow was in that den doing...okay, he was probably sleeping. He may have been a snow leopard, but he was still a cat. At the sound of that exhibit door opening and closing though, his ears perked up, and his eyes opened. He was quick to wake up at that noise. He stood up, stretched out his front legs, and then his back, and went out of that den. Immediately, his eyes caught Samantha and the food she held, and he walked over to her as casually as a snow leopard could. There was no sign he was going to pounce, there was no rush to eat- it was just a normal stroll.

Samantha smiled down at Snow the moment she saw him. "H-here you go Snow." There was still something about him; something about being near him that relaxed her so. She wanted to feel that soft luxurious fur, but at the same time, she wanted to run away in case he did something that gave her more fur- or something worse. It was a flight or fight response in her brain, and she could feel her heart pound with adrenaline. She was still human though, she could hold back any temptation to hurt, or run, from Snow. She gently set the food down on the ground, and she held her position. She wasn't sure why she stayed- it was like her own body worked against her own wishes.

Snow walked up right to her until it was only the food between them. Snow glanced up at her, completely not focused on the food at all, and he pounced- it was only the front half of his body that pounced, but it occurred quickly- faster than most humans could react. His two front paws grabbed that unscratched arm and held onto it with his claws. His claws didn't come out completely, but it was enough to cause pain if she tried to pull away. Snow didn't put his weight behind it, so his body quickly went back down, but those front paws tried to take Samantha's arm down with him.

It went so fast for Samantha- of course Samantha's natural reaction was to pull back, and pull back she did- those claws raked her arms as she pulled free. With a rapid heartbeat and wide eyes, she looked at that newly scratched arm and then she glanced down at Snow. She wanted to ask him why, she wanted to try to understand him. She was too afraid to be around him, but he clearly desired her so. "I-I can't. I shouldn't." Samantha rushed to that exhibit door, opened it, and slammed it behind her with Snow on the other side. She spread her arms around the edge of the door, as well as her legs, and she stared down at that fresh scratch. It didn't appear to bleed- but it had a combination of white scratches that didn't penetrate the skin, with some slight redness that did penetrate it. It was about halfway down her arm from the inside of her elbow, down to her wrist. "F-forget it." She told herself. She walked out of that building and turned her head to Jim, who clearly saw the whole thing. She knew she wasn't in danger, he knew she wasn't in danger, but it still irritated her unbelievably so that Jim didn't even TRY to help her. "I'm leaving now. I'll see you tomorrow." She shouted with a wave, and checked herself out of that zoo. She tossed the gloves directly onto the walkway as she left. She didn't try to aim at the trash.

Snow watched from afar when Samantha left. He didn't chase her down- he couldn't especially after she left that exhibit. The entire time though, from when she left that building to when she left the zoo, Snow's blue eyes stared at Samantha.

As for Jim, he clearly wanted to say something, he wanted to tell her that Snow just really liked her- but he had a feeling she already knew that. Rather than anger her farther, he simply said "Alright. Just meet me at the zoo entrance tomorrow." as Samantha left.

Samantha checked out, got in her car, and drove away. She was angry, she was afraid, and she was frustrated at all of these emotions. She wanted to know why Snow mattered as much to her as he did- and why Snow clearly liked her. Snow didn't want Samantha to leave, and Samantha didn't want to leave Snow- Snow was the only thing that mattered in her day, she couldn't focus on anything else in the world, nothing but that beautiful fur, those deep blue eyes, and just...Snow, in general. She drove herself home and turned on the radio. She had to think of something else other than the hairs on her arm, something else other than snow leopards, and something else other than the zoo in general.

When Samantha made it home, she tossed her zoo clothes to the floor and went straight to the bathroom- it was a mental thing she had heard about years ago, something about washing away the stress after work. It did very little to help her as she undressed completely and washed herself off in the shower. Sure, it got rid of the smell of animal waste easily, but she still faintly smelled Snow as if he were near her. It wasn't that he had a distinguishing smell, it was just...she could see herself nuzzle that side of his and breathe deeply of him, if only to comfort her. The sheer idea of being that close to Snow comforted her more than the shower itself did, but she knew she had to try to avoid him- those hairs on her body still scared her. Speaking of those hairs, while she was in the shower, of course she shaved them off again. It still left that odd skin underneath, but with a frustrating groan, she rubbed lotion on it.

When Samantha got out of the shower, she treated that fresh wound with hydrogen peroxide, and wrapped it with a fairly loose cloth. She put on a simple white shirt with black pajamas, not so much as caring to match her clothing, and walked to her bedroom. Once there, Samantha toppled face first onto the pillow on her bed. She had completely forgotten a bra and panties, but she didn't seem to care. What mattered in life besides Snow? She couldn't focus on anything else but him, and no matter what she tried to do; she just couldn't get that feline face out of her head. "J-just stop with him, brain." She told herself, and closed her eyes. Maybe if she went to bed early, maybe that would help. It wasn't even 7PM, and she hadn't even had dinner yet, but it just felt too difficult to do anything now. She was so far away from him that she wanted to cry out in frustration. At the same time, she didn't want to risk anything else happening to her body with him- but with that new scratch, she had a feeling it was too late. She'd eventually fall asleep with her head tilted to the side of that pillow, and a single teardrop from her eye.

Samantha fell asleep and dreamt of that zoo exhibit with Snow. She imagined herself nude, inside that small den, with small cubs at Samantha's side. Her body was curled around those cubs, while each cub licked and nuzzled her naked chest and suckling teats that weren't quite there. She raised her head and saw Snow enter and curl himself around her already curled up body. Neither Snow nor Samantha said any words to each other- words weren't needed for the pair. It was love, and they had four little cubs to show for that love. She could feel Snow's fur on her back and his tongue on her cheek as he cleaned her. They weren't purring, but it was obvious how much the pair enjoyed each others company, just by looking at how they were positioned. Samantha was in paradise, and she couldn't wait for more cubs, at least when it was late winter again. Of course, since Snow cleaned her, Samantha had to turn, open her mouth and stick out that tongue of hers...

Samantha's eyes shot open as she awoke. She glanced at the time- 4AM. Oddly, despite not having any sort of dinner, she wasn't hungry. She knew animals didn't always eat- they were pampered at the zoo yes, but...what did that even matter? She wasn't an animal at that zoo. Sure, she imagined it at times, but she wasn't a snow leopard. The mere thought of becoming one was sort of exciting now and then, but to actually DO it? It was a totally different ballpark. She adjusted herself and shifted to her side, and sighed. It took her a little bit, but she fell asleep again, with dreams filled with Snow.

Sleep was still difficult, she awoke on and off again and again, as if her own sleep pattern was irregular. She knew cats had weird sleep times, but she wasn't a cat- and she mentally wondered why she kept comparing herself to a zoo animal, and a cat. Maybe it was just because of tiredness. By the time 6AM came around and Samantha was awake again for the...she didn't keep track how many times, she got out of bed with a frown on her face and her hair in a mess with it sticking up higher, and static electricity moving it around now and then from how many times she shifted on that bed.

Samantha didn't bother showering in the morning, but she did take a look at her arms once more. Not one, but both of her arms had quite a bit of fur on them- there was no denying it, or trying to pretend it was just body hair- this was fur, it was longer than human hair that a man might have on his arm, and it was oddly colored. The back half of her arm had gray fur, while the inside of her arm had white. There were also a couple of black spots too- and the color of her skin was quite a bit darker. Not tanned like humans would normally have, but blacker. "Ugh...again." she muttered to herself. She grabbed the shaver, and shaved both of her arms. She used a non-electric shaver with some special cream, the same a woman might use for their legs. Although, when Samantha shaved her arms, she noticed there was still a lot of fur stubble where she had shaved- some of it didn't come off. With a grimace on her face, Samantha shaved again, and again. Each time, that stubble stayed. It was incredibly frustrating to say the least; the fur on her arms just couldn't entirely come off. "Now what am I going to do..." she glanced over at her bedroom. She did have an outfit with long sleeves, and it was going to be in the 60s and 70s today, but at the same time, she was just uncertain.

Samantha ended up using her normal zoo uniform of a short sleeve and shorts. She did bring her long sleeved shirt and khaki pants should she so need them, but she left them in the car for the time being. She made her way back to that zoo, and waited until it opened. Sure, she got there early- REALLY early, 7 A.M early, but she wasn't sure what else she could do. She tried to shave her arms and just got fur stubble. It wasn't easily noticeable at the very least- it just looked like she had some odd colored spots on her arms that were darker in color. She just hoped nobody would ask why her arms were so oddly colored, not just in skin, but with oddly colored fur stubble.

She waited patiently in her car, drifting to sleep off and on, until it was time for her to report to work. She walked into the building that was the zoo entrance, and she noticed Jim stood there, right at the opposite end of the doors that led to the animals. She was here so early- how did she not see Jim's car? Did Jim not see her in her car? There were too many questions, and not enough time. She walked up to Jim and stood a bit slouched. Despite the amount of sleep she thought she got, she was still so out of it. "Reporting for duty." Samantha said, with a quick, but weak, salute.

"You look more like you want to report for bed." Jim replied with a frown as he looked down at her. Their height was about even, but with her slouched over the way she was? He could only stare down. "You have a rough night? The scratches doing okay?"

Samantha wanted to tell him how rough it was- not just sleeping, but ANYTHING outside of Snow. She wanted little to do with Snow, every time she was with him, she ended up with more fur, but at the same time, Snow was all that seemed to matter in her life. "Yes and yes, in that order." Samantha replied with a small yawn. She didn't even bother to look back down at her arms- thankfully the fur was still nothing more than stubble, just oddly colored stubble. "I'll be fine. Let me guess, we have to go feed Snow first thing?"

Jim crossed his arms and glanced at Samantha. Her legs were still normal- but he noticed the odd colors on her arms. Despite that fur being down to nothing but stubble, her arms still had that sickly color underneath, and the stubble was still so oddly colored here and there- gray on the outside of the arms, white on the inside- and a couple of black spots here and there. Of course he knew better than to say anything about it, if anything, he smiled. "No. Snow is fasting today- you don't have to near his exhibit at all if you don't want to. The rest of your duties are still the same- cleaning the cages, taking care of the other animals, some still need to be fed today after all."

Samantha couldn't believe it. She wasn't sure if she should jump for joy, or beg to double check if Snow actually needed to be fed. "So, pretty boring day?" she asked. "I mean...how is it normally now?"

"It's Thursday." Jim replied. "A school day Thursday- the most you have to worry about before 4PM are very young children running off from their parents, and that guy who sits outside the zoo with his laptop. Tomorrow will be busier, as will Saturday. We're technically closed on Sundays, but we still have to be here for the animals anyways. We'll worry about those days when they come, though. Care to do a loop around the zoo and make sure the animals are doing well? I've got to check on something over in the gardens."

Samantha barely listened to a word Jim said. She was still in such disbelief. Going to Snow today- going into his exhibit, it was optional? She didn't have to go in there at all today? Her heart beat quicker and louder with mixed emotions. Maybe, just maybe, she could completely ignore Snow.

"Samantha?" Jim asked. He poked her shoulder out of curiosity- she didn't look at him at all, her eyes were on the floor and she looked focused, as if that tile in front of her was both her joy, and sorrow.

Samantha jumped a bit when her shoulder was tapped. She was out of it already. She turned her attention back up at Jim, and she quickly nodded. "Y-yeah, check on the animals, got it." As if she had just listened to him, at least part of what he said. Of course she wouldn't mind it, just so long as she didn't go near Snow- that's all she had to do. If she could ignore Snow, then she could get him out of her head.

Samantha would spend the morning going around the zoo and checking in every exhibit. She checked to make sure the animals were in there, and they looked healthy- really it just meant to pay attention to their walking, their breathing, and see if they behaved strangely toward her, or the other animals they shared their exhibit with. One after another, she spent about fifteen minutes per exhibit to make sure the animals looked healthy, and feed them if need be- each animal had their food fairly close by. Much like Snow, each exhibit had a door in that exhibit that went to another building. That other building could only be accessed by a key- and that other building the exhibit was connected to had the animal's food.

Samantha tried to focus on anything else than that snow leopard, but when she finished up with the first half of the zoo, she knew that she'd have to pass by his exhibit at some point, if only to check on him and see how he was. It wasn't that...well, actually she did want to see how he was doing. "No touching. No entering." She told herself, and went straight to that snow leopard exhibit. There were three paths to the exhibit- two on the side, and one directly to him. Samantha took one from the side and glanced over in his exhibit, just as brief as she could. Despite how brief she glanced, she noticed Snow straight away just on the side of the den.

Snow noticed Samantha then and there too. Only moments after Snow spotted her, Snow leapt over to the side of the cage where Samantha was and walked alongside the cage next to her. He wasn't purring, but his head tilted and rubbed against the fence side.

"N-no." Samantha said quietly. Snow clearly tried to be affectionate today, but Samantha wanted none of it- at least, part of her wanted none of it, while part of her wanted all of it. She stepped farther away from that exhibit and picked up her pace. Snow definitely looked alright to her. "I don't...I don't want any more fur on me. Stop it." She quickly walked away from that exhibit, and made her way to the other half of the zoo.

When Snow got as far as he could in his exhibit and watched Samantha walk away, he sat down on his haunch with his front legs straight up, and his back legs sat down. He half tilted his head, opened his mouth, and said "Mrow."

Samantha froze in her tracks when she heard that noise. She never heard him speak up until now- it wasn't that snow leopards couldn't speak, it was just that, like purring, it was a rare thing to see, or in this case, hear. Despite it just being a simple meow, it sounded to her like the snow leopard called to her- as if she knew what that meow meant. She felt those ears of hers tingle a bit at the meow, and she then just ran for it then and there to the arctic exhibits on the other side of the zoo. She didn't want to turn around and respond to him. She could put two and two together- she definitely had feelings for Snow, but she didn't want to be with him if it meant losing her humanity.

Samantha ran into the building that was the arctic exhibit- it was a rather large building that housed penguins, a polar bear, animals that preferred cold weather in general. Each exhibit had a door beside it that led to that exhibit, while the central column, as big as a bedroom, contained all the food. Finally away from Snow, Samantha let out a sigh of relief. She could still hear that meow in her head, and she was still in such disbelief over it. Did Snow really want her that much? Or maybe he was just complaining? "Snow leopards don't normally meow at people..." She muttered to herself. It made her want to be around Snow all the more, but she had to resist those temptations for the sake of her humanity. Of course, she could go to a doctor and get all that fur looked at, but she thought she would get locked up in an asylum if she just told a doctor she thought she was changing into a snow leopard- she'd rather take the exhibit with Snow over a padded cell. That also made her think, maybe she should just give in. It wouldn't be so bad to be with Snow all the time either. Samantha shook those thoughts out and tried to recall the good times she had as a human- but it was so difficult to when all of her focus went into Snow to begin with. She glanced up at a nearby clock adorned with plastic fish, and groaned at the time. It had barely been an hour. "Lunch time...maybe I can talk with him." She told herself, and a pause. "With Jim." She added, as if to tell herself firmly that she was not going to talk to Snow.

By the time it was noon, Samantha had just finished checking all of the exhibits. She went to the zoo food court and tried to focus herself on that, and the surroundings on that food court, a place she had been the past few days, but was never able to pay much attention to it- just like she wasn't able to pay too much attention to the rest of the exhibits, just that the animals in there were fine.

The food court was in the main building where the entrance was- opposite of the gift shop. It was a pretty small place with enough seats to fill maybe a single school bus, but the seats were arranged more like a restaurant with booths and some tables scattered about. There were a decent amount of people there, and the food served was admittedly cheap- Samantha knew that all too well from the salad she got that the food was made cheaply, yet priced expensive. The entrance was on the opposite side of the counter, while along one side was a stone wall; the other side was all glass and showed off the flamingo exhibit rather well.

Samantha was ready to get some food, although her stomach told her that she wasn't really that hungry- which she thought was strange. She couldn't remember eating breakfast or dinner from last night actually. She thought she'd be starving by now- yet her own stomach told her otherwise. She thought maybe she was changing on the inside too- but that was a scary thought. She noticed Jim over at one of the booths eating a hot dog, and she made her way over there and sat right down on the other side of the booth. "The animals are all fine." She stated, right off the bat. "What else is there?"

Jim's hot dog was cheaply made- even the ketchup tasted like BBQ sauce with how cheap it was, yet it cost nearly $10 for that meal. He ate his hot dog while he gave it some thought what else she should do before he swallowed what food was in his mouth and spoke. "Well, how is your relationship with Snow doing?" he asked. "I took a look over at you now and then while you checked out the exhibits and you looked so out of it every time."

"What makes you think that has anything to do with Snow?" Samantha quickly replied defensively. Why would Jim even care about her...she didn't even want to call it a relationship with him, it was just a damned snow leopard. Sure, she loved snow leopards. As a little kid, she would imagine herself turning into one at night, as silly as it sounded, but to actually see fur on her body and to be near a snow leopard that clearly desired her both scared her, and excited her at the same time. "Just because I like him doesn't mean we're in a relationship- a zookeeper and an animal? You're being ridiculous."

Jim casually took another bite of his hotdog. "Relationship is a broad term, Samantha. It doesn't mean I'm suggesting you two are sexual partners or anything. And like I said, you are so out of it when you're around at the other zoo exhibits. You have this glazed look in your eye that says you aren't really paying attention to any sort of details, you're just kind of...there...doing your thing." Jim finished up that hot dog of his. "But when you're with Snow, I just see that you're so happy sometimes, but other times you act like you're in denial that you two like each other." He paused briefly. "Like...as friends."

Samantha wanted to deny that outright- sexual partners with a snow leopard? That thought alone made her shudder. It wasn't the sexual aspect at all of Snow, it was that fur of his, that behavior of his, he was so caring, and yet clearly able to hold his own against others. He flat out even called out to her, something she could still hear in her head. "I...I don't want to tell you. You'll think I'm crazy." Samantha grabbed her elbow with one hand, and gently rubbed it. She could feel that stubble of fur had already grown back so noticeably it felt to her like she was petting a short-haired cat. Did Jim not even see all of that fur?

Maybe Jim saw it, but if he did, he sure didn't say anything about it. "You won't be any crazier than the guy that ran around naked in the gorilla exhibit while that gorilla was still in there. Tell me, what's bothering you."

Samantha remembered seeing that in a newspaper. That man...he had actually disappeared no more than week later after that article, as if the world had just forgotten about him. During that same week, the zoo got a new male gorilla too. "I've got a lot of fur on me." She told Jim. "I'm afraid I'm turning into a snow leopard. Can't you see all the fur stubble?" she laid her arms on the table, turned her head away, and closed her eyes.

Jim glanced down at those arms of Samantha's. He adjusted his glasses and let out a quiet ‘hm...' as he stared. After a moment, he leaned back up and looked at Samantha's closed eyes. "I don't see anything odd." He said casually. "I've seen plenty of women with hair on their arms, if that's what you're referring to- perfectly normal."

Samantha turned her head back to Jim with wide open eyes. Her jaw felt like it was ready to hit the table at his reaction. Normal? "B-but the color. There's black and white and gray and maybe arm hair is normal but this is excessive and weirdly colored." She spoke a mile a minute to Jim, and a bit louder as well- loud enough to draw some looks, but not so much as to draw concerned looks from others- more of an annoyed look, as if Samantha were the only one truly concerned about the fur on her own arm. Samantha turned to the side and noticed the looks from other people, before she gave an awkward smile, a nervous laugh, and turned back to Jim. "This just isn't what a normal person gets on their arms." she finished, in a whisper this time.

"I think you're just a little too concerned." Jim didn't even bother to take a second glance at her arms, he merely shrugged. "Look, it is two days until the weekend, and you can go to the doctor if you want them to look at it. I'm not a doctor, it looks fine to me, and if there's no pain, then I wouldn't worry about it. You don't have to be so paranoid."

Samantha wanted to tell him that paranoia was what saved lives on occasion, but he did at least make a point. Samantha COULD see a doctor, but she wasn't sure if it was the best idea- even when she talked to him now and listened to herself, she sounded crazy. Jim was nice enough not to call her that at least, but a doctor might. "Fine...sorry. What other duties were there?" she asked. It was the main reason she came to see him, after all.

"I think I want you to spend time with Snow." Jim said with a firm tone in his voice, and he looked at Samantha straight in the eye. "I don't know what's gotten in to you, but I'm sure it has to do with him." He smiled faintly. "Plus, you do your job much better around him- you were kind of sloppy cleaning up the other exhibits."

Samantha wanted to defend herself about that, but she couldn't find the energy to. She also wanted to deny going to Snow, but at the same time, she wanted to spend more of her time with Snow. "F-fine..." she replied, begrudgingly. Maybe he was right, or maybe there was something behind those glasses Samantha didn't realize. She stood up and left the cafeteria without a second glance back to Jim. There was one more thing that she didn't want to admit, one thing that bothered her even more. Even though she was a vegetarian, and she had been for her whole life- that hot dog Jim ate looked very tempting.

Samantha walked right back to that snow leopard exhibit. She went right down the center path and stared into the exhibit. She hadn't eaten anything, she hadn't drunk anything, and as far as she knew, Snow hadn't done so either. "I don't know what you're doing to me." She said as soon as she got in front of that exhibit. "But I want you to stop." She felt silly to walk right up to Snow and tell him to stop then and there- especially when she noticed Snow just sort of was fast asleep in front of a large rock.

The sun beamed down on Snow as he slept. He slept on his side, half curled up, with that huge tail less than two feet away from his sleeping face. Even when he heard Samantha, he merely opened his eyes partially before he closed them again right after.

"Don't you ignore me!" Samantha shouted at Snow. She only paused briefly to look to her side and noticed a child stared up at her with a dripping ice cream in his hand. Samantha nervously smiled and waved to the child before she said. "He uh...we're just playing." She told the child. That smile vanished quicker than a shadow in the sun, and Samantha started to pace around that snow leopard exhibit. She couldn't get to the back side of that exhibit, but she could walk left and right from the front half of that exhibit. Her mind raced with so many questions, and so many of them pointed to one solution- spend more time with Snow. She could try to ignore him, but she had a feeling her job would be on the line if she did that. She could also flat out quit her job, but to work with animals so closely was her lifelong dream- she couldn't risk that because of one snow leopard and some strange things happening to her body.

Samantha wasn't sure how much time had passed while she paced the outside of his exhibit. Time was irrelevant as far as she was concerned- it was her and Snow. "Fine..." she muttered to herself, as if she had just lost a battle of wits. She walked over to the building attached to Snow's exhibit, entered that building, and then went from the building, to the inside of that exhibit. At the very least, she could now walk around Snow in a circle, and that's exactly what she did.

It was difficult to spot him at times, and she had to readjust that circle of hers to get around small tree stumps, rocks, and other designs of the exhibit that she had barely paid much attention towards. Samantha barely noticed her body didn't move like a circle, but more like a spiral. Each step she took moved an inch closer to Snow, and every obstacle she had to step around, she stepped much closer to Snow to avoid that obstacle. Before she even realized just what she had done, she was soon within ten feet of Snow, then nine, eight...she paused merely five feet away from Snow, who was still fast asleep.

"I just want to know..." Samantha slowly sat down in front of him. "What you want from me..." she wasn't sure what came over herself- she still felt so nervous, she could feel her body shake and her heart thump, but to be this close to Snow, felt oddly soothing to her. She reached out with a quivering hand and touched Snow's back. She felt that fur coat against her palm and her fingertips, and she felt those troubles of life just melt away. It would be so much easier to just stay here with him- she'd still be living the dream of spending her time at a zoo, but she wouldn't have a care in the world besides Snow, and maybe some cubs in the future. That thought alone made her shake her head. She wanted to get up, but her body felt lethargic. She just couldn't find the strength to even lift her own legs that reached out even closer to Snow.

The moment Snow felt something touch him, was the same moment his eyes shot open. It was almost like an instinct, he just HAD to know what touched him. When those blue eyes spotted Samantha though, his eyes slowly closed again. He uncurled from that half ball shape of his, and stretched the front half of his body directly over Samantha's legs.

Samantha's mind told her to get out right then and there- it told her to scream at Snow to stop and get off of her. Her body just couldn't react to what her own mind told her to do. She felt Snow's upper belly against her legs, and it just felt so comfortable. It was better than any blanket she could even begin to describe. The day was a little chilly out too, so to feel such warmth on her legs was soothing. She bit the bottom of her lip, but she just couldn't muster the energy to get up. She leaned back with a sigh and looked up at the sky. The sun had since long moved from it's high position- what time was it? What did it even matter? The more time she spent with Snow, the happier and more relaxed she felt. That mind of hers slowly fell silent, as Samantha's own eyes closed and she drifted off to sleep. She didn't care if anyone watched, that was the least of her worries. The only thing that worried Samantha the most right now, was that she knew that the time spent with Snow would eventually have to stop.

By the time Samantha awoke, the sun was already starting to set, and the zoo itself started to close. Samantha's eyes were only half open when she glanced at the path outside the exhibit, and she didn't notice a single person watching her. Did anyone watch her earlier? She glanced down at Snow, whom was still fast asleep, and she sighed lightly. What did it matter if anyone saw her? The only thing she should be worried about was... "Jim." She said quietly. She was supposed to be working- and here she was, literally sleeping with Snow.

Samantha slowly inched her legs out from underneath him. As she moved her legs, she felt that soft luxurious pelt of his- but she also felt something else on her legs, as if his fur and her own fur brushed against each other. She thought that was impossible- she didn't have fur on her legs; at least, she thought she didn't. By the time she was freed up to her knees however, she noticed a thin coat of fur on her legs that resembled the coat on her arms. Her legs looked slightly hairier than a man's own set of legs- and like her arms, it was coated differently. The front half was gray and spotted with black spots, while the back half was largely white and slightly longer. "N-no..." she muttered to herself. She felt her heart go from a slow paced relax, to a quick deep thump. She resisted what urge there was to rapidly pull herself from underneath Snow, and just kept moving slow so she wouldn't disturb his sleep. By the time she got her legs completely out, she saw them covered in that thin layer of fur. Thankfully, Snow hadn't woken up. Once her legs were fully free though, she carefully stood up, and then ran right to that building and got out of the exhibit.

Jim actually waited for her right inside the building. Inside that building, he stood right at the exit with his back against the door, his arms folded, and his eyes up in thought. When he spotted Samantha though, he turned his eyes to her, and smiled. "You've been there for awhile- quite a few hours at the least. I hope you enjoyed your time there-"

"I know- I know. I'm sorry." Samantha cut Jim off before he had a chance to finish. "I...I don't know what came over me." She hugged her elbows and looked down at the ground. She prayed Jim didn't say anything about the fur on her legs- as if the fur on her arms wasn't obvious enough; the fur on her legs not only rivaled the gray hairs on Jim's legs, but surpassed how much hair he had down there. "I understand if you want to fire me."

"Fire you?" Jim raised a brow at that. "Samantha. You slept with a snow leopard- some might call that incredibly dangerous and reckless. I call it free advertising. Think of it- ‘Our animals are so friendly that you could sleep in their exhibits. You can even sleep with a carnivore.' You remember that whole ordeal with the kid and the gorilla? This would turn public opinion over on zoos- they'd find animals so friendly that they'd flat out wonder why they're locked up and not just roaming around. That stunt you did with Snow is going to earn this zoo a lot more revenue in the long run- there's no way I could fire you for that."

Samantha could barely believe what Jim said. He didn't seem to notice her legs, or he hadn't said anything about them, but she wasn't getting fired for sleeping on the job all day? She was positive just about any other job would have canned her for that, but not this one? "T-thank you sir." She said, still rather nervous. No longer was she nervous about getting fired though, now it was all focused on the fur on her body- and what she should even do about it. "I'm not...would you happen to know the time?" It was a quick change of subject, with the idea of firing gone, it just raised that question of how long she had been out.

"It's actually about time to clock out for the day. Go on home and don't worry about what happened." Jim replied. Of course his eyes glanced down briefly at her legs, but he said nothing about it, however he did mention something else. "It's also going to be in the 50's tomorrow- so feel free to wear something warmer, if you'd like." He sidestepped from that exit he stood in front of. "Have a pleasant evening, alright? Try not to worry."

Without another word to Jim, Samantha rushed over to that exit, stopped hugging her arms long enough to open the door, and made her way out of the zoo. It wasn't that she flat out hated her job- actually she adored the freedom Jim gave her, she could literally sleep all day and be told she did a good job! No, it was that fur she had that scared her. She gave in to her vices and wanted to kick herself for it- she was with Snow, the one thing she didn't want to do, she ended up doing. "Tomorrow, I don't care what I have to do- I'm not going into that exhibit at ALL." She told herself. She ran to that zoo entrance, checked out, and drove home. She didn't want to say goodbye to Snow, she didn't want to pay any attention to anything else about the zoo, she wanted to get home, and get home as soon as she could.

She mentally kept calling herself stupid for giving in and being with Snow- she changed even more because of that. Yet, at the same time...it was so comforting. She had no worries or cares with him, and she was praised for it. "No..." she told herself quietly, as if she scolded a child. "You leave Snow alone tomorrow- and then you spend the weekend at home." The zoo was open on weekends, but not even she could pull off working every single day. Maybe, MAYBE she could at least call a doctor over the weekend too- if only to help alleviate her fears. She didn't have to say she was turning into a snow leopard- a physical exam alone would have worked fine for her.

Samantha made it back home safe and sound, and immediately took off her work clothes. She made her way to the bathroom and got a good look at herself in the mirror. She had a thin layer of fur on her arms and legs- but not her hands and feet. The fur also didn't spread upwards where the clothes had covered her body. "Maybe I will take him up on that offer to wear long sleeves and pants." She told herself. She took out a small razor, one she had used so many times before, and glanced down at her legs. By now, the fur was thick enough that it hid quite a bit of skin underneath; she wondered if shaving would even work at all. After a moment of considering, she put that shaver back. "No. I don't care how crazy it looks, how weird it sounds. I'm going to make a doctor appointment, and I'm going to get this looked at- if I don't shave, then they can really see it for how long it is." She was of course afraid of what might happen, even if they did figure out she had snow leopard fur- what did someone DO about that? She glanced at the shower briefly and wondered...she ended up walking away wearing nothing, and just spent her time on the computer instead. Something about showering, something about getting a ton of water on her just felt a lot less pleasant today. She didn't bother getting dressed back up either- so what if she was naked? She was in her own house; it was fine to do that.

Samantha spent longer than she should have on her computer. Half the time she was trying to find something about women getting, not just hairier, but odd hair. The other half of the time she was checking on her social media. A good amount of the websites she found, when she looked up her particular condition of ‘odd hair growth', had replies that all said the same thing- shave, or go to the doctor. With a frustrated sigh, Samantha called her doctor and scheduled an appointment- it was weird when they asked her what was going on. Samantha just said ‘odd hair growth' like she had found online, and they scheduled an appointment- two weeks out from now. At least it was better than nothing, Samantha figured. She didn't have to say anything- she just had to let the doctor see that fur for themselves. She wasn't sure what would happen after that, but at the same time, she didn't want to stick around and do nothing but just try to keep shaving it either. The thought of getting locked away or sent somewhere else scared her. She just wanted to go back to that zoo and cuddle with...

"No." Samantha shook her head. She had to do something, ANYTHING, to get her mind off of that snow leopard. Maybe she could call in? But to call in for two weeks would definitely get her in trouble- plus she was still human, she had bills to pay. All she had to do was work, and avoid that snow leopard. She wasn't sure how she'd avoid him, but she'd do it. "Maybe I can just call in tomorrow..." she told herself, and checked her bank account to double check. "Nope..." she had so little money- she HAD to work tomorrow, at least for a couple of hours. With a frustrated sigh, she decided to go to sleep then and there. She hadn't eaten much of anything all day, nor had she showered, plus she was still naked, but she wanted this week to be done- she wanted the weekend to start- two days away from Snow, two days away from the zoo- that would do her good.

Samantha had more dreams of Snow and the zoo. She dreamt that Snow wrapped around her, and she wrapped around little tiny cubs of hers. Her attention from Snow turned to briefly look outside the exhibit and see the crowd of people- far more people than the zoo had ever had, so many people that she swore there were people standing on top of other people. Those people didn't bother her that much, oddly. She just turned back to Snow and licked that neck of his- while Snow licked hers. Surprisingly, this night was much better for Samantha, and she slept both deeply, and happily. She knew it was so wrong to want to be with Snow, she knew that she changed so much more- but it was just so much easier to accept Snow- even if it was just in her dreams.

Samantha would awake the next morning at about 6AM- quite a bit before the zoo opened. She had a good nights sleep, sure, but she had a frown on her face, and the expression of guilt. Sure, she hadn't done anything bad that night- but she dreamt of Snow, she dreamt she just gave in and accepted- and she hated how right it felt to just do that. She walked over to the bathroom, still naked from last night, and glanced at herself. She still had all of that excessive fur on her arms and legs- it covered her completely now- had the fur been a bit longer, and her arms and legs more shapely, it would have resembled a snow leopard to the letter- the dark colored fur in front with black spots, the white fur on the back, Jim certainly couldn't have ignored this. Then again, no other zoo visitor would have been able to ignore it, either.

"Thirteen more days." She muttered. "Until then..." since she had the offer to wear longer clothes today, she took it. Along with new underwear, Samantha put on a long sleeved dark brown sweater, with long khaki jeans. They covered up her fur rather nicely- even when she looked in the mirror, she looked normal. Sure, she felt a little hot, and she was sure she was going to feel hot despite how cool outside it was, but it was a small price to pay. Maybe she could show Jim again- there was a lot more fur than before, enough that he'd HAVE to say something about it, maybe. "It feels like I'm the only one going crazy in this damned world." She muttered. She helped herself to a light breakfast of cereal before she took off for the zoo.

Samantha focused little on the drive and at the zoo parking lot. She barely looked to tell if Jim's car was even here, not that she ever paid attention to what it looked like, anyways. It was a bright and sunny day, but it was quite cool, though Samantha could barely tell it was cool. With that fur on her arms and legs, as well as the long sleeves and pants, she felt warm- just as she suspected. With a slightly frustrated sigh, she checked herself in at the zoo entrance and asked where Jim was. Go figure- her answer was that Jim was at the snow leopard exhibit. She swore Jim WANTED her to live in that damned exhibit. Regardless, she went to that exhibit, and to where Jim stood- right out in front of it. She paid little attention to the other exhibits once more; it was another day where it was hard to focus on anything but that snow leopard. Speaking of said snow leopard, she noticed Snow was right in front of the exhibit wide awake- and watched her approach that exhibit.

"Good morning." Jim said with a wave, once Samantha got close enough. "It looks like you got a decent night sleep- but you still look downright depressed. What's on your mind today?" Jim looked so happy himself- behind those thick glasses were proud eyes, grinning lips, and his hands on his hips.

Samantha wanted to tell him about that fur- about how she had so much more than last night, about how, when she looked over at Snow behind the exhibit, the fur on his legs looked almost identical to the fur on her arms and legs, just that her fur was a bit shorter. "Just...a bit worried. I set up a doctor appointment to get something looked at." She replied, quietly. "A little nervous about the whole thing."

"About the, quote unquote, fur on your arms?" Jim asked. "I really don't think it's anything alarming, unless there's any pain or unless your arms move any differently, I wouldn't be concerned about such minor things." He turned his head to the exhibit. "What do you think, Snow?" he asked, with a light chuckle.

Oddly enough, Snow actually replied with a ‘Mrow' of his own- a single primitive meow that showed off those sharp teeth.

Samantha swore those ears on her head grew when she heard Snow. She knew such a feeling was actually normal for people now and then, but she never bothered to look up why people felt such things. What was stranger was that she swore she understood that meow- it sounded like Snow agreed with Jim on the matter. She didn't know what was worse- her understanding Snow, or Snow agreeing with Jim. "There's no pain and my arms don't move differently, but it's not normal. Better to be on the safe side of things too, you know? I don't have to say its fur; I can just show them and then see what they say."

"And like me, they'll see nothing is wrong and ask you what you think is wrong." Jim replied with a shrug. "Regardless, it is your life and I'm not one to judge how people live them. Would you care to be in the exhibit with Snow today? We got quite a positive response from the media when you slept in there last night."

Samantha let out a frustrated sigh. She hadn't considered that- what if the doctors thought of it as normal? Well, maybe she'd have nothing to worry about then; she'd worry about it when that happened. She had to worry about the here and now- like being in that exhibit with Snow. "I'd prefer not to." She answered, rather firmly. Sure, mentally she loved the idea, but she knew better. Every day she spent with Snow was another day of getting more fur. The first two days were her arms, then were her legs- she was not getting more fur anywhere else.

"Arow." Snow let out another meow then and there. The entire time he watched, the entire time those furry white ears of his listened, and he voiced his own opinion on the matter.

Samantha swore Snow spoke ‘Stay' right then and there. She felt those ears of hers ‘grow' again at the sensation. She reached up and felt them, as if just to confirm her paranoia, and she paused- those ears felt a lot fuzzier than she remembered. They were still in the position of her normal ears, but they just felt different. Maybe she was feeling things- she'd have to go check in a bathroom.

"I'm pretty sure Snow is disagreeing with you there." Jim said with a chuckle. "Not that I speak snow leopard, but if you've studied snow leopards, I'm sure you know how rare it is that they actually talk- let alone as much as he's already done today."

"I don't care." Samantha said quietly. She cupped her hands over her ears and turned to Snow. "I'm not spending the day with you, okay? So just...just...go do what snow leopards do in zoos." She turned away from Snow, and over towards Jim. "What other things were there to do today?"

"Marr." Snow meowed yet again when Samantha turned her back. It almost sounded like ‘please' to her ears- in fact, it sounded clearer than that last meow did, as if when her ears changed, her own brain adapted to better pick up on what Snow said. Sure it was still another language, but Samantha's brain still was able to pick up the translations of that meow far better than she should have been able to.

Samantha gasped as she heard that meow loud and clear- and even what it meant. She could FEEL those ears tingle when she kept them cupped- she felt them shift and turn a bit more forward. Now she HAD to go to a bathroom and see what happened. "I said NO, Snow. N. O. No." she kept her head turned away from that snow leopard the entire time. "What else is there Jim?" she asked, again.

"Maybe you two need the time with each other." Jim replied casually with a shrug. "It does sound like you two still have some issues to patch up- I want everyone here to be happy and like each other, zoo animals, zookeepers, everyone- like one big happy family." He raised a brow at her hands. "And why are you covering your ears like that? You can clearly still hear him, and I hope me, just fine."

"It-it's nothing." Samantha replied. She was still angry, and scared. "I just need to spend time away from Snow- alright? Away from him today, and the whole weekend, I'll come back on Monday and maybe I'll feel more confident about spending time with him." Of course that ‘maybe' was definitely a ‘no' to Samantha. She already had so much fur- and those ears of hers. She swore they felt so different. The palms of her hands closed down a bit and felt ears that were straighter and tipped at the top than normal human ears. "I've got to use the bathroom- so if you could give me an assignment before then..."

"Same as yesterday- check up on the animals. I've got some important paperwork to take care of today however, so if you need me, head to the front of the zoo and over to the door to the left of the entrance kiosk." Jim replied. "We're expecting a new animal to arrive by Monday and I have to make sure all of the papers are ready to go."

Samantha wanted to ask what it was, but rather than spend time near Snow and inevitably hearing that meow of his, she nodded and went right to that bathroom she went to before. The bathroom was unchanged yesterday, and it was empty for the moment since it was as early as it was. Once she was in that bathroom, she carefully moved her hands away from her head.

Samantha wanted to scream. Her heart pounded when she saw what she saw on her head- two snow leopard ears. They looked a little strange though. Those ears weren't at the top of her head, and the tips of the ears were at the sides- not at the top of those ears. It was as if the ears themselves were just in the wrong place, but they were unmistakable snow leopard ears- furry, white, and she could just barely make out some of the insides of that ear if she looked close enough. "D-damn it Snow. Even when I'm not in that exhibit with you...you're still changing me. Do I have to flat out avoid this zoo entirely?"

"Mrow" Snow meowed- although his voice was still that of a normal meow, the voice itself echoed. Maybe it was Samantha's new ears, or maybe it was something deep down inside of her, but she could pick up the meow loud and clear inside that bathroom. As for what that meow translated to when she heard it? It sounded like Snow called out Samantha by her own name.

Samantha froze in place when she heard that meow. Those ears twitched and she covered them once more. "N-no." she said quietly. She heard another meow- one that called her name once more. "Stop it..." she fell to her knees and lowered her head. Once more, another meow came from Snow. "Stop it!" She lowered her head to that floor and covered the back of her head. "I can't be in this zoo a second longer." She told herself. She did what she could to stop crying, but she couldn't hold back those tears. Snow wanted Samantha, Samantha knew deep down, she wanted Snow, but Samantha couldn't become a snow leopard, not for him. The fur was one thing on her body, but the ears were entirely another- plus that bathroom wasn't THAT close to Snow. How she even heard it raised even more questions.

Samantha didn't want to be in that zoo any more- she wanted those days off, and she wanted them now. They couldn't flat out fire her if she left early- at least, she hoped they couldn't. "I don't want to be in this zoo if I can hear him meow from this far away." She told herself. She walked out of that bathroom, and went right to the building at the entrance. She didn't pay that much attention to its surroundings- she still found it so hard to focus, more so since she just wanted to get out of there now before she heard Snow meow again. She followed Jim's directions and found a steel yellow door with his name placed on it. She knocked on it, and waited.

It took about a minute, but the door opened and Jim was on the other side. "Samantha? What brings you here?" he largely blocked the view from the inside- but it looked a lot like a basic office, complete with a desk, a computer, and a bookshelf or two and shag off white carpeting- windows were the only thing it lacked to make it look like a total business office. "You look pretty pale. You feeling alright?" he added.

Samantha didn't even bother to check the color of her skin. She didn't know what color a snow leopard had under their fur, but she already had a good feeling when she shaved her own fur earlier. "I just...I uhm..." she wanted to think- what was a good reason to leave? She decided to play up the ‘pale' look, and shake her head. "I'm just...I'm feeling a little sick suddenly. Do you mind if I head home early and get some rest?" She didn't even hide her ears, she already told Jim about her turning into a snow leopard- maybe he'd notice at least THAT was wrong? She didn't bother to check if anyone else had noticed, she didn't care about anyone's say on the matter of what her ears looked like- she already knew.

Jim looked over Samantha carefully. With that long clothing, it was hard to make it out- although a very, very careful glance at her wrists and her ankles and he could make out bits of fur, just barely sticking out. Those ears of Samantha's, though. They stuck out like sore thumbs. He was half surprised he hadn't gotten a ‘concerned call' about them, but he could only imagine it was a matter of time before he would. "Of course." Jim replied. "Go on home and get some rest. I'll take care of signing you out so you can just go ahead and get going. I'll see you bright and early Monday morning, okay?"

Samantha nodded rapidly at that. She was all too eager to leave. "Thank you sir." With no hesitation, Samantha quickly walked out of that building, and right to her car. Finally- she was alone. She was away from Snow, and she was away from the zoo. It was only a few days sure, but she had the weekend to do what she wanted. She knew one thing she had to do first though- all the times she had lost focus and just went home, she hadn't gone shopping in quite a few days. "A quick stop at the grocery store, and then I lock myself at home for the weekend." She told herself. She told herself she was going to do whatever it took; she was not going back to that zoo for the next few days. She had to distance herself- maybe doing that would make her feel better.

The grocery store wasn't far away from Samantha's place- it was on the opposite side of the zoo though, so she had to drive past her home to get there. Samantha told herself she was going to do her hardest to put her focus into something, ANYTHING else but that zoo. She tried her best to pay attention to her drive and how there were so many lights to and from the zoo, at least she drove on the more populated road which meant more green lights to her. The grocery store had only two lights between her house and the store itself, but one light was a good five minutes long. The grocery store itself wasn't too busy- it was still fairly early in the day, and technically a school day as well. It just meant shopping would be much easier for her. The store itself was painted largely green with a large rainbow painted on the front of the building. The parking lot was black with yellow stripes of where to park- it had gone through a recent renovation. The lot was maybe a third full of cars, many of them employees.

Samantha parked her car and went into that grocery store. She grabbed a cart and went right to the fruits and vegetables. It was pretty easy for her- the fresh produce was located right near the front of the store. Yet, as she got to the apples, she looked over the variety of apples- red apples, green apples, Fiji apples, granny smith apples, too much for her mind to comprehend. Oddly, her stomach wasn't hungry for fruit, so she went over to the corn, which also didn't seem interesting to her. Fruit after vegetable, nothing seemed to stick out to her as tasty.

Samantha kept walking until she got to the side isles, and froze. She had just arrived at the refrigerated meat section- located not far from the greens- meat, tons of red meat, all in white packaging. Hamburgers, steak, hot dogs, ground turkey. Her stomach growled at the sight of all of this red stuff- growled in agreement. Samantha had been a vegetarian. Sure, that hot dog Jim had was tempting, but to flat out give in? That was another thing entirely. "No, no...I've shopped here for ages, why am I getting so tempted now?" she asked herself. The idea of eating that meat- even eating that meat raw and uncooked, Samantha just mentally saw herself rip that steak apart with her bare teeth. It...it had nothing to do with becoming a snow leopard, did it?

Samantha glanced left, and then right. She looked like she was going to sin the way she looked around with wide eyes. There were people shopping, sure, but nobody seemed to pay her any mind. She lightly bit her lower lip...and then grabbed lamb chops, and a can of haggis. She swore haggis was illegal to buy where she lived, but maybe it was recently allowed again? She didn't concern herself with the minor details. By the time she left the grocery store and went on her way home, Samantha had not one single fruit or vegetable- it was meat, half a cart of meat no less. She felt so guilty deep down, but at the same time, she felt hungry for such foods. She didn't even remember the last time she ate- as if she just sort of...forgot to eat much of anything.

Samantha drove home and put all of her groceries, which consisted largely of meats, away in her fridge and freezer. She then took a seat on that small couch of hers, and let out a deep sigh. This was it. She was going to keep herself locked up in her home all weekend, no matter what. She took a look at her car keys and tossed them behind her shoulder, not caring where they landed. "No zoo, no cats, nothing." She told herself. Of course, she was getting a bit hot now. It was fine in her car without the heater, or the grocery store where she was in a cool part of the store, but back home where room temperature was quite warm, she grumbled lightly. She couldn't adjust the room temperature- that was up to management. All she could do was run an AC or a fan, and she wasn't one to waste energy. With what sounded like a defeated sigh, she undressed herself down to her underwear and bra. She thought about taking a shower too, but the idea of running water wasn't appealing to her. She knew another way to get herself clean, but she shook the thoughts of licking herself clean like a cat, out of her head. "I'm not even going to THINK about animals. I'm just...I'm just going to spend all weekend watching television." She turned on the TV, and sat back in her underwear.

It was like something out of a movie. The first channel Samantha turned on was animal planet talking about snow leopards. Samantha changed the channel to an animated movie with live animals- including snow leopards. Channel after channel, there was something that reminded her either of the zoo, or Snow. With a frustrated groan, she shut off the television and walked to her bedroom in a huff. She landed face down and buried her head in her pillow. "Remind me of a snow leopard now, world!" She shouted into that pillow. She knew she had to do SOMETHING though, anything to get her mind to focus on something else- if she didn't, she'd just probably dream of Snow again. She turned her head to the side, and let out a frustrated sigh. What could she even do?

Her stomach growled, as if to answer her own question. "Cooking." She told herself. That could get her mind off of the zoo, and off of Snow. She knew it went against her very nature to do what she was going to do next, but she knew it would be a good start to help her focus on other things. Samantha stood up, walked to the kitchen, and took out a hamburger patty. She put it on a small pan, and began to cook it then and there. Something deep down in Samantha told her that she should just eat it raw, but she didn't want to get food poisoning. Part of her even wondered if she could even stomach the meat in the first place, since it had been so long. Plus, eating raw meat was something an animal did- Samantha was not an animal. As she cooked that burger, the aroma of cooked meat filled the air. It was an unfamiliar scent to Samantha, a scent she knew she should have been repulsed by, but instead, her mouth drooled at the scent. "It has nothing to do with you-know-what, I just...really need it now is all." She told herself, she didn't want to even refer to that snow leopard by name, or even the species.

When that hamburger was cooked and brown, Samantha set it on a tiny plate and went to the living room with it. She completely forgot to buy buns, cheese, ketchup, things that went on a hamburger, but she didn't seem concerned. It was the meat and the meat itself she wanted. She reached down and touched that hamburger. The warm wet feeling of that burger on her fingertips. She took a deep breath through her mouth, reached up with that burger, and took a bite.

Samantha's eyes widened as she chewed on that hamburger. She knew she should feel guilty for eating meat after resisting for so long, she knew something about her wasn't right- not just with the fur on her body, but now with her diet, but the taste of that meat was just so good- it felt like she was in heaven. The salty, moist, if slightly chewy, burger was the best thing she had in years. Bite after bite, she finished that burger quickly, licked her lips, and her fingers of that taste. "More...more." She told herself. Without bothering to wash off the same pan she used, she cooked herself two more burgers, and a hot dog in the microwave. She had this rush of energy to eat meat- and a lot of it.

If nothing else, it took her mind off of everything else. Now the only thing that mattered was all of that meat.

Samantha wasn't sure how much time had passed. She had eaten at least five hamburgers without patties, and a package of ten hot dogs. Each time she made another hot dog, or hamburger, it was slightly less cooked than the last- she was just impatient to eat more and more. She knew so much time had passed that she just sort of fell asleep on the couch at some point. She didn't know what time it was, but time felt irrelevant, it was about the here and now- and right now she was enjoying herself and the food she had never eaten before.

Samantha's dreams were much of the same. When it came to an animal in a zoo exhibit, there wasn't much to do, or much to know about the outside world- unless they were captured and placed in that zoo. Sam didn't know if Snow was raised in a zoo, or captured, but the past mattered little. It was about the then and now. Now in her dreams, she dreamed of just laying in the sun next to Snow. Now in her dreams, she imagined caring for cubs, and now, she couldn't be happier. Nothing else mattered. If only she could do such things all the time...spend all of her time with Snow with not a care in the world except her cubs. She was worried when humans took the cubs away, but they always returned the cubs at the end of the day.

While Samantha slept in merely her underwear, fur sprouted from her shoulders, and traveled down her torso. They still didn't cover her hands, feet, or head, but the fur did cover the rest of her body. The growth was quick while she slept, but the fur was short. It was just long enough to hide her skin underneath, but shorter than what a snow leopard might have; although it did have that snow leopard pattern. The front of her body had largely white fur, while her back and sides had more grayish colored fur with black spots. There was more than the fur this time that changed- it was her chest. Snow leopards did have nipples, but they didn't exactly have breasts like a human. That bra on Samantha actually felt a little lose as her B cup slowly reverted to an A. As it shrunk a whole cup in size, a second set of nipples appeared on her chest- light pink in color, and just barely sticking out from the fur. The nipples weren't quite large in length, in fact the only reason they were even visible was because of how her fur was shorter compared to a normal snow leopard. Still, it was a sign of just how much she was changing. She had fur that covered so much of her body now, from below her neck, down to her crotch. Her sex became covered in fur too, but it was still very much human. She almost resembled that of an anthro snow leopard, if not for her face, hands, and feet still being human- plus she lacked the tail, and only had two sets of nipples, though she did have the ears. There were some changes to her hands, feet, and even her mouth, but the changes weren't visible, at least...for the time being.

Samantha's eyes slowly opened early in the morning. She adjusted her bra since it felt so lose, but when she looked down, that was all she needed to fully wake up. She almost jumped right out of that couch at the sight of her torso- all of that thin white fur was on her torso, and she could make out another pair of nipples. "W-what..." she stammered. One of her hands traced along her front slowly. She felt the thin white fur on her fingertips. Samantha bit the bottom of her lip. Her changes, they were so much worse now. There was no denying it- she was becoming a snow leopard. Any hospital would have told her this was abnormal. At the same time, she wasn't sure if she should even go to one- she didn't want to be locked away all alone.

Samantha couldn't quite get a good look at her back. She didn't feel a tail back there, but she still had to know. She raced to the bathroom and turned to her side. She glanced back at the mirror and saw enough of her back- all of that gray fur with black spots, the fur looked like it belonged on a snow leopards back, but it was on her human torso. She still had those panties- those pink panties she never bothered even checking the color of up until now. Her bra was still so lose too- as if it were too big. Samantha took off the bra and looked at her boobs. It was downright obvious- her chest was smaller, women knew their cup sizes, and this was not her size. She knew snow leopards had nipples, but no real ‘breasts' to speak of. "Gotta...gotta..." she glanced at the shower. She took off those panties and jumped into the shower, running the water on hot. She had to find a way to get rid of all of this fur.

Samantha took the shaver she first used for her earlier hairs and ran it over her skin. She found that, no matter how many times the shaver ran over that fur, it just didn't come off- it was as if it were glued to her own skin. "Come off...come off!" She shouted at the fur. Instead of that fur coming off, her fingernails felt weird- it was a strange feeling, as if she had a hangnail, a very big one. Since that shaver did nothing, she set it down long enough to hold the back of her hand up to her head, and poke her index finger with her other hand. The entire nail shifted when she poked it- as if her own fingernails were loose. "W-wha..." Samantha felt ready to cry then and there. It didn't really hurt, it just kind of felt like a loose tooth- except on her hand instead of in her mouth. She couldn't feel the fingernail, but she could feel the ‘pressure' of it moving around. "H-how...why..." her nails were fairly short, very little white stuck out from above. She couldn't see any blood, nor did she notice any trauma from the nails, they were just loose.

Every drop of water that fell on the nails made those nails twitch just a bit more until her pinkie nail from the hand Samantha wasn't watching just sort of fell off with a soft ‘click' when it hit the bathroom tile floor. Samantha raised her hand and looked at her pinkie which just lost that nail- it was pure skin underneath, a little flat from the nail. She then turned and dove down at the tile floor with a hard thud. She wanted to catch that nail before it went down the drain! It was too little, too late though. She just missed the nail, and it fell in the tiny holes, just out of her reach. Click after click, more of her fingernails fell out from her hands until her hands were nail free. Samantha couldn't help herself but cover her face and cry. She was transforming, there was no doubt about it- her chest, her nails, all of that fur- she was becoming something else. Samantha was becoming a snow leopard. "Why couldn't the nails become claws? Why do they have to fall out?!" she shouted, though she knew she was going to get no response.

Samantha wanted to curl up into a ball in that shower. She was at a total loss for what she should do. The hospital would definitely think something was wrong with her, there was no doubt something was clearly going on with that body of hers. At the same time, if she went to that hospital, she'd most likely be admitted and have to stay there- maybe in a confined area while they figure out what went on. She didn't like the idea of being trapped- unless it was with Snow.

Snow...Samantha felt her panicked mind slow down at the thought of that snow leopard. She closed her eyes and imagined him licking her hands where those nails just fell off. The thought was oddly comforting. Samantha reached up and turned off that shower water, it wasn't doing her any good- the only thing that did her good, was the thought of Snow. She'd lie down in the bathtub and keep thinking of what Snow would do- lick her, nuzzle her. He wouldn't say anything, but words didn't need to be said, his mere presence alone was comforting.

Samantha opened her eyes a minute later, and glanced up at the shower rod. She realized she didn't bring a towel to this shower at all. "How am I supposed to dry myself now without getting the floor wet?" She asked herself. She was reminded of how Snow licked her- and she recalled that cats would often lick their wet fur to help make it dry. Samantha's tongue wasn't like a cat's! And yet, the thought of licking herself clean stuck so firmly, that she moved her hand up to her face, parted her lips, stuck out her tongue, and licked the back of her hand. Her tongue was nothing like a cat's. It was wet, it lacked that rough texture and it felt like nothing was helping at all. Yet, with each lick, something changed with her.

That tongue of Samantha's grew bit by bit with every lick. Her face became furrier and furrier, while her tongue became rougher and rougher. As she moved her head down and licked that short fur on her arms, her tongue actually was able to pick up bits of the water on her fur. It was still soaking wet, but every lick lengthened her tongue, every lick pushed out her muzzle just a bit more, and turned the tip of her nose just a bit pinker, while spreading out the nostrils just a few inches. Samantha paused with her tongue stuck out. A person could normally see part of their tongue if they looked down, but Samantha just saw so much more of it. She couldn't quite tell, but the tongue was flatter, but she could tell that tongue was definitely wider, and it was long enough that, when she tilted her tongue upwards, it touched the tip of her nose. While some people could touch their tongue to their nose, Samantha was never able to perform such a feat before. She put her tongue back in her mouth, and stood up. She wiped the mirror in the bathroom with one hand, and she saw a small muzzle for her face- a muzzle that just pushed out a few inches sure, but definitely there. Her nose looked a little tilted upwards as well. Samantha also had black spots on her face- including multiple tiny ones underneath her nose, yet above her mouth, as if it were some kind of weird spotty mustache. It wasn't as worrisome as when her nails fell out, but it was definitely something worth being concerned about. What was worse was that her teeth just felt strange too. It's not that her teeth changed into that of snow leopard's teeth, they just felt so...misaligned when she ran her tongue across them- likely with her muzzle that pushed out a few inches now.

"There's nothing I can do...is there?" she asked herself. She wiped those tears away with that furry arm, and glanced down at her still human hands, but missing nails. She then glanced down at her toes and wiggled them a bit- she still had toenails, but for how much longer? Her fingernails fell off; it was only a matter of time for those toenails. She let out a frustrated sigh. "Thinking of what Snow would do- it just made it worse. I can't...I can't think of him, or what he might do to help." Samantha stroked her hair back; some of that blonde hair on her head came out with her stroke and fell right to the ground, but Samantha didn't notice- she merely left that bathroom and walked back to the living room. She was at a loss for what she should do, but she figured maybe watching some television or maybe watching some videos on her laptop- something to help keep her calm and maybe clear her mind.

She sat down on her small couch, her wet body getting the material quite wet, but she didn't care. The couch getting wet was the least of Samantha's worries. She turned on the television and just turned it straight to a news channel- something she KNEW would have nothing about a snow leopard. Luckily, the news was talking about the president and some other choices they made recently. Samantha leaned back and she just...watched. It was finally something she could do to get her mind off of Snow, and her mind off of how much of a snow leopard she looked like. It didn't help her figure out what to do though; she had no idea what to do. Even when her mind drifted away and relaxed about her situation, she just didn't know.

Samantha waited for her fur to naturally dry before she picked up her laptop and checked online. The couch, and her, smelled like a wet cat, but she didn't care. As strange as it was for her to search for it, Samantha looked up changing into other animals. There were billions of other people in the world; surely someone had gone through something similar, hadn't they? Many of the results gave links she wasn't interested in looking at- but one in particular stuck out. "Therianthropy?" She was surprised to find as many results as she did about humans becoming animals. Although many of the results were of clearly fictional stories, there was a website that even stated a spell to turn one into an animal. It sounded so hard to believe, but there actually were people that actually wanted to turn into animals, whether it was spells, the sheer power of mind, or weird ingredients you could buy on the website, Samantha found quite a few results. The one thing she couldn't find however was a reversal spell. All sorts of ways to turn into an animal, at least supposedly, yet not one said how you could turn back into a human. "People...once you start turning into an animal, finding a way to turn back into a human is pretty damn important." She mumbled. As she looked through her laptop at those various sites, the blonde hair on her head continued to fall off one by one. Her toenails inched out of her toes, and fur slowly began to cover the top of her feet.

Samantha's browsing stopped when she heard her clock chime. She glanced up at it and noticed it was already noon. "Where does the time go." She had barely kept track of time much at all lately. She set the laptop down...and paused. A small bit of her hair got into her view. She reached up and tried to move it back, only to have it fall down right in front of her. "I lost my fingernails...does this also mean..." she set her laptop down and walked back to the bathroom. With every step back to that bathroom, she noticed a small trail of blonde hair where she walked a bit ago. By the time she got back to that bathroom and glanced in the mirror, she saw that half of the hair on her head was gone- she looked like she was going through some sort of premature baldness, except underneath that hair, was more snow leopard fur.

Samantha bit the bottom of that small muzzle she had grown. "My fingernails...my hair...I'm sure my toenails are going to go." She started to get to a point where her body changing so much wasn't so much of a shock, as it was downright depressing. The internet had plenty of ways to ‘turn into an animal', but no way to reverse it. Plus, if it required special ingredients, she couldn't go out now- not without covering herself up completely. She looked like a cross between a human and an anthro snow leopard, and she knew it was only going to get worse throughout the day. Without the knowledge to reverse what was going on with her though, the only thing she could try to do was accept it. Samantha turned around and walked back the living room, and began to circle her entire home. It would have been so much easier to just accept it- the thought of Snow and being with him for the rest of her life just sounded so much more relaxing than continue to fight the changes going on with her body.

"No...I can't accept this." Samantha told herself as she walked down a narrow hallway. "Maybe if I read those weird spells online in reverse, or maybe I actually have some ingredients for those spells I can use. Or maybe..." while in mid thought, she stubbed that pinkie toe of hers on a tiny bookshelf. She yelped in pain and grabbed that foot. She looked down at it and, sure enough the nail on her pinkie toe fell off. The pain came from the shelf though- not from the nail. When she held that foot, she noticed the rest of the nails on her toes looked incredibly loose. She wasn't even sure what was still keeping them in place- the nails could move up and down with little difficulty, and the cuticle of the nail was farther out than it should have been.

Maybe it was because Samantha stubbed her toe, or maybe it was because she saw that her toenails were inevitably falling out as well. Samantha's teeth grinded together and her eyes leered. "I'm not going to change into a damn snow leopard. I'm NOT!" she shouted. She grabbed that bookcase and tipped it over onto the floor. The bookshelf fell with a loud thud, and Samantha just stepped over it. She went to the living room and glanced around at various things she had. Her couch- it was not only white, but it smelled heavily like a snow leopard- thanks to her. With a primitive growl in her throat, she walked over to the couch and tipped that over to. She kicked the bottom of it- not hard enough to cause pain, but just hard enough for a few of those nails to stick into the couches bottom once her foot pulled back. Samantha could very well feel something disconnect from her toes and, when she looked down, she noticed that those nails were gone. With a frustrated shout, she glanced at the television briefly and noticed they were talking about...endangered snow leopards of all things. A news channel, one popular about talking about the president and the government and so little else, now talked about snow leopards. Samantha stomped over to that television and tossed it aside- it was small and flat enough to move easily, and the cord it was attached to ripped out. The screen turned off and fell onto the floor with a thud. "Anything else want to remind me of a snow leopard?" She shouted. She couldn't explain why she had gotten so angry. She couldn't deny she was turning into a snow leopard, but knowing she was, and knowing she could do so little about it, it just sent her over the edge.

Samantha then glanced at her laptop and slammed the screen shut. She unplugged it, and tossed it across the room. The background had a snow leopard on it, plus she knew there would be so many other snow leopards on that screen. Only once she did that, did she realize all of the things she had done- her couch tipped, her television broken, and her laptop probably just as busted as well, she made her way back to the bedroom and buried her head in that pillow, and cried once more. Part of changing, part of transforming, Samantha figured explained the mood swings- it's not like she had a computer anymore to check her symptoms. Then again, she had a cell phone near her bed, but as if she was aware of the thing- she picked it up, and hurled it outside her bedroom. Those snow leopard ears of hers picked up the noise of it hitting the bathroom tiles. She didn't need any damn technology anyways; she just needed herself- and nothing to remind her of Snow. With her face still buried deep in that pillow, she fell asleep once more.

Samantha didn't experience any dreams this time, although during her sleep, her body slowly shifted once more. Her smaller breasts shrunk again, and two more sets of nipples appeared on her chest- below the newly grown pair. A tail also began to form behind her. She had no clothing on that restricted those changes- it was a rather slim bony tail at first, but then it took on the shape of a snow leopards, and fur covered it. It wasn't that big though- only about a foot long.

One other change was Samantha's muzzle- it pushed out just a couple of more inches, and fur covered her entire head- largely gray with black spots, but with white underneath her chin and neck. Had she looked into a mirror, she would have resembled an anthro snow leopard fully with her head- just that her ears were still at the side of her head. She also still had all of those original teeth of hers, but when her muzzle shifted, so did her own gums.

Samantha would awake a bit later with a heavy sigh. She had nothing to entertain herself now. Sure, she hadn't checked her laptop, but she didn't want to- she was better off assuming it was broken since she knew there was something to remind her of Snow on there. She rolled on the bed onto her back, and that's when she felt the appendage behind her. She sat up and saw a small snow leopard tail attached to her- one that wriggled about and twitched nervously with her own emotions. Sure, it wasn't as big as a snow leopards tail, nor was it quite as fluffy, but it was there. Samantha also saw that flat chest, and she felt her furry face. She wasn't even sure how she should react at this point. She was still so frustrated that there was so little she could do about it. Even if what ‘magic words' on the internet worked, she had no desire to open up that laptop again. Samantha got up and checked the clock- it went from noon, to dusk, just like that. She had been sleeping quite a lot more- but with so little else to do, what COULD she do? She couldn't go out like this. The hospital would do who-knew-what to her too. One place that might accept her would be that zoo- but only as an animal at this point, a strange animal, but one that was clearly becoming more and more like a plain snow leopard anyways.

With an irritated sigh, Samantha went to the kitchen and tossed some meat onto a pan- she hadn't even cleaned up that pan earlier, but she didn't care. She didn't even bother shaping the meat- it was just a big glob of a shape with some snow leopard fur in it- her own fur. Samantha gave it a good five minutes or so before she turned off the stove, and picked up that meat with her bare hands. The meat on the outside was lukewarm at best, and barely even brown, but the aroma was still intoxicating.

Samantha opened her mouth and took a bite of the meat. The inside still felt fairly cold, and the texture definitely told her that the meat was much rawer than any human should have normally eaten it, but she didn't care. While she chewed on that slob of meat, she found herself biting down onto something hard- something much harder than the meat she put in her mouth. Using that sandpaper tongue of hers, she shifted that hard object forward, and spit it out in her hand. Sure enough, it was a tooth- one of her teeth fell out then and there. This was no baby tooth either, nor was it one that was rotten. This was an adult tooth- a white adult tooth with no cavities or fillings, and it just fell out of her mouth like that.

Samantha spit out that raw meat onto the floor, and looked at the tooth she had in her hands. There really was no way of stopping it- her blonde hair on her head was long gone, as were her fingernails, and when she glanced to double check, her toenails. Now her very teeth were going away too. "Great." She muttered. "I'm going to be a damn toothless clawless snow leopard, aren't I?" she wrapped her hand around that tooth before she tossed it, not so much as paying attention as to where she tossed it. "What do I have to do?!" she shouted. "What do you damn want from me to stop this? Donate money to help save wild animals? Hump a damn lion? I'll give anything to stop changing into a snow leopard!" she might have roleplayed such things before, but to actually go through with changing, that was something else she just wanted to stop. And yet, there was clearly nothing she could do. Even as she shouted, there was no response. In fact, she hadn't gotten any responses when she tipped over and tossed so many things earlier. Maybe people just didn't hear, or maybe they just didn't want to get involved. Or maybe, just maybe, other humans didn't care.

Samantha didn't bother with the rest of the meat. That stomach of hers was only mildly hungry at best anyways. She walked away with her hands balled into fists, and she just sort of walked around her place. She couldn't explain why, but just walking around her place, room to room, just made her feel better. "There's nothing else TO do..." she told herself. She placed a hand along the wall as she walked around her place, and she soon made it back to her laptop. Out of sheer curiosity, she opened up the screen and saw...the laptop of hers actually still worked. It was quite amazing- she swore she tossed that thing so hard that it would have messed up the hard drive or something at least, but no- the screen still showed off the background of that snow leopard. Of course, when Samantha saw that snow leopard, she closed the laptop again, and just kept walking. "No. No, no, no." she told herself repeatedly. She walked back to the kitchen and stepped around the meat on the floor. Part of her told herself she should clean it up- but what was the point? What was the point of cleaning anything? It would just be made a mess again later.

Samantha continued to walk around her place. That nose of hers picked up the smell of meat, but she let it be. Her nose also picked up something else- or more the lack of something else- her own scent. She owned the place, and yet she hadn't marked it yet. She recalled snow leopards would mark their own territory, and the sheer thought of the idea actually made her feel like she had to go. Rather than give in, she merely went to the bathroom. "Instincts of a snow leopard." She muttered to herself. She didn't want to ask what was next in fear of jinxing herself, but she also figured she was likely going to find out anyways.

While in the bathroom, Samantha felt something ‘pop' out from her gums, and she spat out yet another tooth, right into her hand. She looked down at the pristine white tooth of hers and sighed. Samantha wasn't the best at taking care of her teeth sure, but to have them fall out? "Do you want me to just get some damn pliers and pull them out myself?" she asked nobody in particular. She had a strong feeling it was a matter of time before all of those human teeth fell out anyways. She was angry about it, she was scared, she had all sorts of mixed emotions- there was nothing she could do about her changes. Samantha went up to the mirror and opened that mouth of hers. Her teeth were a bit more spread out, but looked otherwise fairly normal. She tapped one tooth and saw it wriggle from just a tiny tap. She closed her mouth, put those hands on the sink countertop, and grimaced. She already couldn't deny she was changing into a snow leopard. All of that fur, the loss of her nails, her hair, that all confirmed it- but the loss of her teeth was just so much more. "I'll damn BLEND my food from now on I guess." She told herself. Of course the loss of her teeth was also downright disturbing, but her entire body changing was just as disturbing. She wanted to ask the world why her teeth just didn't become sharp instead, but she knew there would be no answer.

Samantha went to her bedroom to lie on her bed. She couldn't rest on her back though, that tail was too much in the way. She found she could rest on her belly just fine, although the sensation of those nipples against the sheets made that tail of hers twitch. Samantha tried to think of something that could help her calm down, but the only things that could help her calm down, were Snow and the thought of that zoo. Loathe as she was to think of Snow, and that zoo, it was the only thing that kept her calm at this point, calm enough for her to finally get some sleep.

Samantha had another dream of that zoo, although she was by herself this time. She was a human too- and naked. She stood in that snow leopard exhibit and covered her nude furry tits with those hands- although just the first pair of her nipples on her flat chest. People from outside the exhibit surrounded her and watched her. They stared at her, and they laughed at her. Samantha grinded her teeth together, but she felt those teeth falling out of her mouth as she did. To dream of one's own teeth falling out was actually not uncommon, but this just felt so real. She could feel herself spit out those teeth one by one, and that just caused more laughter from those people- people Samantha couldn't quite see well, people that were covered by shadows- people that may as well have BEEN shadows. She rose up those hands of hers and covered her feline ears. Tears swelled up in her eyes before she just couldn't take it anymore. She wanted to roar, but snow leopards couldn't roar. They could chuff, but that wasn't quite threatening at all. She opened her mouth, and growled a snow leopard growl. Sharp snow leopard teeth showed up in that growl- large teeth on the front sides, with smaller, but still incredibly sharp teeth spread around the rest of the inside of her mouth. The amount of sharp teeth she flashed around equal to the amount she had as a human, but now those teeth were so much more dangerous.

She flashed all of those sharp teeth sent the shadows running. Samantha smiled faintly once the shadows dispersed. She turned her head and saw Snow once more, and she felt at ease. She actually felt...happy. She slowly walked over to Snow and she lied down next to him. She didn't need humans- she didn't need anyone or anything else. She just needed Snow.

During her sleep, Samantha's body continued to change. The sensation of falling teeth in her dream became a reality- she had lost every single tooth, but she gained the teeth of a snow leopards. The teeth hadn't quite fully grown in yet, but many of the sharp things were visible. Her hands, her feet, and her own face also became covered completely in fur- leaving not a shred of skin visible, just nothing but snow leopard fur. Largely gray on her back and sides with black spots, and white underneath. Her face had multiple tiny black spots where her whiskers grew as well. That tail of hers twitched and swayed during her sleep slowly, and as it moved, it also grew another foot. The very last thing that changed was the development of snow leopard claws on her hand. Snow leopards could retract their claws, but Samantha's hands hadn't developed that ability- and they didn't look that much like hands when her fingers shortened a couple of inches. Her middle and ring finger were about even at height- the same went with her index and pinkie. As for her thumb, it went completely stiff and rigid against the palm of her hand.

Samantha would wake up during dawn once more. Her eyes opened up to show all of those teeth by the side of her bed- every single last human tooth formed a small pile at the side of her pillow. She stared at those teeth with an expressionless face. She should have been terrified- she should have screamed, and yet she just couldn't feel any interest. She had a strong feeling she was going to lose all of her teeth after she lost the first few- this was barely such a shock to her. That tongue of hers checked her mouth and found sharp teeth- although small, she at least had new teeth, even if Samantha could mentally tell they were that of a snow leopards. "I don't know if I should laugh insanely, or cry." She told herself, with a heavy sigh. Surprisingly, her speech still sounded quite normal despite her teeth and tongue situation.

Samantha sat up and got out of that bed. She slowly walked to a mirror and took a look at herself in the mirror. Her head looked nearly like a snow leopard's own- she lacked any human hair, it was all snow leopard fur- complete with whiskers and a short snow leopard nose. Her muzzle wasn't quite as far stretched as a snow leopard, but it was definitely a few inches outward. Her tits were gone- only nipples sat in it's place, as many pairs as a snow leopard had- all covered behind white fur. Her hands and legs were covered with fur- her fingers were shorter, but she saw tiny white claws sticking out of those fingers- ones she couldn't retract oddly. Her tail was a good two feet long now- it almost rubbed up against her neck, and it looked so soft and fluffy that if Samantha wasn't so worried about becoming a snow leopard, she would absolutely love that tail. As she was still naked, she had that cunt too- but she wasn't concerned about such things. "Even if I went to the hospital now..." She told herself. "I look more snow leopard than woman." She had to wonder- could she just...accept this? She could go live in the zoo with Snow. Jim talked about how they were expecting more snow leopards, so surely they wouldn't ask that many questions if one showed up early. Maybe they'd wonder where it came from- but who could complain about it?

Samantha's stomach rumbled rather suddenly. She realized that, while she cooked the meat yesterday, she hadn't eaten much of any of it. She walked back to the kitchen and saw that mess- the smell of meat was quite strong, and it wasn't a good smell either. "Rotten probably." She mumbled. She wasn't sure why, but she opened up the fridge and grabbed a hot dog. Rather than cook that hotdog in the microwave, she just ate it cold as-is. Those new sharp teeth helped her eat that meat surprisingly easy too. She was only semi-worried about getting sick, but really- getting some kind of food poisoning from eating raw meat was the least of her worries. She helped herself to a total of three hot dogs. They were cold, but they tasted like a hot dog she expected- surprisingly delicious. She licked her lips and felt that sandpaper tongue against her cheeks, before she sighed again at the sensations. She ate raw meat now- and that tongue of hers felt that it would be much more useful at cleaning herself now.

Samantha walked back to the living room and took a seat on the floor. She sat with her legs at her side, and her upper half held up by her arms- almost like a snow leopard might sit. She glanced at the broken television, and then back at her couch, and then her computer. Sure her computer worked, but she didn't want to open it up and see that snow leopard background. If she wanted to see a real snow leopard, all she had to do at this point, was glance in a mirror- or go to the zoo. "The zoo..." she said quietly as she thought of Snow. No matter what she changed into, no matter what she became, she just knew Snow would always accept her- perhaps even more so now that she looked more snow leopard than human.

Samantha had nowhere else to go at this point. She glanced out at the window and noticed it was still quite light out- it was just a bit after dawn after all. Samantha's own sleep schedule just felt off, but that was the least of her worries. She decided it was best to wait until dark. She killed some time by roaming around her place, and taking a look in every room and so many details. Her plain bedroom- those many human teeth of hers still rested on that bed. Samantha wanted to frown at that, but she found her lips couldn't do such things easily. It was still scary to see such things, remains of her humanity right on her bed like that. She glanced over to the bathroom and saw the hair that was once on her head, and then she turned and walked back away. She stepped over the toppled bookshelf, and thought about reading some books briefly. However, with the way Samantha's fingers were not only shorter, but much harder to flex, she knew she couldn't turn pages easily.

Samantha walked to the living room and sighed at the tipped couch and television. She didn't make as big of a mess as she could, but she didn't have any desire to make it worse. That nose of hers picked up the scent of the meat in the kitchen, but she didn't care about it- she wasn't hungry, and that meat was out for so long that she wouldn't have considered eating it. She should have thrown it away or something at least, but she just felt...lethargic about it. What was the point of cleaning? What was even the point of even working? All a person did was wake up, work, go home, have to take care of their own house, or various other issues, and then go to bed. Wake up, work, come home, take care of personal issues, and sleep. There was no enjoyment in doing any of that. She thought about the zoo and Snow, and how carefree of a life he must have led. Maybe it was a bit boring, but surely there was more to it than a human's life. "Am I really..." she looked down at those fingers of hers. "Considering this?"

Up until dusk, Samantha paced around her place, and occasionally she took a short nap of about an hour or so each time. There wasn't much else she could do; there wasn't much else she wanted to do. Stubby fingers would have made reading hard, she didn't want to even try using her laptop, and that television was ripped from its cord- there was no way it worked.

By the time sunset hit, Samantha walked to her bedroom and tried to open the closet door to get her clothes. Those fingers just didn't bend in a way that let her open up the rounded doorknob easily. With a huff, Samantha went for plan B. She grabbed a red blanket on her bed, and covered herself with it like a robe. The door out of her place had a handle on it, so it was much easier for her to open that up, get her keys, and get out of her home. She didn't bother closing the door behind her. She just let that snow leopard tail of hers sulk down and drag on the ground with her red blanket covering it as she walked away from her home. Something deep down inside of her told her she wasn't going to ever go back- and all of those material possessions in there were just useless to own to begin with. Driving was going to be another issue entirely. Her fingers weren't totally stiff; they just didn't flex very well and were quite thick. Not to mention, the tail made it nearly impossible to sit down like a normal human would. She made it to her car with little issue, one hand wrapped around her blanket robe, and the other holding the car keys. Samantha was able to unlock her car with a push of a button, and then got in the drivers seat. She pulled her tail and that blanket inside, and leaned forward towards the steering wheel so she didn't sit flat on that tail of hers. It made awkward driving, it looked almost like she stood more than she sat, but it wasn't long of a drive. Once she was settled in, she drove off to the zoo. She was extremely careful about the drive with her short fingers and that altered body of hers- although it was definitely difficult to steer, she merely drove very slowly to help her out. The blanket of hers covered up her face well enough from the other drivers that drove by and gave her an angry glare at the very least. It didn't bug her too much if they saw her real form anyways- her home was left wide open. Not to mention, getting the car keys in the ignition and turning it was a challenge, and she had a strong feeling that she wouldn't be able to shut it off easily, either.

Samantha pulled up her car to a nearly empty zoo parking lot- there was merely one other car there, one Samantha figured could only have belonged to Jim. The zoo was closed on Sundays after all. There weren't any fences or any notices that the zoo was closed- although the one building people needed to enter in order to get into the zoo was likely locked. Samantha got out of her car and left that blanket behind. It revealed her nude body, but she was so close to that zoo now that she didn't care, plus the place was empty enough.

Samantha made it up to the front doors, and paused. She looked at her own reflection through the glass doors, and just how much of a snow leopard she looked. If her head was reshaped, she swore she would have been staring right at a snow leopard at the other end of the door. That reflection vanished though. Jim appeared behind those front doors, with a huge smile on that face of his as he looked at Samantha up and down.

"I see the new animal has arrived, right on schedule." He spoke. His voice was a bit muffled behind those doors, but it wasn't soundproof doors or anything, hearing him wouldn't be too difficult. "Shall I open the doors and let you in?"

Samantha wanted to hiss at seeing Jim. One short stubby hand of hers smacked against the glass and revealed those sharp claws of hers that she couldn't sheathe away into her paws. She wasn't quite strong, but the claws were definitely enough to scratch the door. "Why me? Why are you doing this to me? What did I do to deserve this?" Not that she knew of any way to return to her normal form, but she could get vengeance on the one doing this to her, maybe that would be satisfying.

Jim rolled his eyes at Samantha. "Dear. You don't realize- it isn't the zookeeper that decides who gets to live here. It's the zoo animals. Snow chose you to be his mate. I can't tell you why though; I'm not a mind reader. You'll have to ask him yourself...as soon as you calm down." He held up a large set of keys and jingled them in front of her. "Just tell me when."

Samantha gave Jim a daggered eyes look. What reason did she have to trust him? Although, the idea of meeting Snow again was quite tempting, and she knew she couldn't get into the exhibit without a set of keys. Sure, she could do something to Jim and steal his keys, but based on how many keys he carried on him, that could take a long time. "F-fine..." she replied, she sounded like a kid that just surrendered to her parents.

Jim opened up one of the glass doors and let Samantha inside "Good girl. The doors will automatically lock behind you once you get inside by the way." He glanced down at that tail- while not as long as a snow leopards, it did drag behind her. "Mind your tail when the door closes."

Samantha wanted to express a face of pure anger, but those lips still didn't allow such things- as if they were frozen in place. She walked in through the first set of double doors, and glanced at the next set up ahead. "Can you at least give me one reason why I shouldn't try to claw your eyes out now?" She had already thought of a few beforehand, but she was still so furious. Why hadn't he warned her about it? Did he notice her change and really not say anything? Her mind raced with questions about him, and about his motives.

"It's a long story Samantha." Jim replied as he let go of the doors when she walked in, and opened up the next set of doors for her. "Let's just put it this way- the animals here are special and it's my job to take care of their needs, whether it's food, water, cleaning, or a mate. They pick their mates, and Snow chose you."

Samantha walked through the other set of doors right back outside, but inside the zoo territory. She kept her head down and her ears lowered as she heard that the animals pick their mates. Snow chose her- Snow really liked her that much? "You couldn't warn me about it? Or tell me?"

Jim rolled his eyes as they walked closer and closer to the snow leopard exhibit. Many of the animals were hidden in their various hiding spots, or indoors. "If I told you that you would become a snow leopard when you signed up, you'd think I was crazy. Not that I knew you would become a snow leopard- just a feeling. For all I knew, you could have become a bear, or a penguin, or a fish."

Samantha hated to admit that Jim had a point. The day she signed up, if she was told she was going to become an animal? That would have just been downright crazy. She couldn't imagine becoming a fish though, she would need water to breathe- how would they even bring her here if she needed water before coming here? Those were questions she felt like she didn't have time to enter, especially as they got right in front of Snow's cage.

Snow was one of the few animals who were out and about. The entire time Samantha walked up to his exhibit, he was watching as close as he possibly could. When Samantha was close enough, Snow raised his head and let out a noise- it almost sounded like rapid loud sniffing. His head lowered a bit before he raised and did it once more, his face aimed directly at Samantha.

Samantha already knew what this was. Snow leopards couldn't roar. They could meow, and they could meow loudly, but this other noise, this one was what was called a ‘chuff', typically a greeting noise snow leopards did. "So I guess...I go into his exhibit?" She glanced at Jim. Of course she was hesitant, but what other choices did she have? She couldn't live out in the world like this, she couldn't go back home like this. Plus, her mind constantly gave her happy thoughts about living with Snow- it beat living in a hospital, or at home where there was next to nothing to do.

Jim handed Samantha a single key to open the building that would allow her inside that exhibit. "Indeed. Once you're safely in there, toss the key over the exhibit back to me, I'll walk away, and then you two can do what needs to be done."

Samantha took the key and walked over to the building. As she made her way there, Snow followed her as best as he could inside that exhibit. It was downright clear he liked her, and when she got out of his view to get to the building, she picked up an ‘arow' sound from Snow. "I know...I know..." she said quietly. She opened up the door and entered the building that connected to Snow's exhibit.

Samantha took a look at that refrigerator once she was inside that building. There was nothing fascinating about it except the plenty of meat she could smell from there- something she swore she couldn't smell before, at least from this far away. Her distraction was cut short when she heard Snow meow again. With a heavy sigh, Samantha walked over to that other door, and entered Snow's exhibit. Once there, and the door shut behind her, she tossed the key over the exhibit top towards Jim.

Jim was obviously a poor catch, and Samantha had a poor throw. That key made it outside the exhibit, but a good five feet away from Jim. Jim merely walked over and took the key in his hand. "Glad you're cooperating- have fun you two." Jim gave a wave before he turned his back, and walked away.

Samantha blinked a few times once she saw Jim's back. Just what had she done? She looked down at those hands of hers, and then back over where Jim left. Maybe it was just a moment of weakness, or maybe it had something to do with Snow. She glanced over at Snow, who quickly made his way over to her.

Snow's pace was that of a fast walk. Once he was close enough to Samantha though, his fast walk slowed. His furry head pushed up against Samantha's thigh, and then the rest of her body gently rubbed up against her. That long soft tail of his raised up enough to brush on Samantha's lower nipples. "Arrw." Snow meowed. He wasn't purring, but his body language easily showed his feelings toward her.

Samantha reached down and stroked Snow's back through that hand of hers. She could feel the bottom of those fingers, and even her palm, roughening at the touch of his soft fur. She had already changed so much, but she wasn't a snow leopard yet. She was still on two legs- she still had fingers, her head was still human shaped, even if her teeth were sharp, she lacked the large front ones. "You want to finish changing me yourself, don't you?" Samantha slowly sat down and spread those legs out in front of her, right in front of Snow. She didn't look it, but Samantha was calmer than she had ever been in the past few days. It was just so relaxing to be near Snow after all of this time, and to be in this exhibit. Snow, the only creature Samantha knew wouldn't judge her, Snow, who clearly desired her so much that she was becoming a snow leopard thanks to him. She wanted to comment how she didn't have much of a choice now, but her own actions brought her here- she came to the zoo, she tossed the keys to Jim, now she was stuck in that exhibit with Snow.

Snow stepped back and took a look down at those feet of Samantha's. Those feet still looked incredibly human- just covered in fur, from toe to arch. Snow leaned his head down and licked those toes of hers, as well as the heel. That huge, sandpaper tongue of his gently brushed her bare furry feet again and again. Each stroke of his tongue changed those feet just a bit more. Four tiny black paw pads appeared on her toes, all except that big toe of Samantha's, which slowly vanished lick by lick. She could live without her big toe- humans didn't NEED it to balance, plus she had a tail that helped out with that. What traces of toenails she had vanished- each toe puffed out into large paws, with small pads underneath. It couldn't be seen, but claws developed too- they were already sheathed, she just had to unsheathe them in order to see them. By the time Snow pulled back, Samantha had large snow leopard paws for her feet- with long heels, and a total of five paw pads, four small ones, with one large one beneath that.

Samantha shivered at all of those changes. Each lick of that tongue felt both soothing, and slightly painful. She glanced down and watched those furry human feet turn into snow leopard paws. She flexed those paws and saw claws emerge, before she pulled them back in. "T-that's..." she paused for a moment. Samantha's back suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable sitting up the way she was. She laid down on her back, reached those arms behind her, but yelped in pain when her arms didn't want to bend like that. Her entire body slowly shifted then and there. It did make sense- while Snow could lick her entire body, it would have taken a long time for him to do. She thrashed from side to side as her spine extended, as did that tail of hers. She could hear the cracking of her bones as new ones grew, while others changed in position. It wasn't as painful as actually breaking bones, but it was uncomfortable to say the least. She didn't look much taller though- if anything, she looked about a foot shorter, but that tail of hers was almost as long as she was now- and that torso was definitely wider than any human's.

Samantha panted heavily. She looked down at her torso and saw a lot of white snow leopard fur on her- her fur. She couldn't see her nipples anymore, just a long, wide, snow leopard torso. She wiggled her spine and heard some slight cricks- she didn't study the inside of a snow leopard much, but it just felt like parts of her spine had just multiplied within her. That tail behind her flickered- and Samantha was amazed at its length and its beauty- and it was her own tail no less.

Snow largely watched that torso form on Samantha. Bit by bit, the two looked more and more identical. Once her torso finished forming, Snow walked up to Samantha's head and he licked that forehead of hers- that furry, but otherwise hairless, head. He knew what changes were going to happen next, and he knew they weren't going to be painless.

Samantha's tail flickered in happiness when she felt that tongue of Snow on her head. It just felt so comforting. No matter what she looked like, no matter what happened to her, Snow was always around. Samantha felt her shoulders and her neck tingle next. She knew she was far from done- those shoulders of hers, that neck of hers, they weren't in the right place on her torso compared to a Snow leopard. Those shoulder blades of hers shifted back, and her neck shifted more towards her back. She could also feel her skull shift. That muzzle grew out longer, while her skull shifted back. "Ah-ahhhoooww." Samantha closed her eyes. Tears slowly emerged from those shifting eyes- that skull change definitely hurt, it gave her a stinging headache. That nose shifted forward with her teeth to form that muzzle, but her muzzle teeth were stretched back to her eyes- which were pushed back quite a few inches, and spread out a few more. Along with the skull, the ears also took their proper shape more towards, but not quite at the top, of her head.

With her neck grown out, and that head of hers changed, also came another change on the inside- her own voice. Samantha wanted to cry out more, but her voice came out in a primitive ‘arr-owh' noise, a voice that wasn't quite human, but also wasn't quite snow leopard.

Snow licked Samantha's head, her neck, and those furry cheeks where those long whiskers were, he knew the exact places to lick and nuzzle to comfort her, and also help progress those changes. Her torso and now even her head were indistinguishable from that of a snow leopard's. There were only a few other changes to go, and thankfully they weren't as painful for Samantha.

Samantha felt those muscles change within her arms and legs. Her arms were already so difficult to bend to her back, but she raised a leg slowly and found she could reach up quite high with her back legs. Those front ones of hers just didn't bend nearly as well- she could reach the top of her forehead, but little else. She even found it a challenge to look at the palm of her hand. She did feel those paw pads develop- and like her big toe, her thumb vanished underneath fur and muscle. Those claws sunk in her too- and made her wince- it felt like multiple paper cuts on each of her fingers. She turned to look up at Snow and opened that mouth of hers- two giant canine teeth were now very much visible, as well as a sandpaper tongue. She found it was difficult to speak though- she just couldn't make out the words she wanted to speak, plus he looked so different now- her own eyes had changed with her head to that of a snow leopards, her eyes a light aqua blue.

From head to that long tail, Samantha rolled to her side and slowly stood up on now all four legs. Her body creaked and popped multiple times as she moved. It felt so unfamiliar to her. Even her own rear had changed. All Samantha had to do was to lift that tail of hers, and her rear and sex would be exposed. She found it hard to turn her head, but she knew she must have looked completely like a snow leopard, a little smaller than Snow with spots in other places, but no longer was she human. She had gray fur along her back and her sides, with black spots scattered about her body with gray on the inside of those spots. Her face had long whiskers and sharp teeth- with multiple tiny black spots along her face, and many more where her whiskers were. She had a pinkish nose, and a large flat sandpaper tongue. Her eyes were surprisingly round, but colored blue now- just located a bit more away were those large snow leopard ears.

Her belly was largely that of white fur, but her arms and legs, or now all four of her legs, were the same as her back with the gray covering it along with black spots- except just a bit of white on the other side of the front legs. Her tail stretched so long, and it was quite fluffy too. When she stood up, it was long enough to easily touch the ground, and then some, but by pure instinct, she raised it just above ground level. She had many nipples, but no clear shape of breast size. She was positive much of her insides were that of a snow leopard's own as well, including that skeletal system- as unfamiliar as she was with it.

There was only one thing left to do for Samantha, one thing to make her completely and fully into a snow leopard and erase that last bit of humanity from her. Samantha slowly turned her back towards Snow, and raised that long tail of hers. Not even she was sure what she was doing at this point, it was all pure instinct, but an instinct she just knew would bring her something she so long desired- happiness.

Four months later...

"And these are where we keep our snow leopards." Jim explained. Right next to him was another zookeeper- or at least what it looked like, a zookeeper in training. "We don't have a place indoors for them, but they can withstand cold conditions just fine- the inside is also kept very dry."

The new zookeeper was a woman with short white dyed hair. She also wore some familiar tanned clothing as well. She glanced at the snow leopards right inside that exhibit- two large snow leopards and a total of five little cubs, all of the snow leopards just on the other side of the den. "Oh yeah, this place made the news about that. The female snow leopard birthed five cubs- that's a lot for a snow leopard to have! What did you say the female's name was?"

Jim glanced into the exhibit, and flashed a toothy grin at the female snow leopard. "Her name is Samantha." He turned back to the female zookeeper in training. "But enough about that, I heard you like polar bears?"

Samantha could only watch Jim and that new zookeeper talk. When Jim looked at her, her ears went back. The cubs she birthed only about a month ago nuzzled her belly with closed eyes and distracted her from Jim briefly. She glanced down at those cubs, and licked one of their cheeks. Sure, she still remembered that human life of hers, and she was still irritated at Jim, but she knew Snow loved and cared for her, much like she did for him. It was rare for a male to stick around, not that Snow had a choice, but the fact that Snow continued to love her as much as he did, even after birthing his cubs, showed just how much he loved her.

The new zookeeper nodded eagerly. She briefly looked at those cubs before she looked back up at Jim. "Oh yes. Polar bears are my favorite animal. I heard you only have one though, he must be so lonely."

Jim turned back to Samantha, before he glanced back at the new zookeeper. "Come on, I'll introduce you to him- I'm sure you and him will become fast friends."