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Tamiya hissed with pain and reared her now bloodied teeth to the sky. She took a shuddering breath and looked into the face of Odette. She was screaming, pleading, foolishly. It was not her time to die – had she more knowledge she would know that. The fact that she didn’t understand made Tamiya even more furious, and blinded with vigor she turned to her lusus.

He was atop Swanmom, head flopped over to look upside down and backwards at his charge. There was a moment between them, and Tamiya blinked. Momentarily, her fury dissolved. He never waited to finish his prey. He was waiting for her. Tamiya sucked in a breath and straightened in front of her most revered father. She had finally earned his respect. Tamiya was now the head of her family – the guardian’s duties had been passed to her. With her power bubbling up inside of her, and suddenly interrupted with a desperate scream from Odette, Tamiya spoke up.

“End it.” She commanded. Odette would be born anew, and so would Tamiya. It would be a beautiful moment that the two could share. Tamiya felt rough sensations of kicking on her legs and hissed back into real time, snapping her teeth at Odette. The redblood was, expectedly, putting up a fight.

Meanwhile, Kabukidad obeyed the kill command. Already having crushed Swanmom, he adjusted his position to crouch hungrily at her side. Wheezing honks released automatically as he lifted off of her. She shriveled as quietly as she lived, and Kabukidad batted at her wing with his paw before assuming a four-legged position. Kabukidad’s skin rustled. He dropped to his back knees and braced his torso with his forelimbs, as though he had the anatomy to perform a push-up. His head lolled lazily on its base, and soon the vented hole in his neck made contact with the lusus. He convulsed. Rolling his body forward, Kabukidad scooped up the swan, dragging his loose body across the ground. His head laid flat against the dirt for a moment while he returned his legs to a squat, and suddenly lashed his torso upward towards the two. There was a burst of red-speckled feathers. The last sight of Swanmom slid visibly underneath Kabukidad’s stomach. A deep red stain followed. Tracing from the lusus’ neck vent to his swollen stomach, a trail appeared and then faded again. The fox lusus flopped about, mitts padding the ground frantically. A cacophony of hissing noises accompanied his twitching, and he reared up backwards and slammed into the ground in a stupor. His growl alternated with squeaks, and soon he quivered and released a horrific belching honk. Honk. Honk.

Kabukidad, limp and broken on the ground like a ragdoll, had delivered her final swansong. His limbs moved one at a time to return him to crawling position. He loped up a tree, disinterested, while Tamiya released her patient. Odette was cured.

Word traveled fast between the rebels. It wasn't a tale of sorrow for Odette, but of warning. There's some sort of mad purple blood out there. Probably one of the juggulator wannabes. Anyway, I guess it demolished this red blood's lusus. She's at base now. Milieu had no reason to believe that this redblood was her redblood, but she couldn't help imagining the worse. It had been some time since Vremea of Odette had spoken. If they were in danger.. If they were hurt... Who would know? A loyalist could smash their radio, or the radio could get waterclogged. They could be bound and gagged. So many awful situations floated in the tealblood's thinkpan and made it spin.

Swallowing down the bile that those dark thoughts brought, Milieu fled to the wooded sanctuary. Upon arriving, it was obvious where this redblood victim was staying. Most of the trolls, there either to rest or practice their skills, were side eyeing the area with a mix of pity and hate. Milieu couldn't make out the figure from the distance. Sighing, she steeled herself for the worst and began to walk. Each step made her pump biscuit squeeze tighter.

When Milieu finally broke the blockade of bodies, her pump biscuit stopped all together. Odette. It was Odette. Milieu's eyes widened as she covered her mouth with both hands. Teal tears began to well in her lids. Without a second thought, the little troll ran to her friend. Falling to her knees, she grasped Odette for a rough hug, her shoulder shaking with sobs.