The black eagle flew into the city, screeching, which made everyone on the main street look up. Women and other beastmen started to look around wide eyed for the danger that the bird must be carrying on about, but other eagle beastmen, walking around in human form, started to communicate that it wasn't danger, but rather, an emergency that needed the head doctor. After several minutes, another black haired man ran out into the middle of the road and returned a screeching call up to the eagle circling the skies. In tow was a leopard male, with blond hair that was customary of the clan, but it was long and kept in a single braid. His clothes were also long and draping like a summer robe. He had no true stripes of a warrior, but he did have a deep blue, intricate tattoo design that was a long stripe on his chin, and also between his eyes and up his forehead. It was a special mark that was given to him by the King; to show his value to the tribe, even though he wasn't a fighter.
Set found himself in the center of the city, beastmen and women leaping back from his path as he followed behind Iro. This was not how he had planned to enter civilization for the first time. He had never discussed it with Shuule, as she was so against it, but he had been preparing. They would come with their belongings, with him in formal dress, with his legs, and of course, most importantly, they would have been mated.Instead, as if holding up the age old tradition, he was simply a feral among men, everyone fearful that he would launch himself at them, and they weren't sure if they should attack him first. He was barely holding it together, and when they got to the doorway where he could smell Shuule and he wasn't allowed to enter, all he wanted to do was smash the building to the ground. He knew it, his instincts flared. They were stealing her. They would steal her and kill him. They would take her and cast him off. Better they all be dead, Shu
Iro trotted through the city, furiously shaking his shoulders every now and then, tail twitching. How could he have just been kicked out by that stripeless bastard? Furthermore, he knew he was about to get a beating from his father in law, because he broke protocol for snakes. When it came to feral beasts, there were different laws for different species. There was a strict no scorpion policy, even if they were mated - not that they had seen such a thing in their lifetime, a woman accepting a scorpion. Other ferals were, cautiously, allowed to dwell in the city as citizens, if they had a spouse that lived there, with special considerations to be decent to snakes, because of the history of the Snake King, Curtis, protecting the city in its infancy. That said, none had ever actually taken them up on the offer, though the city had communication with many of Curtis's descendants that lived outside the limits. They had a tense but well kept truce; the city and all its citizens would let t
It was far past dark now, the only light in the doctor's home coming from two large column candles, as Set used a flat piece of bark to swat at flies that dared to come near Shuule's arm. Previously too wary to even turn his back on the snake, when Harvey noted that there was a three striped guard outside, he had slept for a few hours.When he awoke in the dead of night, his eyes focused in the dark first on the refracting light off the snake's neon eyes. Set had not moved from his post. A pang rang out in the doctors heart; this man really was loyal to the girl. He knew there were doubts rolling through the city that perhaps the snake had injured her himself, but Harvey couldn't see how.Quietly, the leopard male got to his feet, to stand next to the kneeling Set, arms folded."Is she from the Fox Village two days past the river?" he asked softly.
Harvey put his hands up, palms out, his fingernails still non threatening and human. "You have to calm down, Set," he said urgently, before the snake could lash out again for a second time. He could see the young man's legs darkening, threatening to burst into a serpent and go on a rampage. "I believe you. She's your mate. You brought her here for help. I'm not an enemy. She's capable, that's why she was away from your sight, even for a moment. I get it, you didn't do anything wrong. I'm trying to help." Set froze again, then slumped to the floor, his head now in his hands. It was a relief that one person believed him. Harvey hesitated behind Set, his hands still in the air, until he slowly, gently, put one hand on the snake's shoulder. It was not customary for males to touch other males in comfort, especially solitary ferals,
"You don't seem as pleased," Harvey continued, looking at the now deflated eagle. Mammal beastmen found it hard to see definable emotions in the bird males since they lacked expressive ears - sometimes they had the same issues with their spouses, though the women would learn quickly to hiss, growl, or do whatever they needed to let everyone know their ears would be pinned, if they had them."Ah, Harvey," Ukko's nose curled as he reached around to scratch the back of his head, messing up his shaggy silver hair, "It's past midnight.""It's an emergency.""You go," Ukko offered up. "It's a medical emergency. I want to help her but Molly and all her spouses will kill me if I wake them up. It's not even Edgar, walking into a pile of predators isn't something I should be doing - ""Alva's not a predator," chuckled Harvey. Ukko's nostrils flared as his
"It went well!" exclaimed Harvey, trotting on human legs to keep up with the long strides of the eagle male, who was clutching his precious cargo in one fist, but had a scowl on his face like he hadn't received it."Did you know?!" Ukko squawked."Know what?" responded Harvey, genuinely puzzled."That you were setting me up as a sacrifice!" The boy stopped walking, whirling around and sneering. He was met with a wide eyed gaze from the doctor, who was shrinking back as though he was about to be struck. It was clear Harvey had no motives, as he wasn't a particularly good liar."I have to find three more of these things by this time next year," he peered up at the sky, which was starting to pale in the distance, to check the phases of the three moons so he knew exactly what week it was, "or I have to fight the King as a spectator sport."&n
Poor Ukko was genuinely shocked. It had been a roller coaster of a day, never having as many emotions to combat at the same time since the day he was kicked off the cliffs to learn to fly."Harvey!" He wailed. "Did you know this too? Before I signed my own death sentence?""Well, yes," Harvey answered flatly, "but there wasn't any time. Besides, are you saying you don't like her now?"Set narrowed his eyes, shooting a glance at the doctor, not knowing what transpired for the eagle to be so dramatic about his own impending doom, but he offered his own cold advice. "If you can't handle her abilities, you're no better than the unevolved beggars' village she escaped from."Ukko stammered, but Set had made his point. In the few interactions he had with the city folk who had ventured out from the walls, Set had perceived that they were i
The dust having settled, Shuule grimaced, her injured arm throbbing. Her left hand instinctively went and gripped her arm over her the bandages, and when she felt the strange, sickening soft feeling underneath her fingers, her breathing stopped. Under the bandage it did not feel like flesh and body, but more like boneless clay."It's okay" Harvey chimed in. "It's a poultice. I've packed the wound cavity in your arm. I think," He paused to gesture at her, "You will be able regenerate your tissue fast enough to keep your arm, like a male would. If you weren't who you are, I would have to try and stitch this, and I don't think without Human medicine, we would be able to keep infection back. I apologize though, there is not much I can do for the pain other than put you back to sleep if you wish."Shuule vigorously shook her head no. She would bear the pain happily to be conscious and have her own free will. The girl looked backwards and up to meet the eyes of Set, who had
She stared at the young man, dutifully organizing the furs around him, who hadn't had anything else to say about the matter. Shuule thought that sentence was the beginning of a deeper conversation, not a statement."I don't understand," she finally said, sitting down on the floor across from him. Ukko kept his eyes low on his work silently for a few more moments, before clearing his throat."Well, it didn't happen to me, so..." he started. "But just because you can shift doesn't mean the spousal mark works differently, apparently. So when you were getting slammed around by that tiger, Set was put on alert like he would have been if you were at home and being attacked, or whatever. Whatever it's supposed to do. So when you're training, we'll uh, if you really want to train, we can't deal with you with kid gloves. So he's going to have to figure out how to turn off his lizard brain."Shuule tilted her head in question. "Lizard Brain?""You know, like stupid
Ukko gave one hesitant upwards glance back towards the tree, before jogging off after Set. "Hey!" he called out, the snake acting as though nobody was there. "HEY," Ukko yelled again, catching up, turning and blocking his path. "What the FUCK was that?!" The male was standing square, arms out to his sides and ready to strike a blow if Set went off again. But, instead, chest heaving, the half-snake gave a heavy sigh, and though he snarled, he didn't strike. "You need to understand something," he hissed, still catching his breath, pointing at his chest. "You can feel it." Ukko tilted his head, his guarded stance loosening. Set jammed his pointer finger at his own chest again. "When she gets injured, you can feel it. I never thought about it before." "Ah, shit." The two of them stood, staring at each other in the rain, the courtyard's slightly uneven stones, settled in the earth after twenty years pooling wa
Set didn't answer Shuule's question, turning into his half beast to hurriedly look her over."What were you thinking? The bird and I would have been fine," he scolded, panicked.Shuule bared her fangs, her claws out as she shoved Set away from her, to his shock."DID YOU JUST KILL HIM?" she yelled again. "Go give him the antidote!"Set scowled. "It was a dry bite," he said, stiffly."AND DON'T TELL ME I CAN'T FIGHT" she shrieked again, wanting to burst back into her beast form.By now, Ukko had easily swung himself into the second story with his long arms, smirking at seeing the two of them bristle at each other. The snake may have her heart, but at least he now knew they weren't always pawing at each other like star crossed teens."We can train you," the eagle offered, quietly from the corner of the room."You won't," hissed Set, considering biting this annoyance also.Shuule just about had it, swiping at him with a cla
Shuule let out a barking noise, half in protest, half in surprise. She thought the trio of them would touch base with each other and devise a plan. Living with three separate species not practiced in communicating was already proving difficult, but she had no time to mull this over. As the fox clawed her way down the trunk of the birch, the harpy eagle flew as fast as he could at such a short distance to the top most entrance. If Set was going to ambush from below, Ukko would crash the party from above.Before Shuule could reach the tree, three yelping roars could be heard from inside. With a small hesitation, the fox puffed up her chest and scrambled up the giant tree's thick bark. She had never tried to climb one of these great houses before, and she found the bark was different than a regular tree's - it was easier to find places to hold onto and grip, one wouldn't even really need claws to do so, just the strength. Darting into the open entrance of the second story, she h
"Wait up!" Ukko waved his hand as he jogged out the door behind the fox, who turned around expectantly. As long as she didn't bolt, it made more sense for the man not to change into his eagle, since they wanted to end up at the tree at the same time."I know which one she's talking about, follow me. Unless - if you want to lead that's fine. I didn't mean to tell you what to do."Shuule chirped again. If she was human, she would be laughing at the boy's fear of irritating her. This was the first time she had been alone with Ukko, and in honesty, thinking back as the two of them trotted in the rain, she wasn't sure if they had been in the same room as each other for an hour total. With her conscious, at least. This was an awkward first date, going to pillage a house. But either way, relieved, she could tell this was going to work. A love connection? Who knew, but as far as males went, he seemed alright.Rain could be tricky for scenting. On one hand, the smells of
"The food didn't matter at all," Shuule answered, sighing in relief. "Thank you. I mean it, Ukko, thank you." For the first time, Shuule opened up her arms and hugged the young male, who could have been knocked over with one of his own feathers as a result. It took him a moment to even move his limbs, gently wrapping them around the girl in return. He eyed the snake, who was pointedly ignoring them, but was still too nervous to do anything more, such as pull her in tighter or drop his neck around her shoulders."Y-you're welcome. Of course." He stammered.Remi interrupted the reunion. "So you all can leave now, right?"Anna rolled her eyes "I apologize for my asshole of a spouse with no patience," she growled.Shuule shook her head. "No, he's right, we should be leaving. We can figure out where to move today." She shifted her weight out of Ukko's arms, looking between him and the snake - her two, now, spouses. "I want a tree house. How do I make that happ
It was well past noon now, though the darkened gray skies made it hard to tell by the angle of the sun. Shuule had long since removed her rain gear, hanging it to dry on wooden pegs that were bolted next to the front door. Anna and Remi were sitting with each other on a brown animal fur couch, fingers intertwined, barely paying attention to Shuule and Set as they fawned over each other.Remi was built much like Ukko was, a long legged, somewhat narrow man, but with broad shoulders and muscular arms. Though the bird men could easily pass as regular humans if they needed to, they were, once examined, top heavy in bulk, which made sense given their ability to fly when transformed. As a black eagle, Remi's hair was jet dark rather than silver gray - much more common in the city, and the world in general that they knew of anyway. With no means of communication other than word of mouth, the city and its surroundings only knew of what was in the world in about a half year's travel r
"What do you mean, 'how'?" Asked the bear, gruffly. "Rarities like jewelry I'd need something in return, but if it's basic needs, I just give it to you. Unless you're planning on leaving the city with it. Then that's stealing."Shuule and Set both starred at the three striped man, slack jawed."It's a trap," Shuule said, plainly.The iron smith's stubbled face first twisted into a scowl, then broke into a hearty laugh. "Uh.... what? No? Everyone here gets what they need unless," He shot a warning glare to the serpent man, "they truly act terrible or useless. Especially the women, you would never go without. Come back when you have your home set up and I'll give you what you need."Set nodded in understanding, putting his hand on the small of his mate's back, ready to turn and leave. Though this isn't what was in his legacy memories, most of the way the city now operated wasn't. It had clearly changed since he hatched.The bear then pointed to the w
As the skies overhead finally gave way, both girls shrieked, then laughed, running inside. Shuule shook her head vigorously to get the water off her ears and hair. They were met swiftly with the smell of wet fur in the house, muddy paw prints on the stone floor."KITTENS!" Screamed Anna, while twisting her hair into a knot on the top of her head. "IF YOU ARE IN THIS HOUSE I SWEAR"Shuule couldn't help but stifle a laugh under her hands, remembering her own mother scolding all of them for the same reason. A pang of guilt ripped through her at the thought - she missed her mother. Shuule was an adult now, and should be off on her own, but it would have been good to at least have a proper send off, the unknown now starting to spiral in her head."KITTENS." Anna paused to listen, no response being given."I don't think anyone is in here," Shuule offered, being able to hear better. She paused, sniffing the air. "I think Remi is upstairs?"A broad smile c