Beauties and Beasts

Chapter 68: brought to you by shepherds

BONUS (Orson is a favorite, so here's his adventure to his village with the boys.)

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"Gods. Be. Damned. We just left her, boys, do you have to cry like that?" The twins hadn't stopped bleating for their mother since she disappeared back into the tiger castle. Orson hid in the forest to make sure she didn't do anything stupid, but she surprisingly went inside. He hoped for a hot bath, although he didn't trust any of those scroungy meat-eaters to know how to cool the water properly. She'd be covered in half-healed burns by the time he got back and need some soothing balm. He thought about how happy the relief would make her and smiled to himself. He enjoyed antagonizing her because she'd smile in relief when it was over, or when she'd score a point. Her satisfied smirk was one of his favorite parts about his feisty female.

He knocked his stick against the ground harshly. "Stay away from the forest! I'm not telling you again!" The boys should have known he'd be mean, even bordering on cruel, especially with their mother gone. He'd tried explaining their journey to them multiple times, but the old saying was true; 'A sheep's head is stone'. He felt it particularly fitting in this case. Without Neara slowing them down, they were able to make great time. He looked at the map in his pocket and frowned. The road would be safer, but the mountain pass would let him get home to Neara faster...

So by noon, they were heading towards the still-frosted peaks of the Camel Humps. He thought it a ridiculous name since camel beastmen had been extinct since who knows when; the Scorpion beastman waged a war and drove out most other creatures in the desert. He threw rocks ahead of the boys to get their attention. They turned with barely-concealed curiosity. When he gestured to the small clearing, they ran ahead of him and were instantly captured by the snake beastmen hiding in the trees.

The beastman cackled evilly, almost like he thought he was a threat, and licked his lips. "It's been a long time since I've had mutton."

Orson walked slowly into the clearing, his hands up. "Look, I just want my sons back. Put them down please."

"Ha! Their father here to save the day! How hilarious."

"I know you're not venomous; the green stripes on your tail mean you're just a mouse-chaser, almost a non-threat, like me. I'm not a threat. My boys aren't threats. I know you've never eaten mutton a day in your life, so please put them down and let's talk."

"You... What? You couldn't possibly... I don't..." The beastman spun to look at his tail as if betrayed.

Orson ran forward and kicked the snake's throat, his heels linked around the snake's elbow to pressure him into dropping the boys. It worked, as he knew it would, because the poor thing only had 1 stripe.

The snake flashed his teeth in anger. "Impudent prey!"

"Not to be picky, because the gods know I'm a pretty laid back guy, but that's considered rude." Orson brushed the grass from his kilt and glared at the snake, chest thrust out to look bigger than his bony frame allowed.

"Impudent? I'm surprised a stone-head like you knows the meaning of that word!"

"No no, I'm not insulting your intelligence, so please don't go after mine." He looked at the sun. This fight was taking too long. "How about I help you catch some mice and we call it a day?"

"This is my territory; I am the one who says who leaves and who goes!" He roared and darted forward, intent on killing the sheep.

Orson reached out his hands, caught the beastman, and spun him into a knot, the teeth inches from biting its own tail. The beast form was remarkably small, although he wasn't surprised since this sort of bravado only happened with ferals who were newly transformed. "You shouldn't eat other beastmen. You never know if they're going to outsmart you or not."