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XVIII

Feast (Part 2)

He had no idea how he could've possibly come across this abomination. At first he thought it was only a bad smell, a strange odor of a dead creature hanging in the air. But the further along he walked, the more he realized that the stench got stronger. And now here he was, looking at all of the lizards scattered across the grove. The fox blinked, breathing softly as he concealed himself as best as possible. He didn't have the darkness to aid him, so all he could use were the trees and the thick foliage around him. But as the fox got closer and closer to the lizards, he heard voluminous hissing and moans, and the smells all around him only became stronger. The fox scanned the scene below him, observing all the scaly creatures as they enjoyed themselves. Some of them appeared to be inebriated, as the fox predicted when he saw one blue-tailed monitor hiss quietly and press his back against the very tree the fox was hiding in. The fox looked down at the reptile from the branch he was resting on, waiting to see if the lizard would do anything vicious or hostile.

The fox heard a disgusting gurgling noise, which was immediately followed by a soft splat. The lizard took a few sharp breaths before hissing shrilly again. And then a stream of yellowish-brown fluids gushed from the leg holes of his shorts. The lizard felt the warmth all around his cloaca and the rest of his groin; the fluids kept spilling out. There was a soft flatulent noise, and the fox grimaced when he saw brown chunks of waste plop onto the ground. The monitor lizard chuckled and promptly sat in his mess, belching and feeling light-headed. The fox quickly moved away from the nasty lizard before the stench was carried in his direction, hopping onto an adjacent tree branch. But the rest of the scene on the ground was no different. Lizards weren't shamelessly soiling themselves, but most of them were all drunk or more fixated on playing in their own filth as opposed to observing their surroundings for intruders. A lot of them seemed to be fornicating as well, judging by the various reptiles viciously thrusting into their sexual partner. The fox had to stop when he noticed that one of the monitors was patrolling the area, sniffing and glancing around the environment and looking up into the trees. The fox crouched down and pressed his back against the bark, blending in using his dark clothing.

He couldn't help but listen to the two monitors having sex with each other beside a campfire that had been put out. The fox made the mistake of actually looking at them and frowned. The light green monitor Luggrar was on top of Emarsk, snorting, hissing, and snarling as he thrust into her. Emarsk was on the ground, moaning and looking up at her mate, her body jolting back and forth with each thrust. Neither of them could see very well, in large part because they were both smothered in blood, and had a few chunks of flesh hanging off their bodies. The fox couldn't tell what exactly had happened, but he noticed severed legs beside them, and what appeared to be a shrew's torso that had been sliced open, the innards ripped right out of it. The fox was starting to wonder if Emarsk was lying on top of the shrew's organs. He looked away, hoping the lizard patrol had left. He hadn't. He shut his eyes, forcing himself not to look. But he could still hear them, their moans and pants filling his ears, along with the sloppy, wet squishes of them moving around in the shrew's blood.

The fox opened his eyes again. The patrol was still there; Luggrar and Emarsk were still fornicating. The lizard was thrusting into Emarsk hard and fast, his right hemipenis shoved deep inside Emarsk's moist cloaca. She moaned as she felt the spines digging away at her insides, delivering a painful, yet euphoric wave of pleasure all around her body. Luggrar stopped for a moment, leaning forward and growling. He opened his mouth and started to drool, hissing in Emarsk's face and spraying his spit along her neck. The lizard reached up and grabbed his face, leaving her bloody pawprint against his right cheek. And then she screamed as Luggrar resumed thrusting into her as fast as possible. The male lizard arched his back, shuddering as he felt fluids moving through his groin. Luggrar hissed violently and began to slow down, feeling the semen soaring through his groin. Emarsk emitted a shrill moan as Luggrar unleashed a wave of his seed into her vaginal region. Both lizards stopped moving; Emarsk could feel the shaft throbbing inside her, still releasing more streams of semen into her body. The fox glanced at the patrol lizard and saw him walking away. He huffed.

"Fuckin' finally," he murmured with disgust.

The fox moved away from the tree where the creatures were having sex and immediately jumped over to another tree branch. Most of the leaves made it easy for him to blend in, but two of the lizards on the ground weren't as drunk or distracted as the other reptiles were. They heard the tree branch above them rustling and saw a few leaves fall to the ground.

"The fuck iz that?" asked one lizard.

The fox swore quietly and stopped moving. The orange and black scaled lizard standing beside the other one looked up and didn't see anything. Gila blinked and looked back at the lizard, grinning.

"'Tiz nothin' me fellow monitor! Only the wind! Zo where were we?"

Gila walked over to the small, light-blue monitor lizard with black scales scattered across his body. Gila was easily two feet taller than the monitor, and was at least fifty pounds heavier. He leaned against the monitor, breathing heavily in the lizard's face. He belched softly, his hot breath filling the reptile's nostrils and making him turn his head away.

"Ugh...y'sure yer okay, Gila? Zmellz a bit zour t'me!"

"Juzt shut up an' lie on ye back."

The smaller monitor did as he was told. He didn't wear any clothes, so there was no need to take anything off. Gila panted softly before he grabbed his shorts and pulled them down, exposing his cloaca to the monitor. His hemipenes were already out, and the giant lizard was ready to insert himself into the monitor. Gila got on his paws and knees and crawled towards the monitor, panting slowly and getting in the monitor's face. The smaller monitor heard Gila's stomach gurgle and saw the reptile slowly close his mouth. Something inside Gila's throat churned, causing the monitor to blink with concern.

"Uhh...Gila?"

Gila didn't bother trying to stop himself. He looked down at the monitor, scowled, and opened his mouth so he could vomit all over the lizard. The fox couldn't fully see through all the leaves, but he noticed that a strange stream of fluids was splashing all over the ground and the lizard. The monitor immediately shut his eyes, screaming when the reddish-orange bile containing raw organ bits splattered against his body. Gila coughed a few times after throwing up, his belly overstuffed with too much flesh from his victims. He stared at the monitor beneath him and retched twice, emitting a vile, scratchy sound from the back of his throat. The light blue lizard was spitting and trying to wipe some of the bile from his eyes when Gila proceeded to throw up again, the harsh, gurgling noises erupting from his mouth that made it sound like he was drowning. The fox didn't even try to look at what was happening; the sound and stench alone made him cover his mouth and gag. Gila exhaled and wiped his mouth off after he finished the second time, and then grinned as he looked at the groaning, spluttering monitor.

"That'z better! Now then..."

The monitor finished wiping the bile from his eyes when he felt Gila press his entire body on top of him. And then he shouted, gritting his teeth as the chunky lizard inserted his left hemipenis into his cloaca. Gila started to pant, his putrid breath filling the smaller monitor's snout. Gila moved his thick tail, his toe claws digging against the dirt as he slouched over and shoved his hemipenis into the monitor. He started to thrust, grunting and sniffing as he rubbed his body against the smaller lizard. His vomit squished, sandwiched between the two scaly bodies. The monitor was panting and whimpering, trying to get up so he could clean himself off. But Gila didn't care. Even with the sludge all over him, Gila couldn't help but thrust into the lizard right then and there. Gila hissed and looked down at his mate's face. He drooled onto his snout and licked his chest. The smaller monitor kept trying to get away, but Gila was far too heavy and aroused to let the monitor escape. So the monitor just lied still, grunting and moaning as Gila continued to thrust into him and lick the vomit off his body.

The fox retched, praying he didn't start vomiting himself. He quickly moved away from the repulsive lizards, jumping towards another tree and stealthily climbing down the bark. He landed on the ground with a soft thud, crouching and concealing himself against the dirt. The vulpine lied face down in a ditch, listening to a few lizards moving. The fox figured the heavy odor of all the other monitors fornicating was enough to mask his scent; the lizards walked past the ditch, ignoring the fox altogether. He lifted his head and blinked, scanning the environment again for more lizards.

"...shrewz...thiz far...tazty mealz..."

The fox crept out of the ditch and started to walk forward, crouching and stepping meticulously, avoiding all the fragile twigs and leaves. Up ahead he noticed three lizards--one of whom was chewing on what seemed to be a roasted tail. The other two were clothed and covered in blood, obviously relishing in their most recent kill. The vulpine hid beside a tree and listened closely to their conversation, having no idea that they were Ulwort, Krassak and Rowgat.

"Zo now we have shrew zcoutz followin' uz? How problematic do you think they'll be?"

The grayish-brown lizard munching on the tail spat out some scales and licked his lower mandible. "Wot problem? 'Tiz only shrewz! Li'l bite-zized znackz fer uz t'enjoy!"

"The problem, Ulwort, iz that they're followin' uz! Which meanz they're plotting...there'z gonna be an ambush zoon, an' we need to be prepared!" said Rowgat.

Krassak nodded. "Yezzzz...we can't make any miztakez--ezpecially now."

Rowgat smirked and looked at Ulwort. "Why d'you think I got rid of my new pet?"

Ulwort bit into the tail again, talking with his mouth full. "'Coz ye were bored of 'im!"

Rowgat chuckled and folded his arms. "True, true. But I can alwayz find another!"

The fox grinned. Now was the perfect time to butt in. He stepped out of the bushes calmly, smirking as he walked right up to the monitors. Rowgat stared at the reddish-brown fox with black paws and footpaws and grinned widely.

"Well, lookie here! Juzt when I waz talkin' about a new pet!"

The fox didn't back down. He kept smirking at them, wagging his tail slowly as the lizards approached him. Krassak licked his bloody teeth and hissed, taking out his cutlass.

"I can make thiz quick, or we can have a li'l 'fun' with you firzt! Juzt hold ztill, foxy...no need t'make thiz complicated!"

The lizards trapped the fox around in a triangle, offering him no room to escape. The vulpine looked at the three beasts that were all either hissing or drooling at him, longing to drink his blood.

"So you lizards got a shrew problem, eh?"

"Wot about it?" asked Ulwort.

The fox scoffed. "What's yer plan, eh? Gonna slaughter everybeast you see? Gonna eat everybeast 'til you puke?"

Rowgat stepped close to the fox and snarled in his face, the drool sliding down his green mandible. The fox wiggled his nose and backed away.

"Yes, that's a good idea! Just breathe in everybeast's faces! With breath as foul as that, you'll conquer these woods in no time!"

"Either ztate your buzinezz here, or we'll feazt on yer flesh!" snarled Krassak.

The fox held up his paws. "Relax! I used to be in an army too, y'know. Name's Darktail. Everybeast always called me Darktail the Schemer! Always thinkin' of ways to fuck other beast's over!"

Krassak's tongue flicked out his mouth. "Iz that zo?"

Darktail nodded. "I've been travelin' with some 'sick' fox who went around fuckin' babes no bigger'n a berry bush. After I 'disposed' of him, I've been goin' solo! But I'm sure you lizards won't mind if I assist you with your dastardly plans..."

Krassak grinned and began to lower his cutlass. Ulwort grabbed the fox's head and shoved him against a tree. Then he growled deeply and started to squeeze his neck.

"You talk too much. I zay we rip hiz tongue out, fry it an' make 'im eat it!"

"Let him go, Ulwort. I wanna hear what thiz fox haz t'zay..." said Krassak.

Ulwort snorted and belched in the fox's face, spraying saliva and bits of flesh against his fur. Darktail waved the gas away as Ulwort backed off and stood idly by with his arms folded.

"I imagine that when you look at this vast army of lizards, you see a proud, fearsome, loyal group of warriors, right?"

Krassak nodded. "More or lezz."

Darktail chuckled. "That's a load of bullshit. This army doesn't impress or scare me. It disgusts me. Monitors who never wash their mouths out? Drunken lizards shitting themselves and not even bothering to change afterwards? Reptiles fornicating while they're covered in blood and spit, sometimes bile?"

The fox shook his head. "Oh yeah, sure, this army makes me wanna run in the other direction. But not because I fear that you'll kill me. It's because I fear that the stench of your breath will make me vomit. It's because the thought of you lizards fuckin' each other in your own bodily fluids almost did make me vomit."

Krassak didn't falter. He hissed softly as he kept staring at the fox. "Zo what do you intend to do: make uz more fearzome?"

"Well, I do expect to be rewarded for my services, but yes. Allow me to join this...putrid cesspool you call an army, and I'll help you turn things around in no time!"

Rowgat stepped towards the grinning fox and stuck his tongue out, hissing near the vulpine's face. He blinked twice, wondering when the cocky beast would falter. But all he did was fold his arms, still staring at them all with a sly grin.

"Turn around," Rowgat demanded.

Darktail shrugged and chuckled. He turned around, wagging his tail shortly after doing so.

"What, ya want me to bend over too?"

"Yez."

Darktail didn't have time to do anything before he was grabbed. He yelped, and then he found his muzzle smashing into the side of a tree twice. After grabbing the fox's head, the giant monitor snarled and dragged the fox over to a large log. Darktail whimpered and reached backwards, grabbing Rowgat's arm to try and pry his paw away. But Rowgat had a firm grip on the fox; he was determined to have his way with him. Krassak and Ulwort curiously followed the two creatures, watching as they both struggled. Darktail panted a few times before he grunted and coughed, finding his head pressed down on top of the log, his backside clearly visible. Rowgat stared at the fox's rump and grinned, reaching down and tugging on the waistband of his trousers.

"Stop! STOP!!"

Darktail whimpered, his eyes becoming blurry as he tried to crawl forward. He clawed at the log, sobbing and digging his claws into the wood. Rowgat grabbed the waistband of his trousers and started to pull them down too. He lowered his head and started to whisper in Darktail's left ear.

"Here'z wot'z gonna happen! I'm gonna fuck you. I'm gonna fuck you twize, with both my hemipenez. Then I'm gonna call Gila over here, and he'z gonna fuck you too! Then I'm gonna get every single fuckin' beazt in thiz 'putrid cezzpool' who'z into malez to fuck you! We're gonna keep fuckin' you and fuckin' you and fuckin' you until yer arze iz raw an' bloody! An' then we're gonna hack yer limbz off an' eat 'em in front of yer faze!"

Rowgat hissed shrilly while Ulwort and Krassak kept watching. The lizard walked closer to the fox's rear end, his hemipenes exposed. The lizard lifted the fox's tail and growled sensually as he pressed his cloaca against the fox's tailhole.

"No, STOP! PLEEEEAAASE!!! Don't--I'I'LL HELP YOU! I CAN HELP YOU! STOP!!"

Krassak stared at the sobbing fox and blinked. Then he held up a paw and loudly said, "Stop." Rowgat hissed sharply, having been frayed since his leader told him to stop right when he was about to thrust. Krassak walked towards the fox and snickered.

"Ohhhhhhh...what'z wrong, foxy? Are you zcared?" Krassak shook his head. "Now that can't be! I thought we were merely dizguzting lizardz t'you?"

"I-I'm sorry! Okay, I'M SORRY! Just please don't kill me!"

Krassak scratched his chin. "And why should we not?"

"I told you, I-I used to be in an army! A-a big one! Proud vermin army--lotta soldiers looked up t'me, y'know! I-I'm useful! I can help you! I'm-I'm a tracker; I know how to think on my footpaws; I'm a trained assassin! There's-there's lotsa ways I can help you! Name it! I'll do it!"

Krassak nodded. "Fine then. Two of my lizardz--Dazz and Izzlak--are being held captive by a holt of riverdogz. I believe it'z not far from the Weztern Coazt. All you gotta do iz rezcue 'em and bring 'em back here. You should find them eazily. After all, we lizardz zmell zo bad that you could zniff 'em out with eaze, right?"

"I...t-that might take a while! A day or two, prob'ly more."

"Then I zuggest you get ztarted! Let him up, Rowgat; you can play with him another time."

Rowgat snorted. He pulled up his trousers, but he wasn't going to let the fox get off that easily. Rowgat crouched down and blinked, lifting the whimpering fox's tail. He stared directly at the beast's tailhole and slowly moved his head forward, pressing his snout against the beast's hole. He sniffed a few times, flaring his nostrils so he could take in Darktail's musky scent. Then he opened his mouth slowly, exhaling his hot breath onto the sensitive area. He stuck out his tongue, licking Darktail's tailhole a few times, causing the fox's eyes to grow wide. Rowgat moved his slimy tongue up and down, moistening the hole. And then he slowly stuck his tongue inside the fox's hole, tasting the inside of him. He rolled his tongue around Darktail's anus for a few seconds before slowly taking his tongue away. Then he rumbled quietly, reaching out and lightly stroking the fox's rump with his sharp claws. Rowgat took his claws away and stood up, allowing the whimpering, traumatized fox to get off the log and pull his trousers back up. He looked at the three lizards around him and proceeded to run away before they tried to do anything else to him.

"D'you think he'z comin' back?" asked Ulwort.

Krassak shrugged. "Hard to zay. But there'z no harm in havin' a zpy for vermin on our zide, now iz there?"

Rowgat rubbed his snout and sniffed. "What about the shrewz we encountered?"

Krassak looked at his two lieutenants and hissed. "Judging by their headbandz, I'd zay they were part of the Guozim. And if that'z the caze, then they might not be too far off."

Krassak licked his teeth and chuckled deeply. "Tell me...d'you two like the tazte of shrew meat?"

The grins on the lizards' faces were all the answer that Krassak needed.

---

The brown hare couldn't help but admire the flowers inside the camp. He looked at the various roses scattered across the fields and felt nothing but joy. Some of them were fragrant, smelling just as sweet as all the fruit growing within Tearmann. All of them were colorful, ranging from yellow, red, white, and even some purple flowers. Harstow smiled as he walked around the flowers, flaring his nostrils and groping a few of the smooth petals with his fingers. A few babes were running around the field, still laughing as they flicked pebbles and clods of mud at each other. The lieutenant glanced to his right when he saw some mud rush past his arm.

SPLAT.

Harstow shouted, seconds before the babes gasped or frowned. The lieutenant turned around, growling as he felt the clump of mud sticking to his red coat.

"You ungrateful...d'you know who h'I am, wot?"

"Sorry, Mr. Big-Ears," said one otter, looking down at the ground and shyly kicking at the dirt.

"H'I am not Mr. Big-Ears! My name is Harstow Yendoll MacKrun, Lieutenant h'of the Long Patrol army, wot! An' you 'ave just soiled my uniform!"

"I said I was sorry Big--erm, Lieutenant Harstow!"

The lieutenant shook his head. "That's not good enough! All h'of you deserve the ultimate punishment!"

The otter shut his eyes and whimpered, shaking and crouching down to the ground, unsure of what the lieutenant would do to him.

SPLAT.

The otter stopped shaking and whimpering. He stood up and looked at his tunic. A giant clod of mud was stuck to his chest and slowly sliding down, ready to plop onto the ground. His otter friends all giggled and pointed at him, while Harstow merely stared at the babe with a grin on his face and a slingshot in his paws.

"Don't worry h'about yer friends, little one! They're going to get punished h'as well!"

The other young otters stopped laughing. One of them grunted when Harstow launched a giant clod of mud against his face, nearly covering his entire muzzle. The otter groaned and started to spit on the ground, hoping to get the bitter taste out of his mouth. Harstow found himself laughing, his white belly shaking as he chortled and began to gather more mud and dirt from the ground. The next thing the hare knew, he was "battling" with the young otters, ducking and weaving as he dodged all the clods of soil being flung at his body. Harstow couldn't help but laugh to himself as he played with the young beasts, glad that he could finally have some time to himself without having to worry about anybeast trying to slay him. But the lieutenant wasn't the only one being "attacked" by the young ones. Within the orchard, the mighty Badger Lord was grunting and snarling as he tried to pry various tiny beasts away from his legs and back.

"AUUUUGH!! Get offa me ya li'l ingrates!"

"Nuh-uh! Take that, evil vermee!"

The Badger Lord shouted several times as a tiny hedgehog no bigger than Urthquake's head started to whack him on the head with a stick. And while that was happening, all the other small babes were punching or bonking Urthquake on various parts of his body.

"Needles! Ack, it's too much for me! They're all too strong! GET 'EM OFF!"

Major Fenson, however, was on the ground laughing hysterically at the display. The Badger Lord felt one of the small beasts smack him in the back of the neck with a wooden sword.

"ARGH! Ye slain me!"

At that point, the Badger Lord fell to his knees, all the while making several exaggerated moans and gurgling sounds. The small beasts removed themselves from the badger's body and quickly backed away, watching as he fell face first in the dirt. He collapsed making a loud "BLEEEH!" sound, complete with his mouth agape and his tongue hanging out. The badger shut his eyes and suddenly went still. The small beasts walked closer to the Badger Lord and stopped making noises. One of them poked the badger with his wooden sword, but he didn't move.

"Um...Mr. Stripedoggy?"

The hedgehog who dealt the "killing" blow snickered. "Yer not dead!"

There was a long pause, and then Urthquake jerked his head up and firmly said, "No!" Some of the small beasts shouted with surprise and backed away, while the others laughed at Urthquake's faux death. The Badger Lord started to laugh to himself, sitting up and relaxing against one of the thick pear trees in the orchard.

"And that's how you defeat vermin! Just because you're all small and young doesn't mean you don't have strength in numbers. Ain't that right, Needles?"

The major had finished laughing and was up on his footpaws, wiping a tear away from his left eye. "Hohohoho, that's right, m'lord, wot! Even a badger as large as you was trounced by a few tiny beasts!"

Urthquake exhaled after playing with the babes and rubbed his forehead. He had taken off his blue armor plating and was only clad in his thick chainmail that nearly went down to his knees and was fastened with a black belt. With how much the Badger Lord started sweating, he knew he needed to get rid of his armor so he could move around the camp more freely. Major Fenson sat down beside his Badger Lord, taking note of all the excited babes in front of him.

"So, wot other questions d'you have for Urthquake the Tough?"

One mole babe raised his arms so high in the air that he looked like he was trying to touch the sky. Urthquake smiled and pointed at him.

"Yes, uh..."

"Morrvin, zurr!"

The badger nodded. "Morrvin. What's your question?"

"Hurr, 'ow biggun that zord be?"

Urthquake smirked as he took the giant broadsword from his back and held it in front of all the young beasts. "Big enough to chop a tree in half with one stroke."

Major Fenson flared his nostrils. "Trust me, young ones! You don't even wanna try to hold that! S'no different from tryin' to pick up a boulder!"

As the badger put his sword onto his back, one of the older otters who were throwing clods of mud at his friends earlier raised his paw.

"Yes, Jamey?"

The bluish-black otter lowered his paw. "Uh, wot would 'appen if'n vermin took over Salamee...um...that big mountain thingy you rule?"

"Wot would happen--see, m'lord? Even babes have questions that could stump ya, wot!"

Urthquake snorted and grinned. "I assure you, that wouldn't happen."

"But wot if it did?"

Urthquake sighed and rubbed his chin. "Well, technically, that has happened before, several generations ago before the Long Patrol was even created. There was a wise, strong badger named Lord Brocktree, and he had to gather all the goodbeasts he could find so he could defeat the warlord Ungatt Trunn. Should that happen--and I'm not saying it would--we'd have to do the same."

The chubby hedgehog who whacked the badger on the back of his neck raised his paw next.

"No, Kleewyn, bashing someone in the back of the neck with a tiny wooden sword won't kill them."

The hedgehog and some of the other babes chuckled at the badger's answer. "Hehe, I wasee gun' ask that, Mr. Stripedoggy!"

"What's your question then?"

Kleewyn rubbed his nose and sniffed. "Why not be friends wit vermee? Everybeast says they're big meanies, but-but my mum says it's wrong t'judge a beast 'afore knowin' 'em."

"I assure you, they are all 'big meanies' young one."

The major chuckled. "Think about it, young Kleewyn! Nobeast wants to befriend a dirty, smelly, vulgar beast who only cares about his or herself an' will backstab anybeast just to get ahead in life."

Kleewyn chuckled and nudged his elbow against Jamey. "Sounds like they talkin' 'bout you!"

Jamey snorted and folded his arms. "So wot if I dun like bathin' an' always steal yer desserts when ya ain't lookin'?"

Urthquake scratched his head and huffed. "It's not just about that."

"Then wot is it 'bout? If Jamey an' me c'n be friends, then why not--"

"It's different," Urthquake snarled, his voice rising higher than he wanted.

Kleewyn abruptly shut his mouth and slowly began to frown. A very long silence followed afterwards, and it wasn't until then that the badger noticed his right fist was clenched. He took a few deep breaths before he shut his eyes and shook his head.

"Vermin aren't...you can't be friends with them, young ones. It won't work. Vermin don't care about beasts like us. They're miserable, all the time. And the only way they can be happy is if they're making the beasts around them miserable too. So they lie. They cheat. They steal, rape, flog, and even kill beasts like us. They don't care how old you are, what species you are. Males, females, children..."

Urthquake had to pause. He looked away from the young beasts, blinking and leaning backwards until his back was pressed against the tree. Major Fenson kept flicking his eyes back and forth, switching between the group of babes and adolescent beasts as well as Urthquake. The Badger Lord blinked and rubbed the blue stripe on his head.

"All vermin care about is causing as much chaos and destruction as possible. They will not be your friends. They will not be your allies. They're your enemies, pure and simple. All that matters is that should you see one, you defeat 'em, just like you all did when you were fighting me. Understand?"

Kleewyn nodded slowly. "Okay...okay, Mr. Stripedoggy."

Major Fenson butted in to lighten the mood. "Now then, enough talk of all these evil vermin an' their bad ways, wot! Anymore questions?"

Another hedgehog in a frilly gown raised her paw. Urthquake pointed at her, forgetting her name as well.

"Yes, err...Elvyn?"

"Eve, sir. Um, I was wondering...why don't you wear trousers?"

Urthquake couldn't help but chuckle. "I used to a while ago. But it's more...convenient not to have anything, y'know, blocking my way."

Eve raised her eyebrow. "I'm not sure I get it."

Major Fenson grinned as he stared at the discomfit badger. The large beast was rubbing his stripe nervously and grunting softly.

"Yes, well, um..." The badger cleared his throat. "You see, bein' in the Long Patrol--it's, it's not pretty. Or always pleasant upon one's nostrils. Sometimes we don't have time to stop and bathe. Sometimes we have to march around for several days drenched in our own sweaty, dirty clothes. And sometimes we..."

The Badger Lord made a strange grunting sound and pinched the bridge of his muzzle, shutting his eyes. "All right, what happens when you eat a lot of vittles or drink a lot of fluids?"

"You get sick?" responded Eve.

"Yes, but besides that."

"You pee an' make poo-poo!" shouted Kleewyn proudly.

Urthquake huffed and opened his eyes as he lowered his paw. "Yes...that. And I'm-I'm a badger, so I...I tend to eat a lot...and drink a lot. And back when I used to wear trousers, there were times where...you know..."

Major Fenson couldn't help but giggle when he noticed how shy and uncomfortable the badger was becoming. The giant beast wiggled his nose and folded his arms.

"And, um, well...there were times where...I was in the middle of a battle, or we were marching, or I was too busy to stop and go due to stress...um...so I'd..."

Urthquake couldn't finish. He let out a few strange grunting sounds and looked away from the young ones. His entire head looked like it was starting to turn red with embarrassment. Some of the babes began to figure out what Urthquake was trying to say and started to giggle, while the major was almost on the verge of breaking out into a fit of hysterical laughter again. Eve finally understood what the badger was implying and scowled, looking disgusted.

"Ewwww!"

---

"Oi, that fuckin' slop y'call food done yet?! I ain't gonna sit here an' get fat offa cordial all day!"

The mole chef wiggled his big nose and snorted. "Not yet! Zoops bain't roight jus' yet! Gotta add ee more spices!"

"Well, hurry it up! We didn't come here just to stare at that fat arse of yours!"

Meklarn snorted again and huffed as he walked past Ozgin, gathering more ingredients from the camp's main building. Ozgin continued to sit on the steps, alone and clutching a bottle of blueberry and cherry cordial in her paws. She took a long swig of the delicious beverage before sighing and lowering the bottle. The hare snorted as she looked around the camp. She could see Urthquake still chatting with a few of the community's babes. To her right was the orchard, the area still looking serene and filled with fruit and battle-torn hares finally relishing in their time of relaxation. To her left were a few hares and otters having a shooting contest, taking turns as they fired arrows at small and large targets several meters away. Ozgin could barely make out Lakler somewhere in the distance; he was either showing off the strange rashes on the bottom of his footpaws or trying to amaze everybeast with his flatulent skills. Probably both. Ozgin was fine where she was though. She kept telling herself that she just needed space and some time alone. And food. But the fat mole was taking his sweet time preparing a hot meal that she deserved to consume after everything she and all the other hares had been through. So Ozgin took another sip of her cordial and snorted.

"Fuckers..."

"Not a big fan of crowds, eh?"

Ozgin glanced at the top of the stairs near the building and saw Penjo standing and staring at her.

"Wot? You act like I got bird shit on my ears."

"You seem a bit...troubled. I didn't think it was possible for somebeast to snap at everybeast they run into."

Ozgin snorted. "Yeah, wotever. Sure yer the fuckin' expert on everythin', aren't ya?"

Penjo walked down towards Ozgin and sat beside her, staring at the hare as she drank from her cold bottle.

"Must be hard. Being surrounded by all those males an' everything. It can be frustrating when they constantly belittle you, think they're more superior 'cos they have 'balls' and you don't."

Ozgin smirked. "No shit. Ain't enough females in this battalion I tell ya. One of the beasts I was actually friends with got her throat sliced in half. But hey. S'all part of bein' in the Long Patrol, yeah?"

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Sure."

Penjo paused for a moment, looking away from Ozgin while she consumed more of the sweet fluids. But she already knew what Ozgin's problem was and was waiting for her to confess.

"So what happened to you?"

Ozgin scoffed. "Wot, d'you think somebeast fuckin' touched me?"

"The fact that you immediately jumped to that conclusion is making me more curious."

Ozgin shook her head. "The vermin didn't rape me. Fuckers never got the chance to touch me; I can tell ya that for a fact! Anybeast who tried lost that floppy organ 'tween their legs, wot!"

Penjo grimaced. "That's...colourful. So you were almost raped by vermin then?"

"I wasn't raped by no fuckin' vermin!"

"All right, all right! ...I apologize. Perhaps I am making the wrong assumptions."

Ozgin paused for a while before she spat on the ground and shook her head. "You can't rape somebeast unless you catch 'em off-guard."

"What does that mean?"

"Exactly wot I just said. I wasn't raped by no fuckin' vermin."

Penjo stared at Ozgin, noticing that she was observing all the males in the Long Patrol with a strange glare in her eyes. The hedgehog stared at some of the hares too, shortly before she blinked and her eyes grew wide. She looked at Ozgin again and stuttered.

"Y...you're serious."

Ozgin nodded slowly. "Forgot his name. Forgot his face. Think he was a captain or somethin'. He always said I was pretty. Always said I looked so gorgeous. Slapped my bum whenever I bent over. I'd always just laugh, thought he was flirting with me. One night, we were alone in the woods gatherin' some firewood. He told me he'd go look north. I said I'd look south. And then I turned my back to him."

Ozgin slowly faced the hedgehog and held up three fingers. "Three seconds. That's how long it took 'afore he was on top of me. Three. Fuckin'. Seconds."

Ozgin lowered her paw and shook her head. She let out a strange chuckle and sucked on her teeth, twirling the bottle around in her paws. "It's...it's funny how that happens. Beasts stop lookin' after their child for three seconds, and then suddenly, a falcon comes down and snatches 'em away. You fall into a river, and in three seconds, pikes swarm you. You...tch, none of 'em understand. All these males, always bossin' us around, takin' advantage of us. All these females like that cunt Lillen, all dressed pretty and smellin' nice, not knowin' wot all these beasts are capable of. ...They always go after the nice, pretty ones. Always."

"I...I-I don't..."

"It's okay. Don't say yer sorry. I'm gettin' sick 'n' tired of hearin' that shit."

"You were raped, corporal. Somebeast forced himself inside you. That's a pain nobeast can even begin to describe."

Ozgin shrugged. "Yeah, well. I ain't so pretty now. Ain't so nice either. Ain't been raped since then."

Penjo paused again and sighed heavily. "I can understand why you feel the way you do, why you act the way you act. But it's...it's nothing compared to what Meklarn did to me. That mole decided, when I wasn't looking, that he should snatch my last slice of blackberry pie and eat it."

"Wot the fuck does that have t'do with any of this?!"

"I'm not finished yet. Since this one mole, this one beast, did something horrible to me, I've decided to fight back against everybeast around me, even the ones who mean me no harm. From now on, I shall defecate on all my food. That way, nobeast else will try to steal it."

"THAT MAKES NO FUCKIN' SENSE!"

Penjo turned her head slowly and stared at Ozgin, blinking once. "Exactly."

Ozgin scoffed and went back to drinking her cordial. "Fuck you and yer pie story. Shit all over yer food; I don't give a rat's cunt if you do."

Penjo sighed heavily. "You don't get it yet."

The hedgehog stood up and placed her paw on the corporal's right shoulder. "I really am sorry that this happened to you. Especially from the beasts you're supposed to feel safe around. I'm not even gonna stand here and try to act like I know what yer goin' through. But try to understand, please. You need to change this behaviour of yours. The last thing you wanna do is say or do something that you'll never be able to take back."

Ozgin didn't say anything. The hedgehog slowly took her paw away from the hare's shoulder and walked back up the stairs. She entered the building again, leaving the corporal alone to contemplate about her future.

---

Qwuintuff McDaggerson was having oodles of fun stuffing his face with berries. The dark brown hare was snorting and slurping, licking the juice from blueberries right off his paws. His mouth was a mixture of red and purple; the captain hadn't bothered to try and clean his face off, since he knew it'd become riddled with juice afterwards anyway. The captain found a few plump blackberries and took them off their sprigs, munching on the tart fruit as juice began to drip all over his paws. He licked his fingers and paws a few times, belching and longing to taste more berries. As the hare was busy stuffing his face with the nourishment, Jamey was strolling around the orchard as well now that Urthquake was done answering all the questions the young beasts had. He spotted Qwuintuff eating all the berries and frowned.

"Oi, that's enough! Ye gotta save some fer the rest of us, y'know!"

The captain stopped snatching blackberries from the bush and glanced over at the bluish-black otter. He swallowed hard and exhaled, grinning as he walked towards the young beast.

"'Twas only gettin' a few is all! Had a hankerin' fer blackberries, and after seein' this lovely orchard, I couldn't resist!"

Jamey flared his nostrils. "Still, don't go about eatin' all our vittles! We still gotta live off the food we grow here after ye long-eared beasts leave."

Qwuintuff nodded. "S'pose so. My mistake!"

Jamey scratched his face and wagged his thick tail. "So, erm, you been in the Long Patrol a while now?"

"Yeah! Nearly ten seasons! Why?"

"Jus' wonderin', that's all. Russell thinks that when I'm old enough, I should try to move on, join some holt or army or somethin'. I've been trainin' for a season now, but I haven't really--"

"You ain't been 'round when the shit erupted from a badger's tailhole, right?"

"Uh...sure?" Jamey erased the disgusting image from his mind and shook his head. "Anyway, your Badger Lord told us all 'bout vermin, wot t'do if they ever start attackin' ya. I'm jus' wonderin' wot it's like when yore not killin' vermin."

Qwuintuff snorted. "Borin' mate! Killin' vermin is the best part about this battalion, wot! Sure, yeah, I enjoy relaxin' every once in a while, but slaying those foul beasts is wot's kept me goin' all these seasons! You'll see, little one; once you have a vermin in yer sights, you won't be able to resist!"

Jamey blinked. "Resist?"

Qwuintuff walked over to one of the cherry trees and snickered as he took a cherry off. "Yes, little one! Resisting that lovely urge to kill! I know you may not understand it now, but we creatures...we're s'posed to kill. It's in all our blood. It's instinctual, pure and simple! If somebeast tries to stab you with a sword, you defend yourself and kill him or her, right?"

Jamey nodded. "Yeah. Or you c'n just wound 'em."

"When the time comes, you won't just 'wound.' Yer gonna kill. Maybe by accident. Maybe on purpose. Either way, you'll know wot it feels like to give in to that urge gnawing on the back of your skull."

Jamey stepped a little closer to the hare, watching as he removed the stem from the cherry and started to squeeze it between two fingers.

"Wot does it feel like?"

"Hmm?"

"To...to kill somebeast. Am I gonna throw up or wot?"

Qwuintuff squeezed the cherry so hard that the pit was squirted out of it. He grinned very widely as he stepped closer to the young otter.

"It's beautiful. Absolutely exhilarating. Somebeasts get nervous, throw up afterwards. Somebeasts are traumatized by their first kill. Somebeasts only kill another beast just to say that they went through with it, an' then they never do it again. But me?" Qwuintuff chuckled and threw the cherry in his mouth. "I joined this army 'cos I liked to kill beasts. 'Cos I was good at it! I still am too!"

"Is that so?"

Qwuintuff nodded. "I was killin' beasts long before I joined this army. Now I get to do it without anybeast questioning why. You see, I'm the kind of beast who sees somethin' an' takes it. That's the one thing I admire about vermin: they're just like me when it comes to wot they want. I wanted some berries. I came over here and snatched 'em all for myself. If I wanna get my cock wet, I go over an' take the nearest female I c'n find, dependin' on how I'm feelin'. An' if I see somebeast whose life needs to abruptly end, well...I take it. That's wot my father taught me. You see somethin' you want, you go out an' you take it 'afore anybeast else gets to."

Qwuintuff removed one of the daggers from his belt, a sleek, sharp blade with a smooth wooden grip that had been designed to have a swirling pattern. The pommel was wide and metal, although Jamey didn't notice any special designs on it. The captain handed the dagger over to Jamey, and he slowly retrieved it.

"Wot's this for?"

"Wotcha think? You said you wanna become a warrior, yeah?"

"Yes."

"Then you're gonna have to kill somebeast sooner or later, wot! Don't worry; it's easier than it sounds. Don't think about it. When you see the beast you wanna kill, just take his or her life and be done with it."

"How will I know?"

Qwuintuff chuckled and patted the otter on the head. "You'll know. Like I said, you'll feel that urge deep within ya that you can't ignore. All you gotta do after that is embrace it, let it swallow you whole."

Jamey didn't respond. He looked down at the dagger in his paws, letting himself get used to the weight and feel of it. Qwuintuff ruffled the fur on the otter's scalp before he started to walk away.

"I sure do hope those chefs finish dinner soon! Any longer and I'm gonna end up scarfin' all the fruit in this orchard!"

Jamey wasn't paying attention to what the hare was saying. He was too fixated on the new dagger he acquired. He blinked a few times before he gripped the handle, pondering what the captain meant by "urges" and when they'd strike.