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Viking’s hum was strained as he sat in his bedroom. He was breathing heavy, his sharp hisses of breath trying to push past the pain of overheating. He leaned up against the cold metal wall next to him and struggled to silence his sense of smell, or taste. He needed to hunt. Soon. He couldn't though, because his dang friends were keeping an eye on him. He growled lowly, and suddenly his tail was out and reaching towards the door. He couldn't wait anymore. Even if they were watching him- he had to go. Tonight. Or else he might hurt someone from his hunger.
—--
Viking hissed lowly from where he was hidden in the room, trembling as he stared horrified at the mess in front of him.
He had just- he was so hungry- and this guy was just sitting in a corner and Viking couldn't-
He was crying, Viking realized, his eyes flickering with tears. He lifted a hand to reach for his face, and froze again at the sight of the oil on it. He was just… so hungry… Viking sniffled, and shook his head. He moved his hand towards his face. It.. he was just- he wanted to know what it tasted like when he wasn't crazy. He was- the guy was already dead right? It wouldn't hurt to just. Finish up… Viking was so hungry…
Viking took a step forward, and didn't realize it, but his eyes shifted into an X.
—--
Viking hummed low under his breath as he walked, struggling to be quick without gaining attention.
He made it to the first door, and went through. Instead of using the second however, he ducked into the small hole in the wall that he had covered with a box ages ago. After a moment of crawling he was outside.
Viking took a deep breath of cold air in the dark world.
He turned his head, eyes shifting into an X. It was hunting time.
—--
Ruby led the group through the passageways towards the doors, following Viking's path. They were all muttering quietly, casting nervous glances around. While it had been Ruby who had brought it up first, they were all worried about their friend. Viking kept disappearing, and the only place he could be going was outside. It didn't make any sense though, because Viking hated going outside. Why would he only go outside when it was night, when the Murder Drones come out?
He huffed, shaking his head and motioning the group to move faster. She had on some goggles that were attuned to the cameras, and they were able to follow Viking Exactly because of those. Thanks to Robo-jesus, because without them xe’d have no clue where Viking went.
They made it to the doors, and the group muttered quietly again, nervously. Fool, Ruby, M1G and Avid had weapons, pipes and wrenches and things like that, but nothing good enough to get more than a hit on a Disassembly drone.
Ruby frowned, glancing at where Viking’s trail led to a… a box.
She moved forward, moving the box to find an opening. An opening that led outside.
The gasps and curses from behind him only served to make her frown deepen. Viking had a lot of explaining to do.
—--
Viking was completely still on the side of a building looking down. There was a drone that was going to be in the perfect place in… three… two… one… Viking’s mouth opened to show sharp teeth. Saliva was filling his mouth.
Drop.
—--
Ruby stumbled in the snow, Vintage quickly grabbing her arm the only reason he didn't fall. Ruby grinned weakly at his friend, and the two quickly caught up to the group. There were footprints in the snow, and Fool was sure they had to be Viking’s.
They didn't make it much farther than a few buildings however before-
Vintage gasped as a shadow passed right in front of them, and the entire group of sixteen drones shoved into each other to get under a building, out from the sky.
It was silent for a moment, the immense suspense thickening the air until “So what are we hiding from?” Ruby froze, the whispered voice not one they knew, and whirled around to find a large, blue clothed murder drone standing there, head tilted. Its wide sharp grin grew wider, and it chuckled, opening its mouth.
Tea screamed, and they all bolted, rushing out of the building. That was a mistake however, because even as Ruby was passing over the edge of the building, she felt something wrap around her legs, and saw two more shadows circling the street.
Ruby screamed as he was grabbed and held in the air upside down. The murder drone chuckling even louder as their friends screamed. They all tried to gather together as the other shadows descended.
The thumps of the murder drones landing caused the group of friends to go silent, alternating between watching the drones and staring horrified at Ruby and his captor.
“Now, now, let's all calm down now, yeah?” The murder drone holding them upside down chuckled, and Ruby could barely breathe through the fear. “We don't need someone getting hurt, do we?”
The drone with reddish maroon clothes on laughed, grinning sharply at the group. “We all know who is truly worried about being hurt.” She was staring at the 15 clustered together hungrily.
“She's correct.” The other one with a mustache hummed, taking a step forward and opening up his wings. “We also have not seen such a large group in… a very long time.”
Ruby found her voice. “Stop!” he screamed, trying to flail. “Please stop, leave them alone!”
“Ruby!” Vintage yelled their name, straining against Kale's arms, and suddenly all three murder drones froze.
“Ruby?” The mustached one was frozen, looking at the drone hanging upside down.
“Oh shoot.” The woman muttered, taking a step back. “These are his, aren't they.”
The one holding Ruby frowned. “Seems so. Dang It all.”
“Should you… put him down, Anathra?” The mustached one asked, taking a step back to match the woman.
“No duh he should put that one down Milkman!” The woman snapped and Milkman turned towards her, yellow tail raised.
“Shut up Marmalade!” He snarled. “Neither of us are the ones holding them, are we? And he's not putting her down!”
Ruby was dropped out of nowhere, letting out a yelp as xe fell. Anathra suddenly took flight to land on the side of the building, and the other two murder drones joined him.
Ruby stumbled to the group, being enveloped by everyone as hands dragged him towards the middle.
“What the heck was that about?” Fool muttered quietly, eyes still stuck to the three drones on the side of the building.
“I don't know, but we have to get going.” Fix muttered, “But not home. Not yet. We can't lead them there.”
The group started running, glancing back frequently but… the murder drones simply watched, not even trying to follow them.
That was almost more frightening.
—--
Ruby paced back and forth in her room, everyone else who was on the trip outside also packed in there. “What. The 🔔. Was That!” Ruby whisper-shouted, his pacing picking up. “Why'd they just-” They threw their hands in the air. “Let us go! It doesn't make any sense!”
Josh hummed nervously, shifting his beanie. “They reacted to your name, which was weird, because they had obviously never seen you before.”
“They also said and I quote ‘These are his, aren't they.’” M1G did air quotes. “Which is very frightening to think about, being considered property of someone those drones fear.”
“Is it someone they fear, or simply someone they know, or respect?” Fix said, speaking up. “Because we call each other ours all the time, my dad, my friend, that's her sister, things like that.”
“It can't be though.” Tea spoke up. “The only ones they'd respect are other murder drones, and we don't know any! If we had met one we'd be dead.”
“Except now we have met some, and we're all still alive. Barely a scratch on us.” Acorn muttered under her breath, arms circling her legs. Everyone glanced at her, and she flushed, “I'm not wrong! We can't say anything about this! We’ll be considered insane, or a liability or-”
“Or traitors.” Avid muttered, staring at the wall.
Everyone grew quiet, staring at the boy who was studiously not looking at them. Everyone was aware of how after Avid’s mom had died, his father had been banished for being a traitor. None of the kids ever truly learned for what reason though.
“Yeah. lets just- keep this secret for now,” Leon spoke up. “We don't even tell Viking.”
“What? But we've never-” Ruby started speaking before Doovid cut in.
“Look, as much as we've never kept secrets amongst the group before, you can't say it's not suspicious how those murder drones let us go because they knew your name Ruby, and probably ours as well. Who else could have told them about us, and who else do we know, now for sure, that goes outside at night when they are hunting?”
Ruby stayed silent for a moment before closing his eyes and sighing. “Alright. I don't like it but alright. No telling Viking.”
Josh sighed, running a hand down his face. “We're going to need to follow him again, huh?” Everyone turned to him and he continued. “We have no proof he left, at all. We need to catch him and get him to explain why he's out there and how he knows murder drones that didn't kill him!”
It was silent for a moment before everyone muttered quiet agreements. It was only a few moments after that that all the kids left Ruby’s house, heading off to their own homes.
—--
Viking crawled back into the second door room, frowning at the fact that he'd only managed to drain one worker drone. With hunting once a week or more, he needed at least two to make sure he could make it to the next time he could get out.
He huffed. He was going to have to be more careful about his hunger. And go out again sooner if possible. He doesn't want to hurt the people in his base. And especially not his friends.
His head twisted around, checking for any drones, before hurrying on to his room.
—-
Ruby sighed, leaning back as she tried to listen to the lesson, but their eyes kept sliding over to Viking.
Viking who was writing notes, and who was acting like he hadn't just left the night before to do something .
Ruby made eye contact with several other of their friends, all somewhat nervous but trying to hide it.
Who knew what was up with Viking, but they needed to find out.
—-
Ruby flinched back as Viking snapped at her, eyes narrowing as he glared. “Can you just leave me alone Ruby? I don't know and I don't know why you're asking me specifically about dis-murder drones. Just leave me alone.” He stalked off in the direction of his room, and Ruby leaned against the wall, breath slowly going back to normal.
“Well that didn't go well.” Josh opened the door Ruby was standing near, letting several more of their group out as well.
“No shit it didn't go well.” Fix said, staring off in the direction Viking went. “What do we do now?”
“Just keep watching him.” Avid leaned against the wall next to the still shaken Ruby. “We need to know when he leaves.”
—--
Viking stumbled, past caring if people saw him as he rushed towards the doors. The heat in his core was making him wheeze, making warnings flash wildly across his eyes. He needed to get out now. He needed oil now. He had to leave before he lost it inside of the base-
He crawled quickly, letting his tail out as he went and upon entering the night air let his wings out. He hissed lowly, taking shakily to the air. Food. He needs food he needs oil he needs-
His head whipped around, hunting mode activating as he heard a yelp from far down the street.
F O O D.
—--
Ruby and the rest of their group were rushing to the door. Gathering everybody together took so long that they could no longer see Viking, but she knew how he got out, and hopefully could track him.
He didn't know why Viking had bolted, but she was certain it wasnt good.
They made it to the doors, getting out quickly but stopping just as fast.
“Uh.” Leon spoke up, staring from behind Josh. “Do those prints just… end?”
Ruby stared at the footprints that lead from the secret entrance, then just ended. He looked around, but there were no other prints or any oil on the ground.
“Can.. Could Viking possibly be able to, uh.” Fix was staring at the air with wide eyes. “Fly? Perhaps?”
The group was silent before Artemis let out a shaky breath and said “We need to find him. Let's keep going.”
The group of worker drones walked for a while, passing dilapidated buildings, skeletons, and worker drone bodies.
It was when Doovid made a noise, grabbing Avid’s shirt and pointing to the left, that the teenagers all froze.
There was a large impression in the snow, and it was absolutely covered in oil. There was a trial leading to a torn apart body a few feet away, and footprints leading some steps away from the body before disappearing again.
“I-I dont like this.” Acorn muttered, eyes glancing around frightenedly.
Ruby hummed his shaky agreement, and took a step forward to keep moving.
It only took another street however, before they heard it. Quiet manic giggles echoed through the street. The group froze, fear filling their robotic veins. It was Josh who took another breath, turning the corner and forcing the group to follow him.
He was barely two steps past the corner however, frozen in place. Ruby lifted their gaze, and found themselves frozen as well.
The manic giggles echoed amongst the street, even as Viking was hunched over in the snow.
Ruby's eyes hollowed even more as she watched him bend down farther, ripping something and… and…
“Is he eating oil?” Leon sounded horrified, but his eyes widened even more when he realized he had spoke because-
The giggles cut.
Everyone's eyes snapped back to Viking, who was still hunched over, but no longer giggling or eating. He hummed, an insane sounding, shaky note, before turning his head around 180 degrees.
The teenagers all screamed and stumbled back upon seeing Viking’s face, covered in oil, and his eyes replaced by a murder drones X.
“V-Viking?” Ruby said his name shakily, taking a step back.
Viking’s head snapped to him, body whirling around to match the direction of his head. He started giggling again, before his mouth opened wider, showing sharp sharp teeth.
“Helloooo there.” His voice was pitched weirdly, his giggles forming through the hiss.
Whatever Ruby was about to say was forgotten as he watched, horrified, as a fleshy tail and wings emerged from behind Viking.
His tail looked like a spike with eyes and a mouth, with yellow eyes and blue spikes, while his wings were split colored, blue and yellow boney.
He started laughing, his tongue hanging out of his mouth. “You look… frightened. Don't worry, you won't be frightened soon!” At the last word he launched upwards towards the building, and the teenage drones screamed and started running.
—--
Doovid bolted down the street, sobs echoing in his chest as he panicked. What the hell, what the hell what the fu-
He was knocked out of his thoughts by the suddenly much louder giggles, and the impact to his side.
He cried out as he was thrown into a wall, barely falling an inch before Doovid screamed with pain when the tail pierced his stomach.
He sobbed, eyes opening up to warning symbols flying wildly, and Viking getting closer.
Viking giggled, reaching up to grab Doovid’s head with one hand, and his shoulder with the other.
“Nighty Night~!” He cackled once before Doovid felt a searing pain- then knew no more.
—--
Tea sobbed, running down a street. She'd gotten separated from the group when Viking had appeared again, and launched at the ground, sending several to the ground.
She hated the fact that she was hoping that he was chasing someone else, knowing it would mean certain death.
The sudden sound of metal on metal behind her proved her cruel hope wasn't, in fact, the truth.
She screamed, ducking into a building and hearing the manic giggles cut out with a short snarl.
She muffled a sob, leaping over a desk before running across a path and ducking under another.
Tea pushed her hand over her mouth as hard as she could, trembling as she heard the manic giggles enter the room. He wasn't even talking, simply stalking around. She tensed as she heard him enter the part of the room she was in, shutting her eyes tight from the fear.
That was her mistake.
The giggles stopped.
Tea opened her eyes, freezing at Viking’s upside down face right in front of her. She screamed, hands raising, and Viking laughed, reaching in to grab her arm and throw Tea across the room.
She flew into a wall, falling to the ground with a thud, before being kicked onto her back.
A foot was pressed to her chest, and she struggled, pure will of wanting to live her only thought process.
Viking giggled from above her, his tail flicking down and stabbing through her hand, before ripping her arm out of its socket.
She screamed, oil splattering on the floor, even as Viking giggled, dropping his foot through her chest, and grabbing her head. There was pressure, and Tea’s eyes were flashing so many warnings she couldn't see Viking anymore-
Pop.
—--
Kale was sprinting as fast as he could. He just needed to get away- needed to hide until morning where Viking couldn't get him.
He hated himself for running away when he saw Viking go after Tea, but he didn't want to die .
He stumbled, falling into the snow, and that was the only reason he wasn't already dead.
Kale was flung backwards by the shockwave of something landing in the snow in front of him, not even able to see what was going on before he was stabbed through the chest.
Kale wailed, his hands coming up to grab at the tail going through his torso, even as he watched a wing flash, and his legs drop.
Kale screamed in pain, the warnings on his eyes doubling.
He was dropped then, the tail leaving his chest, and Kale tried to crawl backwards. He knew, in the back of his mind, that there was no way out of this. He was dying. But he wouldn't just give in. He couldn't.
He barely made it a few feet, trailing oil all the way, before Viking seemed to grow tired of this and stabbed his tail through his arm, using it to lift Kale up into the air.
Kale screamed, a sob being pulled painfully out of his throat, as he was turned around to be face to face with Viking.
His eyes were hollow, he was leaking so much oil Kale knew he wouldn't survive anyways. So he did the only thing he could do.
Kale spit, hitting Viking’s face.
Viking stilled, giggles stopping as he tilted his head to regard Kale.
He giggled once, twice. “That was rude.” His giggles became manic again. “Lunch time.”
Kale’s eyes widened as the tail suddenly propelled him towards Viking’s mouth- his mouth biting his neck and-
Crunch.
—--
Acorn sobbed, quiet as she could in the building she’d hidden in. She had just heard Kale’s wailing suddenly cut off, which meant that not only was he dead, but that Viking-
She froze at the shadow being cast on the floor.
Was right here.
She lunged out of her cover just as a wingbeat sent Viking flying on top of the box she had hidden behind, sliding the box several feet from the force.
Acorn lunged to her feet, ducking behind a wall just as his tail flew towards her head.
He was still giggling. She tried to blink tears away. She needed to run, she needed to-
It felt like time was moving in slow motion as she saw the tail sail in front of her, the shadow falling over her own making her breath stop.
Acorn screamed as she was slammed into the floor, Viking giggling on top of her. He was cackling, and she struggled as best she could, but she was pinned face down.
She screamed at the feeling of something sharp cutting into her back, and wailed as she felt a hand grasp her head.
“Shh Shh.” Viking’s voice was glitchy, but without the giggles almost sounded like himself. Then his giggles started up again. “It won't hurt soon!”
Acorn gasped, warnings filling her eyes and ears as something was prodded in her chest. She choked, breath stolen as Viking stood, his tail flying into her chest and stabbing into-
Her core.
—--
Leon sobbed, hidden deep in a pit he’d fallen into.
He’d shoved himself under a car that had also fallen in there, and was struggling to stay quiet, hearing the screams around him rise and then cut.
His voice seemed to die as he heard the giggling come closer, the sound pausing right above the pit. Leon’s metallic heart sunk.
He watched from under the car as a winged and tailed shadow suddenly scurried down the wall, metal clanging as it did so.
Leon trembled, pulling his scarf further around his neck. If he was going to die, he would die with his father’s scarf.
He had promised to never lose it, and Leon wasn't about to break that promise.
Leon paused suddenly. He couldn't hear the sound of movement or the giggles anymore. Where was-
Leon froze as a hand gripped his shoulder tightly, scream cutting out as his shoulder crumpled, and he was pulled out from under the car.
Leon hung in Viking’s grip, scrabbling weakly at the hand and arm holding him up. His legs- already damaged from the fall, kicked weakly and sparked. The giggling started again.
Leon wanted to sob, wanted to cry, but no sound was coming out of him.
Viking stared at him with a wide, oil stained grin.
Leon stared at the oil covering his previous friend, and wanted to cry. How many of their friends had Viking already killed? How many more after Leon?
Oil dripped from his head, and Viking stepped closer, his tail flicking in between the two of them.
Leon stared up blurrily at him as Viking hummed, the giggles quieting slightly. “Bye Bye~!” The tail lunged forward-
A scarf, neatly cut in several places, drifted to the floor.
—--
Trog ran, terrified as all get out, from the horror happening on the streets behind them.
They knew no one was going to be able to help them, the group that is. No other worker drones would help, and no murder drone was going to stop the murder of more workers.
So they were trying to get as far away from the main group as they could, leaving trails so noticeable Trog was certain even Leon would be able to follow them.
Not that he should. Seeing as Trog was trying to get Viking away so the group could escape but-
Trog shook their head, tears welling up. They needed to get far far away, they needed to-
They heard wings flapping, and screamed as their arms were grabbed, and were lifted into the air.
Trog sobbed, straining and trying to wiggle even as the fingers clutching their arms dug deeper and deeper into them, until they were dripping oil.
Trog wailed, leaning their head back, and the tail lunged forward, embedding itself in Trog's stomach.
They wheezed, eyes going blurry as they stared up at the glowing blue X of the drone holding them up in the sky.
The murder drone-his friend-Viking chuckled, leaning in and placing his teeth around Trog’s neck.
Trog closed their eyes with a sob. They weren’t far enough away- they couldn’ even-
Snap Crunch.
—--
Ruby sobbed, running with most of the group. Several had been forced to split off and run on their own, and while Ruby hoped they were all alive, the fact that Viking hasn't caught up to them yet proved otherwise.
She stumbled, his feet slipping on the snow.
Vintage whirled around, opening her mouth to say something before her eyes went wide and hollowed.
Ruby knew what was happening before they even sat up to turn around.
Ruby's eyes lifted, meeting the gaze of Viking, who was sitting on a lamppost, his tail staring directly at the rest of the group.
Viking was still giggling, his mouth opening even wider as he leapt from the lightpost onto the ground, scurrying towards Ruby on all four limbs.
Ruby tried to get up, screaming, but wasn't able to before she was forced to the ground, Viking’s tail skewering his arm as he crouched on their chest.
Ruby wailed, the pain too much, and raised his arm to try and hit Viking with. They were aware, vaguely, of the screaming behind her changing to be more panicked, but raised the fist to hit anyways.
He hit Viking in the face, the worker-murder drone stilling for a moment before snarling, and while still giggling, opened his mouth full of sharp teeth and diving towards Ruby's head.
She screamed, eyes shutting, but just as Viking got close enough to smell the oil on his breath, he was yanked off of Ruby.
They yelped, the tail being pulled sharply out of his arm, and opened his eyes to see Anathra, the murder drone.
Anathra sighed as he grabbed Viking by the scruff, holding him in the air and off of Ruby. "I don't care if you do this," He said, sounding bored. "But you are really gonna hate yourself if you do so-” Viking tried to lunge his tail through Anathra’s arm, but the drone dodged it, grabbing it tightly in one of his hands. “There you go!" The murder drone tossed him down the street, Viking slamming into and through a building's wall.
The drone hummed, turning his head to look at Ruby. “I'd recommend you lot get somewhere hidden.” His voice was light, but his eyes tracked the building Viking had been thrown into.
Ruby whimpered, struggling to stand, but Fool grabbed him, dragging them quickly into a destroyed clothing store.
There was a large open space towards the back, and Ruby was set down there.
She wheezed, clutching his arm as the group settled quickly around them, curling up as close as they all could get.
There were tears streaming down all their faces, trembling hands clutching other shaking hands.
Vintage had taken off her jacket, and was about to wrap it around Ruby's arm when something flew in.
Several of the group struggled to stand, as if they were going to fight Viking himself. The one who stepped out of the shadows however wasn't Viking, but the mustached one, Milkman.
The murder drone hummed, glancing at the group. “The runt did a number on you huh? Here, we keep it for him, if he needs it, you can use it for now.” He tossed over a roll of bandages, waltzing back over to the opening of the shop, opening his wings, and launching up.
The silence filled the air for just a moment before Vintage started shakily applying bandages to Ruby's arm, and then passed the bandage roll around just in case anyone else was leaking oil.
Ruby leaned against the wall, eyes wide. “Why- What?” His voice was barely audible, trembling so much it was like Ruby was suddenly capable of getting frostbite.
“What- That was- that was our Viking, right?” Josh’s voice trembled. “Why would he-”
“Did he even realize it was us?” Fix’s voice was robotic, the boy trying to remain as calm as possible and failing.
Kittrix suddenly shouted. “He- He eats people! Guys it's not the problem that he attacked us, it's that he's eating people!”
There was silence for another moment before Avid spoke up. “Yeah. He has been.”
There were suddenly twelve pairs of eyes staring at the drone who was looking at his hands.
“Avid? If you tell us you've known-” M1G’s eyes were narrowed, and they watched as Avid suddenly stared up at them with a glare, even as his mouth trembled.
“I saw his first kill, alright.” It was hissed out, Avid’s voice shaking badly. “It was Jimmy, the drone who went missing who no one really missed. I found him- or what was- what was left of him.” He was shaking even more. “Viking doesn't know I know. He was panicking and running away when I got there- I just-”
“Avid! How could you-”
“Shut up!” Avid snarled, staring up at Elffe with wide crazed eyes. “Shut up! What was I supposed to do, tell an adult what was happening?” He laughed sharply. “Viking was the darling of the bunker at that point, all it would have taken was for him to say I was lying, and I would have been tossed out!” Avid was shaking, breathing heavily. “What would you have done, huh Elffe? If you had seen that.” Avid hissed it out, shaking even worse than before. “Because I know for certain that if I had said anything, I would have ended up like my father.”
It was silent for another moment before Artemis sniffled. “Just because you're right about how you would’ve gotten banished doesn't mean it was the right thing to do Avid.” Her voice was shaking, and Avid buried his head in his hands.
There was barely a moment of calm before something was thrown into the store, the worker drones freezing, hearts dropping to their feet at the sight of blue and yellow wings.
Viking barely had enough time to shift however before Marmalade and Milkman were both suddenly there, pinning him to the ground.
Viking was snarling, thrashing and trying to escape, when Anathra walked in.
Walked, because he was missing both of his wings.
Ruby shakily looked at the others, Milkman was pinning Viking’s legs and tail to the ground, missing an entire arm, and Marmalade was holding his upper chest in place, missing her entire tail, her left leg, and half of one wing.
Anathra hissed lowly, leaning down with something in his hand. “Get a hold of yourself kid.”
He pressed it into Viking’s chest, and Viking let out a loud cry of pain, thrashing even more before falling limp.
His chest trembled, and all three murder drones let out a sigh of relief, backing up slightly.
They couldn't see his face. Viking sat up, wings propping him up behind him, and took in one shuddered breath after another.
Anathra knelt down beside him, and Viking looked up at him. Anathra sighed, running his hand through Viking’s hair. “You make a good disassembly drone Whelp.”
Viking let out a sob, tail and wings curling around himself. “I'm sorry. I’m so sorry, I’m sorry-”
Marmalade hummed, hopping over even as her leg started reforming. “Why are you apologizing to us, V? Hm? We don't care about what you just did. You are the one with a no kill list.”
Viking’s breath shuddered again, and he whined low in his chest. “Are- Is anyone-”
“Thirteen are still alive.” Milkman spoke up, humming. “Only managed to get six of em kid. Gotta up your game.”
Anathra flicked Milkman over the head with his tail as Viking clutched his wings tighter shut.
Anathra sighed, gripping Viking’s wings and slowly opening them up. “Oh Viking.” He said softly.
Viking made a noise, and Anathra took several steps back waving his hand to stop the other two from moving.
Viking then started throwing up oil. The teenagers against the wall stilled, shocked as they watched the waterfall of oil, and as Anathra walked closer to pat Viking’s back.
It was then, with Viking leaning down further, that they saw something in the oil.
Josh whimpered softly as they saw a torn green tie floating in the oil, the color barely able to be seen through the oil coating it.
Viking was shaking again, sobs echoing through his body, and the murder drones moved in. Anathra hugged Viking, Marm patted his back gently and Milkman ruffled his hair.
“Hey.” Anathra sighed, his wings starting to form back. “It’s alright. You were just hungry, you don’t hunt often enough.” Anathra paused, sighing. “I am sorry we were too far away to stop you before this happened like you wanted us to.”
Viking hummed lowly, his sobs slowing to hiccups. “Where- where are-”
“The rest of your worker drones?” It was Milkman who hummed it, tilting his head as Viking looked up at him. “Over there.” He pointed straight to them, and all their breaths caught when Viking turned around and they saw- eyes. Actual eyes.
Viking’s breath shuddered. “Okay. Okay they're alive. They're-” He put his head in his hands again and Anathra hummed, patting his hair and causing Viking to tilt his head to glare up at him.
Ruby decided to do something stupid. She stood, walking over to the edge of the group, and then he bolted at Viking.
Marmalade and Milkman made loud noises, his friends even louder, but Anathra simply stopped the murder drones from doing anything as Ruby lunged into their friend.
Ruby wrapped his arms around Viking’s neck, trembling and sobbing softly, and Viking, stunned, took a moment before wrapping his arms around her back.
He let out a sob, dipping his chin to rest on her back, and enclosed his wings again.
It wasn't okay. It would never be truly alright, but for now, Viking was himself again, and he wasn’t killing anyone else.
And Ruby needed comfort from his best friend.
—--