World World: Max vs Pride

"(Me too.)" I answer softly, "(Where are the others?)"

"(Just a short while behind. Annette decided that we should just start for home with everybody. She convinced everyone else that you would be along with the kids before too long. I suppose she was certainly right. You beat us here.)" Siren says happily, looking over my shoulder at the kids. I take a look myself and see the kids all shyly watching the two of us interact. I smile at them before turning back to Siren.

"(Since Annette and the others are on their way, can you stay here and watch the kids?)" I ask her.

"(Of course, but are you not staying?)"

"(No.)" I reply, shaking my head. "(With a group this big, we are going to have to move a lot slower than we probably ought to. The lions could just come in great numbers and either capture or kill everyone and even if they don't, there's nothing really preventing them from coming back after everyone after they've finished licking their wounds.)"

"(You have an idea to stop them?)" she asks me, a resolute look in her eyes.

"(Yeah. With how big they and this city are, somebody is keeping them all organized. I am going to find them and convince them to leave us alone.)" I growl out, looking back over the city. "(Just keep everyone moving. I'll catch up.)"

"(Of course, my mate.)" she says affectionately, letting me go and walking over towards the kids. I glance back at her reassuring them that everything is going to be okay and telling them that their parents will all be here soon, smiling at her back before turning towards the city and making a great leap towards it. It's time to finish this nightmare. (End of Part 3)

I land far away from where I left Siren and the kids, hitting the ground with a huge thud that draws a couple of lions towards me. I glance over at them, wondering if they're going to be dumb enough to attack and they don't disappoint. I run inside a nearby building, seeing right away how ramshackle the place actually is. When I first got here, I had thought that maybe the lions were like the ancient Greeks or something, advanced but mean. Now though, I can't help but think that all the buildings I've been seeing are more...imitations than anything else. Like they saw them somewhere else and tried to copy what they looked like on the outside without caring enough about their integrity on the inside.

"(Halt intruder!)" one of the lions who chased me in here says. I don't bother to answer, instead just finding the nearest load-bearing wall and punching through it. Part of the house starts to come down and I jump out through the hole I made, moving to the next closest house and repeating the process. The lions at least have the sense to stop chasing me into the buildings, instead waiting outside and trying to ambush me once I've punched through a wall but they can't get in close enough before I just jump away.

After knocking down 10 or 11 buildings, I finally jump out of sight and start looking around for somebody who isn't currently on the way to intercept me. To my surprise, I find the two survivors of my first fight here back in the pit hobbling away from everybody else. It's probably a good idea to follow them for a little bit and see if they lead me anywhere good, so I stick to the rooftops as they make their way deeper and deeper into the city. After a pain-staking twenty or so minutes, with way too many close calls of lions running around looking for me or heading back to where I was last seen, they arrive at the only two story building I've seen in this city so far.

It's a bit run down, but I can tell just by looking at it that it's way better built than all the rest of the buildings in this city. Wood and eroded stone surround the outside of the building, like a lodge or one of those bars that's themed after hunting in the woods, with a slanted roof that's been coated with something or other. Probably a lacquer of some kind, if I had to guess. I hop onto the roof as gently as I can, nearly falling into a large hole obviously caused by nobody fixing the damn wear and tear.

Still, the roof holds me just fine and I peek into the hole as carefully as I can. Sitting inside on two primitive thrones made out of poorly carved stone are another pair of lions, a male and a female. The male has scars over his chest and, far more surprisingly, is wearing a necklace made with freaking teeth. The female sitting next to him has all the air that you'd expect to see in a queen and has a belt on, though I can't really tell what the hell it's made out of. The first two pieces of clothing I've seen any anthro wear since I arrived in this world, and it's on these two.

I see the two injured lions come in the door, kneeling before the two lions on the thrones and confirming for me that these two are definitely the ones in charge. They're about to speak when the male holds his hand up, then leans over to the female sitting next to him and starts whispering something. It's pretty easy to feel just how tense the entire room is, and I can't help the satisfied smirk that comes on my face considering I'm probably the reason for it.

"(You may speak now.)" the royal female says.

"(Yes, my queen. I am...afraid the news is quite dire. We have confirmed that...well...)" one of the two injured lions says, nervously glancing between the two lions on the throne and his injured partner before finally finding his voice again, "(The slaves have vanished. All of them. We thought we have managed to capture the monster when we locked him in with the children but the scout we sent to look for them confirms that they have...disappeared.)"

"(Disappeared?!)" the royal male shouts, standing up from his throne with a look of utter rage on his face, "(How could that have simply disappeared?! While I cannot speak for this...monster you are all speaking of, children do not simply vanish without a trace!)" I smirk a bit at the news, realizing this means that my distractions of breaking their city has been a complete success. They've been too busy trying to deal with me to even think about going after the antelopes again. I laugh loudly and jump down through the hole in the roof, right in front of all of them.

"(They do if you throw them hard enough.)" I say, giving them all my best cocky smile and crossing my arms like I don't have a care in the world. "(Hello, I am Max. The human monster who has spent the better part of today wrecking your city.)" I have to hold back laughing as the room falls deadly silent and all eyes fall upon me. It kinda makes me feel like the monster in a horror movie, and I guess I am to these guys but they brought it on themselves by being assholes.

"(This is the monster we have been hearing about?)" the royal female asks nobody in particular.

"(Impossible. He has no fur, let alone claws and his muscles are barely visible. How could one with such a frail-looking body possibly defeat so many of our warriors?)" the royal male asks, sneering at me. He turns towards the two injured lions, possibly for confirmation, but they're too busy shaking and slowly backing away from me. Their behavior causes his eyes to grow wide before he turns back to me with a nasty growl.

"(I do not understand. Why would this monster attack us?)" the royal female says. The talking like I'm not in the room grates on my nerves and my fake cocky demeanor gives way to a loud, annoyed sigh.

"(How about you ask me? Maybe even pretend there is a single, functioning brain between the entirety of your people.)" I say in the most condescending manner I can muster, hoping to piss them off as much they've annoyed me. The royal male roars loudly, wordlessly demanding my attention but I don't even bother to look at him before I start talking again. "(Go on, ask.)"

"(I have no need to ask! I will simply take your head!)" the royal male roars at me. He pulls out his claws and charges towards me. Given the warrior mentality of this entire culture, it's probably a smart bet that this guy's a better fighter than me when it comes right down to it but I still have my power. I leap behind this guy right before he gets in range to use his claws and land right next to his throne. In the time it takes him to turn around, I've already got his throne in my hands and toss it at him as hard as I can.

The throne goes flying through the building's wall and all the way into the furthest city wall. My eyebrows shoot up in surprise completely on their own at the sight. I mean I probably shouldn't be considering all the other stuff I've lifted and thrown today but still...fuck! Far less surprising to me is the fact that the royal male is now nowhere to be seen in the room. Guess that's the end of that fight. I turn to look at the royal female and she's already shrinking back from me, her face twisted in abject terror of me.

"(What...what are you?!)" she asks, her fear just as evident in her voice as it is on her face. I glance at her, then chance a glance back over towards where the injured lions were but it seems they've already left. Guess it's just me and this woman now.

"(I already told you that I am human.)" I say to her very matter-of-factly, "(And I'm going to tell you this only once, so pay attention. No...more...slaves.)" I bring my face closer to hers, watching as she shrinks back in the chair to the point where she almost falls off of the side. "(You took my mate's tribe and what is worse is how horribly they were mistreated after you had enslaved them.)"

"(Your mate? But we have never seen such as you before)" she answers me, looking genuinely confused.

"(My mate is an antelope. Well, one of them is, but that is not what you need to concern yourself with. What you should be worried about is if I ever find out that you intend to enslave anyone else ever again.)" I tell her, my tone growing as dark and sinister as I can make it, "(Nobody has the right to do what you have done. Taking away children, starving the adults...it ends now. Or else.)"

"(Or else...what?)" she asks hesitantly, slowly straightening herself up as I back away from her.

"(Or else I will come back and make everything I have done today seem like mercy.)" I growl out. "(Your people will die, your city will be destroyed and your children will be taken from you all. You will tell whoever is in charge here that message. Whether that is you or someone else or everybody. Understood?)"

"(Y-yes. I understand. As queen, I will inform my people that you are not to be trifled with. Y-you have my word.)" she says to me, shaking slightly as she seems to wrestle with her own fear.

"(Good. Then do not let me see your people anywhere near my territory again unless your intentions are completely peaceful.)" I say, turning away from her and jumping out of the hole in the roof. I stand there for a second, listening as the queen lets out a large gasp and steps quickly out of the room. Pretty sure I've made my point, so I let the cocky tough guy act I'd put on finally melt away and leap back towards where I'd left Siren and the kids.

I cannot believe I actually acted all dark side like that. Fuck, I'm so embarrassed.

(Annette's POV)

My tribe and the other tribe that Max helped free walk together, heading towards where I watched Siren dive towards the ground. I only hope that her doing so meant that Max is already out and waiting for us with both our tribe's children safe and sound. Nearly everyone has been giving me nervous glances the entire time we have been traveling together, including my own mother. It reminds me too much of the days before I met Max, back when I was the tribe's oddball. I keep expecting my mother to start lecturing me any moment now.

"(How could you have accepted that...that creature as your mate?)" Mother asks me sternly. Of course she cannot simply trust my judgment. "(He took you from us. From me!)"

"(Yes he did, and it was my choice not to return right away.)" I say back to her, trying hard not to be angry with her. I know she is merely worried, but the way she speaks is insulting. It may have taken me far too long to admit with my head what my heart has known for some time, but Max is my mate. I dislike when I hear these negative things about him. "(I was curious about the creature...the man who saved me from the hyenas. Who somehow did the impossible and returned to sense after becoming savage. The more I found out about him, the more I found out how much more there was to learn about him.)"

"(And how did you come to accept him as your mate, child?)" my tribe's elder asks suddenly. She is far skinnier than I remember but her eyes still hold all the strength that I've seen in them since I was still literally a child. Her voice holds none of the malice that mother's does but there is still the tinge of judgment behind them. Just as there has always been.

"(Because...he accepted me. All of me.)" I reply sternly. "(I have always been myself around Max, never pretending to be anyone else and yet there was none of the reactions I had been taught by all of you to expect. There was no shame, nor pity, nor disgust when I was curious. When I asked questioned, he answered them as best he could. He could not even speak the same language as me when we first met, so we taught one another and then...)"

I pause as the memories flood through my mind. Figuring out that he was speaking another tongue, figuring out how exactly we would teach each other our words...and then when he introduced me to books! Information, passed down in a form far more permanent than any word of mouth or mere memory could be. So many things that he told me about, that set my mind ablaze! I wanted to know all of it, but I was so scared to reveal my desire to learn. My tribe would not have approved of such things, as they would argue the time could be better spent foraging or tending to the huts. Yet Max...

"(He has gifted me everything he could and asked nothing in return. Taught me so many things. Several of which I used while saving all of you. If not for his knowledge, I would not have been able to speak with my sister mate in a tongue that the lions would not understand so that they would not know to keep an eye out for her. If not for his knowledge, I would not have known how poorly made their buildings were, nor would I have known how to collapse them as I did.)" I lecture, passion building with every word I speak until I am speaking at the top of my lungs before I realize it. I force myself to take a moment to calm down and look at my mother, giving her the smile I hope conveys my feelings. "(How could I not come to love him?)"

Everyone finally falls quiet as the words come out of my mouth. They may be looking at me with disgust or disbelief behind my back, but I no longer care. Even if my tribe rejects me entirely, at least I can rest easy knowing that they are no longer in the lions' grasp. I do not need to live with them anymore. Through some bizarre luck, I have found my family and I would not give them up for anything.

The blessed silence remains with us as we continue travelling, with everyone following my lead wordlessly. I am sure that their minds are racing with questions and possibilities. Several of them might be as worried as I am that the lions may have chosen to simply ignore Max and come after us, but considering how long it has been without any single sign of a pursuit I know that I am most likely just being paranoid.

"(Annette, over here!)" I hear Siren's voice shout to me from a distance. I turn towards it and see her surrounded by the antelope children. She waves to me but I can't really wave back as all the various people I'm travelling with suddenly stampede past me, running towards their children as fast their bodies can carry them. I watch Siren smile widely as the kids run off as well to meet their parents half way. It does me good to see her so happy.

"(I think you are going to have to come to me!)" I shout to her playfully. She laughs and nods, spreading her wings and taking to the air for the short flight over the heads of the others and next to me and my mother.

"(So...you share your...mate with this..bird?)" Mother asks, the words move slowly across her lips like a child trying to learn to speak a new word.

"(Yes Mother. This is Siren. She fled from a similar situation to the one we just rescued you from.)" I tell her, making sure my tone makes clear that I will suffer no more ill words about my family.

"(Siren, Annette, Max...what is with these words that you use? Why use them?)" Mother asks, looking uncomfortably at my sister mate.

"(They are names, Mother. Words that refer to us as individuals.)" I say.

"(And we use them because they were given to us by Max, who wished to acknowledge us as ourselves in the way of his world and people.)" Siren continues unprompted, her feathers fluffing up slightly as she gets agitated.

"Names?" Mother says, unknowingly speaking her very first word in English. I cannot help the sly smile I feel intrude on my face as she tests out the new word in her mouth. I know it is an odd concept to her, to use a word to refer to an individual. To her, it is probably even sacrilege to have a special word to acknowledge one's self separate from being a member of the tribe. "(I do not see the point of such words. Are your appearances not enough to tell the two of you apart?)"

Siren steps forth, clearly upset and ready to scold my mother for her opinion but is stopped when a shadow passes us for the briefest moment. On reflex, I look up in the sky and see Max swiftly falling towards us. I grab Mother and Siren, moving them out of the way moments before the loud thud of Max crashing onto the ground from so high up in the sky. He rubs his legs, hissing slightly as I see his body stop tensing up. I know that means he is not using his power now. Does he need to heal that badly, or is he tired from having to keep it up for so long? I do not even have the time to ask before Siren breaks away from me and tackles our mate in joy.

"(You are okay!)" she cries out happily, nuzzling her head against his chest. "(I was worried that you were going to be stupid and get hurt again.)"

"(I am sorry I worried you, Siren.)" he says softly to her, smiling gently and hugging her. I draw close to them, my own smile beaming down from the both of them as Max manages to stand back up despite Siren still clinging to him.

"(Were you successful in whatever scheme you cooked up?)" I ask him, wondering what exactly it was that he did.

"(Pretty sure I was, yes.)" he says to me, his face growing a bit dark as I watch him think about what words he wishes to use. "(I have introduced the lions to the concept of mutually assured destruction after killing the king and causing the queen to wet herself in fear. They are not stupid enough to come after us again.)"

"(Mutually assured destruction?)" Mother asks him, keeping her distance.

"(Yes, Mother. It means that if they were to try and attack us again, it would mean that both they and we would be destroyed as well. Even with this strength, Max cannot protect us constantly. But now they know if they were to act foolishly, Max would return and destroy both their warriors and their city.)" I explain.