Beginnings - Lou Gagliardi

Bayley hadn’t been in Berdoovia long. She had come from Earth to study at the infamous Dewclaw University. The red panda wasn’t entirely sure what to expect, but so far everything had been nice. A few chakats had stopped by, and welcomed her to the city.  It might have been Shir Nightbloom and Shir Dayglade or similar, Bayley was a bit absent minded and couldn’t remember names that well. Still, they were simply lovely and helped her move the few belongings that Bayley into the one bedroom flat.

Bayley only just raised the money to move to Chakona and the first available time she had to get into her flat was now.  Bayley came with the intent to study archaeo-planetology, or the study of ancient civilizations of planets. Not that she needed the degree, but Bayley liked the idea of adding ‘Doctor’ to her name. Doctor Bayley Song definitely had a nicer ring to it, the wah decided. So to Chakona she came, looking for new experiences and the adventures in studying. Thankfully, her mother had been able to help with the first couple of months rent. Bayley would find a job soon, having already seen a librarian’s position that needed to be filled.

She was checking herself in the mirror, smoothing out the bright blue sundress over the gently curves of her body. While Bayley wasn’t the most curvy, she was beautiful in her own right with her medium length light caramel hair. Her eyes, hidden by behind a pair of blue framed eyeglasses with blue tinted lenses, were as green as any emerald. Bayley smiled. She was pretty, in that girl next door kind of way. Or so the wah told herself as she put the sandals on her feet, tail wagged behind her at the thoughts of studying and mingling. She had to take the train to the university before it got to late to get all of the information she needed. Bayley had already looked up the train info and knew she needed to get to the station in the next twenty five minutes to make it on time.

“Tail high, Bayley!”

She turned her head briefly and smiled. A wave was given and the other gave it back to her. It was Shir Nightbloom if she recalled correctly. Nightbloom looked like a large tabby cat, black in color except one white splotch on her rump, and a white splotch on hir right eye. A very large tabby cat. The two met half way, the chakat being a little faster than the red panda. The two hugged briefly.

“Where are you heading, Bayley?”

“Please, it’s Bay. We’re friends, Shir Nightbloom! And I’m about to try to get a train to get to the university so that I can get my class schedule confirmed, get books and find out where each class is at.”

The chakat nodded and smiled. Shi tugged at hir own nap sack, where books resided. The two let out a mutual giggle. Sidewalk traffic simply moved around them as they stood there talking. They were making plans to get coffee and meet for dinner, but Bayley told Nightbloom to check with hir mate first, not wanting to become involved in a fight over time management.

“Oh, and Bay? Since we’re friends, you may just call me Nightbloom. There’s no reason for the Shir. We’re not being formal or anything. And don’t worry, I’ll ring you the moment that I talk to Dayglade.”

“Tail high then, Nightbloom! I’ve got to dash.”

Without hearing the greeting in response, the red panda dashed to the station. It was right in front of her a straight line down the hill, in sandals. Bayley had been a track athlete in school before coming to the planet, so it wasn’t that hard. Except she forgot the sandals part, so she almost fell a couple of times. Still, she managed to make it with not too many scoff marks and out of place fur. She faced the skunk morph behind the desk.

“One ticket to Dewclaw University, please.”
“Please have exact change, and it’ll be twelve credits.”

Bayley pulled out the slips of the currency, and handed them over. She waited for the ticket to printed, still a slow and painful situation even with today’s electronics. After what felt like ten minutes of verifying the information was correct, the female skunk handed off the cardboard style to Bayley. The young wah left with ticket in hand, and five minutes till it boarded. Just enough time to grab a cola. She opened the container and took a long drink, glad for the refreshment.

“NOW BOARDING ON TRACK TWO FOR DEWCLAW UNIVERSITY!”

The red panda’s ears swiveled as she heard the intercom and bounded over to the correct platform. She skidded to a stop and let an older wolf morph and his chakat companion board first before she climbed on. Her ticket deposited into the waiting hands of the conductor.

###
A short time later, Bayley said goodbye to Jacob Pilchard and Swiftpaw, who turned out to be his nurse. Jacob was a professor at Dewclaw who had gotten sick which is why he required a nurse. He also wasn’t in her field but had become a fast friend to her.
“Good bye, Mr. Pilchard! Tail high Swiftpaw!”
Bayley set off for the main administrative building. It was a large building, newer in design as though it had been through a remodeling. She countered her steps and how many people she met along the way. It was amazing. Finally she made it and leaned against the counter, waiting for the horse morph to get done on the phone.
“May I help you?”
“Yes, I’m Bayley Song. I have a meeting with a registrar at the fourth hour.”
“First door on your left at the end of the hall.”
“Thank you!”
The hallway long but cool thanks to central air. When Bayley reached the door, she was noticed it was already open. Walking into the room, she shut the door and waited to begin her meeting.