Tough as Nails Adoption (Closed for renovations!)

[Rainbow Dash]

Forgot to answer the photomanipulation question. Facepalm.

If it's clearly stated that it's a stock photo that is free for use, then it's fine provided you give credit to the page where it says you can use it and the page with the photo (if separate.) Random images off Google are not allowed.

[Meadow]

~

[Atwood]

The round just started, Meadow, so don't panic; forms can still be submitted for the next seven days. :3

[Toadfoal]

Yep, ADOPTIONS are now open. ^^ RBG, yours will be moved to the next round, since this one's already pretty full with 21 characters.

Toadfoal, yours is 2304 words long from Personality onward, so your form's actually a pretty good visual measure of length. XD To judge via eyeball if a form is within the allowed length, pretend you were taking screenshots of the form; it should take about 4 'screens' at most, not including the image, name and species (unless a lot has been written there).

Oh good, so I didn't slim it up for nothing! I guess I'll just keep it as is then.

[Skylarr.]

I would like to adopt!
Number: 9
Picture: The pink-red one
Name: Luann
Species: Drolf
Personality: She is super shy, that's why she doesn't have many friends, but the friends she has are very close to her. When you get to know her she is very nice and loyal to her friends.
Likes:
Dislikes:
Background:

[Hazel XIII]

I think I'll drop out of this week. Going to save my form for another Smili that fits it better.

[azalea]

Number: #6
Picture:
Name: Akari (japanese for light)
Species: smili
Personality: unique, headstrong, does things her own way (evident in her tail colors), a good friend, someone to lean on when you need some help, just, brave, kind, loving, good leader material
Likes: Hoshi (later in her life, they fall in love and govern the kingdom of smilis as the Light [Akari] and the Star [Hoshi]), hunting, her tail, holding her tail up high proudly, the feeling of freedom, her prairie. She loves her prairie so dearly.
Dislikes: Fire and death, she hates them. To her, they are the epicenter of all pain and suffering.
Background: To save some time and trouble, I have popped it into word count and it is exactly 2,494 words not including this Cx, but hopefully you will agree that each one was used to the full extent C8

.: Akari, the brave and just :: Akari, the brave and courageous :: Akari, the Light :.
That is what they call her. But her road to become the Light was not an easy one. It was filled dangers and terror, loss and love, but that is the true meaning of life, is it not? At one time, I only knew three days in her life. I asked her once for more about her, and she laughed at me. I remember her words very clearly, "My entire life is within these three days, my darling Masao. You need not know more to understand the true me." Now knowing her story, I feel I must agree. I write her amazing tale exactly as she has confided to me. Not a word more, not a word less...

All she could see was red. So much red. All around her. It scares her. She pokes at it. Ouch! She yelps, crying out for her parents. The bush behind her rustles. She hears a call, "I found her!" She turns to face the shape of a dark smili. This was not her mother or her father. She was picked up gently in the jaws of the dark smili. She was put down near an oak tree. She saw other cubs, most she recognized except the one next to her. He was tan with large blue eyes filled with wet blobs.
"Why are you crying?" she asked the smili.
"M-m-my momma and d-dadda are g-gone..." he sobbed. She scooted next to him.
"It's okay, I can't find my parents either..."
"No..they won't find them...that smili s-said they're d-d-dead!" he sobbed harder."That's why you're h-here. We're all o-o-orphans..." Now it was her turn to cry. She did not know why she should trust this strange smili, but she had a sickening feeling he was right. Her bright green eyes moistened and her tears stained her pale-cream pelt. Then, the dark smili told her everything. She would never forget the dark smili's face when she told her about her parents' deaths. So calm, so unemotional. Not even a flicker of sadness. Although she was only two, she now knew the true feeling of hate. Hate of that dark smili, hate of that red thing that bites, hate of her tears...hate of death.
~~~~~
The wind whispered softly, gently pushing and pulling, creating waves in the tall grasses. The sun grinned down upon the land, basking the earth in warmth. The sky was painted a pale blue, not a cloud in sight. As they say, it was the lull before the storm. Alas, the smilis of the prairie were naive, simple souls and were unbeknownst to the impending doom waiting to be thrust upon them by destiny. To them, it was a beautiful day. With sentries on duty to keep a watchful eye, the little ones were let out to play amongst the forest of grass.
A pale-cream smili tail dangled playfully in the breeze, the puff at the tip dancing joyfully. It belonged to a small smili of about ten years. She moved swiftly about the prairie, her yellow-tan pelt blending into the grass perfectly. Upon circling the entire perimeter of the prairie twice, she groaned in exasperation.
"How come I can never find you younglings in hide-and-seek?" she asked rhetorically.
Taking it as an "I give up", five little cubs sprung out of their hiding places and bounded over the tall grass towards her.
"Maybe it's because of your tail, sissy," said one, her unusually dark-furred little brother. The tiny crowd nodded in agreement.
"Yea, why do you always hold your tail up?" asked another.
Smiling to herself, she remembered a conversation with her mother when she was only one.
"For goodness sakes, Akari! Put your tail down!" she had said.
"But why? I like it better up!"
"Your pelt markings will be uneven, and no male will want you," she said triumphantly as if that mattered to me.
I simply turned around and deliberately held my tail up even higher. But, she was right, and my tail did have uneven marks: half of my tail became a pale cream color and the bottom half a yellow-tan like the rest of my body. Still, I was quite proud of my tail. It made me feel unique.
When she looked down, big, bright eyes stared up at her as if pleading her to answer.
"Well, I guess I've done it since birth and it kind of stuck..." Akari said sheepishly, not knowing the answer herself. Disappointed, the cubs' faces turned sullen. "Hey, why don't you guys play with Hoshi for awhile? I bet he has some rat bones for you guys to play with..."
In a flash, the group of cubs was gone. After awhile, Hoshi emerged from the woods covered in squirming little cubs riding on his back. He caught her eye, and they shared a laughing smile. Hoshi was a tan smili with cheerful blue eyes.
They had grown very close since the day they met, which was when they learned that their parents were dead because of the great fire. Hoshi's parents and Akari's parents were all brave and courageous people. When the fire arose, they quickly tried to stop it and save the ones trapped in midst of the fire. But they had suddenly disappeared. When the fire was finally put out, their bodies were never found.
Truthfully, Akari liked Hoshi in a more intimate way rather than a friend. This was only lately however. In the past few weeks they had spent time with the others for about an hour or so, then leaving to be on their own. Hoshi would even occasionally serenade her. They were especially affectionate towards each other now, and Akari hoped that Hoshi would want cubs with her...
Anyway, she decided not to think about it and took a brief nap, basking in the morning sun on a low branch. When she woke, Hoshi was walking over to her. In the distance she saw that her brother's posse was now pestering an elder. Side by side, they left to wander around on their own as always. Perhaps they would hunt for awhile too.
Spying a nice, juicy, plump wren in the distance, Akari lept up into air and landed softly. With amazing speed and grace, Akari pounced onto the wren and killed it instantly. Hoshi was about to say something to Akari when...they were interrupted by a deep, menacing rumble. Above them, their beautiful morning sky became a swirling gray vastness.
"We should go home," they said simultaneously. Running as fast as they could, though clumsily, they dashed across the sweeping plains and headed for the woods. CRACK-POW! Lightning flashed behind them, only a couple meters away. CRACK-POW! Again, the lightning struck down on Earth, but this time the dry grass burst into flames. The flames spread like greased lightning, engulfing all in its sight. Akari glanced back and froze in terror. The red flames that had stolen her parents had come back.
"Akari! Come On!! We have to warn the others!" Hoshi yelled. Seeing no reaction from her, he threw Akari's stiff body over his shoulder and ran as fast as he could. Although his parents were also killed in the great fire and he was still traumatized, he knew that losing Akari to the fire would be unforgivable to himself.
Akari soon regained her composure, and they had finally reached the prairie, the flames licking their heels. CRACK-POW! Akari was thrown forward into the woods and landed on the soft, dewy grass, her back searing with pain. She had lost track of Hoshi now, but only one thing was on her mind: her brother. Dashing back out of the safety of the woods, she tore through the burning grass searching for him and hoping that he wasn't in the worst of the fire. The prairie was no longer an ocean of grass, but an ocean of deep red, flickering flames enveloping the terrified smilis around it.
"Akari!" a weak voice yelled to her left. Akari tore through the fire and found her brother. Using her mouth, she dragged his limp, burned body back into the woods. She left him to a female Elder and went back out to search for more survivors. Dark smoke reached out with long, billowy fingers to the sky, obliterating every last bit of hope and happiness. Finally rain beat down on the fire, smothering it out. Almost all was gone, burned with nothing left but smouldering black ash and charcoal.
The fire left as quickly as it came, but the damage it dealt was tremendous. Screams of pain and sadness rung out in the open air. All smilis living on the prairie were injured. The lucky ones were only burned and scarred, the others were dead. Scanning the barren and smoldering prairie, Akari searched for Hoshi desperately. There! She ran towards him.
"How's your brother?" he asked, concerned.
"He's okay. I asked the Elders and his burns aren't too serious," she replied, still stunned by the power of the flames. She was only once before around fire, but this fire seemed even more formidable. "How's yours?"
Before Hoshi answered, he sighed and looked the other way. "They don't think he's going to make it," he said, voice shaking.
Akari was deeply saddened. "It's not your fault."
"I know...but if I had just been here to protect him, not..." he trailed off.
Akari sat by him in vigil, her head against his shoulder. The pair ended up comforting each other as the other cried softly.
By sunset, the thousands wounded walked into the woods, and the hundreds dead were buried with little stones to mark their graves. Many smilis had placed flowers on their loved ones' graves. Akari kept Hoshi and her brother close to her, thanking the heavens she would not have to do the same.
The surviving smilis searched for a new home to live in. Akari stared painfully at her once home. It was no longer the prairie she had loved so dearly; it was now a painful reminder. The dispersed group continued walking, trying desperately to forget. But Akari knew she never would, and her trail of tears would stay forever.
~~~~~
Akari rubbed her swollen tummy while she lay on the cool dirt of her temporary den. Outside, little buds fought their way through into the world. The forest sang with happiness and joy. It was almost spring, and her cubs were arriving.
Akari smiled happily. Even though it had been only two moons or so, life for the small tribe of smilis was good. They had found a small clearing in the woods with plenty of prey for everyone. A stab of pain struck Akari. Her face crumpled with shock. Akari wished Hoshi was here to comfort her. She remembered that fateful day...
The leaves around me were painted the colors of fire, although the leaves had a certain quality of sheer beauty that fire did not possess. Hoshi motioned to me to follow him.
"Akari, i need to talk to you about something important," he said. I nodded thoughtfully. "Well, that fire made me realize something," he started. I nodded again, this time puzzled. "I realized that I can't live without you. I guess what I'm trying to say is that...I love you. I love you so much it hurts me just not being with you."
My silent tears flowed down from moist, emerald eyes. His appeared shamed at himself, it was almost comical. I laughed a little and said, "No, I'm crying because I'm so happy. I love you too."
He looked quite relieved and we sat there happily laughing and crying through the sunset.Another stab, this time deeper. Akari grimaced and fidgeted around the small cave. Thankfully, Hoshi stumbled in.
"Is it time?" he asked. Akari nodded, too much in pain to say anything. Hoshi lay down by her side and held her paw. "You can do this, okay?" Akari pushed, gripping Hoshi's paw. A pale, blind cub took its first breath and wailed. Hoshi quickly brought it towards him, lapping up the placenta around it and gently warming up the cub. It was a healthy, strong female. This continued two more times, and Akari gave birth to two more cubs, both males. While the tiny, squirming smilis suckled milk from Akari, Hoshi told her what had happened in the tribe.
"After the fire, the smilis decided that they needed a leader. But everyone wanted to be the leader. A fight broke out, but it wasn't long before Yukio stopped it. He said, 'Aye, we need a leader. Thus, we shall draw a vote. You cannot vote for yourself. Vote for those who will not get you killed, of course, and would be good leaders. You may not vote for an elder, including I. Agreed?' The entire tribe agreed. It's a tie...between us. So now the elders are deciding which one of us it'll be."
Sharing a brief glance, they both shuffled towards the entrance to spy on the elders outside.
"My son should be leader not those two twits!"
"Akari is the better leader! She is bright and intelligent!"
"Like that'll fend off the badgers! Hoshi is fast, strong, and brave!!"
The arguing continued. They knew the stakes at risk. If one of them became the leader, they would barely see each other or the cubs ever again. Nervous, Akair and Hoshi returned to the arguing elders.
"SILENCE. We shall have another vote," boomed Yukio.
"I can't watch," Akari muttered.
"Me neither," Hoshi groaned.
"So it is decided," Yukio boomed. "I shall tell them."
Hoshi and Akari frantically scrambled back into the corner of the den with the cubs. Yukio's dark head poked in.
"I'd like to see you two outside, don't worry, I've asked an elder to care for the younglings."
Hoshi and Akari followed Yukio outside. The entire tribe was in front of them.
"Smilis, please greet your new leaders! Akari the Light and Hoshi the Star!" Yukio declared.
The crowd roared in agreement, chanting their names over and over.
He whispered to Akari and Hoshi, "Well, everyone was split half and half, except me. I mean, I love both of you like my own kin but, in all honesty, by yourselves, you would be terrible leaders. But together, that's the magic." He winked and laughed heartily.

Akari felt a new flame inside of her, burning bright. It was not of anger nor sorrow, not happiness either. It was determination. Determination to guide her tribe along the perilous canyon of life. One false move, and death grabs you with unmerciful hands. It would be her toughest challenge yet, but she had conquered many challenges before. All she needed to do was believe...believe in the power of her will to live.

~Masao, Chief Historian of Nieko Castle and Close Friend of Hoshi and Akari

[MirrorMask]

I would like to adopt!
Numbers:
11 and 12
Picture:
See front
Name:
(11)Blue
(12)Bibi
Nicknamed:The Twins or The crap
Species:
Rabbits
Personality:
(11)His protect of his only sister.His moody and diffulct at times.He is very headstrong and only listerns to his sister but not all the time.He does not act like a rabbit he acts more like a puppy or a old cranky cat.He can be caring and kind but he usally is not and is sometimes to his sister.He could be a flirt but that is if he is in truly in love.He always cranky and cocky no matter what .When his mad watch out.
(12)She cute and happy type,she lives life to the best of it and nothing else.She never in a bad mood no matter what.She has to clam and confront her brother always and is always at his side.She very helpful and loves to help out ,this makes her caring as while kind.She funny but she's not that good but she likes funny types.She is very fun and likes to goof off and have a good time.She could be sad but nothing else then happy.She's not perfect she just bottles everything bad and tried to be happy, her brother is the oppsite.
Likes: (11)Nothing
(12) Life and fun,happy good times, and mostly everything else good.
Dislikes:
(11) Everything but his sister
(12) Death , their begaining in life and evil bad things
Background (Optional, but it gives you a better shot. 2500 words maximum, 100 words minimum. We value quality over quantity, you can have five pages and still say absolutely nothing.)
The who little rabbits finally....
Came out of the mother rabbit who name was Mady he mate J was out fetching bedding and food to feed his mate who was bearing their young.One was lighter gray with darker gray spots and the another a pretty brown with whitest spots in shapes of hearts.Mady smiled and looked for her mate,but he never came back only the sound of gunshots could be heard.Her heart shook and she began to sniffle,the thoughts of her being alone growing up two little ones by her self,her heart skipped a beat and she was about to faint,when a thuder noise rocketed into the den her mate was back,...but with friends.The dogs digged the hole den quicky eposen the family,Mady yelled "You brought them here!"
J said in pants "I-I-I thought I ditched them at the brook!" he grabbed one of the children and signal for them to go.
Mady nodded and picked up the other one and raced toward the escape tunnel,but a gunshot fire and blood flooded into the den,the two parents still and their little ones crawling wild and twiching their whiskers everywhere.
Then two human hands reached into the hole and picked up the two.It was a male,who's name was Ben, Ben Clark he was a poor man with a hobbie of killen anything wild ,he also had a hobbie or drinken to much.His brown bread touched the two as he held them clos to his chest.He said "Got My little one her gift." he smiled as his drunken friends laughed their guts out.
Ben smiled and said "Let's go Mama can hand feed this and then torromow my daughter will love me."
The men nodded as they head for an old rusty red pick up truck.Ben jumped into the driver's seat as one of his buddys sat in the front with him,th others in the back.He smiled and turned the engine on.
The little rabbits squealed as the engine roared like a cat,but worse.
Ben smiled and then frowned he patted the two and heanded them to the man next to him,he then began to drive.It was not a long when to get to his house were his buddy lived on the farm next to him,of yes Ben lived on a farm,which was pretty well runned by the looks of it,everything was cleaned.You usally think that the man does this,.....but that's not the truth,his daughter and wife do all the work.He sits on the couch drinking a beer and straching his bald head.
His wife name was Sally, and his little daught Jane.They were the most important things to him, next to money and hunting.But they were in the top 5 you can say.He smiled as his "Family" came back into the door they were dirty and their dresses ragged,their hair wild and their hands red as sunburn.
Sally said "Somthing you want to give your daughter dear?" she smiled happily and looked ta her happy daughter's face.
Ben said "Yeah it's in her room." and waved at them,as he watched his comdey.
Sally rolled her eyes and pushed her daughter up the stairs.
Jane was so excited that when she finally enter the room she was in tears,she crawled onto her bed and started to name the little rabbits she said "The little gir lwill be Bibi and the boy Blue." she smiled and craddle the two and chanted their names again. "Blue and Bibi."
Bibi ywaned like a cat as she stirred inside the cage that they outgrew, again their owner ..Jane was poor and she grew up so that she didn't notice the bad liven of the rabbits.Blue on the other hand could not be awoke for anyhting,liven in this then in the wild,with other's on the kind mad him on of the cranky rabbits in the world and the gril dicliked him because of this.But the gril awoke and look at the two from her small bed she said "Time to clean you guys up." as she yawned and got up she smiled and opened the cage she only took Bibi outand put her in a bigger cage and said "Better,I sort you guys after labor is done." and she raced downstairs to see if her fat father left any food,he always said "First come first sevred,...as much as i want , Oh and refills." she sighed and "urgged" herself but got over at the sighs of leftovers.
Both of the cages with sadly still open and the rabbits sneaked ouy easliy open windows and doors made easy escaped routes.They were free now like the wild,but of coruse it ddn't end up liek that,they both got caught in the claws of a cat and in this case Muffin, a brown tabby that the gril owned for muse killen.The cat hissed and swiped but was kind of easliy sacred of by blue,but they both got ingureed they thought about going back but they knew...that would be a death trap.Bibi smield and skipped towards an open den father away form the farmhouse in a forest,her and her brother sneaked down it nothing else lived in but the stale scent of rabbits.They saw bones but didn't bother, they mumbled the word "Free." and fell asleep.

[Cottleston]

Sorry about last time, I said I'd edit but never got round to it, did I? O_o

I would like to adopt!

Number:

8

Picture:



Name:

Tlaluk' Namee

Species:

Smili/ Tabby cat (Sort of. all will be explained XD)

Personality:

Tlaluk is a little arrogant, stubborn, brave, clever, and frustrated. She often gets angry with Namee and wishes she did not have to share a body with her.
Namee is easily confused, sweet, gentle and kind. It is therefore easy to tell if you are speaking to Tlaluk or Namee at any one time.

Likes:

They both like fish and each other's company (sometimes). Namee likes water while Tlaluk hates it, resulting in some pretty strange arguments...

Dislikes:

As mentioned before, Tlaluk hates water. Namee hates people mentioning her past, teasing her, and broccoli.

Background (Optional, but it gives you a better shot. 2500 words maximum, 100 words minimum. We value quality over quantity, you can have five pages and still say absolutely nothing.)

Tlaluk was born a plain Smili. Her fur was pale ginger, with darker striped legs and a few face markings. Nothing more.
She lived, at first, with her family in the mountains. She played in the fresh, cold streams and when she was old enough she and her brothers ate fresh salmon and wild rabbit. It was a good place.
On some days they would leave their den and walk up the mountain with their mother to a sunny spot, in a meadow bordered by trees, with a shallow stream where it was safe for young cubs to play. At least, at first.
On other days, when they were a little older, and stronger, their father would take them for hunting practice. They would stalk through the shady trees and up onto the rocks, but Tlaluk’s pale fur always gave her away.
Tlaluk stayed with her family until she was five. Well, she hadn’t ever meant to leave. Looking back on it later, she realised she hadn’t really had a plan. There was just the mountain, the breeze, and the stream, for ever and ever.

One day, when she was five years old, not yet an adult, she went out walking. She walked alone up to the stream. She knew a storm was brewing at the top of the mountain but it didn’t bother her. She liked storms.
She lay down in the grass by the stream, listening to the thunder rolling closer and closer. And then came the rain, a few big drops at first, then sheets, then torrents. Tlaluk knew her mother would be angry when she returned home soaked, but she didn’t much care.
She stood up, though the rain was so heavy she couldn’t see much around her, and walked in the direction of the stream.
She could hear a distant roaring sound but thought nothing of it. The wind through the trees, perhaps, or the thunder far away.
Her paws touched water and she jumped back in surprise. She was sure the stream had been further away…
The roaring grew louder. Tlaluk realised something she should have realised, had she not been so stubborn, quite a while ago.
She should never have come here.

This was the last thought to go through her mind before the flash flood swept her away.

The next thing she remembered was The Place. The Place with the humans and the drugs and the horrible, horrible smell. The Fear.
She supposed, later on, that they had found her washed up beside the river. She'd been carried by the flood far away from the mountain. It was a wonder she had survived. In a strange, ironic way, it was probably the humans in the Place that saved her. But she didn't like to think of it like that. They saved her- but in another way, they killed her.
The Place was very white and very unlike anything Tlaluk had ever known. It was not trees, it was not grass. It was the opposite of anything that had ever been good in her life. It was a small cage with one thick glass wall for the humans to gawk at her through and four plain white ones. The smell of fear was in every corridor, in every room. It was constantly up her nose for three years.
After her first three conscious days there a large tabby cat appeared in the cage next to her, brought by the humans. She was very frightened and didn't know quite what was going on.
She was less intelligent than Tlaluk of course, being an ordinary house cat, but she managed to communicate with her a little over their time opposite each other. The cat's name was Namee, and she belonged to a human family. As far as Tlaluk could make out, she'd gone hunting one night and strayed a little too far from the town. A big growling monster had growled up and humans had leaped out and found her cowering under a bush.
Then she was here.
Namee always said back then, when she was nothing but a cat, in her simple, cat way, "I will go home. One day I will go home"
Tlaluk could barely remember her home, and the memories she had were patchy. Her time in the flood had smashed up her mind. Or maybe it was something the humans did to her so she would have no drive to escape.
Whatever the reason, she did not remember. So she was happy to listen to Namee's impossible ranting, day after day. It was nice, she thought, to have some contact with someone.
The one day, it all changed.
She was sleeping when the lights came on. The bright, bright lights that told her they were coming, coming for her...
Namee yowled as they tore her from her cage and dumped her in a cat basket.
Tlaluk tried to fight them, as she always did, but her movements were slow and sluggish. She knew why, as she always did. They put the sleep- wake stuff in her food last night. It was what they always did when they were going to take her the next morning. You couldn't taste it or smell it. The food tasted so bad anyway that you wouldn't notice. You only knew the next morning, and then it was too late.
Namee was yowling. She had rarely been Taken before, and most of the time they had made her sleep first so she did not remember. She did not know what was happening.
Tlaluk didn't either. They had Taken her many times, but never with anyone else. When you were Taken you never knew what they would do.
Sometimes they'd stick tubes in you, or try to make you eat bright green goo. sometimes they'd make you stare at something for hours on end to study how it came out the other end of your brain, or something. Sometimes they made her sleep too, so she didn't know what they did.
She had hated it once, but now she had been there so long she had too little willpower left to care.
And still she tried to fight them when they came for her.
Even though she knew she would not be able to land a scratch on them. Even though she barely cared any more what they did.
But now, she did. She cared for Namee. The little cat had barely half a brain, but she'd kept her company. How would Tlaluk ever survive in the endless whiteness of the Place without her?
Human voices hissed and Tlaluk felt the sting of the sleeping- stuff. This was the last time she remembered being alone.

When she woke, she was back in the cage.
What happened? she thought. The thoughts came out into the open space of her brain like words.
Who's there?
Tlaluk physically jumped back. What the HELL was that?
Um... Hello? She thought. The thoughts jumped out again as if she'd said them. She felt a little silly talking to her own brain, but it had to be done.
Where am I? I feel... Different. Replied the voice. It sounded familiar. Tlaluk tried to place it in her Sleep- addled mind.
Namee? She gasped out. Where was she? She wasn't in her cage. SHE WASN'T THERE. And that voice, it sounded, it sounded like...
Yes? Who... Where am I?
It's...
Tlaluk paused. Was she Tlaluk any more?
It's Tlaluk. Remember me?
What's happened?
I... It's...
Tlaluk caught sight of her reflection in the glass.
She stared.
She did not look like Tlaluk any more. She was still the right size, yes. She was still a Smili, yes. Her face markings were the same.
But her coat looked like Namee's. It was grey and brown striped tabby. It was not her fur.
Her paw pads and nose were pink. Only her eyes were the same colour, sea- blue. She stared some more.
Namee. She whispered in her mind. Can you... See? What I'm seeing?
Your reflection? Yes. Tlaluk, what's going on? My mind feels so much... bigger.
I think... Tlaluk swallowed and tried again. I think the humans have done something. I think... We're the same person, Namee. We're in the same body. I look like you.
Silence.
Are you still there? Namee?
Y- y- yes.
Listen, listen. I'm sure it's just a temporary thing. I'm sure they'll put us back to normal soon.
But, Tlaluk? My body, my REAL body... Where is it?
I don't know. I don't know.
... Ah.

They lived like this for a while longer. It took a while to get used to the same body. Sometimes Namee would control and sometimes Tlaluk would, though at the beginning they would switch back and fourth randomly, they gradually learned how to Switch by themselves.
After a few weeks of this, luck turned their way.

They were sleeping deeply. Tlaluk felt something tickling her nose and began to wake.
This greatly annoyed Namee, who had not wanted to wake up. Tlaluk shushed her mumbles of protest and sniffed the air.
There was a tang, a certain choking scent in the air. Outside the cage, the world seemed foggy.
What is it? Tlaluk wondered.
Namee looked.
Oh my... Tlaluk, we have to get out of here. Now.
Why?
Because this building will soon go up in flames with us inside it, and I doubt that the humans will be coming back to save us.
Tlaluk looked around, trying to stay calm. She was not familiar with fire, but obviously it was a bad thing, a very, very bad thing.
Ok, um. I don't know, I don't think I can smash through the glass...
Try, and I shall try to lend you the strength I once had, too. Then, maybe we will get out.
Tlaluk backed up right against the back of the cage and hurled herself at the glass.
Usually the humans nearby would have heard and come running. But they were not there. None of them were there.
The glass wobbled but did not break, nor did it on the second try. On the third, with a sharp creak, a crack appeared in the corner.
Come on! Namee urged her. Tlaluk tried again. The crack lengthened.
By this time, the smoke was leaking into the cage. Outside it was so thick Tlaluk couldn't see the other side of the passageway.
She hit the glass another time, and another and another. The crack stretched across the glass.
Then on the eleventh try, the glass shattered. Tlaluk'Namee fell through it and rolled to the ground.
Well done! Now, out. NOW.
Ok, ok. I don't know where to go...
Tlaluk ran in a random direction. Her only thought was to get to the outside world, away from the smoke invading hel lungs, making her choke.
Down a corridor. Corner. Another.
At the end, a window. Tlaluk leaped. Glass shattered.
Outside it was night. Cold air roared past Tlaluk' Namee's ears, ruffling the leaves on the trees.
Oh, the trees, how they had missed them. With a whoop of joy, they ran for the forest, leaving the burning wreckage of the Animal Testing facility behind them. They never looked back.

[Jerry]

I've got my eyes on #6 and #8