The Pet Shop: A TF Story

THE PET SHOP…by Kira (scarmask99)

"CAIT! Come on! Let's go!" Kira cried up the stairs.
Cait ran down the stairs so fast that she almost tripped. "Sorry! I just needed to get my purse!"
Kira opened the door to the apartment. "Make sure that you lock the door on the way out!"
"Don't worry! I will!"
The girls walked down the sidewalk to the new mall that had been opened last week.
"Where should we go first?" Kira asked excitedly. Cait just shrugged.
As they entered through the rotating front doors, their jaws dropped. The ceiling of the mall was at least fifty feet up. There were three upper floors, plus the lower and ground floors.
Stores lined all the halls, and every two hundred feet, there was a beautiful fountain, shooting water ten feet over their heads.
Kira searched through her purse. "Uh-oh! I forgot my money!" She turned to Cait. "Cait, there's an ATM right over there, I'll be right back!"
As Kira ran off, Cait looked around. She thought about whether she should go to the "Hot Topic" first, or the "Fire and Ice Accessories."
She remembered how Kira didn't really like "Hot Topic", so she decided to save the "Fire and Ice" for later.
Kira came back, looking into her purse. "Ok, I got three hundred dollars, so where do you wanna go first?" She looked up. "Cait?"
Meanwhile, Cait was exploring the largest Hot Topic that she had ever been in. She already had three pairs of trip pants in hand, plus a Dragonforce (her favorite band) shirt. She pulled out her phone as she received a text message. It was from Kira.
-'where r u?'-
She texted back to Kira where the Hot Topic was, and that she was going to be a while.
Kira sighed, and answered.
-'well I'll just be looking around'-
And so, Kira began to explore the first floor. There were stores that she had never even heard of, and stores that she didn't even think existed anymore. But, there was so much more to see. So when she saw a directory, Kira skimmed over the different stores. There was one store that caught her attention, "The Wolf Pack". She really liked wolves, and decided that she might add another plushy to her collection at home.
When she reached the store, Kira discovered that it was not what she had thought it to be.
On the outside, there was a large wooden door. The windows were all tinted, so she couldn't see inside.
When she entered, hundreds of barks erupted from the large cages that lined the walls. Kira had to cover her ears, and she realized that there was no wolf accessories in this store. There was actual wolves!
She soon found that the barks died down fairly quickly. As she looked around at the rest of the store, a hand on her shoulder made her jump. She whirled around to see a smiling man standing in front of her.
"Hello," the man said. "Welcome to The Wolf Pack!" He beamed.
Kira slid the strap of her purse up higher on her shoulder. "Hi! Sorry, I thought that this was a wolf accessories store." She turned to leave, but the man stopped her.
"Now, wait a minute! Don't you want to hear all about this store?" he looked sad.
Kira sighed. "Well…alright."
The man led her to a chair. "Here! Sit down, take a load off!" the smile had returned to his face.
Kira sat down and crossed her legs, placing her hands in her lap. "So, what is the point of this store?" she smiled.
The man held up a finger. "Ah! Well, I really love wolves, and I know that others really like them too. So, I thought, 'Who doesn't want a wolf of their own?' And, The Wolf Pack was born!"
Kira looked confused. "So, all of these wolves are…"
"Yes, they're all domesticated." The man finished. He stood up and walked over to the cages, pulling a strip of dried meat out of a pouch at his waist. He stuck it in the cage, and a happy wolf snatched it.
Kira looked around at all of the wolves. There were all kinds of them. There were Arctic wolves, Red wolves, Timber wolves, and of course, Gray wolves.
She stood up and walked around. There was a door in the back that made her curious.
She turned to the man. "What's in there?"
The man smiled even brighter. "That's where I keep all of the pups!"
Kira's eyes lit up. "Can I please see them?!"
The man laughed. "Well, of course you can!"
He pulled a key from his pocket, and unlocked the door. As soon as it opened, at least twenty pups came running, tripping over their own feet, and yapping like crazy. The man pulled a handful of dried meat from the pouch and tossed them into the crowd of pups one by one.
While the pups were all pushing their way through eachother, Kira noticed one little Gray puppy that was trying to eat one piece, when a fairly plump Gray pup came and jerked it out of his mouth.
Kira turned to the man. "Can I pick one of them up?"
"Sure! Go ahead!" he chuckled.
Kira reached down and picked up the one pup who had just lost its food, and was trying to take it back from the fat one.
The pup yipped as Kira grabbed it gently. He looked up at Kira, who smiled down at him. The pup yapped excitedly and wagged its tail quickly.
The man smiled. "I think he likes you!"
The little wolf supported itself with its forepaws, and stared into Kira's eyes. It barked again, and started panting.
The man walked over and opened the door. "Would you like some time alone with that one?" he asked, "You know, so you two can become acquainted?"
Kira nodded. She brought the pup close so that his forepaws and head hung over her shoulder. The pup licked her ear happily, making Kira laugh.
Outside in the main room, there were several pens. The man opened the door to one, and led Kira in. She sat on the floor, and put the pup down. He immediately jumped back onto her, knocking her on her back. The pup sat down on her chest, and stared happily down at her, his tail thumping furiously.
Kira giggled, and lifted the pup off of her, so that she could sit up.
Suddenly, the little gray pup ran over and stuck his head into her purse. He sniffed around curiously.
"AH! No! Bad pup! Not for you!" Kira cried, pulling him out.
The pup had found some of Kira's candy, and it had a long stick of licorice in its mouth. It chewed it happily, before Kira pulled it away. "That's not for you! You can't eat that!" she scolded.
The puppy gave her such a look that poor Kira almost wanted to cry. It looked so sad!
She made sure that the man wasn't looking, and held the candy out again.
The pup happily licked at the licorice, before grabbing it with its teeth and pulling it from Kira's hand.
Kira took it back. "Hold on! That's too big for you!" she whispered.
That look returned to the pup's face, and Kira broke off a small piece. "There! You need little pieces, not the whole thing."
Kira was in there a while before the man returned. "How is everything?" he asked. "I hope that little guy isn't causing any trouble!"
Kira quickly hid the licorice. "Nope! Everything's fine! Can I stay with him for a little longer?"
The man smiled. "Alright. But only since it looks like you two are meant for eachother." He walked away.
Kira wiped her forehead. "Whew! That was close, wasn't it?"
The pup barked. Then, it ran back to Kira's purse, and sniffed around again. He came out with her makeup compact. He shook it around and threw it across the pen.
"GAH! Hey! Put that down!" Kira cried, trying to take it back. However, the pup wouldn't let go.
Instead, it shook the compact around more, trying to rip it from Kira's hands.
Kira tugged as hard as she could, and the pup suddenly let go. Kira flew backwards, bumping her head on the wall of the pen. She dropped the compact and held her head, trying not to scream.
The pup on the other hand, thought that this was absolutely hilarious.
Kira glared at it. "No! That's not nice! That hurt me!"
The pup's smile faded. It growled playfully at Kira. Kira took her hands from her head, not realizing that the pup was only playing. The pup backed her up against the wall, and wagged its tail. Still growling, it playfully swatted at Kira's arm. Kira screamed, and cowered in the corner. The little wolf snapped at her ankle.
"HELP!" Kira screamed. "HELP ME! PLEASE HELP ME!"
However, the man couldn't hear her through the door.
The pup nipped her ankle, not trying to hurt her. Kira didn't know this though. She screamed and shook the pup from her ankle. Then, she stood up and ran to the door, trying to get out. She pulled the handle, but the door was locked. She banged on the door, screaming for help.
Meanwhile, the pup was swatting at her foot.
Outside, the man listened and heard the banging on the door. He smiled. "Time to come out already?"
He unlocked the door and Kira ran out, sobbing. The pup was still trying to play with her, and it barked at her feet, asking why she wasn't playing anymore.
The man looked confused. "Hey! What's the matter?" he asked.
"That dog is trying to hurt me!" she sniffled, wiping the tears from her eyes.
The man chuckled. "Awww…he just wants to play!"
The pup panted happily at Kira's feet. Kira however, picked up her purse, and started to walk towards the door. "I'm sorry. I need to go now." She was just about to open the door to leave, when the man grabbed her arm, holding her firmly. "Now, hold on! I need you to buy this pup! He really likes you, and he is not friends with any of the other pups!"
Kira tried to pull away. "No! Let me go!"
The man held tight. "If you won't buy it, then you will have to stay here with him!" he reached over and locked the door.
Kira was becoming scared. This man was psychotic! She tried to pull away again, but the man still had too strong of a grip on her arm. She began to scream for help.
"You can't call for help. The door is soundproof," said the man, "Now, are you going to buy the pup, or are you going to stay here forever?"
Kira's eyes filled with tears. "Please! Just let me go! I don't want to buy him!"
The man stared down at the little pup, who whined and started to shrink away. He turned back to Kira. "Look at what you did to him! He's sad now!"
Kira became angry. "Let me go, you freak! I can't buy him! I won't be able to take care of him!"
The man tightened his grip and started to drag Kira to one of the cages on the wall. Kira tried to resist, but the man was too strong for her. He opened an empty cage, and threw her inside. Then, he slammed the door shut.
Kira shook the bars of the cage, but it was locked. She screamed and broke into tears. What was this man going to do with her?
Frantically, she looked for something to help her get out. She saw her purse on the floor outside the cage. She reached out through the bars of the cage as far as she could, but the purse was still just outside of her reach.
There was nothing in her skirt pockets, and she was in a completely empty cage.
Suddenly, the man returned. In his hand was a syringe with some clear fluid inside. Kira tried to move as far back as she could, but the cage wasn't that big, so she didn't have too much room to move around.
Now, the pup that had been playing with her was sitting in front of the cage door, and it stared in at her, panting happily. Kira stared back helplessly.
The little puppy let out a yip as he was suddenly kicked aside. The man bent down and flung the cage door open, and before Kira could react, he plunged the syringe into her right arm. She cried out in pain, and the man backed out and shut the cage door again. He reached over and set the pup back in front of the cage.
The pup looked happy to see Kira, but soon Kira became dizzy. She grabbed her stomach and fell over onto her side. She began to cough and gag, and felt strange all over. Kira screamed out in horror as she saw herself beginning to shrink.
She grew smaller and smaller, and soon she was about the size of a five year old. Her clothes were so baggy now that they just slipped right off of her body and fell in a heap on the floor.
The man and the pup stared at her, the man smiling, and the pup looking confused. On the floor next to him, Kira's phone vibrated from inside her purse. He took it out and looked at it. It was a text from Cait.  -'hey where r u at?'-
The man flipped open the phone and answered.
-'im at the wolf pack on the third floor'-
By now, Kira was starting to grow gray fur on her bare thighs. It spread up to her waist and down to her feet. Her knees reshaped so that they were in a permanent inverted angle, like the hind legs of the pup that was eagerly watching her from outside the cage. Her feet shrank even more so that they were no more than paws.
She screamed as it dawned on her what was happening. She was turning into a wolf pup!
"Please!! Stop this!! I don't want to be a wolf!! I DON'T WANT TO BE AN ANIMAL!!" she cried out to the man.
The man just stared at her.
The fur had now passed her waist, and Kira's pelvis began to change shape, forcing her into a digitigrade stance. Now that she was on all fours, Kira watched as the fur spread even faster. It was up to her chest when she felt her spine lengthen into a small tail.
The fur continued down her arms, and her hands shifted into paws like her feet.
"PLEASE! SOMEONE HELP ME! I DON'T WANT TO BE AN ANIM-ARK!! Ark! Ark!" Kira's final cry for help was cut short as her voice became helpless yaps and barks. Her face pushed out into a muzzle, and her ears grew larger, and became pointed as they moved to the top of her head.
She barked frantically, trying to regain her human voice, but to no avail.
It was then that a wave of nostalgia washed over the pup, and all of her human mentality was erased, replaced with the simple, bubbly mind of a two year old wolf pup.
The man smiled and picked up the frightened pup, who whined in confusion and fear. He carried her off to the room labeled 'pups'.
Cait walked through the third floor, looking for that store that Kira had said she was at. She didn't remember what she had called it, so she took out her phone and texted her.
-'hey. what was that store called?'-
Soon came her answer.
-'the wolf pack'-
She put away her phone and looked up at the signs above the stores.
Finally, she found the one that was named "The Wolf Pack".
it was rather hard for her to open the heavy door, and she almost fell over when she was greeted with hundreds of barks at the same time.
She looked around, when a hand on her shoulder made her jump. She whirled around, and saw a man standing in front of her. He wore a smile on his face that was almost a little creepy. She looked around the room. "Uh…hi. Have you seen a girl hear recently?" she asked.
The man smiled even brighter. "Ah! Yes, was she wearing a skirt, and carrying a pink purse?"
"Yeah! That's her! So you've seen her?"
He chuckled. "Yes. I have. Unfortunately, you just missed her. She said that she was not going to wait for you to get here, so she left."
Cait turned to leave. However, the man stopped her. "AH! Wait! Don't you want to look around?"
Cait thanked the man, but said that she wasn't going to buy anything.
The man smiled again. "But don't you at least want to play with the pups?"
The girl thought about how much she liked wolves, and how cute the pups were. She shrugged and agreed with the man. "Alright. I'll look around."
The man opened the door in the back, labeled 'pups'. Immediately, at least twenty pups came running, clumsily tripping over their own paws and shoving their way through eachother.
The man took a handful of dried meat from the pouch at his waist, and tossed it into the crowd of pups.
They all went nuts and tried to get into the center so that they could get their food.
Cait noticed two pups. They were both Gray wolves. One was a male, and the other was a female. The girl was about two years old, and the boy about two and a half.
The pups were fighting over a piece of meat, and the girl seemed to be losing.
The boy gave a big yank, and pulled the meat from the girl's mouth. Then, he ran off with his food.
Cait felt sorry for the female pup, and picked her up. She stared at it, and the pup stared back. She smiled, and the pup barked. She hugged it, and the pup licked her face.
Turning to the man, she asked, "What's her name?"
The man smiled warmly. "Her name is Kira."


The End…


==Epilogue==
Eventually, Cait realized what had happened. She had found Kira's purse and seen her clothes in the cage. And when she tried to escape, the man had taken her and thrown her in the same cage as Kira. However, Cait was able to escape, by using the paperclip in her purse to pick the lock before the man had returned with the syringe full of the clear fluid. She had grabbed Kira and ran out of the store, and  out of the mall.
She went straight home and sat on the couch, staring helplessly at the little pup that had been her best friend. She watched the pup play with the sock on the ground. Chewing on it, and batting it around. Kira would look up at her every once in a while, and Cait would smile down at her. Then, she would continue to play with the sock.
Cait wondered about her friend, that if somewhere deep inside, Kira was still there. She wondered if her friend was gone forever, or if she was inside of that pup, fighting to come out.
It was a long time before Cait finally decided that her friend was not going to return to her human form. She still loves her friend though. She plays with her, and always takes her out for walks. But even now, she still hopes that Kira is still inside of that little pup. And that she is trying to fight her way out. She hopes that someday, she will come home from work, to see her friend sitting in the middle of the floor. She hopes that someday, Kira will be back to normal, and they could live their happy lives again.