Chapter 11: Spoken Tongue

The next several days were relatively uneventful in the lizardian camp. The guards that had been lucky enough to remain unscathed or at least alive after the previous events had returned to their normal patrols. Acts had slowly regained the function of his limbs, with the aid of the good doctor by his side. Nadia was left with the less than gentle lizardian nurses, for whom bedside manners were an elective practice. Nadia had hated lying still, and occasionally got caught by one of the nurses trying to sneak off into the wider camp, but the most punishment he got was a short and grammatically questionable lecture about the importance of staying stationary when told to.

The parts of Nadia’s fur that had been burned came off with the poultice with surprising ease. There was no pain, the fur had simply given way. The itching was the worst part; a day or two after the burnt patches were taken off and the skin had healed, the new fur had to grow in. He felt like it was the shedding season all squeezed into two days. 

After he was permitted by the nurses to finally travel out of his tent by himself, Nadia found himself lingering around the medical tent where Acts had been treated. The frog wasn’t there anymore; Nadia had heard that he’d been allowed to rest in his own tent for the last few days of his recovery, a fact which Nadia openly envied. The lack of the chieftain inside the tent did raise the question as to why there were still two armed guards at the mouth of the closed tent, though. As he approached, they gave him a stern look. He tried smiling at them, but they only scowled in return. 

“I’m, uh… here to see the doctor.” He said softly, motioning to his unevenly shaven leg as evidence. One of the two guards looked him up and down for what seemed like an unnecessarily long time before waving him through. “Thanks, I guess.” Nadia muttered as he pushed through the flap of the tent. 

“Ah, rabbit!” Sam called from the other side of the tent. “I see you’re feeling better. Either that or you’ve escaped those lizardian nurses again.” He said with a toothy grin. Nadia grinned back. The tent had become a bit of a respite for Nadia over the last few days. Each night he’d find some way to escape the surprisingly strong clutches of the lizardian nurses, he’d eventually find himself sneaking into the good doctor’s tent for a drink of suspiciously strong coffee. They’d talk quietly over candle light, muttering ideas to one another while they watched their wolf patient struggle to sleep. 

Nadia looked over at the wolf. Yep, same as ever; sat on the edge of his bedroll, empty food plate at arm’s reach, cup of water just next to it. The wolf himself was watching. He was often staring at this or that, or perking his ears up at some unheard sound. Neither Nadia nor Sam had been able to convince him to try speaking since the first day, so they’d eventually stopped trying. 

“How’s our furry friend?” The rabbit asked, casually taking a hot mug from the doctor’s offering paw. 

“Ah, same as ever.” Sam responded. He took a sip of his drink and sighed. Nadia turned his head. “What’s wrong now?” 

“It’s just… you know, you spend so long figuring out how stuff works, and then you find something that just…” he motioned casually towards the wolf, who stared back at them. Sam shrugged. “As soon as we brought him back, the salamander attacks stopped.” 

Nadia rolled his eyes. “Still not convinced it was them?” Sam shot him a Look. 

“I’ll treat whoever or whatever I’m paid to, that’s my job. I’m no chieftain.”

“No,” Nadia pointed out, stretching his legs comfortably for the first time in days. “But that doesn’t mean you have to agree with Acts. Increasing patrols is all well and good, but announcing a war…”

“I’m sure Acts knows what they’re doing.” Sam snapped. Nadia raised his eyebrows and sipped his drink. 

“This is a bit strong today.” He muttered. Sam didn’t respond. “You know,” Nadia slid slowly down onto a spare grass bale. “It’s not too late to take me up on that offer.” 

Sam looked down at him with a smile. “Yeah? You wanna talk to woofers over there?” He motioned with his mug towards the wolf, who looked from Sam to Nadia. 

Nadia shrugged casually and took another sip of his drink. You’re damn right I do. He thought to himself. “Hm. This, uh… this coffee tastes a bit off. Are you sure those beans were fresh?” 

Sam ignored him, and paced towards the middle of the tent. “You wanna talk to the wolf who don’t wanna talk to you? Be my guest, but don’t come crying to me when he rips your arm off or something.” 

Nadia coughed mid-sip and barely managed to dodge his own hot drink. “Sam! He’s not going to tear my arm off, look at him. He doesn’t even speak, he barely eats anything…” 

Sam shrugged, finished his mug and tossed it onto the bedroll he’d been sleeping in. He’d spent one too many late nights trying to talk to that creature. “Well, like I said. Be my guest.” 

Nadia coughed again and set his mug down on the floor. “Sam, what is… wait, what did you put in my coffee?” 

The cat turned around to face Nadia, face full of fangs. His one golden tooth shone like the sun. “I figured you’d be wanting to help. Don’t worry; I put some in his water, too. Should be kicking in any minute.” With those words echoing around in his skull, Nadia tried to stand. He found it surprisingly easy, considering his head felt like it was spinning. “Sam, what the fuck?” 

“I’ll be outside if you need anything.” Sam said quickly, making a show of pacing out of the front flap. “Don’t leave until you two make nice!” 

Nadia clawed at the air in front of him. Even though it seemed like a block of solid mist to his eyes, his paws passed straight through it. Closing his eyes didn't help; the mist persisted, even there. His paws looked weird, too; they were longer, kind of gangly. As he stared at them, he began to slowly realise that they hadn't changed at all. This is how they always looked, yet even as he realised this they looked foreign to him. He blinked and looked around the pink mist. "This is fucking weird." He said to the pink void around him.

"Strange." He almost jumped out of his skin when the pink mist replied. Nadia looked around for the source of the voice, but only the pink mist surrounded him. "Hello?" he called out. He wasn't sure if he was looking for a response, but he got one all the same. There was a shuffling sound, as if someone was dragging a sack across the ground, and it was getting closer. The rabbit could feel the hackles on the back of his neck standing on end as the fear of the unknown began to set in. He looked around instinctively, for a place to hide or some kind of weapon, but the ground seemed to be the same pink void as the air around him. As the sound grew even closer, he resorted to a defensive stance. 

Nadia's heart beat pounded in his ears as a shape began to appear in the mist. A figure, almost doubled over and holding its stomach, limped its way towards the guarded rabbit. "It's… you." Nadia muttered under his breath. The bloodied and bandaged wolf grinned up at him. 

"It's nice to be able to understand someone around here, at last." The wolf replied, his voice croaking slightly. Nadia dropped his stance and cautiously made his way over to the wolf, who took the opportunity to look the rabbit up and down. "So where am I, exactly?" The wolf queried. His voice seemed unconcerned, but Nadia couldn't help but notice those eyes. They seemed grey, although the occasional flash of pink hinted at a reflective property. They were shifting quickly between Nadia and the surrounding mist, as if seeing things hidden in the pink obscurity that Nadia couldn't. Searching for something, maybe. 

The most noticeable thing about the wolf were the bulbous extrusions, each about the size of a fist and blood red. While they were mostly covered by the tightly wrapped bloody bandages covering most of the wolf's torso and arms, gaps in the bandage placement revealed the smooth, shiny surfaces underneath. The wolf caught him staring, and grunted painfully. "Did you guys do this to me, or are we not answering questions?"

"O-oh, sorry, I just…" Nadia took a step back and cleared his throat. Remember your training…

"My name is Nadia Aximand, it's nice to meet you." 

"Why are you talking like that?" The wolf muttered.

"I am an escort and impromptu ambassador for my home town, Whitewall! It is located on the north coast of this continent." Nadia continued, putting on his most welcoming smile. 

"I never, uh, asked…" The wolf began looking at Nadia with a hint more concern than before. "Are you oka--"

"As the ambassador, it's my pleasure to open up negotiations with your tribe / clan / clutch / unity group / pod / floc--"

The wolf put his hand on Nadia's shoulder, making the rabbit falter. "I might not be from around here," The wolf said with a weary smile, "but I know a script when I hear one. Do us both a favour, okay?"

"O-okay…?" Nadia said, dropping his facade briefly. The wolf's smile did have a somewhat calming effect, which was certainly needed considering how highly strung Nadia felt. 

"Just lay off." A firm pat left Nadia's shoulder bare once more. He smiled awkwardly at the wolf as it stretched it's bandaged arms and groaned his way into a sitting position. “If you really wanna be helpful, you can start by answering some of my questions.” 

“R-right, sorry…” Nadia mumbled as he lowered himself onto his hindquarters opposite the wolf. He sat there for a few moments before catching the look the wolf opposite was giving him. “Oh, right, uh…” He looked around. What can I say? He’s asking questions I don’t have answers to. 

Nadia shrugged, opting for honesty. “I don’t know where we are, exactly. I think we’re still in the medical hut of the lizardian tribe--” 

“Lizardian?” The wolf perked up slightly. “Are they related to the Tr’al tribe? I didn’t recognise the language or skin tone, but I’ve met folks who look kinda similar to these before.” 

Nadia tilted his head to the side slightly. “You have? These are the first lizardians I’ve ever met. You must have travelled quite far to get here, if you’ve met others.” The wolf smiled at the rabbit. “I’ve been travelling for a long time, yeah. I’ve met people from all sorts of places. Not… quite a place like this, though.” He said, glancing around at the ambient pinkness. Nadia could swear he could almost catch his own reflection if he looked hard enough at the wolf’s iris. “You’re staring again.” The wolf muttered softly. Nadia looked at his knees awkwardly, and whispered a soft “sorry” under his breath. The wolf chuckled painedly. “It’s alright. I haven’t seen your kind for a while, either.” 

“So… where are you from?” Nadia asked gently, trying his best not to bring up the red bulbous elephant in the room. 

The wolf shrugged, before groaning painfully and holding his bandaged shoulder. “I don’t remember, really. Somewhere, presumably.” 

“Everybody is born somewhere.” Nadia commented. The wolf grinned. “As far as we know.” He replied with another weary grin. “All I know is that for as long as I can remember, I’ve been travelling. I don’t mind; it certainly keeps things interesting.”

That’s that, then, I guess. Nadia thought to himself as he mentally shook his brain for more appropriate questions. 

“What’s your--” 

“Ask me about the red things, if you really want to.” The wolf cut Nadia off mid-sentence. “My answer is only going to disappoint you, either way. There’s no sense skirting around the issue.”

Nadia, a little taken aback, wasn’t about to pass up such an opportunity. He tentatively held out a paw towards the wolf’s right shoulder, where one of the orbs was showing under the ribbons of fibrous bandage. “What… what are they? I’m sorry if it’s a personal question, but I haven’t seen anything like them before.” 

To Nadia’s surprise, the wolf grinned. “Me neither.” He said, surprising the rabbit even further. “I was travelling across some desert said to have some strange properties that…” The wolf hesitated. It was barely for a moment, but to Nadia’s trained ears it might as well have been an eternity. “...Might be relevant to some research I’m conducting.” The wolf’s words were dipped in blood. Nadia wasn’t sure exactly what the expression had crossed the wolf’s face; something between the pain of sadness and anger. As soon as it had appeared, it was once again replaced by the wolf’s tired smile. “Anyway, I was about three quarters of the way through the damn place when I found this strange structure. I figured it was worth a look, right?”

“Naturally.” Nadia said absent-mindedly. The wolf’s smile brightened slightly. “Right! So I took a look. It was a tilted hall of refined metal, filled to the brim with wires as thick as your arm. Bundles of them!” The wolf held up one wrist in emphasis. “There was a strange texture to the air. In retrospect, I guess I should have… shouted or something, to make sure there weren’t any wild animals or anything in there. Hindsight’s a bitch, right?” 

Nadia nodded slowly. This was all making total sense to him. Too much sense. He was sitting in a pink void conversing with someone covered in bloody rags and it was all making sense. Whatever was in that coffee was probably to blame, but Nadia could feel his skin begin to crawl from the sheer bizarre nature of it all. Still, as a trained meet-and-greeter of different species, he kept it to himself as best he could, if only to hear the resolution of the wolf’s story. It didn’t look like it’d take much prompting for the guy to keep talking, so Nadia figured he’d just let him continue. 

After a moment of reflection, the wolf continued. “Anyway, wild or not, these… beasts latched onto me.” He struck the shoulder orb, which let out a glassy, metallic thunk. “Next thing I know, I’m being dragged into this…”

“...Medical tent.” Nadia muttered. The wolf nodded in thanks. “Thank you, yes, this medical tent, by these lizards. I had no idea what had happened, or how to talk to them! They just kept talking at me in their foreign tongue and prodding me with various primitive instruments. I guess they were trying to decide if I was a threat or not.” The wolf sighed deeply, finally done with his explanation. He looked as if a weight had been taken from his shoulders, and his ears had a certain perk about them that they hadn’t before. Nadia’s keen eyes even noticed a couple of green-tinted stud earrings in one of them, implying a more interesting history than he was currently privy to. 

“...Huh.” Nadia grunted. The wolf looked at him expectantly. “Oh, uh… I was just gonna ask your name. I figure things will go easier if we know what to call one another.” 

The wolf smiled a toothy grin, more than Nadia had seen of him as far as strong emotions, and held out one thin, clawed hand. “Fuzzy Moordock, pleasure to meet you.” 

Nadia took the hand and shook it as firmly as he felt was polite. “Nadia Aximand.” He said politely. “Yeah, I know.” Fuzzy replied. “You already told me that, during your script read.” 

“O-oh… yeah, I guess I did.” 

The two sat there in semi-awkward silence together, each trying to figure out what to say next. Fuzzy broke the silence first. “So, Nadia… tell me.”

Nadia smiled. “About what?” He asked, happy to be on more familiar ground even in this alien environment. 

Fuzzy leaned forward and rested his head on his fists, matching Nadia’s calming grin. “Everything.” 

“W-well… where do I begin?” Nadia said, scooting a little closer to the wolf and sharing a soft chuckle. “Well, my home is over in Whitewall, as I said. There was this one teacher in my university…”

--

Night didn’t pass in this void plane of existence, but time certainly did. As Nadia began explaining his long road up until that point, both shared in a mutual love of the mechanics of the world, the beauty of the scenery and some personal tales of the dangers of travelling across it by foot. They spent time together well; not just sharing cross-cultural information, but telling jokes, sharing laughter, and coming closer, until the two had finally run out of things to say to one another. By then, both were laying side by side, laughing at the pink sky above them. Eventually, even the laughter ran out, and they both shared a mutual appreciation of some quality silence together. 

Even that silence, devoid of words and utterly separated from the context of a location known to them both, seemed somehow special. After a while, something began to bother Nadia. It wasn’t something specific at first, just a general sense of unease nagging away at the back of his mind. He did his best to ignore it, and even succeeded for a few hours, but eventually it began to bother him too much not to address it. 

“We were drugged by that doctor.” He muttered, half to himself. Fuzzy, who had been laying on his front staring off into the distance, looked over to his new friend. “Yeah, I guess so.” 

Nadia nodded slowly. “I don’t know about you, but in my experience with accidental exposure to chemicals that give hallucinations, these things tend to pass within a few hours.” Fuzzy shrugged, but perked his ears up when Nadia looked him in the eye. 

“What, you think I’m a hallucination?” The wolf asked with a grin. Nadia rolled his eyes and shook his head. “No, at least I don’t… think so. That’s not my point.”

Fuzzy stood up and stretched his sore back, his chest coverings falling away unceremoniously. “So what is your point?” 

Nadia glanced around with a slightly concerned look before standing to his feet and stepping a little closer to the wolf. “It’s been a lot longer than a few hours.” 

The wolf paused, taking a few moments to look around the pink void. “...How do you know? Time can easily feel--” 

“I know.” The rabbit said, his tone bordering on being frustrated. “I just… I don’t know how, but I just know we’ve been here a long time.” 

“I guess we have talked about a lot of things…” The wolf admitted, his playful expression slowly changing into one of concern. “So, what, the drugs are lasting a little longer than what you’ve experienced. That doesn’t have to mean something bad, maybe they’re just not used to mammalian metabolic rates, or whatever.” 

Nadia shook his head. “Acts -- that’s the chief I told you about -- said that they’d had experience with my kind before, and I saw a few rabbits around the camp that didn’t seem to have any problem communicating with the lizards…” 

The wolf shrugged. “Well, I don’t think we’re really… in our bodies, if that helps at all. This feels a lot more like a dream, only with less torture and blood and stuff.” Nadia tilted his head, but chose to ignore those last few comments for now. They had more important things to worry about. “If this is a shared dream, then we should be able to wake up, right?” He said, puzzling. “I wonder if there’s some-- Ow!” He yipped at the wolf and rubbed the arm that had just been pinched. 

“Sorry.” Fuzzy said, grinning nervously. “Figured it was worth a try.” Nadia scowled at him, but nodded all the same. “Well, now we’ve ruled that out… any other bright ideas?” 

The wolf held his hands up and shrugged dramatically. “I’m more of a doer type, rather than an ideas guy.” Nadia sighed. “Yeah, I sorta noticed…” 

Nadia and Fuzzy spent the next few hours experimenting, trying things they may otherwise have been embarrassed to try; running until the other couldn’t see them anymore through the mist didn’t work, nor did peaceful meditation sat side by side. Fuzzy had tried to get Nadia to practice some breathing techniques that he claimed to have learned from a sea-dwelling tribe, but regardless of its origin the efficacy remained just as low as everything else. Finally, Nadia threw up his arms in defeat. “I give up!” He said, frustrated. “I can’t do this shit anymore. Hey! Anybody out there?!” 

Fuzzy uncrossed his legs and fell backwards onto the uniform ground, huffing loudly. “I think they’d have responded by now if anybody could hear us. We’re probably just laying on our bunks asleep, for all they know we’re having the best night’s rest of our lives.” 

“I don’t buy that.” Nadia growled. “That fucking doctor, he knew that this -- or something like this -- was gonna happen. He must have known. You don’t just give random drugs to strangers without… warning them first!” Nadia tossed his fists into the air and paced back and forth. 

“You don’t?” Fuzzy joked. Nadia’s glare put a stop to his jovial tone quickly. “I just don’t get what the issue is. This is a pretty nice place, and we’re gonna get out of here sooner or later anyway. There doesn’t seem to be much use in fighting it, so why bother?” Nadia stopped mid-step and turned to the wolf, the burning anger inside him bubbling up his chest. 

“Do you have absolutely no idea what’s going to happen if we don’t wake up soon?” He spat. Fuzzy looked at him from his ground position and shrugged again. “Our bodies get a decent rest.” He muttered. Nadia cursed angrily and sat down next to the wolf’s head. “We’ll fucking starve, wolf. Or, or we’ll dehydrate.” 

“The lizards don’t seem the type to let that happen.” Fuzzy said, albeit with a growing hint of concern in his voice. Nadia raised an eyebrow. “Oh really? They wanted to put you down.” 

“What?!” Fuzzy sat up in a start, fear in his eyes. “Why would they do that?!” 

It’s a fact Nadia had elected not to share with the wolf, but considering what he considered their dire circumstances, he didn’t see much point in not putting the wolf in his place. “They told me that if I couldn’t get you to talk, they’d consider you a feral creature and roast you up.” He said. A bit of embellishment always helps get a point across, Nadia figured. 

Fuzzy narrowed his eyes. “But what about? What could I possibly hope to talk to them about?” He asked pointedly. Nadia shrugged. “About what happened in the desert.” 

“N--...” Fuzzy hesitated. He had insisted on keeping to his point on not knowing what happened in the desert since the moment he’d entered the pink void with Nadia, but it seems he was reconsidering. “...Why would they want to know that?” 

Nadia sighed and waved his paw dismissively. “Listen, it doesn’t matter. Nothing matters, if we can’t get out of this place soon. We need something that actively engages the prefrontal cortex of our brain, or creates a reaction for higher heart rate, or… something. I can’t think of anything that does that which we haven’t already tried.” 

The two sat in silence for a while. A heavy atmosphere had come upon them, depressing all the subtle sounds and pleasantness of a shared space together. Eventually, Nadia heard the wolf move, but when he turned to see what was happening…

“Wh--Mhff!” Nadia’s protest was muffled by the pair of lips pressing against his. He backed away quickly, scooting his ass backwards across the seemingly smooth ground. “W-what are you doing?!” He demanded, staring at the wolf. Fuzzy was red-faced and smiling meekly, with his tail tucked between his legs in a sign of submission. “L-listen, we’ve tried everything else! We could at least give this a go!” 

“G-give what a go?!” Nadia sputtered, staring at Fuzzy in a mixture of shock and confusion. “Well… y’know…” Fuzzy padded on all fours slowly towards Nadia, making sure not to make any sudden movements. He did, however, gradually lift his tail.

“Are you INSANE?!” Nadia whispered, as if anybody around them could hear them. He looked around out of habit and his cheeks burned. “We can’t just--” 

“Why not?” Fuzzy whispered back, matching Nadia’s speed of speech with his own. “W-what did you say we should try? Anything that increases heart rate, right? Anything that actively engages the, like… front part of the brain?” Fuzzy mimed around his own skull as if that might be helpful in some way. “A-and it’s the one thing we haven’t tried!” 

“Absolutely not!” Nadia spat at him. His voice cracked slightly as his mind raced to utterly avoid the subject. “It-it’s…. It’s just not how these things work!” 

“You did say we’ve tried everything else.” Fuzzy said a little more slowly. He had reached Nadia’s sprawled form and was inching closer with every second, making the rabbit squirm uncomfortably. “I-is it your first time, or something…?” 

“Wh-- No! Of COURSE I’ve had-- Listen, it’s just not…” Nadia stuttered and spluttered his way into an awkward silence, Fuzzy’s newfound awkward smile and staring silver eyes daring Nadia to continue, but the rabbit’s tongue simply wouldn’t let him.

“I-It’s just not right.” Nadia said finally, folding his arms and looking away. “I just met you.” 

“Do I look like the kinda guy to you who does things just because they’re right?” Fuzzy asked, his grin spreading wider. His hands were right beside Nadia’s hips, and Nadia was starting to sweat. “Besides, it’s worth a shot, right? If it gets us out of here?” 

Nadia glanced nervously at Fuzzy, then away again. “Th-there’s no evidence that it’d work.” He said quickly. 

“There’s no evidence it won’t, either.” Fuzzy replied. After a soft sigh that made Nadia’s ears twitch, Fuzzy sat himself down just next to the rabbit. “Listen, if you really don’t think it’d help, o-or you’re just not interested, I totally understand. I just don’t think it’s worth counting out just because some people wouldn’t--” 

“I-I never said…” 

Fuzzy tilted his head and pricked up his ears towards the rabbit. “What?” 

Nadia cleared his throat, which had mysteriously become quite dry. “I-I s-said that… I n-never said th-that I wasn’t interested, per se…” Before he could defend himself to the contrary, Nadia felt the full force of the wolf slam into his side, sending them both sprawling onto the floor. When Nadia had regained his senses a few moments later, he was suddenly aware that he was being tightly hugged from the side, and a wet nose pressed up against his previously dry neck fur. He wriggled and squirmed and protested, but the wolf didn’t let up; even kicking out at the misty air above him did nothing to dissuade the wolf from continuing the private show of affection. 

“O-okay! We can try it! Just let me go already!” Nadia yelled. Thankfully, though with some reluctance, Fuzzy let him slip out of his grasp. Nadia stood straight on his feet and patted himself down, straightening the woven fabrics that covered his torso as best he could and attempting to ignore what was going on underneath them. After a short intake of breath, he turned back to Fuzzy. “L-look, I… oh…” 

Fuzzy was on his knees, looking up at Nadia with a happy smile. His eyes, while technically looking at Nadia, were transfixed on his crotch, which bulged surreptitiously. Nadia coughed into his fist and looked away, his cheeks burning brighter than before. “L-listen, I’m not… the kinda guy who, like… uhm…” 

Fuzzy shushed him into silence, the confident grin plastered over his maw contrasting against the burning red cheeks. With a subtle slowness, he placed one paw on either side of the rabbit’s hips. “Don’t worry…” he said softly, his tongue darting over his lips. “I’ll go as fast, or as slow, as you want.” 

Nadia narrowed his eyes down at the wolf, who’s nose pressed itself gently against his bulging, woven tunic front. “Y-you were planning this for a while, weren’t you…” 

Fuzzy looked up and away coyly, as if he could convince the rabbit he had anything but the most dubious of intentions. “I wouldn’t say planning, as such, more…” With a swift tug that made Nadia take a quick breath of air, the wolf tore down the coverings that hid the rabbit’s stiffening member. “...Wanting.” 

Chapter 12: The Spark

Nadia sat back in the misty pink void, watching the wolf hungrily look him up and down. The bunny was vaguely aware that his tunic wasn’t covering quite as much of him as before, but he fought his urge to pull it down and cover his decency. Fuzzy was right; with this kind of emulated privacy, there wasn’t anything to be embarrassed about. His stiff member was creating a peak in the tough plant matter, and Fuzzy’s eyes had locked onto it like a predator locating his prey. 

“J-just… go slow, okay?” Nadia muttered softly. Fuzzy smiled at him, but nodded in understanding. “Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.” He replied, sliding one of his paws tentatively up Nadia’s leg. The sensation against his fur made Nadia shiver slightly; it’s not like he was lacking for physical attention, but for some reason the wolf seemed to know exactly how to press his buttons. As Fuzzy’s paw slowly crept up the side of the rabbit’s soft furred leg, he slowly mobilized the rest of his body to join it, gradually sliding closer and closer to the rabbit. Nadia gasped softly when the wolf’s claw suddenly pulled at his perky buttock, forcing him to slide underneath the wolf’s now towering figure. 

“Slow enough for you, rabbit?” Fuzzy said with a smirk. Nadia narrowed his eyes, but before he had a chance to shoot off a sarcastic reply, Fuzzy pressed his lips against Nadia’s own and locked him into a gentle, romantic kiss. Nadia almost didn’t notice the other paw gliding up his leg until it was resting upon his other buttock, another gasp forcing a break in the kiss. He could hear his heartbeat in his ears, so loud that he could swear the wolf could hear it as well. He may well have been right; His bright eyes stared deep into Nadia’s, as he were reading the rabbit’s thoughts directly from his brain. While Nadia had been in a lot of compromising positions in the past, he had never felt quite so… vulnerable. 

With the swiftness of a hunter’s flown arrow, Fuzzy clamped his jaw onto Nadia’s neck, just above the collar bone. Expecting a sharp pain and possibly even death, Nadia’s gasp of surprise melted into a soft moan; there was no pain, only a light pressure as the wolf’s sharp teeth grazed his skin. It tingled, like a claw curling around his muscles. Gentle, yet a firm reminder of who’s in charge. Idely, Nadia wondered if this is how all canids initiated more personal affections. His train of thought didn’t get very far; he’d been aware of a growing heat between his legs, which he just now realised wasn’t entirely his own urgently twitching member. He managed to twist his head in such a way as to look down his body, and between rough breaths of the beast on top of him he spied the telltale fleshy red member of Fuzzy; the long, slender member was exposed, pushing against Nadia’s member and uncovering it from it’s previous pseudo-modesty. Fuzzy growled something, but Nadia couldn’t make it out. It didn’t matter; he was in the throws of passion, his blood burned as he yearned for yet more.

“F-fuzzy, g-go… easy…” He choked out between ragged breaths. The wolf chuckled into the rabbit’s damp neck fur and raised the rabbit’s hips slightly, forcing their hips together and bringing the members tightly between their two bodies. “F-fuzz…!” Nadia called out, but it was no use. It had become clear that nothing would stop what was currently happening from happening, though he was certainly happy to be along for the ride. 

Nadia’s world tilted for a moment, and there was a blur of motion. Before he could tell what was happening, he found himself flipped, gravity forcing his hips to lay on to of the wolf’s legs, both of their members exposed to the pink, misty void. Nadia looked down in confusion, and Fuzzy grinned back at him. “I figured you’d want to go at your own pace.” He said, licking his maw surreptitiously. “After all, if this doesn’t work, I wouldn’t want you to be all butthurt…” 

After pelting the wolf’s face with a series of light-hearted smacks with his paws, Nadia calmed down a little. “You’re a bastard.” He muttered with a grin. His hips began rocking back and forth a little, grinding their members together. Fuzzy let out a low, extended growl. “Yeah, and you’re a little bitch.” Nadia giggled softly to himself, then raised himself onto his knees. “Yeah? Would a bitch do this?” 

He really should have prepared himself better, in retrospect. The thought this is definitely a mistake ran through his mind, too weakly to stop his body from acting on his more primal urges as he deftly aligned the wolf’s solid member against his exposed hole and lowered himself onto it. He did his best to contain the mildly pained groan, but only exacerbated the problem; instead of a pained moan, he let out a soft squeak as the tip of the wolf’s burning hot rod pierced his tight ring. Fuzzy’s face scrunched up in pleasure and surprise, his claws digging reflexively into the bunny’s backside which only made Nadia tilt back in surprise, forcing another few centimeters of the wolf’s swollen shaft into his body. They each paused for a few moments, Nadia to calm his burning body a little and Fuzzy to let out a long moan. 

“F-ffuuchking… n-no…” Nadia tilted his head, swallowed his urge to groan and put on his best smile for the wolf. “No?” Fuzzy looked up at him, his tongue hanging slightly out of the front of his maw. “A b-bitch definitely wouldn’t do that…” Nadia chuckled as lightly as he could, and lowered himself a little further down the wolf’s burning shaft. “Hnnn-n… I g-guess you would know, right?” 

Fuzzy let out another soft growl and tightened his grip on the bunny’s perky ass. “Nn-nhh… Yeah, I’ve known a f-few…” 

I bet you got to know them well, too. Nadia thought to himself, if only to distract from the internal giddiness that was bubbling up in his chest. Fuzzy’s breaths were becoming more shallow by the minute, and Nadia didn’t know exactly how long he could hold out before something happened; he wasn’t sure what, exactly, but his heartbeat was starting to make his head throb and he was sure something was approaching inside his body. After taking a deep breath of contemplation, he forced his hide down the wolf’s shaft, as far as he could. He felt the insides of his barely-used passage stretch to accommodate the wolf’s twitching member. The small amounts of precum spilling from his pointed tip did help, but he made a mental note on his way down to definitely use some kind of lubricant next time. After what seemed like an hour, he finally felt the soft, warm flesh of the wolf’s sheath pressed between his buttocks. Realising he hadn’t taken a breath since he started his descent, Nadia let out a desperate sigh and hung his head in desperation. “T-there… we… go…” He muttered, mostly to himself. 

Fuzzy was desperately trying to restrain himself, Nadia could tell. His body was slowly stiffening up, from his legs up to his chest. The wolf’s claws were tingling needles scratching across the surface of his buttocks; each time they risked losing their grip, they’d re-apply themselves, spreading the bunny’s already stretched entrance a little more each time. “N-now, j-just… slowl--!” 

Once again, Nadia was cut off mid-thought. This time, it was because Fuzzy’s torso suddenly thrust towards him, locking around his maw and forcing him into a tight, passionate kiss. The rabbit’s heart felt like it was about to explode, and his unattended member throbbed happily as it was suddenly pressed against the lithe wolf’s warm furry chest. Nadia felt his arms moving of their own accord, making their way over the wolf’s back to embrace him, just as one of Fuzzy’s hands traced its way up Nadia’s back to the back of his neck. The two were locked in a tight and passionate embrace as their bodies began to move as one. Slowly at first, but soon each of them were pushing the other to go faster; Fuzzy was forcing Nadia’s hips down to meet his just as quickly as the bunny would raise them. Before long, the air between the two was thick with moans and musk. 

Nadia muttered words forgotten a moment later, urging the wolf on. His mind was blank and he moved as if motivated through a dream; every tiny action or reaction sparked a new and exciting form of pleasure between the two thrusting, twitching bodies. Before long, Nadia began to notice a certain shallowness to the wolf’s thrusts, the urgent twitching of the canine member forcing its way between his toned cheeks beating in time to his heart. 

“N-Nadia…” Fuzzy whispered desperately into one of the bunny’s slender ears. Nadia continued his panting and whimpers of pleasure, barely even noticing the wolf’s heavy breath against his cheek. “I-I’m… getting close…” He continued, biting each breath as it came to him, desperately trying to keep his faltering composure in check. Nadia leaned his head back, moaning out into the void unashamedly. “D-do it!” He moaned loudly, letting his tongue loll out of his mouth. “F-fuck…! Knot me!” 

No sooner had the words come out of his mouth, Nadia found himself staring wide-eyed and mouth agape into the infinite pink mist above him. Fuzzy’s thrusts became as fast as the position would allow. He pulled Nadia’s hips down one final time, gripping the rabbit’s haunches hard enough for his claws to dig into the skin. His hips raised from the floor, Fuzzy howled out into the mist as his rabbit called out silently in pleasure, his ass stretched forcefully as the wolf’s throbbing, desperate knot pushed its way into his previously tight entrance. After the sudden sensation of pain passed, Nadia felt the sudden ‘pop’ as his body finally allowed the entire length inside of it. Fuzzy’s member throbbed violently against Nadia’s inner tunnel, his hips bucking again and again as the waves of pleasure washed over the wolf’s tense body. Nadia felt the knot inside him, pulsing hard with each beat of the wolf’s heart, his own body squeezing comfortably around it as it tugged back as if searching for an escape. With the added length of the knot, Fuzzy’s tip pressed against Nadia’s most sensitive area, sending the bunny into a series of uncontrollable spasms. 

“F-faahh~!” Nadia yelled out, his body tightening up, his lungs unable to get enough air and his jaw loosely open. Every part of his body flourished in pleasure, his fur stood on end as if being statically charged. Somewhere outside his own sphere of pleasure, he heard the wolf howl again as his member finally released a torrent of thick white cum into the bunny’s relenting ass. The sensation of being so forcefully filled was more than enough to send Nadia over the edge; his mind was wracked with pleasure, so much so that he barely even noticed his own orgasm explode across the wolf’s chest and face. It seemed to last for an eternity; the tugging knot forcing Nadia to stay in place, the constant sexual stimulation draining every ounce of cum from Nadia’s system, and the twitching, squeezing actions of his ass milking every last drop from the wolf who’d dominated him so utterly. 

After a lifetime and a half of staring up at the empty sky, the feelings finally began to fade. Unfortunately, they left with all of Nadia’s strength; it was all he could do to stop himself falling directly on top of the wolf and instead sprawl at his side, the throbbing knot still sealing his back entrance tightly shut. He panted to catch his breath, his eyes barely able to remain open. Just before they closed, he saw the wolf’s face; no longer a look of concern or confusion. There was no desperation, no fear. Although he definitely looked passed out, and just before Nadia’s mind joined his in pleasant oblivion, he looked at peace. Nadia closed his eyes with a smile, confident in the knowledge that even if they never got out of this place, at least he had good company to spend eternity with. That thought joined him through the haze of sleep, past the spasming muscle contractions and the warmth spreading up from his cheeks until he, too, was at peace. 

Chapter 13: Heal Thyself
Sam yawned. The lizard guard next to him gave him a bit of a side-eye, but Sam was used to it. This tribe wasn’t the most xenophobic he’d been employed by, by any means, bu that still had the same bigoted reservations about anything with hair. Idely, he clicked his claws together, and stared into the night sky. The sounds of pain or pleasure had subsided from inside the tent about an hour ago, and by the position of the stars Sam could tell it would be about another hour before the teaching fruit juice wore off. Clicking his tongue at the guard, he smiled wide. Sam knew that would annoy him. “I’m gonna get something to gnaw on. You want anything?” He asked. “Xiactoti ney falnest.” The guard snapped. Sam grinned again, and shrugged. “Whatever you say.” 

The cat jauntily made his way to the herbalist hut and peeked his head in. Nobody was inside, which made his life a little easier. After glancing around the outside of the tent briefly to ensure he wouldn’t get caught, the cat slid smoothly through the tent flap, barely ruffling it at all in the process. With familiar ease, he tugged a couple of short, firm sticks out of a bundle that was laying on a shelf nearby, before making his way to the back of the small tent and rifling through a pouch of leaves. “Ah, there you are, my beauty.” He muttered to himself, picking out the freshest looking stimulant leaves and stuffing them into his pocket. With a confident gaite, he sauntered back to the flap and peeked out. A patrol of lizardian guards passed, briefly blocking the flickering torch light that illuminated most of the village. Once he was sure they’d left, he slipped soundlessly out of the tent and made his way towards the Chieftain’s tent. He subconsciously flattened down a couple of loose hairs on his head as he approached, although this did nothing to alter his appearance. The two guards in front of the main flap glared at him as he approached. He smiled wide at them, and nodded to them as he passed into the tent, not pausing for a moment for them to make some snide remark. Inside, he found a familiar sight; the chieftain sat on their raised bedroll, casually flipping through a couple of loose pages. 

“[How is my chief patient today?]” He asked in lizardian. Acts waved at him dismissively, not looking away from the pages. Sam sighed softly, stepped closer and began his routine inspection. “[Your legs look much better today.]” He said casually. He felt around the sides of the slim frog until he found a tender spot, and pressed a little harder than was strictly necessary. “[O-ow.]” Acts groaned, looking up briefly from his pages. Sam smiled wide. “[Sorry.]” He said. “[Any pain anywhere else?]” 

“[My eye is still not fixed.]” Acts muttered, shooting the doctor another glare before returning their eyes to their literature. Sam sighed heavily. “[I told you, it will take time.]” 

“[I have taken time.]” Acts said firmly. “[It has not gotten better.]” 

With another soft sigh, Sam tenderly reached for Acts’ face bandage. The frog winced slightly as it was pulled to one side, and Sam gave a contemplative look. “[You have been reading again, haven’t you.]” 

“[You said it would be fixed by now.]” Acts retorted, pulling away from the doctor’s grasping paws and reaffixing his bandage. “[What I do with my time is my business.]” 

“[I said it would be healed by now if you refrained from eye strain.]” Sam protested. Acts ignored him again, making the cat sigh a little more frustratedly than he meant to. “[I am your doctor. Do you wish to be healed or not?]” 

Acts glared at him with the one working eye for a moment before rolling it. The frog shuffled the papers into a neat pile and set them on the floor next to his raised bedding, grumbling softly. Sam nodded in thanks, and continued his examination up Acts’ torso. “[What have you been reading, anyway?]” He asked casually. 

“[What have you been chewing?]” Acts fired back. Sam paused, but only for a moment. “[I see the tenderness around your chest has gone down.]” Sam muttered, accepting the change of  topic. Acts grunted in response. 

A few uneventful minutes passed until Sam had finished with his routine inspection. He looked the frog over once more, making an effort to avoid the very unhappy expression present on the bandaged face. “[You will recover fully soon. I will inform the nurses to allow you light duties from tomorrow onwards.]” Sam muttered, holding up one digit as Acts began to speak. “[Light duties only. I do not want you reading anything for at least two further days.]” He said, forcing Acts to close his mouth and scowl in silence. With the matter settled, Sam stood up, stretched his back for a moment, and shrugged. “[Now, if you have no further use for me, I will--]”

“[Rabbit.]” Acts grumbled. Sam paused, mid-turn-around. “[Right.]” He muttered, turning back to Acts. “[Nadia has made a good recovery. Better even than yourself. I fed him tea not three hours ago, he seems to be taking well to his healed limbs.]” He said softly. “[Same as yesterday.]” He added, just to punctuate his usefulness as an informant. 

Acts’ expression softened by a tiny margin. “[That is… acceptable.]” He muttered, seemingly ignoring the added remark. The two remained in silence for a few moments before Sam turned around once more and began towards the tent flap. “[Do not let anything happen to him, doctor.]” Acts called after him. Sam paused, smiled to himself, and headed out of the tent. “[I would not dream of it, my chieftain...]”

Once Sam had made it safely away from the frog’s healing tent and its guards, he took in a deep breath of the cool night air. He looked around the camp; the torchlight was bright the last few days, with near-constant lizardian troupes being set to patrol the borders and mid-site of the camp. It reminded him of the good old days, when he was patching up wounded soldiers in what seemed like a never-ending war. He smiled at the thoughts. He had been paid hourly. 

Finding a sufficiently dark patch of ground behind one of the tents, he pulled out a leaf from his pocket and began chewing, sighing after a few moments. The relief provided by these leaves was about all that stopped him from snapping at particularly difficult patients like Acts. Sometimes, he swore he could have made an easier living handing in pelts of exotic animals or something. He was certainly good with his paws, after all, and he’d probably see less death.

 After half a leaf, he decided to check back on the learning he’d instigated. In his head, he figured that if the learning fruit had been successful, Nadia could tell him plenty about their strange wolf guest. If not… He shrugged. 

Either way, useful information would be gained. 

As Sam made his way towards the main healing tent, he briefly considered visiting the darker, slightly further-away tent that was built specifically at his request. It was one he had spent a lot of time in about a week ago, but since then… He shook his head. Visiting Nadia and that canine would probably be exciting enough even if he didn’t smell of burnt flesh, he figured. Tossing away his chewed-through leaf, he took in a short breath, put on his shiniest smile and headed towards the medical tent. The guard glared at him again as he entered, but he paid it no mind. For all Sam knew, that guard would be the one cleaning up whatever blood and gore would be left behind after-- 

“...Oh.” He muttered. He stood there, one hand lifting the tent flap, staring at the two bodies in front of him. “...Well, at least you weren’t eaten.” He muttered to himself. As he stepped forwards, he let the tent flap close again and began his inspection on the sleeping couple. There was some mess to be cleaned up, but certainly not the kind he had expected. A couple of tentative prods revealed that, yes, both of his subjects were still definitely alive, simply asleep. He raised his eyebrows at that. He might have bet money there would be only one left, if the lizards had any concept of gambling. Then again, he thought to himself, if they had they probably wouldn’t have let him keep the canine alive. The cat stepped carefully around the sleeping bodies, the rabbit and wolf bound together at the hips and seemingly hugging against one another in a tight embrace. It was sort of sweet, Sam thought, in a sociologically fascinating kind of way. With a quick shrug, he made his way to his own bedroll to prepare some coffee. He might even put a leaf or two in the pot this time, he thought as he smiled to himself. Tomorrow is going to be quite interesting, indeed…

Tonight, though, Sam was going to sleep like a dead man.