Wedding day, 7:00 AM--The Does's salt lick
"Oooh, I'm so excited." Leticia was gushing. "You guys are the best! This is going to be so great! Thank you for being bridesmaids!"
"Just hold still." Lateisha muttered. "I need to get this matched against your hair."
Hannah had just been released from the recovery room. It was great being back under the open sky and breathing the rich, tasty air as opposed to the carefully processed, utterly flavorless, product of the ventilation system. "You look wonderful, Leticia. Everyone is so proud of you."
"Thank you Hannah. Jeremy is so glad you're coming after what his mother did to you."
"I'm glad I'm able to come. I wouldn't miss this for the world."
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7:00 AM--The Huskies
"OK, listen up." Naomi began. "The she-bear's gone, but that doesn't mean that we slack off. This is the biggest gathering of guests of different species ever, and we're going to make sure it goes off without a hitch. That clear?"
"Yes ma'am" the huskies barked in unison.
"OK, Katie, you and the twins are in charge of the wedding party and the deer generally. Our main worry there is whether dominance fights break out among the bucks. Any do, you break them up and separate the combattants. Be particularly careful with Marth--since he hasn't fought anyone yet and doesn't have a clear place in the hierarchy, he's going to be an irritant. There's also the danger that he might freak out and go after Jeremy, although I don't think that's likely. I don't think anyone will be going after Spike either, but keep an eye on him anyway."
"Yes ma'am." Katie barked.
"Harry, you and Zack are assigned to Predator Hill. The main thing I'm thinking about there is the young TG panthermorph who will be attending with Keith and Jackie. Those two should be keeping the other male panthermorphs away to avoid a repetition of the previous situation, but if they need any help, you give it to them, clear?"
"Yes ma'am." the two barked in unison.
"And remember, if any fighting breaks out, your number one priority is to keep Jackie out of it, right?"
"Yes ma'am." barked Harry and Zack.
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7:00 AM--the Panthers
"Here Jackie, I brought this for you." Chris, the new girl panthermorph, laid the bleeding corpse of a rabbit at Jackie's feet. Keith and Jackie had informally adopted the young panther, who needed some time away from her dad learning how to be highly evolved big cat.
"Thank you Chris, you're getting to be a really good hunter."
Chris (thank whatever God there be for his gender-ambiguous name, Jackie thought) beamed with pride. As Jackie tore into the rabbit, *eating for six now* Keith came up to the two of them, and began to discuss the day's plan for attending the wedding.
"Chris" he began "there are going to be some other male panthermorphs there, and although we hope they got the word about what happened the last time someone tried to come on to you, there's always the chance of someone being stupid. When that happens, what do you do?"
Chris answered "I don't immediately start with violence. I say loudly and clearly 'not interested' and try to get the male to back off."
"Right, and if he doesn't back off?"
"I ask you or Jackie for help, if you're in the area."
"Right, and if that doesn't work?"
"Then I may initiate violence, if that seems like the only way to get him to leave me alone."
"Good." Keith growled.
Jackie was glad that Keith and Chris were bonding, but there were some things that Chris would have to learn from a female panthermorph. He was supposed to be here for three months, and pretty soon she would have to have the talk with him (it was still hard to think of Chris as a female) that Jackie wished someone had had with her. Something told her that Chris wasn't going to be happy to learn about menstruation.
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7:30 AM Monty Mongoose
"Of course I'm not going, why do you think the Park has set up this gathering of some many morphs? As soon as everyone's there, the black helicopters descend with the tear gas, and everyone gets packed away to the off-the-books NSA headquarters to be turned into MK Ultra mind-controlled agents, duh!"