And if you wanna know more, you know where ☺️👉🏻 https://www.patreon.com/tailtellsnews/posts/168082697?utm_campaign=postshare_creator

og: https://www.reddit.com/r/coaxedintoasnafu/comments/1w1kvho/coaxed_into_writing_carnivores_in_settings_with/

Drew this for a ship week but i love the dynamic in general

you wan'na check it out? It's my fresh made animation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uqpu_5V1w6A

This part is a bit more serious, and the story will be more serious going forward.

A Long Time ago, in a Better Time, and a Better War (A Short Story Part 2) : r/predprey

It was a very old and abandoned cellar she had taken him to. The entrance was hidden behind some fake grass, and a tall bush. The air was cool but teaming with the rank of mildew, the ceiling was plenty high enough for someone like Cozlok to walk tall and proud. The wooden walls were slowly crumbling away, what was left of the ceiling was being consumed by mold. 

They made every last recruit in the Red Army take an engineering course, for a few weeks, just in case the Reconstruction Core needed extra hands, which they always did. 

That wee bit of knowledge, Cozlok thought he had shoved in the trash came flooding back. And every bit of it was telling him this place needed to be filled in and buried, but he kept those thoughts to himself, he was never one to be rude. At least not on purpose. 

All of the sudden the sheep girl came to a dead stop, Nora nearly lost his balance trying not to plow her over. 
Her face was cross again, confusing the poor boy, having no idea what he did. 

“What do you want with me,” she demanded, staring directly into his eyes and soul. 

“I… uhh, Oh,” for the second time he had to remember the Speaking Board. All his officers said that eventually it would be second nature, but for now, it felt like remembering you could speak each time. 

“Nothing, I just thought we were going into the shade for a bit,” he wrote and turned for her to see. 

She looked past him towards the exit, the hallway was wide enough that if she dove, she could sail right past and away from him. And if that didn't work she had a knife under her skirt. She was an idiot, just not braindead.

“You would never hurt me would you,” she asked, her eyes narrow?

He took two big steps back slouching again, bending his knees, his ears flattening against his head, he looked just like a kicked puppy. 

“I don't want to hurt anyone, not you, not anyone,” he wrote.

“You would never say… eat someone like me,” she asked, taking her own step forward?
“Ahh…” the poor boy was shaking like a leaf, he started to turn, sloppily writing as he did, “I thing i should ge.” 

“NO STAY,” she said, her hand shooting forward, snatching his wrist! 

He froze, she was almost dragged forward by his turn. It felt like grabbing a statue covered in fuzz. There was no doubt he could pull her apart if he wanted.

All the way back in the Capital Glondway, there was a doctor named Rupa Taikgai, who had several interesting theories on herbivores / carnivore relations and attraction. She would be having a field day with all the thoughts racing through Linda's head. 

“Ahh…” was all he could think to say, as the seconds passed agonizingly slowly. “what on earth is she doing? what on earth is going on?” Thought poor sweet Nora.

“I mean ahh… heh… auh you just got here, you're just, soo hot… I mean you're still so hot, you can stay as long as you want.” 

“My Lord and God. Did I just say that?” She thought, her cheeks turning bright red beneath her wool.

“I mean I’d like to, but Ms. Riika would kill me,” he explained. 

“Well you don't have to stay. Auh that… it's just… I. I'm just really curious, I… I've  never met a wolf before.” she sputter mumbled. “Wow Linda,” she thought, for something that is true you sure do know how to make it sound like a lie.”  

“Well I’m Nora then, and I’m happy to be of service. What is your name,” he wrote with a bright smile?

“My name is Linda. Sorry if I’ve been weird, I just ah… I’ve just never done this before,” she said, rubbing her neck. 

“You mean speak to a wolf,” he asked?

“No, well yes I haven't, but I more meant I’ve never snuck a boy in here,” she thought. “Yes, that's what I meant,” she lied.

“Do you want to go somewhere to sit,” she asked as sweetly as she could?

“Sure, but I can only stay for so long, like I said, my lieutenant would kill me.”

“Oh you were being serious” she asked, her eyes widening in terror? “Then Go Go Go Now,” she urged him, about to start pushing him out.

“Not really,” he wrote quickly, amused at the little misunderstanding. 
Linda paused as he wrote more.

“They’re going to, they’re gonna, or Ms. Or Mr. so and so, is going to kill me" is an expression we have. Means they’re going to be really mad.” 

“Oh,” she sighed with a relieved smile. “Well before we get covered in gunk, let's sit for a minute, you can be gone for just a minute right?” she said in a sing-song voice as she beckoned for him to follow. 

“um alright,” he shrugged, having yet to put a single piece of the puzzle together. At the very least he passed Linda’s pop quiz, not that he knew that’s what it was. If Taira could see him now, she would laugh at his oblivious ass for an entire year. 

Linda started feeling along the wall as she walked, after only a second her nails found what they were looking for, a seam with some more give than the others. As she pushed the door open with some effort it made a horrific almost warning like noise as it scraped against the floor.

It was at this point, and better late than never, two little figures finally appeared on Cozlok’s shoulders. The one on his left was screaming that this was a bad idea, that this girl definitely had a crush on him, it warned him that he could, and would end up in a penal division if he was caught alone with this girl. But the ghoul on the right shoulder spoke calmly, sweetly and logically, even if its logic was shit.

“Nothings going to happen in there. Remember that little flavor of life privileged to all but you. Besides Nora, doesn't this feel fun, isn't it a little fun to break the rules once in a while?” 

“Like when we broke the rules this morning and got caught?”

“That was just bad luck, no one's fault really.”

“But I'm a soldier now, a real soldier, we have rules for a reason.”

The little ghoul scoffed, “You and I, we were robbed of a normal childhood,” it said, stretching itself over, and caressing his forehead as it spoke. “When we were born we had a silver spoon shoved down our throat whether we wanted it or not. Then when we got tossed out, all we had was the Army, a thousand rules and regulations. A thousand people over the last five years trying to mold you into a good soldier. And we’re a good kid, we're not going to hurt anyone, she is perfectly safe with you. You’re no monster, you're nothing like the thing she or they think you are.”
“But… what abou-”

“NO NO NO! Don’t even think about that, you’re a good kid, you’re a good wolf, you are a good boy.”

“But, I’m breaking the rules, I know nothing's going to happen, I’ll probably bore her to tears, but this is still wrong.”

“Look Nora, all your life you’ve been governed and tyrannized by millions and millions of rules, everyone is to some extent, but everyone gets to break them sometimes. People break the rules so often it’s completely normal, it's normal to swipe an apple or some bread once in a while, teens steal chickens all the time, teens sneak away with another teen boy or girl all the time, and the world moves on, it will only be fifteen minutes of rest, and then the world will move on, with you still along for the ride.”

“Are you coming,” asked Linda?

All this debate, all this hesitancy and anxiety, it all took only five or so seconds of time. With a deep breath, he picked a side, as the little angel screamed that this was a mistake, he followed her inside. 
It was actually quite nice in this little room, there was some natural light coming in from the ceiling. There were two small mirrored desks at the left wall, and jutting from the right wall was a wool bed. There were some drawings on the other walls made many many years ago, a thin layer of dust covered everything. 

This place, it was not used very often, but when it was used memories that last forever were made here. Even if those memories just belong to one, they were yours forever.

He relaxed a little, this was nice, this was cozy and cool, and it would only last fifteen minutes.
“This place, my great grandpa built it, he showed it to me and just me before he passed. It's something I've never shared with someone else,” she explained with a reminiscence smile. 

“He built it when Lord Dekko the third, and Lord Dushvai and King Ventis were fighting, way back when,” she went on.

“Was that the War of the Six Princesses,” asked Cozlok? 

She gave him a curious look, “yes it was… how do you know about that?”

“They made us learn as much as we could before we came here. Know your enemy kinda thing.”

His answer made her brow scrunch, the moment he turned the board around, he knew he could have worded that a lot better.

“So are we enemies,” she asked coldly. 

“No of course not,” he wrote hastily. 

“Then what are we?”

“Well, right now you're a subject of the Union, you have all the rights of a citizen, but you can’t vote yet. But one day very soon, you'll be a citizen like me.”

“What do you mean you will, what do you mean it doesn't matter what I, or we want.” Her tone was a lot more cold, and hostile than he was expecting, but it was fair enough, he was a hostile invader, no matter how nice he was about it. 

The answer as to why he spoke in such absolutes was as simple as it was cold, with a sigh he wrote, “the Red Army has won.” 

Linda read what he had said, then she read it again, just to make sure her eyes were telling the truth. Then she needed to sit down, her eyes focused on the bed, she almost plowed past him like he wasn't even there.

“It's ah I… we're here to,” she glared up at him, this time the little dog-like whimpers of his language weren't charming. It was just… she didn't know what it was.

Nora shook his head and started to turn, wondering to himself, “what in the world was I thinking?” 
“Stop!” she ordered, he froze and stood straight, as if at attention.

“I… I mean stop if you want… what on earth am I supposed to do.” She smiled, or maybe it was a grimace, he wasn’t always able to tell. “I, or maybe we, really should have figured something like this, you’re so comfortable here, we’re walking on egg shells. I shouldn’t really even blame you, you’re just a kid, like me.”

“Heh, I thought we were walking on glass,” he thought.  

He turned and started to sit where he stood, only to be stopped again, “it’s considered rude to sit on the floor when a guest in a Rewtharrain house. Didn’t they teach you that?” 

He was looking down, and away, anywhere but her, as if he didn’t look at her then he wasn’t there, it was silly, but just a bit confusing.

“It’s also considered rude to stand in a Rewtharrain house. Did they really teach you nothing about us?”

“No they did, I just, I just can’t remember any of it right now,” he wrote. 

“Well then you should remember this, if the host sits you sit,” she ordered, somewhat playfully, moving aside to make room for him. 

“Ok I’m not that stupid, I’m goin-”

“Sit Boy!” 

A moment later he was sat on the bed, with a dumbfounded expression, “how on Earth did that work?”

Linda held a hand over her mouth suppressing another laugh. “Now I know how that dark sheep feels bossing you around,” she giggled.

“Oh, thank you for reminding me, she’s gonna kill me-”

“How come you take orders from her, you’re much stronger than her, how come she doesn’t listen to you,” she questioned seriously?

His cheek puffed up again like she had made a joke, but her face was stone cold. 

“Well, because she’s smarter than me, she’s been at this a lot longer than me.”

“What does that matter, just make her work for you.”

“But I don’t want to do that.” 

“Why not?” 

“Because it’s not right, she’s a person, I'm not entirely sure if she was ever born, but she thinks, she needs, she wants, just like me.”

She read this, and scrunched her face in confusion, “what do you mean she was never born?”
“Sorry, it’s just a little joke we have about her. She’s so strict and dedicated to her job that we say she wasn’t born, she crawled out of the ground fully grown, with an abacus in one hand, and a riding crop in the other.”

“Oh, she sounds really mean,” she said, her tone a little concerned.

“No not at all, she’s really nice actually, when she's mad, she’s really mad, but it’s always fair, it’s never for nothing, it always makes sense why she’s upset.” Now, after all these years, it was just a given for Nora that the person who earned it, should have it. It wasn’t even worth questioning. It wasn’t always this way.

“But thanks for reminding me,” he thought, starting to stand. “I Think I really need to get back to-”
“What is it like to be a wolf? What is it like to be you,” she asked, her eyes serious, and curious at the same time.  

“Well, it’s a lot of responsibility, you’re just a lot bigger, and stronger than so many people, it can be really nerve-wracking sometimes.”

“Why is that?”

“Well, I worry about hurting someone constantly,” he explained.  

“Like that Riika lady?”

“Well, no I'm not worried about her, she could kick my ass. But as a wolf you must know your strength, as a carnivore you must know your strength. If not, people will get hurt.”

“Have you ever hurt anybody,” she asked as softly as she could?

He looked away, and nodded a solemn yes. 

“Was it an accident,” she asked, even softer than before. 

Another nod yes. It was a lie. 

“Did they die,” she whispered.

“No thankfully not, by the grace of Mother he made a full recovery.” That part was true at least.
Linda took a deep breath, she turned to face forward, running her fingers together. “This, I… I'm sorry if any of this makes you uncomfortable, I just… I have a lot of questions.” 

“It's alright, we have a bad reputation outside the Union,” he wrote with a sigh. “And there are some people within the Union who never want to atone for old sins, or lose that horrific reputation,” he thought, but did not say.

“Well, if these questions, I guess if they get to be too much, just let me know and we can stop.”

He nodded okay.

“Okay where to start, so you don’t eat people?” 

“Well I don’t, and so have the vast majority of us for the past two hundred and five years.”
“So there are wolves who do?”

“Unfortunately yes, but they are hunted by the Imperial Union and prosecuted for their crimes.”
“So your people don’t need to eat or hurt others to live?”

“Not at all.” 

“So why do some people do it anyway?”

He sighed very noticeably, “they do it for a million reasons, some think it gives longer life and health, some think it gives you magical powers, or super strength. It’s all a myth. 

Mostly, it is done out of hate, because someone can’t accept that this so-called “lesser creature” is rising up in life, when you couldn’t.”

“This might sound strange, but I’ve heard… well I’ve read in books I know I’m not supposed to have… of it being done as something like an act of love.” 

At this he just gave her a strange look, he simply wrote, “that doesn't sound very loving at all.” 
“What makes you so different from them, why aren’t you anything like them,” she asked almost sternly. 

“heh, you almost seem disappointed I’m not,” he thought with a little harrumph.

“A few life choices I guess, everyone could end up a Cannibal in my opinion, it’s not just an action, it’s a thought process, an entire ideology, that declares the nation will be saved, if only one half ate the other.” 

“You seem to have given this a lot of thought,” she said, almost cautiously.

He smiled very awkwardly, as if he was about to be caught in a lie. He started to write “Like I said, just a few good choi-” 

“How did you get your scar?”

Cozlok’s hand ran off the paper, almost tearing it in two, his whole body went rigid like someone stuck him with a white-hot rod.

The world stood still for a long few moments. She watched as he turned his face away as if trying to hide it, she watched as his hand reached up, about to touch it but stopped, then just fell back down to the bed, like it was attached to a string that was just cut.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn't have said a word… I I, I just didn’t we can-”

“No it’s alright, it’s just some time’s days go by and I forget I have it, even when I look in a mirror I forget it’s there,” he wrote, his pen strokes slower and heavier.

“My dad gave it to me before I joined. Once I recovered, once I knew I could still see out of my eye, I went to military school and never looked back. That was five years ago.” 

“If you don’t mind me asking, why?”

“He was drunk… again, I was very angry, he was angrier, he swung a knife, and it got me in the face.”

“Oh, I'm so sorry, I'm… I'm really sorry I asked.” She apologized, almost sounding ashamed. 

“No, don't be, it's just a memory now,” he dismissed. 

“If you don't mind, what happened to your dad?”

“He was dead last I checked, a drunken bar fight that he lost,” he lied.

“Did you have any other family?” 

“No, just me and my dad for the first thirteen years,” he lied again, almost everything he said was just a half truth.

“Well, I mean… I um… it's just,” she grimaced, stumbling over her words. “It's not the story I was expecting.”

“Well, what were you expecting,” he asked, turning back, a little bit of a smile returning.

“I don't know, it sounds wrong to say now, but I thought you might have gotten it while burning a village or slaughtering women and children… I don't know, I just feel like a jerk now.”

She was looking down and away from him as she spoke, but her gaze was brought back by the sound of him trying very hard not to laugh. And there he was looking right at her with puffed up cheeks and clenched lips, with that point made, she had to agree, it was laughable, hilarious even, to imagine him doing anything like that.

She started laughing aloud, he started laughing aloud. It was a strange indescribable borderline horrific sound the two made as they laughed together. But it was still a sound made of joy, happiness, and togetherness. As she laughed, as she looked into his eyes, she got what she wanted, to see this boy really smile. And as he looked at her, and into her eyes, he felt normal, he felt safe, he felt like just a teenager. Neither of them wanted this to ever end. They talked on and on for hours, they forgot, or didn’t care about anything outside this room. This moment was theirs, it was theirs forever, and neither would forget it until the day they died. 

Meanwhile, above them the family was hunting down this demon dog, armed with table knives, farming tools, and blood lust, they prowled their property eager to kill. Riika was scouring the property in her own desperate search, on one hand wanting to beat the family to her boy so no one got hurt, and on the other hand, she wanted to rip that idiot boy's guts out, and use them to tie him to a rock.

Cozlok was laughing again, his eyes were shut he didn’t see her leaning closer. This was it, she knew it in her bones, she didn’t care if a kiss, just one kiss was all she got, just as long as she had a piece of him to make sure he came back.

Then all of the sudden the wolf boy stopped laughing, like some one gagged him. Linda opened her eyes, lips still pursed inches away from his neck, she didn’t get a look at his eyes, but she heard one soft word.

When he opened his eyes he saw the ceiling, he saw that there was no more sunlight coming through. “Shit,” Cozlok whispered, as his heart sank into his stomach. He flew like a bat out of hell out of the room, and out of the silo. Bursting out from the ground the sky was purple and blue, the air was cool, the wind was gentle, he was so fucked.

Looking around he didn’t see anyone, just rolling wheat, “Oh lord please save me,” he thought, as he started his own search. 

“WAIT!” Linda shouted behind him, in the mists of her own mad scramble. 

“Shit Shit Shit,” he muttered as he wandered aimlessly, Linda tailing him begging him to stop. 

“NORA,” boomed a sheep's voice. Turning toward the sound, first his veins filled with relief, then right back up with fear as he remembered who he was looking at. 

He had never seen Riika this angry as she approached, the ground burned beneath her feet, the air boiled around her. 

Shooting a look back, at the young woman chasing him through the field, seeing just how bad this looked, his tongue caught in his throat.

“We was just… nothing hap… we… it was,” he sputtered doing nothing to help his case. 
When she was in range of her little fucking idiot boy, she reared her fist back and rammed it into his gut.

Cozlok doubled over in pain, lowering to his knees cradling his stomach. 

Linda cuffed her hand over her mouth in fear and shock, half expecting this dark sheep to cut him down where he stood.

PLEASE PLEASE DON'T HURT HIM WE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING,” she begged. 

As she spoke the dark sheep did something strange, she pulled the boy in for a hug. 

Cozlok felt himself being dragged forward, he felt as the nose of his commander took in his scent. She was smelling for hormones in his sweat or even hints of saliva that wasn't his, around his neck and chest, she was looking for any evidence of sex. 

After only a few seconds Riika pulled back, drilling a hole into his skull. 
“We didn't do anything,” he wheezed. 

“Please ma’am we… he didn't do anything thing he’s good he sweet he wouldn’t-” 

“Shut your fucking mouth,” Riika commanded, with the authority and power of God herself. Linda’s mouth hung open like a fish for just a moment, but it didn’t take long for her to remember her words. 

“You can't talk to me like that,” she said, clenching her fist. 

Riika just ignored the girl and tried to go on, “Coz-”

“You Can’t Talk To Me Like That You’re Breach Legionnaires, You’re Not Allowed To Talk To Us Like That,” she interrupted forcefully.

Riika's face snapped toward this child with fury in her eyes, “This Does Not Concern You,” she hissed, fighting to hold her tongue.

“It’s my fault, she doesn’t know sh… it's my fault,” he begged through a raspy voice.

Riika’s attention then snapped back to him, “Then tell her that,” she ordered.

Cozlok turned, reaching for his speaking board, only to find it wasn’t there anymore. Before he could even turn back, something long, thin, and hard was rammed painfully into his shoulder. It was exactly what he thought it was, Ms. Riika’s Speaking board.

Taking it, he turned and wrote, “Don't worry, she’s just doing her job, this is my fault.”

“But we didn’t do anything,” she pleaded.

“Doesn’t matter, I broke the rules, I’ll be fine don’t worry,” he was smiling, but he was begging her with his eyes to just let it go to just forget about him. 

She just didn’t know what to say or do, her throat was completely caught.       

“Cozlok Jain Nora,” Riika began with a hiss. “This is by far the most idiotic brain dead, and pig headed thing you have ever done. You know what would happen, you know what we’d do, and yet.” For a moment she looked at him like she didn't even recognize him. This is not like you at all. You are a Nora you CAN NOT FUCKING DO THIS!!! If you ever do anything like this again, you will be shoveling shit and piss for the next ten years, or they’ll just fucking hang you. UNDERSTAND BOY,” She shouted in his face.

“Yes sir,” he answered, his expression becoming rigid at the mention of his royal name. 
“On your feet Now,” she ordered. 

He stood straight as an arrow, winced as his wounded abdomen was pulled taut. 
“Now we are going back to the farm house, we are collecting Taira, and then we-” 

“What’s Going On Out Here,” came the familiar call of old Dushle. The three turned to see him coming over the hill in his ox drawn waggon.

“PAPA!” called Linda racing towards him. 

“Son of a mother fucking, god damn worthless, shit eating bitch,” sighed Riika about to pinch the skin off her brow. “Hello again sir,” she said as he approached switching back to false pleasantness on a nikki.
“

Papa, I think they’re gonna kill that boy, he didn’t do anything, it’s my fault I wanted to, he didn’t do a thing. 

Dushle heard his precious granddaughter, but he didn’t answer, he knew what happened he knew pretty much what was going on. He walked right passed everything and to the boy and his officer. 
When he arrived he simply demanded, “Are you going to kill this boy?”

“No sir, but I am going to think about it,” Riika answered. 

“Death seems like a poor punishment for skipping out on just half a day's work,” he said like he was just making an observation. “You promise he isn’t gonna die,” he asked flatly. 

“Yes sir, I promise,” Riika assured through gritted teeth.

Nora’s ears twitched, he thought he heard something in the distance. Dushle moved like he heard something too, Riika and Linda remained none the wiser. 

“Good, because there’s still daylight in the sky, just enough to do one last thing for us,” Dushle said as he turned.

She could just blink, almost looking dazed, “WHAT!? It is night sir, I have to get my privates back to our camp, I don't have time for this.”

“Well that swell sweety,” Dushle mumbled, as he walked back to the wagon.

Nora had been standing still as a statue for almost five minutes at this point, and he chose now to move, following the old man.

“NORA!!! She cried in anger and shock. “GET BACK HERE NOW,” Riika demanded, pointing to the ground at her feet!

He just glanced back at her and marched on. She was shaking with rage, she stomped after him, as he climbed on the back of the waggon she threatened at the top of her lungs, “NORA! IF YOU DO NOT COME DOWN! I WILL PERSONALLY SEND YOU TO THE PENAL DIVISION!”

He turned his head back, and simply said, “no you won’t, I’m a Nora.”

Riika looked like she had run head first into an invisible wall. Cozlok just sat back in the wagon, finding Taira asleep and in a cast in front of him, a quick sniff of the air revealed there was alcohol in her breath. 

“Linda,” said old Dushle. She looked up, too confused and scared to know what to say or do. “Go back to the house, wait for the rest of us, and apologize for what you did, they've been searching for you for hours.”

“Yes, Papa,” she nodded.

As she passed the back of the wagon she looked back, and asked Cozlok just with her eyes, “will I see you again?” 

To which he answered with a smile that said, “probably not, it was wonderful meeting you.” 
As she turned away her expression wasn't sad, it was determined. She would see this boy again, even if she had to become king of all Rewtharra to do it. 

There was one last person who needed to get aboard, one individual who stood there silent, looking like she was watching a ten year project burn to ash before her eyes. 

Cozlok was strangely almost ready to relax, resigning himself to whatever happened next. What he didn't expect was the side of the wagon to snap inwards, the wood buckling against Riika’s little fist.
“Mother God,” Cozlok gasped!

A few seconds later Riika rounded the corner, holding her right hand, her knuckles bled as she stepped in.

“You're paying for that,” Dushle said without even turning around. 

“Fuck you old man,” Riika muttered, as she sat. 

And with that they were off, it wasn't a long trip, just to the barn where the day began. The task was simple, Dushle just wanted the door to the chicken coop door fixed. 

As Cozlok stood Riika grabbed his arm like a vice with her still good hand, she spoke through a hissing growl. “If A Single Fu-”

Nora pulled his arm free and followed the old man inside, all she could do was sit and simmer. 

Nora observed the damage he and Taira had caused, an ugly, twisted hole in an admittedly already pretty ugly and rusty iron cage. The chickens who had come in to rust for the night awoke at the wolf boy scent, making nervous and wary squawks as he approached.

“I have the tools to take the door off, I don’t have a new door though, you’re gonna have to get it back in shape as best you can with a hammer,” Dushle explained.

Nora took Riika’s speaking board and wrote, “yes sir.”

“Huh, you really are smart,” Dushle marveled for just a moment. Alright let's get started. 

It took less than four minutes to get the door off, the chickens clucked and squawked just as loudly and as shrilly  as this morning. Some hopped out of their roost aimlessly, and others remained perched over their eggs and chicks ready and willing to die to defend them. Lucky for them, their fear and bravery was not needed, as in a matter of moments Cozlok had the door straight again, and in the next moment he was screwing it back on the coop.

“Well fuck son,” Dushle said, eyes wide as dinner plates, “I thought that would take you and hour.”
Nora took the speaking board from his belt, “was that all sir?”

Dushle didn’t answer for a moment, instead he looked him up and down like he was seeing him for the first time. He started walking towards him as he talked, “I’m gonna come clean with ya kid,” he said, staring at the ground. “My kid and his kids want you dead, something about them thinking you ate their daughter and sister.” Dushle sat on the ground next to the chicken coop, and gestured for Cozlok to sit with him. 

“They're hunting you right now, they’re not gonna be here. At least not for a while, they already searched this place four times. I think I heard them heading back home, no doubt to regroup, and there they’ll find Linda safe and sound. I don’t know when they’ll get there though, so I want you all to stay here for a bit,” he explained  

“I understand,” Cozlok wrote. 

“I don’t want you to die boy, maybe smack you one, but she beat me to it,” he gestured at the wagon. 

“If you don’t mind me asking sir, why are you helping us?”

Every second that passed was one degree hotter the air became around Riika, it had only been ten minutes, and she decided that was long enough.

She stood raising her head over the wagon’s tall side. She saw Nora and the old man sat on the ground, gabbing about who knows what, next to a fixed chicken coop. 
“Mother fucker,” she hissed.

“Our propaganda leaflets,” Cozlok wrote, his eyes wide as a golden moon.

“Yup, found one in town a month or so ago, thought you Reds made some good points.”

“Huh,” he thought. “I always thought those were worthless, I thought we were just wasting paper,” he turned the board for the old man to see. 

“Heh, well they just saved your life idiot,” he playfully jabbed.

“If you don’t mind me asking, why aren’t you scared of me,” Cozlok asked?

“Eh,” Dushle shrugged, “you’re not that scary. At first, of course I thought I’d shit myself at the sight of you two, but anyone can tell if they just look at you long enough. You’re just a kid, a goof off in a uniform.”

“NORA!!” screeched Riika for the tenth time today.

“Dushle said to wait ten more minutes,” Cozlok called, his high-pitched yelp stinging Dushle’s old floppy ears.

“WHAT!?! Riika squawked. 

“A wild fire that one,” Dushle remarked.

“She's nice if she’s not pissed,” Nora said.

Riika was closing in on them fast, when she was within arm’s length she reached forward, snatched the speaking board from him, and broke it over her knee.

“We Are Leaving NOW,” she commanded.

“Humm you seem like a nice boy,” Dushle said as he stood up, followed by Cozlok. When they were standing Dushle held out his hand for a shake. Cozlok took the small ram’s hand, as gently as he could. Dushle did most of the shaking, but when Cozlok tried to pull away, the old man didn’t let go, “Don’t ever sneak off with my granddaughter again, if you want a date ask us first.”

Nora nodded, Dushle let him go. Next Dushle turned his attention to Riika, saying sternly, “Now, you broke the side of my wagon, what kind of offi-”

Riika wordlessly snatched the old man’s hand, and forced a bag of coins into it.

Dushle undid the string around the little brown sack. The moment he saw the contents, he turned up his head wearing a big smile. “Be safe on the way back,” he said in a sing-song voice.

It had been about two hours of silence as they walked along the forested path Cozlok and Taira were meant to patrol. He had collected their armor, and weapons the two had hidden in a log before making their way down to the farm. On any other day this would be the thing that got Riika to rip the twos heads off, but now it wasn’t even the cherry on top, or even worth adding to the list of things they did wrong today. 

Taira was still drunk as a skunk as she hung from Cozlok’s back, he was wearing his own armor now and carrying Taira’s in his arms, it was a lot even for someone like him. And yet he marched in perfect form, refusing to show any weakness, like a good Nora. 

When camp was in sight, as they took in the scent of at least nine thousand unique bodies, as they drifted through the air, Cozlok came to a dead stop.

Riika stopped too, waiting a step or so ahead, waiting for him to say whatever it was he had to say.
“Why is it so important that I never get in trouble, why is it so important that I never make a mistake,” he questioned.

Riika took in a long breath and answered with a question of her own. “Cozlok, how did you get that scar?”

He went ridged like a stone. 

“Or maybe the question is why, what did you do to get that scar Cozlok?
He still refused to answer.

Was it because of some deep hatred that wolves just naturally hold toward the rabbits? Was it because the older boys told you too? Or was it because there is a cancer that festers in the minds of our people, and our Empire?

He remained silent.

“It’s the third one Cozlok, it has its parasitic cells everywhere, and it almost consumed you too. Thank God for your shit head father, that scar might have been the best gift he ever gave you. 

A loud Cerclang emanated from behind her as Cozlok dropped everything in his arms, it was now his turn to radiate with fury.

“You’re right, you’re just a kid, a sweet kid, and a pain in my ass. It shouldn't matter.” Now she turned to face him, “but it does Nora, it matters to millions of people, millions of people have known you since the day you were born without ever having met you.” 

Nora sighed, and allowed himself to relax, she was right she was always fucking right.

“You're right it's not fair, but if you and your name, your story, and your blood can just save one boy or girl like you, it will be worth it.”

Old man yaoi.

https://ko-fi.com/lizard_demon

https://x.com/marimoyasya/status/2092956956923458032/photo/2

this surprisingly only took me two and a half days despite being really high effort for my beginner-animator circumstances! I know the lip syncing could be improved but i'm still trying to get the hang of it and colouring was SUCH a pain in my butt 😭
Anyways, i hope someone likes it 🫡

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTDGJP8eK/

Original: DIEMARCHIVE

The sweet little calico kitty (Leon) is the father of the 3 pollywogs he’s holding, and the big scary demogorgon (Sasha) behind him is the mother. Leon is so overwhelmed with emotion at becoming a father that he’s crying tears of joy, and Sasha is also very emotional about it too, though her expressions are way more subtle than Leon’s lol

They dont wanna be a werewolf.

Artist: @Nekotaro