CHAPTER 07_THE BEAST (WITH FANGS AND LOTS OF SLOBBER)
"Boldhold is under attack!" Marcus shouted to Shinji from the door of the Adventurers' Guild.
Shinji nodded in acknowledgement and turned to Joyce. "I'll take this commission, please. But it will have to wait until the attack is over."
Joyce simply smiled happily and nodded while fluttered her eyelashes in acknowledgement. Shinji didn't waste any time, he rushed outside with Marcus, with the din of bells being rung, horns being blown signalling an attack, people yelling incoherently and unadulterated chaos hitting him square in the face. Boldhold might have been a fortress, but it was no Tokyo-3. Many ordinary folk were running towards the castle carrying whatever they could seeking shelter, though many people who were armed were running in the opposite direction towards the walls.
Some of Shinji's fellow adventurers also came outside looking for a fight. They were armed with various weapons, swords, claymores, bows and even a shuriken or two. They too, departed for the walls.
Marcus jumped on a horse that had been waiting patiently by his side and pulled Shinji up along with him. As this was the first time Shinji had even seen a horse, there was a small part of him that wondered whether this mode of transportation would result in a smelly and premature death. Thinking about it, he much preferred Misato's maniacal driving compared to galloping down cobbled streets on Marcus' horse.
"What are we getting attacked by Marcus?" shouted Shinji over the din, trying to distract himself from the present danger. Must not run away or fall off. Must not run away or fall off…
"Renee and I aren't sure, but the forward scouts down the mountain lit the sequential signal flares and they're rushing back as quickly as they can while delaying the attack."
"Can you get me to Unit One? Maybe I can help."
"Right, I'll try and find a way. But this might be a hell of a trip if you do," shouted Marcus back as he concentrated on not trampling some poor civilians. "I've heard there are some secret tunnels around here running through the caves in the mountains. We might be able to get you there that way."
There wasn't much else to say to each other as they rode as quickly as they could towards the city wall with all the other defenders.
\
On top of the outer wall of Boldhold, Marshal Mansell Boncourage was assembling his defence. His armoured archers had taken up posts, arrows at the ready. Each of them carried longswords for melee combat too, though Boncourage hoped they wouldn't be needed this day. Behind them, the logistics of supplying all the soldiers on the wall with plentiful ammunition was in full swing with buckets of quivers being hoisted up from their stores.
Mules pulled massive wooden trebuchets out from where they'd been parked. A mix of men and horses pulled carts of massive stones destined to become ballistic missiles behind the trebuchets.
Boncourage inspected his troops as they made ready for battle. It had been some decades since anyone was foolhardy enough to attack Boldhold. The valley and mountains were a death trap. Considering the number of archers he'd stationed along the only path up to the city, he expected the attacking army to be thinned out somewhat by the time they arrived.
And that was when he saw it. Mansell Boncourage was not a cowardly man. He had fought alongside Summerise and other city states in the Qalone Wars against Gerard the Unhinged's massive army and won, and though his auburn hair was now tinged with grey, he continued to lead from the front and even taught combat to the current generation of Boldhold's soldiers. But this sight coming up the mountain path chilled him to the bone.
A horde of pointy-eared, snarly kobolds armed with miniature swords, hammers and bows hauled siege weapons designed to allow them to climb up Boldhold's walls along the pass behind them, even more kobolds brought up the rear. There had to have been thousands upon thousands of the critters. Boncourage had never seen so many of them before. The Qalone Wars, as devastating as they were, had never involved so many creatures or people.
"Archers! Attention! Our foe for today has been sighted! Stand ready, but do not fire until the order has been given!" he shouted triumphantly. "We are of Boldhold! We are hewn from the rock and the stone of the Veymont which stands behind us! We will not break! We will not crack! No surrender, no retreat!"
All along the wall, the roar of the defenders rang true and deep, echoing along the valley walls. If the kobolds felt intimidated, then they showed no sign of it. Their march did not let up and their siege weapons trundled ever closer.
"Trebuchet teams, fire at will! Aim for the ladders before they get here!" Boncourage shouted down to the crews. They'd just finished setting up and loading the first rounds. Their fire controllers directed minute adjustments to their aiming and then, without any ceremony, cleared the trebuchets to fire. The projectiles the crews had loaded were spherical rocks covered with tar and set alight. The sight of them being flung by the trebuchets warmed the cockles of Boncourage's heart.
The first barrage landed amidst the kobold horde. Those who paid attention had scattered before the stones landed, while the less fortunate met their ends. The rocks continued the path of destruction as they rolled down the hill, smashing some of the siege weapons and crushing anything in their way. They kept rolling, smashing into the valley walls like bowling balls hitting bumper cushions.
A second barrage was fired at a lower angle. The trebuchets had been loaded this time with hundreds of small rocks, which dispersed as soon as they left the pouches and smashed into the oncoming horde. This had the effect of taking out many of the kobolds in the advanced party. As the third barrage was being prepared, a deep melancholy wolf's howl filled the valley. It was even louder than the defenders' roar.
"What in the hells was that?!" shouted Boncourage.
His lieutenants had no answer. But the sound had given the defenders a second thought. Their cadence of firing and reloading the trebuchets slowed for just a few seconds, but they remembered their jobs and started loading their weapons of war again.
Another barrage of loose stones and rocks were fired by the trebuchets, the projectiles smashing into more unfortunate kobolds. But it wasn't enough. The horde simply reformed around their fallen and continued to advance.
As Boncourage's soldiers continued the fight, Templar-Commander Redwood arrived at the top of the wall. "Marshal, would you like some help up here?"
Boncourage looked at his former student; she had grown tall, strong in spirit and powerful in her art. "I'll take whatever help I can get Renee. Thanks for offering."
"I brought one more of your students up here with me," Renee said, stepping aside and revealing another young woman dressed in gilded furs and armed with a recurve bow. Her light blue eyes were framed with brilliant red hair were striking, as was her pretty face. "She insisted on coming. I couldn't exactly deny her."
"Your Excellence," said Boncourage, bowing to the younger woman.
"Marshal," said his queen quietly and with little emotion. "I would also show my worth in battle."
Boncourage nodded his approval and smiled. "Alright you two. Ready your weapons. Tonight, we…"
He never finished that sentence because that was when a two headed wolf as tall as the wall bounded into view, heads snarling and their eyes glowing red with fury.
"Shit," said everyone stationed on the wall simultaneously.
/
"Marcus, are you sure this is safe?" asked Shinji as he stared at the height from which he was expected to be lowered on a rope to the ground where Unit One had been hidden out of sight.
Shinji's heart had already threatened to escape from his body and hide in his bed in Summerise during the gallop through the icy cave passages, led by one of Boldhold's scout archers. Marcus managed to find one of Boncourage's archers and demanded he guide them through the hidden tunnel to get here. Marcus' decision to ride a horse through the tunnel was in fact scarier than Misato's driving ever could be. Some of the Summerisian soldiers met them there shortly after they themselves sprinted along the tunnel, following the sight of their handsome leader riding off amidst the chaos in the town.
"It's safe enough Shinji. And – ", a howl rumbled through the mountains, drawing chills down Shinji's spine. What was that? " – this is the only way down there unless you want to fight through a horde of angry floppy eared little creatures with pointy teeth," said Marcus as he tied Shinji into the apparatus. To be fair, the apparatus had the look of being well maintained, and had been installed there for this very purpose. It seemed as if Marshal Boncourage had thought of using any advantage available to him to defend Boldhold.
"Plus, some of my soldiers have already gone down there ahead of you," Marcus said assuredly. Marcus looked over the edge of the rock face. He gave a thumbs up to his men down there. "We'll follow you into the fray once you've punched a hole in the horde."
Shinji nodded. He'd boarded Unit One while flying on a plane before and dropped from altitude to intercept the malfunctioning discount Evangelion with a nuclear bomb on its back. Being lowered down a sheer icy cliff slowly and carefully was not high on the list of dangerous things he'd ever faced. It was probably less stressful than looking his father in the face for even a second.
Marcus and a few of his seemingly cloned soldiers hoisted Shinji down carefully, but at a pace that could be considered brisk. Shinji resisted the urge to look down at the ground, instead clutching at the rope tightly and repeating to himself that he must not run away and must not let go or else he would end up being a Shinji-shaped pancake at the end of the drop.
Quicker than he anticipated, Shinji's feet touched the safety and solidity of ground. Seeing that the alcove in which Unit One was clear and heavily guarded by Marcus' troops, he rushed into the Evangelion and began the start-up sequence.
[Hello son, are we going home already? I thought this was a two-week trip?]
"Hi mother, the castle is under attack and I'm going to help them. Hopefully we don't need to resort to any more unconventional tactics."
[I hope so too. But you've probably just jinxed it you know.]
"Alright, I think I'm ready to go."
[Let's do this!]
/
The two-headed wolf was staring at Boncourage and his Queen with the rage of a thousand suns. This was emphasised by the red glow in the eyes, which Boncourage, Redwood and Queen Sergevague recognised was the product of powerful dark magic. There was only one person capable of finding and enslaving such a large beast with magic; it had to be Gerard the Unhinged.
The two-headed wolf stopped as the mountain walls widened out, snarling and dropping slobber on the ground. The kobolds continued to flow around its enormous grey paws and the pepper-coloured fur along its back rippled in the cold wind. It growled menacingly as it stared at the wall, its defenders and the puny weapons arrayed against it.
Both heads took a deep breath and howled in perfect harmony, a haunting tone amplified by the mountain stone. Each and every human in Boldhold could feel the sound echoing in their chests, speeding up their hearts with fear, filling their heads with the urge to run and run and run, as far away as possible.
"Steel yourselves against Gemini Lupus!" shouted Boncourage to his defenders. He was glad to see Redwood and Sergevague had not flinched. He had taught them well. "We must not falter, brave men and women of Boldhold! Our friends from Summerise are here! Our Queen is here! We will prevail against this foul beast!"
Boncourage drew his sword with his right hand and a horn with his left. He also took a deep breath and blew into the horn in answer to the Gemini Lupus' howl. A baritone tremor reverberated around the valley, defiant against the wolf and the army marching towards the wall. This time it was the marching kobold army that flinched at the sound.
"Archers! Volley fire!"
The archers along the wall let loose a barrage of arrows into the air, as they reached the zenith of their flight, Redwood chanted and imbued every arrowhead with fire. The arrowheads slammed into the horde of kobolds and an inferno was lit among them as the imbued energy exploded with brilliant sparks and embers, sowing chaos and destruction.
The kobolds at the front faltered, and a second fire-imbued volley of arrows was loosed from the wall in quick succession. The attackers knew what was coming, and some broke and tried to retreat into the crowd. The retreating kobolds were stopped in their tracks as those behind them pushed on. Some were trampled, some gave up and accepted their fate as the second volley exploded among them.
The third volley was being prepared when the gargantuan two headed wolf charged the wall. It was surprisingly quick, even from a standstill. It accelerated so quickly that it trampled even more of its kobold companions underfoot without even noticing.
"Fire at the wolf! Fire at the wolf! Aim for its eyes!" bellowed Boncourage. Beside him, Queen Sergevague started drawing runes and chanting. Whatever she was doing it was likely to be powerful, considering how long it was taking her to complete the spell. Meanwhile, Redwood was imbuing every arrow she could with explosive magic by drawing runes quickly and chanting the spell. As the wolf bore down on them, she switched tactics and summoned an enormous fireball and aimed it at the wolf's centre of mass.
The fireball completely missed its target, as the wolf jumped above it. Redwood, along with all the defenders, could not quite reconcile the sight of an enormous two-headed wolf jumping high above a fireball, furious, snarling, and dropping slobber accompanied by bad dog-breath on them from above. They were saying their last prayers, until a massive fist made of ice and air slammed into the wolf, propelling it back into the kobold horde.
Gemini Lupus landed with a hollow thud cushioned by some unfortunate little attackers below it. It wasted no time in getting back up, shaking its heads and then charging again. Redwood saw that Queen Sergevague was panting, with one knee on the stone floor. Evidently, summoning the one ice fist took a lot out of her.
The defenders took the short respite as an opportunity to let loose another volley of arrows, not caring about what they hit, so long as they hit something. They had to make the enemy pay for every little bit of ground taken. Redwood didn't have time to prepare any elemental imbuement now. Instead, she summoned and launched another fireball, shattering an approaching siege weapon and spraying the surrounding area with burning shrapnel.
Unfortunately, Gemini Lupus had recovered from the shock of being smashed by a giant magical fist of ice and was now making a second charge against the wall. The kobolds had learned after the first charge that they needed to make way or else.
Boncourage looked at his two favourite students, thinking this would definitely be the end. Queen Sergevague was still panting, but making her best effort at summoning another fist, if only to delay the inevitable for another minute. Redwood was launching fireballs left right and centre, but the wolf was too quick for them. Even arrows deflected off the thick fur, making negligible impact on proceedings.
That was, until a purple and green blur barrelled into the wolf.
/
Shinji was breathing hard. He almost didn't make it in time to save Renee and Marshall Boncourage. But he felt a sense of absolute relief when he felt Unit One's right shoulder pylon make contact with the wolf. He was even impressed when said wolf careened into the mountainous terrain with a satisfying thud before it bounced off.
Nearly a home run, is that what they say?
His thoughts were rudely interrupted by a new feeling of mild pressure coming from his feet. He looked down, to see hundreds of kobolds trying to make new homes for their swords in Unit One's shoes. It wasn't working, but Shinji being the mopey sweetheart that he was, thought that they should be given points for their indomitable perseverance. Those points were distributed fairly and evenly, as he simply kicked the kobolds away. He couldn't take the time to be cautious in battle. The wolf was definitely the bigger threat. Despite taking two massive hits, it was getting up, albeit a little gingerly and searching for its newest opponent.
It didn't take long for Unit One to become the centre of its attention. After all, there was only one other giant monster on the field. The wolf's heads growled in unison, brilliant ruby eyes glowering at Shinji from a distance. There was no warning as it charged, not a howl or a huff. It just came at Unit One, like a demon possessed. In response, Shinji simple stood his ground and activated the progressive knife, letting it hum its baleful song.
Shinji braced himself for the impact of a giant wolf smashing into Unit One. He didn't have much of a plan. He knew the wolf was quick, but else did it have in its arsenal?
Right. It has two heads full of teeth. That's what else it has. Both heads bit down on Unit One's left arm, the sympathetic pain coursing through him. Thankfully most of the area on which the mouths bit was well armoured. But there was still a lot of barely protected arm being chewed on enthusiastically.
Thankfully, the hand holding the progressive knife was free. Shinji stabbed at the wolf's necks, trying to motivate it to let go. The stabbing elicited howls of pain from the beast and it retreated slightly. Shinji flung his arms about, trying to get the warm and slightly slimey slobber off Unit One's hands.
[Shinji, are we seriously fighting a wolf?]
"Yes, mother we are."
[A wolf with two heads?]
"That's what it looks like..." He could feel some kind of disappointment emanating from the Evangelion's core, the seat of his mother's soul and consciousness.
[They usually say two heads are better than one. But whoever built this alternate reality should know the Ancient Greeks aren't going to press a copyright claim if they just used a three-headed dog.]
"I'm sorry mother I don't know what you mean."
[Never mind. I'll tell you later. So, any ideas on how to beat it?]
"I don't know yet. The progressive knife seems to work well enough. At least this thing won't explode if we shock it."
[Ah yes. Sorry about that, I didn't expect that giant blob would combust so satisfactorily.]
For some reason, the core emitted an aura of excitement at the thought of spontaneous slime combustion. "I...see. So I'm going to fight it conventionally and see what happens."
[Alright Shinji, I'll be here supporting you!]
And so, Shinji and Unit One advanced, meeting the giant wolf on the field of battle. He stabbed, it snarled and chomped. He punched and kicked, it scratched and charged. No matter what amount of damage Shinji and Unit One was able to inflict, the wolf was none the worse for wear.
"Mother, I think the wolf is being magically healed or something. I've stabbed it and punched it so many times it any three-headed wolf should have died, let alone a two-headed one."
[Hmm, I think you're right. It is strange. I doubt even Angel could have survived this amount of punishment.]
"Then I'd better find out what's healing it. It must be close by."
[Then I'll make sure to scan for any kind of unexplained energy, Shinji.]
The wolf, now re-energized, and very angry, started circling. It had figured out that Unit One was no pushover. It wanted to size up the Evangelion, to find a weakness and exploit it. It could no longer rely on brute force. But Shinji couldn't afford to wait. He didn't want to wait. He went on the offensive this time, rushing the wolf before it finished its assessment.
The wolf dodged. It was the obvious thing to do when a giant purple person was charging at full speed towards you. But Shinji had been prepared for that. He followed the wolf, grabbed one of its heads and put all of his effort into the headbutt of the century. It would have been the headbutt of the century if he'd hit the wolf's head straight on. Instead, Unit One's head slid along its cheek, along its oil slick fur, down to the place where the two necks met. There, the attempted headbutt stopped because it met unexpected resistance. The horn on the head of Unit One was now caught on something that seemed to be tied around the creature's neck.
Shinji didn't have time to try and figure out what he'd hit when the wolf took off, trying its level best to shake the colossal purple thing off it. The wolf ran in circles. It tried bucking. It tried slamming Unit One into the mountain. It even tried rapid changes in direction. Shinji wanted to get off the wild ride. His stomach could only take so much. But Unit One's horn was simply stuck.
He cursed whoever thought sticking a pointless horn on its head was a good idea.
[Shinji…that was…me…]
Whoops. "Sorry mother."
[It's alright Shinji. In hindsight, it makes no sense. It wasn't as if the Angels would quake at the sight of a metal alloy horn.]
"There's got to be a way to get out of this!" bemoaned Shinji as his body continued to be shaken and stirred inside the entry plug.
/
Boncourage, Sergevague and Redwood stared mouths agape at the unexpected and very much ignoble spectacle of Unit One being dragged around by a wolf like a raggedy blanket in front of them. The kobold army was in total disarray as Gemini Lupus leapt and roared and smashed its way around the field of battle. There was no point in even firing any arrows off anymore. It would be a total waste of ammunition.
"Knight-Commander Redwood, I am generally impressed by the war machine you brought here in our defence," deadpanned Queen Sergevague. "But I find this demonstration to be somewhat inconsistent with my expectations of the description of the honoured colossus rider's skills. What does one do to help in such circumstances?"
Marshal Boncourage snorted. "In times like these, I would just laugh."
Redwood could only stand there next to her companions holding her face in the palm of her hand.
"Is this the colossus rider's first fight against a giant wolf?" asked Queen Sergevague innocently.
/
[Shinji, you still have the progressive knife in your hand.]
"Right, I do have a progressive knife. It's good for cutting things."
Unit One was still being smashed around by the wolf's wild attempts to rid itself of its unintended passenger. Even worse, the rapid changes in direction and the rollercoaster motion of the wolf bounding up and down was causing him to see stars as a layer above the already wildly gyrating viewscreen. Despite this, he was able to bring the progressive knife up while holding on with Unit One's other hand. He hooked the knife under whatever it was that was wrapped around the Evangelion's horn and the wolf, and turned it back on.
The hum sang out from the progressive knife, instantaneously cutting through whatever it was that held he and Unit One captive.
Instantly, the two giants separated, Unit One rolling to a stop along the ground, and the wolf sliding on all four paws. Shinji examined what he'd pulled off the wolf. It seemed like an oversized, but otherwise innocuous brown leather collar with a brass buckle.
[It can't be that simple, can it?]
"I don't know mother. Can you detect anything on this collar?"
[I can't, Shinji. And there's nothing else around here that could possibly be healing that slobber monster. If this is it, then it's the most boring looking magical item I've ever seen.]
There probably wasn't much else to say about the collar at this point. The Siamese wolf had come to a stop, both heads sniffing the air cautiously, both heads looking around curiously. It looked…confused? Was the collar that Shinji cut off really the key to the whole battle? Certainly, the wolf's eyes were no longer glowing an angry red. Indeed, they looked just like normal eyes now.
[Huh. That was unexpected.]
"I know mother. The collar couldn't possibly have been the thing keeping it in the fight, right?"
[Maybe. Let's not jinx it.]
The wolf spied Unit One. It must have remembered something about the Evangelion, because it reared back and growled. Shinji wasn't sure what to do now. An aggressive, angry wolf being controlled and healed by a magical collar was one thing. He could defend himself against pure aggression. But against an animal that now seemed to have its faculties returned to it, he needed to be more careful. If it was now attacking out of fear, then that was potentially even more dangerous.
[Shinji, have you ever dealt with a dog before?]
"Um…I…no? I have dealt with a warm water penguin. Are they similar?"
[A…warm…penguin? Never mind, you'll have to tell me more later. Right now, we have to deal with the wolf.]
"Alright. What do we do?"
[Now, we show it who's the boss.]
"Uh…"
Shinji never got the time to finish the thought as the wolf ploughed into Unit One, a jarring impact that shook the entire Evangelion – and Shinji – to the bone. He struggled to get his bearings as his head was a sea of abstractly painted stars, and his whole body ached from the hit. The wolf looked somewhat triumphant, if such a thing was even possible, both heads licking their lips like they saw Unit One as prey to be devoured and not an opponent to be fought.
[Shinji, what you need to do is grab both heads by the scruff of their necks and shake them furiously.]
"Wha…mother, how's that going to help things?"
[Dogs and wolves are pack animals. If you can show them you're higher up in the social order, they will be loyal to you.]
"And shaking them by the scruff of their necks will do it?"
Shinji felt the Evangelion shrug figuratively. [It worked for my little fluffball dog when I was young. Don't see how it would be different for a gigantic two-headed wolf.]
"I hope you're right mother."
[Come on son, have a little faith in me. We did defeat that giant slime thing last time…besides, do you really want to kill the wolf? It's so cute!]
Shinji nodded. While his mother's methods (and taste in animals) were unconventional, they definitely seemed to be effective, collateral damage notwithstanding. Unit One crouched in the classic runner's position and launched itself against its foe. Simultaneously, the wolf sprang from its position and charged Unit One. As they met in the middle of the battlefield, now cleared of any and all kobolds, a loud thud could be heard as lupine flesh slammed against metal alloy and ceramic armour plating.
Inside the entry plug, Shinji grunted with the mental effort of fighting against the wolf in this contest of strength. The two giants were not about to show any weakness against each other. With Unit One's arms wrapped around the wolf's torso, he had no way of finding getting the Evangelion's hands to the wolf heads' neck scruffs, let alone having the leverage to shake them vigorously. Instead, Shinji got sick and tired of the standoff. He pushed and pushed and pushed. And the wolf, strong as it was, was no match against humanity's ultimate weapon against the Angels.
Unit One lifted the wolf and slammed it down to the ground, paws in the air, eliciting howls of pain from the giant animal. Shinji held on with both of Unit Ones hands for dear life as he straddled it, trying to pin the wildly thrashing beast down and prevent it from getting the upper hand.
[Shinji! Scratch its tummy!]
"Mother, we're in a life and death struggle against a skyscraper sized wolf with four rows of sharp teeth and you want me to scratch it's tummy?!"
[Just trust me, this will work even better. Dogs love tummy rubs!]
"I-I...can't believe I'm doing this."
Shinji Ikari had wanted a simple life, where he didn't bother anybody, and nobody bothered him. Though he only had self-pity and a nagging loneliness to keep him company, at least he was able to enjoy what simple pleasures he had. Music. Quiet. Even solitude had its perks. He never imagined that when he left his teacher's quiet village and travelled to Tokyo-3 he would fight colossal aliens from hell, and he certainly had never imagined he'd be directing Evangelion Unit One to try and be friends with a similarly sized wolf by scratching its stomach.
But here he was.
And he certainly didn't need to see or compare the analogous anatomy he found down there. But it was definitely hairier than he imagined.
Using one Evangelion arm to secure the wolf's heads, he used the other to gently scratch the wolf's exposed stomach.
/
"Wow. This was not in the list of things I thought I'd see today, let alone in my lifetime," said Marcus as he stared at the spectacle in front of him. His men were also gawking, not quite sure what to make of it.
The kobolds had been driven off in total disarray as the pitched battle between giants unfolded in their midst. His men were safe, after a fashion. If Shinji couldn't stop the wolf's aggression one way or another though, nothing would be safe. Though giving a big angry wolf tummy scritches was not on his list of problem-solving methods.
"Stay at a safe distance, men. If this doesn't work, we'll have to think of some way to help."
His soldiers nodded their assent. They knew their jobs and what they were being called to do. Marcus glanced at the wall, where the soldiers there, including his beloved wife, were also watching. If the wolf managed to defeat Shinji, then they were likely going to have to draw it away from the city. He didn't expect his small band of soldiers would survive such an action.
But for now, all Marcus could do was wait, watch and prepare.
/
[It's working! The wolf is calming down!]
Indeed, it seemed like it was. What had been angry growls and barks emanating from the animal was now turning into satisfied whines and yips. For some reason, Shinji was reminded of the noises Pen Pen would make when he scratched the bird's tummy while it was lying in his lap.
He slowly released the pressure he was using to hold the wolf heads in place. Shinji was nervous that releasing his hold on the heads meant they would immediately resume the biting and the snarling. Which would be sub-optimal for the circumstances.
But that didn't happen. Instead, the wolf also relaxed, though Unit One's scratches continued as a prudent and appropriate risk management method. One of the wolf's hind legs started oscillating in sympathy, Shinji obviously hitting a particularly itchy patch.
Now that the colossal beast wasn't on a murderous rampage, Shinji could understand why dogs were such appealing pets. At least, if they weren't the size of a skyscraper and capable of killing everything around it on a whim. He knew that he'd achieved success in de-escalating the situation. What he didn't know was what to do with the animal afterwards.
A/N
Hello there dear readers, Author here. I hope you're enjoying the story, and my appreciation to one and all. As always, please don't hesitate to leave a review if you like what you read, or even have objections to something I've written.
Episode preview
In the next episode of Wonderful Blessing, Shinji runs outside! Shinji holds an apple. And Shinji gets embarrassed.