(Warning: Cringey Content, Violence, Trauma, Mention of Forced Mating (kept vague, not explicit), Self Harm (accidental).

After a moment of awkward silence the white coyote sighs, “You need to get out of here.” 

“What, but I just got here?” I ask, looking around the bizarre, run-down town. The mother ship must be the size of a small planet. 

“Yes, and you’re not supposed to be here. Besides, once your Master gets to the exit, he’s going to smell that you’re here, panic, and tear the place apart to find you.” I look back the way I came, anxiously I think, ‘He’s right.’ 

“Okay I’ll leave but, what happened? What did my Master say?” The white coyote bears his teeth, 

“Let us just say that we came to a deal.” I look at him and since I apparently couldn’t read minds anymore decide to drop it looking away. The blind coyote “looks” back and forth between the two of us. Before the awkward silence can stretch out again I ask the blind wolf, 

“Can you lead me back to the entrance?” He looks in my direction, and nods, 

“Stay here,” he says to the white coyote. Holding out his hand the blind coyote waits for me to take it. The second I do he’s racing me over the rooftops again. My mind is churning, recent events flashing by in my mind but never staying long enough for me to work them out.  

“Here we are.” The coyote says softly. “Smells like your Master’s here too.” I see Master waiting at the entrance, he looks up and seems to relax when we make eye contact. “What’s your name?” The blind coyote asks suddenly. 

“Uh, Syl.” I say. 

“I expect my eyes to be returned in 3 days, Syl, don’t break our deal.” He says with all seriousness. 

“How?” I whisper. 

“The doctor has them, I’ll need a shot too.” I shiver as my Master starts walking towards me. 

“Okay.” I croak, not tearing my eyes from my Master. Not really understanding the kind of deal I was making. “Wait!” I exclaim, “How do I-” I cut off as the blind coyote has disappeared. ‘Crap.’ I think. 

I jump down from the roof and clumsily fall to the ground. My Master stops in front of me with a sigh. He picks me up as I protest and then when I go to speak says, 

“Not right now Syl, I’m not in the mood.” I close my mouth, stomach churning with anxiety, ‘We need to talk about what happened. Though I’m not even sure how I feel about everything, I’m so confused. I close my eyes struggling with everything that happened. 

Zeikel hides in the shadows until he hears Syl jump down. Then he flits back through the town. Emerging from the shadows behind Stone he snarls, “What did you do.” The white coyote whirls around startled. 

“What do you mean?” Stone snarls back. 

“The boy, you did something to him.” The blind coyote opens his jaws in a display of intimidation, “Tell me what you did.” 

“I don’t have to tell you anything.” Stone smirks, “You’re far past the days when that would have worked, haven’t you forgotten what happened the last time you tried to take back your power?” He moves silently behind the blind coyote to whisper, “They blinded you.” 

The blind coyote snarls, “I am still the leader of the coyotes, don’t make me remind you why.” Coyotes emerge from the shadows, surrounding the black and white coyote. For a second the white coyote thinks it’s just to watch, but all of their eyes are on him, all of their hatred. 

“I should have known better than to mess with our beloved leader,” The white coyote says silkily, he waits until the coyotes fade back into the darkness before sighing, “I just scared him a little, intimidated him, and made sure to leave my scent on him.” He picks his ear, “Why?”

The blind coyote’s face twitches, making the scars more pronounced, “How?”

“How did I leave my scent on him?” The white coyote sighs bored of being drilled for answers, “Or how did I intimidate him?” He folds his arms, “I threatened to eat him and then kissed him, the little slut enjoyed it too.” Stone chuckles and then coughs as all the air is knocked out of him when he’s slammed against one of the stone houses. A short struggle ensues, Zeikel wins, keeping Stone pinned with his forearm against Stone’s neck. 

“Why do you care so much about the kid?” Stone gags, “He’s just a human.”

The blind coyote struggles with his rage, getting himself under control he loosens his grip. 

“You hypocrite.” He hisses and turns to walk away. Crying out when jaws dig into his shoulder. “Coward!” Zeikel curses and rolls to break the other coyote loose. Slashing with his claws they strike nothing but air.

“Oh I’m the coward?!” Stone laughs, “Who’s the one hiding behind others to fight?” The leader of the coyotes goes still. Waiting. Stone lunges with a roar. The blind coyote grabs him, flipping him over his shoulder to pin him on the ground, then bites him on the shoulder for good measure. 

“I can’t believe you would treat someone like that after one of the wolves forced you to mate with it.” Zeikel says loud enough for the other coyotes to hear.

“How dare you!” Stone howls in pain and anger, struggling but unable to break away. 

“Or maybe that’s why you did it? To take control of your life back. Maybe the rush of power?” The blind coyote leans down to whisper in his ear, “I took you in after that and protected you, get help. If something like this happens again I’ll kick you out of the pack.” Zeikel waits for a second feeling Stone shake with rage underneath him before letting go. He walks away, hearing the other coyotes go to pick Stone up, “Leave him.” Zeikel orders. 

The muddy coyotes release Stone and go to stand on either side of their leader. “He can either join us later or leave on his own.” The blind leader says quietly enough for Stone and the muddy coyotes to hear. “It’s his choice.” The coyotes leave, some of them understanding why Stone was the way he was now. Some feeling like he had this coming for a long time. But not a single one stays with him. Stone lays against the dirt ground, shoulder aching and bleeding. He curls into a ball slowly and feels the first tear trickle down his cheek. Zeikel stops, looking back towards the alley way as sobs echo out of it.

After a long time, Master sighs, “I was supposed to report to the bridge hours ago, it won’t look good on me for my first day.”

“You had to work today?!” I gasp. He looks at me angrily, 

“I have to work every day, now, because I’m the Admiral!” I flinch and look away quickly, ‘Right and it’s my fault for having abilities I shouldn’t.’ Another pause and then Master stops, “Why don’t you try to stay with your Gargoyle pet, I’m going to be gone overnight for a few days, I don’t know how many.”

“Can we talk?” I whimper, “I don’t want you to leave without-” 

He gives me a look that makes my throat constrict, the words turn to dust in my mouth. 

“I’m fully aware of what happened,” He responds slowly, then with a forced look of pity taps me on the nose, “It’s okay Syl, I love you.” He says it so hollowly that it hurts worse than if he told me he hates me now. My mouth opens and closes and I, not wanting to get hurt again just look down, giving up for now. 

“You can go back to the house any time you want.” He says putting me down. “I just don’t want you to be all alone.” Then he walks away. And I let him. I clutch my heart and don’t understand the urge to call after him, I can’t even make sense of everything going on in my head right now. I’m in shock, I feel a little traumatized. I grab my head when I flash back to yesterday the fear, the scent, my back hitting the wall. I couldn’t stop anything, I couldn’t control anything. 

‘If I hadn’t been able to read minds...Master, Master would have been dead, if I hadn’t-’ I turn to the house and walk into the alleyway beside it. ‘It’s not my fault, it’s not like I could choose between myself and my Master. I did what I had to, to save us both, but I still lost something in the end.’ I fall forward, emotions finally surging to the breaking point, letting them out. I catch myself on the fence with one hand, a gutteral noise comes out and tears stream down my snout. I claw at my chest trying to rip the pain out. ‘As soon as things got better!’ I think miserably. I scream angrily. 

“Hey! Will you shut up!” A voice tears into my madness. I look up with watery eyes to see the gargoyle, Drac perfectly balanced on the top of the fence. He looks at my clawed chest, “Don’t do that, you’re bleeding.” I look down in shock,

“Oh, I guess I’m not used to my claws yet,” I mumble, wincing from the sting. 

“Thankfully I stopped you, it doesn’t look that bad.” He says and then looks around anxiously, “What are you doing here?”

“Uh…” I try to think, “Do you...recognize me?” The gargoyle looks at me in a mixture of disbelief and disgust. 

 “Why would I?” He snarls. I blink, he’s so different from before. “Oh wait, aren’t you the creep who was hiding behind my shed, yeah!” He exclaims in recognition, “How did you know my name?” He suddenly looks intimidating, growling the question. I don’t answer desperately trying to think of a response. “You’re going to have a lot more than the scratches on your chest to worry about if you don’t answer me.” He threatens. 

“Um...everyone knows your name now, are the rumors true?” I blurt out. I watch his expressions range from panic and confusion to literally not caring. 

“Oh, so the story spread, of course it did.” He sighs, “So, are you here to torment me as well.” He flutters his bat wings, I notice clips on them. “Get on the new Admirals good side?”

“What? No, I actually ran into you by accident.” I look around, “I was having a panic attack and freaking out, so finding a fence to hide behind kind of saved me.” He must already suspect it because he accepts it immediately.

“Like now?” He smirks, “How come you always find your way here when you’re…” He gestures at me. 

I walk a little ways away, “I’m sorry, I, I need time to think.” 

“Are you seriously leaving?” He starts. 

I turn around, “I didn’t think you wanted me to stay.” 

He wrinkles his nose. “I need somebody to tell me what’s going on, and you are already desperate to be here, so-”

I hesitate, rubbing my arm, “Are you sure it’s okay?” 

He bears his teeth, “I’m not going to beg, stay if you want!” 

I smile softly and walk back to him, "Thank you."