Beauties and Beasts

Chapter 90: brought to you by flashbacks

We interrupt this program to give you--COURAGE! The cowardly dog!...Actually, no. It's a bagel with strawberry cream and two children who get up way too freaking early in the morning. I don't wanna go to the dentist...

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"It's ok, lamb, I'll be back soon." His mom seemed scared... why was she scared if she was going to be back soon? And why did the beastman beside her look so happy about it?

"Mom? Why can't I go with you?" Orson tried to buck her with his head, but she pulled away, her face wrinkled in sadness, an expression he hadn't seen since he'd fallen into the pit last week. The memory scared him as much as the beastman did.

"Stay here, lamb." His dad wrapped strong arms around his fluffy coat. Orson struggled, but his useless legs couldn't fight the power of skin. One day, he'd transform, and show everyone how strong he could be!

"Mom!" He screamed after her, but she wouldn't turn around, wouldn't even look at him. With a wild shriek, he tore from his dad's arms and launched himself at the beastman. Mom hadn't been sad until he showed up, so Orson was going to stomp him like a twig. The smell of dead grass and mice wafted from him like a thick cloud and Orson plunged headlong into it.

The beastman looked down and shoved the little warrior away. "I'll kill him if he doesn't leave us alone," he growled.

Orson thought it was a weird way to address an opponent, but didn't back down. "I'll kill you if you don't let my mom go!" he bellowed and launched himself at the perpetrator again.

This time, caught off guard, the beastman and lamb tumbled down the short grassy slope. Orson, used to this sort of thing, used the inertia to smash his foreleg into the beastman's throat. The beastman let out a gurgle of defeat, but didn't seem to accept he was outmatched. He swung at the warrior again, who jumped off and circled around, keeping his head low to the ground in a fighting stance. No one could challenge the mighty Orson without crying to their moms! He'd done it to all his friends, and he would do it to this beastman too.

"That's it," the beastman muttered, and coughed, holding a hand to his probably-permanently damaged throat. He lunged for Orson, who leapt between his legs and smashed his head against the assailant's knee, which proved harder than he'd thought. Dazed, he wobbled around, trying to make the world stop spitting dandelion fluff.

"Please, leave him alone!" It sounded like his mom. He called for her as he turned around and the beastman shoved him aside.

"I'll save you!" Orson gathered his strength and lunged towards the beastman, pride swelling in his chest. This was his best move! He never lost when he pulled this out. A thick scorpion tail whipped out of nowhere and something sharp punctured his head, slashed him open from top to bottom. Too stunned to scream, he fell into the soft grass, face-first, and felt the dandelion flowers fill his ears.

"Gods-dammit..." He wiped his face and unconsciously rubbed at his head where the deep scar bit into his scalp. His thick hair barely covered the mark of his failure and he touched it again just to make sure it wasn't out of place. He cleared the patch around their old home once again, pulling the grass and weeds, leaving the single blue flower in the middle, ramrod straight and reaching for the sky. He kept it there for her; she liked beautiful things. He couldn't believe his dad refused to weed out this place... he really needed to come back more often. Good thing the flower regrew every spring...

The bleating of his lambs on the next hill over caught his ear and he listened carefully. They seemed to be in trouble: an elderly Sheep scolding them for knocking over a stone. Must be one of the stones for the fence. His troubled heart stifled the smile that swam to his lips. "Stone-heads," he whispered affectionately. They'd been here a few weeks already... all right, a lie to soothe himself, they'd been here exactly forty-two days and seven hours; at least, it'd been that long since he'd last seen Neara. He couldn't leave yet, not with his dad depending on him to do his share of the first rice harvest. Once that was over though...