FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Not much later, the king had a thorny issue come up.

Of all the times this could've happened, it was very odd right now.

Gorthorn sent for Wing. He was very upset, pacing around on the rug.

When the spider got there, he looked up, and began, "I'm dealing with a very difficult case. A man scared a rabbit to death. You know it doesn't happen to sapients very often, but, how do you hold someone responsible when they never even touched the poor thing?"

"Why are you involving me?" the spider asked. "This is a predator court case. I'm not allowed in on the details."

"I think you may be the key to getting that secrecy lifted, Wing. You can be rational. Most prey species can't."

" . . . oh." The pacifist bit his lip in discomfort. "If that's what you want, My Lord, I will of course-"

"Come now, Wing, stop it with that. I've made every effort to get you to realize that we are on closer terms than that. If you don't want to do this, then say so."

The spider interlaced one set of hands. "It's always the same thing, S- I mean, Gorthorn. I want to do what will help you. Even if I'd prefer not to."

The part-lion growled in annoyance. "Well, we're going to need to discuss that, at length. For our personal life, too." And especially private life, should that apply, he thought. "But let's just stick to the one issue at present."

"At least for this, it's not only about helping you, it's about improving all relations between prey and predator, right?"

Gorthorn nodded furiously, "Very good then. Excellent reasoning." He winked.

The spider gave a very small smile.

Several minutes later, a wolf entered the room, and Gorthorn motioned for him to sit on the blue couch.

The canine scrunched his paws on his knees. "I hope this will not reflect on my pack."

"Pack? That's a dated term." The part-lion raised an eyebrow. The immortal hadn't heard it for what seemed like ages.

The wolf gave a weak chuckle. "Call me a history enthusiast." He paused, then went on, "Given the bad blood between felines and canines, I am surprised that your family let us into your jurisdiction at all," he spoke of the time before they had been trapped in the caves.

"The queen's family of nobles had good experiences with sheepdogs," the king explained of the oxen, "It actually wasn't much of an issue, once my mother was convinced. Lionesses may be stubborn sometimes, but, to speak frankly, if she had been my father instead, you might not be sitting where you are. And my father, well," he glanced over to Wing, "he had no skin in the game."

The spider clapped a hand over his mouth and tried not to chuckle at the pun, but did anyway.

The wolf looked on in confusion.

"Gorthorn's father was part-minotaur," the spider explained to the much younger monster when he had recovered. "One of the few monsters with some skin."

"Like yourself?" the wolf said a little bit snidely. "When are you going to leave, Doctor? We have important business to get to, here."

Gorthorn frowned, not liking his tone. Here was a- well, not murderer exactly- but a defendant that was definitely an aggressor, here to plead to the king, and he was dictating like he owned the place. "The Doctor will remain with us, actually."

"What?" the wolf exclaimed. "But-"

"I know, I know, he's prey."

"You can't invade my privacy like this," the wolf demanded, "I have rights-"

"I am Kinngg ," the part-lion put a little bit of true bass growl in the word, and the wolf automatically made a bit of a submission motion. He was not high up in his tribe's- or pack's- hierarchy. "I can do whatever I please. You should be honored. This is the first time this has happened in living memory. You are making history, here."

His long jaw worked and he glared daggers at the spider. Gorthorn didn't like it one bit.

He had seen larger animals size him up and he gritted his teeth every time. He doubted the doctor realized it half of the instances. It was often very subtle. The king was very acquainted with what went through a predator's head even when actively resisting it. As a dragonkin, he didn't have the luxury of knowing how it felt to allow those thoughts any free rein. A few times he had even locked eyes and expressed wordless disapproval through the displaying of canines. The message was always received.

But sometimes it was misinterpreted.

---

In the past.

"He's yours ta play with, is 'e?" the wolverine grinned toothily after the scientist left the room.

"That's inappropriate and you know it." The king drew himself up.

She chuckled. Her words harbored no meanness, and that was precisely the problem. "Aw c'mon, givin' 'em a cuff every now and again ain't s'bad. Least when you play with your food it stays alive, eh, feline? Non-sapient o' your kind aren't so gentle. My namesake, we're impatient. We just go straight for the throat. Cats just like a little entertainment first. Don't be shy 'bout it. Just a little batting around. Y'all are both men too, so there's even less difference. Men push on each other or wrestle a little when they're being friendly. How would he know it was something else for you?"

"He's a spider," the dragonkin said sternly.

"A spider who's chosen to be around you," she replied, shrugging. "Can't handle a little cultural clash?"

"It's more about how he would feel. But. If you're going to be that way. He is more knowledgeable about cultures than you could ever hope to be in your pathetic little life, mortal," the king growled.

"What? Has he chosen to be immotal?"

"No, but he has lived for hundreds of years. He was there in my boyhood."

"Oh?"

"He's not just someone I picked when I inherited the throne."

"How's that?"

"Lobsters are functionally immortal," the dragonkin outlined. "They're the only non-magical, non-sapient I know of who are. Spiders and scorpions learned from their fellow sapient arthropods how to modify themselves to extend their span. It doesn't fully work. But he's got a lot of life left in him." His eyes glowed deep red. "If you don't pay him respect, that will be a grave error on your part, understand?"

The smaller predator puffed up. It was a point of pride among testy wolverines to stand up to much larger animals, predator or not. A non-sapient wolverine could take down prey that only a whole wolf pack would think about trying to chase down. In fact, non-sapient wolves preferred much smaller prey, if they could get it. Sapient wolves didn't tend to bully oxen and other bovids, even if the one in question might have responded just as strongly as a rabbit. There was simply not the same thrill in menacing someone three or four times your size.

Wolverines, on the other hand, were indiscriminate, and got even more thrill out of feeling dominant over someone who might be able to fight back.

"And if you have been mistreating other prey, I will find out about it."

"There's this rabbit in my town, he twitches in just the right way. He is quite fun to watch. Some of my friends, they can't go around on an empty stomach. But me? I can assure you, I'm fine."

She was a stoneworker who did maintenance on the palace, and sometimes he considered firing people for such behavior. At the same time, if he let them go he wouldn't get to influence them anymore towards being better. It might even make them lash out. This particular animal wouldn't be all that fazed by losing the employment, either. Sure, some social face would be lost, but in terms of money, she didn't have much at all to buy.

The king decided to probe more, and shed more of the noble inherited soft demeanor, too. This was a place for him to act more the part of warrior-king.

"Maybe I'll send some investigators over." He threatened, "If I discover you've hurt anyone-"

"Nah, nah, nothin' like that. Come on, Your Grace. Sometimes ya sound like you expect us to be- I dunno, human or somethin'." Her eyes grew angry, and he tried not to pigeonhole her for being a normally aggressive species. She had even just said so, herself! Hormones were hormones. She, like so many others, avoided most things that reeked too much of human. She scoffed at animals who had taken up housing and roamed, living the Wildsman life. As she was fully sapient, this was less common, but by no means outlandish. She had a financial account, but it was largely used on relatives. The palace, to her, was a status symbol and artful, so the craftswoman agreed to help with it, but she also was of the opinion that it was especially ridiculous to seek out shelter when you never had to worry about the weather, since the caves had a magically controlled climate. Humans may be tough, she often said, but they're constitutionally weak, and it was rubbing off on animals. "Predators. It's what we are."

Both the queen and Wing had written essays dissecting the behavior in the context of humans- the queen arguing that curbing predatory thoughts was indeed becoming more like humans, and that was not a bad thing. The doctor took a different tack and argued that it was not human, but uniquely a monster's journey. They had verbally sparred about it frequently over tea. Gorthorn didn't really care about the philosophy of it- whatever would convince people, and however he could relate it to ones like this peasant wolverine who didn't read such things, that was how he would approach the topic.

"And does this rabbit know why you spend time with him?"

"Dunno know why I'd need to tell 'im that. Break 'is poor little heart. He thinks I'm actually interested in his stone carvings."

Gorthorn almost sighed in aggravation at the somehow considerate yet at the same time sneaky situation.

Not all predators were as honest with their thoughts as he was to Wing. Some because they wanted to get their own hidden enjoyment out of it, like her, and some because they didn't want to frighten prey.

"Well that's a shame. And you have me all wrong."

"If you say so, My Lord." She winked. "Won't tell anyone no how. Dunno why you nobles are more closeted 'bout it."

He perked up. "What? You've met people around the palace who hide it?" Heat shimmered off of his fur as he mentally ran through a list of people who had taken up the queen's family techniques to diminish predatory instincts. How many of them were just saying they were to curry favor with him and then keeping prey quiet about their true actions?

Maybe the temperamental little mustelid would be useful. Plots already began winding in the politician's head.

---

In the present, he growled again, and the wolf clearly took the hint.

"You have mellowed considerably since being married, Gorthorn." the spider teased.

The other man growled now. "You let an insect talk to you like that, Sire?"

The dragonkin stood swiftly, eyes burning, and the wolf immediately flattened his ears and bowed his head.

The red glow intensified as he spoke. The large animal spoke slowly and deeply. "That spi-der ," his claws dug into his desk, sparking and singeing it a little as well, "not insect, is my closest advisor, and the one who keeps your fridge on at night. I suggest you start showing some respect. If not, we can always arrange to have your power shut off, and you can see what it's like not to have his brilliance lighting up your home," he punned on the meaning, but in a dead serious manner.

The wolf whined, "Yes, yes, Your Majesty."

The king was thoroughly pleased with this different reaction from the wolverine in the past. The species may have similar names, he thought, but one, by cultural convention, knows how to give a proper respect. The dragon part of him was appeased.

The wolf caught the spider's eyes. "I'm terribly sorry, Sir."

Wing nodded. "It's perfectly fine."

"No it's not," Gorthorn insisted.

"We're sidetracking from our objective, here," the scientist said calmly.

Gorthorn looked at him for another moment, resolving to bring it up after the wolf left. Why wouldn't the spider defend himself?

When they were done, he asked Wing aloud.

"From his perspective, it was already an intrusion. Expecting him to be accepting in a normal setting might have been appropriate, but not one in which he felt all the rules had been flipped. And I had just laughed at your joke when he was brought here, supposed to be discussing a _manslaughter _charge. I shouldn't have dropped your title while he was here or joked either. I was happy about it, but I need to get adjusted to that. You can't exactly blame him for getting annoyed."

"I don't agree. Why didn't you at least take what he said seriously?"

"Oh Sire, that's not nearly the worst thing anyone has ever said to me. For example, in fact it was a wolf, too-"

"_An insect with skin. You look so human, I'll be your ill-begotten family bred with them." _

"Why does everyone act as if that is some egregious, shameful thing?" Gorthorn complained. "I bet if you looked far enough back, plenty of us would have some trace of human ancestry. I mean, some of us developed bipedal movement naturally, as far as we can tell from the fossil and oral record, but others- like my mother- never did, and it's not that much of a stretch to assume that . . ." He rubbed his temples with two large paw pads. "I mean, the queen's family, despite being avowed human-huggers, still boasted about having a human-free pedigree. It's just so backwards."

"Well . . . personally . . . it does make my skin crawl," the spider said. "Back to my story, though."

_"Even if that were the case, you have some nerve talking down to me about humans," the young spider retorted, "when your kind took up with humans en masse." _

"HEY!" the canine yipped, and the word was barely recognizable. "We're WOLVES, not dogs"And we're spiders, not insects," came the cool reply. He was gauging his harasser closely. "That difference is much bigger, stupid." "Who the heck cares?" His mane bristled. "Insects are stupid. Bees and ants are dead-eyed puppets of their leaders. We don't even hold them responsible for their actions. Why should I believe you're much more sapient than they are? At least sapient insects have the good sense to leave real animals well enough alone." The spider shrank a bit. "That's right. Go disappear like you always do when a fight breaks out. Your cowardly tribe should-"

"At least all spiders hang together." Wing said frostily. "you think it matters that you in particular aren't a human-hugger? No sir-ee. Your culture is rotten from the inside out. Forming 'cliques' you call packs, being wary of each other, loyal to only a select few, and if dogs weren't bad enough, there are also w-"

The wolf howled, "Don't you dare say it! You're the human hugger, always saying we shouldn't fight each other!"

"Oh Wing, if you were going to point out what I think you were, that's a low blow. We don't speak of such things."

The adult sighed. "Yes. Trouble is, once you take too much abuse, you start reaching for ways to retaliate."

_"There's a difference between human-hugger and peace lover," the past spider asserted, "We don't have to like them to want the killing on both sides to stop." _

"You just keep telling yourself that."

_"And you just keep telling yourself you're not a mangy mutt. I bet I'd find sapient fleas on you if I looked hard enough." _

_The wolf charged him with a snarl and he sidestepped easily, flicking two same-side hands across his back and sending him tumbling to the ground. _

"Whoops, guess a poor little 'insect' got the better of you."

_The wolf hurriedly got up, shook himself off, and tried again, with a similar result. _

_The third time, the spider leapt away and shot sticky webbing at a paw, causing him to stumble. _

_"Clumsy canine. Really, Felines are so much more graceful. The prince should dance on your face." _

---

"You riled him on purpose," the now grown king observed with amusement.

"As I've said, an angry enemy is a sloppier one. At the time I figured since he was probably going to attack me anyway I wanted it to be on my terms. I'm glad I've learned not to return insults for insults so much anymore, though. I do it plenty still, but not to the point of intentionally enraging someone. That got old after I had exited puberty. Mental modeling is a much more useful tool."

Gorthorn smiled. It was Wing's unusual bravado for a spider that had impressed him when he was a boy. He doubted that, back then, given the opinions he was raised with, he would have looked at him twice without it. Some people went through a bully stage, as the prince and his brother had. But the spider had his own pacifistic version, apparently. He noted too, that the spider hadn't used chi blocking to disable. The fighter in him admired taking the riskier path, even though it was rooted in a pacifist desire not to chance harm. He wasn't for defusing the situation, like other spiders, and it sounded like he even enjoyed besting his opponent, unlike spiders who did it purely for necessity. Yet he also refrained where he could. He remembered how long it had taken him, in getting to know Wing, to work out the nuance of things like that. "Ha, maybe sometimes. I've been trying to mentally model you for years, and I come up confused almost every time. But, I sort of like it."

The spider, though, creased his brow, top three eyes narrowing while the other two studied him closely. 'I'm sorry if I . . . ?"

"It's nothing you've done wrong." Gorthorn reassured him.

Though it was usually a safe bet the spider wasn't, occasionally, the king had trouble working out whether the spider meant to challenge him on something or not.

---

In the past.

Gorthorn and Wing were sitting, and had just finished discussing the first human soul to ever traspass the caves, who was proving to be difficult for various reasons. The queen walked in, and stood on the other side of her husband.

"So you're not questioning me. As usual, you're simply musing for the sake of it."

"Yes, Sire," the spider replied, "Examining the-

-tightrope-

we're walking."

Gorthorn cracked up. "Wow, you do know how to relieve tension, don't you, Doctor? You and your wordplay. We never tire of it."

"Ti-re. Why-'re ya surprised, Si-re?" the spider rhymed.

"Have you been walking the webs ** walking the webs lately? **Why're you neglecting the wire?"

"Wi-re. Tightrope. Tension." The scientist repeated the king's earlier word, spitting a small string and pulling it between his hands until it had full tension. "Did you do that in- tension -ally?"

"Ahaha! Good one. And I see you did catch my trick."

"Well, webs come in hand -y for catching." He waved all six sets of hands.

The queen interjected, "You sly wry wire-y wraith-wringing wraith-wielding waif, you're wired!"

"That was excellent , Your Excellency. You should wry -te that down." He emphasized and quirked two eyebrows in amusement. His wraith weapons were only in their developing stages. "Rapid-fi-re from my firey fearsome friend."

She returned, "What a catch you'll be for a future partner's web. But write? If I rote , I would get board. Try those two."

"Two?"

He paused, thinking.

"Ah!" He deciphered the pun, "R-o-t-e and b-o-a-r-d instead of 'wrote' and 'bored.' ' Chalk' it up to royal cleverness, walking the boards it is never."

"An act? No, 'tis not, I walk neither the boards nor webs."

"But, say I, it is quite a show, limber and nimble," Gorthorn flirted, and she giggled.

"My Lord strikes a chord and I am floored."

The queen agreed, "The floor_boards_ he leaves as he soars, as accompaniment, a key_board_."

Molly's Log [Sometime back in December 2015, before I came up with this Log gimmick]

Kinda like a rap battle, except all the people involved are enjoying the heck out of each other.

A rap collab?

And you, dear reader, are busy 'walking the wired webs' too, aren't you?

HAHA!

Dang, I'm on fi-re.

I need some wine to go with all this cheese.

Molly's Log December 2, 2016 7:38 PM

Written! Aaaaand now you finally know what the Doctor was remembering in the first chapter. Long time coming, eh?

Posted June 11, 2017 6:35 AM [Edited August 6, 2020 11:22 PM]

Yeah, yeah, this fic and comic combo has been in the works quite a while, mkay? Trying to make sense of three primary timelines plus whatever other bits my brain spits at me is complicated. Plus I want to do some music stuff for it, too. Argh. Too many ideas! I'm also auditioning for a little bit of voice acting. And might do some narration for it. It's been fun so far.

I'm satisfied with my voice for Wing even if it isn't 'baritone.'

But I need a bass voice for Gorthorn!

Molly's Log April 27, 2020 3:41 AM

Well. I haven't slept more than an hour at a time

for like . . . the past couple of weeks.

And, for some reason, I still feel fine?

I guess my Muse is being kind.

Molly's Log May 1, 2020 5:28 AM

Alrighty. Bout to print off this bad boy and bring it to an agent

A literary agent is new ground to me

I've been so nervous lately

But it's time I see.

Molly's Log June 10, 2020 2:28 PM

A month later, and still my manuscript sits on a shelf.

Why can't I stop this anxiety in my Self?

I'm praying for strength to 'show my work.'

But this isn't as easy as math. It hurts.