Learning to Swim - Part XXXV

Story by OttersGonnaOtt on SoFurry

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#35 of Entropy Series

The gang takes their capture with large strides, finds a friend in unexpected circumstances, and learns some amazing news.

This is one of my favorite chapters I've written. It's an honest, great moment in the story and it continually brings a smile to my face. The end is nigh for the first book of the series and this kicks off the final set of actions, so it's great to get such an uplifting chapter to start that drive.

As always, this story contains adult content and explicit sexual imagery. If you aren't allowed or don't wish to view such material, please stop reading immediately. To all the rest, enjoy! Comments and critiques are welcome and encouraged.


"Move it, bitch. I know you can walk." The fluff drake Vorak shoved Ashe forward, practically holding her up by her hair. When they reached her cell, He hurled Ashe inside hard enough that she came off the ground and slid on her side until touching the back wall. "Fucking dumb-ass. I wouldn't have to hurt you if you stopped acting like such a baby."

Ilaria stood up abruptly and wailed on the front of her cage. "Leave her the fuck alone!"

Iolvin joined in as well, though keeping his distance when he remembered how the dent in his door was formed. "Take it easy on her, asshole. She's blind, for gods' sakes."

The hulking idiot took a quick look at both siblings and snorted. "I'll do what I want, weaklings. Learn your place." He went over to Elliot's cage and peered through the bars, grinning at both occupants. "Hmm, already had me a pooch. Guess otter's on the menu now."

Adrian stood up as well now and clung to the door of his cell like his life depended on it. "Sis! Hey, don't you dare touch her!"

"I think I will." Vorak kicked Ashe's gate closed and then brought his key card to the new cell's sensor. Ellie's cell mate, an African wild dog in her mid-teens perhaps, backed up against the back wall and watched as the reptile jabbed a needle into the otter's neck. "You look like a good use of half an hour. Such soft fur, too."

Ellie groaned a bit and then gasped awake, flailing his arms until they were restrained. "Holy crap! Gods!..."

"Yeah, bet you'll be screamin' worse than that in a minute." Vorak pinned both arms up with only one of his paws and slid the other down Ellie's tummy so he could get a quick feel beneath his pants. Only his pleased grin soured once he reached his destination, yanking his paw free and kicking the otter into the nearby girl. "That's fucking sick! What kind of dude dresses up like a chick?!"

"Ouch!" Ellie rubbed his side and sat upright, completely ignoring the stranger behind him in favor is the threat before him. "Wait, what? What's going on?"

"Fucking twinks..." The drake moved out of the cell and slammed the gate shut, immediately moving to Ilaria's with his card ready. "Now I want a fucking otter and those tits tell me enough. Step back or I'm knocking you out."

Ari did as she was told, looking back to her sleeping fiance as she backpedaled. "Just don't touch her. I'll go with you if you'll promise that."

"Can't make no guarantees. I'll stay away for now though, honey." Vorak popped open the door and yanked Ari out by the collar of her shirt, shutting the gate with his boot as he oriented to the exit. "Move fast, bitch. I'm not stumbling around all day."

Just as they were about to pass the hatch Car barred the doorway. "The ~fuck~ is wrong with you?! You raped her?!"

"Get out my way, squirt. I'm not--"

"No. Fuck no." He pulled out what appeared to be a taser and pointed it at Vorak. "Lilith is handling this one. Hand her over."

"Like hell I will."

"Yes, you will. That or I go to the Major."

Vorak grunted and cracked his neck to both sides, obviously infuriated by this threat. "Fine, take her. She smells like wet dog anyway." He shoved Ilaria over to the hare and trudged angrily down the hallway. "Next time I'm making you my bitch, Carmine. Fucking hear that?"

"...Such an asshole..." Car, or rather Carmine apparently, helped Ari stand up straight and guided her down the hallway himself, his stun gun ground into the small of her back for every step. "You might be the enemy, by you deserve better than that. Take a right up here..."

Elliot propped himself up into a crouch and got a better look at his surroundings. Upon his eyes settling upon Ashe's beaten, soiled body he immediately darted to the side of his cell. "Ashe! Hey Ashe, are you alright?!"

The wolf girl rolled over with a few coughs and laid on her back, arms and legs splayed out in exhaustion and defeat. "H-He... He didn't need to h-hit me like th-that..."

"Thank gods..." Ellie desperately rapped his claws against the floor and metal bars. "Can you hear that? Ashe, can you come closer? I really need to check you out."

"Elliot?" Ashe rolled her head to the side and stared in the rough direction of her boyfriend. "It hurts to move or b--" She coughed up a light white syrup out the corner of her mouth, her throat still coated in Vorak's aftermath. "--breathe."

Ellie was suddenly enraged at the sight, his angle even giving him a clear view of the pool of white growing from beneath Ashe's skirt. "That bastard did that to you? Fuck, of all things..." Ashe was obviously out of steam in a bad way so he had to make due with his dimly-lit visual inspection. "You're bleeding. Looks like a cut by your eye and uh... your privates."

"He can be that way sometimes." Carmine walked back into the room and made his way over to the poor girl as well. "Rough, that is. That idiot doesn't know the meaning of the word 'restraint' and he's cold as ice to boot."

"Hey, she needs medical attention. Do you have a doctor or a medic nearby?"

The hare scrunched his nose as he thought through the heart of the question. "I could grab a med kit and see what I can do. Not sure how loose I can let things get around here, so is that satisfactory?"

"Fuck." Elliot looked over to his love and then back to his captor with pleading eyes. "I'm a surgeon. Please, let me take a look. I might be able to stitch her up if that med kit's got the right stuff."

Car donned his head a while as he thought things through before snapping his gaze back to the otter. "Sure, but I'm holding this taser on you the whole time. You've got ten... well, fifteen minutes maybe until someone might notice."

"Thank you! You're a saint!"

Carmine flipped his card by Ashe's sensor and then to Ellie's, taking a step back to make ample room. "Go on."

Ellie jogged around the two corners in a large bend, wobbles in his stride due to the drugs in his system. As he crumpled to his knees next to Ashe he turned back to watch the doors slam shut again. "Wait, I thought you said--"

"I know. I'm just gonna get those medical supplies real quick." Car started walking to the exit hatch, a slight hop in his stride to speed him along. "Anything you think you'll need in specific? We have a whole infirmary."

"Uh, a suture kit and some bandages are what I know I'll need. Maybe some towels to clean her up..." Elliot paused to think about anything else he'd need when he spotted Robyn over the toilet of her cell and vomiting something fierce. "Hey, is she alright? Robyn?"

Adrian pressed against the side of his cell and consoled the poor girl. "Just let it go, hon. We're all screwed up. I almost lost my lunch too."

"Hey, she's up?" The hare stopped his movement and looked over to Robyn. "That stuff's supposed to be a sure bet for another few hours. Those three I can get, but that's not right."

"Really?" Elliot furled his eyebrows as a he diagnosed the squirrel. "Could be a slew of things. Allergic reactions... Poisoning maybe..." He looked back to his captor and added some more to his list. "If you have a 'serum beta' kit and a pH kit I could see if I'm on the right track, and... Nah, couldn't be..." He took a moment to think and then erred on the side of caution. "Throw in an hCG kit just to be sure."

"Field kit, beta test, pH, hCG. I think I've got that." Carmine walked out the room and pulled back on the heavy hatch door while he whispered a new chant. "hCG... pH... beta... hCG..."

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Ilaria sat in a folding chair for nearly five minutes now, left alone thanks to a few sets of handcuffs. She had enough time to take in the details of the room that she now felt comfortable. The room was entirely built of reinforced, artificial materials, which meant this wasn't likely a standard interrogation center. The distinct lack of a one-way mirror and cameras would have given that away, but the build told Ilaria that the room wasn't built with captives in mind. In fact the hallways and jail matched, which said they were likely inside some form of mobile structure rather than a land building. Curious though was that she never once felt the lurch of an engine or movement of any kind.

The lone hatch to the room squeaked as it's latch was twisted loose. With a set of return motions sealing it again, the female fluff drake stood before Ari. "So my idiot brother screwed up again, did he? Well, guess I'll get done with you fast as I can then."

"I'm not looking to fight back." Ari straightened her back and tried to present herself better for this woman. "Just ask your questions and I'll try to answer them as best I can. Okay?"

"Finally, something goes right for me today." The drake pulled up another chair and sat in front of her captive. "So let's get this straight first. You're Yaluncha... Ielunschra..." She pulled up a small stack of papers and strained over them on the table between the two. "Rih... Rihsat? Rihzyet? Damn, your parents gave you that fucking name?"

"I go by Ilaria, but yeah that's me."

"So, I have a whole list I'm supposed to beat out of you. How about we just cut to the chase instead?" The dragoness slid the papers out of her way in frustration and propped her head up by her elbows. "Where are the rest of your terrorist friends?"

"Terrorists?" Absolutely baffled by the proposal, Ari leaned forward until her cuffs clanked taut. "Wait, I thought ~you guys~ were terrorists. What's going on here?"

"Okay, I wanted to keep my scales clean today but you're not helping." The drake frowned and leaned back in her seat. "Let's try this then. Why blow up the power plant? Sounds like terrorism to me."

"No, ~you guys~ blew that up. One of you even tried to kill my fiance!"

"Mottledft. That retard..." The woman sighed and gave Ilaria another chance. "You didn't answer my question. If that wasn't you, then what have we been seeing? You've ripped off half the town for some sensitive shit. You've hacked our defense network. Explain all that."

Ilaria took a few slow, deep breaths in through her mouth and out her nose, trying to calm herself down and prepare her next words well. "We were stealing, yes. We had an accident--me, my brother, and his mate--in my lab and if we didn't create a rare substance to help us we'd be dead by now. We needed all of that stuff to get that done."

"Interesting." The dragoness brought a claw to scritch a patch of white fur that ran from her nose to her hairline. "Nice story at least. How do I know it isn't just bullshit?"

"That odd girl that looks a lot like me? Has a blobby friend right now? They're byproducts of our accident. You can check them out if it backs up my story." Ari shrunk down into her seat when the woman didn't appear convinced. "Damnit, just look at my fucking skin. I'm glowing hazard orange, for fuck's sake."

"I don't know. We can try some tests but..." The drake stood up and started for the door, apparently giving up on the interrogation for the moment. "...I still think you're terrorists. You're not the only ones we've seen glowing like that, and they've all ended up pointing a gun at one of us more or less."

"At least tell me what happened to that liger! Please!..." The woman stopped by the hatch and spun around, suddenly intrigued by Ilaria's request. "I've never shot someone and... well, did he actually... uh...?"

"You're not a murderer. Yet." The drake opened the door and hovered between the bulkheads a moment to give her final words. "Doesn't mean you're not terrorists."

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Something awkwardly and soothingly pleasant coaxed Elliot out of his sleep. He barely opened his eyes, his drowsy mind wanting to focus on the way he held Ashe's paw through the bars of their shared prison wall. He smiled at the Arctic wolf as she groaned in her sleep, instinctively squeezing down on his paw for comfort. Then he noticed that strange sensation from earlier, only this time it woke him sober enough to tell what is was. He looked down his body and found his cell mate nude as the day she was born, her paws working his pants and panties down to his knees.

Elliot tried to shoo the girl away but soon found himself stiff as a board when she pulled a makeshift knife against his dick. She simply continued until he was fully exposed before addressing the situation. "Shh. Wake others bad. Help Siamun, no blood."

"Help you?" Ellie tried to back away but the crude glass shiv only pressed harder to his sensitive skin. "What do you want? And why do we need to be..." He carefully loosed his grip from Ashe's paw and pulled his own back out of caution. "Don't tell me you're in heat. I've about had enough of that recently and I'm not sure I can take it."

"No heat." Siamun slid the knife up Ellie's creamy furred tummy and rested it over his heart. Then she slid herself to straddle Ellie's half-mast cock, coaxing it to full hardness by grinding her pussy along its length. "You lead? Want nice sex."

"Fuck no. You're what? Fourteen? Fifteen?" The tip of the blade pressed painfully into the small of the otter's chest. "Yeah, kill me. See if you get what you want ~then~."

"Always hard way." The wild dog grunted in frustration and lined herself up with her free paw. "If do right, do it self." She started to press her orchid down tightly against Ellie's tip, but as she moved her own body to find a good angle Siamun slipped. One of her hindpaws kicked out ahead of her and she fell down, slamming her excruciatingly tight tunnel around the bulk of Elliot's length with a pained whimper. "Hnnng! Ouch!"

Ellie raised his paws to catch the girl as she collapsed her weight forward, tears jerking from her face to land on his chest. It was then that the otter realized there was more to her reaction than he'd assumed; a faint trickle of red ground into their fur where they met. "You're a virgin?" Well, she ~was~ closer to half his age so it was probable anyway.

"Uhhn... Y-Yes." Siamun tried to move herself in an attempt to continue her intentions, however her body didn't seem to agree just yet. She sighed and gave up, using all her strength to keep herself in exactly her current stance. "Damn. Just want try sex before die but--"

Elliot didn't like the idea of being forced into sex, doubly so with such a young stranger, but something about the desperation and anxiety in her current expression changed his mind. He rolled the girl over and guided her gently onto her back. "Everyone deserves a decent first time. Since you've already started yours, I won't fight it."

Siamun looked up and locked her gaze with Ellie's. "You thank. Move now?"

"Yeah, I'll move slowly. Just let me know if it still hurts." Ellie slowly pulled himself out, the girl's tight grip making his withdrawal excruciating and pleasurable all at once. Then with the same delicate yet firm motion he pressed back inside, taking special care to stop himself again at the halfway point rather than risk paining her cervix. "Is that good? You're really small for me and I don't want to hurt you."

The dog wrapped her legs around Ellie's bottom and pinned his tail against his back. "More haste. No hurt now."

Elliot nodded as he figured out Siamun's words. He pulled himself nearly free and shuddered at the way the girl's searing hot pussy sucked the life out of his manhood. Then he started pumping in earnest, barely able to move at an otherwise sub-par pace without risking climaxing too early. To be honest, a part of him didn't want to cum at all and only wanted to help Siamun and be done with things. She didn't have the same thoughts.

Siamun yanked down with her crossed ankles and forced Ellie to pick up the pace. "Haste! Haste!"

As the panting dog brought Ellie beyond his comfort zone he groaned, straining to hold back from his limit. Still, the girl wanted a good time so he didn't exactly fight back either. "If you keep... this up... I'll cum..."

"Cum...? Oh." Siamun pulled against Elliot as harshly as she could, pulling him to brush roughly against her core. "Yes, cum. Now."

Finally this girl crossed Ellie's limit and he tried to fight back, prying back to no avail. "Wait, I'll--Ah!--I'll get you preg--"

"Quiet."

Siamun reached up and pulled Elliot against her. Immediately after he was in range she locked muzzles with him and silenced the otter. She started clenching her insides vigorously in time with each of Ellie's pulls back and forced him in again just as roughly afterward. This sent him into a frenzy of his own, the otter getting too caught up in the moment to remember his place.

Ellie rapid-fired his hips as hard as he could muster as he began erupting into the small girl below. Then without warning his added lubrication let him slip further, Siamun's womb not so much permitting entrance so much as Ellie's cock demanding it. The wild dog went from a state of pure bliss to an abrupt gawk of befuddlement and light pain, Elliot's length bottoming out with not a spare hint of room left and still holding an inch of leeway. Matters only got worse when, through nearly a minute of hushed grunting and moaning, Ellie emptied his fuzzy balls into the heated confines of Siamun's inner sanctum.

By the time Elliot's senses returned to him he found their prolonged kiss broken and Siamun hugging herself in bliss. He took one quick look at the hint of a bulge where her womb resided, just then realizing what he'd done. "Crap. I didn't want to do that."

Siamun gradually loosened her muscles and regretted doing so when Elliot pulled himself of her hot snatch with a delightfully painful yank. "Aww. I liked it like it was."

Ellie quirked his head at the girl's sudden improvement in speech. "So... was that a good first time, Siamun?"

"I could use some more work. You're the only one that came." The dog spread herself for Ellie to see, presenting her pussy in proposal. "Maybe you could clean me up? You said you were concerned about pregnancy and I could use the help."

Ellie caught his jaw agape at the girl's straightforwardness and his renewed erection wasn't helping his side of things either. "You mean go down on you? I mean, I did my part and all. Can't you finish yourself?"

Siamun sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'll try doing the same if it makes you happy." She sat herself upright and then pounced forward, pinning her dripping petals over Ellie's muzzle while she bore her own lips down along his cock. "Never done this either, so you better do your best."

"I can't--" Ellie fought as she ground her crotch against his face, smearing his essence across his own snout. "I'm close to someone. I have a girlfriend. You understand me?"

Siamun pulled her mouth off his tip with a slurp. "You mean that girl over there? Yeah, I know. I needed this. Now hurry up."

Ellie gasped and moaned as she went back to work, the dog's long muzzle and tongue allowing her to perform miracles without much effort. For a first time it wasn't bad, but she was even putting some of Ashe's moves to shame. Canines must just be naturals at giving head in general. Without proper time to recover Ellie was still overly sensitive and it was taking its toll. He had work to do and not much time to do it.

The otter picked up the pace and started diving into the girl's clam with his own tongue. He wasn't very accustomed to his own taste but managed to lap tonguefuls of his cream down his gullet, attempting to prevent impregnating her on accident more than anything. Once the wild dog was more or less clean she started moaning lightly around Ellie's cock, bringing her paws around the remainder to help make up for slipping ground. Elliot decided to copy and shoved two fingers as far into Siamun's orchid as he could manage before his webbing became a hindrance, then focused his entire mouth on sucking the life out of her clit.

Suddenly Siamun stopped sucking, her hips crushing down to encourage Ellie's new choice of stimulus. "Like that! Gods above, keep doing that!"

Inadvertently Ellie caused her to speed up her own pace, the dog's paws squeezing and rubbing him well beyond the point of no return. "C-Coming!"

Ellie erupted molten white across Siamun's face, painting her chin and snout with a generous helping of his batter. He reached down with his free paw without thinking and wrapped it behind the girl's head, pulling her mouth back into the fray. He intended to plead for her to help him ride it out with her tongue, but instead he ended up slamming Siamun's head down until her nose touched his balls.She wasn't about to complain though as Ellie began clenching his teeth at the sensation, nibbling and lightly biting Siamun's clit.

The African wild dog finally reached her peak with explosive results. She clenched and spasmed repeatedly, each time spraying forth copious amounts of her own cum. Ellie nuzzled and lapped as best he could, but he was too focused on the throat around his cock to truly divert his attention at the moment. In fact, Siamun's muzzle felt so good as she screamed muffled howls around it that it set him off for another light orgasm, a respectable load of spunk firing rope by rope into her stomach.

Siamun forced herself free as the contents of her lungs got stale, sliding her body forward so her pussy could take the remainder of Ellie's climax. "Woah... So much better than a penis."

Ellie stared at her backside as he came down from his high, suddenly not caring that he was once again filling up this young girl. "You say that like you've owned one. Still, glad you got something out of your first experience at least."

"Can we go again?" The ridiculous question was joined by a ridiculous expression, the girl looking back over her shoulder with a large smile yet absolutely pouring tears. "...What?"

Ellie tried to make sense of the girl's conflicting features while he also fought yet another achingly overstressed erection from growing inside her. "I shouldn't keep going. I'm taken. Besides, you're crying. You sure I wasn't too rough?"

"Hmm?" Siamun brushed her paw under her eyes and shrugged the tears off with a chortle. "Oh, that's just my host not agreeing with me. But too bad, because I needed to harvest some genes."

"Harvest genes?"

"Yeah, I needed some perspective on speech. That freaky girl over in the other cage is right. English is a bitch to learn.

Elliot lifted the girl and slid her off his length. "Say what now? Not getting any of that nonsense."

"You know English so I learned from your genes. My host sort of lost a bunch of that." Siamun pointed to her noggin and realized then that she was covered in white, though apparently not caring to remove it. "Lots of brain damage. Nothing hot, liquid information couldn't solve. Besides, I've got a pussy now so I wanted to break that baby in."

"Uh... Brain damage is sounding about right..."

The dog rolled her eyes and whispered something to her side, as if another person were sitting right there. "Fine, I'll let you talk to my host for a minute." With that, the pup went absolutely limp. Then she awoke again bawling her eyes out and shaking like she was a whole different person all of a sudden. "I'm not a... a virgin anymore?"

"I'm pretty sure that's a given, with what we just did." Ellie started hiking up his pants as he chatted absentmindedly with the psychopath. "You're crying again. You sure you're alright?"

"He stole my virginity! I didn't want it to be like ~this~!"

Ellie clasped his pants and turned to look at the odd girl, suddenly curious at how honest this little act was. "Well you shouldn't have forced yourself on me then. Care to get dressed before the others wake up?"

"What? No! That bastard did that!" The wild dog lurched upright and latched into a desperate hug around Ellie's arm. "Help me, please! I never asked for this! I'd rather be dead than--!"

Suddenly the expression completely mellowed out, the pup returning to her old confident self. "And that's about enough of that whiny bitch." She released Elliot's arm and went straight for her clothes, tears running down her face but not at all phased by them. "Sorry, Viola can be a real bummer. Good thing I've got the better end of the bargain with this body."

"Body...?" Ellie looked down to his wet sleeve and then back to the crazy fur next to him. "Who the hell are you?"

"Prince Siamun, son of Pharaoh Nebpehtire Ahmose Aakheperu Tutmesut Tjestawy and sworn follower of Amun. You can call me 'your majesty' or 'highness' however." Again the crazy dog spurted a few quiet words to her side, this time as if arguing a point. "Ugh, fine. If it'll shut you up for the rest of our existence..." She reached for her clothes and then looked back to Ellie. "You can also call me Viola. My host says my holy name and title make me stick out too much in this age. Oh, what year is it?"

"Uh, okay... Twenty-thirtyThree, last I checked?"

"That's not right. I can't go backwards in time--" Again the head turned to the side as the dog stepped into her pants. "Right, you use that silly new calender. So about... thirty-fiveHundred years? I do say, I age well. All that time and I'm young as a child."

"You ~are~ a child."

"We're not sure about that ourselves. Hard to tell the age of a mind." Carmine walked into the room with a few more trays of food. "I'm not even going to ask how she got like that. Here, just eat something."

"Ellie took the tray of food and placed it on the ground, moving next to point to Ashe. "Can I eat with her? I'd like to see how she's doing."

"Sorry. Others could come in here any minute, so no can do." The hare slid Ashe's tray under the door of her cell and went to retrieve the remaining plates. "Oh, those last two tests should be done by now. I could go fetch those instead."

"You can help Ashe out more, you know. Just listen to one favor." Carmine paused at the request and Elliot used that moment to build up the worst case of puppy dog eyes he could muster. "I know you're a good guy, so please? It won't be too far out of your way."

"Her name's Ashe, huh?" Carmine spun around to listen in earnest now. "Something simple? I might be able to do something that's quick and easy."

"Just grab her bag. She needs her contraceptive pills or that stunt from yesterday could get worse." Ellie looked over to the wolfess as she rolled about in her sleep. "She's also got some cigarettes. They're loaded with something that'll calm her down. I think she's getting paranoid about something and I don't want her hurting herself."

"She's... got a history of that?" The bunny looked down and felt his wrist through his sleeve. "Yeah, I'm not gonna be responsible for her suicide, but we can't smoke in here. Crazy dangerous."

"They're electric cigs. They're safe."

Carmine joined in on looking over the girl and then huffed out a sigh, the remaining food trays soon being plucked from the other side of the bulkhead. "I'll see if I can sneak those in for a minute. Gotta hand 'em back over afterward though. Deal?"

"Yeah, deal." Ellie nodded to the hare and waited for him to leave the room. Once things were quiet again he went over to Ashe and tugged her arm gently to wake her. "Rise and shine, beautiful. Got something to help you out coming in a minute."

"Huh?" Ashe jerked her paw back and rolled up into a fetal position, quivering and mumbling to herself. "No, no, no... Can't be here right now. Don't want to be here."

"It's alright, Ashe. We're safe for now."

"No! Don't you know?!" The wolf girl snapped, burying her head beneath her arms and contorting her body to and fro. "The sound of drips! The stale smell in the air! That salty taste!..."

"Ashe?" Ilaria awoke at the poor girl's shouting, soon to be followed by the rest of the room. "Ellie, what's going on?"

"She's been like this all night. It's always something about water."

"Water?" Ari paused to pet Robyn between the ears as she opened her eyes drowsily. "Hon, she's hydrophobic. Think of it from her perspective. She had a fit by our pool and scared the shit out of us."

"Yeah, it's dangerous for her. I get it." Ellie reached out and barely recovered Ashe's paw in another attempt to sooth her. "I just don't get why she's freaking out about it now."

"Fuck! You can't tell?!" Ashe rolled about and eventually pressed her whole body against the bars between her and Elliot. "I can't handle being underwater like this!"

"Underwater? We're not actually underwater, are we Ottah?"

"Maybe. I did notice this whole place is built like a ship." Ilaria continued petting her squirrel until she forcibly broke away to put herself over the toilet again. "Aww, poor thing. Still not feeling good?"

"Ugh... Not a clue why. Oh gods..."

Car suddenly diverted everyone's attention as he came back through the hatch with goodies balanced over an arm. "Oh, you're all up. And she's still sick. Great."

Ellie broke his grip on Ashe and went to the front of his cage to gather the new materials. "Yeah, that's the stuff. Ashe, I've got your cigarettes." He brought the charging packet to her and paused to assemble one of the tiny devices. "Think you can take a few puffs of this for me? It'll make you feel better."

"No! I just want out!"

"Sorry about this." Elliot pulled Ashe up against the bars and pressed the cigarette against her lips, his other paw blocking her from using her nose. "Just a few breaths, Ashe. Come on."

Ashe was forced to breathe her oxydium cocktail and didn't much appreciate it at the moment, her whole body flailing in defiance. Her motions eventually won out, but only after Ellie had forced a decent helping of her medicine into her lungs. "Hey! Damnit, Elliot!"

"You'll thank me in a minute." Ellie took back the cig and placed it back in its holster, his attention diverting back to the hare that retrieved it. "Let me hold onto this for a few minutes. I'd like to make sure she had enough."

"Better be certain soon. You've got a few minutes and I'm taking it back out." Carmine held out the rest of the things he'd brought until Ellie finally accepted them. "Just check those tests, will ya'? I'd rather that squirrel not die on me."

"Yeah, you're right. Let's see..." Elliot looked at the first one at random, taking a moment to interpret the very analog testing strip page when he was accustomed to accurate digital printouts. "Okay, so red is bad. Good to see none of that. Bit yellow and green across the board which is... pretty normal, apparently. Damn."

Ilaria looked up from rubbing Robyn's back. "Wait, isn't that a good thing?"

"Yes and no." Ellie picked up the last of his tests with a completely hopeless look smeared across his face. "She's checked out okay so far, yes, but I had a few guesses and they were all wrong. Without hospital equipment I might never find out what's wrong now."

Carmine banged his paw against the side of the cell door in frustration. "Fuck. I can't take her back to a hospital... but I don't want to be responsible for her dying."

"No. I won't let it come to that. We can go to the infirmary and try to treat based on new sympt...oms..."

Ilaria ceased her consoling entirely and focused on Ellie. "What's wrong now?"

"Uh... Nothing. I mean, it was sort of a shot in the dark... Intuition really..." Ellie reached for his food tray and fed it back beneath his cell door. "Here, give her part of my food."

"What? No." Car lightly kicked the plate back beneath the gate. "I'm under orders to limit what you eat. I can't do that."

"Yes you can. If you can't give her mine then just get more."

"And why would I do th--?"

Ellie pressed up against the bars and stared straight into the hare's emerald eyes. "Because she's eating for two now."

Ilaria stood up, unsure what she just heard. "Wait... What? Are you saying...?"

Elliot smiled as he leaned to the side to stare Ilaria right in the eyes, finding Robyn staring back hopefully while cleaning her mouth as well. "Robyn's pregnant. Congratulations."

Ari immediately lit up with joy, hopping in place a moment before collapsing upon her squirrel for a bombardment of kisses. "Gods, you hear that? We're having a baby!"

"I... I thought..." Robyn shifted from a state of utter confusion to a likewise ecstatic stance. "I thought we couldn't. But bloody hell, I'm glad I was wrong."

"Pillow! I'm so happy I could ~explode~!"

Iolvin reached out through the side of his cage with a huge grin. "So I really do get to be called Uncle Yoyo now. Congratulations, girls."

Adrian joined his mate in a warm hug that somehow held with it a hint of envy. "Ditto that. Good for you two."

Ashe held a paw to her forehead but sat a lot more calmly in her cage. "I'm happy for you, big sis."

"Prisma too!" The android awoke and stood up in one fluid motion, as awkward as it appeared. "Prisma will have someone to play with soon!"

As the rest of the room generally cheered up at the news, Carmine slowly walked his way out of the room. He hit something on the other side of the exit hatch and then leaned with his back against the wall. "I can't be a part of this. You guys aren't terrorists and you deserve a chance at least."

All of the cell doors suddenly unlatched and swung open, prompting Ilaria to step out of hers and stare down the hare. "Are you sure about this? Won't they hurt you or something?"

"Even generous to your captors. There's not an ounce of bad in you, is there?" Carmine held out an arm, gesturing the way out. "Just go before they find out. I'll be fine." As Robyn joined her fiance he added a little condition to his actions. "Just make sure to keep her safe. Okay?"

Ilaria led the way as everyone pushed for the bulkhead, pausing to give the hare a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks, sweetie."

Robyn stopped entirely and gave Carmine a full-fledged kiss on the muzzle. "Cheers. You're my hero, mate."