The Appalled One (On Hiatus)

10

Arachnid had soon returned to the den, in control of Scorpion of course, with the body of an elk. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't able to have fun like last time, since Scorpion kept stopping him. Soon enough, Arachnid gave Scorpion full control again, Scorpion's body shrinking down to turn him back into a pup. It had taken a while for the cubs to get used to their,, unique phenomenon. At the moment, none of that mattered. Scorpion only cared that the cubs would have something to eat. With a bit of stumbling, Scorpion dragged the corpse towards the cubs, panting a bit.

"Here you go. I'm sure within these weeks, you guys probably must've been weened by now. I'm quite sure you'll be able to eat meat by now." Scorpion chuckled nervously, the cubs bounding over towards him. The eldest male batted at the elk's head, chuckling. He bit off a few pieces, throwing them at his siblings. The other cubs made a noise of disgust, shaking the pieces off of them. "Hey, don't do that. You mustn't play with your food." Scorpion huffed, nudging the cub away. The cub snorted, not seeming to care for his word as he did it again, tackling one of his younger brothers and biting him "playfully". Scorpion tried to make the cub stop, but it seemed as if he wouldn't be listening to him any time soon. Scorpion muttered a few words of protest, Arachnid groaning as he sighed, taking control once again.

"Lucifer, that's enough. Leave your brother alone."  "Scorpion" stated, his voice being deeper given the fact that Arachnid now had the reins. Lucifer immediately stopped, turning towards "Scorpion" and nodding, getting off and padding towards him, brushing up against him and purring.  Once Scorpion got control, he found it a tad bit mediocre that of course the misbehaving cub only listened to Arachnid. While the cubs were under their shared care, a striking thought appeared in Scorpion's mind, but he was a bit nervous about asking the question to Arachnid. Then again, he doubted it could be true anyways, considering Arachnid's nature. 

In the meantime, Scorpion hesitantly ate a bit of the elk as well, his body shuddering as he felt the meat go down his esophagus. The whole time, Arachnid was staring at him, in means that his tail was pointing directly at him. Scorpion kept his gaze away, his words getting stuck in his throat. The cubs ran outside the den, wanting to get a bit of fresh air. Scorpion cleaned up the den a bit, his tail flicking as he kept watch of the cubs from the corner of his eye. He dragged the elk deeper into the cave, deciding to save the leftovers for a different time. Arachnid never ceased his immense staring at Scorpion, obviously knowing that something was on the kid's mind.  

"Alright, what is it? You know you can't hide anything well enough, so just spit it out."  Arachnid stated, scoffing slightly. Scorpion rapidly shook his head, refusing to ask the question. Arachnid snarled, causing Scorpion to flinch. He forgot that a simple refusal tended to make Arachnid snap, so he sighed heavily, about to ask the question before his ears perked upon hearing the cubs let out mewls of pain and fear. Scorpion ran to go get them, but halted in his tracks when he saw an all too familiar face; his father's. His father was accompanied by a few hunter wolves, the lot looking at the cubs and snickering. 

"My my, what a catch we have made. No sign of the mother, so this'll be quite a meal, ey boys?" Faolan stated cynically, his teeth baring fiercely. Lucifer stepped up, his fur bristling as he stood protectively in front of his siblings, letting out a low and scratchy noise which was his attempt of a roar. The wolves laughed, Faolan stepping up and pinning Lucifer with just a singular paw. "Your attempt of being bold is cute, but unfortunately it isn't going to change your fate any time sooner." Lucifer snapped at his paw, growling and hissing, trying to get out of his grasp. Faolan snapped as well, purposely missing but it seemed to scare Lucifer, causing him to mewl for help. Faolan was about to bite Lucifer in his way of showing a merciful death, before a colossal wolf stepped towards them, a growl being heard every time the wolf opened their jaws. A makeshift cloak made out of moss covered their body. 

"Trying to feast on a litter of  poor, defenseless cubs? What kind of a monster do you think you are?"  The wolf stated, Faolan turning and baring his teeth. However, he flinched a bit upon taking in the size of the wolf. The colossal wolf stood in front of the cubs, the shadow of their eyes piercing through the wolves. Faolan shook his head, baring his teeth as well and snarling.

"Who do you think you are? You should never disrupt a pack when they have caught a feast. It's disrespectful and it'll cause you a lot of trouble." Faolan stepped up, his fur bristling. The colossal wolf only laughed, a loud and powerful growl escaping their throat as they snickered, their jaws clasping the mossy cloak. 

"Well, there's one thing you should know about me, Faolan."  The wolf discarded the cloak, an extremely dark raspberry pelt being shown along with slashes of black sprayed across it. The wolf had a mixture of purple and red in their eyes, their fangs peeking out of their maw. The cubs immediately recognized who the wolf was, mewling in triumph lowly. The wolf had horns sprouting out from their head, a bit of black hair covering the left side of their face. Their mouth opened widely, their bottom jaw splitting into two as they spoke once again. "Is that I never care for the rules as much as you imply them."  The wolf smiled evilly, their chest opening as rows of teeth were shown, causing Faolan and the rest of the wolves' jaws to drop as they immediately scurried away, their tails going between their legs. The wolf's chest closed, black fur immediately covering the body as Scorpion emerged again, blinking and shaking his fur. The cubs ran up to him, mewling and purring loudly. Scorpion felt a bit dizzy, shaking his head. Whatever Arachnid had done, sure tired both of them out. The question which Scorpion had earlier had dissipated, but eventually he would have the question once again. The lot of them returned to the den, Scorpion having a bit of a headache. Arachnid sighed, instructing Scorpion to lay down. 

"Take it easy, I know that whole gist was tiring, but don't force yourself too much."  Arachnid stated somewhat softly, flashbacks hitting him over and over again. 

---

"Arachnid, you must keep your head up and focus if you want to continue thriving in these lands." Kirill stated, his elongated stinger adjusting Arachnid's form. Arachnid muttered in protest, the right side of his face being bandaged with moss due to his father's last outburst. 

"Must we do this over and over again dad? I understand that you're a warlord and all, but is this training neces-" Upon seeing the vicious glare that his father gave him, he immediately swallowed his words and turned away. Arachnid kept stumbling a bit, his scorpion legs trying so hard to keep him elevated. Kirill sighed heavily, his tail tripping Arachnid as he grumbled. A few minutes later, Arachnid was pinned to the ground, his father's teeth tearing into his skin a bit as he was thrown to the wall, Kirill snarling as he turned towards the entrance of the den and looking back to Arachnid's bleeding form. 

"We'll pick this up tomorrow. Don't dissapoint me like you did today." 

---

"Arachnid, can you hear me?" Scorpion's voice vibrated through Arachnid's mind, the cubs staring at Scorpion's tail as well. Scorpion nudged his tail, his tail flicking as it turned away. 

The cubs went over to their corner in the den, curling up and falling asleep in a bunch. Scorpion looked over towards the cubs, sighing as he stepped outside, returning with bushels of moss and covering the entrance of the den. He wanted to make sure that nothing would happen again and so that he wouldn't have to endure more headaches whenever Arachnid did whatever he did earlier. Scorpion curled up, looking over at his tail and sighing. 

"I'm not sure if you're mad or something, but whatever it is, I hope you feel better. And uh,, thanks for helping me out with the situation and keeping my identity somewhat hidden." Scorpion mumbled, turning away and resting his head on his paws before falling asleep as well. 

Deep within the void, Arachnid was sitting down, staring at Scorpion's resting body and shaking his head. He stood up, turning towards the gap in which his father resided and walking towards it,  looking back at Scorpion and feeling a bit of deja vu, his tail twitching. 

"..."

"Don't thank me. It isn't my right to have appreciation."