Name: Dr. Nicholas Breseus (Nick)
Species: Lizard primarily (mixed)
Age: 29
Gender: Male
Eyes: Green
Skin: Yellow
Hair: white-blonde/silver
Parents: Ivan and Marinda Harrison
Siblings: Susannah and Michael Breseus
Occupation: Director of Rainbow Bridge Animal Shelter
Religion: Neutral
Marital Status: Attached

Have you ever had a bad day? I mean a *really* bad day? Multiply it by ten and that's Nick's life. It would seem that once he left childhood behind, everything went downhill from there, making him into the cranky and withdrawn shell he currently is. His greatest aspiration was to become a veterinarian and, after years of humoring his future job obsession, his parents put together to pay for his first semester. Being that he came from simple folk, they hadn't expected much and had, really, expected him to return home with his tail ducked between his legs after a few weeks. They were surprised but supportive when he proudly returned from Burrdale University for Christmas break with marks that placed him third in his class.

Since this had been an unexpected development, they had no money to give to him for the following semester and so he took out a loan, paying it back slowly with a full-time job as a loader/unloader for delivery trucks at the local office supply warehouse, pulling in overtime whenever he could. Between working and sleeping, he had to work out a system with his professors where he would be only required to attend during the days of live demonstration or exams and all written and research portions could be taken home and returned accordingly. Things, though stressful, carried on well for him for the following year. His grades remained high and he continued to be religious to his studying.

He might, in fact, have graduated with flying colors if fate hadn't introduced him to Mandri McOwen. She, fresh out of junior college, had been transferred to Burrdale on her parents' nickel as they were determined to find something for her to do with her future to curb her past wildness. Nick was attracted to the pretty vixen and offered himself to her as a private tutor to try and bring her grades up from the abyssmal depths they had sunk to, letting his own studies slide.

In exchange for his help, Mandri allowed him to accompany her to the parties and such that she crept off-campus to attend in the evenings, introducing him to her friends and showing him the untamed side of life. As time went on, she began to offer him her body as well and deepened his infatuation with her. By the time she told him that she would no longer be attending classes, he had become too ensnared to argue with her about it. Instead, he proposed that they get an apartment together She eagerly took him up on this idea and, with the agreement to share the rent, they secured a one-bedroom apartment not far from campus so that Nick could continue to attend his classes.

Determined not to allow himself to slip too far off-goal, Nick took up a second job as an evening parking lot monitor to afford the rent and utilities and still continue school. The added workload of a new job began to take its toll on him and his studies suffered even further, though when all was said and done, he managed to graduate just barely. Degree in hand, he began to search for nearby openings in the Veterinary field. Finding none, and lacking the money and proper scores to start his own practice, he lowered his standards a bit, dropping his former two jobs in exchange for a full-time occupation as an on-site veterinarian assistant at the Rainbow Bridge Animal Shelter.

He quickly found the job to be less than he had hoped, using his know-how in animal husbandry to treat Kennel Cough epidemics and, largely, to put unwanted cats and dogs to sleep. He made several attempts to transfer out to other places, but found that no slots were open to him. To make things worse, Mandri seemed to be around less and less anymore to comfort him. Being that she only worked part time, he couldn't account for her being gone so often except that she was out doing things that he'd rather not think about.

Attempting to confront her led only to unwanted discord and cold-shoulder-treatment, so he refrained from mentioning it, despite his feelings that got stronger each time he came home to an empty apartment. He continues to suffer in silence to this day, his depression and suspicion both devouring him from the inside-out. His only outlet as of late has been an occasional conversation or dinner out with his volunteer assistant, a filly named Rose. He finds her eternal optimism about life, however, to be irksome and refuses to open up to her.

As of late, Nick's mother passed away prematurely due to a heart attack. He has resigned himself to a his current state of misery and has bottled up just about all he can. Whether he realizes it or not, he has been walking dangerously close to the edge lately.

Name: Mandricia McOwen (Mandri)
Species: Red fox
Age: 26
Gender: Female
Eyes: Blue
Skin: Red-orange fur, white cheeks and underbelly, with dark sienna paws and eartips
Hair: Red, though it is dyed frequently.
Parents: Jack and Nora McOwen
Siblings: none
Occupation: Part-time waitress at The Cove Club
Religion: Dabbling. Latest worship-of-choice is Wicca.
Marital Status: Loosely Attached

Take every furry stereotype about vixens minus the freakishly-large breasts, and put them in a blender. Season it with a generous scoop of selfishness and you've got Mandri's recipe. She is very occupied with her own interests and ignores everyone else's. Born as an only child to permissive parents, she grew up to be very spoiled and used to getting her own way about nearly everything. As she got older, she became more rambunctious, dropped out of high school, and often snuck out to attend late-night parties. Before long, she had developed a fondness of marijuana and a casual habit of cocaine. Add this to her already-promiscious nature and it led to her first accidental pregnancy when she was seventeen.

An older friend of hers accompanied her to a clinic to give consent to an abortion, but her parents ultimately found out when the bill was delivered to the house and took it as their cue to get their daughter under control before she destroyed herself with her wildness. Since their past attempts to aggressively crack down on disciplining Mandri had resulted in even more rebellion, they tried to handle it diplomatically instead and sat down with her, trying to find common ground. After a bit of trial-and-error, it was agreed that she would attend a local community college and, from there, look for a career that interested her.

For a short time, Mandri had calmed herself down, finding it hard to act as freely with an entirely new group of people who, since they had paid to be there, took their schooling more seriously than the kids in High School had. After taking a semester of animal husbandry, she voiced her interest in becoming a vet to her parents. Delighted that she seemed to be taking her academics more seriously, they were more than happy to look into colleges that offered courses in the veterinary practice.

It took some hasty negotiating with the dean of Burrdale University due to Mandri's past academic performance, but her grades in community college were showing promise and that she WAS capable of doing the work. With the semester paid in full up front, Mandri was transferred over at the start of the spring classes to begin her studies. At first she took things seriously, but as an attractive young vixen, she was soon taken notice of and invited to some of the afterhour campus get-togethers where she quickly resumed her old ways.

Her parents voiced concern at her sudden plummet in performance when Burrdale's main office contacted them and informed them that unless there was a significant improvement in their daughter's attendance and work, she would be discharged. Nearing the end of their rope of patience, they told her during a heated over-the-phone argument that if she couldn't get herself together, to not bother coming home.

Mandri half-heartedly resumed her studies, attending class but daydreaming and refusing to take notes. As mid-term exams crept dangerously close, she began to get antsy and asked a fellow classmate, Nick Breseus, if she could borrow and copy his notes since she had been "sick". Nick was only too happy to oblige her and, taking it a step further, even offered to get together with her after classes to help her study. Aware of his attraction to her, Mandri humored their studying get-togethers, though took every opportunity she could to turn the topic to something else -- most commonly attending a social gathering or initiating Nick into sexual discovery.

Despite Nick's best efforts, she ended up failing the midterm miserably and, shortly afterward, made the decision to drop out of school completely. She was all-too-relieved to take Nick up on his proposal of getting a place together as she didn't want to face her parents and admit that she was wrong. To uphold her half of the rent, she got a parttime job waitressing. The stress of work and the impatience of waiting for Nick to come home from classes soon drove her from the apartment to seek entertainment. Burrdale was a twenty-minute walk from their current residence and she fell easily back into the loop of friends she had hung around with earlier.

At first she was very discreet about her visits, making sure she was home at least a half-hour before Nick got there so he wouldn't suspect anything, but as time wore on she became more casual about her outings, informing him that she was taking some "girl time" with some friends from work. When he became suspicious that it was more than that, she raised her defenses, thoroughly browbeating him into a corner until he agreed to leave it alone. Satisfied that her freedom had been secured, she began to accept the affection of other males more readily, sometimes spending the night with them and leaving Nick alone to wonder.

Her current man of choice is a soft-headed lynx, Aaron Martin, who takes part in Burrdale's football team and regularly attends the gatherings she goes to. Though she now and then tosses Nick a bone of affection to kill any plans he may have of getting rid of her (thereby nixing her meal ticket) she has been pressuring Aaron to get his own place so that she can move in with him and shake Nick off completely, but he is reluctant to do so as getting a job and trying to set out on his own before getting his diploma would put a serious crimp in his plans. Though Mandri is frustrated with his lack of cooperation, she biding her time for now.

Name: Rosalinda Elburn (Rose)
Species:Horse
Age: 22
Gender: Female
Eyes: Blue
Skin: deep pink/purple
Hair: pastel pink
Parents:Scott and Gail Elburn
Siblings: none
Occupation:Full-Time student at Coronada Junior College and Volunteer Worker at Rainbow Bridge Shelter.
Religion: Catholic.
Marital Status:Single

Eternally optimistic, Rose is someone who chooses to see the bright side of things and wear a smile no matter how awful they get. She grew up in a very supportive and loving household where she was raised to believe that taking care of others was just as important as taking care of yourself. Because of this, she is often too nice for her own good. She attended an all-girls Catholic school until the age of 16 when she moved to a more urban area and was transferred to a regular high school.

Her kind heart often misrepresented her as easily-manipulated and, on more than one occasion, she's had to fend off an overly-friendly date. After graduating High School, she had plans to move on to Hendricks Art School but to have more wiggle-room and pick the courses she wanted as opposed to needed, she decided to stay behind and complete the grunt-work at a junior college first. Her parents, pleased with her take-charge attitude, fully paid her two-year stay at Coronada Junior College and alleviated any pressure on her courses by insisting that she not get a job and devote her time fully to school.

Though Rose intended to apply herself fully to school, she found herself having nothing to do in the evenings when her homework had been finished and, not one to be much of a homebody, began to look for something she could do on the side. Her perusal of the "Help Wanted" ads eventually brought her to Rainbow Bridge Shelter which advertised itself as "understaffed and needing volunteers for all shifts." Her meeting with the newly-appointed director, Dr. Breseus, was brisk and she wasn't entirely sure that he liked her very much, but she was signed on as volunteer help.

As time went on, Rose took an active part in the Rainbow Bridge, hosting weekend Adopt-A-Thons to pair as many pets with owners as she could. She also did her part to attempt to bring Nick out of his shell on occasion when his brooding mood was too stifling for her to ignore. Her several attempts to reach out to him and find out what was upsetting him were met with brush-offs and aggravation until she backed away in confused silence, deciding not to press things further.

Having learned her limits, Rose plays the cheery yin to Nick's gloomy yang, occasionally inviting him out after work to dinner or for coffee on nights when he seems especially put-out. Though she's decided to stop prodding at the open wound of his current depression, she still wonders about him and is still determined that she will sooner or later get to the root of his troubles and help him out one way or another.