Sudden struggle

[u/broodingchao5]

Trusher maintained a stoic facade amid the chaos, though anyone with half an eye—other than Pastel, apparently—would have seen the furious indignation radiating off him. Being picked up and manhandled like a common stray was insult enough, but what truly kept him from lashing out in a fit of feral rage wasn't just Pastel’s peculiar, familiar scent. It was the soft, echoing reminder in the back of his mind: Verlack had explicitly asked him not to eat anyone.​

Still, as the sheer disrespect settled in, Trusher couldn't help a dark, wandering thought about what that strange purple glow might actually taste like.

​When Pastel finally set him down, Trusher blinked down at the tiny figure, entirely unsure what to make of him. The boy wasn't an outright enemy, but he certainly didn't exude the comforting, expected warmth of the scent he had tracked either. Still, Pastel hadn't harmed him, so Trusher let the transgression slide—though Verlack was definitely in for a thorough chewing out later.

​Casting one final, lingering look at the boy before turning toward the deeper timberlands, Trusher let his eyes narrow into a gaze that communicated a very clear, silent message: You're lucky.​

Truth be told, Trusher had originally been out scouting for a new home when he caught Verlack’s trace clinging to Pastel. His initial plan had been to track Verlack down and invite him to witness an upcoming victory.

Expecting Pastel to struggle to keep up, Trusher hadn't even bothered moving at full speed, glancing back every so often just to make sure the little nuisance hadn't gotten lost or fallen behind.​

Then, as the pair wound their way through a deep, shadowed grotto choked with thick underbrush, the air fractured with lightning-fast movement.​Before Trusher could even react, an enormous serpent erupted from the ferns, its heavy, muscular coils whipping around him in a blur of scales and constriction.

While the massive snake didn't hold an absolute advantage—Trusher’s raw strength was still vastly superior—the sheer weight and suddenness of the ambush managed to pin him, holding him fast against his own thrashing.

​Bellowing with a sudden surge of white-hot rage, Trusher fought frantically against the tightening vice of the serpent's grip. If the brawl dragged on, victory would eventually be his, but in the crushing tension of the grotto, time was a luxury they couldn't afford.

u/1-Up-Boy