VS Brown Bear, Part 1

That was just like a feral animal's growl.

For a moment Brown Bear's body seemed to have quivered, after it she bare her fangs and roared. Her pupils were emitting the light of a Wild Release, and the bear paw that she held onto was oozing Sandstar. However, the light was sharper than usual, and the overflowing Sandstar wasn't the brilliant rainbow color. It was jet black. Murky Sandstar was emitted from Brown Bear's body.

"Brown Bear-sa―"

Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey couldn't comprehend the situation. What her caught her eyes was the shine of the bear paw's claws as it was swung at her.

"Hu―"

Before she realized it, she was already lying down on the floor. Her head throbbing in sharp pain. Getting up, she felt something lukewarm flowing down her forehead.

"Ah―"

You could hear Kaban's scream getting stuck in her throat. In her distorted vision Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey could see Brown Bear as she was growling and staring at her. On the claws of the bear paw, a crimson liquid was stuck.

It was then that Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey had finally understood that she was struck by Brown Bear.

"―Wha-What are you doing, Brown Bear-san?!" Almost screaming it out, African Wild Dog helps Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey out.

Brown Bear couldn't speak but in growls.

"Stop it, Brown Bear! We're not celliens! Aren't Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey and African Wild Dog your close friends?!"

Serval besides Kaban also let out frantic screams. However, Brown Bear just glanced at her and let out a low growl. Witnessing this, as if to protect Kaban, Serval subconsciously took a small step forward assuming a lowered stance.

"Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey-san, are you alright?" African Wild Dog asks Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey while helping her up and eying Brown Bear.

"Sure…" Wiping out the blood she saw, Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey gave a small nod.

If the opponent were a cellien, then she probably would've been able to react to the surprise attack. However, before her stood her ally with whom she fought alongside just a moment ago. A friend who sacrificed herself to protect them. Who would've guessed that they'd have to fight her. The battle-experienced body was seemingly subconsciously trying to deny it, but having received that blow―

"...Brown Bear-san… Why…?"

"GRAAAAAAAAHHHhh!"

Where did the reliable and calm when fighting celliens Brown Bear go? No one could hide their surprise at the girl's primal roar.

At this moment, next to the wild Brown Bear a sound came out and a paper airplane was gliding through the air. Suddenly, Brown Bear stopped growling and followed the plane with her eyes, furrowing her eyebrows.

Serval turned her head around in surprise and saw Kaban in a throwing posture, slightly fidgeting.

"Grrrrr…"

Brown Bear, being interested in the paper airplane as it slipped between the trees of the forest, had begun chasing after it with unsteady footsteps.

"―…Let's get out of here now…!" Having ensured that Brown Bear's attention is taken off of them, Kaban called out to everyone.

Why was their close friend like that? Was it alright to leave her like that? Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey and African Wild Dog have exchanged glances, but with Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey and with no way to deal with it, they've deemed Brown Bear's rescue impossible and followed behind Kaban and Serval towards the bus.

…

[Kaban, where have you been? It is dangerous.]

Having returned to the bus, the party was greeted by the rebooted Boss.

"Lucky-san. Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey-san is injured. Isn't there any spot where she can rest?"

Hearing those words, Boss made a brief electronic sound processing it, before turning to the driver's seat and answering.

[In that case, how about the Lodge? Since it possesses emergency facilities, she will be able to rest safely.]

"But is that alright? We haven't checked out places like the boat or the mountain, and we'd be leaving Brown Bear behind." Serval interjected into the conversation between Kaban and Boss.

Kaban, looking over at African Wild Dog and Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey whose fatigue hasn't come off their faces, gave her answer.

"I'm still worried about the mountain, but… We can investigate the ship at any time. About Brown Bear-san, I'm pretty sure that if we were to go for her now it would only increase the amount of wounded people… Let's go to the lodge so we can calmly discuss about Brown Bear-san. ―Is that alright?"

She sought confirmation from the other two that that's what was at the back of their minds. The two nodded. African Wild Dog in regret, Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey in sorrowful silence. Boss has started driving.

Just what has happened? The cellien is gone, shouldn't it have ended there? The party, driven by fear, wishing to rest headed towards the Lodge―

…

[Go ahead and enter the Lodge. There are some things that I would like to investigate a little more.] No sooner had the bus arrived at the Lodge, Boss said this, and started emitting those beeping sounds once again.

In cases like this Kaban wouldn't receive an answer no matter how many times she called out to it, which she found out from her previous travels. Just like it said, Kaban left Boss in the bus and took every towards the Lodge.

"―Ah. Isn't that…?"

At that moment, the sight of a Friend jumping out of the Lodge caught everyone's eyes.

"Ah! Kaban! Good that you're here! Help us!"

The one who greeted them was Gray Wolf. However, no matter how you looked at it, the air seemed strange. The atmosphere of a rest stop was nowhere to be seen.

"What is it? Are you trying to scare us again?"

Gray Wolf denied Serval's words of suspicion with a straight face.

"I'm not! …A little earlier a strange storm occurred, no? A destructive pitch-black wind blew over―"

"Oh, we hid away from it in the bus. It looked like a sandstorm, and it was quite a spectacle, wasn't it?"

"That the blast has reached this place…" Muttered African Wild Dog behind the conversing Gray Wolf and Serval.

"Flicker-san's state became… strange after she got caught in that storm. We can't communicate with her…" Gray Wolf crosses her arms. "And more surprisingly, she attacks us using Wild Release when we get near."

Everyone held their breath over the contents of her speech.

"That means…!"

"Brown Bear-san was exactly the same!"

With the two hunters reflexively raising their voices, Gray Wolf became surprised as she finally noticed their state.

"Wha-What happened to you? Isn't that a serious injury?"

"We'll explain it later. Anyhow, let's take Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey inside for her to rest, and then we'll calm Campo Flicker-san down."

Getting the distraught Gray Wolf back on track, Kaban calmly explained her thoughts.

Brown Bear's and Campo Flicker's transformations. The Sandstar Raw storm.

To rid her mind of the building up of bad feelings, Kaban lightly shook her head.

Hello, this is PoGu. We have finally reached the part everyone was waiting for: blood and feral Friends. It should be noted that this fanfic had started in April 9th 2017 and ended in June 29th 2018, so way before season 2.

Anyway, since FF doesn't like any kind of link anywhere, I'll instead leave directions on how to find the original work.

First method is to search for "「けもの」の本能" and find the link that leads you to a Japanese site called "kakuyomu".

Alternatively, you can go to the kakuyomu site and add "/works/1177354054882921926" to the domain.