Eepy.

Tarka:
 
 The sun shone brightly from far overhead.  Glaring down like the fires of
 hell.  Eepy knew that he should not have been on the lakeside path in the
 daylight.  All sorts of day monsters are rumored to live there under the
 bright skyfire.
 
 His eyes were tight, almost shut, trying to keep as much
 light out of the large orbs as he could.  Being a Lemur, he was only used to
 seeing in the light of the soft gentle skyfire of the moon.  He looked over
 at his friend Leeps, and perked his ears questioningly. 
 
 Leeps gave Eepy a big grin, enjoying himself to no end, though his eyes
 blurred a little, under the overly bright light.  
 
 "Like I was telling you Eepy. There are no such things as Humans.
 Day monsters are all that you have to worry about and they are no
 different then the night people." He finished off with a few waves
 of his paw, showing off his knowledge to his friend.
 
 Eepy nodded. "Well you always seem to know everything Leeps.  But don't you
 think we should have slept while the skyfire was still in the sky?"
 
 Leeps sniffed at the air with a hint of rebuff.  "Real lemurs don't sleep
 in the day!"  He marched on a little ahead of Eepy, who had to catch up
 to Leeps.
 
 Eepy know that they should not have been there when the great hot skyfire
 was far up in the blue.  'Leeps always seems to know best though,' thought
 Eepy.  He was still recalling the time when nylon nets fell over him, and Leeps
 and the day monsters that walked on only two legs came out from hiding.
 
 Lillieth:
 
 Eepy was scared, but only at first... soon he and Leeps were drugged, and the
 days went by in a blur.  One going into the next without any real way for
 him to tell one from the next.  For a long time he thought that he was dead,
 until finally he awoke again.
 Inside a shady cage.  He didn't know what to do, so he looked to Leeps.
 "Leeps?  Why are we here?  Why do they look at me like that?" asked Eepy.
 He was frightened again...  right out of his fur.
 
 Leeps sniffed at the bars of the cage.  Not in much of a good mood right
 now he snapped at Eepy.  "Maybe they just like how big you are.  Lots of
 meat on you...  more so than on me."
 
 Eepy's eyes went wide in fear.  "We have to talk to them Leeps!  Tell them
 that... that... that we have never meant to harm them!"  Eepy already knew
 that what he said would not work though.  He had already tried to talk
 with the day monsters.  They didn't understand him, and he couldn't
 understand them.  "I thought that you knew everything Leeps?"
 
Jay:
 
 Leeps looked at Eepy through his cage "Well... that is to say... I know almost 
 everything." Eepy looked at Leeps through the bars.  Eepy stared at Leeps 
 through sorrowful eyes "How will we ever get out of here, Leeps?" Leeps tried 
 to comfort his friend "We'll find a way, Eepy.. don't worry." Just then
 one of the Day Creatures came through a door on the Other Side of the room. 
 Eepy gasped, but Leeps tried to look brave as the Day Creature smiled a cold 
 and cruel smile.
 
Shadow:
 
 Or.... at least, it *seemed* to be a cold and cruel smile; the creature's
 features were completely alien to the terrified Eepy, who was in no condition
 for such studies at the moment. In fact, he wasn't even in much of a
 condition suitable for even screaming; but that was no trouble, for
 Leeps, all-knowing Leeps, fearless, Leeps, was doing quite an adequate
 job for the both of them as the creature leaned toward the cages.
 
Tiana:
 
 Eepy and Leeps cowered in the back of their cages as the Day Creature 
 reached a hand towards the locks.  It paused for a moment, indecisively, then 
 opened Eepy's cage and reached a hand inside.  Thinking back on it, Eepy
 was never quite sure what happened. One moment the creature was
 reaching into the cage, it's giant hand almost in front of his face - and the
 next moment he was on the floor, racing for his life.  He sped across the
 floor and ran around a corner...through the strangest structure he had ever
 seen.
 
Zanahn:
 
 He barreled through corridor after corridor, each looking the same as the 
 last, not paying any attention to where he was going - or, for that matter, 
 the fact that his pursuers could run about twice as fast as he could.
 That, and he had headed into a dead end.  Soon, the strange creatures had 
 him in another net, carting him off down the same corridors he had run down,  
 or were they different? They all looked so similar... Eepy was placed into a 
 cage in a very different room than before - he knew this because Leeps was 
 nowhere to be seen. That, and there were about fifty others of assorted 
 species, all in similar cages.  Eepy casted a panicked gaze about - "Hello? 
 Who - who's here?"
 
WalksFar:
 
 "Who'dja want?" a voice called back.
 
 "Leep?"
 
 "Hodjah!"  A large lemur with white fur and a cark face with walnut brown
 eyes stuck its head into view in a cage above.
 
 Eepy shrank back at the sight.
 
 "No fear, little one.  We all be lemurs here!"  Two white furred arms 
 gestured about.  Sure enough, more faces came to the front of cages.  Flat 
 faces with short, sharp muzzles and large dark eyes stared down.
 
 "We be all lemurs of one sort or another.  Jus' like yew is a ringtail!"
 Hodjah grinned.  "Whatcha want and how come you loose?"
 
 "I-I got away from the Day Creature . . .  Eepy blinked, very conscious he
 was the center of attraction from so many on shelves above.
 
 "Good fer yew!  Stay one step ahead.  Whatcha want from us?"  Hodjah hooted.
 
 "I look for my friend, Leep!"  Eeepy stood on his hind legs as tall as he
 could to see all above better.  "A ringtail, too!"
 
 "Ringtail?  HAH!  Lotsa ringies!  Lotsa ringies!  Not here!  Next room." 
 From a small cage, two chocolate furred arms, dusted with rust red waved.
 Dark eyes peered down at Eepy.  "go next room!"
 Eepy dropped to all fours, turned and froze.  "DAY CREATURE!"  Its massive 
 blue covered trunk-like legs blocked the door.  From above a hand shot 
 out. . . .
 
Skyler:
 
 "...Thing nearly got into the storage room! You have any idea how hard it is
 to catch those things once they get into all that junk?"
 
 "Just be glad you DID catch it. The Boss would raise the roof if he found
 out his livelihood was running away from him on all fours. I sure wouldn't
 want to be the one to have to tell him. You realize that his contacts will
 pay him into four digits for those things? Dang if /I/ would."
 
 "Yeah, so what? We can't leave him in with this bunch. We've got the 
 ringtails down the hall, and The Boss is awfully picky."
 
 "Idiot. Put him in the OTHER ROOM, then. Just stop bothering ME and stop
 screwing up, would'ja? I'm trying to set up a contact for delivery."
 The second man left the room, somewhat angry. Meanwhile, the first had set
 back to the task of grabbing the lemur in the cage in front of him so he 
 could get rid of the thing in the next room and it'd stop being his problem. 
 One thing he knew for sure ...he'd get a good cut from this deal.
 As gingerly as he could, and putting on a bit of a mock cute voice, the man
 did his best impression of a Nice Guy who just wanted the Nice Lemur to go
 back to the cages with all the Other Nice Lemurs.
 
 "Come on out of there, you. We need to take a little trip now. Just down
 the hall."
 
Tarka:
 
 Eepy growled deep at the Day Monster.  He didn't like him at all, and there
 was something really fishy about how he smelled and acted.  "Stay away
 from me Day Monster!"  Eepy growled again, but to no advail.  The Day
 Monster grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and carried him away.  On his
 way out the door the other lemurs called encouragement.  "Hayho... go get
 the day monster Eepy!"  "Bite 'em for me!"
 
 Leeps was sitting in his cage alone again.  He looked around at the room
 though and called.. "Eepy! You out there, Eepy?"  Other Ringtails looked over
 at him.  "No Eepy here, mate.  What be your name?"
 
 Leeps frowned.  He didn't know anyone here.  There were none from his home
 forest.  "My name is Leeps, Fellow Lemur.  What do the Day Monsters want with 
 us?
 
 The other Lemurs looked at each other.  Then turned to the new Lemur.  "We
 don't really know Leeps...  'tis a mystery to us.
 
 Leeps nodded... he would find out... he was Leeps.. the Smartest in his 
 forest.  He would find out what the day monsters were all about.
 
 Eepy wiggled around in the Day Monsters hands, then gave up and waited to
 be taken wherever he was going.  They finally entered a room with many other
 Ringtails.  The Day Monster put him into a cage with a rather good looking
 female and left.  "Hello" said Eepy.  "Is Leeps here?"
 
 "Names Taffy..  Leeps is over to the cages, Eepy."
 
 Eepy ran to the side of the cage... "Hey Leeps! you over there?
 
Lillieth:
 
 Eepy pressed his face against the cage trying to see Leeps.
 You found out what these Day Monsters are all about?  How could you
 do that from your cage, Leeps?"
 
 Leeps puffed out his chestfur and snorted a little... "Well, I just listened.
 These Day Monsters talk around us as if we we're not even here."
 "But, Leeps, how do you know what they are saying?  I could not understand 
 them."
 
 "I have been watching as well... they come and go, Eepy.  They treat us well.
 It is like they think we have a great value.  This room is almost full of 
 cages now.  I think that they will move us."
 
 Just then, two Day Monsters walked into the room and looked around.
 Eepy tried to watch them and listen very carefully.  The first monster took
 down a cage and set it gently on the floor.  "I don't know why the boss has 
 to have so many of these things in separate cages.  Why can't we put more than
 one in them?"  He then pointed to Eepy and Taffy, "Those two are doing fine."
 
Shadow:
 
 Eepy wasn't sure what to make of all this pointing. It kinda scared him,
 not knowing what was going on, but there wasn't much he could do.
 The creatures continued to talk, and after a bit Eepy became aware
 that they were arguing, or at least he thought so.... Then one of
 the creatures struck the other one in the face, shouted at him,
 and left the room, leaving only the animals and a grumbling creature
 in the room.
 
 The creature leaned over, still growling and making frightening
 noises, then unlocked the cage and lifted Eepy and Taffy out.
 
 Leeps shouted at Eepy "That didn't sound good! Get out, fast!"
 Eepy was frightened and confused. "How??!!"
 Leeps gestured wildly "His hand! Bite it! You got teeth!!"
 Eepy blinked at this and realized that it made uncommonly good sense,
 and did so, as hard as he could.
 The creature shrieked and dropped Eepy and Taffy, and made a lot
 of very rude-sounding noises. Eepy, meanwhile, just stood there,
 stunned, as Leeps Shouted "Run!!! Run!! Run, Eepy, run!!!"
 
 Taffy, a little more awake, pushed Eepy into a run for the door,
 a push that he took to heart as he ran for it.
 He paused outside the door for a quick breath. "Thanks Taffy, I-
 Taffy??"
 
Tiana:
 
 Eeps leaned over and peered past the doorframe, searching the room for
 Taffy. The scene was pretty much as he had left it: one cage empty,
 the other filled with Leeps. The creature grumbled angrily, pausing
 at moments to suck on his injured hand. It, too, seemed to be searching
 for Taffy. Eepy ducked as it looked in his direction. Suddenly he saw her
 sneaking past the cages towards Leeps.
 
 The lock was a simple mechanism - provided its user was outside the cage 
 and the lemur was soon free. They raced across the room, just as the
 creature turned around.
 
 "This way!" shouted Eepy, and the three of them raced around the corner
 and down the corridors again.
 
Zanahn:
 
 Surprisingly, however, the large creature didn't bother to chase them. He 
 merely smirked and muttered something to himself, then appeared to address 
 (quite loudly) a small black box.  Suddenly, everything went dark, lit only 
 by occasional flashes of red light.  The sound of large, heavy pieces of 
 metal rang out - and steel doors slammed shut, trapping the trio in the 
 narrow hallway.
 
 "Nice work, Stevens - that one had been particularly troublesome; he escaped 
 twice, you know."
 
 "Yes, Boss - I'm awaiting your further instructions."
 The Boss swiveled in his large leather chair to face Stevens - "Well, what 
 are you waiting for? You have my full authorization... ...to begin the 
 experiment."
 
Skyler:
 
 Stevens looked back at the Boss in near disbelief. "You're serious?"
 "Well, what do you think I'm paying you $100,000 for, to play tiddly-winks?!"
 The boss eyed Stevens up carefully. "Bronson, leave us alone. I need to have 
 a talk with Stevens."
 
 The second man left, looking back a bit fearfully at the two.
 The boss looked almost pityingly at Stevens now that they were alone.
 Shaking his head slowly..."Stevens, Stevens...I'm supposed to be able to
 trust you, you know that? I pay your way to the Bahamas four times over, and
 what do I get? You won't do one little thing with these animals?"
 
 "I have to pull strings like you wouldn't believe to manage an illegal
 experimentation market. I can't have my own turning on me, now can I?"
 
 "Uh, yeah, boss...I just remembered this important thing I gotta get done..." 
 
 "Oh, yeah, I'm sure you did."
 
 It was at this moment that Leeps suddenly remembered something about what
 one of these men had been holding earlier. Only it hadn't been black and 
 shiny but clear with a long shiny point at the end. He saw it used on a 
 lemur on the far side of the room, and it didn't move as long as he'd seen it.
 He KNEW that THIS kind of Day-Monster thing couldn't be any better.
 "Stay out of its way! Get down! That's a bad thing! Hurry up!"
 A moment later, two of the shiny objects flared off explosions that fairly
 deafened all three of the lemurs, coupled with one of them knocking the cage
 to the floor, bent by some monster-thing none of them could fathom.
 
WalksFar:
 
 The three lemurs clung to one another and stared horrified.
 "They kill each other!"  Leep's whisper jarred Eepy into action.  They
 scrambled through the corridor and into the main room, stopped, looked at 
 the body momentarily and skittered across the slick floor toward another room.
 "Run!"  Eepy led the way toward what looked to be daylight ahead.  "Don't 
 look back!"
 
 Ahead, a portion of wall banged open.  More Day Creatures charged in, all 
 with long black things in their hands.
 Eepy carreened into a wall with Leep and Taffy on top of him.  They huddled
 in a corner terrified.  All they could see were swiftly moving Day Creature
 legs as brown as the tree trunks of home.  There were several other
 explosions that made them scream and cower.  More legs . . .  blue this time
 with a yellow stripe down the side.   All hurried past them and disappeared
 into the room where the dead day creature was.  Voices . . .  lots of them.
 
 Leep listened.  He blinked.
 
 Leep shook.  "I don't know.  Can't tell what it is all about.  no sense . . 
 . ."
 
 Taffy ventured away from their corner curiously.
 
 "TAFFY!  NO!  They'll catch you.  Come back!"  Eepy tried to grab her, but
 Leep held him back.
 
 More legs, white this time with a blue stripe.  The room filled with legs
 from every direction.   White, brown, blue and yellow striped.  They remained
 still for a moment.  voices filled the air.  Then they were on the move.
 The dead Day Creature was carried out followed by the Day Creature with
 blue legs they knew.  Another pair of blue legs appeared, surrounded by
 brown.  They struggled to break free, and they were gone as well.
 
 "We gotta get away!  Gotta run!"  Eepy pulled on Leep who refused to go
 anywhere. 
 
 "No!  i wanna know what is happening. . . ."
 
 "If you wait, it'll happen to you!  Let's go!"  Eepy pulled again.
 
 New legs appeared, dull green . . .  familiar!
 They passed through the room only to reappear.  Cages were being taken out. 
 Lemurs screamed and jostled in their cages.  The cage with Hodjah came by.
 Hodjah waved at them.  "Go home we be!  Go home!  You come!  Good!  Good!"
 
 Leep ventured from the corner, curious.  Eepy and Taffy followed.  A pair of
 green legs stopped before them.
 
 "Here's some loose ones," a loud day creature voice called.
 
 "Good.  Round them up and take them outside."
 
 Leep tried to run.  A net dropped onto them and all three were gently
 picked up and taken outside to a large four legged thing that they were
 placed inside of.  The Day Creatures climbed in with them.  One of them
 waved.  The thing they were in growled, lurched and passed gas that made
 the three friends wrinkle their noses in revulsion.  It moved away
 bumpily and through the forest faster than any of them could run. . . .
 
Tarka:
 
 Callaway looked at all of the Lemurs in the office and all over the place.
 Smelling up the police station to an all time record low.  "So what was it
 that they were trying to do?"
 
 Peter looked at this notebook.  "From the documents that we found there they
 were trying to get around normal channels to run a black market animal
 experimentation lab.  We got a list of their clients as well.  We have
 contacted some of them.  They all claim that they didn't know that the lab
 was not going to be legit.
 
 Callaway nodded.  "Anyway that we can pin something on them?"
 
 Peter shoke his head. "Not really Sir.  What we have is not really enough
 to take them to court.  We do have all the lemurs though.  What do we
 do with them?
 
 Callaway sniffed the air and rasied a eyebrow.  "Ship them home as fast as
 you can.  Also get some air fresheners.  ...I want it done ASAP!
 
 Peter nodded and ran off to get that all done and Callaway turned to his
 computer.  Working on the next case.  A Gang of young kids in the old town
 that have started to deal in some new deadly drug ...AIpal it was called on
 the street.
 
 Leeps kept his ears open.  Mostly he didn't understand what was going on
 around him but he did understand one word.  "They are going to take us
 home, Eepy and Taffy.... Home!"
 
 Taffy bowed her head.  "Where is home Leeps?"
 
 Eepy looked at Taffy. "Back to the forest Taffy.  Don't you remember?
 
 Taffy shoke her head.  "My mother told me about the forest.  I have never
 seen one though."
 
 Leeps gasped... "You were born in a cage Taffy?"
 
 Taffy nodded.
 
 Eepy nuzzled Taffy and looked right at Leeps... "You can come home with us
 Taffy... right Leeps?" Eepy grined at Leeps... all his teeth showing.
 
 Leeps giggled... seeing the teeth, he winked.  "I woudn't dream of anything
 else!"
 
 Days later the cages were being taken off a plane one by one.  All of
 the lemurs were awake and their noses were working overtime... they could
 smell home now.   Soon they would be there.