Part 1 — The Rush
Morning had barely settled over Fenward when Vambasta showed up at Derpy’s side like she’d been waiting at the edge of his breath.
“Ready,” she said. “Spar. Now.”
Derpy blinked at her, still sitting at the inn’s table with the last of sleep stuck behind his eyes.
“What’s the rush?” he asked. “We’ve got all morning.”
Vambasta didn’t answer right away.
Her ears angled forward.
Her nose twitched once.
Like she could smell the wrongness on him.
She dropped down onto the bench beside him instead of dragging him outside.
Her posture was restless, but her voice lowered.
“What’s wrong?”
Derpy’s throat tightened.
He didn’t look at her.
He looked past her.
At Riven.
Riven was near the bar, watching the inn wake up and fill with noise. She stayed close to the wall like she was part of the wood.
Derpy’s fingers pressed into the table.
Then he asked the question anyway—quiet, aimed at the wolf beside him.
“Vambasta,” he said.
She angled her head.
Derpy kept his voice steady.
“What is this?”
He spoke the lines like they were a curse.
ELVEN WAR OFFICE — ARCANE MUNITIONS COMMAND.
DOLL-SOLDIER PROGRAM: STITCHBORNE DIVISION.
SPECIMEN: RVN / SERIES: VII / SERIAL: 3-19-0E44.
The inn’s noise didn’t stop.
But Vambasta did.
Her fur lifted along her arms and shoulders in a sudden ripple, like Derpy had stepped on a boundary line.
For a second her eyes went hard.
Then she forced her voice into something casual and thin.
“I don’t know much about the Elven Empire,” she said.
Derpy didn’t move.
Vambasta continued anyway, words coming out like she was trying to cover a wound.
“But their military is strong. And… someone there is a bearer of a calamity book.”
Derpy’s stomach twisted.
A tight feeling turned, like he’d taken a punch he couldn’t brace for.
Vambasta leaned closer.
“Why are you looking at her?”
Derpy swallowed.
He kept his eyes on the table.
“Nothing,” he said. “I was reading a book from the previous town. There was a… serial stamp. With that name.”
He hated how weak it sounded.
Riven
Riven’s gaze stayed on him.
She didn’t understand the lie.
But she understood the protection.
Her hand lifted.
A small wave.
A quiet, awkward gratitude for the stitches in her back.
Derpy’s chest tightened again.
Part 2 — Lenora Walks In
The inn door opened.
Lenora stepped in, already armored in presence even before she was fully awake.
Her rabbit ears angled as she took in the room.
She spotted Derpy.
Then she spotted Vambasta sitting too close.
Lenora crossed the floor and sat down with them like she owned the space.
“What were you two talking about?” she asked.
Vambasta’s eyes flicked.
Too fast.
She answered before Derpy could.
“He was asking if our sparring session could be a double pair,” Vambasta said. “He wanted to work with you. While taking me and another person from the pack.”
Lenora’s eyebrow rose.
Her ears twitched.
She didn’t comment on the lie.
But something in her attention sharpened.
Elven Empire.
Then a cover story.
She looked at Derpy.
He was terrible at hiding things.
Lenora decided not to press.
Not here.
Not with the whole inn waking up around them.
Part 3 — Everyone Wakes Up
The bar area became lively.
Townsfolk filtered in.
Wolf cubs bounced on their paws, already asking questions too loud for morning.
Lewd and Vespera approached.
Lewd’s face was soft with relief at seeing Derpy upright.
Before she could speak, Vambasta grabbed Derpy by the wrist.
“Come on,” Vambasta said.
Then she snapped her gaze to Vemi.
“You’re up today. With me. Joint spar.”
Vemi’s ears bent down.
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea, sis.”
“It’s fine,” Vambasta said. “They can handle it.”
And she hauled Derpy toward the door like the morning belonged to her.
Lewd’s shoulders dropped.
“It’s not fair,” she muttered, voice small and sharp.
Vemi exhaled and followed, pausing just long enough to look back at Derpy’s group.
“You’re gonna want to come watch where we’re sparring,” she said. “It’s going to get very messy.”
Lenora, Vespera, Lewd, and Riven all tilted their heads.
A five-second pause.
Then, in the same breath:
“Huh?”
Vemi’s voice stayed flat.
“It’s because Vambasta isn’t going to hold back with him anymore.”
Mia and Sphinx
Mia and Sphinx, still in the inn, perked up like they’d been called.
Their ears snapped forward.
Then they burst through the door, sprinting after their master.
Part 4 — The Clearing
The scene shifted to the clearing beyond the inn.
Packed earth.
Trampled grass.
A ring of townsfolk forming fast.
Little wolf cubs hopped in place.
“Did it start?” one shouted.
“Is it over?” another yelled.
“It’s rare to see the Fenrir sisters in action!”
Vemi stepped forward.
Her body changed.
Fur surged.
Bones lengthened.
She dropped to four legs as she grew into a giant wolf—mythic in scale, built for tearing through a battlefield.
Derpy stared.
Shock hit him clean.
“What the heck is this?” he blurted. “How is this fair? I assumed Vemi was a timid wolf girl—not a mythical beast.”
Vemi’s ears angled back.
Her tail flicked once.
Embarrassed.
Vambasta made a sharp, satisfied sound.
Vemi’s cheeks heated like she’d been praised.
Mia and Sphinx bounded in, eager to be included.
Derpy looked at them.
Then at Vambasta.
Then at Vemi.
He exhaled.
“Okay,” he said. “I choose my pets.”
Lenora and Vespera exchanged a look.
Lenora’s voice was careful.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
Vespera cut in immediately.
“Derpy. I do not think that is a good idea.”
Lewd, unable to stop herself, called out:
“Go, Mia and Sphinx! You’ve got this!”
The volume of it surprised even her.
It scraped her throat.
Riven watched from a tree at the edge of the clearing.
Her hands gripped the branch.
Worried.
Not for the match.
For the friend who had fixed her seams.
“Friend,” she said under her breath.