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How Not To Become Lunch: 96 - Be Helpful
Ozzy stepped steadily through the halls, wand in hand. There was a weight in his expression, and a focus too. His heart was beating a little too hard, his breath a little too firm; he was working to keep his feelings under control as he finally set eyes on her: Fiona.
She was a good distance ahead, walking away from him, not near enough to notice him yet. He did his best not to completely let his guard down- after all, she was far from the only predator around- but he couldn’t help his gaze locking as his steps quickened.
He hadn’t perfected any spells or potions that could help his heart rate, so he tried for what he could control: his breathing. Slower, deeper. He consciously felt the little details of the wood pressed against his fingers; a familiar comfort for any mage. He couldn’t go losing it now. He’d need to hold himself together for this, if he was finally going to face her.
Ozzy saw he was gaining. Nerves and conflicting emotions threatened to spike, but he pushed through it, almost physically, pumping his legs harder to force the gap closed.
This was it. It was time.
Her ear twitched, and he couldn’t help but clench his wand tighter out of reflex. A subconscious red flag: footsteps sounding a little too quickly, approaching a little too directly. Shoes. Human footsteps. A mage? He saw her start to turn around.
…
Jack hurriedly bent down to drink from the fountain. His nerves were on the rise, but he couldn’t deny just how refreshing the water was on his lips. He’d heard of “dry” lectures before, but he’d never thought of the phrase in a literal sense. Maybe it had been the weather? Or just not hydrating enough that morning? But he’d gotten so thirsty that he’d bolted for the fountain the first safe-ish moment he’d found once the class was over.
It was a classically dangerous position for any human: distracted with their back turned to the passing crowd. But it was almost as dangerous to have a dry, distracting throat, prone to sudden coughing in the middle of a much needed incantation.
Normally, he’d try to wait until he had someone to keep an eye on him, like Fiona. But he realized as he drank that this time he’d acted a bit more hastily. Hence the rising nerves. But she should be there any minute anyway, right? And as long as he was quick, even a marked human like him should be able to get a simple sip of water without-
The stream trembled as a series of particularly heavy footsteps lightly shook the ground. Shoe-less, predator footsteps. A shadow fell over the fountain.
*gulp* went Jack, nervously choking down the last of his water as he flipped around. His eyes bulged wide as his head tilted up.
“Grizz?”
Jack almost reached for his wand out of reflex, but managed to somehow think better of it. The bear was far too close to draw or cast in time. Not to mention he’d seen the spells of lesser mages practically bounce off the behemoth like a mild breeze.
Hopefully it was the right thought, because the predator was already reaching for him before he could think twice.
“G-Grizz?! Wait- I-!”
“Shut it.”
With one meaty, clawed mitt, Jack was lifted clear off the ground. Conjured images of the bear’s massive maw flashed through his mind, as the furred brute hefted the boy brusquely over his shoulder, then turned and carried him away down the hall like an oversized bookbag- or maybe more like an oversized lunch.
Following his predator’s single demand, Jack silently contemplated his impending end. What would his friends think once they found out he was bear food? Would Fiona be mad at Lily when she inevitably spread the word? Would Pyre crack a joke? Speaking of jokes, there was that dumb thing going around about what bears do in the woods; would he be finding out first hand if-
Grizz barged into an empty classroom and casually tossed his human cargo towards the nearest desk, sending Jack stumbling into the seat.
“G-Grizz, c-come on, I saved your little brother that one time, r-remember? I know you said we were even, but-”
“Stuff it.” The bear took a step closer, his expression distinctly unhappy. The broad belly grew to take up a large percentage of Jack’s field of view.
“A-And I promise I never told anyone about you letting me go! I swear! Please don’t eat me, I-”
“Enough,” growled the aggravated grizzly. “I’m not going to- Ugh, look, I… There’s something I need your…” he seemed to almost choke on the word “…help with.”
…
“My… help?” Fiona finally fully relaxed again, hackles and claws lowering. That wasn’t the kind of thing she expected to hear when she realized a mage was coming up from behind her so quickly. “Oh, um, sorry,” she offered, apologizing for her instincts as she began to understand the situation, “but you really shouldn’t sneak up on a wolf like that. What- um- what did you need, Ozzy?”
Caught off guard by the emotional whiplash, she looked into the human’s eyes to try and gauge his state of mind. Last they’d spoke, he’d still been far from happy with her. Had her apology actually made it through?
“I… I need you to eat someone for me.”
Fiona’s brow raised. Usually her human friendships (friendships? Well, she hoped to get back to more than one…) required her to avoid certain meals, and keep her hunts discrete; the thought of the opposite came with a bit of surprise.
“Who?”
“Someone from my science class,” Ozzy answered. Then his gaze hardened. “A naga.” He saw the discomfort run through her face before she spoke.
“A- a naga?” Her ears drooped.
“His name is Viper. He’s a bully who goes out of his way to prey on any human in class who’s smarter than he is. And he’s not a good science student. He’s a jerk. He deserves it.”
“I… I don’t know, Ozzy, I…” She’d been hopeful when he’d first asked for help, even when he’d brought up hunting someone. She’d been wishing for a chance to try and make things right with him. But this? Hunting another… She’d never eaten another predator before, only humans and animals, and the idea…
If she was hoping to get some sympathy for her reluctance, she found none from Ozzy’s gaze. In fact he stared even more intently now. He knew what he was asking. He knew predators had a thing about hunting each other. That was part of the point.
“You said you were sorry about eating Zach, right?” he asked bluntly.
“Yes! Of course-”
“Then prove it. You want to try and ‘make it up to me’. Well this is a start. Who knows how many humans that jerk is gonna snarf down by the end of the year just for making him look bad. You can’t give back the one you took, but you can save them. It’s what Zach would want.”
Her eyes unfocused a bit as she retreated into her thoughts. Viper. The name rang a very faint bell. Was he big? Naga could get pretty big. If he was even close to Udon’s size, would she even be able to…? And how would she even get him in a position where she could try? What if he was too strong? What if he turned the tables and she was the one who ended up staring down a-
“Well?” Ozzy asked impatiently.
Fiona met the human’s eyes fully again. The stakes were unspoken but clear. If she refused, he’d probably never give her another chance. She saw the pain lurking behind his eyes… It made her discomfort at the thought of eating another pred feel like nothing but a bit of plucked fur.
“…Okay, I’ll try,” she agreed with a hesitant nod.
“Good.” His expression softened, just a hair. “…And if you really want it to mean something. Don’t get anyone else involved. Especially not Jack. It has to be you that does it. Understand?”
“Yes.” That she understood. This was her recompense. No one else’s.
“Okay then…” he replied, letting out his breath. His grip on his wand finally relaxed, if only a little. With a passing shadow of some softer emotion, he offered her a final, “Good luck,” before turning away and starting back down the hall toward his next class.
Fiona stood there for a long moment, pondering the consequences of her choice, until a thought suddenly sprung to mind.
Oh! Jack!
…
“Wait, so, Lily’s mad at you because you forgot her birthday?”
“I didn’t forget! I thought it was next month!” Grizz snarled. His tone was much more of an admission than a defense, but Jack was not about to argue that point- unless he wanted to start a debate with the bear’s stomach acids. (He didn’t like his chances.)
“R-right, right. But, um…” he did his best to steady his voice so his intent was properly conveyed. “Why ask me for help with that. I- I mean, I’ll definitely try!” he clarified. He knew he was in no position to refuse. “But, um, me?”
“You hang around with a pred girl all the time, don’t you? You’ve gotta have some idea how girls work.”
Jack froze up as he held back the many potential replies that would almost certainly get him gulped, and instead answered with a vague, “Y-Yeah… I guess so.” Then added, “…But you’d rather ask me than one of your pred friends? N-Not that I’m implying we’re friends- I- I mean, unless you feel that way- I’m not-”
“You’re the only guy I know with pred-girl experience who I can easily churn if they don’t keep their mouth shut about it,” he answered threateningly.
*gulp* went Jack.
*gurgle* went Grizz.
“Um, right, that makes sense…” In the short moment of silence that followed, the marked boy realized he’d better start putting some thought into how he could actually help with this issue instead of just avoiding it. “…I guess I do have a couple people I could ask for advice.”
The bear growled.
“Discretely, of course. No details,” Jack promised.
“Good. Cause if I hear one word around school about me asking some human for dating advice, I’ll-”
*creak*
Grizz threw his head around in a furry whirl as the door sounded from behind. Another human kid had poked his head in, at first seeming a bit lost, then seeming a bit terrified.
“Oh- um, sorry, wrong room!”
The bear lunged, grabbing the door and pulling it open with such force that it dragged the other boy along as he desperately tried to close it. The other hand came quickly to take hold of the human himself, dragging him, kicking and screaming, deeper into the room, before the door slammed shut once more.
To all the passing students outside, that was the end. Like a scene from a horror story. But inside, the horror was just beginning.
Jack watched the bear lift the boy clear off the ground, just like he himself had been held a minute ago. A set of claws came quickly and dug into the material of the kid’s pants, ripping them clean off, right into Jack’s face. The marked boy threw up his arms in cover, his vision blocked just as the grizzly predator started to open those massive jaws.
*GULP*
*GULP*
By the time Jack swatted the clothing away, the student who it had belonged to was already half-buried in bear maw, teeth pressing in around the human’s waist as Grizz shoved his snout higher into the air. The pair of kicking legs flailed overhead as the muffled, screaming bulge shifted and surged down the furry gullet, meal plunging headfirst into the waiting stomach below.
*gurgle*
*GULP*
*GULP*
*GLRK*
Jack watched and listened, unable to avert his attention, as the ex-student sloshed and settled into place within the massive ursine belly. Imprints of limbs clear against the fur as the struggles began.
*UURP*
“There, see?” Grizz warned bluntly. “If you don’t want to be next, you just keep your mouth shut and be helpful, alright?”
“Y- Y- Y-es, Grizz. Of -Of course. Message received.”
“Good.”
The bear suddenly reached in his direction, spurring Jack to flinch, but the bear merely picked up the discarded bottoms and started roughly fishing around through the pockets. He found a few bills and coins, pocketing them himself as he turned away toward the door.
“Don’t keep me waiting. I make room pretty quick, you know.”
And with that, he tossed the empty pants in the bin and opened the door again to walk back out into the hall.