FSE

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Furry Fist - The Fist is Shaking

The gryphon landed on the roof beside the two foxes.

"There is something you should see", he addressed Fauho.

Leading them to the lab, they halted in front of a big black cube. It could have been one of the transparent cages, but was lacking any opening mechanism.

"What do you think this is?"

Fauho touched the cold surface.

He didn't know, what to think of it.

"Did you try breaking it?", he asked.

• "Yes. It is hard enough to resist our claws and we don't know what happens when we completely destroy it"

"I saw you entering. Something wrong?"

Blue came by, followed by some others.

"Oh, that thing", he recognized the cube. "Have you figured it out?"

The wolf stepped closer, staring into the darkness.

His ears suddenly twitched

"Did you just hear that"

• "Hear what?"

Blue frowned.

"Something...inside...", the blue wolf pressed his ear against the cube, but there was no sound to hear.

It was inside his head.

The faces of the surrounding creatures showed wonderment as he put his paws against the material.

Despite not knowing what he was doing, Blue was totally sure he definitely had to do this.

He was tired out from the fighting, but tried to work his magic.

A little flash was all he could accomplish. It was weak and actually not even worth being mentioned.

This tiny flash was enough.

From the edges the light beamed powerful and after a hollow bang the front of the cube started to slowly tilt over.

Blue stepped back from the falling plate and averted his eyes from the blazing brightness coming from inside the cube.

Out of this light a single creature walked with a clacking sound accompanying every step.

A female unicorn came into view, a gentle smile on her face.

This time even Fauho took a deep bow.

She approached Blue, whereupon the wolf bowed even deeper.

As she touched his head, he was practically inflated with holyness. His eyes first shot wide open, and then slowly closed.

An overwhelming good feeling flooded all of his body and mind and instantly gave him back his strength.

"Thank you for rescuing me", she whispered.

Blue wanted to answer something, but he wasn't able to.

The light slowly faded again, while the unicorn approached Fauho, who still examined the floor.

"You don't need to bow before me, Fauho"

The fox'S head shot up.

"I can read your mind" With this Fauho's unspoken questions were acknowledged and answered.

She also must have known their story, which brought the most important question into Fauho's mind. Of course the unicorn knew this question right away.

"I am sorry, but I cannot help you right now. Please stay alive...", saying these words, she went past the fox and gave him a holy touch. Fauho was paralized only for a few moments, but that was enough for the unicorn to disappear.

Everyone involved in this encounter was either amazed or baffled and noone could say a word.

The two foxes and Blue stayed inside the LAB and tried to somehow make sense of what had just happened.

Or at least Fauho and Renardeau did.

The wolf looked rather bewitched.

"She is beautiful"

His thoughts proved to be of a completely different nature.

"And her touch..." His mind came back to reality. "Fauho! She touched you, too - wasn't that just the best feeling one could possibly have?"

Blue seemed to flow over with happiness and couldn't help but jump around to express it.

"Someone's falling in love right now, huh?", Fauho commented to his lover, who showed a frown.

• "Was it really that good? Better than me touching you?"

"You're too cute for jealousy, even if it's fake" Fauho did not give a clear answer. He didn't have one, but luckily he didn't need one.

Renardeau gave a giggle, which Blue rolled his eyes upon.

"Hey, girls! Concentrate or go to a quiet place!"

After saying this, Blue saw two male foxes standing with their hands on their hips and slowly bending forward.

For a moment one could really have thought that there were actually two bratty vulpine females. Granted, they played their roles masterly and their natural tenderness surely helped.

The play climaxed with a yell.

"Who do you call 'Girls'?"

Blue instantly broke into laughter and the foxes joined in.

In these dark times it was like a cure, like balm to stressed minds, to laugh again until tears emerge and the sides feel like busting.

It was pure relief.

Under the forest's cover outside the town walls there wasn't even a smile.

"What have I gotten myself into"

The trembling bundle of fear in the hare's arms was in a miserable condition.

Thoroughly dirty and coarse fur covered a famished fragile body, but whatever had been done to this cub, had left big marks on his soul.

For the first time in his life the tall white lightning of a sword fighter was a loss to deal with the situation.

How to put a child at ease?

Talking could be a good idea, but the hare had no idea what to say, so he remained silent.

He reached out for a touch, at which the cub immediately flinched.

After all there was only one option left for the hare to try.

He relied on his mental skill and went into the cub's mind, bracing himself for whatever awaits him.

Overwhelming horrible memories crashed into the hare's awareness.

The cub could have been born in that chamber, because there were no pictures of anything else.

Cold, dry darkness all around, barely enough food to stay alive and a disgusting fat man. That was the world this young, helpless creature knew for who knows how long.

Even worse than the circumstances was what that man did. The hare recognized him.

When the fake wall moved he came in and often panted audibly. His appearence always marked the beginning of another time of pain.

Pain from kicking the weak body, from hitting it with a number of different items made of wood or metal. Some were round in shape, some had edges and some were thin and flexible. Those hurt the most.

The suffering only ended when the cub fainted.

A few of the memories were different in a very discomforting way.

The human would not approach with an aggressiv behavior. His sweaty face showed an expression that announced evil intentions.

"NO!", the hare yelled in disbelieve as he realized how this scenario would end and fled from the memories.

"Why", he whispered, and pressed the cub's body close against his chest as if to protect him from everything.

Nothing could have prepared the warrior for this.

He now knew the reason for the condition the cub was in and the first solution was already in his head.

A quick death would be the best for this broken soul and the hare was already reaching for his sword, but his hand stopped before even touching it.

He couldn't do it.

It was the highest mercy to put an end to the pain.

He couldn't do it.

He didn't want to do it.

For the sake of life itself and for himself he wanted this cub to live.

Choosing the hard way the hare of course knew well, how hard it would be. His own mind had somehow recovered, but the cub had experienced worse things.

Help was therefore necessary.

The only effective help the hare could give was to suppress all the memories and replace them with the something positive. At least until the cub was strong enough to come to terms with it.

Again the hare concentrated and found his way to enter the cub's mind unnoticed.

He already was facing these terrifying images as he came aware that he didn't know how to actually manage what he wanted to do.

As a one and only remedy the hare did what he had always done. He moved all his attantion to his target and relyed only on his physical strength.

Paradoxically it worked.

Performing a mental skill using bodily strength only defied every kind of logic.

But it worked.

The memories became blurry, lost their shape and colour and finally ended up as nothing more than a diffuse wierd dream.

His muscles still twitched a bit after the warrior had tilted backwards and lied down on his back, panting heavily.

This immense exhaustion was the reason why he didn't like to use this skill and usually avoided using it.

The cub in his arms had stopped shaking, his fear not comlpetely gone, but greatly reduced and now coupled with confusion.

Absorbing the hare's scent and seeing his face, the young feline started to slowly relax. He clung tight to the hare's white fur and after checking his surroundings he drifted into peaceful sleep.

Undefined leftover fears woke him up from time to time, but learning that any threat was gone eventually stopped this.

All the time the hare was watching over the cub in his arms and soothed him whenever he had to.

All the time he was watching, he had a tiny smile of happiness on his face and decided that this entire struggle was worth it and that all the struggle that was jet to come would be totally worth it, too.

From the streets of the town rose the smell of blood.

Those who could still walk did , either to find Renardeau or to look for surviving comrades among the bodies.

Many a loss was mourned at, orphans cried over their parents' death.

The former laughter had died away, once the laughing ones stepped out of the LAB.

"What have I done?"

Thoughts of guilt once again found their way into Fauho's mind. They practically gained a physical form on his face.

"You're too hard with yourself. It's not like you were the one killing them" Renardeau tried his best to smile.

"But I was the one, who led them here to be killed...", anger made the fox clench his fists, "...And I am not even a leader. I was too weak to protect them!"

He punched a near by wall, which crumbled under his strength.

His rage completely vanished again, as his eyes caught a young squirrel.

It was crying in front of an older male of its kind.

Fauho sat down.

"...Your father?"

The answer of course was a nod.

"You sure hate me..."

This time the small head was shaken.

"He said...he fights so I can live...", the squirrel explained, sobbing heartrendingly, "But it hurts so much!"

Fauho was taken by surprise as the squirrel yelled all of a sudden and the fell into his arms to cry into his chest.

The father of the creature in his arms surely was one of the most brave ones he had ever seen.

For himself, it wasn't that hard to fight with his natural weapons, but for a squirrel with a naturally weak body every combat was life threatening.

The confusing point was that Fauho appeared to be the only one thinking all this was a bad idea.

He stood up and the squirrel kept on clinging to him. Holding it tight Fauho started to aimlessly walk around until he almost ran into someone who just came around a corner.

"Finally"

It was the gryphon. He carried in his arms the dragon's body, who was covered with wounds.

Renardeau healed the deadly ones and excused himself to go and heal other injured fighters.

The dragon had still to be supported, but was in control of himself again.

"What do these wounds tell you?", he asked Fauho, who cocked his head, because he didn't quite get it.

"I'll make it more clearly"

He showed a piece of a human blade. With it he slightly cut his own arm.

"That shouldn't happen", Blue commented.

"I don't know how they do it, but I definitely know that we're screwed, when they have weapons like this"

Fauho had fallen silent.

He sat down leaned against a wall and shook his head.

Besides him and the squirrel, there was only Blue by his side.

"Any plans?", the wolf wanted to know.

"Not yet...a rest should be the best right now..."

After a nod the wolf was gone.

Given the sudden silence the squirrel must have stopped crying.

Fauho looked down into big watery eyes.

"Do you plan to stay there? Someone might be looking for you"

The tiny red head was shaken again.

"Daddy was the only one left"

The feeling of powerlessness returned with brutal force and saddened the fox. If he just knew a way to become strong enough...

"Can you...be my daddy?"

That was the last thing Fauho expected to hear right now. Never before in his life had he thought about being a parent.

In this moment however, the imagination of it had something comforting to it...and he somehow felt responsible.

"Are you sure about that? You sure need to be taken care of, but there are others, who are better..."

Resistence was futile.

This little helpless squirrel was stronger than a magically skilled and battle tested fox.

Fauho was convinced and determind.

"Yes. I will try my best"

He hugged the young one gently and stood up

A fox is asked to be the father of a squirrel. Things are starting to be fun in this world - in a really strange way, but still fun.

Slowly the town was filled with life, again.

As the days went by, the injuries healed and disappeared, but left behind reminding scars.

The dead bodies of friends and foes were buried outside the town to prevent ailments and plagues. The blood could not be removed that easily. Dealing with it would have to wait until the next rain.

The new inhabitants developed a chaotic way to live in the town. Someone had found a human food store, and then another one. Everyday the town was searched through for anything useful or interesting.

Strange things were found that way, but less of them were of any actual use. Sometimes Fauho was asked about a thing. None of these were anything special or he had simple forgotten, what they are used for.

One day however, he was alarmed by what a vulpine, younger than himself, brought to Fauho.

It was a bottle with a clear fluid inside.

Fauho sniffed and had to cough. This one thing he remembered well from his human days. Alcohol.

"Did you or anyone else drink it?", Fauho asked, hastily and upset.

The younger fox shook his head and Fauho relaxed.

"Good. Don't do it. It is poison", he started to explain, "It makes your body weak and sick and numbs your mind"

"Why would the humans drink it then?" The younger was rather shocked.

"They're idiots. Now go and tell everyone to throw away everything smelling like that"

The younger fox went off to obey.

Such occasions were rare. Everyone minded one's own buisness, so Fauho spent his time dozing or being with his 'son' and his lover.

It had been a surprise for him that, after introducing Renardeau to the squirrel, the young one was just as happy about having two daddies and seemed to waste no thought about the lack of a mother.

Generally, the creatures of this world maintained a tolerance for almost everything.

Before the humans came, so Blue had told him once, there had of course been killing among them. For the purpose of getting food, it had been and no other reason.

Same gender relationships were no problem for anyone. The same goes for cross species couplings.

In the human society these were reasons good enough to discriminate and kill.

Not in this world.

It was almost like noone really cared about the thoughts and actions of anyone else.

If there was such a thing as a paradise, for Fauho it was this world.

This paradise, so it seemed, had to be conquered first. It had to be like this, because Fauho's urge to get moving again couldn't have a different source.

Being agitated by impatience, he tried to distract himself. He thought about all the creatures he had met and how he liked every one of them without knowing that much about them.

On the more active days Fauho played with his son to beat some time in a nice way.

During one of these activities, a certain hare crossed the fox's mind.

"Hey. You want to meet a good friend of mine?"

Of course the lively squirrel was excited to experience something new.

A moment later three streaks of red lightning flew through the town, the smallest one leading.

The pace the young squirrel held was just fitting for his kind, but surprising for his age. As soon as he was told to go for the near by forest, he had sprinted off.

The town wall blocking the way was less of a problem than Fauho had thought. While the foxes took it with a single jump, the squirrel climbed over it without slowing down.

Fauho had once again dicovered an interesting natural talent.

As the trio reached the forest, they slowed down to a walk and watched for white patches between the wood.

The squirrel had found the tip of an ear peering from behind a big tree and curiously pulled at it.

"That is attached, you know?"

Intending to see who spoke to him, the young one went around the tree and found he was facing the hare in his whiteness. It was a stunning moment.

A single word the squirrel uttered.

"Beautiful"

The hare blinked slowly. Never had he been called beautiful or anything similar.

He showed the foxes a puzzled expression as they approached.

"Why is a squirrel tugging at my ear?", he asked.

"Well", Fauho chuckled, "It practically yells 'Tug me', for some reason. Ecpecially for a child"

"Please stop doing that. It is unpleasent"

The squirrel did as he was asked and instead stared at the enchanting white ears, which would twitch from time to time.

Being stared at was uncomfortable, too for the hare, but at least less than being tugged at.

Fauho noticed the feline in the hare's arms sleeping.

"How did you make him sleep?"

"Nothing special that I did. It probably was pure exhaustion in the end", the lapine lied. Reveiling his mental skills would surely result in avoidable confusion and trouble.

There was something in the way the hare looked at the sleeping cat. Even more, his whole expression was different from what Fauho had seen in the battles before.

Previously hard features of a natural born fighter have been rounded and softened.

Stern and piercing eyes radiated warmth.

Those perfectly shaped muscles were still ready for action every moment, but now with the sole purpose of protecting the young fragile life.

There was only one way to describe these changes: parent like.

Fauho decided to confront the hare.

"You've become soft"

The hare looked up and tried to glare.

He failed, because he knew the fox was right.

"You mean I've become weak..."

"I meant what I said and I did not say weak", Fauho interrupted.

"But I feel weak", the hare protested, "And it is kind of because of him..."

Fauho tried hard to hide a smirk. The hare showed insecurity. Indeed a very rare occurence.

"The only thing you can blame this little creature for is helping you as much as you helped him"

The hare's expression told that he didn't understand.

"You want to care for him"

That was the one single truth about everything in the hare'S mind.

"And if you think that this fact makes you weak, you are simply wrong", Fauho explained and added with a smile, "I am the proof for being the strongest being around here while having a lover and a child"

What he had just heard didn't make much sense to the hare, but he knew it was exactly like that.

He wanted to speak words of thankfulness again and again, but couldn't come up with anything appropriate for what he wanted to express.

Long after his friends had gone he stared into the woods.

'You will certainly be great as a father', Fauho had said just before he went.

The hare was in doubt about that, but would do the best he could.

He closed his eyes and smiled with happiness.

"Well, both are alive", Renardeau summed up the meeting. It was more for himself, because the squirrel still gleamed and Fauho looked like he was trying to figure something out.

"I wonder how long the young one will take to...huh?", at the edge of his field vision he saw a shape, turned towards it and stopped.

"Human", he said.

Indeed, a single male human approached the group of three. Out of nowhere, so it seemed.

"I doubt", he declared, "That you are the strongest being around and instead claim that title for myself"

The foxes stepped close together.

"A single human who speaks our tongue fluently who odviously wants to fight with you. What do you think of this?"

Renardeau seemed caught off guard.

The same went for his lover.

"Could be a trap or simply a very stupid human"

"Neither of those possibilities apply"

A shock went through the vulpine bodies. There is just no way an ordinary human could have heard them talking from that distance.

This was dangerously strange.

"Will you fight now, daddy?"

The squirrel's mind didn't seem to know a different state than excitement.

"I guess I have to", Fauho answered his son, and to the human, "Who are you?"

The human stopped and seemed highly confused, but then picked up a faster pace.

"That is not relevant"

Then the human ran towards Fauho, faster than he had ever seen a human running and a human fist flew towards him, faster than he had ever seen a human fist flying.

It wasn't fast ebough.

The fox stepped aside to avoid being hit and grabbed the attacker by the wrist to stop its movement.

The rest of the human body kept on flying and in the process tilted over backwards so that the body stood horizontally above the ground for a few moments, until the momentum was gone.

Just as gravitation started to pull the human back down, Fauho released his grip, hauled off while turning to face the human and delivered a hard blow into the human's chest crushing him into the ground.

Fauho stepped back a little.

As the human body began to move again, Fauho was beyond confusion.

The human, merely a boy as it turned out, stood up without any shaking, like he just had tripped and knocked the dust from his clothing.

Simply some blood the human coughed up were proof of the punch he had to take.

From the beginning, Fauho had tried to not underestimate his opponent, but he had involuntarily done so despite it.

Wordlessly, the human boy resumed his attack.

He moved even faster, now and Fauho began to have slight trouble blocking punches and kicks from every possible direction.

The one peculiar thing about this fight wasn't the literal chaos of movements or that the human didn't seem to care for the obvious futility of his attacks, but rather that Fauho's counter moves showed absolutely no effect on his opponent.

If this should have going to be a test of stamina, the winner couldn't be predicted, but as interesting as it was to find out, Fauho didn't want to waste more time than he already had.

His speed skipped a few levels and a hail of kicks went down upon the human, who was at his limit and unable to block even a single time.

For each step Fauho took forward he pushed the foe back two steps.

The assault lasted only for a few moments until the fox dodged forward and quickly pushed himself from the ground to deal an almost vertical kick under the human's chin.

The following flight of course ended on the ground again. Just like the last time the human was knocked down, he just stood up again, not showing the slightest twitch.

Fauho was ready for the next round, but he found the human hesitating.

This pause could mean everything and made the fox a little too nervous.

Out of a state of hardest concentration and focus Fauho thrown into dumbfoundedness.

Totally without announcement the human dashed off into the vast lands.

Still Fauho stared after the running one, expecting him to turn around and come back for a surprise attack every moment.

He waited long enough to be absolutely sure. As he finally wasn't able to distinguish the moving spot from the horizon, Fauho allowed himself to relax.

"Wasn't that an interesting encounter?"

Renardeau stepped next to Fauho.

"It indeed was. I hope he won't bring us any more trouble. To avoid panic I suggest we keep his existence secret"

The squirrel hardly heard his father's words. He was just too amazed by his performance, but nodded anyway.

"Just how much trouble could he bring?", something about this situation was making Renardeau uneasy, while the squirrel wasn't caring about the world and only thinking of how awesome his daddy was.

"I have no idea. That boy was no ordinary human and there's just no way to estimate his strength. I don't know, if i could beat him"

They were almost at the town wall again. Just in front of it, they stopped.

"You heard it, too", Fauho established. A clamor was audible from within the town.

While searching through the streets a wolf stumbled into the vulpines. He was healthy and strong, but also terrified.

"He's nuts", the wolf blurted out, "All yelling around and berzerking"

A lupine claw pointed down a street and then its owner stumbled on into the opposite direction.

"I wonder what it is this time. Want to make a guess?"

More creatures came, in a fleeing manner, from a certain direction and finally the troublemaker showed himself.

It was a tall and musceled body that came into view and rose and arm.

"YOU!", he yelled, pointing at Fauho and got ready to run up to the fox. What he did was actually more like stumbling and lurching. That movement told Fauho everything he had to know.

With a sigh he started moving and with a gesture told everyone else to stay back.

The troublemaker turned out to be a deer, a young one, judging from the antlers, which were just rudiments.

Fauho saw a mighty arm hauling off. He clenched his eyes and stood perfectly still as the fist came flying to deliver the blow.

He took it.

The force of course threw Fauho back many feet just up to his lover's feet, who of course let out a cry of horror.

Moaning, Fauho helped himself on his feet again.

"I'm fine", he said and tried to smile to reassure Renardeau. He failed, because his smile was slightly distorted. Due to the punch the left side of his face started to swell and throbbed painfully.

That was one powerful punch.

He faced the deer, his vision slightly blurry, his head filled with pain.

"Are you done?"

The deer's demanour had lost all its former rage, but he was far from being done.

Again the deer started a manual attack. This time Fauho reacted and he did it fast, like it was his habit.

He blocked the attack with his left in a kind of pulling movement and pressed his right palm into the broad muscled chest and gave a shove.

A huge brown body was seen flying by a silent crowd and then landing flat on its back in the middle of the street.

"Take this as a lesson", Fauho announced to the crowd as well as to the fallen giant, "That is what this stuff does to you..."

He was interrupted by heavy snoring.

"That was easy"

He recieved a scorning look from his lover.

"That's what you call easy? You look horrible!"

"Everything is under control"

Fauho got a frown for this.

"What about him?"

The squirrel pointed at the sleeping deer.

"We'll wait until he wakes up again"

Renardeau stepped closer.

"You have experience with these reactions from your past?"

"Way too many...", Fauho had some grim memories about encounters of this kind.

As the watchers disappeared from the scene and the foxes sat down beside the deer leaning against a wall Fauho started to eplain.

"The state he is in is called 'drunk'. It is caused by a poisonous fluid called 'alcohol', which heavily effects one's brain"

Renardeau couldn't care less for all these and further facts.

"Why did you let him hit you?"

His magical touch soothed The pain in Fauho's face. The swelling however, did still deface his features.

"It was necessary. He was obviously angry at me and this was the easiest way I could think of to release his anger"

"Was there really no other way? Maybe one involving you not getting hurt?"

"I could have beaten him down right away but unreleased anger will eventually erupt. He might become a danger for everyone including himself"

"Don't you ever shock me again like that"

The foxes' son, who had observed every single twitch of the sleeping deer until now, gave a sudden sound.

He sneezed, which upon he immediately had his parents attention.

"Isn't that the cutest thing you've ever seen?"

Fauho just wanted to agree, when he felt a sudden sting in his nose and also had to sneeze.

He shuddered and looked up.

"Something hit my nose"

"Your's too?" The squirrel still covered the lower part of his face to not get hit again.

Renardeau just gave a smile.

"Finally..."

A dark, round spot appeared on the ground and was eyed until a second one appeared nearby.

"Of course"

All the new inhabitants of this town looked at the sky to find it full of dark clouds.

A collective sigh of relaxation floated through the streets as the waiting was over.

Water came falling down onto the land in a gentle shower, wetting soil and fur washing the dried blood away from both.

Fauho watched his lover enjoy the rain on his body.

'Lover...', he thought. The little leftover of his human mind was still busy trying to understand the happenings around him. Of course it was futile, but it was persistent.

"Why me? What did I do to deserve your love?"

Renardeau chuckled with a smile.

"Always with the questions...It was you who picked me. Would knowing the reasons for everything change anything?"

Fauho had no reply. Again with only a few words this wondrous fox successfully scattered all of Fauho's worries completely.

"Why haven't I met you earlier?"

"Stop asking already...", Renardeau said and with a smile embraced Fauho and kissed him.

A groaning made them perk up their ears.

The dark, muscled body had begun to move again and was observed as it sat up.

Continuing to groan he rubbed his head.

"Welcome back", Fauho greeted the deer.

His head rose and slowly his shining black eyes widened as he remembered where he was and what he did.

After staring at Fauho in silence for a moment this embodyment of strength buried his face in his paws and started sobbing.

"I'm so sorry...I just...was so angry and...I feel terrible"

"Remember that feeling in case you want to try something else than water again. Now tell me, why were you angry?"

Wrapped in shame and silence the deer looked down.

"We should talk it over, or it could destroy you", Fauho insisted.

Suddenly muscles flexed and heaved their owner up to his enormous height, only to make him turn around sharply and to let him run away through the rain.

"Do we have a problem, now?"

Renardeau looked at Fauho, who himself still followed the running deer with his eyes.

"Not yet", he answered, "But we might get one"

The rain did not last long enough to clean the streets, but after it there were at least two foxes delighted in each other's regained beauty.

This was only until concern occubied Fauho's mind again.

It was inevitable.

"What's next?"

Fauho had no idea.

"Well", he finally said, "Either they come to get their town back or not"

"Yes, these are the two possibilities, but what do we do?"

"How should I know?"

Fauho flung his arms above his head in desperate anger.

"I'm just a boy. Did you seriously expect me to have a plan at hand all the time? I was just making stuff up until now. We're lucky to be even still alive..."

He sunk into Renardeau'S arms.

"Tell me what to do", he whispered, close to tears.

"Get some rest. It's been a busy day"

Sleeping was always a good suggestion, all the more right now.

The grey, cloudy day had begun to end.

As the night went forth the sky cleared and revieled its stars, which Fauho stared at for he could not sleep.

He could not help but worry.

Staying and waiting for the human army would mean to delay his journey and just going bore the risk of leaving the town almost unprotected.

Would he even be able to properly protect his poeple?

He sat up and from the roof he had selected as his usual sleeping place and looked around.

"What should I do?", he whispered as if asking the world itself.

Neither inside of him nor anywhere outside seemed to be an answer.

He noticed Renardeau moving by his side and sitting up as well.

"I think I can't go on" Shame kept him from looking at his lover. It felt like he had just betrayed everyone.

"Then don't", Renardeau said.

"But I have to"

"Who says so? Noone asked you to do anything you did"

Right. Actually, Fauho had no reason for this mission, so he sat there on the roof staring into the night and questioned everything about himself.

"I want to"

That was it. Easy and clear. Giving up was not an option. The decision, however, wasn't made, yet and finding it would trouble Fauho's mind wherever he goes.

Up until now everything had worked out somehow, so this time should be no different.

Eventually the foxes laid sleeping side by side.

For some reason Fauho didn't feel very refreshed in the next morning. He scratched his head while standing up and then stretched with a moan.

"We should sleep on something softer", was his resolution.

As well as the new day he had again to face his dilemma.

His son distracted him by pointing excitedly at the nearby forest. Fauho rubbed his eyes and tried to see what has caused the excitement.

He focused and his view sharpened.

Movement was visible, then shape. He smiled as he identified two figures and one of them being of shining white fur.

He smiled and a glance at his son made any questions unnecessary.

As the hare jumped up the town wall he was already awaited.

His ears started to hypnotise the squirrel's infantile mind immediately after coming into view.

This time something else demanded the child's attantion.

Along with the hare came a male feline of young age. His sand coloured kind was common in these lands, but there was one single thing, which was stunningly special.

Big green eyes, so full of light, they outshined the hare's whiteness.

The squirrel stared right into them.

"So pretty...", he whispered.

This caused the owner of these eyes to whine and to hide halfway behind the white warrior.

"Is he alright?", Fauho asked.

"I hope so...", the hare's recent tasks have worn him out, so it seemed, "At least for now. Time will show, if he will make it..."

His eyes then slowly narrowed.

"What's with the ruckus over there?"

On a roof in the town a group of creatures stood together being visually upset about something.

After a nod towards the hare the foxes were gone.

His landing behind the group caused the same to silence and acknowledge his appearence.

The fox looked into worried faces. Something was wrong.

"How bad is it?"

Instead of an answer Fauho saw arms pointing ahead at the horizon.

Just where earth and sky where supposed to touch was a black band.

"Do I want to know, what that is?"

It was at hand. A large humber of human obviously headed this way.

The group grew with everyone watching the black band slowly rolling forward.

A well known woosh from behind announced the gryphon.

"Well, this is something", he said, "I've never seen this many living creatures in one place"

The avian's unmatched eye-sight must have made this view a terrifying one.

It didn't show a bit.

"This is going to be hard. It was nice meeting everyone of you"

"Oh, come on!"

The mouse jumped off her feathered carrier's back.

"Don't even think about giving up. As long as we're still alive, those hairless vermin have a reason to worry"

She shook her small fist and beared a wide grin.

"You have enough guts for everyone else, so don't lose them"

"I'll try"

The approach of the human army wasn't exactly good thing, but at least it took the decision away from Fauho.

The humans moved with such a slow pace that it would take many days until their arrival.

More than half of the small feline face was still hidden behind the hare, who didn't know what to do right now.

"Stop staring at me", he said, a little whiny.

The squirrel tried to stop staring, but he couldn't. His eyes raced around a few times and then he just covered them with his paws and smiled.

This must have looked funny in some way, because it made the young cat giggle. He stopped being amused as he noticed the squirrel peeping through his paws.

He hid a little more behind his parent.

"Why are you staring?"

"Your eyes", the squirrel said, "They are so pretty. I can't help it"

The cat was really confused and looked up to the hare, who smiled.

"He's right"

Looking down again, the feline face blushed and even showed its own small smile.

"...Thank you...", he whispered and slowly stepped away from the hare.

"You're nice..."

The squirrel's grin and excited restlessness were an obvious invitation, which the cat gave in to after a nod from the hare.

Not a moment later both young ones were out of sight, indulging in childish fun.

The warrior himself joined Fauho.

"I was delayed", he explained.

Fauho studied the hare's demanor.

"So...you will take care of him"

It was more of an conclusion than a question.

"I guess so...stop me if I seem to screw him up"

"You'll do great as a parent", Fauho assured.

After wondering how to react, the hare gave a thankful smile.

Then he nodded towards the approaching human army.

"What do we do about that?"

"We'll wait for them to come", the fox replied and grinned, "And then we give them, what they crave for"

Days stretched themselves from that on.

The upcoming battle was in everyone's minds.

Time was spent waiting while the black band at the horizon grew very slowly.

The Pack was assembled on the town wall. It was this small group of creatures that represented the fighting force of the town.

"Plan of action, fox?"

"Surviving might be a good idea"

Chances were grim.

"We'd do best", Fauho continued, "Staying inside these walls. Let's see what they do against them"

An army of huge numbers overpowers everything on the open land, but in narrow streets it's just trapped.

"They haven't moved for a while, now, have they?", Blue noticed.

"Just what are they up to?"

Surely, the humans were up to something, because many of them could be seen constructing things ranging from sticks with large pieces of cloth to complicated alignments of long wooden bars.

"Now they're heaping up boulders. Are they just mocking us?"

The mouse was about to jump down the wall and rampage through the masses.

She was held back by her feathered companion.

"Patiance, girl. It will get rough soon enough"

The busy scurrying stopped and was replaced with awaiting silence.

Something rattled and a rock came flying, launched from one of the wooden constructions.

As the rock flew the Pack watched it in silence. They were watching it passing the wall high above and then landing in a crushing way in the city, destoying several buildings in the process and causing yells of surprise.

"Throwing rocks at their own settlement? Now they've lost it", the girl commented the spectacle, "And they ready more"

"Well", the dragon raised his voice, "Seems they got serious"

'Dangerously serious', Fauho thought.

What would be the next stunt these hairless idiots be pulling?

---

another chapter done and i don't even know, if anyone is reading it.

well, if i get a comment i'll work fast and often, but until then, i'll take time...

just post anything. a capital M if you like.