Rise of Venus

Pantherilla

How in the world were these damn things so hard to grow? Venus did not know how the humans did it successfully on mass, there wouldn't even be a market for them here if the prince didn't say he liked them that one time at least seven years ago. Giving up and kicking a tiny green watermelon to the side, they tasted gross anyway, like lightly flavoured water. He was already dreading the day he would have to go out and pick them all on his own, he wasn't even getting paid.

Granted it was his parents that were making him work, and he'd lived in their house for free since he first stumbled onto their porch as a young child, but still, they shouldn't be able to just make him work right? He could do something else on the farm that didn't involve the hellish fruits or tending to the chickens, which were also only there because Cymbeline had a chicken nugget for his seventeenth birthday and said they were 'okay.' Not that Venus would remember that off of the top of his head under any other circumstance.

Now that he thinks about it, the watermelons and the chickens were equally bad, he wanted to be like normal young adults and laze around or whatever they did. Work office jobs? There weren't any of those around. People bending to his every will would be nice right about now. He kicked the watermelon again for good measure and began his short walk to the barn where he would feed the pantherillas, those animals were tiny and easy to feed, he would have to convince dad to let him look after those instead.

Arriving at the barn and ducking his head so he didn't whack it on a broken piece of the door, just on the left side there were the large buckets of feed he would have to give them before they mauled him with their surprisingly sharp teeth. At least the parts that weren't being bitten off would feel the softness of their grey fur. The buckets were easy enough to lift and carry on his own so he didn't take a second look at the cart that was usually used before once again walking out of the barn.

The Pantherillas were in a medium sized enclosure he could already see them pushing up against the metal fence with their horns, their grey bodies with little spots, and dark lines under their beady little black eyes making them look tired all the time. Venus moved quicker, last time he took too long they ate their way through the fence and was only able to get them back in by holding their food as they viciously ate it and him while his dad repaired the fence. He had bites and scratches on his hands for over two weeks, his dad called it a necessary experience but he would have been more happy without it. Even though the fence is made out of stronger material now he still doesn't trust them.

He walked to the side of the enclosure, the little beasts following along from the inside as he climbed a small wooden platform to dump the food into the feeder they installed when they learned pantherillas were vicious, the hard way may he add. Once he was done pouring the first bucket of feed into the feeder he felt the familiar feeling of tiny teeth on his leg. One of the damned things escaped. He didn't even have to look down to know, there weren't any others and there was no hole in the fence, how it got out in the first place was beyond him. Unless it was a wild pantherilla, then they had a problem on their hands, if there's one wild pantherilla there's at least ten more hiding nearby. He tried picking it off with his hands but it only dug in with its teeth harder. Venus almost thought it was cute, but it became annoying faster.

Trying his best not to hurt the little thing he sat down on one of the steps carefully and tried to pull it off once again, though like he expected it didn't work so he had to move to plan B, breathing hot air on it until it let go. He would have to heat up his breath a considerable amount, and hope he didn't set it on fire, but he was too busy for this now.

It didn't take too long to get it to come off after his breath was hot enough to create sparks. One of very few perks of being a dragon shifter. He picked up the pantherilla under its stubby little arms and looked it in the eyes while it tried wiggling to escape.