Chivalry Isn't Dead | A Clawtie Fanfiction

• Oh Accused--Walk Upon the Path Undeserved •

Claw itched from the soggy tomato spoils that stuck behind his ear. The scorching heat of the high noon sun made it worse for his frizzy fur, and his throat was parched despite going around merely half of the kingdom-a walk of shame he didn't deserve. Shackles limited his movements to walking steps, for running would force him down on the ground. Even if it didn't, the collar around his neck, held by the leader of a whole squad of knights, bore suppression in his head.

"The Princess of Barkingburg wouldn't be so cruel to adhere to the need of this misery. I bet The Duke had fun convincing her to make this happen."

"Oh, he did, and I planned for your stage myself, mon ami."

The shadow shape beside him was recognizable enough. Claw lunged at him with his full weight, growling on his two hind legs as he was inches away from reaching the shepherd. Those metal restraints did him dirty. Chase just smiled at him.

"You see, everyone? Even in his ending hours, Claw remains a savage. Do you think he deserves mercy?"

The responses from the mass of people on the sidelines were expected. The Duke's words were the most influential as he was the voice of their ruler, who was waiting at the end of the walk.

"Curse you, Chase. You're alive because of me, how could you do this? I thought we were friends!"

"Didn't you say we were in another life? Well, that statement holds true, for survival is finding a place alongside the powerful, not those compassionate delusionals."

Air was removed from Claw for a second just from that small pull of his chains. He returned to his position, on all fours, and continued to lead the party to his place of execution. However, Chase threaded right beside him, close enough that Claw could bite his face off if he wanted to, and he was considering on doing just that.

"I want to attack you right now." He was honest, only for Chase to laugh heartily.

"What's stopping you then? Now that you have a clear distance to reach me, what's holding you back?"

Knights behind them warned Chase to stay away, saying that Claw was ready to pounce, yet he remained by his side as if mocking him, angering him to do something about it. Or perhaps something much more diabolical-show everyone how much of a criminal he really was, well he wasn't. Despite his show earlier, he wouldn't have gone to hurt Chase, but merely use him to try and escape. Although, he was absolutely certain that was an impossibility with what the corrupt police pup was capable of.

"Yeah, corrupt," Claw muttered underneath his breath, turning his head to the opposite side of the shepherd. "What's holding me back is the thought of Sweetie."

"Aww, you really do care. Don't worry, I'll make sure she's happy just for you-"

"No, it's not like that." Claw sighed. "If you were willing to hurt Sweetie to have your way with her when everything is over, why would you risk your life to protect her before?"

Chase raised a brow. "Are you a wafflehead? If anything major happened to Sweetie then I wouldn't be able to have her. It's a simple one-plus-one question."

"You're saying you would jump into the line of fire, no pun intended, without assurance of your own survival just because you want Sweetie to be yours? Wouldn't that be missing the point of your goal? You'd be one obsessed pup, but even the obsessed could lose interest when life is the price."

The two went dead silent. Claw had forgotten about the fruits and objects thrown at him until an orange hit him right on the forehead, causing him to growl at the person who bullseye-d. Turning his head back to the other pup, the presence slowly faded back to behind him, leaving him aching for an answer in a yes or no, or rather, a 'simple one-plus-one' question.