Artits adjusted her shell-crown, emitting a calming aura of confidence and fearlessness. However, her face did not portray the turmoil occurring within her. He lips quirked a little as her mind raced over everything that could go wrong that day. The Human-Merfolk Peace Treaty was a pretty big deal, and as the queen of her people, she had to make sure she didn't swish one tail-fin wrong, or who knew what might happen. It had taken years for humans and merfolk to even consider having a treaty - Artits could remember her father, when he had been alive, oh how he had cursed the human ambassadors that were sent to supposedly "improve" human-merfolk relations. He had mentioned how the humans had only been attempting to steal their precious resources, offering little to nothing in return.

Artits shook her head. The time was approaching, she needed to have a clear mind. She left her chambers after double-checking her appearance was acceptable for a queen, and headed towards the place where the treaty was to be signed in an hour.... She could only hope her perceived confidence by others would show the humans that she wouldn't be bossed around by them like her father used to be.

The man never knew how he'd got a hold of a gun. He never knew how he'd managed to blast his way out of that hellish nightmare of a lab into the freedom of nature. Everything was blurred. His memories of that place always were. The only thing he could ever remember clearly was the moment he saw the striking blue sky for the first time, and the scent of grass wafting to his nostrils, and the pain he felt racking throughout his entire body, his right eye half-shut, as if it had swollen slightly.

He roamed the wilderness for a while, knowing nothing but the barcode on his cheek that marked him as an experiment, and the cruel, cold claws that were in the place where his fingers would be if he had ever been a normal person. His right arm was different, he knew that. Or at least, he found out the first time he ever saw civilization - humans outside that place, that weren't wearing white coats. There had been small humans wandering the streets, doing some odd kind of back-and-forth with a round object and yelling in delight.
Some normal-sized humans had seen his arm and looked away. He hadn't thought it was odd, until one of the small humans had come up to him, childishly asking if his arm was a costume. His own startled reply of confusion made the human tug on his arm. Suddenly filled with frightful eyes as the human realised his arm was real, the human yelled and ran. Other humans turned to look at him suspiciously, eyeing the barcode on his face.
He had run. He was scared of being sent back to that place. He wasn't sure how long he ran, but he eventually ended up in a desolate alley. He slumped down against the wall, his eyes watering. Why me? he asked himself bitterly. Why only me?
A sudden rattle of a trash can startled him, making him look up - into the vivid green eyes of a slender cat. He blinked, scared it would see his arm and run or treat him badly like the humans, but to his surprise, it jumped out and rubbed against him, as if it didn't care who he was, what he was... The man felt his eyes water again, but this time, it was because he wasn't alone.

LWD was a lucky little cat person. Zir parents had almost called zir Lucy Sam Donner, rather than Lucy Will Donner. Dodged a pretty great bullet there, if you ask me.

However....the rest of zir life was made by zir own choices. It's not my fault if ze ends up in jail. Hey, stop whining, I may be the narrator but does it look like I can tell this crazy cat person what to do? No? I'm glad you understand.

As I was saying... LWD dodged a pretty great bullet. Ze grew up in a household with many pets, and when ze moved out after ze had finished zir education to get a job, ze decided ze wanted a cat. Or two. Or three. Or ten thousand. The point is that ze wanted a lot.

The only problem was that ze had no money to keep cats or even buy them. And so, the rise of Voltra's grand Catnapper began - and nobody was any the wiser as to who was behind these attacks. Of course, if you ever catch zir on the streets dragging a big bag and ask what's in it, the answer you will surely receive is "My life."
Of course, most unsuspecting citizens would presume it to be work or documents required to live, but the truth is..... Well, cats are zir life, are they not?