A background for this, I've been working on a novel for a bit. This is the first two chapters of it. I'd like some critique and I hope you enjoy it.
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1.
In our history, we are known for two groups of people, the Purebloods and the Uncommons. Thousands of years before any of us were born, a singular Goddess put us all on earth. Firstly animals, then after that humans. The Goddess was content with her work, but the humans were not.
They begged for communication with the animals, which struck the Goddess as an odd request. However, she granted it. She gave the humans a spell in order to anthropomorphize the animals. She thought of it as way to have companions other than their own.
The humans were grateful and they used the spell right away. At the time, it was great. The animals and humans got along much better. They worked side by side and accomplished many things in the world. Once again the Goddess was content, happy even, and she sat back and watched her creation at work.
For a long time the animals and humans lived together peacefully. Only about 600 years ago, things took a drastic change. One of the wealthiest families at the time, the Braband family, took charge of our world, and they were corrupt. They filled the humans with hate toward the animals, calling them unnatural. The Braband collected all the pure humans and gathered them into the central area called the Citadel, a city surrounded by giant walls that are impossible to get into and escape.
The Goddess was angry at the Braband family. She wanted the animals and humans to live together peacefully. She sent down forces to stop this Citadel, but she failed. The Braband family won and the Goddess failed. After that, the Goddess left the Braband family, and took witness to all that happened from then on.
For all that time the humans, the Purebloods ran our world. The animals, the unnatural, the Uncommons; lived outside of the Citadel under their rule. Life was mostly peaceful, the Purebloods never wanted to deal with us so they let us alone. We managed just fine, as we are a thriving society. We have our own cities, our own resources, our own way of life.
I’m curious though, what does a Pureblood look like now? A human has never came out of the Citadel, so we just don’t know. What happens if a Pureblood leaves? Are they left to a life of eternal damnation? Will it cause an uproar in our community? I hope maybe in my lifetime that-
“Cecil!” My math teacher slammed a yardstick on my desk. She was an older gray cat, always frowning. “Get your snout out of that dumb book!”
“Eh… huh?” I snapped out of my state looking at her stupidly. “What were you saying?”
She sighed. “If only like you were like your brother. He was a smart and studious fox, doing his family well.”
I moaned. Oh if you were only like your brother, you’d be so much better off. Yea right, why would I wanna be this huge silver fox. Sure he was smart, and very athletic as well. That’s not me. I’m a bit short being only 7’, overweight, and unwilling to care about math or science.
“Sorry Ms. Hall, I’ll pay attention more.” I mumble out.
She smiled. “Alright, where were we? The hypotenuse of this triangle…” She continued to talk but I didn’t pay attention. All this trigonometry was boring and why should I care about sine, cosine, and tangent when I can go on a tangent any time I want?
The bell rang five minutes later, and I quickly gathered my stuff to leave. Ms. Hall walked up to me as I was leaving. “Oh Cecil, can I talk to you for a moment?” She asked. I nodded and turned towards her.
“So I want to get you a tutor.” She said.
I tuned out immediately after that sentence. She went on and on about how I need to get better at math to succeed. I’m not even doing bad, I have a B in the class. She thinks that because of my brother I must get A’s and because of it I have to get help.
“It's a very kind offer but I solemnly decline, again.” I said, “And now if you excuse me I must get to my last class.”
Ms. Hall pouted and shooed me out of her room. It’s still annoying that she wants me to have a tutor, and she even talked to my parents. Luckily they don’t listen to her, and they know I’m better off without one anyway.
I quickly ran to my next class. I hate being late for it, since history is my favorite class. History is amazing because it shows our past and how we can change our future. All the stories are so interesting and I can only imagine what it was like.
I actually got to my class late. Mr. Lavoe, a middle aged, gray-maned lion, was already in the middle of the lesson when I came through the door. “Nice of you to come late, Cecil. Let me guess, Ms. Hall?” He said with a slight chuckle. I smiled and nodded. “Figures she would, anyway take your seat.” He gestured to my desk.
I walked across the room and sat down. I sat in the front of the class, it's easier to pay attention that way. Also keeps me in action all the time.
“Alright class, today we start our new unit,” Mr. Lavoe started. “Early Citadel effects of our world.”
Most of the class groaned but I was pumped, my tail was wagging and everything. I pulled out my notebook and pen, eager to start my notes.
“As you all know, the Citadel was built because of the Braband family, and they decided to take all the pureblood humans and have them live in one central area, which was eventually called the?” He paused waiting for us to respond.
“The Citadel!” I called out. No one else did.
“That’s right, the Citadel.” Mr Lavoe exclaimed. “Now the Citadel is known to be far better and richer than our city. People are told to be richer, have a variety of fashions and foods, and have unique looks.”
Mr. Lavoe talked and talked and I kept writing down notes. The Citadel sounded so amazing and wonderful, and it's amazing that it's only speculation. No one like us could ever get in. Of course, they can’t get out if they wanted to either. There are absolutely no entrance or exits. They even say that the wall went up in a night.
“That’s the end of today's lesson, are there any questions?” Mr. Lavoe asked. The class stayed silent. I was about to ask something, but then the bell rang and school was over. All my other classmates left, but I still stayed behind.
“Mr. Lavoe, could I still ask you a question?” I asked.
He smiled. “Of course. Anything for my favorite student. What would it be?”
“Well about the Purebloods, what would think they looked like now and back then before the citadel?”
Mr. Lavoe turned around in his chair and gave a quiet hum, then turning around to me with a grin. “Well, they’re as diverse as we are.” He said, “ Different colored skin, different faces, just like all of us. However, maybe they had a little more dirt back then rather than now.”
A light chuckle came from both of us. “So would that mean they don’t work as hard as us?” I asked.
“Well we don’t know that for sure. However, we could find out in the future. All we can do is wait.” He said.
I nodded. “Well those were my questions, have a good night Mr. Lavoe.” I waved and walked towards the door.
“Wait Cecil, I have something to give you!” He stood up from his desk and walked over to me holding a paper.
“What is this?” I ask as he gives me the paper.
“It’s an article that came out yesterday. I thought you might find it intriguing, so why not give it a read when you have the time.” He winked and walks back to his desk.
I tucked it under my arm. “I’ll read it as soon as I can!” I said. Mr. Lavoe smiled wide, and then I walked out.
My locker was on the other side of the school, so I tried to walk quickly. I really wanted to know what was in this article. I could’ve read it as I walked, but that risks missing some information.
Once I reached my locker, I plopped down in front of it. I pulled the article out from under my arm. People like me aren’t supposed to move fast, so the paper got stuck. Luckily it was still legible. “Alright, let’s see what this about.” I mumbled to myself
It was a rather short article. It was about occurrences that happen in the Citadel that we can hear from the outside. This article talked about the certain explosions that were heard last week. Officials checked the area of the wall where it might’ve taken place, but nothing was there. So people actually think something is going on in the Citadel, which is different.
“Huh, thats… neat?” I say, putting the article away. I stand up quickly and get everything I need out of my locker and head out. I wonder what was really going on in the Citadel sometimes, but we’ll never know for sure.

2.
It was a gloomy afternoon when I was walking. Only grey clouds filled the sky, and the night was officially taking over the day. The wind had a chill to it, not that it generally affected us since we have fur. So all in all, it was my kind of afternoon.
I left the school lot and headed west. There are a lot of buildings that way, so it was easy to get lost in the alleys. However, when you walk it forever, it's not that hard to figure your way out. Here's the thing though, it's a lot harder to do this when it's dark. I might be a fox but I’m practically blind in the dark. So it really becomes a blind maze at that point, but it makes life a bit more fun.
I continued to walk in those alleys for about 10 minutes until I heard a bang. I thought nothing about it, but more came and they got louder. I started to freak out. Were we under attack? Was I under attack? I didn’t know. I stood there unable to move, until someone ran into me, knocking me on my back.
“Ow ow ow ow. Hey buddy watch it!” I yelled, but then I saw a cloaked figure lying on the ground. I quickly got up and ran to the person. “Hey are you okay?” There was no response. I poked and prodded him, but still not a budge.
I looked around and then picked up the person. The person was male, as far as I could tell. He was also light and way smaller than me, so that made it a bit easier to carry him. I continued to walk to my house. I was more cautious because of the explosions, since they were still going. However, I made it home safe and sound.
The house was empty thank god. My parents are out on vacation and my brother hasn’t been home for a couple of years so I don’t have to worry about anyone coming in. I laid the boy down on the couch, admiring his figure. He was slender, small, and seemingly tailless. His cloak covered up almost his entire body, except his lower legs and feet. The hood of his cloak covered his head so he was basically hidden.
I start to think about what he looks like. Maybe he’s some sort of lizard. It's hard to believe though, most of them are extremely huge. What about a goat though? Nah, his horns would’ve hurt me more. What was he? I was getting impatient, so I took off his cloak.
If anything would’ve woke that boy up, it would’ve been my jaw hitting the ground. He wasn’t an animal at all, he was a human. A Pureblood! He was almost everything I imagined he would look like. Straight blonde hair, peach colored skin, almost no blemishes at all. He had glasses though, which I thought would be impossible. Don’t they have the technology to fix that in the Citadel? He wore all black clothes underneath. I guess it could help keep him hidden.
I stared at him for the longest time. Never in my life have I seen a Pureblood, and it was hard to take in. Every once and awhile he would move and each time I would flinch. He could be hostile for all I know. I stood far away from him at this point, just incase he would wake up and pounce.
The Pureblood’s face started to move a bit more, and slowly but surely his eyes started to open. I changed my stance to try to defend myself, but as he sat up i eased back. He looked around the room then looked at me. He cocked his head and growled, similarly to a feral dog.
“Did you just growl at me?” I asked in an offended tone.
He gave a shocked look. “You speak English?” He asked.
“No I speak whale. Yes I speak English, do you really think I wouldn’t?”
“Well I was taught you all speak in your animal language. I’m just going to assume what we learned is wrong then.” He said embarrassed
He tried to stand up, but fell back down onto the couch. He mumbled “Ow…” to himself, then repeating the process. “Hey, just relax for a bit, okay,” I walked over to him and sat down right beside him.
He went rigid. I can understand that though, he probably has never seen a guy like me before. It's probably a lot to take in right away. I decided to take a bit slower, and I asked, “What is your name?”
“Thorsten.” He grunted. “You?”
“Cecil…” This wasn’t getting us anywhere. I expected him to be a bit more lively. Not this dull, boring mess.
I pushed a bit further. “So what is a Pureblood like you doing out of the Citadel?”
Thorsten glared. “Don’t call me that. I will not be associated with the others.” He snapped.
“Ah, I'm sorry. It’s just what we call you guys down here. I didn’t mean to strike a nerve.” I explained.
“Ah… Okay.” He nodded
Thorsten stayed silent again. I did also. I didn’t want to strike a nerve again. Of course I was afraid to do it, since he did run into me so hard before.
“Hey, Cecil right?” He finally spoke. “I’m sorry for running into you before.”
“Oh it's no big issue. I’m just impressed you knocked me onto the ground.” I said.
He smiled. “Well, at least I didn’t run into a wall again. I had a nice and soft crash.”
I laughed. “Soft for you maybe, I still landed on the ground. Hell, so did you!”
“Mhmm, can’t believe I passed out though. But when you’ve been up for over 24 hours, I guess that happens.” He yawned.
This was my chance though. He’s finally talking, and he doesn’t seem that bad. He didn’t kill me or show any urge and he had a bright attitude. It took a lot of courage, but I eventually spoke.
“So what is it like in the Citadel?” I asked.
The mood fell back down. His face no longer had a smile, rather a bleak look. “The Citadel… What stage of it?”
Stage? What does he mean by stage? The stages of how it was built or the stage that it's in now? I had no idea. “Sorry I don’t know what you mean by stage.” I said
He cocked his head. “Hmm… I wonder. What do you know about the Citadel?”
I quickly got up and rushed to my backpack and grabbed my notebook I wrote down everything I learned, so hopefully that will prove to be helpful. I handed to him, and paged through all the pages.
“Well, you clearly don’t know much.” He said sternly. “But you know about the most important stage.”
I frowned. That was extremely rude. Giving that we don’t have access to information about the Citadel, it would make sense that we wouldn’t have much information.
“Well if you know so much then, would you care to tell me what the Citadel really is like?” I asked slightly peeved.
He nodded. “Firstly, the Citadel isn’t one city. It’s actually multiple cities, making a tower underground. Each city is called a Stage, and there are five in total, the fifth Stage being the most like your description.”
“Okay… What stage are you from?” I asked quite bewildered.
“I come from the first Stage, the one on the surface. It’s the most uniform, boring, and bleak Stage in the world. It's filled with offices with computers and boring people going through their boring lives.” He explained.
I looked at Thorsten. He didn’t seem boring. He looked quite unique and or unusual.
“I’m not a businessman though, if you were wondering. My family works for the Braband family, my dad looks after the entire Stage while my mom runs all the offices.”
“Oh wow, you come from a bit of power.” I said.
He nodded. “My dad made me become a tactician because he believed I could lead the Stage’s army. While I’m the best tactician in the Stage, being able to do most spells and wield most weapons, I don’t agree with the Citadels army.”
“Oh…”
“Around a week ago,when I supposed to start serving for the army, I had major second thoughts. My first task was awful, so rather than do something I hate, I sorta kinda just escaped.”
My mind was blown. “You just escaped?! Isn’t that like impossible?”
“Well, it was supposed to be.” He said. “But I got through with just a teleportation spell.”
“Thats weird, I thought that it would be more secure and what not.”
“Ja like same. Normally when a person does it he or she would get a shock. I did a spell to make sure it wouldn’t effect me at all, but nothing happened. So I did a simple teleportation spell and I was at the outside of the wall.”
“That's really weird. Then why were you running before?” I asked.
Thorstens face went red. “I sorta freaked out when I saw a Crocodile and I ran away quickly, running into several buildings and eventually running into you.”
I started to laugh. “You ran into Daen I’m assuming. He’s the nicest guy around.”
His face went redder. “I didn’t know that. I should apologize then, because I growled at him and sprinted.”
“Hahaha! I’ll take you to the him tomorrow, I’m sure he’ll understand.” I patted his back.
Thorsten sighed. “I hope so…” He yawned loudly.
“You must be exhausted,” I said.
“Mhmm, I’ve been going for about 30 hours straight.” He said, still yawning continuously
“Yea you need to sleep ASAP.” I got up and headed straight to my room. In my closet I had spare blankets and a pillow. I can back downstairs, but Thorsten was already asleep. For a human, he looked cute while sleeping. He was curled up and on his side.
I took his glasses off, so they wouldn’t break. Then placed the pillow under his head and covered him with the blanket. He gave a small smirk and stretched out. I couldn’t help but smile, he’s like part cat.
I kept an eye on him throughout the night, which wasn’t hard because he barely moved. For the first time in many generations a human is walking among us, and I was lucky enough to host him. At least for a night. However a part of me didn’t want him to leave.
I had so many questions for him. About the Citadel. About humans. Are all of them as nice as Thorsten, or are many of them as bad as we were told they were? What are the Stages of the Citadel. I’ll ask him tomorrow, I thought, hopefully he won’t mind.
It was midnight when I first wanted to sleep. I looked at Thorsten, then I looked at the hallway to my room. “I’ll sleep out here tonight,” I whispered to myself. I went down the hall to my room and got the blankets and pillows off of my bed.
I brought them back and hunkered down in front of the couch. I’m not sure why I decided to sleep there, it just seemed like a good idea. I always liked sleeping on the floor anyway, so I don’t think it was that bad of an idea. I covered myself in the blanket and looked at Thorsten, sleeping soundly. I smiled at him, then laying down. It didn’t take my long, but I eventually fell asleep.