Alright... been a little lackluster in my promise of upkeeping my stories. Sorry about that. I've been trying to do tasks meant for those strange mutants with double the amount of paws I have to take care of it. Most of it is with concern to helping friends out, so I have little regret towards that and hope you can forgive me for that. Otherwise, I might have had this out a week or two ago. XD
I do hope there are those of you out there that are excited to see this updated and don't rip me too hard about the quality I feel is lacking. I'm always a bit critical of myself with chapters like this that feel... transitional. haha. They feel like a weakness of mine I have a hard time getting better at.
Anywho, I do hope you enjoy this belated installment... months behind what I had endeavored upon.
Enjoy, fav, follow, review, and grab that strange snack. Mine today is deep fried bacon dipped in garlic parmesan alfredo sauce. better than it sounds though I can't say all will like it. XD
With intentions and plots revealed, all pretense of stealth was dropped for a speedy sprint north, the group of mammals spending the day on the move and the night for rest and recovery. Those too injured to move fast enough were carried by larger mammals until they could heal. None would be left behind and none would be forsaken.
With large plains and plateaus opening in their path, it made movement rather free and easy to maintain, as well as simple to defend when the area surrounding of any camp made was devoid of many avenues for a stealthy approach.
With all having to double down and make every choice a practical one, it felt like there was little room for the development of one's self or connections with others. At least, that's the way it felt for the first two weeks.
Eventually, the plains ended and a marshland greeted their tired feet, denoting that they change their approach. And so, for the past week, the group was forced to slow their approach to Ewe-topia, which was both a blessing and a frustration.
Their journey since Meeko's rescue was not without an uplifting turn, with all relieved that their tail was lost and mammals reaffirming their resolve to see this quest through. Instead of becoming fractured by the event, most tried to stay true to one another, honoring the sacrifice of their loss.
Although, their journey was not without the occasional obstacle and, in one case, loss…
"Once… you were warm in my paws," a certain raccoon lamented. "Now, you lie cold at my feet…"
His paws were splayed outward in a gesture that appeared as if he were grasping at air, a void clearly unfulfilled by the loss.
"I shall mourn you for all time and never forget," Meeko resumed, his muzzle contorted in a frightfully disconcerting frown.
A distant voice called out, making the raccoon's ears perk and pervading scowl disappear, as it yelled out, "Seconds!"
Meeko leaned down to grab his fallen plate, the contents having spilled across the ground, beyond recovery.
"Oh, goody," he yelped in renewed joyfulness, darting back towards the voice.
Honey turned around, rolling her eyes as she saw Meeko be the furst to respond to her call, mouth slack and holding out an empty plate.
"You already scarfed it down?" she asked, brows raised in inquiry. "I don't even see the remains around your muzzle."
He became aversive with his gaze for a moment, dipping his snout downward slightly.
Honey's deadpan stare settled in, as she resumed her inquiry, "You dropped it didn't you?"
The raccoon nodded slowly, smiling nervously.
Thwack!
A wooden utensil bounced painfully off the top of his thick skull, a strained hum of pain slipping out in a groan. The badger then sighed and spooned a goodly portion of food from the stew pot on his plate, pulling a piece of bread from a sack to put on top.
"Lose this and all I'll feed you next is my fist to your snout. Understood?" she breathed.
Meeko didn't even reply properly before running off, more steadily than before, and consuming his food voraciously.
"I still find it hard to believe he's the age he says he is," a new voice offered to Honey. The red fox tod was taking used dishes and cleaning them off in a water basin, to which Rose was helping.
"Am I hearing a complaint about who I want to be with, Nicholas?" the badger spoke, raising her utensil for another strike.
"Now now," he spoke in defense. "Any complaints that might arise from me are duly quelled every time you give his noggin another bump." His mother barked out a short laugh, giving her son a chastising look that turned into a soft smile.
After a few seconds of silence, Nicholas filled the void once more, "I can't deny that he seems to put a smile on your face that seems far more at home there than the pervasive scowl you give most. No offense."
"Can't take much offense to the truth, I suppose," Honey mumbled, spooning more food onto plates of other returning mammals.
"Nicholas isn't getting beaten for telling you the truth?" Judith interjected from a small distance, returning from a scouting venture to see the safest path forward. "Either he's saying something kind or you didn't read into the bluntly insulting bit yet."
"Let's call it both," the fox and badger mentioned at the same time.
The doe shook her head at the two snarky mammals, internally wondering how the two could be so alike.
Looking off in the distance, to a stump where Nathan sat with his food, Flora approached tentatively, appearing rather unsure of whether she should or not. The ocelot's tail twitched nervously, ears pinned down.
As best as she could tell, and by Nicholas's mentions, Flora felt some sort of obligation to Nathan for his father figure's sacrifice. The problem was that she had little confidence to attempt any interaction with him other than those that were necessary. Besides, Nathan had been rather morose over the past few weeks since Akela's death, with the closest thing to a father he would ever have dying before him. It was understandable, though no less problematic for those wishing to extend their paw in a show of support. Oddly enough, Flora was the only one able to get much more than a few words out him, whether due to some sense of loyalty Nathan had to Akela for saving her or the unfiltered tone of sincerity that she had when trying to speak to him.
The grey bunny couldn't truly guess what their future would hold, but she felt the two would need each other in some capacity to work past the obstacles they both shared in different manners.
"Fluff…" she heard her mate call to her in a mildly chastising tone. "I see the machinations of your mind moving around. Best to leave it be."
The doe scowled slightly, responding, "You don't know what I'm thinking…"
"You want to find some way to break the ice between the two that both have treaded on so carefully," Nicholas evenly mentioned, without missing a beat.
The rabbit shrugged in his direction, sighing, "Alright… you did know what I was thinking. But why can't I help them?"
Between mouthfuls of food, Meeko approached and sat next to them, speaking up, "Because Nathan is closed off and intervention from others might be unwelcome. From Flora's end, I suspect she wants to be the one to initiate some form of rapport."
"What he said," the red fox simply spoke.
"What if I helped her gain some confidence?" Judith offered, ears perked in hopeful expectations of a positive reply. Both the raccoon and fox grunted in ambiguous affirmation, greatly irritating the bunny, but filling her with a small amount of relief that they didn't seem to care too much.
Before they could stop her, Judith left her bow and quiver behind, darting after Flora, who had made her latest retreat from attempting some overly quiet means of talking to the young wolf.
Considering the slow shuffle that the small ocelot walked away at, it was no real challenge for the bunny doe to catch up. She settled into a brisk pace next to Flora, the rabbit internally grateful that the mammal was of a lesser stature than most in the group.
The ocelot was rubbing one arm, hanging lazily, with her other paw, eyes downcast. It took her a few seconds and a second glance to see Judith matching her crawl of a pace, making her stiffen in surprise and stop short. She nearly fell, not paying attention to her own balance, till the bunny grabbed her and helped steady the moderately larger mammal.
"Easy there," the grey doe mentioned in a low tone and showing her a smile. "I just wanted to talk."
"Oh… of course," Flora breathed in a soft voice, dark green eyes locking onto Judith. "Anything I can do to help you."
"I'm actually hoping to help you a bit," the rabbit countered, making the ocelot blink in confusion.
"I… what?"
"I can see you're having some issues trying to connect with Nathan," Judith detailed in response. "I was wondering if I could help you."
"I don't really see how you could," Flora sighed. "He's been pretty out of it since he lost his… father. I wouldn't doubt that he blames or hates me for what happened." Tears pricked at the corner of her eyes, the feline blinking them away as best she could.
"Why do you care so much what he thinks?"
Flora looked about ready to burst, her jaw working in an attempt to say something she couldn't aptly form the words to yet.
"I… He…"
"You fancy him?" the grey bunny asked in rhetoric.
"Am I really that obvious?" the ocelot mumbled with a tinge of a blush to her cheeks before sighing once more. "I do. He showed up in Upendi, at my family's shop. We make arms for combat and he was trying to look around for better arms to continue your journey. He was a bit helpless with selecting anything and we got to talking. Talked about what he saw beyond the confines of his former 'home'."
"You came because of that?" Judith inquired curiously, surprised it took so little to make a young resident of the reclusive community leave.
"I wanted to explore, since I was small," Flora continued in explanation, "but many young ones like myself were afraid of the outside world, hearing much from traders. Nathan spoke of things in a much brighter light. Even if he is a bit naive, he chose to see the light, instead of letting the shadow lay its icy grip on his heart. I wanted to try."
"I don't think he could hate you," the doe told the feline. "It's not in his nature to do so easily. From what I was told, he was kept captive and oppressed for most of his life. Even now, he hasn't show resentment towards his captors. I should have known, being of the family that kept him captive, but I was too focused on being ignorant, that I didn't interact with them often."
"What can I do to reach him then?" the ocelot wheezed slightly, tears coming again. "His father died to protect me. I feel like I should do something to repay him…"
"Forcing him to reach out probably won't work," Judith detailed. "My thinking, if my brothers are anything to go by, is that he'll stay reserved for a while, but letting him see that you are around for him might do wonders. Let him know you are there for him. Best you can do."
"I don't know how to tell him that," the feline remarked in a downtrodden tone. "Every time I try to say something like that… I choke."
"I never said you have to tell him. Show him."
"How?"
The grey bunny doe shrugged as she replied, "I'm afraid that's an answer best supplied by you. Do whatever you see fit and whatever your heart decides."
"My heart?..." the other asked in a lackluster tone. "I always found that a strange metaphorical concept to consider."
"Your gut then," Judith laughed. "Some choices you don't think about."
Flora raised a paw behind her head, rubbing the back of her neck. She appeared in slightly brighter spirits now, or at least she was distracted enough to not focus on the depressing problems within her mind.
At the very least, I can make her focus on something else than her guilt about Akela's death, the bunny mused to herself.
"I'll need to think about this…" the feline began, shaking her head, "... I mean… don't think?" She then stopped short, making Judith tilt her head, coming to a halt herself. "Thanks. I… I believe I get it now."
Without waiting for a reply from the rabbit, Flora backtracked and made her way to Nathan once more, who had gotten up to trudge off somewhere, still within sight, but distanced enough from the group to seem isolated.
Judith wondered to herself if she had gotten a message worth making across to the ocelot, tapping her foot lightly in thought, the other mammal padding quickly off to follow the young wolf.
0000000
Lined with strange trees that appeared wiry and spindling, as well as larger ones with vine like bundles that looked like curtains in the marshes, Nathan let his eyes flick around in mild curiosity. He felt little due drive to be able to partake in the enjoyment that he usually had at such oddly new sights. Simplistic as he normally was, being easy to please and hyperactive, he may have been enslaved, oppressed, and suffered much but chose to avoid thinking about it as often as he could.
The loss of Akela, however, broke some sort of barrier he had erected in his mind around all these darker topics he brushed over. Whether benign delusion or just his wish to focus on the good, he now found it difficult to cast them aside.
He lamented the loss, as he knew anyone might do. The wolf was as close to what he understood a father was supposed to be. He never really knew or remembered his parents, so all he knew was what people told him a parent was.
The worst thing that he couldn't properly sweep away from his mind is the anger and subsequent guilt he felt at and for Flora. He knew it wasn't her fault, but some ugly part of him reared and refused to give him a moment's peace from the thought. And so, he simply felt an ensuing anger at himself for thinking that, even involuntarily, about her.
The young wolf found a log that was lain to rest, and not riddled with wetness and strange fungi, slumping upon it with a figurative weight that felt immense. A paw covered his eyes, Nathan blocking out the world for a moment as he receded into his own thoughts.
From what little he knew, Flora was shy, sweet, maybe a bit adventurous… and…
He removed his paw, eyes widening slightly.
…. And coming this way, the wolf mused in slight astonishment, though more so at the stern and focused expression of the ocelot coming towards him.
She usually tentatively approached with a high chance to just barely squeak out anything to say or simply turning and leaving him alone. This time, there was a fire in her green eyes, as dark as summer foliage.
Nathan could barely react before Flora sat next to him, deliberately and almost a bit over dramatic. Without saying a word, she faced forward and gripped him by the shoulders. Keeping her eyes from locking with his, the feline pulled the wolf's head down into her lap.
His eyes darted up to look at the underside of her muzzle, which was trembling slightly as she raised a paw to gently stroke the top his head. Even her paw was a bit unsteady, but she carried on, not saying a word as the young wolf allowed himself to focus on the feeling.
He was no good at reading a situation and even worse at reading other mammals, but it was clear that Flora had some reservations of her own concerning the matter that tore him apart. He could imagine that it wouldn't be too far fetched to believe she might be in turmoil about one mammal trading their life for hers. Furthermore, she might feel some obligation to live up to that sacrifice and guilt if she feels that she's come up short in that respect. If he were her, he might even think he was to blame for his death, bringing about the frightening conclusion that she might blame herself for everything.
Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes, finally coming forth after weeks of detachment and repression.
"I'm sorry…" Nathan meekly spoke, causing the ocelot to gulp and stop moving for a moment. Letting out a breath, she resumed stroking his head, unsure of what to say. "I'm sorry."
Minutes of near silence passed, Flora working her jaw to find the most meaningful words she could say to Nathan, but falling short with every stuttered breath. Biting her own lip in frustration, keeping her paw moving over the wolf's fur, she finally leaned down to dip her nose and rub it along the fur of his neck. She didn't know what else to do and wanted to say something, anything, but couldn't.
The young wolf stiffened, looking well into her averting eyes, his icy blue eyes attempting to lock onto hers.
"What… was that?" he asked in a ragged whisper.
"I… I don't know," the feline female muttered. "I really have no idea what to say. I've never been strong with words."
"I probably haven't given you much room to say much, nonetheless," he replied weakly.
"I guess… but… I… I needed to tell you…" Flora began, her voice faltering.
Nathan spoke up in her stead, "I know. You don't need to explain."
"Well that's a load off my shoulders then," she said sarcastically before she could stop herself, a blush lightly lining her cheeks.
"What about the burden in your lap?" the wolf joked with a broken grin. Flora let out a giggle at the strange humor he had in this even stranger circumstance.
"I wouldn't call you a burden," Flora spoke back softly. "This is actually kind of… nice…" Her claws came out slightly, scratching under Nathan's muzzle, making him let out a small whine as he shimmied his head back and forth in her lap. His eyes closed as he relished the feeling. It was a pleasant change to be able to forget his worries and just let something like this distract him.
"Why did you come along on this journey?" the wolf asked in a low voice, careful not to move his jaw too much so that her claws would still spoil him with their touch. "You could have stayed in safety in Upendi."
"I wanted to live a life worth something more than comfort…" Flora divulged softly. "I saw and heard how you viewed the world… and I wanted to experience that."
"Got more than you bargained for, haven't you?"
She rolled her eyes at the wolf's rhetorical humor. At least he was talking to her and she in kind.
"Nothing I don't think I can't take on," the feline rebuked ambiguously. "I don't regret coming… well, I mean… I regret…"
Nathan rose from his reclined position, putting a paw to Flora's cheek, inadvertently silencing her at how abrupt his movements were.
"Don't," he simply stated. "Don't do that… I don't blame you and I won't let you do that to yourself anymore."
The wolf leaned in, pulling Flora towards him, muzzle parted to connect with hers. A paw of her own raised towards his…
Only to grasp around his snout and push him back, his eyes opening to see an extremely flustered and madly blushing ocelot keeping him at bay. She smiled tentatively, shaking her head slightly.
"Not… not yet…" she denied him, voice barely able to function. Nathan's ears dipped in embarrassment and a tepid degree of shame of being rebuffed. "I… I'm okay with it. But I want us both in a better place before we… you know."
"Right… right. You're right. I'm sorry," the young wolf belted out rather quickly, backing off and giving the feline some space. She gripped his tunic, pulling him close again, but not kissing him. Instead, she just buried his head in her chest.
"I don't want us feeling like we're using the other… or regretting things, so… let's take it slow?" Flora explained, an inquiring inflection lining the end of her sentence.
Nathan took a deep breath, in and out, making the ocelot flush in sudden realization of where she buried his head.
"Slow?" He asked. "How so?"
"F-f-friends furst… then, maybe more?" she presented, more as a question than an answer. The ocelot's voice cracked and stuttered under the assault of the wolf's blue eyes, staring pleadingly into her own. She couldn't outright turn him down, but she didn't want to rush into something founded on grief and guilt. She knew little about what to do and how she felt, but that small piece of knowledge she did know unequivocally.
The grey wolf backed away once more, clenching his jaw and holding out a paw. Instead of grasping it in a shake determinate of their newfound friendship, Flora grasped him by the arm and pulled him into a more friendly and comfortable hug.
"What's with you and pulling me close?"
"Well, I don't want us to feel like we need to keep each other at arm's length," she retorted with a small giggle.
The sound of a horn being blown interrupted their moment, signalling to the two that camp was being packed up and the group readying for departure. All such wandering mammals as they would need to regroup before leaving.
Nathan got up and stretched, giving Flora an awkward smile as he walked back slowly. The feline pinched an ear between her claws, averting her eyes and biting her lower lip. As he turned away, increasing his stride to a brisk pace, the ocelot threw her head back and sighed in exasperation. Running up to the wolf, she slipped her paw into his own, feeling him tense up and freeze in surprise.
"Just until we reach the camp," she clarified. "I'm sorry I'm so changeable. I don't really know how to do… this." Flora gestured to the two of them widely.
"Can't say I have any such experience either," Nathan started. "We'll figure it out though."
The grey wolf squeezed her paw in kind and guided the two back towards the camp.
0000000
"Alright," Honey began, pinching the bridge of her muzzle in annoyance, "who blew the horn and why?"
"I did," Bogo sternly admitted, giving the badger a leveled gaze. "Got a problem with it?" A small smile curved his snout.
She stared him down, sighing as she spoke, "You seem to be under the impression that knowing it was you makes it less annoying to me somehow."
The bull's smirk disappeared quicker than an arrow being released from a bow, as he mumbled, "Maybe just a little."
"And?" Honey asked in increasing rising frustration. It was the buffalo's turn to pinch his snout.
"One of the scouts surveyed ahead and found what looks to be Ewe-topia within a reasonably walkable distance," he explained in short.
"Suddenly, I'm less annoyed," the badger said with a shrug. Bogo snorted as he walked away with an eye roll.
"And now I am," he retorted under his breath.
"I heard that!" shouted Honey, drawing a fearful look from the bull, who increased the quickness of his pace away from her.
Nearby, Nicholas, Meeko, Judith, and Gazelle heard and watched the whole exchange, laughing as quietly as they could.
"It's still so strange to see how frightened he appears in your mother's presence when she's… on edge," the small bunny doe detailed between her stifled laughs.
"You should see when she goes over the edge," the red fox joked, getting up to pack up whatever he could of the camp.
"I heard that, too!" a familiar voice returned to say from further away than before. The tod's tail fluffed up a bit in startled surprise of hearing his mother make that mention to his quip.
"Alright… let's get going before I get myself into a situation where someone else is lugging my unconscious self to our destination," Nicholas remarked sardonically. Judith and Gazelle started to chuckle and laugh once more.
The following couple of hours were entertained by the quiet and the scenery around them, the group nervously biting their tongues in trepidation of what was to be found in the end of their current journey. Months of arduous obstacles and overwhelming odds that felt far beyond their favor, and they were at the precipice of either seeing a ray of hope or the remains of such in smoldering ruin.
For a long while, the marshes became far denser, making seeing the city upon approach rather difficult. All most could see out of the canopy above was a spectacular snow capped mountain peak. A small chain of lesser peaks could be seen from their angle, going North.
In the spots that could be seen though the dense foliage, shimmering light bled through, a telltale sign to the fox that a body of water was reflecting the sunlight towards them.
It wasn't too much longer until a path was found, wide and well traveled, even if it looked unused for quite a few years. The ground had overgrowth lining the edges of the path from years of disuse, but there were clear signs that the dirt had been repeated walked upon enough by many different mammals of all sizes to leave a clear cut indentation in the land.
Following the path at nearly a right angle to their previous route, they found it exited the dense marshy forests…
Into a wide opening that showed the the majesty of what they were making their way towards. They were now on the edge of a large body of water, looking like a massive lake or bay that wrapped around a strangely shaped peninsula. Directly across the water from their position, which appeared to be the closest point between the outland and inland, was a dense collection of islands with massive trees sprouting upwards from the water and the land.
The most hopeful part towards their end was the massive bridge that lay there, wide and well built, ancient in its appearance, but robust in construction. It stretched the possibly hundreds of feet from their side of the water to the other.
"Any reason we should delay the inevitable?" Nicholas asked Bogo, the bull shifting nervously, as did other mammals.
"No turning back now," he mumbled half heartedly, powering forward with a nod to the rest of the group. All of them readjusted the various items they carried and resumed the resigned shuffle towards uncertainty.
It was a long walk across the water, but beautiful nonetheless. The bridge went deep into the area with the large trees, before properly connecting with a larger island further in, an old road of sorts greeting their paws and hooves. It curved somewhat south, towards the expected direction that they all thought should lead to the base of the mountain.
There were small structures resembling half constructed battlements and armories, telling the tod that this was likely the outer borders of the city, being its most defensible position. The massive trees around them provided ample cover from the sun, while also being a vastly helpful and natural barrier towards incoming forces, both natural disaster and unnatural.
It wasn't until entering the central domain of the city that their fears were met almost unexpectedly with what had been assumed.
The massive trees thinned out, leading the group into a more centric area that most resembled what was once a thriving hub of a city built at the base of the mountain beyond.
Now though… the city was a ghost of its former self. The roads were well intact, but the buildings surrounding them were destroyed, burned, and in different states of decay. Some structures were being overgrown with vines and more invasive plants.
The ram wasn't lying it seemed. The entire city was razed to the ground, with everything in it of value being raided or simply decimated. The damage stretched quite a ways, with the once great city looking as if it stretched for much of the peninsula.
"It must have taken a massive army to do this," Judith spoke monotonously in a low tone. The red fox could only really nod in tepid agreement, as all of them ventured further into the city and closer to the base of the mountain. Their goal now lie in getting to this so-called monastery on or in the mountain.
Little time passed as they easily navigated their way towards the most prominent landmark in the area, with a couple mammals pointing out a rising trail of smoke from an odd stone structure embedded within the mountain side. It stood a couple of stories tall, looked like it was built into the mountain itself and had a long trail of steps going up to it, rising several stories before reaching the front gate.
"I wonder if that used to be some sort of acropolis to hide stores in," the doe wondered aloud. "I could see an old city such as this…"
"OOOOOMMMMM."
The odd interruption caused the entire group to nervously jolt at the sound and look around frantically. There appeared to be nothing worthy of note until they heard the same sound as before.
"OOOOOMMMMM."
Meeko craned his gaze upwards, squinting and then widening his eyes as he spotted something he thought might have been the source of the noise.
"Up there," the raccoon called out, pointing a paw towards a half standing building with a vast majority of the walls knocked down and a mammal sitting in a strange position upon the second floor of what was left.
Nicholas took a long look at the mammal, unsure what to make of it. He hadn't met enough to be sure straight from memory, but he was growing increasingly more certain that the being was a yak, though this one appeared far more unkempt than even the most homely mammals he had ever met. A large portion of his fur was matted and greasy looking, most prominently that which was on his head, seeing as a cloud of flies surrounded it.
"OOOOOMMMMM," the mammal belted out once again.
"Hey! Hello!" Judith began to call, much to the surprise of a few, who were somewhat unsure whether they should draw this particular mammal's attention.
The yak stirred from his reverie and stood up, causing the bunny to turn away her gaze, along with a few others, upon realizing the mammal wasn't wearing any garments.
He parted his mussed fur on his head, giving the group a hard stare, a bright smile spreading across his features.
"Well look at that," he spoke in a soft and rather carefree tone. "It's been a long time since I've seen anything other than sheep around here. What brings all of you out here?"
"Before that," started the buffalo, "you mind telling us why you're naked?"
"I'm a naturalist," the yak spoke plainly, shrugging, as if it were the most obvious reasoning in the world.
Bogo nodded absent-mindedly, choosing to let the inquiry go at that, then cleared his throat in an attempt to steer the conversation elsewhere.
"Follow-up question then… Who are you?"
"Oh uh fer sure… Yax. I'm Yax."
HA! You thought I was gonna introduce Dawn Bellewether huh?
Bahahahaha!... well I guess that could still happen but meh.
Anyhow, I think it's best to say that I don't plan on her being in this. Not much point and might seem strangely repetitive to have her become a villain. at least in this respect. I have other machinations I plan to unveil and it's been a long time coming. I do hope you all find it clever and well reasoned.
As for reviews... it's been a long time and I think a belated "Thank you for your support" should cover it for now. (Plus... on a lazy note, it's currently like 2 am ish for me and coming up with replies sounds too time consuming as it stands. haha.)
Until next time, It's been a hustle, Sweethearts.