Chapter Text
The Japari Archipelago, a series of islands that many geographers say resembled Japan. Though much of the history of its original discovery and initial colonization had been lost to time, in the modern age it was to be a site for a massive open zoo spread out throughout the archipelago with several areas being transformed to match the natural habitats of wild animals from around the world. Once completed, the first animals were brought to the park but what happened next would change the fate of the island forever.
With the establishment of the first human settlements came the discovery of a mysterious crystalline substance erupting from the volcanoes throughout the islands. This material would later be referred to as “Sandstar” by the human wayfarers and it was initially dismissed as worthless until it’s effects on the various wildlife was observed. Animals exposed to Sandstar transformed into human girls with features and abilities of their original forms albeit with the motor skills, speech, and cognizance of their caretakers.
Initially information about these newly dubbed “Friends” would be kept a secret until the park finally opened. The friends were made a main attraction and allowed to live alongside their human handlers and the guests that would arrive. Many of the friends would have homes, schools, and would even immerse themselves in human culture from around the world.
It was a paradise where humans and friends co-existed peacefully…but not one that would last.
Celliens (also known as Ceruleans), mindless blob-like creatures that fed on Sandstar and were considered little more than vermin began popping up in larger numbers with the birth of the first Cellien Queen turned them into a threat to all other life on the island. Many attempts were made to defeat and destroy the queen but all of them failed. Eventually this prompted the zoo staff and human inhabitants to evacuate the island, leaving the poor friends to fend for themselves but one park guide by the name of Mirai remained behind, unwilling to leave the friends or her home.
It was a losing battle, one that could’ve marked the end of the friends forever, but hope came in the form of a mysterious individual with amnesia who helped organize and lead the friends against the Cerulean invasion. Despite the odds being against them, the friends and their two human allies would finally defeat the Cellien Queen with only a few smaller uncoordinated pockets of the Cerulean infestation being left behind.
With the Ceruleans defeated for the time being, the human inhabitants and zoo staff would return to help the friends rebuild and eventually re-open Japari Park with hopes for a better and brighter future from that point forward.
Unfortunately, much to the dismay of many the Ceruleans returned many years later and the war against them would be much more chaotic as the various humans living on Japari Park began to disappear. By the time the Celliens were defeated, all that was left were the friends.
Presently, in the absence of humanity, the friends have flourished and enjoyed their simple lives without the need for advanced technology or weapons. Occasionally, there would be smaller outbreaks of Ceruleans compared to the ones that ravaged the entirety of the park in the past, but they would be dealt with by the hunters; friends who chose to hunt down and destroy any Ceruleans in their path.
Meanwhile in the background new friends would emerge, as Sandstar turned fossilized remains of dead animals into new friends while creatures considered to be subjects of urban myths, folklore, or even legend would slowly migrate to the archipelago and would transform into new friends after being exposed to Sandstar.
Today, would herald the birth of one of these new friends as well as the adventures that would follow.
For the friend known as Jaguar, it started out as a regular day as she pushed her improvised raft through the rivers of the jungle region, mainly for the purpose of hauling supplies and friends across the Jungle. It was exhausting work as always but if it meant giving a fellow friend or two a hand, it was worth it.
As she was paddling forward though, a bit of movement underwater caught her attention, and she turned her head to see a long black reptilian tail with glowing red stripes and a red tip at the end.
'What the heck is that...? I can't tell at all...' she thought to herself, trying to recall if she met any friends in the past with tails like that but decided not to dwell on it further as the tail was quickly reeled back under the current, out of sight and out of mind. A brief oddity to an otherwise regular day.
Rising from the water, a large feminine form clawed it's...or rather her way up to the riverbank, panting as she crawled onto land and stumbled into a tree. She held onto the bark of the tree, trying to stand up on wobbly legs but as she pushed her way forward, she ended up uprooting it and knocking it down with a loud unceremonious thump that scared the daylights out the nearby wildlife.
She stumbled again after that, but after grasping the wood again she managed to pull herself up and steady herself to stand and begin slow, firm steps through the jungle. Despite her newly found self-awareness, this newborn friend was aloof to everything around her and for a time wandered aimlessly out of the jungle.
She traversed over sandy hills, grassy plains, and ended up in a canyon without a clear destination in mind. Movement above caught her attention, as a blue trefoil-shaped blob with a single eye floated towards her. She paused, watching the being hover past her right side and back behind her.
Shrugging, she continued forward initially ignoring the sensation of a mass harmlessly bouncing off her head, but it continued once, twice, thrice, and she stopped in her tracks again.
While she was still, she felt the mass bounce off her head again and saw the same blue blob coming around and fruitlessly dive-bombing her.
Annoyed, she whipped it out of the air with her tail, tossing it into a rock where it began to slowly disintegrate.
Giving a small huff of satisfaction she continued forward but her very brief respite quickly ended when she saw more of those irritants floating around her. She growled at them, hoping to intimidate them enough to leave her alone she saw them float past her, accumulating into a larger mass that to her shock began to grow and take the shape of a larger glob with two legs beneath it.
Its sole beady eye glanced at her and then it kicked her, sending her sprawling down to her knees. Massaging her now aching belly, the friend growled lowly as the spines along her back and tail began to glow and whirr ominously. She turned to face the new threat, her eyes glowing red with the furious power building up inside of her and roared. She. Was. Pissed!
Meanwhile, a group of three friends were following a trail of pot-hole-shaped tracks that lead towards the canyons near the safari region.
Leading the trio was the friend Brown Bear. She had short brown hair with a white almost tear-drop-shaped mark on the front bang and a pair of brown ursine ears while a matching rounded brown fluffy tail extended from her lower back above her skirt. She was kneeling, her reddish-brown eyes narrowing as she inspected one of the tracks.
"This footprint indicates a nearby Cerulean...." She said, pulling her polearm with a clawed attachment shaped like a bear’s paw.
“It’s pretty big…” Chiming in was Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey. She had orange hair tied into a long ponytail with a brown tip, a brown wick on the front of her hair, and a golden circlet resting below the orange simian ears atop her head. She carried a red bo-staff with rounded golden ornaments on the end as her weapon of choice.
The third and last member of the trio was African Wild Dog. She had medium-length sandy brown hair with black highlights and black bangs. She had large, rounded canine ears jutting from her ears that were black but faded to her regular hair color at the base. The sleeves of her undershirt and leggings with the same spotted patterns as her namesake while a long fluffy sandy brown tail with a black stripe that separated the brighter-colored tip wagged from her tail bone. Though she was un-armed, she had the ability to extend her fingernails into claws when she was on the offensive.
Before their leader could say more there was a flash of light in the distance followed by a beam that pierced through the sky, startling them.
"W-What was that light?!" She asked.
Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey, shook her head and pointed ahead, "We must make haste!"
As they made their way there, they could see fire spewing out of the head of the cerulean and then heard an animalistic screech as another beam carved through the monstrosity.
"W-What the heck is this?" Brown Bear asked, awestruck by the carnage in front of her.
"There's fire!" African Wild Dog yelled as she took in the sight and smell of it all.
Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey however, noticed a shape in the flames, this one wasn't a cerulean though...
"Look, there's a friend!" She yelled and pointed at the new contact in front of her.
Concerned, African Wild Dog decided to try and catch her attention.
"Hey you there, ya'll right?!"
While their voices caught the attention of the new friend, the response they got was less-than-friendly as she immediately growled, raised her tail, aimed it at them and then they got to witness the source of the fire for themselves as it radiated towards them.
"Hot!" Brown Bear yelped as she swerved out of the way of the intense heat coming towards her,
"What are you doing?!" she asked only to see it trail towards them.
"EEK!" African Wild Dog yelped as flames exploded behind her and Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey.
"Let's pull back for now!" She yelled as all three of them took cover behind some rocks, their backs pressed against it in fear and exhaustion. Brown Bear peeked to see the new friend panting in anger while her two comrades were panting for breath. They had a lot of close calls before in their line of work, but a fellow friend spewing large beams of fire at them. That was not only new to them, but it was also scary!
"What's the deal with her...?" Brown Bear asked anxiously, sweat dribbling down her face.
"I don't know but...we've never seen a friend like her before." she muttered.
"The footprints continued here." Said golden snub-nosed monkey, "Maybe she was assaulted by the cerulean and got confused?" she asked. It wasn't uncommon for newly emerged friends to be confused or unfamiliar with not only their own changes but with everything around them, including the Ceruleans.
Brown Bear took another peek out of her hiding spot, seeing the new friend growl before she began to fall on her knees.
"Ah, she's collapsin'." she said partly out of relief but also partly out of exasperation.
"Huh?! What?!" Snub-Nosed Monkey and Wild Dog took a gander around the corner and surely enough laying on her belly was the new friend who nearly roasted them alive.
"Don't tell me she was upset because she was hungry..." one of them muttered.
Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey pulled a plastic package containing one of the most common forms of food in Japari Park.
"Wanna try giving her a Japari Bun?" Brown Bear asked her.
"If you think she's dangerous, get out of her way." African Wild Dog told her.
The simian friend poked her head out to see the new friend on her stomach, her tail weakly blowing out small flumes of flame as she looked at them tiredly before finally coming out of hiding and walking towards her.
The sound of her walking caught the friend’s attention, even though snub-nosed monkey had both hands raised with one of them having a Japari Bun in its plastic package the new black friend gave a loud "RGH!" at her in distrust.
"Are you okay?" She asked her, "Do you want a Japari Bun?"
Despite laying on the ground, Monkey could tell that this new friend was much taller than her, Brown Bear, and Wild Dog, with an equally large and long tail that matched her stature. On her back were set of large spines that went from the bottom of her neck to the end of her tail only absent on the very tip. Her body was well-built though Snub-Nosed monkey was unsure of how much musculature lied underneath her clothing. Her black hair went past her neck and onto her shoulders, though she had two sets of bangs on the sides of her head that went not only went down to her breasts but also had several glowing red stripes going through them. Atop her head was a hairband that looked almost like a set of sharp teeth, but further back were hair ornaments that resembled eyes.
Snub-Nosed Monkey knelt and smiled at the new friend who tried to warn her away by hissing at her, but she stood her ground. She continued to smile as she took the Japari bun out.
"It's okay." She then took a small bite out of the Japari Bun, swallowed it, and then handed it towards the new friend.
"See?" she said reassuringly.
She kept the smile on her face even as she had to quickly dodge the friend's attempt at whacking her with her tail.
She heard her two comrades yell "Golden Monkey!" in concern only to see her raise her hand where she once held the Japari Bun. Slowly the other two hunters came out of hiding, seeing the new friend hunched down and nibbled on it cautiously.
"So... Maybe this is her first time eating Japari Buns?" African Wild Dog asked.
"It should be." Brown Bear replied.
The new friend then wolfed down the rest of the Japari Bun in one big bite.
"Oh, she packed it away nicely." African Wild Dog muttered both impressed and intrigued at this new friends' behavior.
Satisfied, the new friend laid down and set her head on the end of her tail, using it as an improvised pillow and then quickly closing her eyes.
"And she fell asleep..." African Wild Dog muttered again.
Brown Bear shrugged, "I guess just being born would wear her out...” She sighed, “Good Grief."
"Do you think she'll run wild again once she wakes up?" African Wild Dog asked cautiously,
Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey turned back to them with a smile on her face,
"If that's the case we can try communicating with her when she wakes up. I'm sure we could be good "Friends" with her."
In the air, a certain friend was singing as she flew through the sky,
"The skyyyy, is so wiiiide..." She sung.
This friend was Japanese Crested Ibis, also known as "Toki". Her long white hair was swept back behind her head before her sidelocks, bangs, trailed off into red at the ends. She had a pair of small, feathered white wings peaking out from her temples and a matching set of tail feathers peaking below her skirt, both of which faded to red at the tips.
Despite her expressionless face, she was enjoying her flight through the sky as she sang all the way,
"And so big...And the moooon climbs so hiiiiigh..."
Unfortunately for her though, her once smooth flight was quickly interrupted by a bright beam of light that went past her head,
"HOT...! Huh? What?!"
Soon she began spiraling into a descent as her singing trailed off into a faint cry of "The air flow..."
The one responsible for the avian friend’s plight grumpily glared at the sky, blinking once as she began to yawn as she awoke from her nap. She was irritated about the fact that it was interrupted by someone or something that was flying above her!
"What the heck are you doing all of a sudden?! I thought you woke up!" African Wild Dog yelled, as she tried to hold down the now steaming tail of the friend who nearly shot down poor Toki. She only barely managed to grab it when it began to fire into the air.
"It looks like it didn't hit her, thank goodness." Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey was relieved that Toki would be alright, though they would probably have to apologize to her later.
Brown Bear on the other hand...
"HEY!" She yelled as she brought her gloved fist down on the black-haired friend's head, "You don't attack other friends!"
Unfortunately, her attempt at punishing the new friend only made her angry, especially after she rubbed the bump upon her head. She retaliated by trying to whack Brown Bear with her tail, but she blocked it before it could do any real damage.
"Now you've done it!" Brown Bear was pissed! First this new friend wakes up and suddenly attacks another friend but now she had the gull to try and knock her out with her tail for rightfully scolding her? It's on, now!
She gave a quick roar before punching the new friend in the chest, knocking the breath out of her as she stumbled backwards before it turned into an absolute brawl with limbs flying out of a pile of dust that surrounded both.
"FIIIIIGHT!" African Wild Dog yelled encouragingly to Brown Bear.
"Don't overdo it, now!" Golden Snub-Nosed advised.
Unfortunately, the only response they got was Brown Bear quickly snapping with "SHADDUP!" as the brawl continued. It ended for a moment after Brown Bear pushed the new friend back. Having several bumps and scratches on her face, the new friend growled as her spines and tail began to glow.
That was when things started to get serious, as both Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey and African Wild Dog prepared to intervene.
"Hey, now..." Brown Bear said warning the new friend, "That's taking it too far for a mere scuffle..."
Unfortunately, the newly born friend didn't listen and instead fired another beam of flames from her tail at her.
Brown Bear clicked her tongue and quickly clawed through the beam with the working end of her staff, the steel nails glowing brightly in front of the reptilian girl. Shocked by this revelation the newborn friend paused and gulped at the sight of them as they were mere inches from her face.
"So do you wanna cut this stuff out or do you want to keep going until we're both badly hurt?" It was an ultimatum, if this new friend was willing to go that far, then Brown Bear would too. It wouldn't end well for either one of them because this new friend might have their fire and their tail, but Brown Bear had experience from dealing with Ceruleans and spars between herself and other hunters in Japari Park.
Thankfully though, the new friend hesitantly lowered her tail and only gave a soft growl as an answer. With her point now across, Brown Bear smiled, hoisted her weapon over her shoulder before coming up close to pet the new friend on her head.
"Good Girl."
The new friend snorted and batted Brown Bear's hand away with a pout. Satisfied, Brown Bear dropped her claw and raised her fists up.
"Well then, should we restart with a plain old fight?" Brown Bear asked.
Of course, the new friend agreed with a pout and a grunt towards her before jumping on her and chomping down on her thigh, thus starting the fight all over again but without the intent to kill.
Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey and African Wild Dog relaxed, with the former doing so with a sigh of relief while the other merely smiled and watched the two go at it again.
This fight would end of course with Brown Bear being victorious, only at the cost of Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey scolding her for using a German Supplex on the new friend after she was knocked out.
When she came to, the tall black reptilian friend rubbed the bump on her head as she slowly regained her bearings.
"Oh, good. You're awake."
She hissed at Brown Bear, though not as viciously as she did after her prior encounter with that large black cerulean.
Brown Bear noticed this but also, scratched beneath her chin nervously as a blush appeared on her face, still recovering from the scolding that Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey gave her.
"So, yeah, uh..." Brown Bear started, this was awkward for her as she was now trying to make up for the recent brawl, "I guess things got a little heated and went a little too far..."
She then sighed before pulling something out of her pocket, "So here, you can have this!" and then shoving a Japari Bun into the new friends' arms, "I'm sorry, okay!"
Happy to be receiving food again, she nodded before tearing the Japari Bun out of its wrapping and biting into it with enthusiasm while her tail stood in the air wagging slowly.
"We're back." Brown Bear turned to see Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey with African Wild Dog trailing behind her.
"Looks like they're at the cafe." Wild Dog said.
"Cafe? You mean the one on the mountaintop?" Brown Bear asked.
African Wild Dog nodded before glancing at their new accomplice and point at her with her thumb.
"That girl can climb, right?"
Brown Bear shrugged; they still didn't know who this friend was, nor did they know about her abilities except for the fact she can shoot fire from her tail.
Snub-Nosed Monkey frowned and tilted her head, thinking for a moment before turning back to her fellow hunters,
"Well, worse case we could use my staff to pull her up, but..." she trailed off.
Sighing, Brown Bear shook her head.
"Well, in any case, we just have to go there."
The three of them nodded in agreement before Brown Bear turned to the new friend a called out to her.
"Hey, when you've eaten, we're going." She pointed up to the mountains, the girl tilted her head as if she was thinking about what she said before shrugging.
"Alright, let's go then...We've got an apology to deliver."
The climb up the mountain would've been a hassle for the party of four if it weren't for the fact they ran into a familiar face along the way.
"Oh myyy~! if it isn't the hunters!" A friendly voice drawled, "What a raaare sight to see you all here!"
Alpaca Suri was the friend that ran the cafe on the mountaintop, the very one where Toki frequented on a regular basis because of the tea that was served and the fact it was easy to find when she was flying. Though, because of its isolated location, ceruleans and by extension the hunters that exterminated them rarely appeared in the mountains, which is why Alpaca Suri was surprised to see them.
Her hair was fluffy and long, with two bangs on the side of her face tied with ornaments while a fluffy bob of hair formed a small ponytail at the back of her head. Over her shoulder was a bag of supplies she was carrying back to her home.
"Nice to see you again, Alpaca-San!" Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey greeted her, "We were just on our way to the cafe."
"Oh, reeeally~?" Alpaca hummed, "How lovely!", she then gestured with her towards the mountain, "I'll show you the easier routes to get there."
"Thanks, we appreciate it."
"It's this waaay~!" Alpaca drawled.
Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey trailed behind her, "Huh, this reminds me of our training at Master's place." She grunted.
"Stop, I don't want to remember that stuff." Brown Bear said with a groan as she palmed at the rocks and tried to climb up.
However, before she goes any further, she heard a sharp 'KLONK!' like a coconut down below, seeing their new accomplice fuming after hitting her head on an outcropping of rocks.
"Are you alright?!" One of the three above asked her.
"That was some noise just now..." One of them said.
The friend below merely grumbled for a moment before looked down at her feet and then her arms, experimentally clenching her gloved fingers in and out. She grabbed one of the rocks jutting out, wrapped her hands around it and with a boost from her legs tugged herself up. Now understanding how to climb, she nodded to herself and continued upwards.
Alpaca Suri slid to the top of a rock before, looking down at her.
"By the waaay, I haven't met a friend like you before! My naaame is Alpaca Suri.", She introduced herself.
Brown Bear paused before snapping her fingers.
"Oh! That's right! We never really asked or gave any names, did we?"
Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey who hung back beside their new accomplice chuckled, "We must have forgotten to that after all of the ruckus from before...I'm Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey." She said politely.
African Wild Dog turned down to face their companion, "I'm African Wild Dog."
Brown Bear waved before joining in, "I'm Brown Bear."
As they reached the top of the mountain, the newborn friend nodded at them and responding with a noise of "Grawr."
Alpaca Suri paused looking down and tilting her head to the right in thought while the three hunters blinked.
That sound the newborn friend made wasn’t the sort of response any of them were expecting...
"Right..." Brown Bear trailed off.
"Maaaybe you're a friend that isn't good at speaking?" Alpaca asked rhetorically.
African Wild Dog shrugged,
"Well, you're all black so how 'bout we call you Kuro-Chan?"
The newly named Kuro-Chan seemed to pause for a moment before shrugging at them.
"Sounds easy enough to me." Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey chimed in.
"Rrgah." Kuro-chan said seemingly in agreement.
"Well, it'll do until we can find out more about you at the library, at least." Brown Bear muttered.
Kuro-Chan shrugged with another "Rrgah." before she finally made atop with the others. Though frustrating as it was, she wasn't exhausted like her newly found companions who were panting while Alpaca Suri praised them for making it so far.
"Welcome Back, Alpaca." A certain voice chimed out, and Alpaca turned to see Toki waiting there patiently for her as she brushed her hair out of her eyes from the wind.
"Ohooo~?" Alpaca replied, "Looks like you beat us up heeere." Alpaca gestured to the green bag over her shoulder, "I just went out to gather some stock for a biiit..."
Toki nodded, "It's okay, but I would have gladly helped if you'd ask me."
"Oh nooo, I couldn't do that~!" Alpaca said politely as she waved her hand aside dismissively.
Kuro, having been last up had only a minute to stand and enjoy the view and breeze before she felt two hands grab her from behind her head and shove her into a low bow alongside the other three hunters.
"Sorry!" All three hunters said, as a stack of four Japari Buns were placed in front of them, much to Toki's confusion as she tilted her head at them.
Still bowed down (and restraining Kuro), Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey spoke, "That light beam thing that attacked you this morning was her special trick, But!"
Brown Bear took over, "She only just became a friend, see and she doesn't understand what's what just yet."
African Wild Dog was next, "We were right there beside her and we couldn't stop it, so that's our fault."
Then the three of them all together said a resounding; "We're sorry!" as Kuro tried to break free grumbling all the while.
"I see." Toki said with a smile and a nod, "It's okay, really."
The four of them peaked up to see her as she picked up one of the Japari Buns,
"I'm certain you've done enough lecturing to her by now, haven't you?"
Kuro kept quiet but pouted in agreement.
"If so, then I don't have anything to add. Everyone gets a little rowdy at first, after all...Now, since everyone's taken the time to come all the way up here, why not join me for a cup of Alpaca's lovely tea?"
All three of the hunters sighed in relief as they stood back up.
"Thank you, we'd be glad to!" Brown Bear said as her companions (sans Kuro) made similar sounds of agreement. African Wild Dog and Brown Bear went ahead but Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey stayed behind with Kuro for a moment, as she rubbed the taller friend's head.
"Sorry, that must have hurt, huh?" Kuro nodded affirmatively as Snub-Nosed Monkey rubbed her forehead.
"It's hard to ask for forgiveness sometimes, you, see? Try to remember that."
Kuro-chan paused, processing the simian friends’ words as she followed her inside as the concepts of apologies and forgiveness were new to her.
By the time night fell, Alpaca Suri was serving tea to her guests. Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey enjoyed it while Brown Bear did not, much to the former's amusement.
African Wild Dog on the other hand had her hands full trying to restrain Kuro-Chan from spouting fire out of her tail again, apparently, she wasn't fond of Toki's singing at all.
They got a bit of a laugh out of that, though Toki herself would get quite a shock when she heard Kuro sing or rather what apparently was her equivalent of singing because it was a grating yet oddly melodic noise that sounded like a leather glove being rubbed against a violin. s. Alas, as the night went on, they eventually would turn in for the night.
Come morning, the hunters, and their new friend Kuro would be making the journey to the library to find out more about her species.