Chapter 3: Burdens
"Hey Jack, it's been a while."
The labrador heart began to race as he gasped for air.
"... Arthur?"
The room went dead silent as the officers watched the two dogs stare at each other.
Jack began to pant as he heard his own heartbeat get louder and louder. The officer quickly stepped in to see if the labrador was alright after he started to sweat.
"Jack, JACK! Can you hear me?" Detective Doyle asked.
Jack didn't answer. He instead continued staring at Arthur before grabbing a hold of his arms. He then started to pant even harder as tears began to form under his eyes.
Arthur realized what was happening and reached out. "Jack, are you-"
Before he could do anything however, the police officers pulled him back. Detective Doyle then got in front of the labrador and firmly grabbed his shoulders.
"Jack, look at me," the buffalo called out. "You're safe, ok. No one will hurt you. Just look at me and breathe the way I do."
Jack, despite not answering, did as he was told. He then took several deep breaths the same way the detective did until he was finally able to breathe normally again.
"De… Detective… I-"
"It's alright son, just try to calm yourself down, then we can talk," the herbivore said in a comforting tone.
Jack took another deep breath before warily nodding to the older animal. Detective Doyle then stepped out of the way so Jack and Arthur could talk face to face.
Arthur, seeing that Jack was ready, took a step forward, only to be stopped by the leopard officer again.
"You talk from back here," the large feline said in a stern manner.
"Ok," Arthur replied before turning to Jack. "Jack, I know how this must feel but-"
"No! You don't," Jack barked, interrupting the dog that nearly took his life.
"Don't say that you 'know how I feel' or 'I understand you'. You already fooled me once with those words and I promise it won't happen again."
The labrador started to growl. "Why are you here? Haven't you done enough already? What more do you want from me?"
Arthur looked down, his ears folded back and his tail drooped. "Listen, I know you must hate me. I know that-"
"HATE?! Hate doesn't even begin to describe how I feel," Jack shouted as more tears began to form.
"You USED me!"
"You took advantage of me when I was vulnerable and tricked me into thinking that I had finally found a safe place."
"Worst of all, you tried to kill one of the only real friends I have, just because he was a wolf. Now you're here, talking to me as if none of it happened. So tell me, why should I listen to anything you have to say?"
"Jack… I-," Arthur grit his fists, trying his best to hold himself back. "You're right Jack. I did horrible things and I know I have no right to talk to you, but I… I wanted to say that… I'm sorry."
Jack froze. He was both surprised and shocked by the apology. However, that shock quickly turned to anger as he started to growl even louder than before.
"Sorry… SORRY?!" Jack shouted. "You think that saying sorry is gonna make me forgive you?!"
"Jack, please calm down," Detective Doyle said as he was forced to hold the yellow furred canine back.
"What about all the other dogs you roped into your gang? Your brother you so readily threw away? What about Legosi who you tried to MURDER!" Jack yelled, becoming more and more hysterical.
"Jack, please, let me explain," the husky pleaded.
"NO!" Jack yelled. "GET OUT OF HERE! I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!"
"That's enough Jack!" the buffalo officer shouted as he tried to restrain the carnivore. "Officer Mosko, get him out of here!"
"Yes sir!" the leopard responded.
"Wait! I still need to talk to him!" Arthur said as he was being dragged out.
"Well he doesn't want to talk to you," Officer Mosko answered.
As the two left the room, Detective Doyle let go of Jack, causing the labrador to fall to his hands and knees. The labrador then started to cry as he felt a sharp pain on the side of his stomach. He held his side tightly as he continued to cry while the buffalo did what he could to comfort him.
Meanwhile, Legosi had gotten to work on his assignment alongside Kai. They were tasked with setting up the cables that ran underneath the stage for both the floor lights and fog machine.
The two were working well as usual, however Legosi couldn't let go of what he was feeling earlier. Kai assured him that he was just being paranoid and that he wouldn't leave the wolf's side if it helped him feel better. Yet, even with Kai staying close, he could still feel that someone was watching them and more specifically him.
"Kai, I know I've asked this already but, are you sure you don't feel like something's wrong?" the larger carnivore asked.
"Not really Legosi," Kai replied. "I mean, I guess the atmosphere around the club has changed, but that could be anything. Maybe you're just nervous because we haven't seen that jackass, Louis, around."
"And really, what gives with that?" the mongoose asked. "Dude just ups and disappears on us without a word and we still haven't heard anything about him. It's been what, two months? Like, where is he, did he drop out or something?"
Legosi shook his head. "I don't know. No one's seen him since the festival and I'm a little worried. You don't think something happened to him do you?"
"Heh, trust me dude, we are not that lucky," Kai joked as he patted Legosi on the back. "Now come on Sir Wags-a-lot, let's finish up so we can get something to eat. I can hear your stomach growling from across the room."
Legosi let out a small smile as his tail began to sway back and forth. "Yea, alright. Just, let me know if something seems off, even a little."
The mongoose nodded and the two carnivores got back to work. They set up the cables and connections as instructed, but also jumped ahead a bit and set up some of the props since they were using the same ones as last time. The Drama club voted to use Legosi's background from last time as well since everyone agreed it captured the feeling of Adler's final battle perfectly.
With everything done, Legosi and Kai headed back to the club room to report their work, only to see everyone gathered around the club adviser.
"Ahh, Legosi, Kai, glad you're back," the teacher said to them. "Please, join the others for a moment."
"Is something wrong?" the wolf asked.
"No, not at all. It's quite the opposite in fact," the teacher replied.
"What do you mean?" Kai asked in confusion.
"Get this Kai, it turns out we're getting a new club member," Kibi said excitedly.
"Really?" Legosi asked, his tail wagging excitedly.
"Well I guess we had to find a replacement for señor antlers sooner or later," Kai said with a deadpan face.
The teacher shook his head. "None of that Kai. Our new member isn't here to replace Louis. He is his own person and should be treated as such."
"Um… excuse me," Els said with a raised hand, causing everyone to look at her. "Speaking of Louis, do you know where he is? It's been two months and we still haven't heard anything."
"Yea, what's up with that?" Fudge asked.
"As much as I love how quiet it's been, things feel weird without Louis yelling at us," Sheila added.
"It really is quite strange of him to just leave the way he did," Dom remarked.
"Alright, that's enough," the teacher said while motioning for everyone to calm down.
"What has been going on with Louis is another matter I already planned to discuss. I simply wanted to wait for our new member to arrive first, so that he too is aware of our situation."
"So then where is he?" Bill asked in an annoyed tone. "Why isn't he here yet and why wait till the end of club hours to come? Did he just want to get out of doing work on his first day or something?"
The club adviser let out a sigh. "No Bill, that isn't the case."
He then turned to the rest of the club, Legosi and Kai joining Dom, Fudge, and Kibi on the left. "You see everyone, our new student is also a transfer student. As such, he needed to speak with principal Gon about a few things before he could join us. In fact, it was Gon himself that informed me of this."
"I guess that makes sense," Fudge said. "If he's a transfer student, then the principal would probably have to explain a lot of the stuff that's been happening and what they might expect."
"You mean like crazy gangs with vendettas or how two members of the club he wants to join are gone?" Bill asked nonchalantly.
"BILL!" Els yelled in shock.
"What, you know it's true," Bill responded as he crossed his arms. "It's been months, I think it's time we stop dancing around it and just admit it. We lost a member and now we have to live with how that's gonna be a factor in what people think when they join the club."
Everyone looked to the side, unable to respond to the tiger's words. That is until Legosi stepped up, surprising everyone.
"I uh… I agree with Bill," He said in a nervous voice.
The entire club, including the teacher, were shocked to hear this and stared at the awkward wolf, waiting for him to explain himself.
Legosi began to sweat as he suddenly felt like he was bearing the weight of the world. He could hear his heart begin to race and wanted to run away again. As he looked around, he saw Dom give a reassuring smile and a thumbs up. This gave Legosi the resolve he needed. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and spoke.
"W-What I mean is… Bill is right that we are going to be dealing with a lot because of everything that's happened, but I don't think it has to be a bad thing," he explained.
"I think we should just keep doing what we've been doing. Keep putting on great performances and show everyone that we are determined to never let what happened to Tem happen to anyone else."
"Show them that by working together, we can overcome what's happened and show them that this club can be a place where carnivores and herbivores can work together peacefully and even be friends. After all, isn't that what this club was made for?"
Everyone looked at each other and smiled.
"He's right!" Kibi called out. "The reason I love this club is because it helped me become friends with guys like Legosi and Kai.
"Here, here, well said Legosi," the teacher cheered.
"I'd hate to admit it, but being in this club is a hell of a lot better than dealing with my roommate," Kai joked.
"I feel the same way," Juno barked.
"Heh, well, you guys heard the mutt," Bill said cheerfully. "Today might be over, but we still have a lot of work to do if we wanna get this show on the road."
"Right!" everyone cheered.
As the club members were getting excited they heard a knock on the door. They turned to face the door and saw a male dall sheep wearing the school's uniform walk in. His wool was white, he had large horns and he was also tall for his species. He was also very attractive, something that everyone noticed immediately.
"Huh, so this is the famous 'Drama Club' I've heard so much about?" the sheep said as he looked at everyone, slowly gauging them to see how they would react. "It seems the rumors about this club having many different animals in it are true."
The new student flamboyantly flipped some of his head wool out of his face and gave the carnivores a flirtatious smile.
"Though I must say, I didn't think there would be this many carnivores here. Quite the ungly bunch, aren't you? And the ratio is one to one between the two types of animals. Why, with this little set up, each carnivore is able to eat one herbivore each. It's so nice that the club gives you your own meal."
The room goes silent. The herbivores are shocked by this newcomer's attitude while the carnivores, except Legosi, who ran to the other side of the room, are too stunned and angry about those comments to say anything.
"HEY YOU!" Aoba yelled. "Just what the heck is your problem? Who are you and why are you here, other than to cause trouble I mean?!"
The dall sheep smiled and bowed his head. "Ah, where are my manners? I am pina and I'm your new club member," he said in a playful manner.
The room froze again.
"Are you serious?!" Fudge shouted angrily. The red panda turned to the teacher. "Hey teach, he's gotta be joking right? No way in hell would you let someone like him into our club."
The teacher cleared his throat. "I'm afraid that what he says is true. As of today, Pina here will be our newest member and will be on the actor's team."
"WHAT!" the actors yelled in both surprise and frustration.
"NO WAY! ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Bill yelled.
"Teacher, with all due respect, you can't possibly ask us to work with someone like this," Juno said with concern.
Pina walked up to them and smiled. "Aww, no need to worry you two. Sure you may not be the most attractive, but I can tell you all work together well enough. I have no doubts that my experience in this club will be like nothing else."
Everyone, including the herbivores scowled at the new team member. Despite this, Pina didn't notice them or at least pretended not to notice as he found himself staring at a certain someone who obviously didn't want to get involved.
"Well hello there," the dall sheep said as he approached Legosi."What's wrong, big guy, scared of little ol' me?"
"N-No," Legosi answered nervously as his ears folded back. "I uh… I just have a lot of stuff to put away."
"Do you now?" Pina asked before touching Legosi's arms. "My, what strong arms you have. Looks like I was wrong. No way such a big strong carnivore like you would be scared of me."
Legosi retrieved his arms and took a step back, prompting Pina to get closer to him. The sheep then looked up and smiled.
"Wow, what big ears you have," Pina joked. "Bet you could hear just about anything in the building. Like say… someone being attacked."
Legosi's eyes widened. "W-What do you-"
"And such big teeth you have," Pina said, purposefully cutting off the wolf so he could see inside his mouth. "I bet you could devour just about anyone whole and no one would even know."
Legosi's ears and tail jumped from this comment and he took another step back.
"HEY!" Kai shouted. "Just what the heck are you saying? Are you accusing our friend of something?"
Pina turned his head to the mongoose and smirked. "Oh of course not."
He turned his head back at the wolf. "I'm just saying that my new friend here has such an interesting physique."
The Dall sheep pushed his neck and chin into Legosi's chest while looking up at him. "Truth be told, I actually wouldn't mind being eaten by you."
Legosi's heart began to race as he tried to find a way out of this. Before he could however, Pina put his hand on the wolf's cheek and pointed his gaze back at the smaller animal.
"What's wrong, Legosi?" Pina asked in a flirtatious manner. "Don't you wanna take a bite?"
Legosi's heart raced even faster as Pina's face got close to his. This was so similar to what Louis did all those months ago that he was having flashbacks of the deer yelling at him to bite him.
"NO!" Legosi yelled at the top of his lungs as he pushed Pina to the ground, scaring everyone. The wolf then clenched his fists as tears began to form "I-I… I don't-"
The wolf ran past the dall sheep and the rest of the club, knocking Bill over in the process. Everyone was left stunned and speechless by what just happened. Everyone except for Bill who was recovering from the shove.
The tiger shook his head before pushing himself off the floor. "Hey FuzzButt, you gotta stop ramming into me every time you freak out like that!" Bill yelled at Legosi who had already closed the door and ran off.
Pina, who had already picked himself up, smiled to himself as he brought a hand to his chin. "My, I certainly wasn't expecting a reaction like that. Looks like I was right about my experience with this club being different from the others. Especially now that I have a new toy."
Here's this chapter's secret.
Did you know that Pina is actually a prodigy when it comes to both acting and reading people? He is able to do this by creating a large variety of personalities and seeing how everyone reacts. That being said, being a smug and flamboyant flirt is his actual personality and he loves being able to get a rise out of everyone around him.
