I'm Begging You, III

"It went well!" exclaimed Harvey, trotting on human legs to keep up with the long strides of the eagle male, who was clutching his precious cargo in one fist, but had a scowl on his face like he hadn't received it.

"Did you know?!" Ukko squawked.

"Know what?" responded Harvey, genuinely puzzled.

"That you were setting me up as a sacrifice!" The boy stopped walking, whirling around and sneering. He was met with a wide eyed gaze from the doctor, who was shrinking back as though he was about to be struck. It was clear Harvey had no motives, as he wasn't a particularly good liar.

"I have to find three more of these things by this time next year," he peered up at the sky, which was starting to pale in the distance, to check the phases of the three moons so he knew exactly what week it was, "or I have to fight the King as a spectator sport."

The leopard man lost all the color in his face, gulping. "I didn't know that he was going to ask anything in return, Ukko. I'm sorry. We'll figure it out."

"WE will figure it out? Why would you?" without waiting for a response, Ukko dropped the satchel onto the dirt, turned into his eagle form, and carefully picked the leather bag back up in his beak, taking off towards the doctor's house.

As the Harpy flew into the distance ahead, Harvey mulled over his question, a familiar tightness back in his chest. Ukko was right. Tonight they were in this together, because he was the doctor, and it was his duty, his mission, to save lives in the village. But after Shuule was healed, they would all go their separate ways. Harvey had the unique experience of being intertwined in everyone's lives, but never really a part of them fully. It was not something the Beastman species was designed for, forming strong family units that were selfish isolationists - which in part is why the City of Beasts was such an anomaly; a massive community of isolated families that also worked together for the greater good, though nearly always with underlining tension.

The two of them made it back to Harvey's home in record time, the leopard panting as he galloped up. Quickly, he told the guard that it was no longer necessary for him to stand at the door, and since all he wanted to do was go home to his own spouse, he happily complied and left, despite his orders. As they entered into the darkened house, a pair of neon eyes stared them down as the snake had not changed his position since the doctor had left. The two men dressed, Ukko handing over the bag with the precious crystal in it, before starting to make a small fire in the pit at the center of the house. He locked eyes with the snake, who had not shifted yet back into a human, and therefore was not going to answer any questions regarding the status of the eagle becoming part of his family unit.

Harvey wiped his hands a few times on the leopard skin skirt he opted to throw on instead of his more complicated robes, to be certain that there was no moisture on him. Looking down at the snake, he raised an eyebrow.

"Are you going to change?"

There was silence.

"I'll have to step on you then, to get to her head and put this in her mouth."

Set stared up at him and blinked slowly. With a sigh, Harvey crawled onto the black coiled body that was protectively wrapped around the bed, which effectively concealed Shuule from anyone's view. Peering down into the bed, Harvey wasn't certain he would be able to reach around and put the crystal in the girl's mouth, and he also suddenly remembered the he had not told Ukko about Shuule's... differences. "Shit" he mumbled, to which the snake immediately started vibrating.

Harvey leapt off the mountain that was about to recoil, overreacting to the doctors words, who hissed at the snake before the snake could hiss at him.

"Set just shift for fuck's sake" the leopard howled, while the silver haired male watched from the fire in awe. He was not excited about sharing a home with this volatile creature, though he smiled to himself when he saw the black serpent comply to the doctor and shift back into a man. It was as though the stripeless doctor was a snake tamer, and a formidable one at that, Ukko thought, contemplating the three green stripes on Set's face.

In a hushed tone, Harvey got into Set's ear before passing him to kneel by Shuule's bed. "The bird doesn't know she can shift. Remember how you acted when you first found out, and be sympathetic."

Set snorted so loud that Ukko jumped, before he tossed his rival one of the skirts that laid on the ground. Set was going to eat her - then captured her - then let her go. If the eagle looked at his mate with any hint of displeasure, everyone would be reminded that Set hadn't eaten since they feasted on shortwing bird on top of the cave, and that he wasn't beyond eating Beastmen.

Harvey would have preferred to prepare the young male for what may happen when Shuule regained energy, but he was taken off guard by the King's demands, and Ukko had flown off before either of them recovered. There was no time to ease him into it. The leopard placed one hand on the girl's forehead, tilting her head back, while he placed the clear, round crystal into her mouth with the other, putting it into the pocket of her cheek. The crystals, hard as ice, dissolved rapidly when met with water or saliva, and she would not even need to swallow to feel the effects. Set stood squarely, arms crossed, like a wall, blocking Ukko's view.

"If this works, I don't have much time," Harvey quickly stated. "I don't want to keep her asleep with the powder anymore, but I need to wrap her arm. Set," he looked at the raven haired male with a pleading glance, "Please explain to Ukko what you know about our friend, here."

The two men stared silently at each other for a moment while Harvey went about his business, pulling out a roll of dried banana peel-like leaves. These were somewhat absorbent while being smooth, so they would not pull out the medicinal packing he had on her wound. When he had her arm wrapped from shoulder to elbow in a layer of the leaves, he used a long strip of snake leather - wild, not beastmen - to wrap over it, securing it on the end. All the while, his ears were pointed in the direction of the two men, while Set explained, or frankly, did not explain.

"Her name is Shuule."

"Yes," Ukko responded. He had gotten that much out of Harvey already.

"She is a fox."

".... Yes," Ukko clenched his jaw, now also crossing his arms.

Set sighed. "No, you don't know what I mean. She is a fox. She can turn into one. Like you or me, or a male. But she's female."

The eagle raised an eyebrow. He wanted to peck at the snake and ask if he was just mistaken and he had been protecting a really pretty boy this whole time, but that would also be a detriment to himself, and Harvey, and every other male she had come within 50 yards of who could scent she was a woman - even the birds with bad senses of smell.

Exasperated and wanting to be by his mate's side, Set shot one more warning glare at the eagle, before turning around walking to the bed, moving to the opposite side, so Shuule was in full view of the stranger. There she was, frail, her red hair pulled back gently to the side long ago by Set trying to make her more comfortable, her prized blue fox fur clothing in tatters, one arm outstretched next to her and now bandaged. Color was starting to flush back into her olive skin, but after that, nothing was normal. Her face now had one distinct, bright purple stripe from the side of her jaw to her cheek bone. Bright fox orange ears drooped haphazardly to the sides, tipped in inky black, a white tufted tail flopped over the edge of the bed.

Ukko's jaw hit the floor while the two men crouching over the fox glared at him protectively, Set fully flashing his fangs, hissing.

"You can back out anytime, bird."