Diego had found things around Animalia and Lyre to be reasonably interesting and he remained amazed at the level of development that had gone into building Animalia as its own little town and sister city to Lyre. Animalia was only just over a year old and had seemed to develop into a fully functioning small town. Of course a lot of it probably came from the level of cooperation between Animalia and Lyre and with Horizon often helping to pay the assorted bills for material and so on. Most other towns usually didn't have that much in the way of help as they formed. Of course, most other towns weren't populated mostly by Animalians.
And the people were fairly friendly and even curious about him when they met on the street. There were the occasional questions on what it was like to be an "ancestor" of the big cats which of course lead into the correction that Smilodon fatalis was NOT an ancestor to modern Tigers. Yes, the name "tiger" was often used in the Smilodon's more common name, but that actually didn't prove ancestry. That was really proved in geography as the Smilodon and its three subspecies were all found only in the Americas while the Tiger evolved in Asia. The explanation was a bit more science than Diego was used to, but for the most part things did work out on that front.
The big thing that really held his interest was still in extreme sports. While he might scale back from some of the stunts that he did in the past, as he didn't want to end up in a leg brace again so soon after getting out of the last one, he still felt that there was a lot more than Animalians could do. Particularly with regard to sports and activities that would allow for a rush of adrenaline and the thrill of taking chances and succeeding. For predatory Animalians, that might relate to the hunting season, as from the stories he'd heard, many of the Animalians seemed to favor methods that relied on their strength and natural weaponry rather than the use of firearms or bows. That WOULD lead to a great rush in adrenaline as he figured no animal would just let an attacker kill it and would try to fight back.
But the hunting season was only in the fall and he figured the paperwork that would have to be signed to get the license was extensive enough that a lot of that might not really allow for "hunting" to really be that sort of thrill. As outside the hunting season, that couldn't be done. But Animalians could engage in plenty of other activities that while they'd likely change and vary with the seasons that could be just as exciting and far more reliable. Arranging that, however, would require some sponsorship to get it going and that was what brought him to Animalia's Great Hall.
In the past, a lot of his stunts, particularly those of an extreme nature, often had more corporate sponsorship and about all he needed from local governments was permission to do the stunt, but from what he observed, Animalia was rather different. While corporate sponsors was still possible, it didn't actually seem to be the first thing that happened in terms of the chain of events to start certain projects. The first thing seemed to be to get the approval of Animalia's city government. From what Diego had seen, their approval wouldn't necessarily be required for those that would be interested in something, in that if one Animalian wanted to go to California and ski down the Sierra Nevada mountains or mountain climbing, the Animalian city government wouldn't stop them. However, if it was to be something bigger, like a league that might try to draw in many Animalians into the sport, THEN the town would get involved, when it came any issues of safety or potential exploitation. And that was why Diego had come.
It was an arrangement that was very different from anything he'd had in the past, and on certain levels it was probably the driving reason why outside of Nevada and in the present government there was so much anti-Animalian sentiment that seemed to be essentially bubbling under the surface, if not being openly taunted. People didn't like things that were different and weren't going to just accept those sorts of things. In fact Diego even remembered that a fair number of people didn't think too highly of him as a human because they didn't like the idea of "extreme" sports. He remembered reading one comment on an online sports article that reported on the crash that had essentially ended his career before Animalia came along. The comment read: "Good. Hopefully this moron has learned that doing stupid shit like jumping gorges IS not a way to make a living and settles down into something normal."
"A man who's spent all his life in a lazy-boy and has no idea what adrenaline is," Diego silently mumbled to himself as he entered the building.
As he entered, he found a pair of Red Fox Animalians in a loving embrace and simply looking into each other's eyes. Their long brush-like tails slowly waged with their white tips swaying back and forth. They both looked happy together.
"Am I interrupting something?" Diego spoke as he approached after clearing his throat.
The two soon broke their hug and turned to face him. The female looked at Diego with some amazement, likely never having seen a Smilodon Animalian before, while the male gave a sort of embarrassed smile and soon scratched his head.
"No... Our wedding anniversary is coming up and my wife, Martha, came to share lunch before an appointment with a man named Diego," the male, Robby spoke with a nervous smile.
"That would be me..." Diego answered and then looked to Martha, "and congratulations."
"Thank you," Martha gave a small smile back, "Robby's done a lot for me and made me so happy."
Diego nodded and looked to Robby, "I trust you weren't waiting out here for me... I wouldn't to impose on your schedule..."
"Oh, no, we'd just finished lunch and were coming out as you arrived," Robby answered and looked to his wife, "I'll see you this evening."
Martha nodded, blew a kiss to her husband and then walked out. As she did so, Robby turned to a more business like manner as he looked to Diego. He then motioned for him to follow and began to move toward a staircase that was on the side of the large open area that made up the "Great Hall." Diego nodded and followed quietly as they went along until they came to a door that had a sign that read "Mayor's Office: Clara" on it. Robby opened it and looked in.
"Excuse me, Clara, but the twelve thirty is here," Robby spoke.
"He is?" Diego heard the answer, "bring him in."
Robby nodded and held the door open and ushered Diego in. Diego calmly entered to find Clara standing up and actually reaching across her desk to shake his hand. Diego gave a small smile and reached out as well and they shook hands. Diego was a bit surprised at how much smaller Clara's hand was when compared to his, but then he also was never really that much of a scientist or biologist. He knew Clara was a Mountain Lion Animalian, and because of the inclusion of "lion" in the name, he'd assumed that she would be comparable in size to a Lion Animalian, which was what Horizon's scientists had expected him to compare to with regard to being a Smilodon Animalian based on the Fatalis subspecies.
"Hello," Clara spoke, "You are Diego..." she then seemed to pause as if thinking over onto Diego's last name.
"You can just call me Diego, I've never been big on formalities," Diego answered as they shook hands.
"How are you liking Animalia and Lyre?" Clara asked as she sat back down and waved toward the chairs that were across from her desk. Diego sat down in them with no problem. The chairs had an open back near the seat, likely to allow for animals with long tails to sit in the chair, though for him, that wasn't an issue. Smilodon had a short tail that was more like a Lynx or a Bobcat's tail.
"It's quite the quaint little town," Diego answered, "and it's clear that you've had a lot on your plate with regard to things to do..."
"And, may I ask on how you're adapting?" Clara asked curiously.
"I love having the strength back in my legs," Diego smiled, "I can run and jump... in fact I can jump much better than I could when I was human... and I don't need that brace anymore. So I'm loving that. The only real "issue" might be with the sabers... but that's really only with regard to looking down. Smilodon was a strict quadruped and so that was never a real issue. As an Animalian and being more of primary biped, I do have to remember that these things point down and extend far enough down that if I'm not careful I'd impale myself on my own teeth."
Clara slowly nodded as Diego actually tapped the long saber canines that Smilodon was known for. However, she also noted that his smile didn't diminish, which meant that he was probably quite okay with that issue. She took that as a good thing. She then turned to business and looked to a set of papers that were on her desk.
"Now... from the request you sent in, you're wanting to establish a sort of "extreme sports" league for Animalians?" Clara said slowly, leading into what Diego wanted to talk about and offering him the window to explain his idea.
"Yes," Diego nodded, "I mean you run a set of various combat sports... or are trying to with boxing, wrestling, and MMA style sports and support various track and field and team sports like volleyball in the IAC, but there are many skills and sports that Animalians would be quite good at. I mean you have various Bighorn and Dall's Sheep Animalians that were transformed from the zoo... things like mountain climbing would be something they could be good at. And..."
"If I could cut you off for a second," Robby spoke up, "We don't actually control the boxing, wrestling, and MMA sports leagues that have been forming. Our only real concern there was that they don't break Animalia's founding edicts in relation that they aren't death matches. Much of the organization for them has actually been arranged and organized by many of the same sorts of leagues that exist elsewhere in the country... And the medical groups that work with them here in Animalia are from the Lyre hospital which has gotten a lot of its funding and support from Horizon. In that sense, the league is very much a private venture. Our only concern is that they don't put Animalians in a situation where they would be killing one another in these bouts... and obviously that the league cannot force anyone into participating if they don't want to."
"I see..." Diego said slowly, "Well... that's good. But I would still say that there are a great many "extreme sports" that Animalians could be good at. As you have many Animalians that have proven capable of balancing on two legs despite having digitigrade legs and even hooved animals which would take that stance to an extreme where they're balancing on their toe-nails... their hooves and being able to balance quite well... despite the fact that in a bipedal stance, a plantigrade foot is actually far better for balance. In that, you could see Animalians do quite well at downhill skiing and snow boarding. Not to mention mountain climbing... dirt biking... and other various extreme sports that could even potentially get into things... like stay stunt jumping... Seeing how far one could jump and having something like say... a chasm to try and clear."
"And why would you think Animalians would have interest in this?" Clara wondered.
"Adrenaline," Diego gave a small shrug, "I mean... the reporting on predatory Animalians participating in the hunting season in a way that would mean very close up and personal tactics... against animals that are bound to fight back... That's a great deal of risk and could well mean injury, even though Animalians in pure theory don't NEED to do that anymore. To me, the only real reason for that is adrenaline... the "thrill of the hunt" as it were. But with extreme sports, you could get that same rush of defying death as it were without having to abide by hunting regulations. As I've heard of no rule that says you can't jump a creek in the spring. And many humans have gone through that sort of stunt for the sheer thrill of doing the stunt. It is why I performed a lot of those stunts as a human."
"And the risk of injury?" Robby wondered.
"Is there, true, but it's really no different than the risk of injury in hunting," Diego countered, "shoot, if a Tiger in India goes after a Guar and fails to get the beast on the ground with its jaws around the Guar's neck... there is the real chance that the Guar will crush and kill the Tiger for attacking it."
Clara slowly nodded and remembered the hunting trip before Thanksgiving. The Moose that she and her husband Rick had killed DID fight back and subduing it took both of them and avoiding being kicked or gored while important was rather close. A part of her actually had to admit that she'd felt something of a rush as they succeeded in making the kill.
"And not every extreme sport carries that high risk of death," Diego continued, "those in skiing and snowboarding... or even skateboarding aren't risking death... and in some cases with mountain climbing when there isn't a mountain to climb, they create a "rock wall" that would simulate the mountain. There is risk of injury sure... but the odds of death are low in those sports... and the thrill at pulling off the tricks can be big."
"So... the whole point is this adrenaline rush?" Robby asked.
"Pretty much," Diego answered, "and those that get into the most extreme of those sports do it purely for that reason. The jump I attempted that sent me tumbling down a gorge and roughed up my leg was done for that reason... and not all extreme sports go those lengths."
"Now... you wouldn't force anyone into this, if they don't wish to?" Clara asked.
"Of course not," Diego answered, "my point is that there are a fair number of these sports that Animalians could easily be good at. With it being winter right now... we could start with skiing and snowboarding and providing some thrill that relates to going down a hill before getting into anything more extreme than that. And with other Animalians who were human... I'm sure there are plenty that might have gone skiing or snowboarding from time to time."
Clara then slowly nodded, "Well... if you think there are those that would be good at it... we can take a start with some of the more basic versions... this skiing and so on and go from there. If your idea gets support and does well, we can expand on it..."
Diego smiled.