Chapter 2: A Taste of the Savage.

.

AN: So it seems this fic is popular. So, with plenty of new free time suddenly on my hand, I guess I'll be carrying it on too. Many thanks to the guys at the Zootopia Authors Association for helping to proof this.

If any of you enjoy my style, I have two other big fics going on atm. The first is my drabbles and oneshots compilation, which involves a bunch of random plot bunnies and (often humorous and/or fluffy) stories. The second is a major multi-IP crossover series, primarily featuring Zootopia, Fantastic Mr Fox and Aggretsuko. It's called 'Fantastic Foxes of Zootopia' and is episodic in nature. The whole thing is up together as one fic on fanfic (though the critical to read prequel, 'Different', is separate) and broken up into the various episodes on A03.

Anyway, check those out if they sound interesting but, for now, it's on with the show.

.

"So, did you hear that Tem is dead?"

Legoshi sighed as he said it, looking down closer at the little plastic terrarium. His eyes lingered on the tiny jet-black rhinoceros beetle that stood inside, its chitin plated joints slowly moving in and out as it moved. Calmly, the massive wolf, his back-fur almost a greyish blue in shade, lowered his paw in and outstretched a finger. The difference in size was laughable in its ridiculousness; the pad on the finger he used to pet it was probably three times its size.

"They say he was found in the auditorium, his throat bitten out. It was a predator who did it, almost certainly…"

"Huh… You probably don't know what that means. I mean, in beetle terms you're a rhinoceros beetle. We have rhino's too; did you know that? Just like you, they're big and they have a horn, and they're tough. They're prey mammals, herbivores, so they eat plants but they're about the biggest toughest thing you can find. Are there any insects your size that could eat you up, Kabu-Chan?"

…

"No, I thought not. Maybe a scorpion can get you. We don't really have anything like that. I guess a polar bear could rip out a rhino's throat, but one likes it super hot and the other super cold, they don't tend to meet much. It would be okay if all prey mammals were like rhino's, but they're not. Tem was an alpaca… He was my friend…"

…

"I miss him, already. But I kind of feel guilty, too."

…

"Let me explain. I'm a predator, which means that thousands of years ago my kind used to eat other mammals. We don't anymore, well except in cases like poor Tem, but we're still built to do it. I'm a wolf, a grey wolf, a very big and tall grey wolf; so that means I'm like a huge praying mantis with long arms and a weird looking head on top, and it means others are scared at me as I'm good at killing and hunting smaller prey mammals, like a mantis is for butterflies and such…"

…

"Really? That's what you ask. No Kabu-Chan. I am not going to get my head bitten off by a she-wolf. -That's not because I haven't found someone to do it yet with, either! I mean, I haven't, but I will, hopefully, soon…"

…

"Right, let me get back on topic. You see, us pred and prey get along… But prey still fear us preds, us big preds, especially a big scary wolf like me. I've got ugly scary fangs and claws, so I have to put a lot of work in to keep them all hidden, and to not scare anyone. It gets tiring, but it's what I have to do. I'm scary enough as it is. And, normally, it works. Not very well, but it works… But if they fear that a predator went crazy, they start fearing us even more. They start fearing me even more. And I get worried as I don't like that, I don't like being something that other's fear. Because of that though, I feel guilty. Tem is the one who died, the one who was murdered, but here I am thinking about myself and how other's see me rather than my friend, and it feels so selfish."

…

"Right. Yes, I do."

…

"Okay. Thanks, Kabu-Chan," he said, letting the beetle back into his home. He placed the terrarium back into the storage space in his capsule like bunk before opening the curtain and stepping out. He'd got some flowers and he picked them up. They weren't that pretty, but they were the ones Tem liked, he'd seen him snacking on them a few times.

"-Going to see Tem?"

"HUH!" Legoshi yelped, spinning on the spot. The curtain in the bunk above him opened up and the blonde canine face of his friend Jack peeked out. "How long were you there for!?"

"All the time."

"Why didn't you say?"

"You never asked."

"So you let me spill out my heart and soul to Kabu-Chan, and you just listened?"

"Does it make any differences?"

"Y-Yes it does!"

Jack swung himself out of his bunk. "Okay, maybe it does. Maybe it does as I can say this. Relax, it's fine, we're going through a rough spot but we'll handle it Legoshi. And nobody is scared or hating on you. You hear?"

Legoshi rolled his eyes. "That's easy for you to say." It was. Despite arguably being the same species, interbreeding was perfectly possible, Jack's golden fur, small size and happy looking face made him look like a little lamb's best friend, not their worst nightmare.

"Maybe you should try saying it too, just saying. Relax, take it easy, go to that party that's happening tonight with me and have fun."

"Right," Legoshi nodded, not convinced. "I'll try. Any other advice?"

"Sir Beetly is a much better name than Kabu-Chan."

"Hey, if you find a beetle you get to name him. That's the deal, same as last time."

"Right," Jack said. "I'll be on the lookout then for a worthy successor to General Wasabi."

"As you do," Legoshi replied, before picking up his flowers and stepping out. It wasn't a long walk to the small shrine, but he couldn't help but think that everyone was watching him as he went. He wished he could shrink down, vanish his claws and teeth, and to just blend in like a meek prey could. Be like Tem was…

Even though he'd died.

Even though he'd struggled for a month or two to post a love letter to his crush. Legoshi remembered catching him hesitating over it, again. That had been yesterday. Today he'd found the copy and handed it over. She said that she would have said yes.

.

.

Judy and Haru were already down at the little shrine that had been laid out. The white doe was still in shock, the grey doe was too, but her keen eyes and interest in criminal justice were already at play. Tem, the alpaca, had been running down this corridor last night. She looked back to the stairs and could imagine him leaping down them, five at a time, before skidding on the floor tiles. A look over, and she could swear that there were some scuff marks there, keratin on ceramic as he swung himself around and raced towards the entrance to one of the lecture halls.

His attacker must have arrived at the bottom of the stairs at that very second, the fleeing mammal's head snapping back to look at him. Distracted, he forgot about where he was going, smashing shoulder first into the doors. It had wounded him, cost him a few seconds, maybe it was what had let the attacker catch up to him not too far beyond.

And now he was gone. All that was left was the cracked-up doors, covered in two lines of police tape, now an impromptu shrine for their dead friend. At its base, someone had put up a framed picture of him, the item soon attracting gifts of flowers, candles, bottles of soft drinks (for some reason) and cards. It took on a solemn affair as Judy and Haru approached it.

They didn't know him well. Still, they bent down and put in place a few bundles of flowers that they'd picked, silent throughout the ritual.

Judy's ears rose up, and she suppressed a shiver as a massive wolf stepped up next to them. She had nothing against wolves, of course. But he was huge, not thick built like usual but exceptionally tall and lanky, his presence dominating the room. She stepped away respectfully, noticing Haru's nose twitch a little.

Best to let him pay his respects in peace, Judy thought. They walked back to the bottom of the stairs, yet her ears couldn't help but pick up on what he was saying. "-I told her your feelings," he spoke softly. Judy wondered what it was about, only to be cut off by the hoof beats of a herd of mammals coming down the steps. She watched them, all prey mammals, primarily woollen ones like sheep, clop down and approach the shrine. They held back from the wolf, an awkward tension filling the air. He didn't notice them at first, but as one sheep stepped forwards, he glanced back, his ears drooping as he spotted them.

"Ooohhh, excuse us please," the lead sheep, a dwarf ewe with round glasses said pleasantly enough.

The wolf nodded and then looked forward. "Just want to spend a bit of time here. I'll be going, shortly."

"Listen," she said, smiling as she stepped up to him. "He might have been your friend, he might not have. But many of us knew him, and we want to mourn him in peace…" Judy's brow furrowed, as she filled in what was unsaid.

The wolf's ears lowered too. "I just want…"

"A lot of us are very scared right now," she carried on. "Now, I'm not saying that you did it, but prey are scared of predators right now. I think it would be thoughtful if you kept that in mind, and gave us some space to mourn without worry."

At that point, Judy crossed her arms and stepped forward. "He can't help being born a wolf, you know," she spoke harshly, the ewe turning up to face her.

"Oh, hi, waiting for your turn too?"

"We've just been."

"Oh, right," she spoke, smiling. "Dawn. Dawn Bellwether."

"Judy Hopps," she introduced, Haru doing likewise.

"Ah, well," the ewe said, adjusting her glasses a little in an endearing display. "I was just leading my fellow concerned students to give their condolences after a terrible murder of one of their kind. -They're really scared and nervous, you see. And I mean the wolf here may not be able to help being born a wolf. But we can't help being worried too, given what's going on. I mean, I'm just asking the scary mammals to be a bit more thoughtful of others, in the same way that big ones have to be thoughtful of small ones. If they all thought that they could act the same, who knows how bad it would be. I'm just asking him to show the same level of thoughtfulness."

"I…" Judy began, only to pause. She didn't agree with it, but she couldn't really find the right words to rebuke her. Moreover, she felt that if she said 'that's just wrong' or something to that effect, the ewe would just smile and give another saccharine sweet but secretly bitter argument, winning the debate even more. It was at moments like this, as the wolf sighed and began retreating away, tail between his legs, that Judy wished that her secondary interest was debating, not acting.

Still, maybe it was better to make a fool of herself than not stand up for what was right. Thankfully, it didn't come to that, as a new player entered the game. One met with rounds of gushing and amazement, a whole gaggle of students in awe simply because of his presence.

"It's Louis!"

"Louis is here!"

"The star of Adler."

Judy's head snapped over to face him, her eyes widening with immediate recognition. She'd been planning to join the drama club for a while now, so it was natural that she knew who its head was. But even if she didn't, she'd have seen him from the many posters of his play, 'Adler the Reaper', that were up across the campus. She'd have known him from the gossip, from the pictures, from the chatter, from the simple fame.

He was a lean built red deer buck, his comparative lack of muscles around the chest (compared to others of his species) doing nothing to detract from his looks. If anything, it helped him, making him look more refined, more authoritative and decidedly more regal. He strolled in, standing tall, his imperial crown of fourteen tines on full display, while the fur around his head and throat was close clipped, the lines of his jaw prominent. He walked up briskly, the way he wore his jacket making him the epitome of dapper, passing by the sheep and nodding before kneeling down reverently by the wolf. His actions were smooth, even down to how he closed his eyes and dipped his head as he placed the bouquet amongst the pile. It was as if he were placing a ring of poppies down at the cenotaph.

He knelt by the wolf, the canine turning his head to watch him.

.

…

"What are you staring at?" he asked, beginning to stand up. "Is being rude a habit?"

The wolf choked up a bit, the sheep stepping up to agree. "I think it is. I asked if he could leave us in peace to mourn and…"

"I don't remember specifying that it was a wolf," he spoke, the ewe freezing in place. Judy couldn't help but smile a little as he rose to his full height, absolutely dominating her. "If there is any act that unifies mammals in its commonality, I'd have thought it would be the pain of loss and the need to mourn, wouldn't you?"

"Uh…" she choked. "Well yes, but…"

"Our society was founded upon the unity and peace between species," he spoke out, not just to her, but to the wolf, Dawn's crowd, Judy and Haru and even those in the corridor. Judy looked down it only to pause as she spotted one mammal at the front. A fox, carrying a tray filled with bundles of wildflowers, selling them for half a buck each. Her nose almost twitched at the apparent profiteering from the tragedy, and as he rolled his eyes at Louis' speech, a speech seemingly in his aid, it passed the threshold. "-And in hard times like this it is vital that we hold those precious bonds tighter and harder than ever before."

"Or maybe given the circumstances we shouldn't be so blinded by the past," the ewe spoke, finding her voice. "I mean, peace between species sounds nice, but one side just broke it and the other is scared for their lives. Shouldn't we accept some slack, so they don't break entirely?"

"But how much?" he spoke, looking down at her. "And who's to say that once you release them a bit, they're never tightened, and not long after they're slipped again and again until they loosen, breaking. If those bonds break then a tragedy like this one may become an everyday occurrence, mammals only becoming loyal to their own kind and not each other. Is that the kind of legacy that Tem would want? He was my friend, and I can say that it certainly isn't."

"I'm not saying let them go," she clarified, her brow knitting. "That's a strawmammal argument and you know it. I'm just saying you should adjust it to be more accommodating of the weaker kind, the stronger accepting some sacrifices for the greater good. They already have it better, they fear life and danger less while we do more. I think it sounds pretty fair that they sacrifice some of that in the name of true equality."

Louis smiled. "You have an interesting definition of equality. I'd be curious to know who or how you'd measure it, who or how you'd work out which level of sacrifice others need to make, who or how you'd define who is weak and who is strong."

"Well I happen to think all those things are obvious."

"And I consider them relative," he spoke. "You define them in your favour, paint yourselves as the weaker, and you create a society in which you've given yourselves the power, made you the stronger and them the weaker. By your own logic then, they'll have the right to flip the boat again and again and again. Throwing us all off of it until we're at each other's throats, all those previous other bonds broken and forgotten. That is why we must hold on to that one absolute, species cooperation, above all else."

There was a pause, before the crowd in the corridor began clapping and cheering him, the deer taking a little bow as his name was called out again and again. "Louis, Louis, Louis…"

Judy cheered too, only for that cheer to fade as she saw the fox again, rolling his eyes even further with a look of disdain on his muzzle.

Dawn huffed as the deer stood up, gazing to the wolf. "Legoshi, you're in the art department, correct?"

He nodded.

"Good, follow me, we have something to discuss."

Judy did too, but not with them.

.

.

Louis was beginning to get annoyed.

Tem was dead, it was a tragedy, but life moved on. Always ticking, always flowing, powerful, unstoppable, like a tidal current. You couldn't fight it, you could only float with it, all while doing everything in your power to keep the raft that you were on tied together. Letting it fall and break apart was unthinkable.

You had to be strong.

You had to have your dignity.

Above everything, anything, else.

It was something that others didn't truly grasp, though he felt no anger or shame at them. There was only one kind of way that one could learn something like that, he'd been through it as a fawn and he'd once met someone who'd been through it as a kit. He would not wish it upon anyone.

What he did wish though was that this meeting would go to plan. It was simple enough, Legoshi would meet the new actor playing Tem's old part. Though personally involved in lighting, he and the art department also covered costumes, and he needed to help get the measurements correct.

All good so far.

Yet when he'd tried to practice a line with the actor, he'd gone blank. Plenty of time to learn the script, but none taken. Being a goat, it quickly became clear that the script had been lost, though not in the misplaced sense. Extreme omnivorous wasn't a noteworthy trait in Louis' books, and he'd hoped that the actor in question would have picked some others up, to become at least respectable. In contrast, the goat's planned part would have him acting alongside Bill, a tiger. A strong, powerful mammal whose simple presence earned respect. More than that though, Bill was a bit cocky, a bit of a maverick, the bio-med student all too happy to reach out wider than his assigned frame. He also learnt his lines.

And, as if to round this all off, there was a smack on the door as Kai, a mongoose, barged in, demanding to know why it was the goat replacing Tem, not himself. "Tem and I were the last in the audition!" he shouted, angrily.

"Knock first," Louis scolded, as he stared over at him and let the goat go. "Go outside, learn your lines," he said, dismissing him. He ran out, closing the door behind him, as the deer squared off against the angry herpestid. The intruder stared back, before glancing to his side and scoffing.

"Hey. Why are you here? You're a nobody from the art department," he said, looking down at the grey wolf, immediately evaporating any sympathy that the goat's poor performance had given Louis for his arguments. In fact, they even gave him an excellent idea.

"Yeah," the wolf sighed, weakly. "I'll leave too, then."

"No, you can stay here," Louis spoke, looking at him and wondering just why he was rolling over like that. He was a grey wolf, wasn't he? Up against a tiny mongoose too. Then again, Legoshi had always hung back in the shadows, trying not to be seen. It was sadly pathetic. Louis didn't say that. Instead, he then turned to face the mongoose. "Kai, you need to make sure that you get along with Legoshi. You'll be working together in the art department."

"Huh…?" he said, his jaw dropping to the floor as Louis carried on regardless.

"-You'll no longer serve as an actor," he said, as the shock turned to rage. "From now on, you'll be in the art department and support us from backstage." He felt a little impressed by Kai's resistance and he felt that the mammal did deserve a full explanation. "The spring performance act 2 footwork, the winter safari tournament's final dance," he spoke, his mouth ever so slightly twitching up as a fantastic look of fury took over Kai. "Those references are like a blade in your heart," he spoke, the smile growing. "Right, Kai? Two years of acting, and your most memorable performances were those two blunders on stage. Not very good in terms of crowning achievements." Oh, the mongoose looked ready to explode right now, and Louis was curious, if not excited. Just where might this lead up to. Might he be impressed with what Kai did next? He had the knife in, so he twisted it. "With all that, I am curious. Why, exactly, did you think that you could replace Tem?"

And then Louis looked on in impressed curiosity as the mongoose snarled and leapt at him, claws out.

And then he looked on in shock as a massive pair of grey paws gripped him mid-flight. Legoshi caught, Kai fought, and they ended up in a tense standoff. "Actor's safety comes first," the wolf spoke darkly. "That's the job of us stagehands, isn't it?" Kai growled; Legoshi stared him down. "Kai. He's the star."

"Who the hell do you think you are?" he hissed.

Louis looked on in amazement as Legoshi's lips withdrew, his fur raised, and a deep and guttural growl emanated from deep within his chest. The wolf was revealing itself, and Kai's bluster and anger melted away. "Uhhhh…" he spoke, worry overcoming his voice. "T-this is just foolish. I'll let it go this time!"

Legoshi wordlessly dropped him, Kai backing off worried. Louis was enraptured as he tried to gather some strength or high ground, just humiliating himself in the process. "Must be nice to be rich," he spoke. "Nobody ever harms you…" Worthless words, and then he was scooting out of the room, some commotion coming from the other side.

A wordless smile filled the room, and the deer looked at the wolf in a new light. "Using your fangs to scare him out of a fight," he mused, smiling. He was impressed, if not pleased for the wolf's sake. "You always acted like a herbivore," he observed, folding his arms in front of him. "But it's nice to see that you do have some savagery in you."

And then the wolf dropped down again, losing it. "Excuse me," he spoke, beginning to step forward. Louis grabbed his tail, making him freeze and look back. Still meek, what was there before gone, which was a shame. But he had stood out and Louis figured that, for his sake, he deserved a chance and some help.

"Excellent," he said, "I think you'll fit right in. We need to give him a proper rehearsal, so we'll be sneaking into the theatre later tonight."

Legoshi's eyes widened. "But if we're caught…"

"That's why you're going to be our lookout," he explained, smiling. It would do him some good to push him out of his comfort zone. Very far out, if his looks were anything to go by. "What's wrong, planning to play the meek good guy again?" He remained unconvinced, and Louis leant forward and grabbed him by his tie, pulling him in. "You're a wolf," he spoke, deciding to spell it out for him. "Act like one, give us a taste of the savage and give yourself some prestige for a change."

Legoshi backed off a bit, still unconvinced. "I… Well I said I'd be…"

"Going to the party tonight?" Louis asked. "Sure, fine, you can go there for an hour or two, then meet up with us. Just limit what you drink and do it at the start, so you're functional when we need to. Do not let us down, understand?"

"Yes," he said, nodding and stepping out.

.

.

Haru had to go off to tend to her plants, leaving Judy to find the fox in question. She eventually spotted him with a cooler of all things, selling frozen treats to those nearby. A tearful hyeness had just purchased the remaining stock, the fox appearing to give some words of comfort as she munched on the little treats. Still, it seemed that the profit he'd made was still the main thing affecting his mood.

She stepped up to him as the hyena stepped away. "Ooooh, sorry there," he said, looking down at her. "Miss Charlotte there just purchased all of them. But I'll be here tomorrow, same time, same place, same treats."

Judy's eyes narrowed. "Do you know that it's illegal to sell your produce on private property without express permission?"

The fox looked at her and his eyes narrowed, digging into his pocket to pull out a signed document. "Express permission from the head of the business school," he spoke. "Now, if you're no longer busy sticking your nose into my business, I'll be on my way."

"Maybe if you get out of the business of profiting from others grief, I'll be too."

He paused, crossing his arms. "So, I guess that after you're done with me, you'll go after every florist, funeral home, culinary business that can be booked for wakes and, lest we forget, every place of worship that lets you buy those little candles that you can light."

"That's not the same and you know it," Judy scolded. "You parked up right by his shrine, selling stuff, taking advantage of their grief."

"Hey," he barbed back. "I think you'll find that I was offering simple bouquets at affordable prices. Again, if I wasn't there, I don't think you'd be going after your nearest florist. Besides, not every one of us can get stuff from Haru's garden."

"-Huh… -How do you know her name?"

"I know everyone, Fluff."

"Do not call me Fluff."

"Okay then, Carrot's," he said, waving her off. Her foot thumped hard into the floor. "I mean, let's face it, the only reason you're after me is because I'm a snekky foxxo, am I right?" he said whimsically.

Judy gasped, her brow then furrowing. "Not it is not…"

"-I mean, when that sheep and Louis did something far more disrespectable, no shame on them?" he said, smiling a little.

"Yeah, about that," she spoke. "What's up with you and Louis. He's on your side."

Nick guffawed a little. "Yeah. Probably."

"So why are you against him then?" she asked, verging more into confusion than anything. "He was defending all predators, as a prey, during what could be a bad time for you. He's a good guy."

"Yeah, because he chose your side."

"I… -Well, duh," she said. "That's what makes him a good guy."

"No, no, no…" Nick waved off. He'd finally packed up his things and began walking away. "Do you remember what his arguments were?"

"He talked about how starting to divide us would mean we'd turn on each other, breaking society further and further apart, and so we needed to put our all into it."

"So, using the slippery slope fallacy to justify blind ideological obedience."

"To our side!"

"To a side," he pointed out. "He could have just as easily picked any other, Fluff. He didn't argue with reason or data or anything. Heck, most students there were convinced simply because he is Louis, just look at him! He's a proto-politician Carrots, a little ideologue who'll chase his ideals to the ends of the earth whatever the cost and never ever waver. Maybe he's on our side, but he could have easily been on the other and still be the same mammal. Heck, go back ninety years and our stag in the forest running free could have happily been that first singer from the end of Cabaret, you and all his posse being the young idealists standing up to join in."

"I'll presume that that reference isn't flattering," she muttered. "But you're scoffing at him because he believes in something, because he holds himself tall. So, who are you then, what's your virtuous path?"

"Oh, I'm the old guy who's had enough of it before it's begun and is just sitting there with his drink," he shrugged.

"And is that a good, mature outlook on life?" she questioned.

"I like to think that history vindicated him, Carrot's."

"Just ignore that," she muttered. "You're saying that the good thing is to ignore any value in anything because everything's worthless. Don't hold any idea strongly, don't take an interest in the outside world, scoff at those that do and instead just look after number one, making as much money as you can."

He looked back at her and smiled. "Hey, there you go! Not a dumb bunny, are we?"

She frowned, her nose twitching. "Don't call me that."

"I didn't," he pointed out, as Judy halted where she stood.

"You know, you think that you're so mature, don't you? But you're not. You're childish, and if you put your mind to it you could be so much more."

"You know, I was like you once," he spoke, turning back. "Emotional and unstable. I grew out of it and I learnt the truth. Here I am, born a fox, so everyone will always see me as sneaky and untrustworthy. After all, why did you come after me?"

"I… It wasn't because you were a fox," she said. "We've been over this."

"Yeah, and you're in denial. Listen, I'm a fox, so I act like a fox, that's the way society expects you to act and it'll kick back if you try something else. You can only be what you are: Sly fox, and thing you don't want me to say. But, if you can play it right, you can fit into your role just fine. Heck, I'm currently here on a three-year mega hustle, or as they call it 'an all paid scholarship'. Three years of room and board and a fancy bit of paper I can brag about after, yes please. Now, if you don't mind me, I'll be on my way."

Judy looked at him as he went. "You know, thinking like that is terribly sad. I was angry at you before, but now I think I pity you."

"Hey, don't overthink it fluff," he said, turning back and winking. "I mean, Haru does the bunny version of this, and as far as I know she's having a whale of a time. See-ya!"

And then he turned a corner and went, leaving Judy standing there. Her foot thumped against the floor before she cleared her head. "Urghhh… What a sad mammal."

.

.

And so that night rolled around. Haru was tending to some of her plants while Judy went back to her dorm to start on some coursework. Louis was busy rehearsing his lines while thinking everything through, hoping that the new actor was doing the same. Off at one end of the campus, a nervous Legoshi dropped in to a party, explaining that he needed to go in a bit. He tried a few drinks, especially when a few of the acting society guys turned up, before letting the funk fade away as the time approached. Haru was busy doing some final bits of gardening by one of the dorms, for fun and not for work, but the appearance of a certain bunny again kicked things off. Some pretty flowers were kicked in, she stood up and scolded her, the bunny and her posse knocking her down and into the bed, given that she didn't have 'her latest fling' to help her out.

Haru stood up and walked forwards into them so that their own clothes would get filthy, before being knocked to the floor again. "Mine were already dirty," she dismissed, before marching off to the showers.

Legoshi left the party. He was regretting going to it, he had a headache. Still, he wasn't given much choice, was he? He'd promised Jack and then Louis had sprung this on him, and neither was the kind of mammal you'd turn down an offer from.

They met up as planned at the back of the theatre, the two actors going in while he stood guard outside. It was foggy, the fountain in the centre barely visible, but the mist was lit up by the moon. The full moon.

Legoshi felt something grow inside of him. Something deep, stirring, powerful. He closed his eyes and glanced away. It was stupid, after all.

But his eyes traced back and looked up, and he felt it grow. Powerful, alluring, controlling, demanding. He felt it taking over him and he only just stopped himself.

"Stop it," he hissed to himself. "You're a mammal, not some dumb animal."

After all, howling out at the moon was a sure way to get them all caught. He focussed his mind elsewhere, keeping a lid on that strange and powerful instinct. It worried him, it was coming from nowhere, it was new…

He closed his eyes and rubbed his head again. He was feeling off in a very strange way. He wanted to slip out into the night, to sift through and find something…

He was hungry.

Meanwhile, Haru left one of the shower blocks. She'd been caught on the wrong side of the campus to her dorm, so after showering she was taking the trek over. It was cold and dark, despite the new moon. She had to rely on her ears, though even they struggled to pick stuff up. After the murder, most mammals were inside, leaving the outside eerily quiet. She closed her eyes and walked on, skirting past the library. She looked inside to see a red fox at one of the computers, before carrying on. It would be fine. Her ears lifted as she heard something, running water. A fountain, the fountain behind the theatre. She smiled, she was almost home.

Inside, Louis was going through the ropes. He was impressed, the new actor was picking it up. They were going back and forth in the dark room. A few times they'd bumped into each other, given that neither had good night vision. But they were building up a rapport.

Just outside, Legoshi was trying to stay focussed. He was hungry, starving, he could feel his claws trying to extend even though they couldn't and it felt good…

He sniffed in and smelt something.

Rabbit.

Bunny.

Food.

'-No, what the hell!' He thought, shaking his head. But his stomach rumbled, and he glanced at the moon, and he felt his vision blur and his mouth salivate as something powerful and ancient washed through him, taking control. Down on all fours, he growled. He had to swallow down all the saliva that his teeth, his hanging, untested, unblooded teeth, were getting coated in. They wanted to bite, to chew, to feel the catharsis of being stretched and exercised in his mouth as he dug into something warm and hot and bloody. He glanced up, the moon was there, calling him. He was trembling, a last vestigial part trying to hold back, but it was like staying in misery when glory was just there waiting for him.

Tempting.

But it was wrong…

But it was right…

It was right…

It was so very, very right, and he was hungry, and he was growling and then turning and then sniffing in that intoxicating scent before jumping out, letting his instincts take control. He was hunting, he was hunting and the blood was pumping through him, coursing with adrenaline; he felt alive. He pounced as he saw her running away: bunny, prey, a person, food, a fellow student, dinner, an innocent.

He hit her hard and felt himself roll over and over across the stone paving as he clutched her. He sat there, holding her tight, pressing her head up against his muzzle as the quiet of the night flowed back in and his instincts fought a battle of life and death inside of him.