"You've really done it now."
"Is that so?" replied James, with a bit of a cocky grin.
"Every single husky in the park is out there looking for you," replied Max, a wolverine who enjoyed his brand of scare tactics as well, but
exercised much more restraint. "You didn't finally snap and kill someone did you?"
"Oh please, you know me better than that! I might have gone a bit far with that little bunny girl earlier today though. Suppose they'll go easy on
me if I turn myself in?"
"I think they'll lock you in a room and interrogate you for a week before slapping you with a lifetime ban. Just don't go fingering your friends
when it happens."
"Oh please. Absolutely nothing I have done is in violation of any of the park's rules. They'll bark at me, try and pin some trumped up charge,
but there is no case to be had. Just you watch."
With that, Jack headed off, mentally rehearsing his defense.
++++++++++
Terry was in a complete state of shock. For hours, she just sat in the tunnels, huddled in the fetal position, shivering and rocking in place. Now
and then one of the other rabbits would sit down next to her, sometimes bringing food, sometimes just gently stroking her arm and whispering
soothing sounds, awkwardly leaving when she didn't respond. She could still see that horrible face when she closed her eyes, feel his breath on
her neck. She truly felt he was going to just pin her to the ground and rip her to pieces with those teeth... maybe even indulge another sort of
hunger first... she shuddered at the thought so strongly a passing rabbit immediately rushed over for another attempt at soothing her back to
lucidity.
Worse than the horror of the situation... on some dim distant level she was starting to recognize the wolf thought of it as some sick game after
all, was how she reacted. Terry had never been one to panic like this. She thought back to all those times she'd confronted slimeballs twice her
size about unfair business practices, never flinching when one snapped and through a punch. She'd hop fences with signs about trespassers
being shot, trying to expose secret dumping grounds or signs of abused pets... how could she just... blank out like that? Not a thought in her
head but to run and never stop. She'd understood that she'd be subject to this sort of overwhelming instinct, again, it was what she was here to
prove. Somehow though, she'd thought it would be more gradual. Slowly alien thoughts would creep into her brain, and she'd fight them off
through sheer stubbornness for a few weeks before her spirit broke, but no... this was all just hardwired in on day one wasn't it.
She shivered again. Why did she feel so cold when she was covered in fur anyway? This other rabbit was trying to pull her into a hug now. Just a
further bit of humiliation to throw on the pile... of course, she was cold, and after today she wasn't sure she had any dignity left to lose.
Without really realizing it, she found herself leaning over a big, huddled against this stranger for warmth.
"Hey! Finally starting to come around are you?" he asked in a friendly tone, wrapping an arm around her and squeezing her elbow. Terry gave
the slightest of nods. "I heard what happened out there. You know they're going to boot that freak out of here before the end of the day. That
is not the sort of person you normally find in this place. I'm Tim by the way. Not sure anyone caught yours on the way in though."
Terry should have felt even more uncomfortable with all this physical contact. She'd never been the hugging sort, and her temporary sex
change cast a bad light on the whole scene. Still, the hug was strangely comforting. Just more of those rabbit instincts. Eventually she found
the nerve to murmur a joke. "So you're no ordinary rabbit?"
Tim chuckled at the reference, and pulled her up onto his lap to wrap both arms around her. "Sharp pointy teeth!" He grinned. "Sounds like
you're going to be OK." She nodded, finally letting herself relax, if only a little.
++++++++++
Harry glowered at James, personally interrogating him. "Wipe that smile off your face! When they found that poor girl she looked like her heart
was about to explode out of her chest from fear!"
"So she's OK then? I was a bit worried there."
"Oh spare me!"
"Like I said when I came in, I didn't do a thing to her. You know how those rabbits get. Slightest little noise can set'em off. I just stepped on a
twig while walking up to say hello, and off she ran!"
"That's what you're going to run with, is it? OK, we can play it like that. How do you explain how your scent was on her then? How do you
explain the blood!"
"Cool it with the drama, you're talking like it was hers." Harry growled. "I had just finished a meal, and was on my way to was up after. The fact
that there was still a bit of blood on me is probably why she was so quick to run. Sloppy of me, but we don't exactly have napkins lying around
do we? So she ran, I followed. I saw her trip, and went to help her up. My hand was a mess, some got on her."
"Right, right, you're just a misunderstood saint aren't you. So why then, did you just leave her hyperventilating in a ditch for my pack mates to
find?" Subordinates now, Harry mentally corrected himself. Keeps it more professional.
"Because I have a functioning brain. Clearly, she was scared half to death of me, and it wasn't sinking in that I was there to help. When I realized
that, I backed away, to show I wasn't a threat. Ever find an abandoned puppy? You don't just go right in and pick them up. You put some food
on the ground, and you give them some space."
"From what I've heard, I'd think you'd just kick them."
"Hey now. I'm sure you've heard all sorts of nasty things from people who can't take a joke, but have I ever been accused of violence? I am just
here on vacation. Now and then I'll joke around with someone to break the ice. A little prank here, jumping out of a bush there. You're talking
like I'm some sociopath, when I'm practically just out playing tag!"
Harry sighed. This one was a slick little bastard, and he wasn't really used to this aspect of the job. He needed to take a different approach.