Grandeur Defector

LV

"Ah... that's better."
The bear stretched wide, the scabs on his back peeling away to scars, and although they would never fully fade, his skin looked healthy again. He rolled his right shoulder and closed his eyes, seemingly taking in the feeling.
Truffles watched him with a slight smile; it was lunchtime, right before their meals were to be served, and even he was hungry.
I haven't ate a proper portion in a few days. I think I'll try again today.

Flippy stretched his other shoulder, his uniform stretching with each movement by the bulk it covered. His two Corporal stripes stood out against the green camouflage, a loud bright orange in color. He heard a popping noise as he watched his partner move his neck to the side. Something behind him moved, and as his eyes shifted to see what was on the other side of the bear, he realized Warren was walking towards them. Truffles dropped his smile quickly and looked away, unsure.
Is it obvious? Have we been caught for being too friendly towards each other in the open?

Warren stopped until he stood next to Flippy.
"Corporal Ursidae," he commanded, "You're needed in operations. We're got some stuff to discuss."

Flippy turned around, clearly surprised to have been approached suddenly. He gave Warren a look of hesitancy, one of distrusting; then, he nodded and followed behind Warren, walking off with the wolf without saying goodbye or looking back. Truffles sat alone, wondering what the sudden summoning was required for and it's reason.
Something must be going on. I wish that my country would surrender, and this war would be finished. We would all go home; it would be over.
I'm their only royal left.
But even if I ascended the throne officially, they wouldn't listen to me. They all despise me, and they're after my head for allowing the death of my uncle to happen. Perhaps they blame me for this war in the first place. Would I even make it to the palace without getting shot?
Guilt stabbed him. The yearn for the war to be over with was overwhelming, power in his hands; and yet he had no control, nothing that would work with him.
Besides Animalia, who took me in. What if... what if we hit Corbetti City?

Corbetti City, the capital of The Tiger Nation.
It had fortified walls that were dozens of feet thick and hundreds of miles long. There were over 5 million residents living in the city, all shades of blue fur or for rare mutated exceptions, black. Many of them lived in houses no larger than one room each, metal roofs, neighborhoods condensed. It was massive, overcrowded... and the palace was in the center of it all, watching its citizens with no regard to them. Outside the city was mountainous, the front gate in a valley that had no trees nor obstacles.
That's... that's it: the front gates. If Animalia took the fight to the High Stripes, they'll have no choice but to surrender. It's risky, with so many lives just within those walls... so what if we kept it outside of the city gates instead? We'd need a way to lure out the militia, unless... their only royal is the said lure?

Truffles extended a claw and tapped it against the "cafeteria" table he was sitting at, lost in thought.
But it's far from here, at least one hundred miles. The terrain would be a challenge, and we'd get resistance along the way. Animalia has been lying in wait for the tiger forces to come to them as a sign of mercy, but it's wasting time.

He felt a tap on his shoulder, and as he looked up, Flippy stared down at him with an expression of shock.
"Hey, so! You're not gonna fucking believe this."

...
They walked past the dumping river, the scent of the decay no longer striking his nose as harshly as it once did. He'd gotten used to the particular scent of decay; what he wasn't used to was Flippy dragging him out into the woods to talk. He landed on the other side of the river with ease, tail tip dipping too far down and hitting the water. Truffles groaned in disgust, grabbing his fur with both arms and trying to get rid of the pungent, dirty water off of his tail tip. He licked his hand and tried to smooth each hair out, feeling the soggy fur slump from the weight of water. His partner watched him, antsy.
"Sorry, I know I'm dragging you out here but I NEED to talk to you alone."