Beauties and Beasts

Chapter 21: brought to you by a wanna-be ninja

Are we the prey? NO we are the hunter--*cue epic guitar and orchestra composition with Japanese choir trying to sing in German* JEAGER!!!

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The sunlight flashed on the surface of the water and fish swam hungrily beneath. They gathered around the debris of their comrades, greedily sucking up the bits and pieces dropped in front of them. Neara continued cleaning the fish just for something to do. If she went inside, she'd have to hear Orson and Winston sniping at each other. Or Winston would be naked and as attractive as he was, the giant thumb in a turtleneck the size of... she shook her head. It wasn't something she wanted to dwell on. Noticing the stickiness of dried blood on her hands, she grimaced and again wished for soap. Her fingers entered the chilly water and she gasped at the silver eyes below them.

Winston rose from the water slightly, the tip of his chin still submerged.

"What the hell... what are you doing? You're supposed to be inside!" Neara whispered as fiercely as she could.

He held up a waterlogged animal of some kind. "I wanted to go hunting. Don't worry, they can't track my scent in the water."

"That's not the...ugh." She rolled her eyes and looked around. The streets and riverbanks were empty. "Hurry up and go in..." and then realized she was speaking to an empty river. A quick scan revealed nothing. Where had he gone?

"What the fu..." Orson's cry sounded muffled. Found him.

Neara ran to the house, fish slapping against her leg as she burst through the door. Winston's hands wrapped around Orson's mouth and arms, effectively pinning him to his own body. Orson's eyes did the screaming for him. "Winston? Put him down!"

Orson flexed his arms and popped out of his grip. He walked back to the stone tub and flared at Winston. "You couldn't have knocked, you ignorant animal?"

"I needed to get inside undetected." Winston crouched in the corner and skinned the animal carcass.

"Well, I definitely detected you. Especially when you wrapped those bloody paws around my face!" Orson grabbed a handful of water and scrubbed furiously at himself. "Can't even go outside without getting attacked..."

Neara approaches him, laid her hand on his arm, and gently pulled until he faced her. "Nobody can know Winston is here yet. The Ape King tried to kill him and the wolf beastmen are still looking for him."

"The Sheep and Ape Clans are allies. Why would I help him?" But his voice held no bluster and it seemed he was going through the motions rather than actually protesting, a way to assuage his guilt.

"Please?" Her eyes pleaded with his, brown on green, until he looked down and sighed heavily.

"Look, I'm just a simple doctor; I don't want any trouble. And it looks like you need a powerful protector anyway, so I won't say anything."

Her smile almost broke his gruff "Thank you. I really appreciate this." When he said nothing, she looked at the water in the tub, trying to see if anything floated. "Has anyone used this water yet?"

"No." Winston rumbled from the corner.

"Then is it alright if I use it for the fish?"

Orson nodded and kept his eyes on his fingers, lowered between his knees. Despite them crouching next to each other, he didn't look her in the eye.

"Could you help me move the tub and put this flat stone on?" She hates asking for help, but she couldn't exactly move a giant boiling rock by herself.