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Carnivores Versus Herbivores

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Written by Arian Mabe (Amethyst Mare)

Commissioned by Meeper

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"What is this all about?"

Legosi wrinkled his muzzle, the over eighteen students of Cherryton High leaving the rest. There were juniors there, of course, but they had been left aside, leaving those that were of age to do...something. But what was going on?

It had started off as a normal day, nothing more than that, nothing strange at all. They'd gone to class, Legosi with Jack, who had been as bouncy as usual. The golden Labrador Retriever seemed to have a perpetually cheerful outlook on the days and everything that was going on, though even he had cocked his head and perked a year when the announcement had come over the tannoy system in class.

"What was that?" He asked, his head tilting further and further in that doggy fashion, too innocent to be all that threatening as a true predator. "Legosi, did you catch that?"

The wolf paused, slow to raise his head, though his calm and patient demeanour was something that concealed more than he let on. His senses were sharp and, even then, he wanted to inhale deeply and take in the aroma of so many prey animals all around him. Carnivores and herbivores... It was a duel and a dance that neither could escape, though he was not one of those that devoured herbivores, fighting against his natural instinct every day.

But that was just the way of it for carnivores, it was what they had to do. They had to live, had to co-exist, for that was the way that they were to live their lives, though there were still seedy places like the black market off in town and probably even more beyond that. Those places where carnivores could be carnivores, even if the meat they consumed was already dead, were feral, raw, rough places, places that Legosi, quite honestly, had no inclination at all to visit.

Yet he had caught the announcement and Jack was there, still waiting expectantly with that ever-hopeful look on his muzzle.

"Yes... They said that we are to train in hand-to-hand combat, but nothing more than that. There is a new exercise regime to begin next week, from Monday."

"Ohhh, that makes sense!"

Legosi was not sure how that made sense, quite honestly, but what Jack went on to say, rattling off statistics about conflicts between carnivores and herbivores made a little more sense, gave him a little more clarity than before. It was always good to get an outside opinion, for sometimes a carnivore like him could only see what was right ahead of him. Some said that it was an effect of how their eyes were positioned, not allowing them quite as much peripheral vision as a herbivore who might have wanted to see what was behind them, with fewer blind spots. Carnivores always looked ahead, searching for what was next, whatever it was that they sought out.

"Yes, the herbivores need to be able to fight back against unscrupulous carnivores that attack them," Jack explained, a grin on his lips that did not quite fit the scene, waving his paws about with his tail wagging faintly. "That'll give them an edge, give them better support when it comes to trouble! Don't you think that's a good idea, Legosi?"

The wolf was not so sure about that. Superficially, it made sense, though he was always looking a shade deeper, to the next level, where things might go wrong.

"That is true," he said slowly, as if he was mulling and rolling the words over in his mouth before he let them out. "But I worry that carnivores will take this teaching and use it against herbivores. I understand why they're trying to do it, to help, though. I hope it helps them."

Truth be told, there were some smaller carnivores that were liable to be bullied by larger carnivores too, for all shapes and sizes were present at Cherryton High, a teaching establishment that allowed all to prosper. That it was the last school that allowed carnivores and herbivores to mingle together and were not segregated did not pass by anyone's attention, least of all the students there.

They talked a little about it, but otherwise had forgotten by the time the exercise slot had appeared on their schedule the next week. It was just after lunch so that everyone was comfortably refuelled and yet...there was something different about it.

"Jack, did you bring an extra towel?" Legosi grumbled and rubbed the back of his neck, though he still had his usual placid expression. "I forgot mine."

"Of course!"

But on lining up outside the school with the sunshine shining down...well...things did not quite go to plan. It was where they had been told to meet, though they had expected to head off to the playing fields or the mixed-species sports centre, perhaps somewhere where a specialised trainer had been brought in. What appeared, however, was a large bus with enough space for all of them, rolling to a stop right in front of them.

"In you go, in you go, all of you now."

The teachers on duty for their class group ushered them in, paws flapping, a tiger and a horse and a squirrel, everyone acting as if there was nothing unusual going on there, nothing at all. Someone who had a better sense of smell, however, was able to smell the anxiety and worry layered on them like a cologne, a perfume that held a very distinctive scent to it, regardless of their smiles.

"Wait."

They were halted, divided as if it was an afterthought. Something new and something different was going on, but, still, Legosi could not work it out.

"Herbivores wait back, there will be a second bus for you."

Well, that was not all that unusual: they were sometimes segregated in smaller spaces. Legosi shook his head, though Jack was unfazed by any means.

"Isn't this great?" Jack grinned, half throwing himself into his seat. "It's like a day out!"

It could have been, if that was what it, in fact, was. But Legosi was not so convinced as he sniffed, inhaling deeply, his body sifting through the scents in the air, the mix of fuel from the bus, the sweat of his classmates, their interest perked, though not enough to be concerned about anything. Yet it was the wolf that caught the furtive glances that the teachers gave each other, something else going on that he could not tell, just out of range and out of reach.

He glanced at his classmates, the carnivores, at least: none any the wiser. That meant it was up to him, though he was not sure either what he could do about any of it. Not unless they all came together against a common threat, a common enemy. Yet that meant that the enemy would have to present themselves to all of them. It was the discreet kind of foe that was the worst, at least to him.

However, the bus rattled on, students happy, chattering, watching as the campus fell away, the bus taking them on a winding road that did not seem like it was frequently travelled, out into the forest. Coniferous trees that were evergreen all year around towered overhead, old pines that had stood for many years prior and would continue to do so long after they were all gone. The ground was rich and fertile and Jack wondered, asking the question out loud, what kind of carnivores or herbivores lived out there if anyone at all?

The dome was what quieted them, everyone falling softly into an unspoken kind of awe at its appearance. It could have been a monstrous glass house, at first glance, yet it was something other than that, something so very much more. The glass plates were hexagonal, connected with metal to one another, though the exact fixture and composition of the giant dome could not be seen. Yet what was it doing out in the middle of the forest? Why had none of them heard about it before? The students whispered.

"Is it a greenhouse? I thought we were exercising, not looking at plants."

"Don't be silly - we're not here to look at greenery! What are you, a herbivore?"

The teachers ushered them out, mumbling something about it being a trip to a museum. Even Jack wasn't following that, his brow furrowed, head cocked to the side.

"But that doesn't make any sense, does it, Legosi? Maybe they made a mistake on our school schedule?"

The wolf was silent, watching, waiting. Something more was coming and his time was better spent in taking it all in. Though not even Legosi could scent out just what was happening there. As they lined up before the dome, heads counted, the teachers checking that all the adult students were there, Legosi caught the herbivore bus heading to the opposite end of the dome.

Strange... But not yet strange enough for him to say anything.

They filed into the dome in pairs, wonder encompassing them. For it was something like a giant greenhouse, filled with a forest, trees towering, though they were not always ones that were native to the land around Cherryton High. No, they ranged from locations all around the world, though Legosi did notice the silver pines, native to North America. That was from some Geography textbook or the other of his, a test that was long gone by that he, perhaps, had studied more than necessary for.

"Class! Gather around! Carnivores all up here, please!"

Their tiger teacher clapped his paws together, drawing their attention, and they all bustled in, whispering, hustling, though there was a distinct sense of unease in the air.

"Has anyone had him for class before?"

"What's he like?"

"I heard he only covers classes..."

Tao, a lean black panther, smiled and shot a friend a cocky look.

"Ugh, I was hoping to get off class today. What is this all about? Do you know?"

The tiger raised his paws for quiet.

"Now, I'm sure you are aware that you had an exercise session booked for today. However, things are going to be a little different than what you may be expecting."

"Excuse me, sir. Sir, please?"

Legosi politely raised his paw.

"I thought the teacher said this was a museum?"

The tiger shook his head.

"No, Legosi, not in that sense. But this place does hold a history of Cherryton High that is only now being revitalised."

He took a breath, silencing the carnivores before him with a look that only a predator could pull off.

"It will be hand to hand combat that you will be learning here, as well as defence. And offence, if you are to reign triumphant."

"What?"

Jack blinked, the dog taking a half-step back.

"What do you mean...sir? Triumphant? What are we doing here?"

"The herbivores have been taken to the other end of the dome and are being briefed, as you are," the tiger explained, though each word sent a colder and colder chill down Legosi's bones, aching into his spine. "You are now locked in here and will stay here until the battle is complete. That battle, of course, will be carnivores against herbivores, as is the right of the world, the forever dance between carnivores and herbivores."

The students laughed, whispered, exchanged looks with each other.

"You've got to be joking..."

"He can't be serious..."

"They actively try to get us to not fight herbivores!"

"Please, quiet."

The tiger recalled their attention with a fixed, steely glare. He was not in the mood at all for the tomfoolery of students under his care, especially when the stakes were so very high.

"Look up. Do any of you think this is a joke? You are all of age, no youngsters have been brought here... And these are the stakes, for your participation, of course."

Legosi's jaw dropped. What was...that? His grandfather? Of course, his family was dead, his immediate family... But his grandfather with that wizened look about his muzzle... It was right there, as clear as day. Monitors surrounded them in what appeared to be a paved briefing area, worried cries breaking from the lips of the carnivores around them.

Tao's younger siblings.

Jack's big family, looking sad and forlorn.

Juno, the wolf who had eyes for Legosi - her single mother.

Riz, the bear's, clan.

And more, so many more. There was no carnivore in the new class that had been taken there that did not have a family on the screens and the fear was evident in their eyes even if they could not be scented through the screens.

Anger roiled in the pit of Legosi's stomach while Jack whimpered, though the wolf's expressions were not painted on his muzzle.

"Now, now..." The tiger's eyes glinted, taking a little too much pleasure in their situation, all that they had been forced into. "If you do not participate in battle, your loved ones will be executed. That is the way of it, there is nothing complicated here."

"We won't do it!"

Riz roared, the bear clenching his fists and tipping forward, shoulders huge and his chest broad, even though he'd been taking his strength suppressing tablets, what all bears like him had to take. Legosi had a funny feeling that those pills were no longer going to be needed for Riz, his heart pounding, blood up, nerves prickling with tension.

As one, the carnivores turned as if they had become a flock of sheep, though many of the pack animals in the group knew too that there was strength to be had in numbers. Charging for the doors with a bellowed roar, the only thought in their minds that of getting to their families, rescuing them, getting out of the hell that they'd been forced into, the students raced, tongues lolling, panting heavily, sweating like pigs. Yet the doors were locked even as their bodies slammed brutally into the glass, heaving at the handles, fighting and yearning, straining with brute force while their minds locked down into instinct.

There was only so much they could do when they were locked in, after all, the dome created so that it could secure predators.

On the other side of the dome, the herbivores fared little better, though they bundled together for safety and protection, Haru tucked at the back, though the white rabbit's ears pricked up, exposing her. The teachers there controlled the group a little better, though that was saying little as instinct bid them to run, to flee, to hide - and to never come back!

"Order, order! Calm yourselves, herbivores! This is all planned!"

But whether or not it was planned was not something that would soothe anyone as fear thrummed through the makeshift herd of llamas, rabbits, elephants, bulls, horses and more. Louis stood quietly, his paws in his pockets, though he had seen far worse than that in his lifetime. His story was one yet untold. His family was not there to be shown, his father in too high a position of power to be drawn in. That a stand-in deer had been put in his place was a clever ploy on their part, but his "father's" antlers had never grown like that.

But nobody else had to know about that as the herbivores looked for an escape, even if they already knew that they were locked in, caught and trapped - by other herbivores, nonetheless. That was what got to them, a sickening twist building in the pits of their stomachs.

"Ah, what an art..." Pina, a white Dal sheep with elegantly curved horns said, his paw delicately raised. "To be trapped... Are you now becoming the carnivores, dear teachers?"

The llama who appeared to be in charge, someone that they had all assumed was in administration before but had more going on in the school, shuffled her papers, lips pressed together.

"Yes, well... Those are the rules of the battle, what Cherryton High was originally established for. It is time to go back to our roots. Now... For the fights, you will need to strip, down to your underwear, please. There can be no room for restriction when such is going on. Of course, all of this will be recorded to ensure that you are giving the full of your strength, wit, agility and more in the fights.

Juno shook her head, the wolf rocking back on her heels, lips twisted into a scowl. For once, predators and prey, even though they could not hear one another at either end of the dome in their respective sections, mirrored one another. In a sense, they were both the prey.

"This is barbaric... You expect us to fight to save our families that you've captured - and you're up here making out that you're the reasonable ones? You're insane!"

Yet she was the carnivore who boldly chose to step up, the tiger nodding his approval.

"Yes, perhaps so... But that is how it is, Juno. Do you not want to save your mother? We can end this now, if you prefer."

The malice in his tone was evident and Juno clenched her paws into fists, hiding how hard they shook. No words passed her lips, everything that she needed to say conveyed in the bite of her stare.

"If that is all," the tiger administrator, for he could not be said to be a teacher of theirs anymore, said, "let us begin. Herbivores and carnivores will be required to strip to underwear and, of course, you will need to elect a leader. I wonder who the herbivores will choose?"

He chuckled, shaking his head, for there was only one who really could take that role over that side and it would come as no surprise, later, to the carnivores when it was found to be Louis. Juno, however, was the one that stepped up to lead the carnivores, fight in her glare, though her words were sealed ack and away behind a snarl. That was best saved for the fights, to show them what she was made of, though she'd rather see her teeth sinking into the throat of the sadistic tiger to end it all.

"Juno..." Legosi said softly, at her shoulder, appearing there as if he was a ghost, so quietly did the large wolf move. "Juno... I will protect you. This is not your battle to fight. Your mother..."

Juno swallowed hard, her heart pounding. Oh, why, oh, why did Legosi have to make her feel like that? As if she had swallowed a whole jar of butterflies and they were all fluttering around in her stomach. He must love her, yes, really, if he wanted to protect her, but that was one moment, at least, where she so very desperately needed to be strong, not to fawn, to be the proud wolfess that she knew she could be.

For him. For her darling Legosi.

"Yes, Legosi," she breathed, her voice a little wispier than she would have liked. "Yes... Fight by me, stay strong for me."

Not quite what the grey wolf had meant, but, oh well. On the herbivore side, Haru stretched up, tugging at Louis' sleeve.

"Louis... Louis! Get your big antlers down here!"

For a Dwarf rabbit, Haru could be surprisingly strong when she wanted to, though Louis' mind was elsewhere.

"Yes, Haru?" He whispered. "What is it?"

"I'll stay near you," she whispered back, though there was no real reason for them being so quiet and discreet. "I'd hate to see your antlers snapped off before shedding season. Remember that, Louis?"

Oh, he did. He remembered just how the rabbit had cared for him, her gentle touch and far more too. The stag shivered. Maybe that, even more than protecting those around him, as Haru wanted to do for him, would be his motivation for the fight. A good actor always needed to take his motivation, after all, to the stage.

The tiger gestured, other carnivores in charge distributing items between them in large boxes.

"You will need these. Take a good look through, play to your strengths. The strengths of your species may be something too to bear in mind..."

Jack whimpered, shaking his head.

"Legosi, they can't seriously still be expecting us to fight like this? There're tranquilliser guns in there! I saw them used on a carnivore once when they were rampaging!"

Poor Jack. A quieter soul, a happier soul, it was as little a place for him as it was for a herbivore, even though a dog was, very clearly a carnivore. Legosi fished through the boxes with Juno, calculating what he could best use. A grey wolf had excellent jaw strength, but there was something in there that gave him hope, despite how close the slightly shorter wolf stood to him, the heat rising obviously from her body. Yet Legosi was still oblivious to the true depth of her feelings for him.

Supplies, yes... Food and water. Those were good, but looked like they were going to be handed out as sustenance parcels as and when needed. What was more interesting than knockout gas (in a canister and a sort of muzzle, separately) and the tranquilliser guns were laid on top, along with rope and...what was that?

"Chloroform, Legosi," Juno clarified for him, turning the bottle over in her paw. "So... They do not want us to fight to the death."

"But they do want to force us to fight, for some reason."

"If you defeat your enemies in each round," the tiger explained, his voice booming to launch out over the clamour of the carnivores scrabbling for both equipment and sense before him, "you will receive more supplies, including a greater portion of food and water. Your success in each bout determines how you will proceed. Of course, if you humiliate your enemies too, you may gain additional rewards..."

Legosi swallowed hard. Haru... How was Haru faring? What would she think about everything? If she was merely knocked out in the first round, maybe she would be safe.

The bunny, on the other hand, wrinkled her nose on the other side of the dome at the mention of humiliation.

"Humiliation... I thought this was a battle? If you wanted this to all be for show, like a performance, why are you forcing us to do it? Surely this would not have been so difficult to run as an event..."

But she was innocent in some ways while wise to the world around her in others and, to be fair, everything that came to pass in the dome, what had been planned for many years, was beyond her knowledge. The llama gathering them, dishing out their own supplies and equipment, nodded.

"Yes... So, once you have defeated your enemy, you can pose with your foot on their chest, perhaps, or their stomach. Their face could be the most humiliating. All of these will score you higher and gain you rewards. These rewards will be key to your progression, how you will proceed through the dome and each bout."

Louis chuckled dryly.

"How sublime... You have brought a game into the art of death, of pitting carnivore against herbivore, when you should be bringing us together. Are you sure you are not a carnivore, madam?"

Louis could render anyone flustered with a few choice words and the llama stuttered, fussing, fiddling.

"Yes, well... Well then... Now! If you will turn your attention up, please, you should be able to see a cage."

Just the one that, time, though the llama went on to explain what the purpose of that and the others were.

"Every one of these cages are spread through the dome and when you have defeated an opponent, you may place them into one of these cages. A leaf denotes a cage for a herbivore and a fang denotes a cage for a carnivore. That is very important, as the gas contained within will keep your defeated opponent asleep for the remainder of the matches. There, no harm will come to them."

She didn't, however, say that no harm would come to them in the matches themselves. Interesting.

"You can use chloroform or knockout gas to render your opponent helpless first, either during or at the cumulation of the fight. This will allow you to get them into the cages."

Louis was too refined to roll his eyes. It was as if they had thought of everything. But one thing he knew, from his experience, was that those in power never quite thought of everything. He could use that to his advantage.

"Now..." The llama raised her voice, making sure that she was very clearly heard. "Whichever group wins will have your loved ones released. If your loved ones are not released due to your loss...we will speak of that later."

Threat hung in the air, making the herbivores shiver, though Pina and Louis were noticeably stoic. Maybe Pina had seen more in his life too than he let on, but no one was about to ask the sheep just where his attitude and blasé approach to carnivores and life had come from, not at a time like that.

"There will also be a surprise...a reward...after you win your fight. Separate to winning equipment and supplies. Your stakes, as you see, are quite steep."

No kidding...

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Carnivores against herbivores, herbivores against carnivores... What were they to do? They were as trapped as a mouse with its tail in a trap, not an anthro like them but something that was unthinking, that didn't feel like they did.

There was a pause while they stripped, the herbivores looking away from each other, a little shyer, not wanting to show their bodies.

"It will be just like wearing a swimming costume," Haru whispered to a quieter squirrel who was sobbing quietly into her uniform. "Don't worry... Everything will be okay. We will all get through this, together."

Always there, Haru was the undercurrent of support for so many, despite the bullying she had faced at Cherryton High. That resilience and strength was something she would have to carry with her, for she did not want to see her family cast aside. Would they really do that? It had to be a carnivore at the head of the operation, surely, but she could not imagine why so many others, including herbivores, had gone along with it.

Down to their underwear, trying to breathe, to catch themselves, Ellen and Dom walked around the edge of the trees, testing the ground, though they were just trying to work out what they needed to do. The peafowl shook his head, wearing form-fitting boxer-briefs, though the zebra, Ellen, tried to be as comfortable as she could be in an athletic suitable bra and underwear that covered her buttocks. She had, after all, been expecting to be working out...not whatever was going on there.

"I can't believe this," Dom said, his feathers fluffing up a little as he grew anxious once again. "They can't do this... What's going to happen to my family if I lose? How are we going to stand up to the predators? We're just herbivores! We've not even been trained to fight!"

"I know, Dom, I know..." Ellen tried to soothe him, though it was not a situation that she was familiar with at all. "We've got to try though... You know they said that they'll take our families to be executed anyway if we try to escape."

Her voice wobbled, but she ignored it. The zebra didn't have time for how her heart pounded and flipped in her chest, turning over sickeningly into the pit of her stomach. She had to be who she was, to focus. If she was to do something, something good, to save her family, she had to think on her feet and fight.

She only hoped that Dom could do it too. She worried for him, patting his shoulder, the peafowl trembling.

Boooooonnnnnnngggggg!

_ _

"Ah! What was that?"

Dom jumped visibly, but a voice echoed forth, sounding different and far away through the speaker system.

"Attention all contestants. From this point on, carnivores and herbivores are to engage in carnivore against herbivore fights in the dome. There are to be no missed battles: if you see a member of the opposition, you must engage in a fight. Use any equipment at your disposal and the natural environment that has been provided. Those that hide and do not attempt to engage will be disqualified and their families executed. May the best creature win."

And then the voice was gone, leaving an eerie lack of sound in its wake bar the rake of breath in the zebra and peafowl's lungs.

It had begun.

"What - so they're not even going to pair us up for individual fights?" Dom squawked, leaping back, green and blue feathers scattering where fear loosened them from his body. "This is it - like a deathmatch?"

"Except they want us to knock out each other, Dom, yes? Remember!"

She grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking him.

"You've got to hold it together, Dom! This is for you family too, as well as mine - for all of our families!"

Yet they were not alone there, Dom turning his head with a short gasp, a grey shape in the not so far distance. Legosi stood framed between the silver pine trees, no air stirring his passage, down to his boxers, chest rising and falling in short, sharp intakes of breath. They'd only seen him when he'd stood, for they had sent the carnivores out before the herbivores, seemingly, had begun scattering, his heart pounding, his enhanced sense of smell serving him well out there, better than he could have even imagined.

They were there, prey animals, waiting for him, not quite frozen in place but waiting to see what his next move would be. Legosi's senses prickled, ears twitching back and forth, sound funnelled into them with their lightly curved shape. His nose ached, taking in scent after scent. Never had he leaned into that ability of being a grey wolf so heavily, yet it seemed to be exactly what was needed at a time like that. He swallowed a growl, still not wanting to appear too fierce, not like the wolf that they expected. He'd always been a loner, but the way that they looked at him with fear in their eyes... He didn't want to see that ever again.

And yet he would have to as he paced closer to them, fighting his need to raise his paws, to make it seem as if he was not a threat. But he was, he always would be, at least to them, especially within the confines of such a game. The equipment he'd grabbed was in the back of his boxers, though it was not as if wearing them covered all that much, exposing far, far more of his fur than he was comfortable with.

"Ellen... I'm sorry..."

The zebra cursed and spat.

"Legosi! You're going to do this?"

Dom started.

"It's only Legosi, Ellen, he's not going to hurt us."

But the look that the zebra fixed him with froze the peafowl in place more than the stare of any predator could have done.

"Don't be silly, Dom. He's a carnivore. This is a game where we must fight to save our families. It's a competition. If we don't fight him, we'll lose. And he's playing for the same stakes!"

Ellen threw herself into action, though every bone in her body, every fibre of her being, screamed at her to go back, to run the other way, to take herself away from the carnivore that surely was threatening her life. The wolf braced himself and all she should see was the kind, quiet Legosi who had been part of their drama club, though she was not going to become a victim of the carnivores - not after all that they'd gone through.

"Yahhhhh!"

She screamed as she attacked him. Luckily for Ellen, she had a little training from her younger days, a few self-defence classes that they seemed to give younger herbivores in school out of pity more than anything else. That had been long before Cherryton high, but her body still remembered how to punch, a crude blow but one that could be effective when landed in just the right way.

Her fist slammed into his bicep, the wolf grunting, stumbling back, though he knew too that he had to push on. It felt right and wrong, both at the same time, to fight her, to take her punches, her right hook, the jab to his throat, the uppercut that should have knocked his jaw back - though instinct was there too. The feral undercurrent of what it truly meant to be a carnivore was always there, waiting to be let out into the surface as he locked in on her.

WHAM!

BAM!

He kicked, a roundhouse kick that slammed up into her chest, knocking her back, though Legosi still wasn't putting the full force of his body into the movement. He didn't want to, not really, though he had to, battling with himself. It was easier for the herbivores, in a way, because they hadn't spent their lives trying not to attack and hurt those who were perceived to be weaker than them, though that didn't make it easier to know his family was there, waiting for him to rescue him.

Legosi steeled himself, a low growl building in the back of his throat as the zebra recovered, sinking into a battle stance with one foot in front of the other, her knees slightly bent. He had to forget who he was fighting against, what he was fighting against, if he was to take things further, to survive, to progress and find his family again.

It was the only way.

POW!

The zebra, however, was canny and knew that her species' strength lay in her legs, a devastating kick. The wolf raged in closer to her, his snarl pulling his lips back from her teeth, and slammed up into him in a push kick - a kick that had her knee high and her leg snapping up so that her foot drove up into his chest. If she had been taller, closer to him in height, it could have cracked into his throat, left him wheezing, but it only knocked the wolf off-balance as he came for her even more strongly.

"Oof!"

No... No, he wasn't giving up yet.

"Ellen... Ellen, I'm sorry."

He caught her next kick as she swung to the side and attempted a side kick, taking all her weight onto one leg as she snapped her other one out to the side, aiming for his hip, the top of his thigh. If she could disable him for a bit, she might be able to use what she'd snatched up to win? But it was a false hope even as the wolf dodged, still apologising, his paws wide when he was not going for her as if that would help anything.

Another kick, a roundhouse, her body running out of basic martial arts to pull into play. She didn't know that much, couldn't do that much - it had been years since she had done any of that! Panic clawed at Ellen even as she brayed, swinging out, though the wolf dodged her flailing punch, the uppercut that should have landed going wide, the wolf more agile than she had given him credit for. Her chest heaved for breath, sweat soaking her black and white striped hide, yet the fight may as well have been over as soon as it had begun.

She knew Dom was there, fearful, watching her, yet she could not even fight for him as the wolf lunged, jaws bared. No!

Ellen spun, flailing, ungainly, nothing directed about how she tried to flee, but the wolf had his arms around her, grip tightening. She squealed as he yanked her up off her feet, legs kicking wildly, though he merely used the weight of her body to help them down to the ground halfway, on one foot and one knee, straining to subdue her.

"Ellen..." He growled, grunting, lips twitching with emotion. "Ellen, I'm so sorry... Relax, it'll be over quickly... Don't fight it..."

He didn't want to hurt her, but the sleeper hold that he locked around her neck should have been enough to subdue her, he hoped, without causing her long-term harm. It still pained the wolf to think of the family of hers that "something" would happen to, for the zebra had not been able to best him.

The battle had surprised him, even if it had by no means been pre-written. She had put up a good fight and yet her struggles grew weaker and weaker with every squeeze he put around her neck. He had to exert more and more pressure, bearing down, though he had not practised such a hold for a very long time. That had been something he'd done with other predators years back, as a younger teenager, having fun, wrestling, roughhousing. That was until puberty had hit them and play of that manner had been discouraged as their strength had grown. No one had wanted carnivores to be used to fighting.

Ellen faded slowly, perhaps due to Legosi's inexperience, blinking slowly, her vision shivering. First the edges turned grew as if a film was being swept over her eyes, though the last thing that she saw was Dom, the peafowl wringing his hands, swallowing his warbling cries, throat trembling.

She wanted to tell him it was all going to be okay, but she did not know that.

Dom knew that he should do something, anything, to help Ellen, but just what could one peafowl do against a wolf? It was wrong to see Legosi in such a fearsome, dominant position, yet the wolf had not used his teeth and claws, something that they could be glad of at least. Frozen in place, the peafowl was helpless as he took a step back, wondering if he should run. Ellen's words mouthed the word that he wanted to hear: "run". Thus, running was what he should do.

The zebra exhaled, still breathing, though only faintly as she was sent into sweet unconsciousness, out of the game as her grasp on the waking world slipped through her fingers. It was like falling asleep, almost, though not at the same time, falling down and down into a pit, arms and legs flung out, nothing she could do about it, not even scream. Where was the point in screaming when her limbs were going limp, every part of her body useless for the purpose that it was required for?

No... No. Better to sleep. She had lost and her body no longer had any fight left in it for Legosi as he murmured another apology, holding her there in the choke hold until he was completely sure that the zebra was out cold. Only then did he turn his gaze on the frozen Dom, the peafowl who didn't know how to run, much less fight. The avian's legs jerked into action. However, it was already too late.

"Oof!"

He spun - only to run straight into another fur. A wolf! Not Legosi, who was still engaged with Ellen, but a shorter wolf with an icy look in her eyes.

"Are you going somewhere?"

He shrieked, backing off, though there was nowhere to go that he could escape too, trapped between two wolves, both approaching at a slow, languid walk that made it look as if they had all the time in the world, all the power held well and truly in their paws. Juno smirked, enjoying it more than a little, though it perhaps would have been as fun for her if there had been blood. Whereas there was a threat involved, maybe the game allowed her to get out some of her twisted fantasies, to be the hunter, to be her own Beastar.

"Please!"

Dom hurled himself to the ground, hands clasped together, begging, whimpering, tears streaming down his cheeks. Yet he was not looking at Juno but Legosi, appealing to the one of the two that he knew better, that the thought would save him.

"Please! Please, don't hurt me, I don't want to fight you! I don't know how to, please don't kill me! I can't do this, can't do any of this!"

He took a deep, shuddering gasp as he lowered his head, submitting, yet felt more vulnerable for having the back of his neck exposed - even more so than he was being in his underwear.

"I give in," he forced out, shaking terribly, his hands the worst. "I surrender. Please... Please, don't hurt me, I won't fight. Just don't hurt me or Ellen anymore, please..."

Juno smiled, placing a paw on his shoulder, squeezing lightly.

"Dom... We're not going to kill you. We're not going to hurt you."

The peafowl recoiled, squawking, that mewling cry that did not seem appropriate coming from a bird's beak breaking free.

"Ah! Ah, no... No, don't... Please... No... Don't hurt me... Please... Don't hurt me..."

"Dom..."

Legosi knelt a little, coming down closer to Dom's level, the peafowl with his head down and his hands raised.

"Dom... Dom, it's going to be okay, none of us wants this to happen. But we have to find a way through it, have to find a way out. Until we can rescue everyone and our families, we have to do this. Do you understand? You and Ellen will not be hurt."

The peafowl quivered, though managed the tiniest of nods, even if he did not trust himself to speak. That, however, did not stop him trembling and eyeing up the rag that Legosi produced with a churning stomach, trepidation coursing through him with every beat of his heart. It had to be done, meeting the peafowl's eyes.

"I'm going to put this over your beak. Just take deep breaths until you pass out. It's all going to be okay, we're going to keep you safe."

Dom had to agree, for he had no other choice, yet there was still a big part of him that could not help but to trust Legosi intrinsically. The wolf had always been good to him, and he tried not to shake too much as the rag was draped over his beak, the nares at the tip of it being how he inhaled, similar to the nostrils of a mammal.

"Deep, steady breaths, Dom, you're doing so well."

Juno was there too, supporting and encouraging, though the pleasure she'd taken in being in a position of power was still there, lingering and lurking in the background of her mind. It was hard for some things, little things like that, to slip away so easily. The peafowl quivered, a big sob breaking his beak as he kept his hands up, not knowing what else to do with them. The chloroform had soaked the rag already, which Legosi had prepared, and the wolf held it firmly in place over his beak, ensuring that there was no way for Dom to take a breath of air that was not draped in sweet, cloying chloroform.

It was a sickly scent that wormed its way down his windpipe and into his lungs, though it did not feel as if he was being choked for it. He was just sleepy, so very sleepy, slipping down like Ellen had, but it was a different kind of unconsciousness that greeting him there. It was heavy, his arms slowly coming down lower and lower, taking those deep breaths. If he only focused on taking slow, deep breaths, just like Legosi had wanted him to, that would mean that everything would be okay. He trusted Legosi, yes, that meant it would all be okay, everything would be okay.

All he had to do was to go to sleep and Legosi would take care of everything.

Truth be told, it was not in Dom's nature to take charge of everything, being a follower far more than a leader, so it was almost a relief to him to have someone else take charge again, even if it was scary for him too. He slipped down, his arms hanging, his body heavy, so very heavy. Thoughts came sluggishly, but he could not think clearly anyway. Maybe he should just do what Legosi said and go to sleep.

It was easier for him to fall unconscious as he was not fighting it, Legosi holding him up so that he stayed on his knees, even though there was no way for the unconscious bird to keep his hands up until passing out. He swayed there, half-balanced, though Juno leaned in with a curious look on her face.

"That was abrupt. I didn't think he'd go that quickly, like falling asleep. How strange..." She said, her paw raised as if she was going to poke him. "His muscles lock up through that, as if his body is fighting back. That is quite strange."

Legosi did not want to linger on it, however, as he nodded at Ellen.

"Get her and I'll bring Dom. Let's get them safe in the cages."

"If that is even safe at all..."

Together, they dragged the unconscious, weighty bodies of the zebra and the peafowl slowing them down a little. First, however, they had to do something that the "game masters" had wanted, if they were to proceed and save all of those that they wanted to.

"Er... Juno... Put them... Yes, put them together, side by side."

He directed, though Juno was apt to follow him, even though she was the one who was leading the carnivores, technically. She was a good pack leader, to be fair to her, though her being starry-eyed for Legosi turned her a little bit. It was good for her to follow him, the wise and handsome Legosi, and she knew that the slightly older wolf (they had been in different class groups before, despite now both being of age and adults, Legosi right at the end of his schooling) had experience to share with her.

Legosi growled and rubbed the back of his neck. Why did it have to be so awkward? He didn't like just being in his underwear, he didn't like dominating and overpowering herbivores, he didn't like any of it. And he most certainly did not like lifting his foot, placing it too lightly on Dom's chest.

It felt wrong, so wrong that the wolf wanted to squirm. Yet that was not becoming of a grey wolf like him. He could not, not as he posed with his toes wriggling on Dom's bare chest, the peafowl's feathers oddly soft against his foot. It had been a long time since he had touched a herbivore like that, on that part of their body, though Legosi did not really think that his tussle with Ellen had counted.

"Ah, yes, you're right, Legosi!" Juno grinned, popping her foot on Ellen's chest too, between her breasts, a little more confidently than Legosi. To her, it was just something that they had to do. "If we do this, we will get more supplies."

Yet for her, it was not good for all that long. Her stomach twisted and, after a moment, it no longer felt right to her. It was needed, but for how long did they have to pose like that. Did they have to do anything more like that?

"These were only suggestions, to pose with a foot on them," she said dubiously, scrabbling for words as she shifted her weight uncomfortably. "What else do you think we could do? It's not like...they can say anything, being as they are."

She didn't like that either. It was wrong, like they were dead meat under her. She'd never been down to the Black Market but she'd heard stories and it was not a sense of a place that she at all wanted to visit. Herbivores were meant to be alive and kicking, her friends, so much more than that. They were meant to be equals, as much as she had teased Louis before, the heat between them crackling back then. That had been in play, for power and control, but there was nothing to be had over a herbivore who was knocked out.

She gave it a go though, trying not to think about what she was doing. Juno thought that a champion might have pumped their fists above their head, so that was what the wolf did, her gaze sliding away. Legosi eyed her and tried a pose of his own, simply flexing his arms on either side of his head as if he was trying to show off his muscles to a lady. Not that he had ever honestly done anything at all of that nature before... It wasn't quite his style but it did force him to put a little more of his weight down on the unconscious peafowl under him. How long did they even have before the two of them came around again?

"Congratulations, Legosi and Juno!"

They had not realised what had appeared, but the drone hovering dangled a box, something that could only contain supplies. The wolves, however, snarled at it, peeling their lips back from their teeth. It was not as if they wanted to be there.

"It's a false congratulations," Legosi growled. "Why are you making us do this?"

The overseer behind the drone, speaking to them through it, did not answer.

"Collect your supplies, your reward. Continue with the battle. That is all."

With a light chime, the speaker turned off, the box dropped with a solid "thunk" of it connecting with the ground. Legosi sighed. Hopefully, it would contain something useful, though he was already tired, so very tired. The bodies of his herbivore friends before him did not make anything any easier.

And they still had to cage their opponents, those that had so bravely fallen before them.

Juno collected what was in the box, though that meant that the tall Legosi had to carry both Dom and Ellen over each shoulder, together. It was just as well that there was more strength in his back than he'd ever honestly let on about, hauling them to the cages, which had been lowered so that the carnivores could load up herbivores into them. Or the other way around, if a herbivore happened to win. It all depended on who ended up paired together in the fights, though even Legosi had not anticipated it all being such a free for all.

He slid them into the cages, half dragging and half lifting, though it was difficult to be respectful when they were such a weight. It was hard, but they would not know, not as he supported Dom's head to get him onto the metal floor. It was suspended there and Legosi assumed it would crank up high, releasing that gas that would knock out a herbivore. It was marked with a leaf, he'd double-checked, and he didn't want the peafowl to experience any other fear from his already horrific ordeal.

Ellen was easier, though he gently turned her away, to face from the centre of the dome. Maybe, if she woke, she would not have to see what was going on out there.

Though there were others, out in the dome, that had to fight their own battles too...

Like Louis. Louis walked tall and proud through the forest, his antlers heralding his appearance. The stag moved softly, fluidly, light on his feet. It was like being back in the cages, the times of his much younger days, when he had moved through the mansion house of his father's too, always trying not to be heard. He didn't want to be heard. Being heard meant that things were wrong, things were bad. Even then, he had carried that notion into adulthood. That didn't mean that it was healthy.

A bush rustling caught his attention and he settled his stance, a hard look in his eye.

"Is someone there? Show yourself."

There was no one who could deny his level, smooth tone, as if there was no question about him being obeyed. The deer was a force to be reckoned with, even though he was a herbivore, a creature who should have been more submissive and compliant by nature. But he believed there was a way for herbivores and carnivores to come together.

"Well, well, well then..." He said softly, unrattled. "Show yourselves. You are only delaying the inevitable."

"Unff... So rude..."

But Louis was not rude at all when he was just trying to get them out to face him. The carnivores would always be like that around him, he was sure, as he had even been able to make Riz step back, the big bear one who could dominate others so easily when he wanted. The stag held himself staunchly regal, his stoic nature not allowing him to reveal anything, not as much as his stomach wanted to churn, need rising in him, snarling as if he had a carnivore inside him too. Maybe herbivores had that to account for in them also, but he could not say.

The carnivores that emerged from the large bush were a fox and a hyena, though he only vaguely knew their names. Pim the fox and...Ari the hyena. They were not part of the drama club, though he had, on one occasion, spotted them causing trouble in the school canteen. He had not thought them old enough, judging by how they behaved to be part of such an event, but it was there that the deer must have found himself incorrect.

"Are you supposed to be the next Beastar?"

Pim the red fox coughed, wiping the back of his paw over his face. Even though he held a length of rope between his paws, perhaps the only equipment from the limited batches that he had managed to snatch up, he did not come off as all that intimidating, shorter than Louis. The hyena was more ferocious in a quieter way, clenching his jaws, a low snarl between his teeth. Yet Louis knew, from experience, that it was hyenas of the female persuasion that were more terrifying in that species pool by far.

That did not mean that two against one was going to be easy.

An open space remained to his back, the predators on the edge of the tree line, thicker foliage begging attention. Anyone could have been hiding in there and Ari the hyena licked his lips. Even if it was not intended to be a threatening move, it still came off as such.

"Gentlemen," Louis said, as cool and as level in his manner as ever. "What pleasure do I have of meeting you out here? Surely, you cannot think to fight me."

He said it as if it was already a done deal, the carnivores exchanging a look. Good. Louis wanted them on the back foot.

"Why don't you help us?" Ari growled, the hyena's bare toes and claws curling into the dirt. "You're powerful in the school... You should have been able to stop this from happening. Why aren't you doing something about it now?"

The stag swallowed minutely. Now, that had not been something that he'd been expecting.

"I... It's..."

Yet the two carnivores had never intended to give Louis a chance to answer. The moment he stumbled, however minuscule his fumble was, they lunged in tandem. Raging bodies streamed for him, muscle bunching, pulling, predators who had finally been permitted to let loose at a herbivore, even though the distinction between the two of them was not something that Louis wanted to be a barrier. He'd wanted to bring herbivores and carnivores together, to find the lines between the two where they could both walk the same, but the game...well...

It wasn't helping. Nothing was.

A strike to his shoulder from the fox that was easily dodged, Pim using a palm thrust. That was mildly impressive as Louis had not thought that the fox would have pulled anything more than a standard punch and a kick out of his bag, though whether he would go for his teeth and claws as things sparked off between them was another question.

So many questions... None of which Louis was keen to have answered.

Damn them...

_ _

They could have not given in to their instinct and, for that, they fell lower in Louis' eyes. The hyena struck with a roundhouse kick, one carnivore flanking the stag on either side, forcing him to keep his eyes on both at once. That was somewhat possible with his excellent vision, eyes placed so that he could see more to the sides and a little behind him too than a carnivore, though there were still blind spots. And it was not as if he could see everything at once, focusing on everything: there always had to be one spot of concentration specifically at any given time.

WHAM!

Louis struck back, a quick right hook to get them to the side - and then flung his arm out in a clothesline at the very moment that Ari lunged. The hyena was headstrong and tumbled straight into his arm, which caught him across the throat.

BAM!

The yowl that the carnivore made was sickening, yet Louis' blood was up, heart pounding, licking his lips where a faint hint of blood rested. He couldn't let that stay there, not where the carnivores may smell it, not when it could send them into a frenzy. The stag didn't even recall nipping at his lip, though it must have happened, blood roaring in his ears, the whole scene taking on a dream-like quality.

Real but not real at the same time... Oh, he remembered feeling like that, but he'd thought that that part of his life was long over, a time long gone by. Yet it seemed that, once again, he was fighting for his life as a herbivore, even though he had far more at his disposal as a herbivore with power and respect and life experience behind him than he had done in those much younger years.

The fox was not to be dissuaded as Ari scrambled up again, recovering, lunging with his jaws open, striving to intimidate the stag.

"Yahhhhhhhh!"

Louis dodged his cross chop, where the fox tried to slam into the deer's neck with his arms crossed, one hitting either side, yet he was not quick enough as the smaller mammal leapt to dodge the overhead chop. It was worse as a stag to have anything slamming down on his head, considering the delicate power of his antlers, and Pim was not careful of them at all, breaking off one of the smaller tines as his paw connected, hard, with Louis' skill.

KA-POW!

Louis staggered, dizzy, but not out by any means. No, he was in it to win it, even though it felt like he had less to fight for than the others. Maybe that's why he was fighting, lowering his head instinctively to present his antlers at his opponents, fighting down the urge to paw at the ground with his feet. He did not have cloven hooves like his ancestors, but he could feel the memory and the history of all that his ancestors had faced streaming through his mind, the herd one with him.

They'd used their antlers too to fight off predators... So that was exactly what he had to do.

Oh, it was a risky move, he knew as such, but he had to do it, had to try, though the raw laugh that chuffed from his lips was devoid of any mirth or humour in it.

"I think we are quite done here."

Rope struck his side but Louis barrelled through with his head lowered in a charge, a flurry of strikes, jabs, kicks - everything flew from him as if he had been doing it all his life. He was not able to get his arms around either of them in a choke hold, as it would have left him vulnerable to the other carnivore, but he could press on, driving them together, herding and forcing them to bundle and bunch up, side by side. There, he was the carnivore, the predator forcing them back, dominating the situation.

KA-POW!

Louis caught a kick in his paws, throwing the fox's leg up as his paws flew back over his head. To his credit, Pim did not fall over, but the fox was on the back foot, chest heaving, his underwear askew and wrinkled, his fur ruffled with sweat. The hyena was not much better as Louis pressed the attack, alternating between kicks and strikes, using his fists and his feet so that they didn't know what was coming when.

BAM!

A high knee kick, driving his knee straight into Pim's gut. Louis barely felt his retaliating thrust, bouncing harmlessly off his shoulders.

WHAM!

An elbow smash, keeping his fist tucked down so that he could use his elbow to strike instead. Ari's jaw hung slack, the hyena gasping for breath.

POW!

He finished with a super kick, something that he had only seen performed by professionals. His body felt as if it slowed down, breath deep and even, even in the heat of the moment, heart racing, blood searing through his veins. Yet his movements were swift and decisive, taking his weight back on his right leg, slightly bent, while his left leg snapped up to the side. The kick had to be powerful, using the full strength in his leg, pulling from the rest of his body too, striking high and fast to slam into

WHAM!

It was enough, cracking into Ari's chest to send the hyena flying back, jaws agape, knocking into Pim and sending them stumbling to the ground. Yet they were up again in but a moment, the fight upping their adrenaline, regardless of how their chests heaved. Louis' nose twitched, his body sore, aching, though he was sure he could push through it. Like him, they were fighting for their families too. Only, his family was the one of the school, the friends that he had made and all that he sought to protect.

Ari spat, eyes darkening.

"Deer... You are just meat to us. You should have been sold on the black market years ago!"

They lunged, coming at him on either side, moving as a pack. That was more dangerous and Louis blocked the first punch, catching the hyena's kick at the same time.

KA-POW!

He couldn't dodge everything though, a fist connecting with the side of his muzzle, knocking his head to the side, a deep ache spreading through his head and neck. More followed, clumsier than even his amateur moves, fighting for their lives even more than he was.

POW! POW!

That was the worst, Louis dragging in a sharp breath that he desperately didn't want to come out in a yelp, his head spinning. How had that happened? One moment Pim had been in front of him and the next he'd been at his side, the hyena blocking him as the fox slammed his elbow up into the underside of Louis' jaw. As the deer had staggered, Ari had slammed him in a side blow that was aimed at his head. The hyena had not been quick enough to connect with the side of his paw, however, and cracked into the deer's head with the side of his forearm where the bone was the most prominent. The only solace that Louis could take in allowing the blow to land was that it had probably hurt Ari as much as it had hurt him.

Louis pressed, recovering, bearing them back, though he couldn't get as much space, even though he was able to hold off both carnivores at once. It looked like he had a chance there too - until Ari broke all the rules. Not that there were any rules there, but the hyena dropping caught his attention too late, how he lunged down low to the ground to take the deer's ankle between his teeth.

CRUNCH!

"Ah!"

His short, sharp cry broke the air like a bark, slicing into it, yet the blood oozing from his leg came with a brimming over of pain. Adrenaline could not keep everything away and, even though he had not bitten as hard as he could have done, the hyena still had broken the skin. Pim laughed, shaking his head.

"You should have just submitted to us, stag... You were never our Beastar!"

Pim slammed his foot up into the deer's face, a dirty kick but one that had his head snapping up and back as Louis' head reeled.

No...

_ _

No, it could not be happening, not really, not truly. He wouldn't believe it, couldn't believe it, not as his chest heaved, true fear striving to claw at him.

POW!

A knee to his stomach, taking his breath away as he fell, clutching his foot, his ankle throbbing viciously. Ari followed up with a kick to his face, cracking into his cheek, though Louis was already down and out, heaving for breath that had been forced from his lungs as his head spun sickeningly.

"Now..."

Pim dragged him back up onto his knees by his antlers, practically trembling in the thrill of victory. He didn't have to be gentle with Louis, even as the tines threatened to snap, despite their strength. It was a new thing for the fox, more of a sly hunter who lingered on the outskirts, scavenging for scraps and more. But to win, to have a herbivore helpless before him... Oh, that was a new feeling indeed for him!

"Get him, Ari!"

The hyena didn't hold back.

WHAM! POW! WHAM - BAM!"

Strikes and kicks in quick succession, it was all a blur to the deer, lost to the world as his stomach threatened to throw the contents out through his mouth once again. Ari cackled like a hyena getting the spoils of a scavenged kill, though that was one that he'd gotten for himself, even if he was, in a way, following Pim's lead there still. He cracked his fist into the deer's cheek, bloodying and dirtying his pretty face, his knee pounding into Louis' chest in a knee strike, falling back on a basic array of moves to make his point. It was all well and good when it came to it.

Louis groaned, fighting to the light once more, though...he had one opening, even as Ari drew back his arm for a blow that would surely knock out the stag in one crude hit to his head.

He had to try, had to do something, throwing everything he had into one headbutt. But instead of going for Ari, he slammed his head back into the fox's, so close to him that there was no way that he could miss as Pim let out a blood-curdling cry.

"Ahhhhh!"

He threw his weight against the fox, letting him take his full weight - which was more than enough, considering that the fox was shorter than him, even if bearing more functional muscle in his arms and chest. His legs scrambled but he just about managed to get them forward, slamming both feet up together straight into Ari's stomach.

WHAM!

The hyena buckled over, eyes wide, bulging, gasping for air that would not come. Louis smirked, returning a little more to himself.

"How's that..." He huffed, struggling to get the words out. "...For a taste of meat?"

The pain in his ankle was duller, less important, as he snatched at Pim's arm, throwing him forward over his shoulder into Ari. They seemed to be easier to toss around than he could have expected and Louis made a mental note of that. Regardless of the dull aches and pains in his body, he was not lost yet and he would not see himself beaten down before them, never again before a carnivore.

Yet he had to work fast, the carnivores on the ground as he lunged for them, not aiming to stay upright himself. No, it would put Louis in a vulnerable position, but he had to be down in the dirt with them, his legs around Ari's neck even as the hyena struggled and yowled.

"Get off me!"

Tighter. He had to press down on Ari's neck hard, treading on his instep as he crossed his ankles, harder and harder, overbearing him. Never had his strength had to be split between two carnivores as it was in that moment, chest heaving, barely enough air in his lungs and oxygen in his body to function. Yet he had to try and he could almost taste survival and victory within his grasp, eyes intent, brow furrowing. His antlers ached deeply at the base and it was only later that he would find that a larger tine had been snapped off, even if it had not taken the entire branch with it. As long as he kept on, lowering his head, gritting his teeth, he could do it.

His arms closed around the fox's neck in a sleeper hold, bearing down, increasing the pressure. There was no time to soothe them gently, to make sure that they were okay, that they were comfortable. It was fight or fight, no other option remaining. Truly, maybe Louis knew more than anyone else that there never had been another option for him, not ever.

"Erf..."

"Ooof..."

The carnivores struggled, yet they did not quite have that thrashing instinct that herbivores had. Neither did they, eventually, lock up and lock down, relaxing and accepting their fate. A herbivore who had accepted the fact that they were going to die would often enter a state of calm, as if their minds were slipping away from their body. Louis had experienced that on more than one occasion in his life. And now he had to revisit the horror of it.

"Erf... No... Let...go..."

Pim tried to claw at Louis' arms as they tightened further around his neck, holding his head in place as he forced the fox to succumb. It was as if the fox had no choice in that matter, no more than the fight itself, gasping, heaving, his eyes bulging for breath. It was not a slow slide into unconsciousness, but a rampant tumble, though the deer's split attention did not make it easier for either of them.

In fact, the hyena was slower to slip, panting, heaving, his narrower chest shuddering as his body fought to breathe, fought to live. Yet with the distinct lack of air in his lungs, his body not getting what it needed from every strangled, panting breath, Ari could not fight. The strength slipped from his muscles as he squirmed, his head altogether too close to the deer's crotch, though it was not as if such things mattered all that much anymore. Their lack of clothing only showed him just how strong the stag's legs were, something that Louis could have been said to have been hiding, however inadvertently that had come to pass.

Ari's head swam as if he was drifting in unconsciousness already, though he was still aware of what was going on around him, how the trees rustled, a drone floating above. A red light blinked on it and it was a camera - a camera that, in some technological way, recorded every moment of his humiliation and debasement, a predator succumbing to prey.

It was wrong, so very wrong: wrong, wrong, wrong. Ari didn't want to think about it even as the stag's thighs squeezed around him even more, putting more and more pressure down. It could have been quicker if, perhaps, it was a scissor hold where the neck was held between the narrower point of Louis' thighs, but it had not been a position he'd been able to get into with any delicacy.

Louis squeezed. It went against his instinct to dominate, to force them... But it was them or him. And Louis knew which of them he chose, even if he, obviously, was not going to cause them any serious harm. They were the ones that had given in to instinct, submitting, while he was merely showing them, in a sense, the error of their ways. In a way...it was almost good to be on to in terms of that kind of power for once. To use the strength of his stag body against them, to show them what a herbivore, even though he didn't have sharp teeth or claws, could really do!

He laughed out loud, genuine, biting mirth in his tone, as darkly insidious as it was.

"How does it feel?" He barked out through his laughter. "To be weak, to submit? Maybe you two were the herbivores all along here... For you do not have to be a herbivore to be prey, no?"

He concentrated less on his words than the pressure of his legs, his ankle bleeding not caring. He had to keep going, had to squeeze down, had to see it through to the end. If only he could knock out both of them, he could get out of there, could save his family in the school, become the next Beastar.

His father, however... His stomach turned over uneasily. There was something more there, something that had missed his attention, lingering, niggling. His father, the stag that had taken him in, had only been on the monitor at the start for a short breath of time, but something had not been right there. He'd thought it was not him...but now he was not so sure.

"Urf..."

Louis didn't want to think about that. He couldn't have been so quick to jump to conclusions and didn't want to linger on it as he pressed down and down and down on Pim's throat.

"To sleep with you, little fox. This will be safer for you."

For, even then, the fox was one of the ones that he was to protect. Everyone, carnivores and herbivores. No lines between them.

Pim faded, eyes closing, his eyelids heavier and heavier. Even though he'd left claw marks on Louis' arm where he'd dug in, fighting to be free, they came to no avail as the darkness drew him. It was not like falling asleep but more like tumbling off a cliff into sleep, the fall on the way down taking his breath away as his eyes, finally, closed.

He succumbed to unconsciousness while Ari was still weakly struggling, though the hyena might as well have not bothered for all the effect he had on the stag. The deer ground his teeth together, growling through them. He would show that he was not weak. Not weak, never weak, not to a carnivore nor a herbivore.

"I thought you would last longer, Pim. But it seems that Ari has beaten you to the blackness of unconsciousness."

What Louis, however, did not know was that there were eyes on him from beyond the trees, a carnivore with a broken up hide where the patterning allowed them to blend with their surroundings more easily. They were not, after all, a creature that had much beyond a short burst of speed at their disposal...

But Louis did not even know they were there, so great was their stealth. All he knew was that he had to bear down, the hyena's arms and legs falling limp, subdued, forced to submit to the might of a herbivore who had always known that he was so much greater than the rest of them.

He was only there to send Ari into unconsciousness. As the cheetah stalked him, their eyes intently fixed on him, Louis sighed, checking that Ari was out cold, only then standing. He dusted his thighs off as a habit more than anything else, though his ears were up, attention called.

Someone was watching him... But would they come?

"Raaaaarrrrr!"

A war cry bursting from a cheetah's lips could have alerted him to their presence, but the lean and angry male that came for him, with only the thought of protecting and defending his family in his eyes, screamed too soon. Not too soon for Louis, that was, but for the white bunny that leapt from the tree, her fur glowing in the dimmer light that seemed to have been cast over the dome. With the angle of the sun, it cast more shadows in there, the days playing out in tune with the natural light.

Although the cheetah tried to dodge, Haru was too swift for them, her body slicing through the air with the deadly intent of an arrow loosed from the bow.

"Hi-yah!"

BAM!

Haru shouted as she slammed her foot into the cheetah's side, Louis helpless in a heartbeat of a moment that seemed to stretch out forever to do anything. Skidding to the side, the cheetah yowled, one paw on the ground, his feet spread, braced, dust scudding around his feet.

"Herbivores should know your place!"

Yet Haru was not ready to give up as she followed up on her kick while he was still off-balance and winded, using her whole body to body slam him. It was a crude move, but one that worked, the cheetah tumbling over their own feet to the ground. The carnivore snarled and growled, showing their teeth, though it was suddenly two against one as Haru launched herself on top of him.

"This...would all...be easier if...you'd just...stop...struggling!"

Of course, the cheetah was meant to be struggling, but that did not stop Haru from lamenting that he was as she got a nozzle of knockout gas close to his face. It was not as sophisticated as the muzzle that was also locked to some of the gas canisters, but there was not any promise either that one would get the right muzzle to fit the right predator anyway. As the cheetah bucked and got up clean onto all fours, threatening to throw her off his back, the rabbit sprayed the gas liberally over his head, neck and shoulders, gas wafting as it swirled around his chest.

Luckily for her, it was a quick worker as she fanned it away from herself, the cheetah dropping like a rock, his eyes not even having a moment in which to close. They glazed over as he whispered into unconsciousness, Louis shakily brushing a paw back between his antlers, soothing the dull ache rising in his skull. The cheetah did not even twitch.

"Haru..." He bowed lightly, respect lining his face. "Thank you, he might have taken me down, or at least made it more difficult, if you had not been here."

Haru waved him off, ever practical.

"Oh, I wanted to see if other carnivores were in this area too and it seemed like you had a handle on it with the fox and the hyena. This one took down one of my rabbit friends and I thought it best not to let them get their claws into anyone else. They weren't playing very fair."

Ah, that was just like Haru. Practical yet innocent at the same time. It was as if she did not truly understand the stakes, but even he was questioning, ever calm and controlled while he was not quite that inside. Even if they did have his father, he did not care, not really. But he didn't like the thought of someone on the outside having that much control.

Not at all.

"You waited long enough then; it was about time you showed up. I thought you were here to protect?"

Although the bunny scoffed, she waved him off as they dragged all three carnivores so that they lay next to each other.

"I saw some other carnivores doing this to herbivores," she said, showing him how she posed with her foot on the cheetah's chest, her arms raised high in triumph, a light smirk on her lips. "They received extra supplies from the drones... So, I guess we should do that too."

Although it was not something that Louis would have honestly considered before entering the dome, it was all part of the game and he laughed shortly, joining her in it.

"They deserve it."

They had fallen prey to it, when they could have taken the honourable approach. That was where he differed from them. He was honourable and just - to a point. If humiliating them meant that he would further his survival, he would do it and not think twice about it, only survival mattering. He had to survive so that he could fight back, ensure that those that he did care about survived, that all those other families came through it okay. For all that he knew, they had done nothing wrong, nothing that could warrant such a brutally crude end.

One pose, his foot pointing directing across fox's chest. The drone took photos as he flexed and posed, his elegant muzzle tipped up high.

He had to be strong, had to be powerful.

Louis swapped to his foot on the carnivore's stomach, bearing into the softness there. He wasn't even very fit, for being a lean fox. And it was more and more difficult for Louis to see him as another creature, another mammal, not when he had come for him with such feral, fierce intensity. It was that which set carnivores apart from herbivores more than anything else, the loss of everything in the fury of bloodlust.

But he wasn't like that. His foot rocked on the softness of the fox's stomach and he moved to his face, rubbing his foot callously against his face. It must have been something humiliating as the drone pulled in closer to get a better shot, encouraging Louis to do more, though there was a part of him that thought that he might have done all of that and more, even if he was just in his boxers, the shape of his body shown under them, regardless of whether it had been necessary. There was a power in it as he planted his foot heavily on Pim's muzzle, bearing him down into the ground. He flexed his arms on either side of his head, eyes fixed on the drone as if he was coming for the one on the other side of the screen next.

One more pose, with his foot on the fox's neck, the dominant conqueror. Haru laughed at him, even as she posed herself, though she was lighter, as if she saw a fun side in it. It was not like either of them and just like them at the same time, confusing things, the lines between what they had known blurred beyond recognition.

The predator who had bitten him, however.... Hm, he deserved a very special kind of humiliation. Haru balanced with both feet on the cheetah, trying to make it look even better, two drones hovering in close to her, though Louis had to make it known that he was a force to be reckoned with too.

Ari could not say anything against him as he stood with his feet on either side of the hyena's muzzle, which was sideways on the dirt. It would have been humiliating enough like that, but he planted one foot on top of his muzzle, so that the blocky jaw of the hyena could not even be seen anymore, squashing Ari's nose into his other foot at the same time.

Louis smirked. There, that was better. He posed, changing the position of his arms, grinning more and more widely. It felt better than he could ever have imagined to be on top like that, to dominate, to overpower, to be like a carnivore but better than a carnivore. In a way, that was what he had been striving for all along.

Another post, one foot on the hyena's head, not caring one bit for his comfort. Louis stood with his foot on Ari's face, squashing his cheek, and the other on his chest, balanced there, though he was only kind enough to put more weight on his chest than his face. He didn't want to hurt him, but he wanted to make it known that he was there, that he was coming for all carnivores that thought they could tear him down.

He posed, pointing at the camera, laughing out loud. Haru's brow furrowed.

"What's so funny?"

"That we're winning!"

It was not funny, not really, not as he finally posed with his foot on the carnivore's crotch, the hyena's name falling away from him. It would no longer be needed and Louis had not cared much for it anyway. What did it matter anymore?

His foot dug down, finding his balance, his superiority, his arms spread out wide to either side as if he was challenging everyone to come to get him, to find him. Yet he would take down anyone that came, all as he humiliated the hyena who had taken such pleasure in a taste of him, in beating him up.

For the final pose, he stacked both of the carnivores who had attacked him, one on top of the other, posing with his foot on their stomachs, swapping who was on top. It was not the most comfortable position for him, but in moving them he showed his control and power over them even more clearly, everything that he wanted and more, so much more. Louis laughed and shook his head, antlers following his motion, eyes a little wild, a little wild, a little unhinged. Yet he would not break that far from his persona, not as he finally posed with his muscles flexed on show, legs trembling as he made himself look as strong and as powerful as possible, one leg up on the fox's stomach, stacked on top. He looked as if he was about to lead a charge, lips parted, his gaze far away, far off in the distance.

Haru chuckled, the rabbit's ears twitching.

"Louis, you're getting carried away. Let's get these in the cages... Look, your two are starting to grumble."

That was true, the fox shivering, twitches coming back to their fingers. Well, that would not do, not one bit, as Louis made short work of them with the knockout gas. The hiss of it should have sent them struggling, but they were too far down to scramble away as it flooded their senses, inhaling it without thinking, without even knowing what was happening to them.

Quickly, they fell relaxed again, their limbs loose and floppy, though being unconscious did render them a dead weight that Louis was not particularly comfortable with - especially considering how much his chest and stomach ached after the hyena had gone to beat him up. That had left marks that he would catalogue only once the danger had passed.

Finding three cages with fang symbols, his victims were tossed in with all the strength he had, the cages suspended lightly, swaying above the ground only by a few inches. When they seemed to be stirring, lips moving, tongues wriggling, Louis loomed dominatingly over them again, watching as their eyes blinked back to dark, hardly there, consciousness.

"You lost," he told them, the outline of his antlers casting an imposing figure. "To a herbivore... And now it's time for you to sleep off this humiliation, while I go to rescue those that are mine."

They couldn't say anything, couldn't do anything, not against the dominance of the deer, who took what was his in due course. Another rushing hiss of knockout gas rendered their senses fuzzy and sleeping once more, heads falling back, tongues lolling out. Louis smirked. They knew. They knew it had been him who had bested them both. The cage and its own carnivore specific gases would take care of them.

Brrrrrr!

_ _

The drone whirred in, though most of them and the hidden cameras stayed higher up, the ones monitoring and recording everything that was taking place. He supposed they were being streamed elsewhere to those watching, entertained by their fight. A bag of supplies, however, was well-received.

"Haru, let's make a plan..."

Elsewhere in the dome, Kibi exhaled deeply.

"I thought it would be you... Tao... Oh, Tao."

The anteater had never wanted to go on the trip in the first place. He'd had to exercise, when he was younger, but it had never been something that had entertained him, made him feel good at all about himself, no. He'd learned a little about defending himself, but that all paled in the face of matching up to Tao, the black panther that he otherwise had seen himself as friendly with. There was a sadness in the feline's eyes, though they remained firmly fixed on the anteater the whole time, unwavering.

"Kibi... It seems to have come to this."

Tao sounded older. He felt older, though not wiser, in the dome. It was as if everything that he had never wanted to happen had suddenly come to pass. If he could have walked away and avoided it all that was exactly what he would have done, but his family... Everyone had been there. His stomach tightened, heaving, threatening to release its contents. He had to fight, had to make sure that they would all be well.

Kibi shook his head, looking down. When the panther's lips parted, the anteater held up his paw, stalling him.

"Wait... I told you that I would never be afraid of carnivores again, Tao. I'm not afraid of you. I am not afraid of you now."

Tao paused. What was that supposed to mean?

"You also said you'd never touch another herbivore again..." That was where Kibi struggled, his dark eyes softening with emotion that he didn't want to let out either. "That... That is not a promise that you can keep, Tao. I can keep mine, I am sure I can, but you cannot promise to not touch another herbivore, not to touch me, not now."

The panther flinched. Oh, he remembered that clearly. Their relationship had changed, somewhat, after he had pulled the anteater's arm off in drama club, though he had never intended to hurt him, not one little bit. The blood, oh... Oh, it had been brutal, horrifying for him and even more so for Kibi.

"Tao..." Kibi took a deep breath, meeting his eyes. "I forgive you for everything before, you already know this, we've talked about it. But I will not forgive you if you do not give me an honourable fight."

"What?" Tao could not help but recoil, eyes waterier than he would have liked, though he did not want to show it, not one bit. "You actually want me to fight you?"

"Yes. I have some martial arts training... Didn't you do judo?"

"Yes... You?"

"Karate," Kibi answered. "Not much."

Tao sighed.

"It was only a little for me too."

They faced off, more evenly matched than they could have reckoned, though Tao trembled. What if he pulled off Kibi's arm again? However was the anteater going to forgive him for that?

But that was what they had to do, choosing to believe that Juno and the stag that he had seen through the trees, Louis who had always been so calm and in control, would have a plan. Louis always had a plan, even if he was a herbivore and didn't interact with Tao specifically all that much.

"It will be an honourable fight, Kibi... I promise you that."

They stood, facing one another, bodies loose but not relaxed, neither of them in a fighting stance. The day was quiet, as if they were in a forest without a dome, the trees offering them some structure, a little guidance, but no more than that.

It was Kibi that moved first, for judo was up close and personal, something that required throws quite often and rolls, but he didn't know much more about that. He didn't feel that he knew much about what his forte was, karate, for all the scant lessons he had had in it. He struck in a straight punch, his arm snapping out neatly in front of his body, but the panther dodged.

It was not hard for Tao to dodge a blow but it was hard for him to fight Kibi as he launched himself at the anteater, trying not to see someone that he had spent time with before him. If he could see Kibi as another predator, would that make it easier?

BAM!

He turned, putting his hip into the anteater and grabbing his arm as he punched. It was not a strike, however, but a throw, pulling him up and over his shoulder with the aid of his hip, which took the weight and the force of Kibi. The move felt clunky and heavy after so many years, but his body still fell back into the flow of it more or less, at least in a way that he could hope was somewhat correct.

Did correctness even matter? His whiskers quivered, dropping Kibi to the ground. To his surprise, the anteater came for him, crouching, rolling, dipping into a forward shoulder roll where his shoulder connected with the ground. It was unorthodox, but fighting dirty was part of it, crashing into the panther's legs to get him down to the ground.

WHAM!

Tao cursed, though he could not help but admire the anteater's tenacity as they both got back to their feet, a little shorter on breath. Had Kibi really had it in him the whole time?

POW!

He hadn't expected that, the anteater connecting with him as they faced one another, the anteater shouting as he lunged into a reverse punch, his left leg forward and bent for balance while his right arm snapped out in a punch. It should have been easy to dodge, but Tao flinched as it connected, pain thrumming through his chest.

"Yah!"

Kibi pursued, bearing the panther back as he snapped his leg out in a side kick, his balance a little off. It did not come off as strong as he wanted it to and that gave Tao an opening to come for him, lunging to clasp him in an up close and personal grapple.

The anteater could not help but shriek as he was clasped, the panther drawing him in, though he got his arms up quick enough in a quick block in time, catching the side of the panther's jaw. Everything was happening so fast, too quickly, far more speedily than it ever had before in his old karate practices! Yet he had to fight, chest heaving, dragging in much needed oxygen, eyes resolute.

He would give Tao an honourable fight. They had both promised.

Still, Kibi followed up with a roundhouse kick, his body slipping through the motion as Tao dodged around a tree. Quick to retaliate, the panther lunged back, getting him from behind and toppling backwards, sacrificing himself as he took the anteater to the ground, grappling, hissing, fighting tooth and claw. Of course, with them, no teeth or claws were, in fact, used, but the meaning was there behind it. Both had high stakes to lose if they faded too quickly. Who knew what would happen to their families if they did not do what they were told, after all?

KA-POW!

A quick front kick helped Kibi get out of the grapple where Tao had been trying to get his legs around him, to hold him in place, though they were fading quickly. It was half-hearted, almost, though they meant every strike, every jab, every grip and every hold. Where their hearts were not in it, against one another, they knew that their families were up there, waiting for them, knowing that they were the only ones to rescue them.

The panther, however, knew a little karate too and there were no rules at play where someone had to keep entirely to one kind of martial arts - or any, if that was the case. That was how he lunged in a sweeping kick, taking the anteater's leg out from under him, though he was not quick enough to drop him entirely.

WHAM!

No... Not quite. The anteater fought back, however badly he shook, the kind of fire in his eyes that Tao could not help but admire. And Kibi admired him back, all for not treating him like a weak prey animal, a creature that had to be helped, had to be coddled, not someone who could tackle everything for themselves.

Alas, they struck at the wrong time, both going for a quick front punch, sliding into a lunging punch - yet they struck each other in the face. Their punches connected simultaneously, heads ringing, knocked out flat on the ground, heaving, panting, gasping, hardly aware of how they had gotten down there. Practically immobilised, they moaned, neither stronger than the other, though it seemed that it was a fitting end to their fight, heaving, lips moving, though no words came out.

Tao closed his eyes. Please... He begged any listening gods. Please, call it a draw. Don't make me. Don't make him. Please, no... No...

But no one was listening that had any reason to help him. A drone whirred above, hovering for a second until it released a box. They should not have been surprised at all to find a rag and a tin of chloroform (it was marked on it) with a nozzle top tumbling out of it, a low groan rising in Kibi's chest.

"I guess this is it..."

It had to be. A voice rang out, only from the drone, a little tinny in quality.

"No one can leave here until the other is in the cage," it said, disembodied and eerie as the drone watched on. "No holding back is permitted. No self-sacrifice is permitted. Or your loved ones will be the _first_to be executed."

Tao sobbed. No... No, it couldn't be happening.

They found it in themselves to get up, crawling to the box, though neither would have admitted to the moisture in their eyes, disconnected from their bodies, drifting through the present moment. On opposite sides of the box with the rag and chloroform, they faced one another, close, so close, eyes on one another, breath held when they really could have used it.

Tao lunged. It had to be him, had to be. Not because he wanted to be the winner, wanted to be better than Kibi in any way...but that he had made a promise to him that he had to keep. It was one way, he hoped, that he could keep the anteater safe.

The anteater seemed to deflate before him.

"I guess this is it, Tao. I'm glad you fought me fairly. Please..." He lowered his head, submitting to his fate as his nose quivered, tears streaming down his cheeks. "Keep my loved ones safe. Please, fight for us, fight for all of us."

Tao swallowed hard, nodding. If only he could comfort Kibi, but any words that may have been spent between them lodged in his throat.

Tao slowly, too slowly, took the chloroform, pouring it onto the rag. Maybe he could make it look like an accident. That stud seemed to be strong... If he made it look accidental, could he chloroform himself and spare Kibi the indignation, the humiliation of it?

He hung his head, though Kibi poked his nose, his eyes lighter than they had any right to be.

"Get it over with, you've got to do it, Tao."

The panther choked down a sob.

"Why... Why do we have to do? I don't want..."

"You must."

So it was that they both knew that they could not risk the lives of their loved ones as gently, so very gently, Tao folded the chloroform rag over Kibi's face. The anteater trembled as he breathed in, though he didn't want to, knowing that it had to happen, as much as he quivered. The sickly sweet scent enveloped him, dragging him down, like a panther with his jaws around his neck.

Yet it had to be done, had to happen, Tao whispering to him that it was all going to be okay, that everything would be okay as long as he went to sleep, let himself slip away, down into unconsciousness. The anteater did not try to hang on, taking deeper and deeper breaths as his body relaxed into Tao's arms. Just when had the panther been holding him? Hm... That was strange, very strange, but it felt right to be there as he pressed in close, soft and warm, protected. Maybe it was good to be protected in that way too...

But he could not think as he faded, his vision lost, his world soft and grey. It was easier to slip into it, trusting Tao more than he had ever trusted any predator before, even Legosi. That was strange for him, but it would be okay. It would all be okay because the black panther had said it was so.

With the unconscious anteater in his arms, Tao held him to his chest, sobbing openly, broken, his chest heaving. His whiskers dripped with tears as he heaved and gasped, the body of the anteater so solid, so heavy. It had been a long time since he'd been close to someone and, even then, it felt wrong. He needed to look after the anteater... He'd promised.

The drone flitted in close, whirring, the speaker clicking on once again.

"Pose on the loser for supplies and take your prize. No additional supplies will be given for a lack of humiliating poses."

Tao snarled, lunging at the camera - but not too hard, otherwise he would have toppled the anteater to the ground.

"Go to hell! You... You...fucking bastards..."

Tao sobbed, head in his paws, the rag tossed aside, though he didn't care about it, not one bit. Only Kibi mattered and he had to make sure that the anteater was safe, no matter what the cost.

Gently, he took Kibi in his arms, holding him between them both, cradling him. He couldn't have put him back over his shoulder, not like a bag or a load of luggage. Kibi deserved respect and to be treated with such, which was just why Tao, very gently, placed him in the cage as if he was fragile, delicate. After their fight, he knew that Kibi was not, but he would still treat him with respect.

"I'll come back for you, Kibi," he vowed as he closed the door. "And I will save your family. I promise... This... This, this is my promise to you!"

He clapped himself on the chest, expression resolute, lips pressed together, eyes ever so slightly narrowed.

He would. For Kibi. Only for Kibi.

Pina knew none of what was going on as he walked along, casual, though he didn't have his trousers to tuck his fingers into the pockets of anymore. That was a shame, for that felt right to him, a light herbivorous swagger in his shoulders, a smile pulling at his lips.

A twig snapped, in a gully with trees rising on either side, some rocks down there. It was as if it had been set up as a stage. And the stage was what Pina longed for...

"Ah, Riz. I was wondering when you would join me."

The bear stood as if he had always been there, as unmovable a fixture as the rocks. Yet the huge bear's brown shoulders were bare and thick with muscle, his chest wide and broad. The power in him could not be disputed and the Dall sheep smirked where he should not have, overly confident before a predator. The bear drank honey... He'd seen it. It was sweet, in a way.

"Oh, Pina. I didn't notice you."

The bear seemed soft and gentle despite his size, yet his muscle was even more obvious without his clothes. He walked slowly, quietly, but Pina could see how the weight of him pressed down into the scrubby ground even then.

"Do you really want to fight me, Pina?" Riz asked, as if it was a normal day for them both. "We should be finding a way out..."

Yet the bear licked his lips, drooling a little, saliva pooling in his mouth. No one would know what happened there... No one would blame him for giving in to instinct. The Dall sheep just looked so tasty standing there and the temptation to let it all go, to release his predatorial instincts lingered, not so much in the back of his mind than at the forefront.

It would be easy... But he could not. Would not.

The bear swallowed his excess saliva, but it kept on coming, the prey before him, already undressed. How perfect...

Pina shook his head.

"That would be a waste of our time. Riz, it seems like the best option should be... Riz? Riz, what are you doing?"

It was not in the sheep's nature to be fearful but he had not listened to his instincts when his blood flared, heat flooding his body, the bear closing the distance remaining between them in two huge strides, snatching him up in the next heartbeat in a bear hug. Pina gasped as his legs dangled, prey instinct bidding him to go limp, his chest heaving, wheezing for air.

"Riz..."

Maybe the bear was glad to see him... Maybe? But Pina was not quite as slow as some thought him to be. Where the bear exuded charm, he had charisma and control all of his own. It only remained to see who was stronger.

"Riz... Put me down..."

The bear ignored him, at first. But he pulled his head back a little, the feel of the smaller, frailer sheep against him suddenly not where his attention seemed to be needed. He blinked, inhaling, something sweet and interesting pulling at his nose. But where was it coming from?

Dizzy and foggy, he blinked, the sheep ordering him to be put down. Yes, that seemed reasonable, very reasonable. He did so, setting the Dall sheep back on his feet, smiling faintly, softly, gently. Where was that smell coming from? It did not smell like meat or anything...but a plant? Maybe a flower?

Riz smiled a little more widely. It was nice. Very nice.

The Dall sheep's heart hammered, gasping, though he tried to be as composed as possible while he raked air back into his lungs. Damn the bear... He hadn't thought that he would come in so quickly. Though there was much to suspect about the massive brute of a bear, things that Pina wondered about ever coming to light. Maybe they would not, not in the course of the dome, the games.

But the sheep had his own lovely family to protect.

Setting his wool straight and his underwear, though there was not much to tidy up, the sheep looked the bear in the eye.

"That wasn't very nice, Riz," he said slowly and levelly, though there was an odd little smile on his face. "Not very nice at all. You should apologise to me for being so rude."

The bear blinked. Yes, that sounded like a good idea. He didn't question what was going on, not as he shook his head and bowed, dropping to his knees as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Whatever the sheep said was what he should do, his body feeling light and easy, the pain in him gone, even his headaches. What was it about Pina that had suddenly made everything so easy for him?

"I'm so sorry, Pina..." He murmured, not even salivating anymore. "I didn't mean to hurt you, I'm sorry."

"You meant to hurt me. But I accept your apology."

Seating himself neatly and primly on a rock, the sheep smiled, his fingers splayed out on the stone beside him.

"You, however, should show your forgiveness. Come here, Riz. Show me how sorry you are, how much you want to be forgiven, by massaging my feet."

That should have drawn the bear up short, but, to say the least, he was not in his right mind. It was like not having a body anymore, everything floating, maybe like when he'd been out on the lake years back with his family. Oh, that was a good memory, a memory he could sink into, though it only felt natural to take the sheep's left foot in his paws.

"Work it over nicely, Riz... I've been walking a long time today and I'm ever so tired after all this fuss."

It was not a normal day for Pina, after all, and he was oh so very tired. It was only right to use a little something that he had spotted in the dome to his advantage, wasn't it? It was part of the game and they honestly wouldn't have made it available in the dome if it was not supposed to be used...

At least, that was what the sheep told himself.

He chuckled as his feet were massaged, first the left and then the right, the bear not leaving any spot untouched.

"You see, Riz, there is a plant there with purple berries, divine. When mixed together into a paste, it dries clear and the aroma, well... It is known to be hypnotic. To predators in particular. Isn't that wonderful?"

Riz did not know. Riz did not care. Riz was massaging the sheep's feet and that was all that mattered. Working between the toes, he soothed the aches of the day from the sheep's feet, working the soles, the arches, fingers digging into the heels to soothe. Pina sighed.

"Ah, yes... That's right."

The juices were dry on his horns, ensuring his control over Riz and, frankly, herbivores too would be more susceptible to his influence. To have a slave like the large, powerful bear, put him in a position like no other, a grin on his face as he cocked his head, looking down on the bear as if he was something lesser than him. To the smooth sheep, he was. But that was how Pina felt about everyone.

"Stop."

Satisfied with his foot massage, he ordered the bear to halt, Riz kneeling back, sitting there, waiting for his next instruction. He was not worried, smiling faintly, as dully complacent and quiet as he always was. Only, that time, it was not a front that he was putting on, he was simply under Pina's control.

The sheep stood elegantly, his motions smooth and deliberate. Lifting his right hand as if he wanted the bear to watch, he placed his right index finger on the bear's forehead, pushing lightly.

"You're defeated, Riz," he breathed. "Fall."

The bear did so instantly, though it was strange to see the world spinning around him, not really in control of his body. But it was okay as he fell back, spread-eagled, if Pina was there. The sheep was so soft and fluffy that everything had to be okay if he was there. He would have, of course, felt very differently about that if he was not caught up in the sheep's hypnosis, even if it was due to the mixture Pina had prepared rather than any spell that the sheep had cast on him. That was not possible, not outside fantasy, but the beasts of the school had far more at their disposal than they may have first thought.

The bear grunted, flat on his back, waiting there. He couldn't do anything, happy to be helpless under the sheep as Pina posed, placing his foot firmly in the middle of Riz' chest. It didn't feel good and it didn't feel bad either. But Riz was happy right where he was, especially as the sheep gave him a wink. That felt good, as if he was pleasing the sheep, doing something good for him. It was only because of Pina, after all, that he was down on the ground.

"Ah, this will make the ladies go wild, will it not, Riz? Having conquered the great bear!"

He threw his hands up high as if he was holding off praise, drones circling them, spinning around and around, their lenses fixed right on them. The sheep winked cheekily and blew the cameras a kiss as if he was on stage - and, truly, the dome was a kind of stage to him. It made it so that he could showcase his special brand of talents, how he had dominated the predator, using his brains rather than his brawn to force him to submit. And it was not as if he didn't know what a beast like Riz was capable of, however sweet and calm and nice as the bear so very often portrayed himself as being.

The bear was not like that, however, as Pina bore his foot down into the bear's chest, grinning, posing with his fingers fluttering near his face. Oh, he was a ladies' man, so very much so, but he had more than one lady on the go at all times. He had so much love to give that it was simply impossible for him to keep it all to one, however!

He let his weight rest there, marvelling at how easily the bear had fallen under his spell. It must have been him, his charm, his charisma, everything that made Pina who he was. His weight pushed down into the bear's chest, but the beast did not grunt as Pina smiled devastatingly, knowing how handsome he was, putting on a show. It was all for his adoring fans, after all!

Under him, the bear blinked, the sight of the sheep's foot not stirring up anything at all in him that could have been concerning. Dimly, Riz was aware that it was good to have a herbivore so close, that he could reach for him, but could not honestly remember just why he would ever have wanted to reach for a herbivore in the first place.

No... No. No, that was not something he had to concern himself with. The sheep's figure cut a strikingly powerful silhouette above him and Riz floated and drifted on blissful, sweet contentedness, his eyes on the sheep. He had to keep looking at Pina, after all, just make sure that he responded to any orders, any commands that came his way. That was the only reason he was there, after all.

Again, the sheep posed with his foot on the bear's face, not caring for his teeth. They were no longer any danger to him as he struck a coy pose, a light blush on his face that was tipped away. He settled his foot more comfortably over the bear's muzzle, curling around the blocky, short snout, squashing down his nose as Riz grunted. Of course, the bear did not complain, though Pina might have liked it a bit better if the bear was not hypnotised and did feel the searing, sick burn of humiliation. But he couldn't have it all ways.

Pina did not need to flex and show off like that to get the ladies to go wild, falling at his feet. No, he was better than that, a handsome beauty, a gentleman in every sense of the word. He was the best and he felt it in every fibre of his body, posing prettily, sweetly, knowing that they would be signing his praises and speaking tales of him for years to come.

"Ladies... Are you ready for your champion?"

He should have been more concerned about his family than he was posing, but he changed once again, his fingers splayed sweetly over his muzzle as he posed with his foot on the bear's stomach to finish off. Oh, the power, the strength in him, the bear lying there with that beatific smile on his face. How adorable. How submissive. Pina never wanted to be out of a position of power.

He posed one final time with the spellbound bear under him with his foot on his stomach. Not as humiliating, but it was good to Pina to feel the firm muscle under there, the power of the bear.

"Look at how I have conquered the beast!" He practically crowed, forgetting himself as he made light of the situation. "The sheep has triumphed over the terrible, ghastly bear!"

Maybe it was so, but the sheep did not mind taking liberties. It was all a performance, stroking the wool around his face so that it lay smooth, presenting him at his best. There were cameras everywhere, after all...

Another drone whirred in as he imagined how the ladies were going to cheer for him, posing with his head turned up to the light, glancing beautifully off his horns. With a "clunk", it dropped a box of supplies, though the sheep chuckled as if it was something that interrupted him, rather than being something positive.

"Oh, no... It appears that there is no encore for this sheep today. You'll have to wait for my next performance to see my horns glitter again."

He had to leave, however, his foot lifted, settling back onto the ground. That was a shame, very much so, a shame, but he would see his next opponent just as hypnotised, he was sure.

"Riz."

The bear looked up, lying there still as if it was normal, perfectly so. He laid there calmly, even as the dirt clouded his fur a darker shade on his back. Pina was like a god above him, his horns and head framed in a halo of light, though that was merely the sunshine cast through the glass of the dome. Riz didn't know that. The bear only thought that the Dall sheep had become a god, though he still did not wonder why he was abruptly so infatuated.

"Yes, Pina?"

The sheep smiled sweetly, snapping his fingers.

"Get on all fours... Follow me to your new home. Though you are more like a puppy than a bear right now, Riz. Oh, overseers? Does that count as humiliation?"

There was a cage near, lowered at the top of the little gully for them, though it had a fang on it already. Pina smiled. It was as if they had known that the herbivore would win that one, that a herbivore cage would not be needed there. They were watching, always watching, his spellbinding influence irrevocable.

He was powerful, he was all-knowing. He was...the Beastar!

The bear followed, all on all fours, not getting up as Pina led him to his cage. The sheep pointed - and in he went, as compliant as ever. But Pina rather preferred him as a submissive bear, a pet of sorts, though Riz was so spellbound by him that he could not help but ask.

"But Pina... Is there anything more that I can do for you?"

He was so plaintive that even Pina's heart pulled for him. Oh, if only he could have Riz locked under his hypnotic powers all the time. That would be nice, but there might be questions if he was still following him around the school on all fours, even if they would not be there for much longer, off to college or life, one or the other...

"No, Riz."

The sheep smiled, fixing the bear muzzle over his face, though he held it in place rather than strapping it in. The control was too intoxicating.

"Just go to sleep. All you need to do is to have sweet dreams."

The bear inhaled, though he knew little but soft comfort as he slipped, the gas infiltrating his senses. Sleep, yes, Pina had said to sleep. So, sleep was what he would do as he slowly, so very slowly, slumped down to the floor of the cage, only his hypnotic link with Pina keeping him upright for so long. He most certainly wasn't fighting it, not as he did what Pina wanted him to.

"Sleep, Riz."

The bear's chest rose and fell, on his side, the muzzle still hissing with gas that he could not help but inhale. Holding it there for longer than necessary, pressing down the button that forced the gas out, Pina smiled more widely, his eyes taking on an edge of greed.

To have Riz, the powerful carnivore, under his hold... It was a feeling that he very much wanted again. And he would.

"Sweet dreams."

Yet the battle was not yet over for those trapped within the dome.