# Anatomical Anachronisms: Chapter 3: Bowtruckle

Author: MetellaStella
Tags: Bear, Chimera, Dragon, Fire, Lion, M/M, Magic, Minotaur, Music, Predator/Prey, Raven, Sci-Fi, Spider, art, wood

Rome recorded the underground imprisonment of the Titans, ascended humans of great strength. History has repeated itself, except that we are humble monsters-minotaurs, griffins, and elemental beings, and so many more- and our conquerors mere humans instead of the ascended human gods like Zeus, who have long since disappeared. Our civilization was not great enough to stand against humans, and has slipped from collective memory as well. We have followed the technological advances of the surface as best we can, and we look towards the day when we will be able to escape and reassert our place.

_In the future._   
  
_What do you hope to accomplish by recording this, ex-Queen? You think you're going to figure out how to fix all of your mistakes if you just gather enough about me?_   
  
I'm not going to grace that with a response. I'm recording this for posterity, to make sure no one ever creates anything like you **_ever_** again.

To my human viewers, this is a bowtruckle. His formation was one that never should have taken place, and I've gotten Wing to prioritize preventing that from occurring in any past timelines he happens to mentally sync with. His intuitive grasp of the timelines is an invaluable tool. I only wish we could re-do our own timeline. Thankfully, we have this thing in custody-  
  
_Oh, so I'm just a 'thing' now?_  
  
You're certainly not a _person._ The magic that formed you backfired badly enough to classify your consciousness as not complete.

As you can see, humans, bowtruckles are elemental beings of wood. With sprites, nymphs, golems, and wraiths- formed of fire, water, earth, and air respectively- we collectively call them 'spawn.' If someone is skilled enough in the manipulation of an element, that element may take on some of their consciousness, even inadvertently so, sometimes.

For wood elements, normally for this to occur, they must be started as seeds. However, the seeds grow almost instantaneously, and all spawn will be fully adult instantaneously when formed correctly.   
  
This one has to be confined like this-

_Oh come on, I'm less powerful than your average wolf pup. I could go play with one and he'd be able to pin me down no problem. You're making mountains out of molehills, I swear._   
  
There is **no** way I'm letting you near children unsupervised. Rrrrrrrrrrrr-

**_Mama bear wants to tumble with the weed, huh?_**

You see his true face now? Note the black around his bright green eyes and the rows of wooden fangs. Most unstable monsters will plainly display visual cues of their dysfunction. I must tell you, humans, that if your intuition tells you a monster's appearance is due to its being evil, follow that feeling. It bears unfortunate resemblance to what you call 'profiling,' but trust me when I say, it might save your life, and most monsters will not get too bent out of shape if you run from them in mistake. Since you all have forgotten magic, you need to be especially wary.

As for you, why do you use that other face around me at all? The harmless little doe eyes and the flowers? You know misdirection won't work.

_Well, SSSSilicon, the genius who tinkerss with time maccchinery in his ssspare time and can ssspout psssychology when it really countss, may have dropped his 'loveable oaf' act around you, but I'm rather attached to my massk._  
  
Wing's wraith apprentice has his reasons for hiding. Some of which involve **you.**

_Bessidess, you have a lot of nerve accusing me of misdirection. That 'sweet' little 'old lady' routine was hilariousssss at first, but we both know what's really_ _lurking under all that fluffinesss, immortal madame._

Is that all you can muster? To try to make me ashamed? Pointing out my past? Or my craftiness? Or what? You're going to have to be more specific. And for your information, that was not an act. Or at least, it was no more an act than mothers who refrain from engaging their children in monologues about life and death or the minutia of the mechanics of cell gateway proteins. I don't speak to children the same way I would adults. Simple. Many things children are not developmentally ready for.

_ **Your son** was ready for it, wasn't he?_  
  
_Don't think I don't see your tail and mouth twitching._

Every pulse of my heart reminded me of the magic link that no longer strung from it. That I had failed in the most basic and stark way any mother can. Every child's eyes I looked into, he was there. What more can _you_ do to me?

_Do you want to find out?_

Take your best shot, sad little cynic.  
  
_You snort as if pawing the ground. Oh how your peaceful oxen kin would be aghast at the show of aggression with the body language of their ancestry._

_The wizened warrior wanted to appear harmless and doddering to humans so they would trust you._

_You're probably going to edit this video just to keep up that impression, too. Unless someone gets hold of the raw version. Maybe one of your disgruntled followers will keep the footage._

Trying to stir up paranoia? How predictable of you. 

_White lies from a clever white dragoness. Oh that's right, you only wish you were a full-blooded dragon. Does that sting? Ha. Breeding with lowly bovids. What were they thinking, right? Mm, on the other hand, maybe they were curious about the toughness of a muscle bound heavyweight- oxen outweigh lions, after all- and it was a calculated move all along. You think that just because you're nice to your white pawns and your intentions good that makes it okay. Maybe it is . . . Maybe it's fine to get others to do what you want if you really do think it's best for them. What say you?_

I say you are trying to tempt me into subtly sculpting people more often. Or with more force. To which I say, screw off.

_Oh that's very ladylike of you. Your mother would be appalled. But, you're all about dishonoring them, aren't you?_

_Oh I see that red glow in your eyes. Don't act so unaffected._   
  
Whoops, I saw right through you.

You are turning into ether.

No pawn is ever white.

And I am not either.

You are so transparent.

Though you try to be opaque.

They are all gray.

Try another play.

Your turn.

_Someone with such a highly refined mind . . ._

_But your body. Well._

_Your family, plenty of monsters have experimented purely for chimeras' sake._

_Nobles are a mix more than commoners, though._

_Completely opposite case for human mulattos._

_Unlike the inbred royalty atop primate spires_

_Animals had to forge alliances by hybridizing._

_Still, no worse that political marriage contracts between human families and clans._

_The incentives for treating their children like pawns are just much higher._

_How do you feel about that? Being tweaked as with a pair of pliers._

I never was a pawn, you wretched plant.

I was involved in the decision.

Our political marriages are not like humans'

_You're a high-bred hy-brid. Heehee. Fire._

_With the five elements, dirt is the very bottom of opinion_

_Water comes in second place for the Olympics of Oppression_

_Air is very respectable_

_Wood can sway either way_

_Fire is, the common people think, the 'natural' order_

_Or so they say.  
  
Oh come now, don't squirm like that Your ex-Majesty. You can't possibly hope to shake the starry-eyed populace out of assuming that fire is the best, now can you? You're more concerned about presenting a nice face to the humans than solving the attitude of your people. That the meekest mouse can get social graces just for being lucky enough to have fire as their primary element- just being associated with dragons opens doors for them._

_Add in spawn_

_Next to their material brethren_

_Several different combinations_

_Humans think **their** kyriarchy is complicated? HA._

_You monsters now like to think you're more enlightened,_

_but take it from an earth-wielding pint-sized photosynthesizer_

_Who's at the very bottom of the totem pole and experienced_

_everything multiple times firsthand._

_You're all just as bigoted as any human_

_would be if faced with these vast differences._

_You're only people, after all._

_Cynicism?_

_You experience_

_Or study enough, if you're not eventually a cynic,_

_you're an idiot._

_You bet that pretty little unicorn tail of yours I'm a cynic._

_Your mother used to brush that tail until it shined._

_Literally sparkled._

_She gushed over it._

_What a stroke of luck that trait reappearing was, she'd say._

_You smiled while you told your son about her over and over almost every single day.  _

_All that praise_

_Yet,_

_your poor mother's skeleton_

_Would be **rolling in her dark grave** at the idea of anything less than a dragonkin touching her daughter._

_In this hole of misfits and weaklings you're the last of your kind_

_And you've taken it upon yourself to finish destroying this proud bloodline._

_Or as monsters say, cauldron._

_Tsk, tsk.   
  
And you spout that little flame in frustration, because you know I'm right. It's irresponsible to mate with anyone but a dragonkin. There are so few of you left._

_Dragonblood. Dragon cauldron._

_What, did anyone honestly think this Gorthorn would give his two most important positions_

_to anyone with any less credentials than **that?** _

_Talent is genetic._

_Very flimsily among humans, the differences are minute and negligible, but quintuply so for monsters._

And then you have the reinstated Wing.   
  
_He's the exception that proves the rule._

Think what you will. I do not believe in your truth.

_We can't very go well go around testing everyone, can we?_

_There's an obvious gap between_

_ **non-sapient** prey and predators_

_But that's a political non-starter._

_'We're going to find out if we're naturally smarter!'_

_You all evolved to different requirements_

_Besides, too hard to separate out the variable of influence of social environment._

_You top-tier predators start cramming your young full of learning_

_before they can even_ _ **talk.** _

We care about our children.

And I stand by what I said.

_I think you're just putting that on for appearances._

_After all, Miss Politician,_

_you have quite a poker face._

_Are you saying that other_

_fathers and mothers_

_ **don't** care_

_about theirs?_

Wh- I m-

_Heehee. Caught you.   
And if your Gorthorn_

_ever absorbs_

_his souls?   
Well, that power is a huge temptation._

_Even if it is rooted_

_In the literal tree hugger's desire_

_To protect his endangered species._

_Maybe you will need to as well_

_To keep him in check_

_And you can join an eternal dance_

_Like the ancient gods of Greece._

_You could keep him from doing wrong_

_With a spirited siren's song._

You had better a love song meant

Ugh! Just to imply a thing at all.

_So now you're putting down nymphs?_

_You snobby Ex-Queen,_

_Glimpses_

_Into their lives_

_Show that not all those who seduce_

_Retain their original callousness._

_People certainly condemn Zeus_

_And he did terrible things_

_But if you were not there,_

_How are you to know a heart and body's workings?_

_I would like to praise him for his wickedness,_

_But I am not so sure he stuck to it always._

Ah where's your cynicism _now?_

For 'shame'  
I admire

How you defend the water

From the fire

Of this flame.

And I'd spit upon the skyfire's name.

_Yess. You'd make a better god than he-_

Now quit it with your _luring!_

Yes, for the pond hoppers

And average folk that may be true . . .

But I am still immune.

You are not the only mastermind.

Gorthorn, Wing, and I

will keep our eyes

on you.  
  

 Chapter 4: [https://www.sofurry.com/view/1103923](https://www.sofurry.com/view/1103923)

Source: https://sofurry.com/s/GnDdXoBn
Part of the series Gorthorn, Chimera King
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