We don't hate being micros - Chapter 5
By the time Veir had makes it home he is worn out. Looking at the clock, he groans a little bit and rubs his fingers through his headfur, "8 o'clock already? I guess makes sense... So much has happened today."
He walks over to his desk and looks down at the miniature cougar still recovering. Cameron opens his eyes, having only been resting them but not truly sleep. He looks to Veir and smiles a little bit, sitting up as much as he can, "Hey, I wanted to apologize for earlier. I made a real jerk of myself," He shifts a little, looking for the right words, "Whatever you did back there... It saved my ass. I owe you for it, cloaker or not."
Veir smiles a little, "It's okay, I understand. Life at that height must be hard. I only wish I reacted more quickly. Maybe then you wouldn't be injured."
"Nah, I got myself in trouble and you got me out, that's enough. So how long have you been using a cloaker?" The cougar asks, watching as Veir lays down in his bed and stares up at the ceiling.
He responds after thinking for a moment, "Since I was a child. My mother bought me a cloaker when I was born. She didn't want me to live the way her and her father did. I've never truly lived as a micro. That's why I... Well, when you said that I'm lucky to have a cloaker I felt bad because... I am... extremely lucky. I only know that I am a micro. I don't know what it's like."
"I see. You've never taken it off?"
Veir shakes his head, "Never for an extended period. Only when I'm in one of the underground micro cities or visiting family members that don't own cloakers. I've never been around the giants at my normal height."
"My brother, George, is like you. Well, not 'like' you in the sense that he has always worn a cloaker. But in the sense that, if he could, he would always wear one. He always talked about how much easier things would be as a giant so I told him that I would support him in trying to find one, that is why I was in your school. George and I... Well, I went with him to try and find the guy who makes them. We were going to get a definite price and then seek work to make enough money to buy one. Unfortunately some kind of trapper or hunter... Someone out for us and other micros was able to split us up. I only remember running as fast as I could, like a coward, until I could run no more. I had lost the trapper but I also lost George. I can only pray he's safe. In the morning, after apparently blacking out that night, I found myself nearby your school and I watched as cages of micros were carried into some classroom. I thought George might be among them but I was wrong."
Veir frowns a little, "I'm sorry, I hope he's alright as well. They were carrying the cages into the biology lab for our experiment I bet. Are you sure he wasn't among those caged?"
"Yes, I was able to check each cage rather thoroughly. The micros there were very cooperative. They... wanted to be there as far as I could tell. They said that they were going to be made into giants." The cougar recalls, seeming a bit confused.
"They were telling the truth. The giants have... They've found a way to mimic the cloakers," Veir recalls the device he used only a few hours prior. "We... my mom and I had to send out an alert only about half an hour ago to warn others about the possibility that the giants can sense our cloakers. I.... we may not be safe anymore. Even with cloakers on" Veir says with an exasperated sigh.
The cougar looks down for a moment, figuring this is probably a big deal for the wolf, "Sounds rough. Hey, but you'll be alright. Even if you have to take the cloaker off. Being a micro isn't as bad as many make it out to be. You just have to know who to avoid that's all."
Veir closes his eyes. It has been a long day and the fatigue is catching up to him. "I hope so, Cameron."
The cougar stays silent, watching the wolf fall to sleep before slipping back down into his own little box. "Goodnight, Veir" He says gently, closing his eyes. The two fall into a much-needed slumber.
--
"There it is, it's flashing again," Din looks around on the bright tuesday morning, recognizing the neighborhood. It's right near Veir's house. "This must be the signal that followed Veir. It's still strong, too. Glad Mr. Evdred let me borrow this device for a little after school research."
He stops in front of Veir's house and then walks up to the door.
"W-what is that?" The wolf sits up, hearing an incessant knocking. He frowns and stands up, looking to the cougar for a moment just to make sure he is still okay and then travelling out of his room and towards the door leading out of his apartment.
Din can see the little red marker getting closer and then it stops, the door opens. He stares right at Veir for a moment, and then down at the device. Veir, being tired, doesn't realize what Din is looking at, "Din?"
He sways his tail a little, "Wha-what brings you here? Why so early?" He lets the taller rabbit in and smiles a little bit, happy to see him despite it being so early
Din walks in but seems confused. He looks around, then at the floor, then at Veir again. "Hey, Veir..."
'Something's wrong...' Veir thinks, frowning slightly and peering at what Din is holding. He tenses up as soon as he sees the device and looks up at the rabbit, "W-what are you..?" Din, seeing the distress, quickly holds his hands up with his palms facing Veir, trying to calm him down.
"Calm down, calm down, Veir. I'm just curious. Why is it that this thing thinks you're a micro? It doesn't happen to anyone else."
Veir backs away a little bit, unsure of how he should approach this. Din follows but the wolf's agitated state keeps him from getting too close. "Why're you so tense, Veir? We've been friends for more than 8 years! I've never seen you look at me that way..." He feels as if Veir might even consider harming him, which sends a chill down his spine.
The wolf presses to a wall and watches Din. The queasy feeling comes back and he looks for a way to get around. If he can get past the rabbit and out the door quickly, he could probably outrun the lapine or at least he hopes.
He dashes but Din reads his movements as aggression and not an attempt to escape. Being trained, the rabbit quickly trips and pulls the wolf forward. Veir hits the ground hard and feels a weight press to his back, holding him in place. Din shivers a little and quickly lets go, standing up again
"I-I'm sorry, Veir. I didn't mean to... Are you okay? Please say you're okay, Veir..."
Veir is dazed, in pain, afraid, and even a little sad. He breathes for a moment, recovering before he starts to sit up. He doesn't stand, rather, he sits and pulls his knees to his chest, trying to calm down. 'I can't hide it anymore, I just can't... I hope... Din...'
"Veir? Please say something. I didn't mean to... I... maybe I should go, I've taken this too far. I'm so sorry..."
The rabbit lowers his ears. It wasn't supposed to end up like this. He just wanted to know what the device is telling him. He didn't want to hurt Veir. He walks around Veir slowly and then towards the door
"Wait..."
The rabbit turns around, face still cringing from what he just did to his best friend.
Veir stands slowly and walks over to Din. He wraps his arms around the taller rabbit and squeezes tightly, "You've been everything I could have ever asked for in a friend, Din. I hope... I hope that what I'm about to show you doesn't change that. Please understand... This is really hard for me..."
Din wraps his arms around Veir in return and smiles a little, "It's okay, what is it, Veir?"
Veir lets go and holds his hand out, taking the rabbit's and holding it firmly so that, once he's small, he can simply pull himself up. He then brings the hand with his ring on it up to his muzzle, clasps it with his teeth, and slowly slides the ring off.
The moments go by as slowly as ever for Veir. The fact that he's about to do this... He almost doesn't manage to get the ring off.
There are no special effects, no flashes, nothing. One moment, Veir is standing there and the next he's gone. Din feels a weight in his hand and his eyes move to peer at the now 4 inch tall wolf climbing into his hand. Din takes a moment to process this but then smiles more widely than he has ever before, "Veir? You're.... A micro."
Veir stares up at the massive rabbit, shivering. It feels so strange; he feels so helpless. He shivers and has to hold on tightly to avoid possibly falling out of Din's palm. Noticing his fear, Din goes to sit down, holding Veir close to his stomach and petting gently at the wolf. "It's okay, Veir, I'm not going to hurt you. I could never hurt you. Please don't be afraid."
The wolf keeps shivering but, after some time, he's able to regain his composure. Despite having been afraid only moments before, the wolf somehow feels safe. He blushes and moves to lick against Din's fingers a few times, completely comfortable in the rabbit's hand. Din's smile fades into a look of immense content and he brings Veir up to lick him gently in return, causing Veir to shiver but not out of fear. Somehow, despite having opened up about the secret that was supposed to ruin his life if it ever got out, he isn't afraid. At least not as afraid as he thought he'd be. In fact, he's kind of... happy. He sits down in Din's palm and spits the ring out, holding it in his own palm. It shrunk in scale with him. He curls his fingers around it and looks up at Din again.
"I'm... sorry I didn't say it before. Now that I've done it I... I don't really remember why I was so afraid to tell you," Veir rubs his hand into the rabbit's palm, feeling a little flustered.
"I didn't exactly handle myself gracefully so I think I'll settle for calling it even. What do you think?"
Veir smiles and nods gently, swaying his tail quickly behind him now.
The rabbit pulls Veir into his chest and holds the wolf there gently in a hug. Veir returns it, spreading his limbs over the rabbit's fur and wagging inbetween the lapines fingers. He can't help but notice a strange tattoo beneath Din's muzzle when he looks up towards him, though, at this point, he doesn't spend much time thinking about it. Din stares down at Veir and and lowers his ears slightly.
"My little wolf."
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George's monday went a little more smoothly than Veir's. While Veir was saving George's brother, dreading the leak of the secret of his ring, and fleeing Din, George gets to know Terry a little better. Veronica even allowed Terry to skip school that day to get better aquainted with his new pet.
Most importantly, George learned how to dodge Robert. By staying under Terry's watchful eye, and listening to what the fox says, Robert seems to leave him alone. Monday is a relaxing day for George, however, Terry goes back to school on Tuesday.
--
"Ugh, history... what a boring class" Terry complains as he walks into his first period of the tuesday morning, carrying George in his shirt pocket. The wolf smiles, "Oh, comeon, Terry, it can't be that bad."
Terry sets George down on his desk, taking his notebook out to prepare for the lecture.
"Today we'll be discussing the micro war. Who knows what the micro war was about?" The badger in front of the classroom points to an eager blue jay with his hand raised "We STOMPED the micros into the ground" He slams his fist down on Terry's desk right next to George, causing the wolf to yip and jump. The other kids laugh, Terry glares at the bluejay and the badger teacher grunts, "Quiet down quiet down. Who has the correct answer?" George frowns and moves to the other side of the desk away from the bluejay
Terry raises his hand, "The micros were looking to have themselves declared citizens so that they could run for seats and have a say in congressional matters. Essentially, they were looking to be treated equally," The badger tilts her head, "Yes, that is correct. Now, Terry, why were the micros denied this request?"
"Because they are not equal to us. Even assuming that they are able to think at the same level as we can they do not have the physical ability to win their rights. Every time they have attempted to upgrade their second-class citizenship they have been physically overpowered. Simply put, in our society, it is preferred by most giants to leave them as servants lesser citizens if citizens at all."
The teacher nods again, "Very good. Turn to page 50 and we'll begin reading from there," George frowns a little bit, trying not to let it get to him. This will be a difficult class to sit through for certain.
"We'll start with a short summary of what is credited with being the beginning of the micro war: The court case of Ilts vs. Miles. Miles is a micro skunk who had his property crushed in by a child of the Tils' family, a family of Akitas. He attempted to sue Mr. Ilts but, in the end, lost. The result was that Mr. Miles and his family became homeless. Micros tried to protest the case, taking to the streets and picketing, rallying to the cry of 'micro pride' but, despite being peaceful in their protest, they were the victims of rather violent acts, especially when they were gathered. This caused several violent retaliations by the micros including a succesful bombing of a government building and assasination by poison of the prime minister from the western territory. With tensions at their highest, we will begin reading about Horus Gerard and the first few days of the war against the micros by our military"
-50 years ago-
"It was a massacre. The bodies of our soldiers were strewn over the ground. We fought as hard as we could but, in the end, we were just bugs under their feet. Why can't they understand? Why won't they just treat us with respect?" A little ferret scribbles furiously into his journal, looking out of the cage he's settled in and watching as General Horus kicks a mouse of the line of micros moving into a nearby cage to be held until it is decided what will be done with, or to, them.
The mouse squeaks and struggles to get up only to be smashed into the ground and flattened into a messy stain beneath the snow leopard's thick boot, "I saw that look, little bastard. Remember your place. Shouldn't have gone to war if you can't handle it"
The ferret sighs and keeps writing, "If I don't make it... my name is Ilo, I was a citizen of the micro city these giants just finished rampaging through. Yes, they call them "rampages" and not battles. The giants figure we won't be putting up much of a fight and if today's fight is any indication then... Indeed, they would be rampages and not battles. I only hope the next battle proves our ability... If we can win one soon then it would really help the morale. After today, though... my guess is we will be completely at their mercy by the end of the week. "
"Alright, men, they're caged up. Lets move out! We've got a good 10 miles to walk to our next rampage," Horus states in a deep voice, "And make sure you get the stains off your boots before we get there, we don't want anyone cheating on how many they've killed, do we?"
Ilo sighs, "God help us."