Side-Write: Tough and Tumble

Finally, here we are! For those concerned, things are tentatively looking better with my family, knock on wood and such. I've been getting back into the swing of things bit by bit, and I finally felt ready to tackle this story.

I'd like to say it's extra long to make up for the delay, but the truth is that I just ended up writing a much longer story than I'd really intended. It also turned out a little more horny than I'd meant it to? But I do feel like I did a decent job of actually turning out a "happy story," which has been the big challenge I've been trying to wrestle with lately. That was arguably a big part of why it also had to wait until things got a little less stormy over here, too. But I'm pretty happy with it now it's done. Let me know what you guys think!

As ever, this isn't "official" so much as a supposition on what might happen in this world, to explore the setting and the mindsets of the people. I hope you enjoy!

~~~

It wasn't like Jefin was a One-Racer or anything. He obviously knew quite well that there were intelligent and creative minds among the creatures of the wild cities. He'd never actually met one of them, though, and was forced to conclude that the vast majority of them were little more than animals or brutes, since that was just about the only type he'd encountered, even on his third visit to a wild city.

So he was only too happy to take his meals privately inside his own wagon for the trip home. The price had been ridiculous, but he'd purchased a great number of manuscripts this time around, and he didn't want to risk any of these slobs using his precious investments to wipe their backsides or some such. He might have felt more charitable if he'd at least found a wagon train from the civil lands, but there were none available for who knew how long when he was ready to go home, so... a ride with the monsters was the only option. He was tired of such company, but better to spend a week among them getting home than wait a week or longer in the same state hoping for a better option to pop up.

Even now, raucous laughter penetrated the walls of his wagon as he sipped at his bitter stew. All day and night they were chattering in various languages, only half of which he knew, laughing and wrestling and fucking constantly. It was a wonder they made any progress on the road at all. But Jefin did his best to ignore them and give them every reason to ignore the mouse with his stacks of books and papers, tucked away in his wagon. He'd taken to staying up into the night so he could get some work done without the wagon jouncing him about and wrecking his writing. It was a shame to burn through so much lantern oil, but he'd more than make it up having some fresh copies ready as soon as he arrived. Surely by now, his customers were absolutely salivating to see what strange new writings he was bringing them from the faraway lands of the savages.

It actually grew almost quiet in the dark hours of the early morning, and Jefin luxuriated in the silence, even if it was broken occasionally by distant moans or snores. Just a few more days... When his eyes started to water from yawning, the sleepy mouse finally set his pages aside to dry and turned out the light. If he was lucky, he might even sleep until dinnertime.

But of course, the noise was too much for him to sleep through. If anything, they were noisier than ever out there, roaring and yelling at each other and... screaming? Fur bristled up the little mouse's back as he sat up. Those were... not good sounds.

He gathered himself quietly, caught between an urge to see what was happening and to hide from whatever was out there. He heard snarls. Jefin compromised by hiding long enough to gather all his loose papers and tuck them into their appropriate folders, making sure everything was tucked away and secured. It was difficult, working by the light seeping through the cracks near the ceiling, but by the time he finished, things were... quieting down. Finally, the mouse pushed himself to the door, grasped the latch, and... slowly... eased it open to peek out.

Bodies.

He closed it again, gasping and panting suddenly. Okay. This was very bad. What did he do now? It must be only a matter of time before... whatever was out there... checked his wagon. He had to... hide. Had to get away from the convoy and hide, and just hope they had no interest in his papers. He was small. If he picked the right moment, he could probably run for it and escape notice! It sounded like the fighting was mostly on the other side from his door now, so that was lucky at least!

Jefin drew a deep breath... and almost blacked out. Stop hyperventilating! He slapped himself a little, mushed his face between his paws, and... Okay. Just... stay low, and get away. Simple.

In a single motion, he slipped the door open and dove underneath his wagon, hiding behind one of the wheels. He didn't remember moving so fast since he was a child! His eyes darted around, trying to take in everything.

Bodies lay in the dust of the road and in the grass beyond. There was the master of the caravan over there, still twitching. And on the other side...

Werewolves! He didn't know their packs could grow so large! There must have been nearly two dozen of them milling about, feasting on corpses, sniffing around the area, slaying the last of the others. Except... three of them surrounded one survivor that still stood his ground. Jefin could only see their feet from here, and he scuttled to hide behind a wheel on that side and see what was happening.

The enormous, hairy feet, planted wide, had made him think it a man-- but the legs braced above them swelled out into alarmingly massive thighs and the flare of broad hips wrapped in rough leather, straining at its crooked stitching, under heaving breasts straining a fluffy animal skin out to preposterous dimensions. It was a woman! At least... he thought so? She was grinning broadly, showing off fangs so large they jutted out of her mouth like tusks, and she swung an arm broader than Jefin's body around-- to spank her own ass, setting it jiggling quite impressively.

"Come on!" She roared. "You can do better than that!"

The werewolves seemed quite taken with her, at least-- all of them were visibly aroused, and the one she'd directed that display at pounced with a snarl as if to mount her-- only to find her backhand twisting his head around as the force of the blow launched him bodily aside. These creatures were already big enough to tower over most people he knew back home, but none of them were tall enough to come up to her shoulders! She must have been almost as tall as the wagons, and wider in the shoulders than he was tall!

"Aww, so close! What do you think, huh? You can do it, right?" The outlandish woman turned on another of the wolves, leering and hugging an arm under her bust. The rough garment strained audibly as she made that mountain of soft flesh bounce, her cleavage surging up in the top to clap together. "You're so fast and strong, I bet you can take it! C'MON!"

The beast snarled, visibly reaching full arousal under her focused taunting, but he was apparently smart enough to not just lunge for her-- he glanced around, and leaped suddenly toward Jefin's wagon, launching himself off the side of it to pounce on her from above!

The woman's back molars showed briefly as she laughed, raising one arm to block-- the beast latched his claws and fangs into that great haunch as his footclaws scrabbled at her belly, and Jefin winced. She was going to die shortly at this rate!

But she only flexed her arm-- and seized the beast's neck with her free hand. An unpleasant crunch rose between them, and the creature went limp. She jerked his claws out of her-- and threw the body at the remaining wolf, who dodged aside and, wisely, fled!

"Aaaah, coward!" She laughed dismissively, panting. "See? These pups aren't anything... to..." She looked around, and seemed to suddenly realize that whoever she was talking to now, was... not here anymore. Or not alive. "...Oh. Ooooh." She made a face. Not a "by the Gods, the horror!" face, or an "I've failed and my friends are dead" face, more of a... "whoops, I messed up again" face. Somehow, it was fairly clear on her face that this was not the first time something like this had happened on her watch.

She took in the bodies, the other wolves that were starting to take notice of her as the only fighter still moving, and... then her eyes locked on him. On Jefin. Then she was rushing straight at him, grinning.

Normally, a mouse's instincts for survival are impeccable. More than once, he'd ducked out of the way of a horse or a cart in the streets and saved himself from great injury before he could even form a thought about the impending danger. By rights, he should have been zipping away from this spot even if it meant crab-walking on his back half the way, but... Instead, he found himself staring at this titan of a woman, bent forward to launch herself at him at full speed, legs like tree trunks flexing to beat the ground, her breasts threatening to spill from her somewhat perforated clothes any moment as they rolled from side to side with the swing of her arms. And in the last second, her arm swung back, gathering a fist, and his mouth fell open as he dimly recognized that his wagon might not even slow her down in trampling over him, if nothing else.

She swung, and his eyes followed her fist as it hooked into the muzzle of the werewolf he hadn't seen stooping under the back of the wagon to get at him. The result was... sickening-- but not as nauseating as Jefin's own sudden lurch up into the air as the woman scooped him up! "C'mon, then!" She boomed over him, and the world twisted and lurched away behind the two of them as she bolted off the road, into the woods, carrying the mouse bundled up under her arm.

The little rodent couldn't even summon words at first, so he didn't even manage to demand she put him down by the time he heard the howling of the other werewolves-- first one, then several, followed by a thunder of footsteps, following after them!

"You're that mousy, uh--" The woman hefted him up enough to glance at him, grinned awkwardly, and amended: "You're that guy with all the books, right? Looks like it's just you and me!" Jefin was quickly growing sick like this, her thick arm wrapped around his middle and heaving him around in great, circular motions as she dashed through the trees, sometimes ducking and weaving through branches. He could summon no answer, so she went on. "I'm Checka. You're lucky I'm so tough, huh? Lucky Braf hired me! Don't you worry, I'll get you out of this!"

Desperate for a little stability, Jefin flailed around and gripped at her arm until he managed to turn and wrap himself around her immense bicep. It was like a boulder swinging back and forth violently against his belly, but it was still better than before. Unfortunately, this gave him a clear view of their pursuers.

"Uh..." He coughed and swallowed. "Checka, they're... gaining!" The mouse finally managed to cry out.

"Don't worry!" The woman panted, but somehow showed no signs of slowing. "I've got a plan!" If anything, she was speeding up!

Jefin twisted, noticing the trees were thinning into nothing but blue sky to one side. Ahead... the forest ended suddenly. And so did the ground. "Ch-Checka," Jefin spluttered, "wait--!"

One great leap, and they were over the edge! Thick forest spread below-- entirely too far down, with nothing but empty air between! Checka twisted, grinning, and gripped her elbow while thrusting her fist into the air, throwing a rude gesture back at the werewolves-- and throwing the mouse into the air! He barely started to scream before the cry surged up several octaves, only to be smothered when he yanked her down, burying his face in sweaty cleavage! For one dizzy moment he was smothered in surprisingly soft flesh, rolling up around his cheeks in the freefall, crushing around him as her arms clamped behind his back to trap him there. Then came a terrible crashing, and darkness fell completely.

The next thing he knew, Jefin was arching his back, gasping noisily, coughing up the musk of her body. He was unsteady, and not only because he'd nearly suffocated. Had he blacked out, or just literally been buried so deep in her bust that he'd lost track of the world for a moment? He blinked fitfully, and found his arms were wobbling about because he was grabbing fistfuls of those breasts each easily heavier than his entire body. They shook even more as their owner chuckled, and he nearly fell in again.

"Y'alright?" Her voice was soft now, almost unrecognizable after how she'd been shouting everything up to this point. He steadied himself to look up, and his heart dropped.

Blood blackened the crushed foliage under her, and her head was turned at a strange angle. It was a miracle she could still speak.

Jefin stammered vacantly, staring at her. Why? Why would she do this? For him? "Checka, you...!" He felt his face twisting painfully. "You could have just let them kill us, Checka. We would have come back from that..."

"Nah..." She sighed, which rasped in an unpleasant way. "The boss is already gonna be mad at me, I hadta at least save one life." She paused to draw air again, slowly. "...Will you tell Braf I did-- that I... took my job seriously, saving you?"

The mouse let his eyes fall shut. "...Yes. Of course. I just..." These creatures were all so strange. Still, he couldn't deny the... nobility in her choosing this... "Still, this is too much. Is it really worth... throwing your life away...?"

Her broad mouth crooked in that now familiar smile, though this time her fangs were gleaming green with blood. "Hell you talkin' about?"

He blinked down at her. "...Huh?"

The titanic woman shifted and grunted under him, her body stirring. He couldn't help but wince at the way some of her limbs lay... before they twisted back into proper configuration. "Guess you never met a troll before. Don't you worry about me, sweet thing." She chuckled, though she visibly winced as she reached up and twisted her head back into a healthier angle. Bones popped and crunched as her insides realigned and... her flesh mended in front of his eyes? Gashes closed on their own, leaving blood to dry on unbroken hide all over her. Finally, she smirked up at him, and a broad hand mashed against his back, trapping him against her vast, pillowy bust one more time as she sat up, righting him along with her. "See? I didn't throw anything away." She paused as her top, no doubt shredded across the back, quietly fell loose off her shoulders, now trapped in place only by his body pressed against her front. "...Well. Nothin' that can't be replaced."

She made a vain effort to scoop up the clothing from between them as she eased him off, but the structural integrity of the hide had been questionable at the start of all this. Now it was little more than a few shreds she held over her, and there was clearly no way to salvage it. She sighed and tossed it aside, which prompted Jefin to jerk his face the other way even as he stumbled to get his feet under him. "S-sorry!" He stammered, but she only sounded amused.

"We're stuck together till we're out of this mess, friend. I don't think avertin' your eyes will be very practical for a week's travel or longer." So she said, but when, after a few awkward moments, Jefin brought himself to face her again, embarrassment was written plain across her face. She was trying to put up a front of indifference. He'd just about convinced himself she might not mind so much considering how much skin she'd been showing already, but... perhaps it was just hard to find anything properly covering at her size...?

Still... He'd hardly had a second to actually look at her since he first spotted her as a blur of action by the caravan. Her skin was somewhere between green and blue and gray, and even seemed to shimmer across the colors a little depending on how the light hit her. It wasn't skin as he usually saw on hairless types, but something thicker, a sort of hide almost reminiscent of scales? Her hair was red, a dark red, but it stood out strong against her hide, drawn back in a rough bun, though a lot of it spilled out by now. Her face was broad, rugged, almost squarish. Not long ago, he might have thought her another monster in the crowd, vaguely human-like in appearance but hulking and intimidating with rough edges and jagged lines. But... her smile lit up that face like magic, and even now it faded, he could see the faint smile lines. Her eyes were a deep amber, sharp and clear, thoughtful, searching him right back. Had he ever really looked one of the wild folk in the eyes before?

Her cheeks were... growing darker, and it took him a moment to realize she was... blushing? Jefin looked away quickly, mouth opening to say something, but he couldn't... He just...

"So... what's your name?" She finally asked, with what seemed a great effort. Pushing aside that awkwardness? Or... perhaps because he'd managed to blunder through all this without actually giving his own name when she'd given hers?

He dragged his eyes up to hers, then away again, then finally forced himself to meet her gaze and smile weakly. "...Jefin. I'm... sorry."

Her grin finally returned. Her mouth alone, her bared teeth, should have terrified him, likely would have earlier today, but he was growing to find himself buoyed in this... disaster of a day by her broad, easy smiles. "Hey, it's been a lot. Good to meetcha, Jefin." She held out a hand. He blinked at it, and she paused. "This is how your folk greet each other, right?"

"Ah... yes." Jefin gingerly placed his tiny paw in the center of her broad, callused palm, and tried not to think about how his paw was his livelihood as fingers thicker than his arms closed around it. But... her touch was gentle, even if her "shaking" his paw drew half his body into the motion.

For that matter, the action pushed her body somewhat into motion, too, and he found his eyes drawn before he could think to... The sights. Now bare before him, this close up, her chest was an exercise in perspective. On her enormous frame, her breasts merely seemed overly large. It's a surprise they didn't get in the way of her fighting, now he thought of it. But compared to him, or the women of his folk, they were... well, hard to even compare. They were so absurdly large he might struggle to even accept them as breasts as he knew them-- rather they were large enough that each could be compared to people. Like an egg he could fit inside of, or... or a bed...

But he also knew, from a blur of memory in that mess that was his day up to this moment, that his body certainly... recognized them. He'd felt his own arousal press against her once or twice unbidden in that flailing and crushing, and he could only hope she hadn't noticed.

...Not that he had any such hopes for that here. When she let his paw go, he finally managed to drag his eyes away again from those broad, dark nipples, framed with areolae almost as big as his head. She breathed a soft chuckle.

"One of those, huh? Well... behave yourself, and we'll see." Checka gathered herself, shaking bits of branches off her body.

Frowning, Jefin looked up again. "...Those...?"

"Usually, there seems to be three types of folk I meet from your cities." She grunted, heaving over to get her feet under her. Even if it weren't for the impressive way her breasts heaved about with her every move, just watching this colossal body flex and unfold would have been fascinating. "Those that look down their nose at everyone not born the right species... Those that think other species are... appealing..." She smirked down at him. "Or... ones that are secretly both."

The rodent's flustered smile faltered at that... and then, craning his neck to peer up at her, he finally noticed... the hole they'd made. "Gods... You really must have taken a beating."

She followed his gaze. The forest was a tangle of branches in layers above them, but there was clearly a large hole punched through the canopy where branches, some large enough to be slender trees themselves, had snapped clean off to form the great mat of leaves and brush she'd been lying on. "Yeah, well... I'm good at that." She slapped her naked back, and sure enough, it was an unblemished wall of muscle... with a little pudge. "Had to do something crazy to get those wolves to leave us alone."

"They're gone, then? We're safe?" He'd nearly forgotten they were being chased, with all the... everything.

"Sure. There were plenty of bodies left back at the camp. All we had to do was make it too much trouble to come after us, so they'd settle for the meat they already had."

That... was not itself a pleasant thought. He almost felt guilty having wished nasty things on the noisy folk in their caravan, when now their bodies were being torn apart for meat... Wait. "So... when will they leave, then? How long will they... take? The others will be returning to the caravan once they've found their bearings, yes?"

"Ehh..." The broad woman shrugged. "In country like this, a lot of them probably won't find their way back. We know where it is, but I wouldn't count on them leaving anytime soon, they'll probably be waiting for folks to come back. They might not clear out till another caravan comes through that's strong enough to drive them off. We'd probably be better off just working our way around to the road again and making for safety on foot."

A week or more of travel on foot with no provisions did not sound... pleasant to a man that was used to office work, but he didn't see much in the way of options right now. Perhaps they'd be lucky and find another caravan sooner, but the nature of the lands made fewer, larger caravans best for safety. It might be a day or several weeks before another came through. Whatever the case... they'd have to make their way around the cliff and onto the road again first. For now, they settled on that and set off while they still had daylight.

At least... they started to, but it soon became clear that Checka's long stride was too much for Jefin to keep up with. He tried scurrying on all fours, reluctantly, but it wasn't practical for long. She tried slowing down to practically a shuffle to keep pace with him, but he quickly grew flustered. Finally, with a little embarrassment, the mouse let Checka pick him up so he could wrap his arms around her neck and dangle against her back while she strode across the world. He worried about gripping her neck, but she assured him she could barely feel it.

They'd only been walking some five minutes, though, when Jefin stiffened, ears swiveling about. He pushed himself up, gripping her shoulders, looking around. "Checka... You said the wolves would leave us alone now, right?"

"Well... Probably? They usually raid for food, maybe for toys, and they prefer easy prey. I put up a pretty good fight, and they had plenty of food back there, so it wouldn't really make sense for them to find a safe way all the way down the cliff just to get us. Not unless they reeeally wanted toys, and they thought I looked THAT attractive, I guess."

When she fell silent... a distant thunder of movement became clear in the distance, behind them. Checka listened for a moment... and sighed. "I dunno if that's them, but..." She pulled Jefin snug against her back and started to run. A few moments... and howls rose in the forest behind them, all too close.

"Aww!" Checka slapped a hand to her cheek. "I guess they like strong gals!" Jefin clung to her best he could as she heaved with exertion, quietly reflecting that there was still a great deal he did not understand about these people. She was laughing now, running through the forest, fleeing a pack of werewolves. He knew just about nothing, perhaps.

"So hey!" She called back to him as they broke into a small clearing. "Are you a storyteller? You had a lot of books, right?"

Jefin stammered. Why on Earth was she asking about this now?? "I-- not exactly?"

"You know a lot of stories, though! And you write!" She panted, her shoulders rocking under him as her arms pumped to either side.

"Well, uh, yes."

"That's great! I love stories. They inspire me, y'know? That's why I left home, basically. Wanted to go out there and be in a few myself." They ducked into the shadows of the clearing's far side, and when Jefin glanced back, he could see the creatures just entering the clearing, loping after them. Again, the howl rose.

"O-okay? S-so?"

"So!" She puffed. "Maybe if I get you outta this, it'll be worth writing a story about it! Y'know?"

Jefin buried his face in her sweaty hide, letting her hair brush over his brow. If the wolves got him now, he'd come back somewhere in this vast forest he knew next to nothing about. Alone, with no supplies, clothes, or directions. And he'd probably never see Checka again. "...If we survive this, I'll write you whatever you want." His voice wasn't very loud, but he was just near her ear now.

The troll laughed sparsely. "Great! So, how's the story go next, then?"

He pulled himself up a little. "Huh?"

"Stranded far from home, the two of them fled through the forest! What do they do to survive?"

Jefin glanced back. Dark shapes loomed between the trunks behind them. "Um... the mighty heroine runs faster and further than the wolves possibly could?"

The broad head before him shook, slapping him with her bun. "Sorry, bud. There's no way I'm outrunning all of them, for speed or distance. Besides, it's probably just a matter of time before we run into something else in these woods moving like this, and then we might be right screwed."

"Well, uh..." He turned the idea over in his head. "What if we... found a big, nasty thing that could attack the wolves for us?"

"No way to really find one when we want it. Sides, what if it just attacks us, too?"

Frowning, Jefin gripped her shoulders and tried to straighten and clear his head. "Well... Maybe the... powerful warrior challenged the leader of the pack, and when their strongest was beaten, the wolves scattered?" He'd read a story like that somewhere, right?

She laughed. "Alright! Let's give it a shot!" She turned and leapt suddenly, and Jefin had to scrabble to keep a hold on her as she tackled a broad tree trunk and started climbing up it! In seconds, the wolves were gathering below, but Checka quickly mounted a thick branch overlooking the horde, setting the dizzy mouse down beside her.

"I..." Swallowing, Jefin tried to catch his breath. "Will that... actually work?"

The troll paused, and blinked down at him a moment in surprise. Then she grinned. "One way to find out!" She turned her fearsome smile on the monsters below, braced herself against another branch above, and suddenly thundered out a terrible roar! Jefin slapped his paws over his ears as the tree vibrated under them with her guttural challenge.

The ruckus of growls and barks below was suddenly gone, and dozens of gleaming eyes stared up at them as silence descended following the lingering echo of Checka's roar. For a moment, Jefin was sure they were about to swarm up the trees and surround them, but... their eyes began to turn away, toward one wolf at the center of the pack, one of the largest and most rugged beasts. Its fur was black with a few gleaming streaks of silver here and there, its fangs jutting out of its mouth at wide angles much like Checka's. A monster among monsters. Soon, this one alone locked eyes with Checka.

The troll chuckled darkly. "Here goes." With that, she launched herself off the branch, setting the entire tree shaking so much Jefin found himself hanging from the branch by his claws, still craning his neck to stare after her as she sailed through the air, straight at the leader of the werewolves!

The single moment of that great, black monster rearing, claws and fangs rising in greeting as Checka's feet and fists descended on him, seemed to linger in Jefin's vision-- as the two crashed in a blur of furious violence! One moment Checka had her body wrapped halfway around the monster's, pulling and twisting at his arm to restrain him; the next, she was on her back, her fist wrapped around the monster's snout as he tried to bury his fangs in her neck; then the beast was hurtling through the air, physically launched by a punch Jefin hadn't even seen land!

He'd never have guessed she could move so quickly, but it was clear to the mouse now that... they really did live in an entire world he could not begin to penetrate. He would die instantly in such a fight, even if he had the strength or skill to defend himself. Was this how real fighting was done? She wasn't even taunting the beast like she had with the others. Had that been a gambit to draw attention, or... was she determined to beat the best of them without any tricks? Perhaps that would be the only way this victory would mean anything...! Heart in his throat, Jefin struggled to catch every moment as best he could. She was an incredible fighter, he'd already seen that, but had he asked too much of her? Had he asked her to get herself killed??

Either he was getting better at following their movements now, or... they were slowing down. Checka launched herself backward, but still a wide sweep of the wolf's claws sliced across her belly and breasts. She poured a flurry of blows into the wolf's gut, driving him up into the air! The two tangled in a heap, the beast's fangs sinking into her calf, but her entire body twisted, and with a dull crunch, the beast's arm went limp! He roared, tearing a chunk out of her as he reared back, and they parted, swinging, spinning, spraying blood and dust across the ground. The wolf's left arm swung useless at his side, but Checka couldn't move from her spot any longer.

The beast started to circle her rapidly, launching endless feints, trying to get at her weak side as she turned on her good leg. Her eyes were bloodshot, her muscles swelling with veins flaring under her hide as she snatched rapidly at his attacks, trying to get a good grip on him just one more time. A manic grin was plastered across her face, and terror gripped at Jefin's heart just looking at her, though he did not know if he was terrified of her or for her. The other wolves had quickly retreated to form a circle, at first pulling out wider and wider as the fight had sprawled out, but now they were drawing closer again, step by step. This was the end.

And for one moment, the great, terrible black wolf stopped, just outside her reach. He puffed and snarled, flexing the claws of his remaining fist, working his jaw. His toes stretched, and flexed, digging into the earth. Then he was a blur, low to the ground, and though Checka swung, her good leg swept out from under her! The wolf loomed over her as she fell, his fangs a silver streak arcing in at her neck!

And for one second, they held each other like lovers, kissing.

Then her head wrenched to one side.

The wolf gurgled, quivering, but a green-gray arm seized his before he could flail at her, and she twisted in closer, burying her face in the wolf's neck. The leader of the pack's final snarl ended in a wet rasp.

Jefin glimpsed the dead wolf's mouth as it rolled away from her. Its lower teeth were shattered, and its mouth hung open far too wide. Slowly, Checka pushed to her feet, panting, flicking red from her broad, manic grin as she turned to meet the eyes of every wolf in the circle around her, one by one. She tested her gored leg, stomped a few times, and stood proud on both feet. The silence was complete.

She drew a long breath, swelling with this moment of terrible victory... and her entire body flexed with the effort of a single, ear-shattering roar, filling the hollow under the treetops such that her fury, her triumph, seemed to echo from every direction, to hammer down from the sky above and the earth below!

Jefin fell out of the tree, unnoticed.

But the wolves did not scatter. They did not flee. They stared at her. Jefin dragged himself up, barely holding himself together but too afraid for the troll. What did they do now?? Checka finally spotted him through the crowd, and she offered him a... what might have been an apologetic smile.

Then, one of the wolves howled. Another joined it. Suddenly, all of them were howling, a sound just about as deafening as her roar had been! The mouse was at the end of his rope, gripping his ears tightly, but when he saw how confused the troll looked, he gave up on ever hearing again and gestured wildly to her. It was just a guess, but it was all he had!

Checka took his signal, reared back, and roared out again, together with the pack! Their cries surely carried for miles, and put a deep, bitter dread in the heart of just about any creature that heard. A new, terrifying pack had been formed.

It was a long time before Jefin saw a city again. A long, long time. He grumbled about it sometimes, but Checka just grinned. He'd had his chances, but something always came up. Keeping a whole pack happy and out of trouble was hard work, after all, and Checka's solutions tended to lack... finesse. It certainly wasn't where Jefin had expected life to take him, of course, but... things change.