Chapter 1: Odd Encounter

      Trace yawned as he opened his eyes, the harsh sound of his alarm clock blaring in his ears. He checked the time, letting his light blue-grey eyes glide across the room. He sat up and rubbed his eyes slightly, trying to get them to focus. Going through his morning routine Trace was happy, as always, but more so today, today was one of his few days off. Sam Taraun had aggreed to keep the clinic running while Trace took a much needed vacation. Dr. Sam Taraun was Trace's boss, but they treated eachother more like friends. He grinned as he remembered when Sam had hired him. "I just have two questions. Can you put up with crying, whining, and constant yelling? And can you do what you know is best, depite what another person tries to tell you?" Trace had responded yes to both questions, now he was a co-doctor at Sam's Kadrien Clinic. Kadriens had been around for hundreds of years, living in secret among humans, or out in sanctuaries, but around forty years ago their presence was becoming more and more known, until a group, calling themselves the Huntsmen, or Hunters for short, convinced the governments of the world to let them eliminate the Kadriens, they failed when their plans to steal Kadriens' powers was exposed, the war between them and the resistance groups, now formed into a Task Force bent on bringing down the Hunters, called the Wolfgang, raged on for another year, eventually coming to an end when the Hunters' HQs were destroyed by the Wolfgang. Trace remembered his parents telling him stories about the war, they had been in it, his mom had been an officer, training young Kadriens how to use their powers, and his dad had been a combat medic, out on the front lines, helping keep wounded soldiers alive. Neither of his parents had been Kadrians, but they still believed that the hybrid creatures deserved a chance to live among humans. Trace believed the same. He walked outside with his coffee, seeing the sun rising. "This would be a great day to head to the park, maybe feed some pigeons." He thought, taking a sip of the warm brown liquid. "Yeah...That's what I'll do." He resolved, heading back inside and grabbing his coat. Minutes later he was walking through the park, when he saw something that appalled him. There was an animal control officer beating on a Kadrien, he knew the officers were cruel to them, but he still wasn't about to let it happen. He stormed over to the officer, grabbing the man's shoulder and slinging him backwards. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE-" The officer was starting to yell at Trace, but he simply flashed his PETA Protection Force badge, he had been made an honorary captain after saving a few of their officers. "Oh. I-I...Sorry about that sir." The officer said quickly, saluting Trace. "Back off. Don't let me see you doing this again." Trace replied sternly, not saying anything more to the officer, the officer knew that Trace could have his badge taken if he so desired, but Trace wasn't gonna deprive the man of a way to feed his family. So he let him off with a warning, the officer hurried off in the other direction. He looked down at the Kadrien laying on the ground. "Are you okay?" He asked, crouching down to her level, she pinned her ears and growled at Trace, backing up against a bench, clutching her ribs. "Back off human." She seethed, obviously in pain, but not wanting Trace to see her weakness. "Woah, I'm not gonna hurt you, I'm a doctor." He replied, a kind look in his eyes. She kept her ears pinned, but seemed to relax a little. "How can I trust you? That other guy beat me into the ground for no reason other than I didn't have any papers." She said angrily, but with a look of defeat and sadness in her eyes. She seemed to realize that she had said too much because she stopped talking and kept glaring at Trace. Trace sighed. "Damn officers, thinking they can do whatever they want." He said angrily. He looked back up at the Kadrien, smiling kindly. "I know a place where you can go, I have a friend who helps Kadriens, he's a doctor too, but you should atleast let me give you a check-up, even if you don't want to go see a doctor." He offered, hoping that the girl saw that it was her choice and that he wasn't going to force her. She sighed in resignation. "Fine, but if you try anything I'll bite your hand off." She said, trying her best to sound feirce, which seemed difficult while she gasped in pain everytime she took a breath. Trace nodded in understanding, pulling out a small penlight he kept on him for situations just like this. He procceded to look under her tounge, and check her arms and legs for bruises. "So what's your name?" He asked, trying to be friendly. "Katherine." She answered curtly. He smiled, "I'm Trace, it's nice to meet you Katherine." He then checked her ribs, finding exactly what he had feared, the look of concern replacing his smile tipped off Katherine that something was wrong. "What is it?" She asked, looking worried. "You've got a few cracked ribs, and I think one is dislocated." He replied, he wasn't going to lie to her, that was the quickest way for someone to go out and get themselves hurt worse. "W-what does that mean?" She asked, stammering slightly. Trace grimiced, "It means you may have to see a doctor anyways."