Chapter 172: Elders vs Livestock II

Greymaw seized a stocky brown animal and dunked it into the shallows like he was trying to drown it. The animal exploded into a frenzy of kicking, splashing, and screaming that sent water in every direction.

"HOLD IT DOWN!" Greymaw roared at another elder who was supposed to be helping but was instead standing six paces back, trying to wipe animal waste off his chest fur.

"I am NOT touching another one of those things until I am clean!"

"YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE CLEANING THEM, NOT YOURSELF!"

The animal broke free, scrambled out of the stream, and sprinted in a circle around both elders before diving back into the water of its own accord, apparently deciding that the stream was preferable to being manhandled.

Greymaw lunged after it. His foot hit a wet rock, and the old wolf went down with a splash that soaked every wolf within three paces.

[Elder down!]

[(ꉂꉂ◟(˃᷄ꇴ˂᷅๑)༡)]

[This system is having the time of its existence]

Tera was actually horrified.

’STOP ENJOYING THIS!’

[This system cannot help it!]

[This is the greatest show Host has ever produced!]

[(ᕼ✧ᴗ✧ᕼ)]

Greymaw surfaced, sputtering, his dignity floating somewhere downstream. The animal he had been trying to wash was now standing calmly in the shallows, chewing on a leaf, and looking perfectly content now that no one was holding it.

The other elders were not having better luck.

One had managed to get a smaller animal into the water and was scrubbing it vigorously when the animal decided it had had enough and climbed directly onto the elder’s head.

The elder stood in the middle of the stream with a dripping, indignant animal perched on his skull, its hooves digging into his scalp, and a look on his face that said his ancestors were watching and he hoped they would forgive him.

"Get it off me."

"How did it even get up there?!"

"I DO NOT KNOW! JUST GET IT OFF!"

Another elder reached for the animal on his companion’s head, and it kicked him in the face.

From the bank, a cluster of younger wolves who had been watching before heading to the pen were doubled over, howling with laughter that they were making zero effort to suppress.

"Shut UP!" Greymaw snarled from the water, his scarred face dripping.

They did not shut up. One of them had tears streaming down his face.

The birds were the worst.

When the elders finally got to the large, flightless, deeply angry birds, the situation escalated from comedy to warfare.

The first elder to approach a bird received a peck to the hand so fast and so precise that he yelped and dropped the pan of water he was carrying. The bird then pecked him twice more, once on the wrist and once on the thigh, before strutting away with the murderous confidence of a creature that had never lost a fight and wasn’t planning to start today.

"I am NOT washing that thing!" the elder declared, holding his bleeding hand.

"None of us wants to wash it!" another shouted.

The bird turned and charged at them.

Three elders scattered. The fourth stood his ground for exactly half a second before the bird’s beak connected with his knee, and he crumpled sideways into the stream.

The bird stood over him, pecking at his fallen body.

But while everyone was equal parts shocked and laughing, Tera was not finding any of this funny.

Aside from the obvious animal abuse, these wolves had literally disregarded her instructions and were washing the filthy animals directly into the water supply.

She watched as the water turned murky and kept flowing downward.

Tera’s eye twitched.

They were lucky the water was flowing, but Tera had specifically told them to wash the animals on the bank first. Use the pans to carry water FROM the stream. Scrub the worst off on dry land. THEN rinse in the water.

Only two of them were doing that.

Another elder dunked a thrashing animal headfirst into the stream, and a cloud of brown filth billowed outward like ink in water.

That was the drinking water.

Their drinking water.

Tera felt something snap inside her chest.

"I SAID NOT IN THE STREAM!"

Every living creature in the vicinity froze.

Including the animals.

"FOR WOLVES OBSESSED WITH BEING ORGANISED AND ORDERLY, YOU ARE TERRIBLE AT TAKING ORDERS!"

Greymaw, still dripping in the shallows, turned toward her with the wide-eyed shock of someone who had just been screamed at by a creature half his size and wasn’t entirely sure it was real.

"WHY ARE YOU ACTING LIKE PSYCHOS?! I TOLD YOU TO USE THE PANS! WASH THEM ON THE BANK FIRST! THE BANK! NOT THE STREAM! THAT IS YOUR DRINKING WATER, AND YOU ARE FILLING IT WITH ANIMAL SHIT! DAMN YOU!"

The silence that followed was absolute.

The younger wolves had already snapped to rigid attention the moment Tera’s voice had erupted. They were already familiar with her shout from when they had been digging the stream.

But the elders had never experienced it.

They looked so shaken as they stared at the shiftless female who had just rattled the trees with a voice that should not have been physically possible from a body that size.

The animals had also been startled, freezing as if they too had decided that obeying the angry female was the safest option.

Calis had been heading towards the stream from the pen site, and the sound of Tera’s voice had made him rush straight to the area.

He stood mid-stride as he caught the venomous look in her eyes.

Calis could not help but feel a strong admiration for Tera. She was so fierce despite not having claws.

[Calis’ Favourability: 47% → 49%]

[Influence +1]

[The wolves are horrified by Host]

[Yet, they are beginning to form a deep respect for you]

[Influence +3]

[Charm +1]

[(⊙_⊙)]

[This system would like to note that it is also a little frightened right now]

Tera didn’t even glance at the notification. She was too busy glaring at the elders.

"Pans." She pointed at the flat pans sitting unused on the bank. "Water goes in THOSE. Bring it to the animal. Scrub and wash in the pans. Pour the water on the grass. Then rinse them in the stream AFTER the filth is off. Is that clear?!"

The elders silently nodded.

For the first time, they did not complain. Not even Greymaw.

They nodded like cubs who had just been told off by their mother and were too stunned to do anything but comply.

Anything to make the female not yell at them again.

"And be GENTLE with the animals," Tera hissed. "If you don’t want them to attack you, stop attacking them."

They slowly gathered the silent animals and picked up the pans without a word.

Then they followed Tera’s instructions with careful, deliberate movements as they knew the angry female was still watching.

Greymaw was silently moving on autopilot, still not recovered.

She was just as scary as their alpha. It did not make any sense.

The ones who had been dunking animals headfirst moments ago were now tenderly washing the animals.

The work continued in what could only be described as terrified obedience, and the stream ran clear.

Faelynn leaned toward Tera. "You are terrifying."

"Thank you."

The female looked astonished.

[( ’’˶°ヮ°˶ )]

[Host, that was not a compliment]