Chapter Text

Sigrid

Centuries ago...

You need to let her die. Ivar said, coldly.

I glared at the ashes of our village, "That's not happening." I whispered. I couldn't see or hear a soul. I stalked out into the ash, carefully picking my way through the debris. The herbalist's hut, or what was left of it, was not far.

My stomach turned when I saw the Great Hall. There wasn't much left, but an ashen bone poked just above the debris, already covered in a light dusting of snow.

I prayed it was from a chicken...

Stay focused! Enemies are all around us! Ivar snapped.

I bared my teeth. "Your craven hide will be quite safe, fear not." Odin reserved the coldest Hel for those who fled from battle.

Ivar's rage boiled inside me. Are you calling me a coward?

I found the willow tree behind the hut's ashen remnants and pulled out my axe. "The shoe fits."

His rage rose to dangerous levels, boiling over into riastarthe.

I didn't care. I slammed my axe into the tree, far more harshly than I needed to. Still, the willow bark would break her fever. It had to.

I felt Ivar force himself to calm. When he responded, his voice was far more controlled. Child... what I did was save your life and that of your lover's. Odin does not want us to let our families die.

I chopped furiously at the tree. A far larger chunk than I could carry broke free. The poor thing might die and right now I didn't care. "You dare call me family after telling me to let the love of my life die?"

Sigrid, open your eyes! The old wolf snapped. She is slowing us down, and suffering while she does it. Make no mistake child, I know how much you care for her, and I care too, but her wound is festering... She's too far gone.

"Well maybe we're too far gone!" I snapped.

Child...

I snarled at the freezing wilderness. "Listen here and listen well you miserable shell of a man!" I gestured to the ashes. "Look at this! Our tribe is gone! Our home is gone! The Red Wools took everything from us." I grit my teeth. No tears. Now was not the time. "I will tear our throat out before I let us lose anything more... No one else is dying on my watch..." I let out a breath. "This time we don't run. This time we fight."

...

"Well!?"

... You should make an infusion with the bark. Add pine needles, they taste terrible, but... Well, for all I know to her tongue they're honey.

I allowed myself the faintest of smiles. "Thank you."

Anything for family.

Somewhere close, a twig snapped.

I heard a very familiar whimper.

Astrid! I turned to the noise, axe in hand.

It nearly slipped from my paw.

Five rams emerged from the woods. They wore the tabard of the cross.

One of them had Astrid, bleeding from her greening arm. He had an arm clamped over her mouth.

One of the rams stepped forward, a black sheep with his wool tinged with grey. He spoke Norse, with barely a hint of an accent. "Hello child. I see you care for this woman very much." He held out a hoof. "Give yourself over peacefully and-"

The sheep holding Astrid cried out in shock, letting her go for a moment. She shouted through the flesh in her teeth. "SIGRID RUN!"

#

Sigrid

Present

I caught the sheep's wrist. His eyes widened in shock.

This time we fight.

I wrenched the blade from the red-wool's hoof and flipped him. I may not have been a raider, but I learned from the best there ever was.

But clearly he was no slouch. He was on his hooves in a second.

Just long enough for me to take true form.

I tied the jacket around my waist for modesty. It took perhaps a second, but it cost me dearly.

The red-wool channeled his pain towards me and I too was wracked by the agony that had burned through Hopps.

But if there was anything I knew how to do, it was endure.

I flared my Riastarthe, charging him full bore. He dodged two blows before I managed to slam my foot into his chest. He went flying against the garish van and hit so hard he left a dent in its side.

I clasped my hand around the guardswoman's baton. It was no axe, but it would do. I wound up my arms and went in for the killing blow.

#

Ramsey

Years ago...

The beast was on me, claws slashing and jaws biting, she was half my size, but she was impossibly strong.

I pushed her off, just barely, rolling away and pumping myself to me feet.

I dug my knife into my arm, building up the pain and smearing my blade in potent blood, slamming the agony into her.

Sergeant Iron Claw was on her in an instant. The wolf pinned the squirming child and exposing her chest to me.

This was it.

I just needed to stab the puppy.

Just jab a knife into her little belly...

Right through her rocket ship pajamas.

I only hesitated a moment. It was more than enough time for something terrible to happen.

The adorable little girl I was so concerned for howled in rage and clamped her jaws around Iron Claw's arm. The wolf commando screamed out in pain and clutched at her wound as the monster in a child's flesh came at me once more.

But this time. She stopped. Her eyes bulged and it looked like she could barely breathe. She shuddered in a choking agony I could never have hoped to cause.

My Uncle Arthur entered the scene.

The werewolf thrashed for a moment, then passed out from shock. I turned to my uncle. The black sheep barely had a drop of blood on his wrist.

The sergeant stared at her bitten arm. She drew her pistol and snapped it under her head.

"SOLDIER, HOLD!" Arthur bellowed.

She froze.

The old black sheep sat down in front of her and sampled a drop of her blood, running it through his tongue with a thoughtful expression on his face. He eyed her up and down, then smiled. "Your soul is as pure as ever child."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a bandage. "I can't say the same for your arm though. Give me a moment to wrap this until we can get you to a proper doctor. Now, now, don't fret. an infection will kill you just as sure as a demon."

The wolf woman stared at the bandage for a moment. Then mutely held out her arm.

The demon twitched.

My uncle made a vague gesture at it and it convulsed itself into unconsciousness once more.

I wanted to puke.

After he was finished patching up the Sergeant, he came over and sat down next to me. I stared at the unconscious puppy, confused and terrified. I was barely even able to comprehend what was happening.

Arthur pressed the grip of my dagger into my hoof. "You still have a job to do."

I tensed.

Arthur sighed. He looked out at the snow. "The first time I did this, I was terrified too. Make no mistake little lamb, magic is a messy business, and a difficult one. It strains the body, the mind... and even sometimes the soul."

He gestured to the twisted puppy. "But it is the right thing to do. What you see before you isn't a little girl anymore. Some strong souls cling to their sanity for a time, but everyone eventually succumbs to the demon's curse completely."

"Not strong souls..." The Sergeant says, finally speaking up. "Prey souls."

Arthur's expression darkens. "Soldier, there are a number of factors that speed or slow the corruption. Will can be cultivated. The meditations you perform-"

"Are a stopgap, at best." She turned to me. "Predators turn faster. Wolves turn fastest of all." She points to the pup in front of us. "That little girl... She never stood a chance."

"Is... Is she dead?" Asked the boy behind us.

He was young pup, barely older than the girl, and had been frozen in terror for quite some time. I'd honestly forgotten we'd saved him.

Arthur smiled, walking over and getting low. "No child, not entirely. In fact, you should be able to talk to her quite soon."

He tilted his head to me. "Jimmy?"

I eyed the dagger, the jewel glinting in its hilt. The boy was staring at it too. I know we'd talked about this, but actually doing it...

I grimaced, "I mean... Lamb's blood, what if I tried to pull the demon out instead? I read about attempts-"

"Oh for pity's sake." Iron Claw stood up, drew her pistol, and put a silver bullet in the little girl's gut.

The wolf boy recoiled, and I was right there with him. Even Uncle Arthur looked shocked. "Iron Claw, what are you doing? I had her-"

The old wolf reloaded her pistol. The puppy's blood was pooling. "What you had was a dangerous demon temporarily pinned. You may be in this for some spiritual kumbaya shit, but I'm here to keep people safe."

She jabbed a claw at me. "You want to save her soul? You have two minutes. Tick tock Baby Blood Mage. Tick tock."

She walked away.

#

Ramsey

The Present

I snapped my dagger up and parried the blow.

Not this time...

I leapt to my feet and darted past the demon, nicking her arm along the way.

The Demon recoiled from the bite of my silver, the metal burning her and throwing her off balance.

I smiled. I'd felt a flicker of Judy's soul when my blade touched. I could still save her!

I whipped around and whirled my bloody arm at the beast, pouring out as much agony as I could muster.

She grabbed my throat, but with all the pain she couldn't hold on for long. I just had to outlast her.

Just as my vision was starting to fade, the beast crumpled to the ground.

I walked over, holding the monster down with my pain. It gurgled and twitched, but I clearly had it outmatched.

I smirked. Raising my knife once more. Don't worry Judy. I got this.

A paw weakly grasped at my leg. The demon stared up into my eyes, defiant.

And then, something impossible happened.

"I am... I am not going to let you h-hurt these people Red Wool..." The demon gurgled.

I stepped back. That- That wasn't Hopps. Was... Was the demon talking?"

There was a rumble of an engine behind me. Thank heavens, reinforcements! I turned around to greet the Sheathed Talon...

And was promptly thrown into the air as I slammed face first into a car.

The thing was terrifying, sharp red edges, racing stripes and an engine that roared louder than any lion I'd met.

Before I'd even hit the ground an arm with giantic claws popped out of the driver's seat and snatched up the demon. I hit the ground with a horrible crunch and the car bolted out just as fast as it had came, weaving past sheathed talon cruisers like they were nothing.

Some strange, detached part of my mind read the license plate "FST NML".

Then, and only then did the Sheathed Talon arrive.

My head was swimming, my ears were ringing, and I think I was seeing triple, but I would have had to be deaf to not hear Nick's laugh as they clasped him in irons and yanked his phone from his paw. "IT'S CALLED A HUSTLE ASSHOLE!"