The Leader's Fury

“There we are. Now, explain everything to me this instant.”

Yggdrasil spoke in a demanding tone as he held the muzzle that was previously around Lyra’s snout, but left the rope around her neck. Both her and Almond had been brought to a small cave with a various number of exit, warrior Clayfoxes positioned at each one. She was in the center of the cave along with Yggdrasil, while Almond was near one of the walls, the two warrior Clayfoxes that had originally found the pair looming over their shimmering body. They hadn’t spoken since getting captured.

“I’m not here to cause any trouble!” Lyra whimpered. “I’m only here because my ship picked up a distress signal and I was worried!”

“Is that so?”

“Yes! I mean no harm! I just wanted to make sure no one was hurt or stranded here! I never wanted any of this to happen!” She retorted.

“Even if that’s true, you running around is still a danger to us all! You could have led a Cirrocanius straight to all of us and doomed us all!” Yggdrasil roared.

“There are no Cirrocanius on Awan anymore!”

Everything fell silent. Yggdrasil’s eye widened and blinked repeatedly.

“...What?”

Lyra vigorously nodded. “It’s true. They’ve all fled. They couldn’t stand living in these conditions… underground and suffering from radiation sickness… It’s just all you Clayfoxes now…”

Almond also felt shocked. For the first time, they spoke. “Wait… radiation sickness?” 

Lyra stopped in her tracks and slowly spun around to face them. At first, she didn’t dare to respond in fear of what Yggdrasil would do, but after a pause she assumed it was fine to do so.

“...Didn’t I tell you?”

“You didn’t specify what kind of sickness it was… I assumed you just meant a plauge of some kind…”

“Why are you so shocked? Don’t you guys feel it too?” 

Lyra was baffled. Even in the areas away from the abandoned Cirrocanuis cities, she could feel something in the air that made her feel nauseous, something she was taught to be a symptom of minor radiation poisoning. 

Almond gave her a puzzled and worried look. They weren’t believing it. If Almond wasn’t even believing that, then…

“You expect me to fall for a lie like that? Ygdrassil barked. “It’s not possible for this planet to be irradiated. Not a single Clayfox has ever felt it, including me, and you have a pretty big reason to lie about things right now…”

“I’m not lying!” Lyra started to become flustered. “I-I don’t know why you guys can’t feel it, but it's true! There’s a melted down powerplant around here! I can take you to it!”

“So you call your Cirrocanius buddies to come get us? I don’t think so.” He snorted.

“What?? How would I even do that? You would be with me!” She quivered.

“Maybe you can’t do it now… but tell me… what were you going to do with this?”

Yggdrasil pulled something out from behind his back and tossed it onto the stone floor. Its momentum made it skid across the floor between the two. When the thing stopped at her paws, Lyra gasped in shock upon realizing what it was.

It was her communication watch along with her bracelet tangled around the device.

“That’s a communication device. I found those three with it. I’ll have to deal with them later…” He mumbled while looking at his claws. He faced Lyra once more. “Who were you going to call with that, hm?”

“That’s-.” Lyra froze. She couldn’t say that device was meant for contacting and tracking Port Borealis staff, that would make everything worse. If Yggdrasil knew it could send out location pings, then he would be convinced she was set out to reveal the hiding spot of the Clayfoxes. She fidgeted nervously.

“Your silence is all I need.” Yggdrasil paused with a tiny sigh. “Well… let’s get on with this then. The typical punishment for outsiders trying to infiltrate our home.” He spoke with a hiss, raising his claws.

“No!” Almond cried loudly, distraught all over their face.

“Quiet, traitor!” He interjected, “Or if you so wish, you can die first…”

Die!? Lyra’s thoughts screamed. He’s really going to kill us both!?

Almond withdrew, hunching over. They gave Lyra a sorrowful and regretful look.

What do I do!? I can’t fight, I’m outnumbered… and I can’t explain myself, he won’t listen to me or Almond… There has to be a way out of this! A way for both of us to-.

“That’s enough, Yggdrasil!” Someone else’s voice echoed off the cave walls.

“Who’s there?” He snarled, his attention falling off Lyra and to the tunnel it came from. The warrior Clayfox that was blocking the tunnel it came from was also looking around, but they were unable to spot who had just yelled. After a brief moment of silence, another sound filled the air. Wheels hitting the stone floor, approaching fast. Before the warrior Clayfox could register the fact something was coming, a small blur whizzed past right under their claws and another fox had appeared in the center of the cave right next to Yggdrasil. He glared with fury at the fox who had caused the interruption.

“This does not concern you, Ruth. Leave now.” He spat.

“It does if Almond’s involved.” She quickly retorted, giving him a stare as well.

“So what? Are you a traitor, too!? How can you defend this!? You’re old enough to have seen the horrors that we Clayfoxes dealt with by the claws of the Cirrocanius with your own eyes!”

“I sure have.” Ruth spoke with conviction. “The way we were treated was horrible. Created just to be things for them to order around, do menial work, even used for experiments. Treated like we weren’t even alive… nothing more than machines to do their work, and discarding us when we couldn’t be useful anymore…”

Did the Cirrocanius really do all that? I can see why I’ve never heard them mentioned before… Or maybe it happened so long ago that they aren’t even aware of this anymore. Lyra watched the confrontation in silence, keeping her commentary in her mind.

“So you do remember, and yet you still defend her? She’ll cause all that to happen again! She knows the Cirrocanius! If she leaves, she’ll tell them all about us and send them flying down here to find and use us again! She must be dealt with!” Yggdrasil got close and up in her face as he argued with her.

Ruth stared in silence, gaze unrelenting. Yggdrasil did not back down, silently demanding a response to her.

“What I know…” She started, “...is that treating those who are innocent like they aren’t even a living thing is wrong, and that’s exactly what you’re doing right now.”

“Excuse me??” He fumed. “How dare you compare me to the likes of them!”

“Violence will only lead to more violence! If you believe she is working with the Cirrocanius, what will happen when they find out their companion is missing? Or even manage to find out she was killed by your claws? Do you think they will be pleased?”

Some of the warrior Clayfoxes in the cave shot each other glances. They seemed to be contemplating Ruth’s words.

“I am doing what must be done to protect us all!” Yggdrasil argued. “If the Cirrocanius come crawling here, we will fight!”

“And how many lives are you willing to sacrifice for this? Someone has already paid the price just to follow your orders.”

Now, all the warrior Clayfoxes looked at each other. All of them had heard the story of what had happened on the surface from the one that managed to escape. Some of them shifted nervously in their places.

“You… How dare you! Do you want us all to die?” He faltered slightly, clearly aware his intimidation was failing.

“I don’t want anyone to die.” Ruth quickly retorted. “Don’t lead us into a pointless battle, Yggdrasil. You’re asking for trouble.”

“Don’t question me! If you also want to be a traitor like little Almond over there, then I’ll just have you taken care of, too!” Yggdrasil angrily pointed a claw at Ruth. “Get her now!”

Everything was silent. Not a single creature in the cave moved a muscle. Yggdrasil noticed and he quickly looked around at the warrior Clayfoxes with frustration, though there was a hint of worry in his eyes.

“Didn’t you hear me? I said GET HER NOW!” 

Once again, no one moved. Their eyes darted around to give each other questioning looks. None  made eye contact with Yggdrasil, seemingly afraid to do so. Yggdrasil’s expression of rage started to get overshadowed with nervousness even if he was trying his best to hide it.

“All of you… dare to defy me? All you ALL traitors now?” He took a few steps backwards, back slightly hunched. “You will be the downfall of us all!”

“Yggdrasil…” Lyra softly said, finally mustering the courage to speak. “You don’t have to fight… No one wants war. No one wants death… Please, just-”

“Shut your mouth!” He sharply cut her off. “This is all your fault!”

“Enough, Yggdrasil.” Ruth spoke next, “No one here wants more lives to be lost. If you want to hurt this cat, you’ll have to go through me.”

“And me.” Almond’s voice shook slightly, but it was clear they were determined.

The other Clayfoxes in the cave murmured to each other. It sounded like they were talking about refusing to carry out any action Yggdrasil would give them.

Yggdrasil’s eye went wide, all sense of prior intimidation now gone. He took more steps backwards, head darting between every figure in the cave. His mouth hung open, completely speechless. Then, his face turned sour as he growled.

“You’ll all pay! I’ll find others who truly care about our survival!”

In a flash, he spun around and darted to one of the cave entrances, going so fast that he caught the warrior Clayfox off-guard. They didn’t have any time to react as he darted under their legs and slipped away. 

Everyone in the cave blinked a few times, processing what had just happened. Almond was the first to move, rushing over to Lyra.

“Lyra!” They untied the rope that was still around her neck, letting it fall to the floor.

“Almond…” she whispered, still trying to process everything. “I… can’t believe all that just happened… I thought that…”

“Yeah… I can’t believe he backed down…” Almond nodded in response. Their eyes shifted to look at Ruth. “You came to defend us?”

“I mostly came to defend you, honeynut.” She approached the other fox, rubbing the size of her face in a comforting manner. “...but I believed every word I said. I don’t want there to be an endless cycle of violence… I don’t want any more Clayfoxes to die over something like this.” Ruth looked to Lyra with a small glare. 

“Look, I don’t know your deal or if you truly in your heart mean no harm, but…” She sighed. “...even if Almond has a knack for getting into trouble, they’ve always had a good sense of judgement in other people. If Almond likes you, then I’m glad for you.”

“I..” Lyra froze, not knowing what to say. The last time Ruth and her spoke, she had made it clear of her distrust of her, but now she had just saved her life, even if it was clear if she still had reservations. There was only one thing she could think of replying with “...Thank you. I never wanted trouble.”

“Now that Yggdrasil’s gone for now, get out of here before he comes back. It probably won’t be pretty.”

“Of course… I’ll leave right now.” 

Lyra stepped over to her communication device and bracelet that Yggdrasil had discarded previously and slipped both on her wrist. Once she was sure they were secured, she tried to activate the device, but…

“Grr… no signal…” She grumbled. “I’ll need someone’s help to find the way out…”

“I’ll do it.” Almond stepped forward, but then their ears fell as she looked over at Ruth “...I’ll be careful, I promise…”

Ruth stared at them for a moment, then sighed. “... It’s your choice, Almond. Someone else needs to hunt for Yggdrasil anyways…”

“Thanks…”

“When you come back, I need you to hide somewhere, alright? I know a place.” She beckoned Almond to step closer to her, lowering her head in preparation to whisper in their ears.

“Oh… about that…” Almond whispered, a wave of guilt rushing over them.

“...What?”

“... I want to go with Lyra.”

“You what??”

“Please listen to me!” They started, now full of conviction. “...I don’t think she’s lying about the radiation here. It would be a really strange thing to lie about. If no one has even seen a trace of a Cirro in almost a year, doesn’t that match up with her story? Plus, haven’t you seen some of the animals on the surface, and the fact some others have disappeared? I don’t think bear peppers are naturally occurring…”

Ruth stood in silence, taking in all their words.  She seemed to be contemplating something.

“I… want to be able to help. If it’s true, and we are all somehow immune to radiation, shouldn’t we do something? To help everything and everyone here… the animals, the plants, and maybe even us?”

The older clayfox continued to sit quietly as she listened to Almond. Her eyes shifted from once of worry to one of sadness.

“Almond…” She began, “If that’s what you truly want… then I can’t stop you. You’re allowed to make your own choices.”

“Ruth…”

“Do not forget what I told you. If someone tries to harm you in any way, defend yourself with all your might. Even if it’s her.” She pointed a claw at Lyra.

“Of course.” Almond smiles. “... I promise this won’t be bye forever… I’ll see you again…”

“Oh, honeynut…” Tears pricked in the corner of her eyes. “C’mere…”

Almond quickly pressed into Ruth, and their claws wrapped around each other. Both of them had tears flowing down their cheeks. The hug lasted for a while, neither of them wanting to be the first to let go. Eventually, Almond was the one who pulled away.

“...Bye, Ruth.”

“Goodbye, Almond.” Ruth said with a wave before flicking on her skates again. With a parting glance, she rolled down the path Yggrdasil escaped down. The Clayfox standing in front did not try to restrict her movements at all. 

Almond stood in silence, looking down the tunnel the older Clayfox took. After a moment of silence, they sighed, then padded over to a different path.

“Follow me, Lyra. We’ll go back to your ship.” They cleared their throat, voice changing from a weak whisper to back to their normal speaking voice. “Just… tell me all about where you’re from while we walk there. I need a distraction.” They disappeared down the tunnel.

“I..” Lyra quickly trotted over to their side. “...Yeah, I will. I promise the Port’s a nice place.”

The duo were off again. Hopefully, they’d be able to make it back to Lyra’s ship without having any more disasters happen. As she walked, her thoughts clouded with the image of Yggdrasil. Would he be causing problems for all the Clayfoxes who didn’t follow his orders? All those warrior Clayfoxes and Ruth could be in danger if he rallied other Clayfoxes against them… All Lyra could do now is hope they’d all be fine.

Then, Lyra looked at Almond, who was currently feeling around for plants they could follow. Honestly, she was glad she’d have a travel partner now, but she felt kind of bad Almond was leaving all they knew behind to follow her. On top of that, could they really help rid Awan of its radiation? If they could, that certainly wasn’t a mission just for her and Almond alone. Lyra knew better now to not do any missions without proper authority anymore, no matter what.  Too bad it took such a close call to convince her.

Hopefully, they’d be back on the ship soon, and hopefully all the others on Port Borealis would treat Almond right.