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malkumtend · 4 years

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I Like Your Laugh. (A CrowSquirrel AU Fanfic) - Chapter 6.

The last three days, for Squirrelpaw, had been… mixed to say the least.

On the one hand, they hadn’t encountered anything dangerous since the incident in the twoleg gardens. Most of the time they were just passing by farmland, crossing past sheep which she had tediously begun to count. Seventy-eight so far. Nothing bad had occurred, it had past like a morning breeze. The cats had even begun to get the hang of getting through the murkiest ditches without a problem.

Plus, she could safely say now that she considered two of the cats’ good friends. She had always gotten on well with Feathertail, the cat was just so friendly that it was impossible to not to, she was so pleasant all the time! But Crowpaw, that was something else. They rarely fought anymore, not really anyway. He was still moody occasionally, and still seemed hesitant to give any friendliness to the other three cats, but that was something Squirrelpaw suspected he would come over eventually.

For Starclan’s sake, he had admitted his past with his father and how much it upset him with her, the cat he would have gladly torn limb from limb in the beginning, there must be a time when he showed how nice he could be to the others.

Even the other cats were fine. Tawnypelt was friendly enough, though Squirrelpaw would admit the two rarely spoke that much, but when they did it was always good natured so there was no problem between the two.

Stormfur was definitely a cat she spoke to more, and while he certainly always spoke kindly, there was always something off whenever he talked to her. Like he was uncomfortable whenever he saw her, his breathing would quicken, and his fur would prickle as if disturbed. It always caught Squirrelpaw off guard and leave her wondering what exactly she had done to make the cat fly off like a startled sparrow.

She’d asked Feathertail about it once. The warrior had just grinned and told her it was nothing to worry about. Apparently, Stormfur did like her though, so Squirrelpaw just learnt to accept it as the quirks of a weird cat.

But then there was Brambleclaw. And despite being Squirrelpaw’s clanmate, the she-cat could safely say things had been awful since she had refused to sleep by him that night. It had seemed to have really insulted Brambleclaw to some degree, he now made a point to ignore Squirrelpaw whenever he could, and whenever they did speak his voice was clear with poison and distrust.

It hadn’t affected Squirrelpaw at first, but soon it began to wear on her a little. She wanted the two of them to be friends like they were before the journey, but it looked like Brambleclaw didn’t want that unless she took herself away from the friends she had made, and she wouldn’t, couldn’t, do that. So Bramblelclaw continued to treat her like an unhappy acquaintance.

And from the way he was glaring at her while she squirmed under the fence, it wasn’t looking much better.

Oh yeah, Squirrelpaw was stuck under a fence.

They’d had to go around the edge of a field where a twoleg monster roamed, chugging yellow fragments into the air with a rumbling grow. It had been easy enough, but when they’d come to a fence made of a cold, silver material that the group had been able to crawl under.

At least until the fence had decided to unwind when Squirrelpaw was halfway through, its pointed ends clawing into her skin painfully if she even dared to move a little.

“Get me out!” She squeaked. Her cheeks burned with humiliation as the other five cats stared at her. Feathertail and Crowpaw stood at one side, examining the wires closely. Stormfur and Tawnypelt were at the other side, looking over a wooden post that was embedded with the wires. Brambleclaw had just come back up, obviously wanting to get on as soon as he could, and now stared down at Squirrelpaw with a frustrated air around him.

The ginger apprentice glared back up at him, “Don’t just sit there and gawk, mouse-brain!” The wires digged into her fur again and she let out another whimper.

Brambleclaw growled, “Keep still.” He looked over the wires with Feathertail and Crowpaw, letting out a tired hiss. “It’s tight.”

“Oh really?” Crowpaw meowed with a frown, “Thanks for letting us know. I’m sure we couldn’t realise that.” Squrrelpaw saw Brambleclaw’s jaw tighten.

“Crowpaw!” Feathertail snapped before the two inevitably began arguing again, “This is not the time for that!” She continued to look over the wires hopelessly.

The Windclan apprentice remained scowling for a moment, then he looked back down at Squirrelpaw and softened. “You’re right.” He sighed, “Sorry.” He looked closer at the wires digging into Squirrelpaw’s fur. The Thunderclan apprentice felt another warm flush as Crowpaw came right next to her, he smelt like orchids and fresh rain. A strange calming sensation passed through her as she felt his fur brush against hers, before he drew back with a worried sigh.

“We won’t be able to bite through it.” He pondered, “We could bite through your fur and that could free you.”

The calm feeling faded as Squirrelpaw recoiled like she had been struck. “Don’t you dare!” Squirrelpaw snarled, “Try to bite my fur and I’ll blind you!” She would sooner spend the night under the fence than go the whole journey with furless patches all over her.

However, whatever anger Squirrelpaw had felt momentarily left her when she saw Crowpaw wince. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry. We’ll find another way.” The ginger apprentice felt a sting of guilt, she was so used to assuming that Crowpaw was still trying to upset her she hadn’t considered he was truly trying to help. She made a promise to apologise to him later.

“Are you sure we can’t bite through it?” Stormfur questioned, his ears up in worry.

Crowpaw frowned, “You want to try it? Go ahead, it’s a waste of time though.” Stormfur still tried chewing on the wires however and came back with a ruffled look of defeat. “Told you.”

“What if we dig up the post?” Brambleclaw offered, “It’s deep in but if we all work together it-” The cats all paused as they heard a sharp sound in the distance. Barking. Followed by the rustling hooves of sheep. Coming towards them.

Squirrelpaw’s stomach curled and she began to visibly struggle again, her heart racing with terror. “Get me out of here! Quickly!” The wires raked across her like foxes’ teeth, but she couldn’t stop moving, she was too terrified.

Brambleclaw growled again, but his eyes were also wide with panic. “Stop moving and we can think of something!” He ordered, pacing back and forth.

“What do we do?” Stormfur exclaimed, ears twitching as the barking of the dog began to slowly grow louder.

Squirrelpaw continued to struggle, her paws desperately clawing the dirt in any vague hopes of escape, her breaths subsided into constant horrified gasps. “Hurry!” She yowled.

“Shush!” Brambleclaw roared at the cat, “If you keep struggling, you’ll just make it harder for us to help!” His gaze roared like a forest fire. Squirrelpaw couldn’t help but let a few tears prick the corners of her eyes, the terror and helplessness of her situation as well as Brambleclaw’s ferocity and blaming were becoming too much for the poor cat.

Once again, it was her who was causing trouble. Her who couldn’t help but get stuck, halt the journey, and now put them all at risk of a dog. She cursed the fence. She cursed herself.

Then a black paw sprang in front of her, an equally furious face sizing up the Thunderclan warrior. Everyone turned to look when Crowpaw hissed at Brambleclaw, his ears folded back, his pelt bristling with savage outrage. Squirrelpaw could swear that even when Crowpaw had been arguing with her, every minute in the beginning, she had never seen Crowpaw look so angry.

“Leave her alone!” He snarled, inches from Brambleclaw’s face. He stretched his entire body to face the warrior properly, practically balancing himself on his tail. “She’s scared enough as it is! She doesn’t need your fox-brained chatter!”

Squirrelpaw felt like interjecting at the comment that she was scared, but she was too taken aback by Crowpaw’s actions. Once again, he was defending her.

Brambleclaw looked surprised, then furious. He tensed so much that the muscles in his neck began to throb as he let out a low growl. He pushed his nose against the apprentice in a challenge. “It’s not my fault she’s stuck, is it?! I’m just trying to get her out of there as quickly as possible! And we can’t do that if she’s writhing around like a fish out of water!”

“If you care so much,” Crowpaw snarled, pushing back, his eyes as wild as a storm, “Stop insulting her and get to actually helping your clanmate, mouse-brain!”

“That’s what I want to do! But I can’t because some half-grown apprentice is growling at me!”

Squirrelpaw’s panic subsided to anger as she heard that obscenely unfair comment. Not to mention that she was smaller than Crowpaw, so that was an indirect insult to her as well as far as she was concerned.

“Yeah, because screaming at already distressed cats really makes for good help.” Crowpaw yowled bitterly, his claws unsheathed.

Brambleclaw didn’t look ready for any kind of fight, right now, as his ears pricked at the barking of the dog, but he still wasn’t going to let up. “By the way I see it, you’re the one wanting to start a fight. As usual.” He finished, leering.

Now Squirrelpaw was feeling genuinely furious at how unfair Brambleclaw’s comments were. The cat just seemed determined to try and make her feel small, and now he was taking it out on cats who tried to defend her. Crowpaw hadn’t tried to start anything for days, any cat in the group would stand by that, this was the first time he had stepped up to anyone since the start. And the only reason he was doing it was…for her.

Any thoughts going through her mind misted away when Feathertail and Tawnypelt crouched beside her. “Would you two stop that?” Tawnypelt snapped, glaring at the two. “Toms.” She grumbled.

“Tell me about it?” Feathertail snickered. Squirrelpaw noticed a few dock leaves at her paws, Feathertail took one into her mouth and began chewing it before spitting its green fluid onto her paws. “But please Squirrelpaw, try not to move okay?” The she-cat said gently.

Despite the quivering of her heart, Squirrelpaw obeyed, mustering deep breaths in an effort to calm herself. Feathertail quickly rubbed the chewed-up leaves around the fence strands that clipped onto Squirrelpaw’s fur, the wetness made Squirrelpaw shiver a little, but she kept calm. Better this than the dog.

She waited until Feathertail had smoothly rubbed it into her fur. “Okay,” Tawnypelt mused, “Now try to pull yourself out.”

Squirrelpaw tried frantically, her claws digging and scrambling to get away from the danger, but the wire was tight and painful, scratching her the more she tried. The apprentice whimpered, her eyes brimming as she looked to the mollies pleadingly. “I can’t! It’s too tight!”

“Breathe in. It’s working.” Tawnypelt exclaimed, “Just a little more.”

Squirrelpaw shook her head, her mind had gone blank and no matter how hard she tried, her muscles wouldn’t go against her nerves. A nameless pressure clenched in her throat, constricting her breath and movement, every muscle stiff with fright; her eyes closed as the impending horror grew closer and closer, closing out the directions of her friends. “I-I can’t do it!”

“Yes, you can.” Even through the hungry darkness, his voice was unmissable. As small and bright as a star. A gentle breeze carrying her across the hills. Squirrelpaw felt her eyes open, and his face was there. His lips were tightly held together, but the only thing the she-cat could focus on was the assurance in his gaze. “Try again, just another push.” He said, comfortingly sure of himself. Everything just seemed natural when he said it.

Always so confident.

Now so warm.

“Hurry!” Brambleclaw yowled, his voice clear with tension.

Squirrelpaw almost didn’t hear him. Crowpaw braced himself to flee, but the paw he let fall on her shoulder made it clear that he wouldn’t leave her until she was free. Feathertail did the same on her other shoulder. She wasn’t alone. The fear loosened its talons from Squirrelpaw’s pelt, a sudden urge, a belief, rising all over the ginger cat. Squirrelpaw relaxed, shifting all of her strength into her paws. Her hind legs kicked and her front paws pulled with a burst of desire, she ignored the sting of the wire against her back and writhed with the passion to live.

Even as she felt her fur pull from her skin, she continued to push, and within a sudden moment, she saw herself beside her friends. Running. Free. The barking lingered away with every leap, fading away as if it had never existed.

The cats stopped once they had reached the next field, panting and laughing between themselves. Squirrelpaw looked over her hide and sighed with relief. The fence hadn’t taken a large amount of her fur at least. Thank Starclan she was so fluffy! She let out a puff towards the sky. “That was close.”

“Too close.” Stormfur agreed, smoothing down his bristled fur. “Are you okay?”

Squirrelpaw licked around the rustled patch on her back, “I’ll be fine, it’s just a few lost hairs. They’ll grow back.” She began to clean away the dock smudged around her fur. “Yuck!” She cringed at the bitter taste.

“Here let me help you.” Feathertail offered, she smoothed her tongue on the areas that Squirrelpaw couldn’t reach.

The Thunderclan cat smiled thankfully, “Thanks.” She looked appreciatively towards Tawnypelt, blinking slowly. “Thank you both, so much! That was an amazing plan!” The Shadowclan warrior said nothing but she returned the apprentice’s smile, nodding to the cat.

“You’re welcome.”

Feathertail spat away a wad of dock, “There’s no need to thank us, Squirrelpaw. We know you’d have done the same for us.” Tawnypelt nodded gain at the Riverclan warrior’s words and Squirrelpaw felt another touched warmth fill her chest. They really trusted her that much. Even when she had been shaking that much under the fence, scared out of her wits, they still believed she would remain brave for them if they were in that position.

And of course, she would. They were her friends after all. But it didn’t stop Squirrelpaw from embracing the fact that these warriors that she respected so much thought so well of an apprentice – not to mention, an apprentice from another clan.

But in a pattern that was becoming frustratingly regular, any pride she had was shut down when she heard his contemptuous voice.

“As if she could have even thought of it.”

Every cat froze at that. All looked towards the warrior, looking away dismissively while licking his paw. Even Stormfur and Tawnypelt, cats that normally got on well with the warrior, looked shocked at the deliberate cruelty in his words.

“What do you mean by that?” Stormfur demanded, the normally calm warrior tensing with an angry glare.

Brambleclaw shrugged, snorting. “What? She didn’t help herself, after all, shaking like a leaf.” He darted a small glare in his clanmate’s direction.

Squirrelpaw didn’t flinch. Her eyes were wide, but there was no kind of fear anymore. Instead a dark pulse was vibrating through her little body, making her pupils shrink when she saw the warrior look away from her with a sniff. Her ears flattened against her skull and her tail thumped wildly.

Tawnypelt glowered at her brother, “And you helped? Shouting and clawing?!”

The brown warrior may have winced, but it was masked behind a snarl. “Again, I tried to! But she wasn’t listening to me!”

“Because she was frightened you fox-heart!” Everyone couldn’t help but flinch when it was Feathertail’s angry hiss. Stormfur visibly jolted back in open terror. The gentle she-cat’s fur was on edge and her muzzle was creased in fury. “Why are you being so unfair? It was a dog! Any one of us would be terrified, and we all were!”

Brambleclaw paused, stunned at the tone of the Riverclan cat. His tail swung wearily for a moment, then he returned with a brisk cough and a frown. “It’s not a question of how brave she is.”

“Then what is it?”

A low growl rumbled in Brambleclaw, “We would have gotten away sooner if she had just listened and kept calm! That didn’t need to be as close as it was!”

“Does it matter? She got out didn’t she!” Stormfur yowled.

Brambleclaw scoffed, “Yeah, after making it as difficult as she could.”

Squirrelpaw bristled with disgust. So, once again he was blaming her. Once more, she was the one that Brambleclaw chose to blame for another one of the group’s problems.

She’d never realised how stupid he sounded before now.

He said he was trying to help her.

How?

By insulting her whenever he had the chance?

By trying to make out she was the problem that cursed the group?

By doing whatever he could to make her feel small and keep her under his paws like a piece of prey?

He said he was her clanmate. Squirrelpaw was less proud of that every time he opened his mouth, and it was all down to him!

Squirrelpaw cursed all the times she had gotten upset over the tom, all the times she had actually believed his words! What a waste of time! Throughout the journey, there had only been one thing that was wrong with her. And it certainly wasn’t her fault!

Squirrelpaw burned with anger, her claws twisted into the dirt and her tail rose tensely. That was it! No more losing sleep over what this bee-brain thought of her! If he thought that she would just take his stupidity any longer he was as crazy as a hare!

He wanted to cause fights; she was going to finish them!

“Oh, pardon me!” Squirrelpaw exclaimed with a mocking respect. “Where are my manners? I forgot just how much you tried to help, Brambleclaw. Your idea of telling me to be quiet and keep still really helped, that would have been certain to get me away from the dog.”

Brambleclaw’s jaw dropped at the sudden shift in the cat’s tone. His stare became fiery. “I was trying to keep you calm.”

“Oh yes, yelling at the top of your lungs really has that effect.”

Brambleclaw sneered, “Okay, what did you do? Writhe and whimper like a kittypet.”

“To reiterate,” Squirrelpaw snapped, cocking her head to the side, “I was trapped under a fence! If you think you’d be any different, why don’t you go show that dog how strong you are? You can move after all!”

Brambleclaw winced at the barking that echoed from the previous field. He frowned at Tawnypelt when he heard her snicker. Squirrelpaw smirked, he was embarrassed, and he knew everyone could tell he was.

“Stop talking such fox-dung!” Brambleclaw snarled, “You’re the one who got stuck, not me, that’s your own fault.” That was a cheap insult, and Squirrelpaw didn’t care a mouse-tail about it. Yeah, she’d gotten stuck, but she wasn’t the one who’d made the situation so much worse for herself.

“And you’re the cat who’s saying it’s foolish to be scared of a dog. That’s your fault.”

When she said that, Brambleclaw seemed to realise how badly he’d cornered himself. His tail lashed from side to side, his mouth twisted back in a grimace. “That wasn’t what I… I meant that…” He tried to find a solution but the coldness in his gaze made it clear that he had dug a hole that was threatening to swallow him up, and he had no way out of it.

“You meant what?” Squirrelpaw pressed.

“I-” Brambleclaw paused, then he looked to the side again with a heavy groan. “Oh, whatever! I don’t need to explain myself to you! You’re an apprentice!” He snapped, giving her a poisonous glance before he turned from her again.

Squirrelpaw practically smelt that coming. It was his only defence, no matter how ridiculous it was. She saw the cats around her draw back in either astonishment or disgust. They were on her side. That was all she needed to know.

“Yes, I am. And I’ve still spoken more sense than you’ve ever done!”

Brambleclaw recoiled, his eyes blazing with an unspeakable, offended ire. His jaws unclenched letting out a vicious hiss that slithered from the back of his throat, spit fizzing furiously as he did so. “Listen here you little- I am a Warrior and-”

“And I’ll treat you like one when you start acting like one!” Squirrelpaw delivered, unscathed, unbreakable. Her lips pouted and she let out a disgusted groan. “Wipe your mouth, would you? You’re drooling worse than that dog.”

A mrrow of laughter filled the air. High, throaty and passionate. Every cat paused, recognised the voice, paused again, took a moment to process the idea, the dared to look as Crowpaw chortled, his head rocked back as he erupted towards the sky. Now, every cat was astonished.

Crowpaw…knew how to laugh?!

It was a terrifying, miraculous thought!

But there he was, black fur and all, howling with laughter, doubled over in hysterics, as if he had seen the most hilarious thing in the forest.

Squirrelpaw looked on, dumbfounded. There were a lot of things she never expected Crowpaw to do.

Praising her had been a shock.

Smiling had been a miracle.

Laughing..?

Squirrelpaw was ready to see dogs start raining from the sky.

It sounded so strange, so happy. So real. The tom seemed to calm down, a cool smile gracing his lips as he wiped his eyes with the tip of his tail.

Brambleclaw was now visibly shaking, his whiskers twitching as his eyes tried to burn holes into Crowpaw’s fur. “What are you laughing at?”

Crowpaw let out a blissful sigh, looking mildly at the Warrior. “Not what. Who. And you’re still drooling, by the way.”

Brambleclaw’s eyes widened and he wiped a paw across his mouth, turning away from the pair shamefully. The rest of the group couldn’t help but let out a hushed laughter, after hearing Crowpaw laugh, none were quite ready to accept the sound was actually real.

The brown Warrior turned back after cleaning his face and looked ready to disappear. “C-Come on! We’ve wasted enough time already!” Squirrelpaw groaned, he was trying to be leader again.

She felt a gentle press against her pelt, she looked to see Feathertail shaking her head with a smile. “Don’t worry about him, you’ve embarrassed him enough.” She chuckled.

Squirrelpaw snickered, her tail rising. “If he wants to be humiliated again, he’s welcome to speak.” She was never going to let him have the final word again. She’d shown him that. If he was smart, he’d keep his distance for a while.

“If he does that, he’s more stupid than any of us thought!” Crowpaw walked beside Feathertail, his head cocked up with delight that the Warrior had been given a taste of his own herbs. His eyes found Squirrelpaw and he nodded at her, almost proudly. “Good job giving that mange-pelt what he deserves.”

Squirrelpaw grinned back at the tom, “Thanks.” She suddenly remembered, “Oh, and thanks you two, for sticking by me under the fence.” Her voice softened with respect.

“Oh, Squirrelpaw. I already said there was no need to thank me!” Feathertail declared, her tail smoothing over Squirrelpaw’s pelt. “You’re our friend, we would never leave you.”

“We wouldn’t leave you regardless.” Crowpaw said, his tone snappy but sincere, “We’re in this together. Even if it was that bee-brained warrior, we wouldn’t leave him behind.” Crowpaw’s tail lashed towards the still fuming Brambleclaw.

“Exactly, we’re here until we make it there.” Feathertail looked up, bringing Squirrelpaw and Crowpaw’s gazes with her. The Sun-Down place blinked over the horizon, glistening and beckoning the group on their journey. The journey they shared. Until the very end.

Squirrelpaw was glad she was among friends.

“Well, we’ll get there soon enough.” Crowpaw stated, as confident as ever.

Feathertail smirked as she looked over to Crowpaw, “Honestly after hearing you laugh, I will never doubt anything ever again.”

Crowpaw eyes went wide, then he looked away in mild embarrassment. “I’m a cat, you know, I can do whatever you two can.”

The two sniggered at his attempts to hide away his action, but Squirrelpaw would never forget it. She was sure of that much. She mused for a second. A cordial charge made her smile at the tom.

“I like your laugh.”

Crowpaw didn’t say anything, he blinked, looking ahead as if he hadn’t heard her. His gaze faltered, travelling from side to side before resting on the ginger cat, trying his hardest not to be ruffled. “Well, I hope you’ve got a good memory, Squirrelbrain. I won’t be doing it again any time soon.”

Squirrelpaw craned her head towards him playfully, “Is that a challenge?”

Crowpaw’s eyes widened incredulously, then he sighed with a small laugh. “You’re crazier than a fox in a fit.”

Feathertail nudged Squirrelpaw, beaming. “I’d take that as a yes.” She whispered playfully.

Squirrelpaw’s eyes narrowed and she leaned towards Crowpaw, “Even if it isn’t, I’ll get it out of him, wait and see.” The black tom rolled his eyes, but the corners of his mouth were up and that edged Squirrelpaw on.

Because in a place she couldn’t display to anyone, she did cherish the sound of Crowpaw’s laugh. Another impossible act she had gotten him to achieve.

She would get him to laugh again.

Her heart couldn’t wait to hear it again.

#crowpaw #crowfeather #squirrelflight #squirrelpaw #crowsquirrel #squirrelcrow #Warrior Cats #Warriors #New Prophecy #fanfiction #warrior au #warriors au #brambleclaw #Stormfur #tawnypelt #Feathertail

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pastellkiller-rp · 6 years

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This was never supposed to be this long @ask-irlghana

“Go ahead, toss her in the empty one.”

The area was loud, full of the hustle and bustle of carnival workers all going about their preparations. A tight rope walker stood on a rope high in the air, between poles that didn’t have a tent roof over top of it to protect the performer from wind. A lion tamer snapped a whip at a trio of large cats, backing them into a cage. A strongman lifted bearded ladies. A freak sat in a cage.

“Don’t get scared by her! She’s harmless, grab her.”

The freak looked up, eyes lidded in uncaring boredom. There wasn’t much to do in his cage, so he might as well see what the commotion was about.

“Get off of me!” A young girl screamed, thrashing at the two men that held her off the ground, her arms held tightly to prevent her from escaping. “I said get off!”

Her shriek was cut off as she was tossed onto the hard ground of an empty cage, her breath coming out in a ‘puff’ as the wind was knocked out of her. She had only managed to push herself onto her elbows when the door to the cage slammed shut and one of the men clicked a sturdy padlock onto the bars. They didn’t spare her a glance, turning and walking away.

“Get back over here! Let me out! Let me the fuck out!” She scrambled to the bars and gripped them tightly, shaking them with all her might.

Oliver sneered and looked away, focusing again on the uninteresting floor of his cage.

“Get me out of here! I swear to god, let me OUT!”

Oliver closed his eyes and leaned back, letting his bare back rest against the cold bars that made up the walls of his cage.

“Let me out! Listen to me! Open this goddamn cage right now!”

He tilted his head and felt the familiar clang of his horns connecting with the metal bars. He rested there, his eyes closed and breathing steady.

“Shut her up, will you?”

“Let me out! I’ll shut up when you grow a pair of balls! Fucking cowards! Fucking—“

Oliver heard a sharp crack and a shriek.

“What the FUCK are y—“

Another crack. Another shriek.

“STOP! You mother—“ And another.

After a few minutes of this, the yelling stopped. It was replaced by pained panting, a laugh, and then the heavy footsteps of a carnival worker walking away. There was a few lovely minutes of silence, aside from everything that was expected of a carnival crew. So, a lot of noise, but no screaming that grated on Oliver’s ears. He had a few minutes to just breathe.

“Who’re you?”

And it was ruined. Oliver’s brow furrowed, a wrinkle in place, but he didn’t open his eyes.

“I know you heard me.” The voice was pained, hoarse from the earlier screaming. Soft. Oliver didn’t move.

“Fine. Be that way. Sue me for trying to be fucking nice.” The girl spat.

A moment of quiet.

“I’m a lycanthrope.” She said softly. “Been hiding for years, but I got the hang of hats and all that. Ways to hide in plain sight, yknow? Ways to be able to go to markets and not get screamed at. It’s a lot harder to forage for food than you’d think, markets are so much easier.” Did she ever shut up? She spoke slowly, as if just talking to herself, but she didn’t bother to keep it in her head.

“Guess I wasn’t all that careful. Some moron bumped into me a few days ago and knocked my hat off. I got it back real quick and no one had a chance to see. Or—I thought no one did.” Her voice grew chilly. “Guess they were watching me after that. I was on my way back home, I was grabbing stuff for tonights dinner— and bam! Sack over my head. Those jerks dragged me here.”

He heard a shifting beside him, and a sharp hiss. “Fuckers got me good. Who the hell uses whips? Like, seriously. Do these circus things actual use them? For like…tigers and stuff?” She scoffed. “I’m not a tiger. No need to fucking do all that.”

Finally, she fell silent. Oliver breathed, enjoying the slow rise and fall of his chest. It was calming, and it gave him something to lazily focus on. There wasn’t much to focus on here.

“I’m a satyr.” His voice broken on the very first syllable, but settled down after that. He didn’t use it much. He spoke low, without much emotion to his voice.

“Oh?” The girl said, seeming surprised by his choice to speak. “Neat.”

Oliver felt the prickle of his skin that meant he was being stared at. He felt it enough to know what it meant. He didn’t bother to object, just sat with his eyes still closed.

“So…how long have you been here?”

“Five years.”

The girl choked. “F-five YEARS?”

Oliver stayed quiet, seeing no need to speak. She clearly heard him.

“Holy fuck. Well, nice to meet you. I’m Abigail.”

Oliver had to think for a moment, digging into his mind to figure out what his name used to be. “Oliver.” He heard a familiar foot stomping, and let out a breath.

“Freaks! Up, we’re training.”

He opened his eyes, pushing himself to his feet without any argument other than a hateful flash in his eyes. The girl in the other cage didn’t seem to understand the rules within the carnival. She stayed still, curled up on the floor of her cage.

“Fuck off. I’m not training, whatever that means.”

Oliver walked to the door of his cage, standing without any care. His hands hung at his sides, his shoulders slouched slightly. Despite his uncaring posture, his chest was tight with pure hatred.

“Get the whip, boys. Get her out, I’ll work on the other one.” The man speaking walked over to Oliver’s cage and pulled out a key, unlocking the padlock. Oliver stayed still until the door opened and he was given the okay to step out. He stopped once he was outside and he waited for the cage to be closed behind him.

“This way, freakshow.” The man said, voice acidic and perversely pleased. Oliver followed behind him as he was led to the big top, through the barriers that separated the future audience from the performers. For now, the stands were empty. He walked to an empty area and turned, facing the man who had led him out of the cage.

He crouched down, bending his goat legs and twisting his face into a snarl. The man grinned, snapping the whip by his side threateningly. Oliver growled. The whip cracked.

He jumped out of the way, letting his legs stretch out and work as they should. He all but launched five feet away, then crouched again.

“Jump!” The man shouted, cracking the whip again. Oliver dodged, jumping to the left. The man barked a hostile laugh and lashed his weapon out again, his arm aiming towards the left. Oliver dodged to the left.

“Go on, freak! Jump!”

Oliver glared hatefully, lip curling in a snarl. The man lashed out the whip, his arm aimed to the left. Oliver jumped to the right.

A split second before his hooved feet hit the ground, he realized his mistake. The man’s wrist was turned, the whip wasn’t actually heading to the left. The end of the whip hit him in the chest and he was knocked back, his feet slipping out from under him. He twisted in midair and stuck out a leg. He landed with one leg bent under him, the other stretched out to provide balance.

The adrenaline already fading, he felt the warmth of blood dripping down his bare chest. Heat spread across his chest from the torn skin.

“Ha! Jump, freak! Jump!” The man howled in laughter.

Another lash, and Oliver dodged.

Another, and Oliver jumped.

Another, and Oliver was too slow. He jumped too late, and the end of the whip licked at his face. He hissed in pain, his flinch lasting a bit longer than expected when one eye struggled to open.

“Getting rusty, freak?”

Oliver glared, one eye already narrowed without any attempt on his part. The whip went low, and he sprung up, feeling the wind caused by the whip whizzing past his hooves. The whip went high, and he dropped, rolling to avoid the next one that slammed down on the dirt.

“Don’t fucking touch me!” He heard, the sudden noise causing him to turn his head. The girl was being dragged to the ring, a rope around her neck.

A crack echoed through the tent and Oliver felt a burning pain bloom in the side of his head, his ear burning immediately after. He stumbled away, a hand shooting up to the side of his head. Sticky blood met his fingers. He resumed his dodging.

“No! I’m not going to play any of your stupid games!”

Oliver fractioned his attention, allowing a small part of him to focus on the girl and her first training session. The whip cracked. He dodged.

“You want me to WHAT? No! Fuck no! I’m not some kind of animal!”

Laughter rang in his ears. He rolled to avoid a near attack.

“Get the fuck OFF OF ME!”

He heard a short struggle, followed by a sharp ‘oof!’. He sent a small glance to the other training session. The girl was pinned on her stomach, her tailed rump in the air. One of the men training her had his foot between her shoulder blades, keeping her down. He looked back at his own trainer, dodging a narrow miss.

“I’ve got more humanity than all you put together! Suck my DICK!”

A sound of a shoe connecting with skin, followed by a gasp. What an idiot. Oliver got whipped again, this time while he was trying to drop and roll. It slashed at his right side, tearing into his skin.

“Ha!” He heard one of the girl’s trainers laugh. “She took the words out of my mouth. Alfred?” A Russian voice said.

Oliver felt a familiar pain tingle in his gut, a memory of a not so distant past. The girl yowled and the men laughed. He heard a thump and glanced over. The man had removed his foot on her back, and instead slammed it down on her rear, forcing her flat on the ground.

“We will break her in, if she causing trouble. She’s a fiery one, we take turns if need be.”

The girl was quiet for a moment, then gasped in horror as she realized what was about to happen. What an absolute fool. She shouldn’t have fought back. Oliver jumped to the side as his trainer tried to whip him again.

“N-no! Stay away from me, you fucks! Pieces of shit! H-hey! Get your hands off of me! Stop—Get off! Don’t—Put that AWAY! Keep that away from me! I will bite you! I swear to god I will rip that CLEAN OFF!”

Oliver jumped in the air, hissing as the whip caught his right hoof. He fell to the ground with a thud, pain shooting up his leg.

“You’ll bite me, will you?” One man growled. There was a sound of shifting and the girl shrieked, enraged. “No! Keep that AWAY! Don’t touch me! H-hey, stop—Those are MY PANTS! HEY! Fuck off! Get off—“

Oliver jumped to his hooves as his trainer moved to whip, but the man hesitated, looking over at the new girl and her trainers. Oliver felt a deep dread in his gut, but he did what he knew he shouldn’t. He ignored the warning lights in his head, obeying the other part of his brain. He bolted.

He didn’t run away, though. He bolted to the new girl. He all but launched towards her, his legs shooting out to let him jump high. He landed right on top of her, very narrowly avoiding the collision his hooves would have make to her back. The men seemed surprised, one of the two of them stepping back. Oliver faced the one behind the girl, and he lowered himself to a low crouch, ducking his head.

“The fuck are you trying to do?” The man snapped. His hands were on the girl’s hips, her pants half yanked to her knees. The girl’s front was on the ground again, her rump raised, held up by the man’s strong hands.

Oliver moved forward, staring up in determination at the man, but keeping his head lowered. He moved forward, hands reaching out and resting on the man’s pelvis. “Please.” Was all he said. The man seemed shocked, but as soon as Oliver shifted a bit closer and licked his lips, the man recovered. He grinned maliciously, his attention finally moving completely away from the half wolf girl. His hands moved away from her hips, instead moving to tangle in Oliver’s hair and grip his horns. The satyr moved closer, just enough to maneuver the man a few feet away from the trembling girl, and he nimbly unhooked the button on the man’s pants. He couldn’t remember the names of the carnival employees very well, but he remembered this one. He had been there since the very beginning. Ivan. He used to have a strong accent, but he had lost it just a bit after the years of working with the multitude of other accented people.

Oliver freed the man’s erection and wasted no time in licking his tongue up the impressive length. He moved to rest on his knees, swaying his hips slightly. Just enough to get noticed. He ran his tongue up and down Ivan’s cock, making a small whimper of faux desire. As he got to the tip, the only warning he got was a tightened grip on his hair before his head was yanked forward, forcing the man’s cock down his throat. He choked, tears welling in his eyes, but he didn’t pull away. Not like he was able to in the first place.

He felt hands on his hips, and he swayed his hips a bit more in expectation. The other man was interested too, and the girl was left shaking on the ground, but ultimately hadn’t been harmed. This one was Alfred. He ran his tongue along the base of Ivan’s cock, then pulled away for a moment. He made a slurping noise and took the man into his mouth again, eliciting a moan. He was used to this punishment, he had went through it countless times when he had first been brought to the circus. Now, he learned how to use it to his advantage. The girl hadn’t been hurt this way. Not yet, at least. That was all he could do.

He felt the other man’s cock tease his hole and he pushed his hips back, wiggling his rump. Alfred slammed into him, bringing out a pained gasp from the satyrs mouth. Since his lower body wasn’t fully human, he never wore pants. That made the build up to that experience much quicker. A shiver went up his spine as the man started moving, the pain almost unbearable. Almost. He slurped and licked at Ivan’s cock, his eyes fluttering closed. He groaned when Alfred’s movements became slightly less painful, a heat pooling in his gut. Ivan moaned at the vibrations that caused in Oliver’s mouth.

The satyrs leaned back, pushing his hips against Alfred’s so that he could take Ivan out of his mouth. He gasped for air, blinking back the tears that the assault to the back of his throat had caused. He quickly moved forward and licked, lapping at the precum without any humiliation showing on his face. He took the tip of Ivan’s dick in his mouth.

“I didn’t say you could slow down.” The man growled, slammed his hips forward. Oliver gagged as he felt the man’s erection push against the back of his throat, and he tilted his chin up so that it didn’t hurt as much. Alfred thrusted into him and caused him to moan, his own arousal making itself obvious. He gasped around Ivan’s cock, trying to push back against Alfred to get the pleasurable waves of arousal that mingled with pain.

He placed his hands on Ivan’s thighs to support himself, letting his tongue lick and push against Ivan’s shaft. He sucked and mewled in pleasure, giving no sign of a fight. He allowed Ivan to thrust deeper into his mouth, the tip of his cock sliding into his throat.

Alfred rocked his hips forward, hitting a brilliant spot deep inside of Oliver. The satyr let out a loud moan, high pitched and breathy. He felt Ivan tense up under his hands, the man gasping from above him. He braced himself and gave a few more suckling licks, taking one last gasping breath before he felt hot, salty liquid spill down his throat. Ivan groaned, holding Oliver still until he finished. Finally, he pulled out of the satyr’s mouth.

Oliver gasped for breath, sticky cum dripping off his tongue in ropes as he let himself drop, landing on his forearms. He had done that so he could rest and catch his breathe, but he realized too late that it just gave Alfred a better angle. The next thrust from the American tore a loud, pleading moan from Oliver’s throat. He let his tongue loll out, fingers curling in the dirt as his prostate was hit with each thrust. He mewled, gasping for breath after each wave of pure pleasure.

“P-please—“ He managed, his voice high pitched. “Please—“

“Please what?” He heard Alfred purr, his voice husky. He slowed his movements, causing Oliver to nearly sob in desperation. He whimpered, lowering his head and feeling heat bloom on his cheeks.

“P-please—Don’t s-stop /please/!” He begged, scratching at the dirt.

He heard Alfred laugh, but he had no time to feel embarrassed or angry before he was slammed into, pleasure shooting up through his back and through every fiber of his body. His cock twitched as he begged incoherently, his voice muffled with each moan.

“Pleaseplease dont s-stop! AahH p-pl—mm—AahmmPH!” One last hit to his prostate sent him over the edge. He cried out, his eyes shut tightly as he came.

Alfred didn’t. He continued thrusting, making Oliver gasp and whimper and writhe underneath him. He couldn’t focus on anything else, he couldn’t—

Finally, Alfred came with a groan, filling Oliver up and leaving him with a full belly and breathless gasps. He heard Ivan get himself cleaned up, and Alfred did the same. He didn’t react when he felt a pat (or more accurately, a hard thump) on his head. “Good job, freak. Bit possessive, aren’t you? Feeling threatened by that little girl?” He heard Alfred say, his voice condescending.

Oliver nodded fervently. “Y-yes, please I—Please choose me, please—“ He broke off as he heard a laugh.

“Sure, whatever. As long as you’re good enough.”

Oliver stayed still, his front half on the ground and his back half trembling from the energy he had to put to keep it from collapsing on the ground. He took a breath and licked his lips, slowly pushing himself up. He jerked slightly as he heard a voice. Soft, gentle, perverse. His trainer’s voice. Whimpering too, not from his trainer. From—

He tensed and spun around, eyes wide. No—He shot forward, but his legs gave out before he could make more than two steps. Stupid legs! He got up and tried again, his blood chilling. He got close to the girl and jumped, kicking out his legs. The man flush on top of her, whispering in her ear, pushing their bodies together, yelped as he was kicked hard in the back of the head. Oliver kicked him again, forcing him off of the girl, and made a low, threatening growl. He dropped to the ground and wrapped himself around the girl, who was sobbing quietly in the dirt. He messed up, he forgot about his trainer, he had tried to help, to stop them, she was just a girl, she—

He heard a flurry of swear words and the familiar sound of the whip getting picked up and snapped. He bared his teeth in a snarl, curling tighter around the girl. He should have paid more attention, he only got rid of two men, he hadn’t thought his trainer would have—He should have realized he couldn’t BELIEVE he didn’t realize! He hadn’t wanted her to get hurt like he did, he tried not to care but he DID and now he messed up— She got hurt! He tensed as he felt the whip lash against his body, but he refused to move away. How dare that trainer how DARE HE!

Right after the next whip crack, Oliver uncurled from around her and turned to the trainer. He wasted no time in launching himself forward, knocking the man off his feet. They both fell with a thud and Oliver, on the man’s chest, clawed at his face with his long, chipped nails. The man howled in pain, trying to force Oliver off.

That man would pay.

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