Two days passed since that nightmarish encounter.

Gharna woke up once more in her little home and she went on with her usual daily routine for the morning, a quick full body brush using her smooth wooden comb sculpted by Yenna, hence his name carved on the handle, before donning her usual simple cloth attire and some hard leather over garments for protection.

As she left her humble abode, she made her way towards another one, where Spek, one of the guards and a more elderly boar, sat on a stool, leaned back against the building's wall.

"Ah mornin', den sister." He replied as he then let out a rough snort and hack, proceeding to spit a yellowish phlegm to the side. "Apologies. Been coughin' a bit. Ah think my time might be soon to leave the den. Don' wanna be a burden in me late years."

"Morning to you to, elder den brother. Spek, do not be so harsh on yourself, most elder hogs that leave usually do so much later from what I know of. You might not be in your prime, sure, but what you might be lacking in youthful strength you pack in experienced wisdom." Gharna said with an encouraging oink, which got Spek oinking a happy chuckle right back.

"Haha hah ahhh~, ye y'ung uns. Ye got a way with words." He huffed as he shook his head.

The two fell silent a moment, a question hanging in the air and Gharna was clearly ready to just pose it.

"H-how is he doing?" She asked half awkwardly and half concerned.

"I... dunno. Honestly I am just confused. It gave Runhar a trashing like I haven't seen since we used tha fight the Hay-yens constantly back in me day. Urla borrowed it, our ol' tool shed as a home, moved a hay bed in there. The rest o' that day, not heard a peep, nor did it come out. First day since it... he... sorry. Gettin' used to that... anyways. First day since ah been asked to watch him, he didn' come out. Left him food at the door. Let him know. Hours later. It was still there. He didn't eat the whole day! Later afternoon, I could just hear it whimper in there, checked to see if he was hurt, nope! Just laying on the hay bed, with some sort of metal thingy letting off light next to him, making a low sound noise. Dunno what it was, don' ask. I am genuinely too old to give a truffle. This is too weird for me anyways."

Gharna listened intently and she nodded along to the old boar's rant, at which point Azhul also seemed to come up, waving lightly to Gharna.

"How bad are things?" The larger sow asked as she crossed her arms.

"Two days ago... well... just figured out where the pained moaning was coming from..." Gharna said at which Azhul sucked on her teeth and snorted prolonged in the Tuskir equivalent expression of 'huh... that bad?'

Gharna sighed and she looked back at Spek. "What about yesterday?"

"Same thing. Only no wailing nor moaning. Instead he actually came out, sun hit his face. Hissed at it like a Fallien would hiss at a barkin' Hunder. That got me to freeze, cause I didn't hear the bastard coming out. Asked me where he was allowed to piss and where he could boil some water. Told him. Followed him around as he walked wrapped in the wool blanket we gave him. All he did was that. Took his boiled water pot and went back in. It looked like hair was growin' on his face though... and genuinely... he looked about as miserable as a Stelk with a broken leg." The old boar said finally finishing his old man styled rant.

The two young sows looked at him and back to one another.

"I am still having a difficult time believing he beat Runhar the way he did... I saw it with my own two Brood Mother given eyes, but... it just... how can something so violent and brutal be such a... so..." Azhul said trying to find her words.

"I... don't know what to call it. One moment he was holding himself from fighting me, back then and when we got in town, Michael nearly kills our guard captain. And now he cries over it. Why can he fight so well, yet he cries like Yenna when he was just an oinking piglet?"

"You think Urla, said something to him back then? Although Runhar was looking for it like, Spek looks for fresh mushrooms in the season, I understood why she asked for him to spare further pain."

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"I don't know Azhul... she just asked for him to spare her son. Nothing more... at least that's all I heard." Gharna said just as lost.

The two took a moment or two to think over this, but since several minutes were passing with no ideas, Azhul just resigned.

"Well... lets not talk of it, for now. I am actually concerned a bit for him. If he really didn't eat since he came here, he might be either dead or dying. Hunt Father, let him be alive, because I must see how this thing hunts." Azhul said doing a mumbled prayer.

"You just want to see him actually kill something? After that blood bath?" Gharna asked with an annoyed snorted huff.

"Yes! Gods, yes! If he truly can handle himself with animals like he did with Runhar, then we might have the best hunt beast we could get!" Azhul said excitedly, which made Gharna clap her hands and push them against her flat snout with a groan.

"He is not a beast, Azhul! He is no more beast then we are." The slightly shorter sow oinked exhasperated.

"Tell that to Runhar with his off centered snout and broken tusk. I am certain he will disagree. If he doesn't cry after he kills animals, like he did after beating Runhar, then he might actually prove good to have around."

"Oh, Brood Mother hold me..." Gharna growled.

After the two bickered for a bit longer, they finally decided to approach the door and Gharna knocked on it lightly.

"Michael? Are you awake?" She added gingerly.

"Are you dead?" Azhul added from behind Gharna, which got her a kick to her furred shin. "Ah! You midget mud rolling boarlet!" She yelled out to Gharna.

There was no response at first, except for a very long drawn out groan.

'Wow... two nearly three days only drinking water and he lives? He is resilient.' Gharna thought genuinely surprised, at which point she slowly began opening the door. "It is just me, no need to panick. Are you doing fi- HMNGH!" At which point Gharna retracted her head immediately.

"What? Are you alright?" Azhul asked as she was still rubbing her shin.

"Gods no. The whole place stinks of his scent. It is like the musk I could smell faintly on him before, but the whole place reeks of it."

"Ah, you're just a soft snout. I'll get him out." Azhul said as she opened wide the door, took one step in and one quarter of an inhale and was about to back up. "On a second thought bestowed on me by the wise Hunt Father- oof!" She groaned as she got a shove into her ass from Gharna's boot, deeper in.

"No, no. No need to be humble. You said you got him, so get him." Gharna said closing the door with an oinked cackle.

++++

All Michael did for the last two days is lay in the bed given to him in this small home they provided. He attempted to eat a Snickers from his backpack, the same day as the fight, he took two bites from it before he barfed it. He felt sick. Sick at himself.

'All those years of being beaten and humiliated and not wishing something like that upon someone else... not wanting my mom to cry anymore. And what do I do? Beat a woman's son right in front of her eyes. Hell... I even went too hard on that other one as well. Fuck... I am no better than the fuckers that made my life hell.' He thought to himself.

Still, a different argument creeped into the back of his psyche, delirium fueld by a lack of food and sleep.

Yes, but was it truly undeserved and unjust? He tore open your shoulder. The other one stepped on you like you were worthless. What is it we realised long ago about people like that? Those that treat us like this from the start? That abuse us?

He dared not answer himself. He felt afraid to answer to himself. His own mantra. The one he repeated for so many years to himself, to help him deal with it. To just get through and not feel bad for every bastard that thought he could lay a hand on him.

"If... t-they touch you, beat them until they stay down." He said repeating it, over. And over. And over.

What did he do?

"H-he touched me... bit me. Yelled at me. Called me all sorts of names. Refused to listen..." the more he mumbled to himself, the more he curled in a ball under the blanket.

Do you remember how she used to cry when we came home? How the teachers ignored her pleas? How they ignored YOUR pleas?

He trembled and shook, small whimpers leaving his mouth as his eyes stared at the wood wall in the dark of the chamber.

"I-... they should have just helped me... I kept telling them everything..."

And they didn't. Then you punched one of them back and they blamed you for it. Called you aggressive. Then you refused to retaliate, until your father sent you to train.

"But that changed nothing. They still kept coming back."

Yes, but instead of a pup, now they had to deal with an animal. They put you in a cage and beat you down, until you wished to be dead, but you never did. All they did is fuel your spite. You never started anything, you finished it, the same teachers that wouldn't help you, now were trying to bury you in trouble for defending yourself. So what if you were more agressive? You showed them in a few moments, the years of hurt they put you through.

"T-that doesn't sniff make me better. It shouldn't have been that way..."

But it was. Animals understand one thing. Fear. You know it too, for you are an animal too.

With a gasp and a flinch Michael is awakened from his trans like state by some knocks, he hears Gharna speaking. With a shakey hand he grasps the medallion and barely hears her and Azhul say something. He couldn't tell what. He didn't much care, he felt too exhausted to care so he just groaned.