BNA Thorns of a Rose, Part 2
#2 of BNA: Thorns of a Rose
She was on her way to inspect a new greenspace construction with perches and tree species selected particularly by bird beastman when she heard shouting.
She broke into a run.
Usually if there was a scuffle, they would break it up in the presence of an authority figure. But not always.
She shoved people aside, apologizing stiffly as she went.
She heard a loud crack , and she was sure that particular cadence of sound was from two bovine beastmen's skulls crashing into each other. She slowed her frantic pace a little. Their heads' anatomy was made for that. And it took a lot of forethought to align themselves, it wasn't some mindless gesture. It took both combatants' willingness. Maybe the situation wasn't all that bad.
There was something off about it though.
It wasn't that it was outside of rutting season- that was not unusual. Beastmen liked to fight regardless of whether any females were even present.
A lot of the time, once children were ushered out of the way, a throng of spectators gathered to watch, and that was definitely the case here.
The bare-skinned rodent continued to shoulder her way through the press of people, heedless of the much larger forms that snapped at her.
She had shifted as soon as the shouts started, firstly because she was startled, and secondly she had stayed shifted because she was more immediately recognizable to any brawlers that way. Plenty of beastmen had shaved heads, wanting to avoid the hassle of taking care of two very different sets of "fur," even though a female scented one was less common.
Finally she forced her way to the end of the thick ring of bodies, and came upon five different species of bovine, as she had guessed.
Uh oh.
One was a cow.
The smallest was what a casual human observer might assume to be the weakest, but the ram was eyeing all the others with just as much willingness to throw down as any of the other fellow wilder species.
It had its own strengths, even compared to animals three or more times its size. Just like the rodent's bite, it could be formidable in certain respects.
The cow was near the edge of the circle, closest to her.
The largest of the group, currently wrestling with two others, was a guar. The undisputed heavyweight of his clade, more than one ton at natural weight and only increased from intentional weight lifting originally devised by humans, he was bellowing extremely loudly, but her ears could now tell that was in excitement, and not aggression.
But still, there was something off about it.
His two adversaries were a cape buffalo, nearly jet black, and a fuzzier brown bison.
Guars, native to India, sort of like the domesticated water buffalo, were normally pretty peaceful.
Cape buffalo, on the other hand . . .
Even members of the regular 'dumb' animal species routinely intentionally circled back and killed human hunters that injured them, and lions alike.
It held the highest human hunter death toll on its continent.
In all probability, the cape buffalo had started this fight.
Both types were known to pick fights with rhinos, and could hold their own with heavyweight hippos in competition for who owned the most pure spite.
Wild hippos were also reasonably near the top for highest human death tolls.
But, now observing up close, she heard laughter and chuckling between blows, or when they would come apart and breathe for a second before charging in again.
They were only roughhousing. It's just that, when you stand at one ton, or made sounds like deep-chested shouts or the crash of horn and bone, you're more likely to startle people, especially small species.
Even standing on all fours, the two largest of them would still clear six feet.
She glanced again at the ram and cow, who had just noticed her.
The cow's expression was mournful, and the ram still looked like he was waiting his turn.
Some of the bystanders had noticed her by now, too, and were whispering or exclaiming, "the mayor! It's the mayor! It's Ms. Rose."
Of the three tussling animals, the bison was the first to take note of the crowd's mood shift and words.
He stumbled back a few steps, grinning. "Oh now, looks like we've got ourselves in a mess."
The guar's ears swished, and he pushed away the buffalo. "Look sharp, man."
The darkest of the three followed everyone else's gaze, and alighted on the woman.
"Gentleman," the suited woman said crisply. "I'm assuming everyone wants to be here?"
The curly-haired bison nodded amicably.
"Not here to stop us, then?"
"I'm no human schoolmarm," she returned with a nonetheless stern expression. Her scaly tail swished. "Though I could take you to task for disturbing the peace, I don't find that necessary. We're in Anima. We're all beastmen here. But if anyone here objects to this fight, take this opportunity to voice it."
She looked particularly at the two species who were standing back.
Then out at the crowd.
"Mind yer own business," the buffalo bellowed.
"Whatever goes on in my city is my business." She spread her feet and threw her shoulders back.
"Y'ain't even an officer. Human-friendly dog scum. You gotta lot o' nerve, showing up without protection, yeh scrawny mouse."
The cow reacted to his words, slamming a fist into his other hand. "Hey, don't talk to the mayor that way, you great big-"
"And you , stay out of it too," the buffalo snapped. "'Fore I change my mind and drag you into it." He tapped the thickened meeting of his horns over his forehead, a feature lacked by female buffalo's horns. "Fancy a concussion from my head'boss', yeh soft-headed human lackey?"
The cow flinched.
Rose did not.
"Legally," the politician stated with a blank face, "He already has grounds to hold you accountable for that threat. So I suggest you tone it down."
"Why don't you make me," the wide-nosed animal snorted contentiously.
His statements towards all the domesticated breeds could also be construed as hate speech, she considered. She knew which judges would be open to that interpretation, and which wouldn't.
The politically powerful woman could make the next year or two of this animal's life very unpleasant, if the cow had a mind for it. Even if the bigger animal never saw the inside of a cell.
"'Make me,' heh," he repeated mockingly, "As if you even could," the buffalo rolled his eyes.
She took three decisive steps towards the aggressor, and the horned man threw his head up, surprised.
"You may be able to physically dominate me," she said in the coldest voice she could muster. "If you so choose. But, mark me. In the ensuing five seconds, I will make you suffer for it."
He blinked.
"What're you talking about?"
"Would you like to find out?"
She ground her tough teeth together.
The vice-like enamel grated with a subtle, hair-raising sound.
If this was the day her 'zero fight streak' was broken, so be it.
She would not let anyone get away with insulting her to her face, nor a citizen of her city.
Not on her watch.
There was one thing biased humans did have right about Anima. Show weakness in the wrong situation, and it didn't necessarily get you marked to get taken out, but you would be targeted to get hurt more.
The leader was acutely aware of the many cell phones that had long since started recording, that had possibly even livestreamed her cold words.
Gang members might be watching.
And the massive animal, he hesitated, just like so many had before him.
"Well, are you going to come on then?" she invited levelly.
Murmurs spread in the crowd. A few of the younger women quietly fretted or egged her on.
"Yeh, and get locked up for the rest of my life? No thanks."
"No. No repercussions except the ones I inflict** ,**" she vowed in a deadly tone.
Now there was complete silence.
He stamped a hoof indecisively.
The tension was interrupted by the ram's malicious chuckle. His deep voice carried across the crowd. "I don't think she's bluffing, man. Think about it. You know good and well I can go for hours. Your kind can only take a few blows. And I withstand it with more of a running start, too. I can out-headbutt you by miles, despite my size. I'm just better built for it." He rapped knuckles against his own forehead. "Among animals . . . Size is deceiving. This wouldn't be no friendly fight. You'd best leave this 'little' animal alone."
Your teeth are made for mere grass, she thought. Mine . . . well, come find out.
If you dare.
But . . . there was something wrong about his voice, too.
It was then that she realized she was dreaming.
This was a memory.
He hadn't made a move towards her. She was just reliving the moment.
Everything froze, and she felt the blessed blunting of the adrenaline jolt from staring him in the eye.
Now that she was lucid in the dream, the scene faded.
It didn't appear she had control, even though she was somewhat aware, but that didn't matter much.
Another memory shouldered its way into the forefront.
A human delegate sat across a table from her, watching her as warily as the beastman.
This was nearly as crucial a moment.
After meeting with a human leader several times to establish rapport, she had to gauge carefully when to bring up the topic of how beastman politics- or more accurately, dominance hierarchies- worked.
She briefly had a shadow of Shirou at her side, explaining in hushed tones the tanuki girl's first encounter with the concept, a fight among beastmen standing in line waiting.
Was this before, or after that incident with the buffalo? In her current half-conscious state, she couldn't remember.
The video had naturally gone viral. She managed many interviews about it, with swarms of human reporters pestering her when she traveled. To most beastmen, a confrontation like that was hardly news. Even involving a politician. It was always best to have this discussion face-to-face with humans. Nobody wanted wrong conclusions drawn, even though it happened plenty.
There was more than enough misinformation and disinformation floating around the internet to contend with.
She took a deep breath, and began.
Footnotes: Which animal would be able to beat a ram in a headbutting contest? - Quora
Goat knocks out angry bull THREE TIMES its size with SAVAGE head-butt - Daily Star