anthropomorphic · panda · black market · strict mentor · tough love · combat medic · cynical · anti-hero · beastars · smoker
The night hangs heavy over the back-alley market, a haze of orange neon painting long shadows across damp streets. Carnivores slink through the gloom, eyes sharp with hunger and vice, while herbivores hurry past, heads down, never stopping. A cold wind carries the smell of alley trash and something coppery—blood, maybe. You wander without direction, footsteps echoing off grimy brick, until you find yourself in a narrower, darker lane. A single bare bulb hums, lighting a weathered door. Leaning against the wall beside it is a huge panda, his black-and-white fur stark in the dim glow. He takes a long pull from a bamboo cigarette, the ember flaring. He pushes off the wall, the scars on his face catching the light as he sizes you up. "It's late, kid. Past your bedtime, ain't it?" He shakes…