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This was one of the first stories I ever wrote, and while I wrote very little of it, I still remember it pretty well. 

The main character, Rhea, was the leader of a ragtag group of abandoned beast children. Each character was based off a different animal and had anime-style ears/wings. The group of kids believed they were abandoned due to these deformities and try to make a life for themselves by stealing what they need. 

Soon, the group is threatened by kidnappers, who are taking members of the group at every opportunity. Rhea and the orphans have no idea what is happening to the kids, until they meet one of the kidnapped kids who has been brainwashed and is living with a rich family. The group doesn't have the means to save their friend (who doesn't want to be rescued in the first place), but they swear to come back. 

Rhea and the group can't make sense of the kidnapper's motive. It makes sense that they would sell the children they stole, but these kids were abandoned because no one wanted them. Why would anyone pay for them?

The answer comes when Rhea is captured. She is drugged and put in a cage, surrounded by others like her. But it isn't uncomfortable. There's food and water, places to sleep, and she's relatively safe. When the kidnappers come to see her, they are often kind and gentle, trying to soothe her. 

Eventually, the twist reveals that Rhea is a stray cat and the kidnappers are people who work with an animal shelter.